The Joiner family is kinda special to me…. you see, Jamie is my sister, so that means that the kiddos are nephews and niece. I super duper LOVE them and told them that they needed new family pictures and I was going to take them for them:) My sister didn’t argue:)

I had such a great time capturing their growing and beautiful family. We started at their house because Josh, my brother in law, has put a lot of sweat and hard work into creating for them a garden in their back yard. They all love it and spend a lot of time out there, so we started with getting pictures of that. We then headed to some orange groves to do a few more.

My husband and Kailee came along as well and Kailee was my helper telling everyone to smile and passing out M&M briberies for all the kids, so of course I had to grab a few of her as well.

Family is super important to me and I’m so thankful for my relationship with my sister and her family.

My Family is so so so so so super important to me. My husband is AMAZING and my little 3 year old is the joy of my life! So, this Friday I thought that I would share with you one of my favorite things… My Familia!

A few months ago I called up some friends and photographers of mine, Nate and Amanda with Turtle Pond Photography. They are amazing amazing photographers that I met almost 7 years ago in Indiana. I asked them if they would be willing to take my family pictures when we were in Michigan for Thanksgiving visiting my husbands family. They said yes and I was super excited! I LOVE their work and was so excited to get pictures taken in a field of wheat or something other than Arizona! So, we talked and planned and planned and came up with the perfect date and location for the pictures.

All week before the shoot I kept looking at the weather, hoping and praying that it would be perfect… but all it kept saying is RAIN!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I prayed and prayed and hoped and hoped, but the day before our shoot we realized the inevitable, the shoot was not going to happen. I was so distraught and sad. I called Nate and Amanda up and we racked our brain to figure out what we could do. Our schedule was so filled up with family and plans and thanksgiving that there wasn’t much wiggle room and theirs was too! Not to mention that we were going to have to drive 3 1/2 hours from where we were for this session anyways, so it wasn’t just a quick little trip to get pictures.

After much rearranging of schedules, hotel rooms, meetings with friends and family, we decided on another date (all while crossing our fingers for no rain). We drove out to Indiana with my father in law and his wife, my mother in law and Jamie’s stepdad, my sister in law, and my family. The day of the shoot was PERFECT and amazing!

I want to say a huge thank you to Turtle Pond Photography for capturing some of the most amazing images.

I make it a point to get pictures done every year because I know how important they are and am so thankful for the chance to be on the other side of the camera (even though it makes me go crazy because I get so nervous). I love how these turned out!!

So enjoy a little sneak peak into my life:):):)

Christmas truly is my favorite time of year. I love family time, I love the chilly weather, I love wearing sweaters, I love traditions.

So today the blog will be short and sweet because i’m taking off of work and spending much needed time with my family for the next week.

I hope you all have an amazing holiday season!

Merry Christmas, From The Jarmans, we hope you have an amazing year.

And, here is a little Christmas Tidings from one of our favorite Christmas Movies. The true meaning of Christmas!

Today’s Favorite Friday is going to be short and simple. This has been a crazy hard week full of shoots, a sick kid, crazy emails, a sick Kim, and a to do list that keeps growing even though I continually check things off….so, as i’m sitting here, Thursday night at 6:00 PM, I just finished a session and was about to leave the studio when I realized I didn’t write about my favorite friday. I am trying soooo hard to not forget to do these because i’m having a really good time with them!

So, all of that being said… here is my favorite Friday item for this week……

LADY ANTEBELLUM
(and no… I did not take this picture.. it is off the internet)

For those of you who know me well you know that I love music, but i’m not crazy into what I listen to. I know my moods, but i’m pretty easy going with listening to almost anything. I usually let others be the DJ because I just want to hear good music. I don’t keep up on tabs of what bands are doing, where they are going, who they are dating, and what styles they are wearing. I just don’t have time to do that and it’s never been something i’ve done. I can’t tell you everyone’s name in the band and i’m for sure not a groupie. I have only been to a few concerts in my life because they’ve never been a huge deal to me….. so when I told my husband that if I were to ever go to a concert it would be Lady Antebellum he listened.. and listened good!

About a couple months ago my husband surprised me with 2 tickets to see Lady Antebellum and I was SOOOO happy. I don’t know what it is, but I love listening to them and am a huge fan. I can see my self really enjoying a concert  of theirs and i’m overly overly excited for this! He invited one of my very good friends and her husband (shout out to Jen Thye!!) to come with us as part of the surprise as well, so i’m so excited to be able to go on a date, to a concert that I love, with my husband and 2 great friends of ours. It’s a huge treat that never happens in this house, so i’m ecstatic!

Who know’s maybe this concert will change my desires and i’ll want to go to more concerts… we will see. But for now, i’m just so excited that my husband thought so much about pulling this surprise together, so thank you honey!!

I’m also excited because over the last few months I have been running a contest to win Lady Antebellum tickets for anyone who books a session with me up until November 11th (which is today)…. so there is still one more chance to book your wedding, portrait session, senior session, or any other type of session and be entered in to win 2 tickets…. so if you haven’t, you better email today to get that booked!! There’s a pretty good chance you could win!

To find out more about that contest click here. and read more below.

The concert is next week on the 17th. Is anyone else going to make it out there?

Have you heard of Audible.com? They have become one of my favorite addictions lately.

Totally upfront and honest here… I have a hard time finding time to read. I have to force myself to relax and sit to read a book. When I was younger all I did was read. There wasn’t much else to do… no phones, computers, or technology to get in the way of reading. I would read in the car, at my grandparents house, when I got home. I LOVED a good book. But when I got older and life got crazier, and computers took and consumed life, and facebook took my freetime, I stopped reading. There was a period in my life for probably almost 10 years that I just never took the time to do it. Sad isn’t it? Reading is so good!!

A couple of years ago I was at a conference and sharing a room with someone who I didn’t know. We started talking and she told me that she reads every night and always is reading. I asked her how she found the time and she said she just made time. She then told me that when she color corrects and does mindless computer tasks instead of watching TV she listens to an audio book. I was intrigued. I am not one who can watch a movie while I edit because I want to watch it, but a book on audio… that might work!!

I decided to look into audio books. I knew that in the past they had been boring and I wasn’t interested in listening to some boring person read a book to me, but I decided to give it a try to see if things had changed. So I wandered upon Audible.com and downloaded a book. It was great because it just downloaded onto my computer (no more CD’s that I have to carry around with me). I was able to have it on my phone, which goes everywhere with me, and when I was in the car or editing I would listen. It was AMAZING. I got hooked and addicted. The people who were reading were using different voices for different characters and it was like watching the movie, but in my head.

One of my favorite books that I have listened to is “The Help”. They got 5 different people to read the different parts, so it truly was an amazing experience.

I signed up for their membership and just started downloading books that I had been recomended, always wanted to read, or just felt like listening too. I actually got through editing quicker too because I didn’t get distracted with my own mind thinking of other things to do.

The Iphone has an app that I use now to listen to my books, which tracks how long I listen and it rewards you with Badges and Levels. I know… I know… it’s kinda silly… but my husband and I now are competing to see who can get the most badges and listening stats… for awhile I was doing so much better, but since he has a 45 minute commute each way every day he’s starting to go through these books way faster than me:)

I have also started reading again since i’ve started listening to books. I’m still able to do more listening, but it’s good to cuddle up to a good book too and do nothing but sit there and read. I really hope that our kids grow up understanding how amazing books really are. I hope they never die. A book makes your imagination run and helps slow things down. It’s a good thing.

So, my question to you on this Favorite Friday is…. what are some of your favorite books?? Let’s compile a list and share the reading.

I first learned about Dave Ramsey about a year ago. Our church was having all the small groups go through something called Financial Peace University. I wasn’t really sure what the course was about and how it could help us, but a lot of people said it was amazing and our church was even willing to pay for 1/2 the class for anyone who went through the entire 13 week course without missing a class, so I figured that we should do it!  Thankfully the course was mostly a video course and was really quite interesting. It really made my husband and I think through how we were living and challenge us to fully get out of debt. The things that Dave Ramsey was saying made so much sense that it was frustrating because we were wondering why we were just now hearing all of this in our 30′s.

We decided to apply the principles that Dave talked about to our life. We created a pretty tight budget and started living on a cash based system, meaning that we don’t use our credit card and only use the cash allotted to us for the week in a certain category. Was it hard to do? A little, but it’s been a really good challenge.

Dave talks about a debt snowball meaning you pay toward one of your smaller debts and focus on that debt as much as you can, throwing as much extra money as you can toward that debt, then once it’s paid off you take what you were paying on that debt and throw it all towards the next debt. You keep going and going and going until you are totally 100% out of debt. You then take that money that you were putting toward debt and start throwing it at savings and investments. When you think about it, most people are putting over $1000 or more toward debt each month, if you count your house and your car, you could be well over $4-5000. Just think if you were investing that much money consistently throughout the years of your life how much money you would have to live off for retirement? It makes total sense!!

Jamie and I have been using the Dave Ramsey theories for the last year, and while I wish I could say we are totally debt free and throwing money at investments, we are not there yet. However, we have almost paid off all of our debts except for our house and student loans (which are a little ridiculous and might be the death of me). I am so proud of us and it feels so good to say we are almost debt free!

Dave also teaches businesses on how to lead and be a great business person. The principles he teaches are amazing and inspire me to be a better boss and business owner.

The last year has been an amazing year and a very hard year as well. It’s kind of crazy to say, but in all that i’ve gone through Dave Ramsey has kind of been there as a guidance through all his wisdom and truly helped me personally and in my business.

I told Jamie the other day, after we had just finished listening to Dave speak, that if I were to ever quit my job as a photographer, the only other thing I would want to do is move to Nashville and work for Dave Ramsey. In all honesty, I really don’t even know what the people for Dave do, but I want to work under this man and his wisdom.

So… in thinking about today’s “Favorite Friday”, I thought that I would share a little about a man who has become a major part of our lives in the Jarman household.

My question to you is how many of you are doing the same thing and what has it done for you? Has it changed your life?

Next Favorite thing on the list is…..STARBUCKS…… Those who know me well know that I am actually allergic to caffeine, so while you won’t see me sipping a caffeine laden starbucks drink, you will see me drinking my favorite decaf sensation. I’ve always loved my espresso and starbucks holds a special place in my heart because it was there that I had my first true coffee; a Raspberry Latte. It was back in the old days of college, in 1997 when starbucks, to me, was a brand new adventure. My friend Juan took me there (Triangle Square in Costa Mesa, CA) and ordered for me because I had NO clue what I should get, and I fell in love with that wonderful place that smelled of coffee beans.

Now I go because of their starbucks Gold Card. For those of you who know what the Gold card is, you understand… for those of you who don’t know… you should know.. it will change your life!

My sister introduced me to the starbucks gold card because she is a coffee addict like me. Basically when you register a starbucks card and use it for all your purchases you get free things, like free drinks on your birthday. When you buy 30 drinks within a year you get moved up to the Gold Status, which means that for every 15 drinks you purchase you get a free one. This is great, because I don’t like spending $5 on a drink, so I get coffee and americano’s for $3 or under and then after 15 of those I get to order any drink I want, like a Carmel Macchiato or a Carmel Mocha Salted Frappachino (heaven)!!!

They also have a very sweet app on the iPhone that allows you to use your gift card on your phone so I never need cash. I just pull up the app and they scan the barcode on my phone and I walk out with drink in hand. It’s Genious.

So, you might be wondering what my drinks of choice are? Well here you go listed in no favorite order since they are all super yummy!!!

• Venti Decaf Carmel Macchiato
• Venti Decaf Iced Americano with No water, add 1/2 and 1/2 and 2 packets of Splenda
• Venti Decaf Pumpkin Spice latte with a pumpkin scone (if I want to add the calories that day… usually I avoid them at all costs because they are soooo yummy)
• Venti Decaf Carmel Frappacchino (also my daughters drink of choice – yes she does drink coffee… but only decaf)
• Venti Decaf Salted Carmel Mocha Frappachino (a new favorite)

So now you know one more random thing about my life… get ready because every friday there will be something more!!!

If you ever shoot a wedding with me and we get off early and there is a starbucks around I will buy you a drink… unfortunately they all close so early now a days that I very rarely get my nightly coffee, but when I do it’s a perfect ending to a great day!!

What is your favorite drink at Starbucks? Do you have the same obsession?

I’ve decided that on Friday’s I’m going to do get a little more personal and do a blog post about the different things that I love. I’m hoping that by sharing some of the things that I love you will be able to find out more about me and hopefully also get some great tips or ideas for new things for you! So to start off this series we are going to talk about the Iphone, since today I’m hopefully getting my new 4S and I’m eagerly awaiting it!

WHY I LOVE THE IPHONE

If you haven’t heard already I’m a techy geek. I LOVE techy things and love gadgets. The ladies at my husbands office often laugh and can’t understand why he wouldn’t buy me a new coach purse or flowers on my birthday. He tells them that I’ve told him I don’t want those things and am only interested in technical gadgets. They don’t believe him, but it’s true. If you were to give me a choice between a coach purse and the newest apple gadget, I, 95% of the time, would pick the gadget, it’s just how I’m made:).

I know there are a ton of phones out there and there are probably some really great ones, but I have to say that I am 100% devoted to the iPhone. Before the IPhone came out I was using a Treo from Sprint so that I could get my email. Email never worked and browsing the internet was pretty much a joke. I knew there had to be more out there than a stylus pen and a slow slow phone that tried to be more, and then I saw that apple was coming out with their IPhone. I was one of the first to buy the IPhone and I haven’t been disappointed. It has completely changed my life and changed the way I do everything.

Some of the things I LOVE about my IPhone are:

* I’m able to check my email from anywhere in the country. This is wonderful for business and also horrible because I am accessible pretty much all the time.
* I’m able to go online and google random little things such as “when I’m pregnant, can I eat …….” This came in very handy when I was pregnant with Kailee.
* The apps make my life easier.
* My iPhone became my iPod so I didn’t have to have 2 separate devices, and it has a built in speaker so I can listen to music and audio books whenever I want.
* My daughter can play Angry Birds whenever she’s bored out of her mind and many other games.
* Everything syncs up to all of my macs seamlessly!!
* It has become my camera of choice on vacations and family outings and I don’t have to lug around my huge camera:):)
* I can read my bible or a book on my phone anytime I want.
* I can check the weather and the sunset for a shoot to determine when to start a session or if it’s going to rain on us.
* I can check on wait times at Disneyland to see which ride I should go to next.
* I can shop at all times of the day.
* I can watch a movie when I’m bored.

I know that now a days a lot of phones do these things, but Apple was the first and because they continue to make things better so I’m loyal to the end.

Today I get my new toy and I’m ecstatic and excited to see the new things that they have created to addict me even more.

So, my first post of things I love is dedicated to apple.

If you have the iPhone what are the things you love most about it? If you don’t have one…. you are missing out!!

On Tuesday I sat at my apple computer waiting patiently for the announcement of the new Iphone to come out. Well I guess not really patiently, if you were my husband or Elise (my office assistant) you would have known that I was a wreck. I couldn’t wait for the new announcement of the new iphone because i’m a diehard apple fan and when I hear of new gadgets coming out from apple I always want one (also, I do still have the 3Gs and am dying for a new phone). I desperately sat at my computer trying to find a live feed to the keynote from apple and it took about an hour for me to finally realize that I was going to have to be stuck with a blog that was going to give me minute by minute updates and then a live stream of a group of people talking about the blog. So for an hour and a half I listened and continually pressed refresh on the blog so that I could hear the news. I was ecstatic when I finally heard that preorders for the new 4S start on friday and I in an instant emailed the business team at the Chandler apple store to inquire about what I need to do to get one first!! Yes, i’m going to be one of those people this time around.

I wasn’t always this way, but about 10 years ago my life changed when I started working for a company who introduced me to the world of apple (Thanks Dan Smith). It was then that I realized that PC’s would no longer cut it, that I had to get an apple. And once I did I was sold. I never looked back. I bought EVERYTHING apple…. EVERYTHING. The other day my husband and I were in the apple store buying my ipad (which I’m addicted to) and he made a comment that I have one of everything in the apple store. I laughed and said, no I don’t that’s crazy…. and then I started looking around and realized that actually he is right. I’m pretty sure that I do have one of everything in that store as far as computers and gadgets go… wow, I’m really an apple freak aren’t I?

The keynote this time around was a little strange because the man behind all of my madness, Steve Jobs, wasn’t at all involved with the announcements. Everyone was commenting on it and while I didn’t think too much of it, it did feel a little strange. Steve has always been there with product launches, so I think everyone was sad to realize that he really wasn’t involved as much anymore. When Steve Jobs stepped down a few months ago of course everyone was worried of what was going to become of Apple. He told everyone that when he couldn’t do his job anymore he knew he’d have to step down and seeing video’s of him only confirmed that he was getting sick, so I think we were all very saddened by the news. However, I think that most people, me included, just figured he was going to take some time away and relax.

Last night as I was driving to the Diamondbacks baseball game (another one of my obsessions), something flickered across my iphone screen about Steve Jobs, I went to read it but messed it up somehow and wasn’t able to see what it said. I had made the comment to my husband, but we just figured that it was something about the iphone 4s. We got to the game and jumped right into the craziness of everything. It was an amazing game with a grand slam to start off everything and more and more excited fans jumping all around! About half way into the game I got a twitter from Grace Ormonde that said that Steve Jobs would be missed. WHAT? I quickly jumped on the internet and read the news that Steve Jobs had passed away that day and was in shock. Although I didn’t know Steve Jobs personally he personally has affected so many areas of my life.

Today when I woke up and was driving Kailee to school I was listening to the news and all the amazing things people were saying about this man. He was a visionary who jumped in hand first and changed the way we all live. His computers, gadgets, and ideas infiltrate our daily lives. He was a man who dreamed and did things. He looked at life one day at a time and made sure that each day counted.

I normally don’t write up blog posts like this, but today I felt like I needed to thank him and honor him for the things that he did to make our lives better. So, Steve, thank you! You will be dearly missed by many all over the world.

Posted by Kimberly Jarman

I’m a workaholic… I admit it fully. I LOVE to work. However, I’m learning that in order to have balance in life and enjoy life you have to have boundaries.

I’ve talked to a lot of business owners, mostly moms, who all have the same thing in common. We are a little overwhelmed. Running a business takes a lot of time and a lot out of you and being a mom does the same thing. It’s hard figuring out how to do both and be good at both.

Being a business owner demands time. Clients want things right away. Work is always there. Your email is always calling your name. Your phones are (hopefully) always ringing. Everyone wants something from you at all times. It’s natural to want to be the best at what you do, and many times that means taking care of everything right when it comes in and working non stop in order to make everyone happy. I’ve always done this. I’ve worked all day and through the night and tried to get my to do list down so I can enjoy life, but it never really goes down. It’s always there lingering over me.

Being a mom demands time. My daughter wakes up at 5 or 6 every morning. During the night she might wake up a couple of times as well. When she wakes up she wants me, no one else, me. She wants to play. She wants to eat. She wants to go to the potty. She wants my full attention, nothing else will do, and when she doesn’t get it I see it in her eyes and I’m overwhelmed with emotions.

I’ve been in business for 8 years now. At first it was just me and my husband and I put my entire life into the business. I spent time with my clients and my husband but no one else saw any of me. I worked from home so I was ALWAYS working. My cell phone was my business phone so clients could reach me at all hours of the day and night, and they did. I always answered my email and I got a lot of business. It felt really good actually. I’m driven by that.

After a few years I started to get burned out. My husband wanted more time with me and I never saw family or friends. My friends only saw me if they wanted me to take pictures of them. Pretty sad, but true.

My husband would call me from work and say he was on his way home and I would quickly jump into the shower (sometimes), other times he would walk home to me still in my pajamas working away. My friends would call to go to lunch and I still hadn’t showered so I had to say no. I would wake up at 7:00 and start work and not put the computer down until I went to bed.

I decided I needed to start setting boundaries. I needed to be normal and like everyone else. I envied people who had 9-5 jobs. They came home after work and shut off their mind to all things work related. Then when they got into work the next day they would start up again. Although I knew life would never be fully like that, I wanted something like that.

I started by getting my own studio. A place to go to work each day. I would have to get up, shower, get dressed, and interact with other humans. I was excited. It was a step. I switched my cell phone number to a land line and when I was at work I worked, when I was at home I mostly didn’t work (in all reality I still did, but i tried to limit it).

When I became pregnant with my daughter I knew life was going to change. I did not want to be the mother who never saw her daughter, and when I did see her was on the phone, emailing, and only working. I wanted to be a mom that gave her full attention. I decided to set more boundaries and truly only work from the office so that when I got home she had my full attention.

Many people have asked me how to you balance work and being a mom. There really isn’t a good answer I don’t think. I do know that I’ve tried to make my job like a normal job; I take her to school each day, go to work, and then when I get home I get to be a mom. If I need to work more I do it once she’s gone to bed. I don’t get to be a “stay at home mom”. My business doesn’t allow for that and I choose not to go that route. I wanted her to have fun and learn while I was working and I didn’t want to just stick her in front of a television to babysit her while I was working at home. (Now don’t get me wrong… sometimes I need her to watch a movie while I get some work done and it does happen, but I didn’t want that every day.)

Each day being a business owner and a mother is a struggle. My clients demand a lot out of me and I expect that. I want to give them everything fast and perfect. That’s how I work, but I also really want to be a good mom and give my daughter as much of me as I can.

Over the last 8 years I’ve been working on setting boundaries. This isn’t something I’m perfect at. I give in and break down a lot, but I’m trying hard. When I keep the boundaries I’ve set my life is more balanced and I’m happier. When I don’t, I get overwhelmed and my clients, family, and friends don’t get the best of me. I have a family who needs me, not just part of me, but all of me. I have friends that I would like to hang out with. I have books I want to read, places I want to go, things I want to see, and if I work ALL the time I won’t get to enjoy those things and in the end I think I will become a bitter woman.

I thought I would write up this post and share from my heart. I hope it helps some of you out there to know that you are not alone and we all struggle with this. I also wanted to share some of the boundaries I’ve set (and try hard to stand by).

1)  Set office hours. I have set times that I come into work. I work Tuesday – Friday from about 10:00 – 5:00. Lately I’ve included Monday’s in there as well, but really try to take one day off a week for me and Kailee.

2) Have a set phone line, that is not your cell phone. My life changed when I made my business line an actual land line. I knew that the phone calls to my cell were most likely friends and family and when I was getting an inquiry or client call it was coming through my land line. It also allowed me to leave work at the office and enjoy dinner with my family, knowing I wouldn’t have interruptions. I’m the kind of person that if the phone rings and I think there is an emergency or something that has to be done, I will answer it no matter what and that is frustrating to friends and family if you are trying to spend quality time.

3) Set Certain Days for Shoots. I realized that when clients called I would automatically work around the days that were good for them to shoot. While, this is important, it is also hard to have a life. If you are randomly shooting on every night of the week how can you have any commitments to things that you want to do? I ended up giving up all my sports teams that I was playing on, my small group, any fellowship with friends, and my life. It was depressing actually. Now, I shoot and meet with clients on Wednesday – Friday. Monday is my day to meet with my small group, who have become very dear friends and something I look forward to every week. They keep me going and lift me up. Tuesdays I take my daughter to swim lessons and then we go out on a date. My clients know that I can shoot on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday and normally are ok with that.

A random pictures of my little girl at her swim lesson. Needed times!!   (we need some type of pictures in this post)!

4) Don’t work on the weekends unless it’s a wedding. There are only 52 weekends in a year. That’s 52 weekends that I have to spend with my family if I’m not working. Since I work all week long and so does my husband, that’s really only 52 weekends that I have with them. I am a wedding photographer and shoot 20-25 weddings a year. Weddings are always on weekends, so that leaves me with about 25 weekends a year that I have to spend with my family. I don’t shoot portrait sessions or meet with clients on the weekends anymore. I can’t do it. I have to spend that time with my family because my life is going by way to fast and my daughter is going to be 3 soon and I have no clue where the last 3 years went. That’s a boundary I have to keep.

5) Don’t work on Sundays (except for a very few weddings). This is pretty much the same as above, but I need to push this a little more. Since most of my weddings are on Saturdays and my husband is an accountant (meaning during tax season he works on Saturdays) most of the time Sunday’s are our only days together as a family. While I will shoot weddings on Sundays (there are very few) I have committed this year to not shoot or meet with clients on Sundays. I know that a lot of my Bride and Grooms are from out of state and only come into town on the weekends and I know that everyone works on the week and can sometimes only meet on the weekend, but I promise you want me to be a balanced person and when i do decide to come and shoot on Sundays and leave my family, I’m a mess. I’m not fully there and all I’m thinking about is my baby girl and my husband, who I never see, so it’s best just to say no. Luckily with technology there are other ways to meet with clients and I can always skype or do a conference call, or facetime, or a number of ways to get to know you. I understand it’s not the same, but it’s something and can work!! I’ve done it before!

6)  Answer phone and emails during business hours. While you will still find me checking email ALL the time on my phone and ipad, I really try to only answer emails while I’m in the studio, unless it’s an emergency. As much as I love the iphone and that technology is at my fingertips, it’s also a horrible thing. My poor husband gets to watch my mood change all the time, especially when we go on dates and I quickly check email to find out something isn’t right or a client needs something right away. My thoughts go from him, directly to work, and I’m a mess all night. I like to fix things and I’ve just screwed up a perfectly good night because i checked my email when I was supposed to be enjoying my night. There really isn’t anything I can do about it until the next day anyway, so I’m working on finding that balance of putting down technology when I’m with my family and then picking it up again the next day. Man it’s a learning curve.

I’m sure there are more, but this is getting to be very long and you are all going to stop reading soon, if you already haven’t.

It’s been good setting boundaries. I’ve been able to spend time with my beautiful baby girl. I’ve been able to see and enjoy my husband. I’ve been able to spend more time with family and friends (not as much as I would like, but I’m trying still). I’ve also been able to be more fresh for my clients so that I’m not as burned out and can do a good job.

Lately, I’ve realized that although I’m working on the boundary things I’m not great at it. I still cave in and I still so things I say I’m not going to do. It’s my nature and I know that it will probably keep on happening, but for the sake of life, family, God, and everything else, I’m going to work hard to create a good balance between work and family. It has to be done.

I know it’s hard for clients and vendors to grasp that one sometimes and I might loose out on some business, but I promise I will be a happier and much more rounded person if I become more balanced.

I became a photographer because I love taking pictures. I became a wife because I love my husband. I became a mother because I love my daughter. I want to continue to love life at it’s fullest and that means setting boundaries to keep life enjoyable and manageable.

Life is short. It goes by so fast. Make sure that you are spending time with the people you love and not getting pushed around. For those photographers or business owners out there who are dealing with this as well. Keep your guns. Stay strong. Find a way to get some of your life back to normalcy!

Thanks everyone! Have a great week!!!

Kimberly Jarman:)