3 THINGS! i took away from alt for everyone

Posted on May 22, 2013

This past weekend, in-between the moving and unpacking, I had the opportunity to attend Alt Summit for Everyone. There, on a crazy cool online conference platform, I got to take classes on topics such as graphic design, photoshop, iMovie, and social media. Along with hearing from a couple of my favorite bloggers. It was awesome, to say the least. And 100% inspiring. I could go on all day talking about the little things I learned like what DPI and PPI stands for (dots per inch and pixels per inch, respectively. But instead, I decided I wanted to share the 3 things I am taking away. The things that truly inspired me. AND BOY, are they good.

1. It takes 10,000 hours to be an expert I can’t tell you how many times my piano teach told me this back in the day, and for some reason it always went in one ear and out the other. But hearing it again from Jordan @ Oh Happy Day really resinated with me. Being a little older, having my own goals, and knowing what I want out of life itself gave meaning to the quote. Now, *all* I have to do is spend 10,000 hours behind the camera. I calculated it out, if I never sleep and never do anything out, I will be an expert photographer in 416.6667 days ;)

2. You have to want it Simple advice from the beautiful, crazy talent, super mom Oh, Joy. I touched on this topic here a little, but when I was sitting in my accounting class I liked what I was learning. Honestly, I love learning anything so this doesn’t surprise me. But, my heart just wasn’t there. Whenever I started to talk about being a CPA one day, people would ask me why, and I would say “Well, I want to make money.” It was always about the money. Now when I talk about being a lifestyle photographer, its never about the money. NEVER EVER. It’s about telling everybody’s individual story and it’s about being happy. And I want to be happy. I really, really want to be happy.

3.”A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order. John-Luc Godard” Jenner Brown brought this quote to my attention during a presentation on iMovie and it really made me stop and think. Next time I am making a movie, I am going to keep this in mind. My goal for this blog is to incorporate more and more short films, so I am thankful for any information I can get my hands on when it comes to shooting/editing. Jenner Brown is a wealth of knowledge and really knew how to teach. I can’t wait to make another short film..soon!

Thanks for the great weekend and the new knowledge, Alt Summit!

image from alt summit

Categories: journal

moments from the past week..

Posted on May 20, 2013

last pictures in the old apartment

I have lost count at how many times I have said to someone, “This past week has been crazy!” When Zack and I moved into our first apartment, we didn’t have anything. We had to go out and buy plates, silverware, couch, coffee table, night stand, shower curtain..you get the point. For some reason, I had forgotten about all this. I just assumed moving into our second apartment would be as easy as last time we moved. And OH BOY, was I wrong. Add on painting and attending Alt For Everyone to the week, and pretty soon life is just about as crazy as it can get.

trips to lowe’s (aka one of Zack’s all time favorite stores) for all our painting needs

late night painting sessions which always included coffee and good conversation

when the weather was as nice as it was last week, no matter how crazy life is you can’t help but sneak away a couple times for drinks and dinner. this time was with our friend neil on the jolly pumpkin‘s back patio- i had forgeten how much i love this place, we will be back..soon!

i would show you pictures of our apartment but it still kinda looks like this..only a couple boxes left though!

my new favorite dinner to cook, pecan crusted chicken salad. i made it last night as our first meal in the new apartment. so far i’m 90% sure our stove/oven is nicer than our last. that’s a win in my eyes!

after hearing me talk about how much i love all the lilacs in bloom, zack picked me a couple. he’s a keeper ;)

Happy Monday- Here’s to hoping this week is a little less crazy and the 80 degree weather is here to stay!

ps. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER, BRIANNE, WHO IS TURNING 13 TODAY. LOVE YOU CUTIE!

Categories: everyday moments

blog, inc

Posted on May 16, 2013

Before I started love court xoxo, I read a lot of blogs. I was always intrigued by the blogging world and wanted to learn more. Just from running my blog for the short amount of time I already have, I feel I have learned more than I ever could have imagined. But, I know there is still so much I don’t know (like how to really use photoshop). When I turned 20, I challenged myself to make a list of things I want to do before turning 21. On that list was “read 12 books.” A simple goal that I hope to go above and beyond achieving. Anyway, the first book I picked up was Blog, Inc. The author, Joy from Oh Joy!, has a writing style that I absolutely love. If you write a blog, or even if you just are curious about all things blog, you have to pick up this book. I know I will be referring to it many times in my future because it is packed full of valuable information.

Going along with the theme of learning all things blogging, I am attending Alt Summit for everyone (an online conference for bloggers) this weekend. My first class starts in 15 minutes and I can’t wait to take in as much as possible and build on the knowledge that I gained from reading Blog, Inc.