I think that I've been concerned about my future husband enjoying his career for pretty much my whole life. It's always been important to me that my husband can go to work and actually enjoy what he's doing every day. So ever since the day I started dating Jake, it's been a relief to know how much he completely and utterly LOVES his job! Jake is a software engineer for a company called Podium. I'm always telling people that when I see Jake after work each day and ask him how work was, he's constantly saying things like, "It was SO great!" "We had so much fun today!" "Today was so productive and great!" It makes me laugh every time, because I've never known anyone who just loved what they do so much! But it's not just the job, it's definitely the company as well. Podium has been so good to Jake, and I couldn't be more grateful that he works for such an awesome company. 

We went to the Podium Christmas party last night, and it was so fun to celebrate the growth of the company and meet more of the people Jake works with. Jake got some awesome swag, and they even gave the spouses a matching sweatshirt. So you bet that as soon as we got home, Jake and I put on our matching sweatshirts and then turned on The Force Awakens to prepare for the new Star Wars movie that just came out. 

Haha, life is so sweet. 

Oh, p.s. only 28 days until I get to seal the deal with the hottest man to ever walk the Earth!

Self-Image

I'm 100% a sunshine kind of girl, but these last couple of days have been perfectly rainy. 
I just love what rain does to the colors of the world.

You wanna know what crazy thing I did last week? I quit my day-job. (Insert hands-to-cheeks-with-mouth-open-wide/the classic face of Kevin from Home Alone here.) Really, this is crazy!! If you know me at all, you know I've relied on a full time job for the past 5 years. And there's a lot that goes into the reasons why, but I'm taking it as a major opportunity. Over the past couple of years, I've been dabbling with videography, and I've just loved it. Ever since I shot my first wedding, I've had a small-but-steady flow of jobs come from it, but I've always, always wanted to do more with it. I always held a full time job and never really had the time/energy to put more into it, though, and lately that's been getting to me. Even while I was doing work that related, it wasn't the same as being able to take on projects that are my own. 

I thought leaving my last job would bring a lot of fear and anxiety, but you know what I've been thinking since I made this move? 
Why didn't I do this years ago??!

And I'll tell you why. I've never really been one to care what others think of me, but I never really thought much about what I thought of myself either. Does that make sense? It's what I titled this post. Self-image. You know, that internalized war you fight with yourself on a daily basis. The war of which the outcome determines how you act, how you treat others, and how you treat yourself. Isn't is ironic that the casualty is also the assailant? Yet we make the conscious effort to lose more often than we allow ourselves to win! I'm guilty of this. We all are. 

One thing I LOVE about the gospel is that we're constantly taught how we're perfectly imperfect. And one day I will truly come to realize the validity of that statement. And you should too.

You're beautiful if you let yourself be beautiful.
You're kind if you let yourself be kind.
You're creative if you let yourself be creative.
You're a great videographer if you let yourself be a great videographer.

You with me? Amiright??

Today was a good day.

I knew as soon as I walked out my front door this morning that it was going to be a good day. The good weather was an omen of that! It was a simple day, but it was a good day. 

▲ I (re)learned that Betos is disgusting. My first experience with Betos was last Christmas Eve, and I hadn't eaten anything from there since. But when our office assistant was making a burrito run for everyone, I figured I'd get in on it. Yup, still gross. But it was just fun hanging out and eating burritos with everyone at work. My coworkers are seriously hilarious. Speaking of...

▲ My coworker Kate is allergic or something to Red Dye 40. Whenever she eats something with Red Dye 40 in it, she gets so funny. I think the same thing happens when she eats a Betos burrito, because she was just talking and singing to herself all morning. Haha she was just cracking me up! It made the morning work flow pass by really quickly.

▲ I went to visit my mom during my lunch break, and drove home with the windows down, listening to Frank Sinatra and Chicago. Could life get any better?

▲ Yes it can! My mom had leftover SLOPPY JOES!!! that I got to eat for lunch! Seriously, those are in my top 5 favorite foods. I can't get enough.

▲ I got to go to dinner with my really good friend Mike. (AND we went to Cafe Rio.) Mike's been one of my best friends for like 11 years now. I consider his family to be my family. I could go to his house when we were younger and just hang out with his mom if he wasn't home. I was always over there swimming in their pool, or going to their cabin. And Mike just always saw the best in me when other people didn't. Anyway, tonight at dinner when I asked, "How are things going?" He answered, "I can honestly say that life has never been better." And that was probably the best part of my day. I can't say enough about how big of a blessing Mike has been in my life, and isn't it the best when your friends are just so happy?! It just made my heart so happy.

And guess what else? It's Friday Eve! If that doesn't make you happy, I don't know what will. 


Annnnd for your enjoyment....middle school photos with Mike. Haha!