Empowerment Tuesdays

I am blessed with a boyfriend who empowers me to do the things im afraid of-and encourages me when I have opportunities presented to me. He has MY best interest in mind, even when he has his own reservations- allowing me to be the person I am, and supporting me while growing into the person I can be. I hope that for those of you who dont have significant others who are empowering and supportive- that you tell them to kick rocks. Soon.

Josh and I aren't perfect, and never will be, but no matter what- we don't hold each other back. I think the only things he would ever tell me "no" to are: becoming a stripper, or having an open relationship. Neither of which I'd ask for- even though everyone knows I have a wife, Khara. She and I are only married through clothing, shoes, (pretty much anything involving our closets) and terrorizing the dance floor.

This week has been an interesting one to say the least. I've packed up six boxes of garage sale/goodwill items (removing LOTS of clutter from our apartment), and packed up my first "South Carolina" box. I know it seems premature- but there are lots of things in our apartment that we don't have room for right now while sharing it with a third person. While we have six months - there is going to be a LOT going on! I'm going to be finishing up school, besides the 4th of July, Khara's birthday trip to the lake, then three weddings between September and October, our anniversary, along with planning a trip out there to find our house/apartment/van down by the river- AFTER THAT- holiday season starts - and six months is GONE.

I've been trying to stay off Zillow.com- but I can't help it, and I really need to! All it does is make me nervous that we won't find a place where we want, or for the price we want. Josh just continues to tell me it will all work out (it always does), and to stop worrying about it. We really do have to consider balance when we do get out there to look at some places though. There will come a time where a decision will have to be made between more space/more ammenities that we want, and location. As we are not a wealthy couple- and won't be when we get there- this is a legit balancing act. The pros of living downtown/near the water- are that we would save a lot of gas since we'd be able to walk/bike/bus- so maybe we can spend more on the place- and any place with vacancies in DECEMBER will hopefully be desperate enough that we can negotiate on price as it is anyways! This is what I'm hoping, so I really have to just cross my fingers, stay OFF of Zillow, focus on what I can control, and listen to Josh sometimes.

The things I can control are: working on getting us out of debt, packing, getting rid of clutter, and getting some things assembled for the decorating of the love bungalow ("shack" sounds like...box on the side of the road, NOT complimentary). Yesterday I was blessed with the opportunity to shoot with Mike Alredge (the guy I shot with last Saturday), Kathryn Ellis, and Travis Little, with assistance from Mike's wife. In conversation Saturday- Mike asked if I'd want to do a group shoot with some of my friends. Nude. Now, while I don't always love my body- I know that Josh does- and I thought it might be a great way for me to really accept my extra curves that I'm not really used to yet. Doing a nude shoot is very empowering- and is a great way to capture true beauty without the distraction or body alteration of clothing of any kind. Real bodies, real connection with the camera, the only thing we had to work with was light, each other and that camera lens. Let me tell you what, the experience (and photos) were nothing less than amazing. I believe actually that the word "amazing" is an understatement.

I'm going to have to do a separate entry about the entire process once I've had a few days to really reflect. It was truly an experience with these women (and artists)- and not just "pretty photos." It was classy, artistic, beautiful and empowering. I think that it ended up being more than any of us had any idea it would be. Mike went into it looking for that wonderful group shot for his blog and for the end of his shooting in black and white project, and I went into it wanting great photos of myself and some of my girlfriends to cover whatever ends up being "my space" in the bungalow.

I wanted photos that were really REAL of myself, and my friends- since we do so many costumes and make up (hello events like Snowpacalypse, and the Foreigner concert)- I thought doing something like this would be a great way for me to balance out all of those pictures from different events- immersed amongst the clothes and the way we use it all to camoflague who we really are. They are going to be AMAZING and I can't wait to get some of them in PRINT!

Josh of course had his reservations, but I reassured him it would be tasteful and beautiful- and he trusted that I knew what i was talking about. I'm so lucky that even when he's nervous- that he trusts me enough to make the right decision. :)

To top yesterday all off- Josh and I got to babysit Taelyn (Khara's littlest), and Rylan (Kara's only)- it was really fun working together to entertain the boo's, and do a little work around Khara's to help her out. I know she's really busy, and really overwhelmed lately- so I was wanting to suprise her with doing some extra cleaning, and running some dishes for her! Josh is so good with kids from the way he plays with them, to the way he disciplines. I think it's good for us to see the way the other would "parent," because I know that that's where a lot of couples fall flat or fall apart. Once we become parents, we won't be able to undo it- and we need to make sure that we agree on the style of child rearing. I have a feeling that if we do have children that they will be fashionable and fearless :) I'm pretty sure I fell more in love with him yesterday (which isn't REALLY different from most days) but it was definitely more yesterday.

Every day has it's ups and downs, but I think the "ups" won this week!

Ps- I got to have a cupcake for breakfast yesterday- another "win."