Back on the Blog or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the QuickBooks

OK, maybe, not *love* yet.  We’re still learning about each other.  QuickBooks is learning all about my business and I’m learning that QuickBooks knows nothing and I need to teach him everything.  That’s right.  QuickBooks is a man.  Because no woman would create such a monster that has no feelings or care about use tax.

January has been spent learning Quickbooks and cramming all of 2012 business into a 3 week time period (which also included our family of 4 with the flu).  Imagine a right brained girl being thrown into the accounting wolves–yes, it was that bad.  After a couple of video tutorials, a trip to my local library, hours upon hours of entries, and some cocktails here and there, I managed to figure him out (and then forget it all 3 weeks later).  QuickBooks, you get the best and worst of me.

2013 goals for Jennifer Lytie Photography include back to blogging once a week, ordering canvases and large prints for samples, and designing a high end album for weddings.  Speaking of weddings, I’m excited for wedding season!  This year, will be a first to photograph an intimate wedding at a private home.  I plan on building up my marketing material this year to take part in the wedding shows for 2014.  It will be an exciting year for Jennifer Lytie Photography.

So if you see me fall off the blog wagon, kick me in the Facebook page and throw me back on.

Beach Baby Beach Baby Give Me Your Hand

On Friday, I took the kids for the first time to the Shawano County Beach with a couple of my friends.  It was a perfect, summer day and only a 30 minute drive from our home.  I was impressed with the layout of the beach.  There was a large playground, a nice sandbar, and a changing/restroom facility.  Because we were there during the day, it wasn’t too busy.  We stayed for a few hours and the time flew by.  I brought my crop censored camera with me to catch the excitement of the kids playing.  Aidan enjoyed going in the deeper part of the lake and Amelia, well, she just enjoyed being Amelia.

It was nice getting some vitamin D but of course, a large floppy hat and an umbrella covered chair still couldn’t protect my white skin and I came home with a pretty bad sunburn.  Oh, well.  Alls well that ends well.  We hope to get back to the beach again before the school year starts up again.   Its important to support local travel in the community.

We Can Hitch A Ride To Rockaway Beach

Who was rockin’ the camera in 90 degree heat at Bay Beach?  This girl!  This wedding was so much fun to photograph.  I met Elise 10 years ago on my wedding day when Jeff brought her (Jeff and my husband are bffs) and now, I got to photograph her wedding.  It was an airplane themed wedding and the decorations fit the venue perfectly.  I loved the white pavilion against her white dress and the dark blue bridesmaid dresses.  It had that Nantucket feel to it and who didn’t love that 90’s show “Wings?”

The ceremony was in Pulaski and I loved how the priest incorporated the guests by finding out who has been married the longest.  There’s still hope for some of us!  The church had a gazebo out back where we photographed the dress, shoes, and family.  I loved the leading lines that were created in the image.  There was even a bird’s nest tucked inside.

While the bridal party stopped for quick drink before the reception, I headed to Bay Beach to set up all my gear and photograph all the little details.  Elise hand colored all the mason jars and assembled them as flower decorations for the tables.  I adored the banner attached to the airplane cake topper to make it look like it was flying around the layers.

When it was time for formal portraits in back of the pavilion, I couldn’t believe how much Jeff and Elise were in love with each other.  I usual don’t see this side of them.  I usually get the goofy, sarcastic talk–hmmm, must the effect of being around my husband.  I loved how natural they were when I photographed them together.  

They day went by so fast and I drank three bottles of water just to keep up with the heat.  I am looking forward to seeing the images on print.  I eagerly await for the next wedding to merge. 

Ain’t Nothin’ But a G Free Thang.

On to the diet and nutrition life in Jenny Land…  On June 13th, I decided to go gluten free.  I know its that specific date because I received blood work results thinking I had a thyroid condition.  Blood work came out “normal.”  Disconcerting to me because that meant that my tiredness and sadness issues weren’t a result from the thyroid.  Time to reflect.  Being a Yoga instructor, I’m very in tuned with my body.  I need to have control over everything.  I started feeling helpless.  I refused to go on any medication if I didn’t have to.  I thought about a few of my friends who live a gluten free lifestyle.  If you asked me two years ago if I knew anything about gluten I would have looked dumbfounded.  I think the first time I actually learned about it was on The View when Elizabeth became a co-host and discussed her issues (on gluten that is–I get annoyed with her political rants).

I’ve already shopped and cooked gluten free for my friends.  So, I knew a little about what I was getting into.  The recipes we made were amazing.  They were just as good if not better than recipes I’ve made in the past–and trust me, my baking skills are up there when it comes to quick breads, muffins, and cookies (I am a self proclaimed cookie snob).

I told my husband that I was going to go gluten free and that I wasn’t expecting the family to join me but just give me the support I need.  He’s the king of carbohydrates.  I don’t think he quite understood everything I was giving up.

By the second day, I already felt “clean” inside.  That’s the only way I can describe it.  If you’re an avid exerciser, you might understand (think missing a day of exercise and having that slimy feeling inside).  I couldn’t believe what I was missing out on all these years.  I already knew that the night before races, while others were having their spaghetti dinners, my body craved salads with meat and cheese.  I didn’t know why but I just did what my body told me to do.  I had a hard time comprehending the spaghetti before races because I always felt sluggish after eating that stuff.  It never gave me energy, just a lump in my stomach.  Well, ding, ding!  Now, I know why.

Its only been less than two weeks now of going gluten free, so, I don’t want to be this shout-it-over-the-roof tops-town crier because I know it will be hard work.  Gluten is in everything–ok, almost everything and I know that I will cheat here and there.  There’s a piece of wedding cake on Saturday that already has my name on it!  Restaurants will be challenging.  This past Saturday, I attended a birthday party at a pizza place and they served birthday cake afterwards.  So, I chose to order soup.  Now, I realized after I put my order in that the soup was probably made with flour but I knew that my gluten intolerance is no where near other people’s.  Who knows, maybe I don’t even have a gluten intolerance.  Time will tell and time has already told me that my body feels better.  The soup was my only cheat so far (that’s right, I turned the other cheek to birthday cake).  I was afraid of giving up my raisin bran in the morning that usually filled my up til noon and replacing it with a rice cereal.  I thought, there’s no way that will sustain my appetite until lunch.  On the contrary, eating less carbs has made me less hungry.  In eight days of going gluten free, I lost 4 lbs!  That alone, is worth sticking to this lifestyle.

The photo above is my starter collection of gluten free products that I purchased at Woodmans today.  I’m missing a few that I will need to find at a different grocer.  Crazy pronounced items like sorghum flour and tapioca starch.  Plus, others that weren’t even on my grocery list because there’s only so much money allotted.  I’m excited to try making gluten free pancakes from scratch.  I already make regular pancakes from scratch, so, I’m up for the challenge.  And oatmeal chocolate chip cookies?  Yes, please!

So, in conclusion of this gluten rant free of any photography mentioning (I actually tried an elaborate 3 light set up to showcase the food products but gave up and threw a flash back on the camera and just bounced it), I’m not advocating everyone to go gluten free but gluten has been linked to so many bad ailments that the list could go on and on.  Most doctors aren’t recognizing it and putting the blame on other things.  Think headaches, IBS, bloating, fatigue, crohn’s, arthritis…  Giving up gluten, may help to lower or even eliminate those issues.  Its worth it just to try.  I’ve heard from others that it takes a good month before you really notice results or to self diagnose.  Its important to just be aware of what you’re throwing into your body.  Really, there is no nutritional benefit to eating a slice of white bread or hot dog/burger bun.  Be kind to your body.  Namaste.

*Update:  After purchasing a couple more ingredients, I made these dark chocolate oatmeal cookies today for my husband’s birthday (recipe from Gluten Free Goddess).  He loved them more than other cookies he’s tried because they weren’t as sweet.  I told  him it was because they were made with love.  *awe*  Seriously, Gluten Free Goddess has incredible recipes.  She’s broken down all her ingredients and created her own tried and true recipes.  Most baking recipes are devised of multiple flours to create the best outcome (example:  these cookies use both brown rice flour and sorghum flour).  Check out her site.  Each recipe includes a lovely image of the end product.  I’ve already created a folder in my Pinterest with lots of her goodies in it.

 

Let Me Take You Down ‘Cause I’m Going To Strawberry Fields

We took the kids strawberry picking for the first time on Father’s Day.  I grabbed my 50mm lens because I wanted to practice with it on the new full frame camera.  We met up with a couple friends who live near the patch.  As soon as Amelia realized you can pick a strawberry and immediately put in your mouth, she shoved in as many as she could.  We’d pick the berries, place them in the box, she would take them out of the box and eat them.  Juice was dripping down her body. She couldn’t eat the fast enough.  Joe kept calling her a vampire.  We ended up picking 5.25lb. (not including the pound in Amelia’s belly).  Luckily, we stopped when we did because I only had a $5 bill.

Its nice to be able to show kids where their food comes from.  We live in a country now where all of our food either comes from the grocery store, the restaurant,  or the internet.  I remember as a kid, taking school field trips to local farms.  Now, my kid barely takes any school field trips any where (I think it was one field trip this school year to the planetarium). I remember as a kid, my grandma having a large vegetable garden behind her house in Stevens Point.  She would can corn–I’ve been told that when I would “help,” it was one scoop in the jar, one in my mouth.  Er, maybe, Amelia’s giving me payback.

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Our great friends, Jeff and Elisa, will be getting married the end of the month.  I’m so excited to be asked to photograph their wedding.  Today, we went out to the Pulaski Airport to shoot their family/engagement photos.  Jeff proposed to Elise on at 11:11pm on 11.11.11 in his private airplane.  The Decathlon and the airport are such a large part of their lives, that I HAD to incorporate it.  There was no question.  Jeff drove me around the airport to show me location options.  I saw the runway and thought “hmmm how often does one get to have their picture taken on a airport runway?”  We pulled back into the hanger and then, I saw the vintage airplane bench.  *ding ding*  My love for vintage AND it ties in with the airplane theme?  Yes, please!  There were actually two benches, this red one and a blue one.  They chose the red one and I think it looks great.

We started shooting at about 9am but it was already hot.  The shoot lasted about an hour and my hair was a sweaty mess.  I’m happy with how the images turned out and I think they are, too.  Jeff and Elise were so relaxed in their environment, that the photos had such a natural feel and flow to them.  Can’t wait for the Bay Beach wedding!

Back to the Business Cards Drawing Board

The Green Bay Triathlon was great!  I guess 4th time is the charm.  This year was my favorite. I left feeling happy and accomplished.  My friend, Jodi, and I both PR’d (race term for “personal record”) with a 30 second lead.  Not much of a PR but it still counts!

This week, I’ll be focusing on getting new business cards designed and printed with all my new info and logo.  The logo was designed by Kristy Borseth.  We collaborated and came up with a logo that embodied my love for vintage design and old cameras.  If anyone is in need of a logo or graphic design work, I’d be happy to pass on her contact info for you.

Here is the first draft design of the new business cards!

Front                                                     Back

 

 

 

Week of triathlon

Today, starts day one of my new photography blog.  This blog will help you understand a little more about me and my interests outside of photography.  Or, a little entangled, you never know.  Kicking off presummer this week with gearing up for the Green Bay Triathlon on Sunday.  This will be my 4th time participating.  Last year was my third triathlon at age 33–quite the trifecta.   I may be slow but I always finish. Well, not “always.” Last year, I had a DNF (race acronym for “did not finish”) at the Minneapolis Duathlon through no fault of my own.  They closed the course on me to start letting traffic through.  If you ever thought about trying a tri, the Green Bay Triathlon is a wonderful first timers race.  You barely “swim” in the Ashwaubomy (half of the loop you can literally walk through it).

A Photography business and a triathlon go hand in hand.  I would eventually like to write an autobiography that include the the two.  You start with a training plan.  That training plan could take months or years depending on what you know and what level you’re at.  Purchasing lots of gear that needs to be taken care of because it could break down.  Low grade, high grade; eventually, its all in the operator that gives the final performance.  You put all your gear in transition one, making the big leap at the water’s edge with people all around you doing the same exact thing.  Then, its a turn in the game by going through a transition.  How long it takes you in the transition depends on your mental stamina, your physical stamina, and your organizational skills.  You could literally be “lost in transition” (I was once at my 2nd triathlon when I put my gear in the wrong numbered section).  Having already completed your first part and you’ve already transitioned, its on to the second.  A completely different feat.  Its scary.  Its exhilarating.  Its disappointment.  Its whatever you are in your point of life.  Breaking through barriers.  Getting passed by those who are stronger than you, those who are faster than you.  They’re older.  They’re younger. “On your left” heard more than once.  Still, you push on.  Hoping no parts fall off during the ride.  Mile markers–why aren’t you there yet?  Completing that phase.  Transitioning again.  Was it what you thought it would be?  How long will you take in the second transition?  Did you watch out for people when entering?  Dismounting just at the right time.  Are those organization skills working for you? Time to wear a new pair of shoes.  Put on a different hat.  Leave that transition once and for all.  The final phase.  Giving it all you’ve got.  Heavy feet.  Are you sure this is what you wanted to train for?  If you’re doing this all on your own, are you going to stick with it and finish?  Or, throw in the towel and just do relays because then, two other people can pick up the slack.  Is it “all or nothing” for you?  After all, that’s what being a sole owner is all about.  Finish line.  You did it!  Was it everything you wanted it to be?  50% of businesses fail within the first year and you made it through.  Who has the guts to even “tri” it?  It doesn’t matter how long it took you or if you didn’t have the fanciest gear or tripped along the way.  You’re going to get bruised and sun burnt and ache.  It matters that you did it.  You’re a business owner who pays taxes.  You’re a triathlete.