Click on the title of the blog post to view the entire entry.
I got a bit motivated/inspired this afternoon with the cloudy weather to go outside and play/take pictures of Hudson. I just love this little outfit with it’s colors and hood!
He didn’t give me ANY smiles, but I did get lots of concerned forehead wrinkle pictures:)
Here’s his famous “toe spread” action. I FINALLY got it on “film”. That’s going in the baby book.
One interesting thing you might not know about me is I’ve worked for the railroad (BNSF) for the last 3 years. It’s been a fabulous experience… AWESOME boss, interesting job, supportive coworkers, and wonderful customers (though there were those who made me want to hang up on them because they were so unpleasant). I worked in eBusiness training (no pun intended) customers via phone all day on how to do business with us using our web tools (like how to pay bills, ship cars, dispute charges, etc).
Why am I telling you this? Because today is my last day as a BNSF employee. I had our first baby July 1st and I’ve been on maternity leave since. The last day of that leave is today. I’ve decided to stay home with Hudson so I won’t be returning. I’ve been a little melancholy lately because I’m grieving the loss. I didn’t think I’d really be emotional about it, but I am. I’ll miss having to get up and be somewhere, dressed with make up and hair done, at a certain time every day. I’ll miss my coworkers (shout out to Cari, Debbie, Dea and Rachel!) and hearing about their lives and their most recent hair cuts. There’s always something going on.
But as hard as it will be it’s the right decision for our family and I hear I’ll never regret it.
I’ve had such a fabulously encouraging response so far on the contest (8 entries just in the first day!). Keep em coming. Thanks to all who have taken the time to visit my site and blog.
Something super out of this world happened that I just had to blog about because it blessed me so much (and I thought I’d say thanks with a plug in return). I had asked my realtor, Jeanenne Kienle with Keller Williams, if she knew of any high school seniors who she could tell about my recently launched senior rep program. She wrote back and asked if, instead, I would want her to email all her Keller Williams agents about my work/website. She said there were about 380 agents- I said “you bet!”. Can’t turn down an opportunity like that. Anyway, she emailed me what she wrote and it was such an amazing referral I just had to post it:
“Just a quick note to give you information about the most creative, inspirational photographer I have seen in years. I sold this young lady a home about a year ago and she was just growing her business…..now it has grown……. and so has she as a photographer…….please enter her site below if for no other reason but to have a smile for the day!!! Her photos of children are out of this world!! Her blog is just as enjoyable.”
Amazing. And so is she. If you’re in the market for a knowledgeable, helpful, highly qualified agent to sell or buy a home, you should call her at 817.307.0600 or email her at jk@fivestarhometeam.net. Two of the attributes I appreciated most about Jeanenne was: 1) she didn’t force her (very educated and qualified) opinion on us unless we asked. I always asked though because I knew she knew more than us. I never regretted following her suggestions. 2) She was SUPER patient. We were VERY picky buyers- we wanted everything for nothing. But she never made us feel like a waste of her time or a second class buyer. She stuck with us to the end and we ended up with EXACTLY what we wanted and for an AMAZING price.
I’ve not only been working on my new blog, I’ve also been working on a new and improved splash page (the splash page is that first screen you see when you go to my website) as can be seen above. I’m also VERY excited about this and I need your help.
You’ll notice there are two spots for a picture. I’m not sure which images I want to insert and I don’t really want to spend the hours deciding. So- this is where you (and the contest) come in.
Look through my website galleries as well as images from old blog postings (click links above & ‘my old blog’) and email me (amandalynnphoto@yahoo.com) which image you think I should use for which spot (specify ’square’ or ‘horizontal’). Notice one is square and the other horizontal, so you’ll want to consider that as you choose. I’ll end up choosing the final images from what you send me… in essence you’re narrowing down my options.
There will be two winners- one for each spot. The prize will be a $30 gift card to the place of your choosing. When you submit your image, also tell me what store you’d like a gift card to. If by random chance two different people enter the same winning image, I’ll draw for the winner. You can even enter for both spots and win both prizes ($60 gift card!) if I choose both of your entered pictures.
The deadline for this is September 13. I’m so excited and can’t wait to hear from you!
amanda
PS If you would like an idea of what types of pictures look really good on a splash page, you can see these for inspiration:
http://www.imagesofgracephoto.com/
http://www.stephanielynnphotos.com/
http://www.savinggracephotography.com/#
Welcome to my new blog and thanks for visiting! Really- I mean it. I’ve spent WAY too much time working on this thing and it’s only exciting if I get to share it with you and all your friends! So, visit often (or sign up at the bottom to receive new posts via email) and tell all your friends about it!
To celebrate, I’m having a contest! This is so much fun- I’ve never done a contest before. I’m a little nervous that no one will participate & it’ll be one big flop- so please put my fears to rest and join in! Read the next posting for details.
