jan schill photography :blog:

so this is it…right!?  the time when we sit & reflect on the past year & look ahead to the year knocking at our front door.  it’s easy.  maybe too easy.  i live this way!  as soon as a goal is reached, a purchase is made, a moment is captured…i am on to the next.  i live in a “what’s next” type of mindset, not a bigger-better deal mindset (oh my, did i just reveal my obsession with millionaire matchmaker?!).  i rarely take time to relish in the now…to soak in the moment…i smile at the accomplishment, and move on!  i want more!!!  i do try!  i have two little girls with countless moments to relish in…to smile at the moments when they accomplish something wonderful…i take a mental snapshot, give them a high five, hug them til i’ve squeezed their guts a little too hard, write it in their calendar, & before i know it they’re walking, talking, potty trained, & sleeping through the night.  i even have a husband that does wonderful things!…even though i never want to give him credit!  and, i am extremely sentimental…even pack-rat sentimental…i keep every momento…i have the plastic champagne flute from my first time up to the top of the eiffel tower…and all of my train passed from the subways in europe.  i suppose that i know that i’ve got a lot of living to do…and i want to do it…NOW!!!  so, to reflect on this year and then look ahead is quite the task…a lot can happen in three hundred-sixty-five days…

harper walking…vegas with mom…wppi…andrew to prayer breakfast in dc…harper talking…livi turned four…harper turned two…baby sister came to visit…made history…surgery on my wrist…made a great new friends…second shot for someone with no back-up gear…shot a wedding at a gallery…got a new home office…redecorated the house…got film gear…florida with my besties…workshop with david beckstead…learned to kelvin white balance…got an ipad…learned that i shoot vertical too much…never turned down a hug or kiss from my littles…shot a lot for commercial clients…got a little corner of the world in blossom durango…have real office hours & a place to meet with clients…workshop with mike colon…first model shoot…changed my pricing to something respectable…turned thirty-one…photographed my littles for 300 days…reached out to vendors & had a lot of lunch dates…olivia started making her own bed…chatted with my bestie, janet, almost daily…let the littles finger paint on the side of our house…ran through the sprinklers…harper started potty training…passed & survived the 7-year mark in our marriage…snuggled my littles as often as they would let me…got away to denver with andrew for our anniversary…spent more time with my littles than on the computer…supported missionaries & humanitarian projects in the u.s. and overseas…figured out that i want to do waaaay more authentic modern lifestyle work…cleaned out my own car for once…tried to never tell my littles to “hold on” because i was working…had a huge birthday bash for harper…said no to jobs that didn’t fit…put my family before my clients…switched to all organic meats & dairy…andrew turned closer to forty than thirty…got a huge imac…witnessed clients get engaged…was rejected…almost completely switched to all organic veggies…started making fish/seafood once/week…forgave someone that was far too competitive…had regular dates with andrew…got an off-site back-up company for my files…ate ice cream on the porch…new orleans for partnercon…workshop with carla teneyck…had tickle fight with the littles…tweeted waaaay too much…talked to olivia about God a lot…made the national news…learned that i’m only quiet when i shoot a wedding…saw tammy win her battle with cancer…shot tammy’s family photos-cancer free…played nerf-gun tag all around the house with A…got over myself enough to try harder…learned the beauty in humility…made friends literally from twitter…found great happiness in being me, with no apologies…learned that silence is golden, but only for a short while…discovered that putting myself out there pays off every time, even when it feels like rejection…fell deeply in love with our cleaning lady every time i came home to the smell of almond method wood floor cleaner…made cookies with olivia…found that husbands work in mysterious way & mine believes in me more than i think…witnessed olivia’s first dance recital…discovered that april at blossom is the only living person that loves peonies as much as i do…tried to smile & swallow my pride at competitive moms…grew increasingly thankful for my wonderful friends…realized that we can’t live without nanny-sitter ashley…realized that home is really where we are…put others before me & stood up against someone that no one else would stand up to…found that girls nights with my besties really are the best medicine…discovered harpers’ sweet voice…was much more generous than i ever have been…found friends in my sisters that i didn’t realize were there…bar-b-qued on sunday summer evenings with our favorite kansans…was so incredibly thankful that andrew was so incredibly busy at work…thought a lot about running, but didn’t run a mile…was asked to use my images for advertising…supported a man in india feeding the homeless & otherwise forgotten…found a chef to work for that makes yummies for my family…was too selfish too often…laughed loudly…tried and failed, and loved it…met amazing brides…sat and read on the front porch…defined success personally, not by money, and achieved it fully!…decided to give up tv unless andrew wants to watch one of “our shows”…apologized to my littles when i was wrong…discovered a group of amazing friends that love well and laugh constantly…made a list of real life goals…discovered a gaggle of books that i must read…danced in public without music…took arabic…watched friends add to their families…shared sorbet pops with harper…lost a scarf, a watch, a coat, keys, and sometimes maybe even a bit of my mind…spent entire days in my pj’s…wrote far more blogs in my head that i actually blogged…gave up control…had a life…

i’m sure there is waaay more…no matter how much i love to be lazy, i always manage to also be busy!  there were three hundred-sixty-five days & i do think that sleep can be such a waste of time…

i suppose that a photographers blog post is not quite complete without an image…and in true jan schill style i insist on overdoing it by sharing an entire slideshow, just to be thorough…and a mom’s slideshow would not be complete without some images of her own family…so here is a bit of my 2010…your images…my images…happy 2011 everyone!

happy & blessed new year, js

2010 commercial client images not included…sorry guys…=)…you know i heart you too…i do!!!