It’s ok, be weird.
Here's a thought to ponder…
(Sorry for the photo quality, these were all taken with my purse camera) 😉 I don't usually talk about super personal stuff on here very often but this is important enough that I think it needs to be said…and I think a lot of people out there can benefit from this information, it can truly change their lives for the better. Four years ago, my dad bought us a book that changed our financial lives completely and I'm excited to say that in about 1 year, that question in the photo above will be a reality for us. John & I will be personally AND professionally 100% DEBT FREE!!! Do you even KNOW how empowering that is?! 🙂 Talk about FREEDOM!! For so many Americans, car payments and debt is just a normal way of life but as my favorite financial guru Dave Ramsey says, "If that's the norm, I want to be weird!"
I've been a fan of Dave's ever since we read his book back in 2003. He landed a 3 hour spot (noon-3 p.m.) on talk radio here in Indy this year (he was on 93.9 but has since moved to 95.9 this week, change your radio presets!) and when we found out he was coming to Indy for a live event on Thursday, I bought us VIP tickets! He is just as phenomenal in person as he is in his best-selling books! 🙂 Yesterday I attended his all-day Business Coach live event at the Convention Center downtown…AMAZING. Every business owner should attend one of these conferences. I think it's just as important to step back and work ON your business as it is to be working IN your business and during this crazy time of year, it was the perfect get away for the day. He talked about leadership, entrepreneurs, vision casting, goal setting, time management, organization, budgeting, savings, hiring, firing, delegating, recognition and inspiration! I highly recommend other business owners attend his next Business Coach class and check out his website by CLICKING HERE! You will be blown away by the amount of helpful information he has to offer and you owe it to yourself, your staff and your clients to keep improving your leadership skills and the level of service you offer.
As a way of "paying it forward" I want other faithful blog readers who want to change their financial future to get the same opportunity that we were given. I bought 5 copies of Dave's best selling book, The Total Money Makeover while attending yesterday's Business Coach event and the first 5 people to e-mail me their name and mailing address will receive a free copy of Dave's book this week. You just have to promise me that #1 you'll apply the information and #2, you'll share it with others. 🙂 E-mail me for your FREE book at: [email protected] (Quick update – all 5 books are now spoken for but you can order a copy for only $10 on Dave Ramsey's website by CLICKING HERE!) Oh, and by the way, he doesn't accept credit cards, only debit cards. 😉 …and I just found out that the $10 special is only good through this Thanksgiving weekend…
The Animal Rescue Site…
Diana (one of my side-shooters that many of you know) sent me the link to an adorable pink & green tote bag that she found online this afternoon and I fell in love with the entire website!!! I ended up buying 2 new purses, (a girl can never have too many! LOL) a wallet, a Christmas gift for my aunt (she's a loyal blog reader so I can't post what it is…) and I was able to make additional charitable contributions through their website. Did you know $20 can vaccinate 10 shelter cats? Did you know that $20 also sends 2 girls to school in Afghanistan? Unreal! Since they also donate a portion of all of the proceeds from the products sold on the website to animal shelters, my receipt actually says "Your purchase will give 70 bowls of food to animals in need" WOW!!! 😀 I highly suggest that all of my faithful blog readers do their Christmas shopping by clicking HERE!!
P.S. New pics from this past weekend coming soon…I've been buried in editing work all week!! 🙂
The A-List Results!!
I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting the results from the A-List voting and before I post them on here, I want to say THANK YOU again to everyone who voted for us!! Out of nearly 70 photographers in the running, we won 2nd place!!! 🙂 I'm glad that if anyone had to beat us for the #1 spot, it was our friends Bobbi + Mike. They have been an inspiration to us ever since they moved to Indy and they even did our family photos last year so CONGRATS to both of them, they deserve it!! 😀
I found this funny pic of Bobbi from when we ran into each other at WPPI in Vegas this past March! LOL Bobbi grabbed my camera and started shooting pics of herself making funny faces…. 🙂 She cracks me up!
Dad’s article…
Last week I posted about this article in the Carmel Star's Sports section that featured my dad (and my photo of him!) from this past Summer's Fantasy Football camp experience and his Bowl game experience this month. They scanned the actual article for him and he e-mailed this to me today…very cool!!! 🙂 Congrats dad!!
Funny follow-up to the wedding in the rain….
First, I have to give a shout out to the girls at Hill & Usher/Hartford who were WONDERFUL and SO EASY to work with on our water logged camera claim!!! Photographers who read my blog – if you don't have insurance or you aren't happy with your current provider, I highly recommend Hartford's Photographers Insurance Package, not only does it cover all of the usual stuff, but the stretch endorsement for "business personal property off premises" covered us completely and the check to reimburse us for our new D200 came in today – only 2 weeks after submitting the claim!! I was totally impressed…especially since I had forgotten to update my equipment list (oops) and the camera that died wasn't even on it. I thought it would take a lot longer and figured that they'd make me send it to them (totally expected under the circumstance) but they didn't…they even checked out my blog to see the photos of the rained out wedding first hand and couldn't believe it! LOL Luckily in all of the years that I've been with them, that was my first claim ever (and hopefully my last) but it was nice to actually have a GOOD experience with the insurance industry that wasn't a hassle like I thought it could have been…
Anyway, back to the wedding…I remember the three of us sitting down at dinner that night, in complete shock after shooting a wedding in the pouring down rain, and I blurted out, "This wedding will be published!" John & Diana looked confused at first and then I said, "After this is all said and done, no one would believe the pictures that we have from tonight's wedding….it will be published somewhere someday, I'm sure of it." They kind of laughed and agreed…I don't know where that random thought came from in the midst of all of that, but sure enough, I received an e-mail from the bride today. A friend of hers found this site from the Farmers Almanac where they're holding a "Worst Wedding Weather" contest!!! She's submitting her story and our pics and if they win, they'll receive a 2nd honeymoon with a vow renewal on a cruise! 😀 They ssssooooo deserve to win….and I hope we get to shoot that wedding too!! LOL 😀 Good luck you guys!!!!!