Whoa now… before you go jumping off the deep end with that post title… I’m talking about the Love Affair Workshop for (lady) photographers. Mikel and I are just fine. 
If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you know that I’ve been posting about this fabulous workshop coming up this July. I. CAN’T. WAIT. And better yet… they’re offering scholarships (follow the link above to find out more). One of the ways you can enter to win a scholarship is by writing about why you want to go on your own blog. The only reason why I explain this is that I’m about to overshare about our last 4 months… if you are interested, great! Go ahead and read my story. If you follow me for the photos… great! More photos coming soon… but this post may not be for you! So now… in true Paul Harvey fashion… for the rest of the story:
Actually… one more thing: Before I start this – a caveat. I am incredibly blessed. I have a great husband, dog, cat, house, and CLIENTS. My client base is loyal and I love all you – it is completely my goal to be in service to you for a long time to come! I know MANY people have had hard times recently and my story is not nearly as bad as it could be. I’m not playing the “woe is me” card here – I am just explaining why I am so in need of this retreat this summer (what a frivolous thing! what a necessary thing!). Please don’t take this as me saying I have an awful life or that I am ungrateful for everything that I *do* have.
2009 has been a hard year for Mikel and me. We started off the year hopeful and determined. We spent a day in early January planning out a vision for Deena Riley Photography and were super excited about what this year held for us. And then things began to get a little rough. As many of you know, we both are teachers – the goal is to be able to go to photography full time one day, but for now, we need those happy paychecks from the school districts (not to mention we love helping out our students). Well, January brought some challenges at work for both of us – nothing major or anything, but we were ready to get past January. I also was rear ended by a student in the parking lot at school – again, not a major thing. It ended up being just a minor blip on the radar for what was to come.
From there, we were sure things would go up… then February 17 came. Many school districts are in financial trouble with the economy, and my school district is no different. I found out on February 17 that due to the financial troubles I was being reassigned in my district. While this doesn’t sound so bad, in the teaching world, it’s equivalent to being laid off. You get about a month to try to find a job on your own in the school district (you basically try to reassign yourself), and if you can’t find one they’ll assign you one. If you don’t like what they assign you (and it could be anything), you are welcome to resign. YIKES. Needless to say, this sent me into a tail spin – I currently teach at the high school I graduated from with people I love dearly. It is truly my dream teaching job. I was absolutely devastated. I am glad to say that I have been VERY blessed and have managed to secure a teaching assignment for myself within the district that will keep me employed and the bills paid for next school year. But, it’s still hard to think about and imagine teaching anywhere else. I’m tearing up as I write this.
That has to be the worst – right? Well, here comes April… In the span of a week, my husband and I were both in fender benders. Ugh. Then Mikel was… you guessed it… reassigned in his district. Mikel still hasn’t found another job yet – so if you know anyone need a high school band director in the DFW area, let me know! Also (nope… not done yet…), we found out that due to the fact that our mortgage company mismanaged our escrot account, our payments are going up substatinally starting in June to make up for the shortfall that they created. Nice, huh? That was on my birthday.
Through all of this, I have been dealing with some health issues. Don’t worry, I’m fine – not dying or anything (I’m not going to go into it here because my students don’t need to know THAT much about me! ha!) – but it’s added to the stress of it all throughout this whole process.
So… why do I want to go to Love Affair? I need a pick-me-up! I need a refreshment of inspiration! I need a renewal of spirit! I need that push that will get my rocket boosters in overdrive to make this company everything it is in my dreams! I need that breath of fresh air that being able to step out of my life for a week and look a little more objectively at my life will allow. Perspective people! I have definitely learned during these 4 months that things can ALWAYS be worse, despite what you might think. I have learned that I have the greatest friends. I have learned, once again, that I definitely have chosen the right man to be my husband. I can’t wait to see what else I can learn about myself, my life, and my business at Love Affair.
There… that’s it! Done now. Now you know why every now and then on this blog there have been “moments of silence” – it’s not that I don’t have things to say. I have just been handling… other things. No matter what, I’m going to Love Affair if I have to scrape every penny off the sidewalk and look through all of my couches (which I’m going to have to do… ha!) – this scholarship would just be such a blessing and a light at the end of this current tunnel. Cross your fingers for me!
Photos coming soon!
