it's monday

It's Monday and I've been behind my computer since 8:30 this morning, getting my weekly blog post published and shared, importing photos from my session last night and doing my beginning round of edits for sneak peeks on Thursday. In my culling process, I found this photo and I just needed to share because it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Happy Monday!

on pancakes and gratitude

I woke up this morning with a craving for pancakes after having a dream about them last night. According to dream moods, pancakes "represent gratification and pleasure in your current situation. You take pleasure and comfort in the simple things of life." I have felt like I am on top of the world this week. I had a consult with a wedding couple when I was in Burlington last weekend, another consult on Monday evening after I got back to Waupaca, and another consult with a bride over the phone this afternoon. I just booked THREE weddings in one week. I only need to book one more wedding to hit my goal for next year!

I feel like this is all I blog about these days, but sometimes I still have to pinch myself that this is all real and happening to me. I stopped at Hardee's to get food after my consult on Monday and told Melissa, "Every single day I am grateful that I quit this job." And it's true. This time last year, I was winding down from busy season and trying to figure out what was next in this photography journey of mine. I took a bunch of free webinars and some classes and sat down with my planner and got to work trying to rebrand and really rebuild my business from the ground up. I redid my website from H2T (ANTM reference anyone?) and finally created something I am proud to say showcases me, my brand, and my business. I couldn't have done it without Jenna Kutcher and Jenni Maroney; I will forever sing their praises and how quality their classes are!

Then I got sick and I spent most of December rotating between my bed and hospitals  and waiting rooms and doctors offices (and rinse and repeat for the rest of winter). Y'all, the waiting was hard. Feeling like I couldn't go out and take pictures, or not wanting to because I didn't feel good, was the worst. I faced some major anxiety about if I was doing the right thing not having another job because at the time I only had three things on my 2019 calendar: Emily's wedding, Brittany's wedding, and Abby's senior pictures. In my head, I always told myself, "You just need to make it to April. Wedding season starts and SPRING will be here and busy season will start again."

And then I blinked and now it's the end of August, and I'm planning for fall mini session releases, and brain dumping trying to figure out a good Black Friday deal, and Christmas presents for my family clients as a little thank you for supporting me this year. I have sessions in my blog post queue for my website that aren't going live until December. That in and of itself sorta blows my mind until I take a step back and realize that I have been pretty busy this summer (and it's not over yet!). I only need to book three more sessions and my editorial calendar will be full until next MAY.

I'm just so damn grateful that I get to do this every day. That I get to wake up and work for myself and set some weeks where everything feels like go-go-go-go and then take a week or two off to rest and catch up on editing and galleries and shipping products before I go-go-go again. That's the beauty of this whole thing. I'm really blown away that everything I was dreaming about 9 months ago while I was laying in a hospital bed is finally coming true.

You just gotta put in the work.

And, as Noelle reminded me today, "You are taaallleeennnttted. And ya deserve it. You work damn hard. And you have invested a ton of time into becoming a great photographer, a lot of money into building your business, so now you get the reward."

a weekend in photos

Weekends home are SO good for the soul.

currently, august edition

drinking an iced caramel macchiato from the Coffeehouse this morning.

driving back to waupaca later today after being in burlington all weekend.

wearing my Choose Joy t-shirt as often as possible.

celebrating a few new wedding couples being added to Anna Gutermuth Photography... 6/6/2020 & 6/27/2020 got snatched up in the last week!

speaking of burlington... I'm missing the sunflower field already.

looking forward to Mini Sessions at the county fair this year!

watching desperate housewives... it's basically the PLL of the early 2000's and I love it.

working on a 50th Anniversary Party from earlier this month.

eating peanut butter M&M's while I edit.

creating an editorial calendar for 2020... is there anything you guys want to see on my website blog?

and planning for the craziness that is going to be October... Justin's birthday, two weekends of mini sessions, and Brittany's wedding the weekend after that!

considering taking November off after seeing all that on paper.

thinking of my dad... Saturday was the three-year anniversary of his passing and I miss him so much.

wishing you all a very happy Monday!

i got blue skies

does tuesday really mean GO DAY?

I. am. exhausted. To paint the whole picture for you: I did not pass go, did not leave the house today, did not change out of my pajamas. I have been in front of my computer alllllllllllllllll day long. But I DID get a lot of work done today!

• Posted sneak peeks from Friday's anniversary session on social media
• Put final editing touches on my session from Friday
• Sent out a gallery from my session on Friday
• Drafted my Fall Mini Session announcement email for my email list
• Caught up on emails!
• Got a lot of wedding inquiries for June + August 2020
• Booked two wedding consults
• Confirmed a meeting + print deliveries this weekend

I sat down with my computer at 9AM and now it's 4:50PM and I'm logging off for the day. Happy Tuesday!

love is love is love is love.

I got to photograph a 50th Anniversary party tonight and be around an awesome family and celebrate LOVE. Love at every age and in every season of life. It was one of the most special celebrations that I have been a part of in a long time. And now I have something to keep my editing queue full for my first round of doctor's appointments and laundromat hangs next week. ;) I love my job, especially on days like today. Have I mentioned that lately?

fun plans > doctors offices

We're coming up on the part of the month that I have simultaneously been looking forward to and absolutely dreading at the same time. Monday starts my slew of doctor's offices for the month with an appointment with my primary doc to check on my anxiety meds. Then it's like I'm mixing in weekends to Burlington every other weekend and trips to the county fair to get me through labs, CT scans and a breathing treatment in Point, another set of labs in Waupaca, and then a trip up to Weston to see my lung doctor himself and get another idea of what is going on in this body of mine.

I'm mixing in the fun stuff to keep me looking forward to something. (Combining business trips with pleasure activities helps too.) My next Burlington trip is the anniversary of my dad's death trip for the third year running. The first year was a fun road trip to show my Waupaca friends where I grew up. Last year I shot a wedding in Kenosha and stayed in a hotel room by myself because my mom was redoing her kitchen and it was the best work trip I have ever had, and made a trip to Burlington before I left to see my family and friends. This year, the only thing I have planned is a wedding consult with a couple that's getting married at the same venue Noelle and Josh did last summer. It's the only work thing I am committing to this year because I want this weekend to be fun-fun, not "I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off"-fun because I overscheduled myself and then got emotionally burnt out.

Labor Day Weekend I'm making another Burlington trip to photograph a surprise vow renewal in Lake Geneva and I'm so pumped, I don't even care that I'll be cursing under my breath about FIBs and traffic the entire way there. (And if you know me, that says a lot! Haha.) And in between all these Burlington trips is the county fair. I'm trying to get Mini Sessions together but if I just do what I did last year and trade my camera back and forth with Abby, I'll be pretty happy.

The theory is that all this fun stuff will keep me going no matter the outcome of all my tests between Burlington and the fair, and my doctor's appointment between the fair and Labor Day Weekend. Please let the outcome be good.

an ordinary wednesday

I dragged myself out of bed at 7, grabbed the Mew cat and went back to bed to snuggle until 7:30. After Justin got up I took a shower, danced it out while I conditioned my hair and washed my face. Showering in the morning feels kind of magical after being a consistent night shower person since I was in high school. My entire reason for getting up early this morning was to meet up with an Instagram friend in real life! We met for coffee and the cutest little coffee shop downtown that I'm pretty sure is gonna become one of my new hangout spots when I need to get work done and want to get out of the house.

It was so nice to sit down with someone and just chat about things like social media strategy and how it relates to our business, how to make blogging fun again, and the Instagram algorithm and how much it makes us want to tear our hair out haha. I can nerd out about that stuff forever and it was so much fun to hang out with someone who gets it just like I do. We made a plan to try for a coffee date once a month and I'm so excited to have finally made a friend in Waupaca after quitting my fast food job.

An ordinary Wednesday can sometimes turn into an extraordinary day.