bittersweet.
this happened today. it snowed. and it stayed on the ground. i threw snowballs against the fence in the backyard. i let my dog out to pee and play around in the snow, and then proceeded to tell her not to eat yellow snow because it only seemed right to tell her. all of this while my wife was sick in bed…all day. so though it snowed, it was bittersweet because the only part of it i got to enjoy with my wife was about 3 or 4 minutes where we stared out the bedroom window into the back yard where we could see the snow falling and covering everything in a blanket of white before she fell back asleep.
looking back, i would not trade those 3 or 4 minutes for anything.
its thanksgiving again.
im all about lists lately, so here we go again. im thankful for…
1. grace. i screw up way to often.
2. family. my family is awesome. my mom and dad are such strong folks. my grandma is a very bold and strong woman who after losing her husband of 68 years earlier this year continues to invest in those around her just like she did when patray was alive. my in-laws are amazing. such loving people who always care and want the best for those around them. i am very, very thankful for the fact that our entire family gets along.
3. friends. i am glad that kimb and i have a few close-knit friends that we can always hangout with. having a core group of friends is very important b/c there is always company. i am also thankful for the destin trip over spring break that we are taking with some of these friends.
4. i am thankful for my jobs. i am thankful for our church where i work as youth pastor, mugz coffee bar where i am the morning barista, and of course the face that people will pay me to take their portraits (www.joelgutowsky.com). i have learned so much during this past year about jobs. my father and brother both were laid off from their jobs and i have learned the importance of the little things. not putting so much focus on money of the material things we have in life, but instead putting this focus on the people we spend life with.
5. i am thankful for jeff and andy and the fact that we have bikes to ride and paved roads to ride them on. hanging out with these two guys keeps me on my toes. we graduated high school together so much of the conversations revolve around high school jokes and how well we have done with ourselves after high school.
6. i am thankful for our house. a place to sleep as well as a place to offer to our friends if they need a place. i cant wait till we decide to add to our family with our children and the one God has set aside for us to adopt. oh yes, and im thankful for our springer spaniel, Lucy.
7. i am thankful for my wife. she keeps me on my toes and inspires me to be a better man every day, even though im sure she is not even aware that she is doing it. ill get there babe….i promise.
im thankful.
some things on my mind.
1. i really dont like having to come to the toyota dealership. everytime i come here i end up spending money on the corolla to get something fixed. im spending money that we dont necessarily have.
2. i really dont like being sick (then again, who does) i have not been into the office since monday, (it’s friday), but i was still able to get a little bit of work done in between the coughing up of a lung, and the downing of pills with fruit punch gatorade and simply orange orange juice.
3. “Imagine” by john lennon just came on the toyota dealership radio. this is nice.
4. there are some new photos up at joelgutowsky.com! i heard back from the mom of ben and theo and she absolutely loves them, and wants to possibly buy some prints from me. yesssss!
5. i have 2 seniors photo sessions that are a 100% go. just need to get dates and times on the calendar. i love having photoshoots. that means more money will be coming in…which will go toward the corolla repairs mentioned in #1. dangit.
6. im going to the mens retreat for our church tomorrow…im taking my bike. hank and i are gonna ride our bikes around palacios, tx. this excites me. i need to start riding again.
7. my wife is awesome.
8. john lennon has now been followed by “love story” by taylor swift on toyota dealership radio. weird.
9. im obsessed with the zac brown band after the CMA’s and the new switchfoot. please go buy the new switchfoot. your ears will thank you. i promise.
just posted something new.
i just posted my most recent wedding on joelgutowsky.com. i am truly excited with the way this one turned out! this my first wedding to shoot with my d300 and my 17-55mm 2.8 lens. i am very impressed.
to be honest, sometimes i get down when editing weddings. it takes so long. so much time. i look at the same people, over and over and over again, but then when i am done and prepare my photos to post on the website, to mail, etc…i get really excited. to hear the excitement in the clients voice when they hear that their pictures have been mailed. to get the emails/tweets/facebook comments that are nothing but encouraging…that gives me fire again. that makes me want to pick up my camera and take on the world.
it seems that encouragement just does that for me (i hope it does for everybody). i have received multiple encouraging comments over the past few days and it just makes me in a better mood. it makes me feel better about the work im doing and makes me want to do this work, better.
so here we go. time to get back to work. learning some songs for tonight and then spending the afternoon studying and preparing for discipleship studies with the youth for the next couple of weeks.
here’s to encouragement.
this is why i’m a photographer.
i couldn’t possibly be any happier with the pictures. i absolutely love them!!! thank you so much for allowing me to be able to relive the night over and over and over. its truly an amazing gift!
you are welcome kristina.
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