It has been a while since I have blogged and to be honest I really was avoiding it. I am not sure if anyone is even reading this but I decided I needed to write it anyway. At the beginning of this year I decided to close my business. It was a very had decision to make but really I have been wanting to deep down for a long while now. We have been in Clarksville for almost 2 years now and I have spent so much time and passion in restarting my business here. That has been the hardest thing I have done in my business over the last 8 years. When we moved here I decided I needed to stop traveling and do less weddings because of Josh's schedule. I had this fear that with Josh traveling all of the time and schedules always changing that I would be scrambling for sitters and if I were to travel that it would be overnight and I was just not OK with that. I didn't want that for my kids. Then when I wasn't booking portrait clients as quickly as I wanted to I decided I would take weddings if they came along and if they were in town. I booked 5 weddings last year and one was free for a friend and one was only a 2 hour quickie. So really I had 3 legitimate paying weddings. After a year and a half I finally got things working and my schedule was filled with clients and even the maternity and newborn clients I really wanted the most. But after all of that I realized I still was not happy and satisfied. Not that it is all about the money but I was not making a decent profit off of print orders. I love living here in Clarksville but I have to say it is an odd little town and I just think my style of business does not fit here and I was not willing to change it anymore than I already had to try and make it work. I had already changed so much from me and my style that I lost the passion for creating art through my camera. I realized that if I was not making money and if I was not having fun then what was the point. Why was I working so hard on something that was never going to be what it used to be. So I have decided to take my time and my passion and focus on life. My kids will be off to college and out of the house in 10 years and I don't want to waste that time with them. There are a million little projects that I want to do for me that I have never had time to do. I want to spend more time outside and away from the computer, I want to read more, cook more, and have more fun. I am excited to have more time to work on the garden, the house remodel and organization. I love that my weekends are for my family now. We have started going rollerskating together and I have time to actually keep a gym and workout schedule. I am looking forward to this summer with the kids instead of worrying about getting sitters all of the time so I can work. I like that I can take things a little slower and not speed walk everywhere I go. I like that I can enjoy the weather for what it is and not be stressed about sessions rescheduling. I am happy with how life is and I think this is an adjustment my family needed. I am almost done with the logistical side of closing my business and that in itself is way more complicated than I expected. There are so many forms and tax offices to deal with. I am not sure what my plans are yet for this blog. I guess I will keep it up for a little while or until I come to a conclusion. For now this is the last post I plan to write. Thank you for everyone that has read over the years. Love, Laura