Yesterday was a BIG day. HUUUUUGE! Something I didn’t think would happen for another 5 months… but I am absolutely, positively thrilled to share that I have been cleared to start running (okay… jogging) again!
Prior to my injury, I was borderline obsessed with Shred 415 and Orange Theory. I was running close to 3-4 miles A DAY. While I am not a huge fan of running, it’s the ONE thing I can do to kick my butt into optimal shape. Exercise makes me happy (and everyone else) and to be unable to move and burn some stress off? My personal nightmare. So when I learned I couldn’t run for a year, I was devastated. Nevermind, all the other stuff I wasn’t able to do (‘ehem… walk, shower, haha). I’ll be honest, these past 7 months have been incredibly eye opening and without being too dramatic, they’ve been life-changing in the most unique ways.
- Free-Time: Ohhh how I treasure thee… Many of you know that I work full-time in addition to doing photography, so as my business has grown, I’ve become overwhelmed with trying to find a balance between social, life and my jobs. I realllllly had to sit down and think about how to find BALANCE. I’ve cried, talked my plan on with other photographers, friends, family, attended workshops and then cried some more. Hey, I am an emotional person!! Haha. But in all honesty, the changes (and all future changes) are necessary for me to continue to grow not only professionally, but personally.
- Family: With my family moving PERMANENTLY to Arizona next weekend, I am the lone family member in Chicago and I am not sure how I feel about that. While, I LOVE Chicago with all my heart… the California coast keeps calling my name. The funny thing is I never intended to return to Chicago after college. But here I am 12 years post college… standing solo. We’ll see where the next year takes me, but for now I am staying put. Working on me, my business and all things to move forward.
- A few changes:
- I moved! And will be moving again in November, which is crazy stupid – but alas, I need to cut my commute down a bit to my full-time job. It’s just temporary, but one that I need for a bit to get back to ME.
- I’m feeling almost 100% back to me (aches and pains in the foot, but it’s getting there). This whole running thing will be AMAZING, even if there is some pain… I’ll take it.
- My tendon straight up REATTACHED itself over the past 7 months. Whaaaa?! The human body is simply amazing. See below if you wanna see my foot journey in photos.
- I CHOPPED my hair for the first time in about 12 years. About 8 inches off my mop and I’ve never been happier with a haircut. It’s short (for me). I feel LIGHTER. All around. See below for a photo of how short I actually went! If you follow me on instagram,this is nothing new. I posted my first (and only) selfie earlier this week of the new do.
What’s Next?
- This weekend, we are saying an official goodbye to my dad. After 12 years, we are finally spreading his ashes in his absolute most favorite place in the world: Lake Geneva.
- I am gonna attempt my FIRST run in 7 months tonight… if I have any sort of sharp, burning pain, I will have to resume walking and wait another 4 weeks before I can try again.
- My family leaves for Arizona on Monday, September 15. I will probably be a hot mess, but fortunately – I have a shoot scheduled that night and should have an awesome distraction! Yay! 🙂
- Upon return, I’ll be rocking and rolling the rest of fall seaoson with 50 shoots… But believe it or not – this is less than I normally shoot. BRING ON FALLLLLL!!!
Just a sneak peek at my foot journey (some are gross -hahah) and a few summer favorites:
