Deep breath. :)

Wow - the beginning of this week was CRAZY. Many of you know that beyond this photography world, I am also in Nursing school and will be graduating with my R.N. in May - yippee! :) Well, if you've been in Nursing school (many of my brides are actually nurses!), then you know how insanely crazy the first week of each semester is. In normal school, it seems like you can kind of ease in to the semester and the first week is usually a light one. Not so in Nursing school. The first week is basically the most stressful week of the whole semester because we have a couple of intense skills exams the first week that pretty much determine if you are even allowed to go on in the program or if you get kicked out - SO scary!

I am pleased to say that I made it out of these exams ALIVE and passing them, which means I can continue towards my May graduation date! Everything from here on out will be so much better - not easy, but better! Next week I'll begin my pediatric clinical rotation, which I am so excited about. I can't wait to take care of those sweet kiddos! After this 5-week rotation, I'll have 5 weeks in the delivery room (SOOOOO exciting!) and then 5 weeks at the State Hospital for my psychiatric rotation.

Everybody is shocked when they find out that I am a full-time professional photographer AND a Nursing student - it always makes me laugh! :) What I always tell people is how blessed I am that these two worlds fit together soo perfectly. The fact that I run my own business allows me to take on as much or as little as I want, based on how my schedule is at the time. This summer I was able to shoot a LOT and also work on a lot of new things in my business. It's also nice that I can hire other professionals to take care of some of the time-consuming areas of my business like print fulfillment and preliminary album design so that I can be free to provide awesome customer services to my Brides & Grooms. I also only accept a fraction of the weddings that most full-time photographers around here do because I always want to deliver the best, and if that means less weddings so that I can ensure that, then that's what I will do. :)

Anyway, the school semester is officially underway and I'm already loving it! :)

People also often ask me what I am going to do once I graduate: nursing or photography? Great question! My plan is to continue to do as much photography as I do now (between 20 and 30 weddings a year) and to pick up about 1-2 shifts a week as a nurse, working for a hospital (or other setting) on an "as needed" basis. This way I will be able to make my own schedule, again, based on how busy I am with photography stuff. It's really the best of both worlds and I feel so lucky to have found not one, but TWO careers I am passionate about!

Well, I guess I just gave you the complete 411. From now on, when people ask me about my work/school balance, I will just tell them to come see blog post #546, where I have laid it all out for the world to see. :)

Thanks for reading!

Love to all,
Stacy