#43 My Day Job Versus My Passion

This is an easy one! I have three day jobs, which also happen to be my passions! I am a mother, a wife, and a photographer. Sometimes the order changes, sometimes my priorities shift - but I am always a mother, a wife and a photographer.

I am obsessed with my family - I love my husband and kids to death! They are funny, serious, goofy, annoying, snuggable, lovable...I can go on. But they are the center of my universe, my passion. I spend hours researching things we can do together (museums, trips, games), things to avoid (foods, ugh foods...that seems to be our latest...), and other ideas.After Dave & I started dating, I tried my hand at working a "9-5 job" in Corporate America. I worked at United HealthCare, then a prestigious law firm in Hartford. I thought that working in restaurants, events, weddings and retail my entire life, I would welcome a job with "normal" hours. The money was fantastic and I was able to sit for long periods of time...and I was bored senseless. The insurance business was copy and paste...I was confused as to why I needed a college degree to copy and paste so I went to the law firm. That was even worse...I needed two degrees to type letters to the newspaper because an attorney was mad that they delivered while he was on vacation (no lie, I really had to do it!!). BORED!

I came back to weddings and made my way back to something that intrigued me since I was little...photography.

I love photographing my family - the way my husband interacts with our kids, our kids alone, hubby alone. My family intrigues me photographically.Which brings me to my next passion. Photography. I don't photograph all the time - I can't do it every day. As a matter of a fact, I left my cameras in their case for a week between Christmas and New Years. I do things like that to keep the passion alive! I love grabbing my kids with a silly idea and throwing them into the studio and photographing them. I love working weddings and when I tell a bride she looks hot - she does! I love the crazy wedding hours of leaving the house a bundle of nerves and coming home 14 hours later with every inch of my body hurting. I love it all!!So the difference between my day job and my passion? There is none!! :D

#23 My Mother is On Facebook

Here it is - the kickoff of the Chris Brogan challenge! (click on the label link for more details)

My mother is on Facebook - yes she is! My 62 year old hip immigrant mother has joined the community of online social media! I think it's pretty cool - she says she does it to keep up with my pics of the kids, but I think she realized that she can get gossip quicker! ;)

Seriously, my mother is one of the most technologically challenged people in the world, but she checks her email and her Facebook about once or twice a month. Then she'll call me to tell me what she read or comment on my pictures. "Mom, you can comment on the actual photo" I tell her...her response is "I am, that's why I called you" - makes sense, right? ;)

So if you're on Facebook and see a "hi" or "love you" comment from Alexa Nanos, you know it's my mom! :) Love you, Mommy!!

Here's my mom & dad with my kids at their piano recital last year!

Blog Posts

Every so often, I'll peek back at my posts and see what I have to say. Lo and behold, 99% of my posts are photos - ok, pretty obvious...but I have more to say! Just ask anyone who's my friend on Facebook! ;)

I saw a Tweet from Chris Brogan with a link back to his blog and it was a challenge to 100 blog topics. I scanned them and figured they looked pretty easy to cover! So here it goes!

Here is the 100 - mainly so I can look back and refer to it as I work through the list! I am looking forward to opening up about more of these topics, as well as researching more!

Here’s 100 Blog/Podcast Topics I Hope YOU Write:

1 How I Use Facebook
2 Ways I Embrace My Audience
3 Should My Town Use Social Media?
4 A Community I Love
5 Technology That Empowers Me
6 How Flickr Did it Right
7 How Best to Comment on a Corporate Blog
8 Ways to Save a Bad Time at a Conference
9 How I Find Blogging Ideas
10 Somebody Has to Say It
11 My Children Will Do it Differently
12 How Schools Could Use Social Media
13 The Best Parts of Marketing
14 Presentation Skills for a New Conversation
15 How I Find Time to Make Media
16 Empower Your Best Customers
17 After the Event- Carrying the Conversation Forward
18 Just Jump Into Podcasting- Heres How
19 My Community and How You Can Engage It
20 Twitter Jaiku Pownce Facebook- And Then What
21 Making a Miniseries
22 If I Were an Advertiser Today
23 My Mother is On Facebook
24 Does a Big Brand Need You
25 Books I Want to Write
26 Serving the Deep Niches- How I Do It
27 How Women Use Social Media
28 A Hard Look at My Media Habits
29 If I Were a Television Producer
30 Social Media Marketing vs Traditional Marketing
31 Elements of a Marketing Campaign
32 Social Media Campaigns are NOT Traditional Campaigns
33 Idea Making and How I Make Something
34 What I Spend Money On
35 Do Rock Stars Need Social Media Strategies
36 How I Use My Website
37 Book Shopping- Buy These Books
38 MTV Changed the World in the 80s- Here is What Comes Next
39 How I Process Blogs and What I Do With All That Info
40 Ten Guilty Pleasures
41 The Internet Application I Havent Seen
42 If I Worked for a Venture Capital Firm
43 My Day Job Versus My Passion
44 The Difference Between Fark and Truemors
45 Fixing Conferences
46 Making Marketplaces for Media Makers
47 When I Feel Frustrated
48 Branding Strategies I Use
49 Your Ideas And My Ideas- How We Play Together
50 Friends I Cant Wait to Meet

51 The Art of Chaos
52 Telling My Boss About Social Media
53 Could I Quit My Day Job
54 When to Cut Back on Web Habits
55 Breaking Down My Favorite Blog
56 Explaining Social Media to Your Chamber of Commerce
57 Non-Internet Equivalents to Internet Tools I Use
58 Considering Media for the Rest of the Globe
59 Twitter is Too Simple- Twitter is Just Right
60 The Future of Podcasting
61 Video Made Simple
62 Facebook Applications I Love
63 You Are Here
64 Blogging Tactics- How to Keep it Fresh
65 I Want to Brag A Minute
66 Who Says What About Your Brand
67 Tools for Blogging
68 Wordpress Plugins I Use And Why
69 Media Topics That Need More Coverage
70 Comments versus Blog Posts
71 How I Drive Traffic to My Site
72 News- Is it Useful and How I Might Fix It
73 Which TV Network Gets Videoblogging and PodCasting
74 Franchising My Media
75 Handling Critics
76 My Audio Tricks
77 Ning Sites I Like and Why
78 Controlling My Brand
79 Sharing and Contributing
80 How Twitter Improved My Blog
81 Email After Twitter
82 Facebook Video Improved My Social Network
83 Letting Go
84 Downtime- What I Do Offline to Recharge
85 How I Went From Very Shy to Less Shy
86 The RIGHT Number to Track for Podcasting
87 PodCamp Has to Change
88 Shaking Things Up
89 Joining A Network- Things to Consider
90 Newspapers and How I Would Change Them
91 Interview With a Veteran
92 The Countries of My Social Media World
93 Giving it Away
94 Consulting Strategies for Social Media Experts
95 Turning Media into a Business Card
96 Podcasting on a Budget
97 For Every Excuse a New Strategy
98 Just When I Think I Am Done
99 Buying Gear- My Shopping Tips for Podcasters
100 When is Free Better- When Not

Boudoir Session

Before the holidays, I met up with this pretty lady for her boudoir session. I am in love with the ideas of fun props (BTW, this is my hubby's guitar as her man's guitar was too distinguishable!)!!

Are you ready to schedule your session? :)

Becca & PJ Wedding Day Teasers

Jess & I kicked off 2011 with probably our most fun wedding ever! Becca & PJ were married in the First Baptist Church in Manchester, then we partied like rock stars in the snow at the Publick House in Sturbridge, MA. Thank you to Helena Willis of Perfect Princess for coordinating and flowers.

I love it when Jess and I capture the same image but get two different feels to it! Here's my shot...
and here's Jess's!

OK, so I got a little silly while we were waiting! It made you smile, didn't it? ;)


What a fun bridal party!!
Taylor & Sophia were so shy around the camera...yeah right...they got their own little photo shoot!
Here's one of my favorite shots of Sophia

Becca had to get caffeinated up for the night ahead!!

PJ was rewriting his vows...I like to think he was writing a song...Jess said he was writing his vows...what do you think? ;)
LOVE the Chucks!
Great shot by Jess!




The anticipation is usually the toughest for the grooms...that moment RIGHT before the ceremony begins
And here is the moment PJ saw Becca...she literally left him breathless...it still gives me chills!!


Here is the couple's prayer from my angle
and the couple's prayer from Jess's angle
I love Becca and PJ - not just because they're so cute and cuddly and we really need to put them in our pockets...but probably mainly because they humor my whims! While sitting down to dinner with Jess and the DJ, I announced that it would be super cool if they went out and did snow angles. Most of the times, Jess thinks my crazy ideas and awesome too (that's why I keep her around! LOL!), but this time she gave me a funny look. That just fueled my desire to get the shot!!

We worked with the Publick House and made it happen!! Becca & PJ's eyes LIT UP when I proposed the idea to them!!! Check out these photos in between our laughing!!


How cool is that hear shaped snowflake Jess caught? :)
I think this is one of my favs! "IT'S FLIPPING COLD!!"




A prize goes to the person (who was not in attendance at the wedding) who can tell me what PJ has in his hands!! ;)








I had a little fun with my Lensbaby last night too!!



The paparazzi was out in full swing!!

Rocking the going away outfits!


Congratulations, Becca & PJ! Thanks for an amazing night and setting the bar high for the rest of the year!!

Don't forget to leave comments - it's a new year and that means new votes for photo of the year!! :)