Today’s 31 Day Blog Challenge prompt is to write about my proudest moment. Obviously, having a kid (soon to be two kids) and having a successful and happy relationship and marriage with my husband (10 years together and 8 years married this year) ranks up pretty high on my list of things I’m proud of.

However, I’d have to say that what I’m most proud of right now is being a business owner for the past 7 years. It’s not really a “moment” but it’s something I’m very proud of! I started my photography business back in 2005. My husband taught me how to use my camera, initially, and as my talent for photography grew, I soon took over our business and renamed it using my own name. I am proud of the things I’ve accomplished, the shoots I’ve done, and the contacts I’ve made in the industry.

Before starting my photography business, I’d tried out a number of other careers (phone sales, outside sales, and teaching) and they just didn’t seem right for me. I worried that I would be unhappy for many years because I never liked my jobs. Not only do I absolutely love my job, but it’s something I’m really good at. I know I will be happy as a photographer for years to come!

Here’s a favorite image from one of my weddings last year:

While I have been trying to make some progress on my 30 before 30 list, I wouldn’t say that any of those items are really on my “bucket list.”

When I think about what I want to do the most, it comes down to one thing: travel.

My parents gave me an amazing childhood filled with travel, and I want to be able to provide the same for my kids. Whether it’s road tripping all over the USA or flying to a far-off country, I just want to give my kids the experience of seeing new places and learning new things the way I did as a child.

In addition to lots of amazing vacations, I also want to be at a point where we can afford to take off for a month during summer vacation and have incredible experiences living somewhere else… like San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, Portland, etc.

Being able to give my kids experiences that not many other children will have is really important for me. It made me feel special to go with my parents on lots of vacations as a kid. I got to see the glaciers of Alaska, the pyramids of Giza, and the Rialto Bridge in Venice before I turned 18. I would love to give those same opportunities to my own children one day.

Here’s a photo of me and my mom on an actual glacier in Alaska when I was a kid:

The festivities started last night — Since my mom & dad were watching Zachary for the evening (including a sleepover!), Adrian took me out to see The Avengers at the new iPic theater in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park. We hadn’t had a date night in a while, so I was looking forward to getting out of the house. Especially with the whole bedrest business… I really enjoyed doing something special. :)

Anyway — the theater was amazing! What an incredible experience (yes, really an experience) if you really want to go over the top for a movie. The entire theater is made up of special leather reclining chairs and every customer receives a pillow and blanket. They have a call button if you want to order drinks or a snack (there is a high-end restaurant attached to the theater property), so you never even need to leave your seat! The movie itself was awesome… but I really loved the whole experience.

After the movie, we went out to dinner at The Dubliner, one of Adrian’s favorite restaurants at Mizner Park. He’s been there a couple times since his office is located above the shopping center. They have a mac n’ cheese dish that is made with Guinness. I’m a huge fan of any sort of macaroni & cheese, so I couldn’t resist! Adrian had duck with a black cherry balsamic glaze. Both were fabulous!

After dinner, it was still early, so we headed over to IKEA to buy my new office desk! I decided on the Hemnes desk and am really happy with my choice! We spent the rest of the evening chilling out in front of the TV and headed to bed early.

Sleeping late is the best part of having my mom & dad take care of Zachary, and I did just that! We did not wake up until 11am! It was great to enjoy a relaxing morning, and then we headed to my parents’ house for lunch and enjoyed some time with my mom, dad, and grandma.

I’m not sure what’s going on with my hair in that pic… LOL. But I look about as tired as I felt, which was very tired. The last month of pregnancy is not easy, but I’m glad I was able to have such a fun day! I’m wearing a handmade necklace that Zachary made for me at school. I love it!

Me and my boy, playing with his new Mobi Go that my mom and dad bought him. What a fun toy!

My beautiful mom! My dad actually took this photo with my camera, and I just love it!

I took some fun photos of me and Zachary goofing around with my iPhone. I love the iPhone camera, it can be like a photo booth! Wehad a lot of fun taking these cute images.

When Adrian, Zachary, and I went home, I got to rest (yay!) and Adrian and Zachary put together my new desk. Zachary especially had a really good time using his kid tools to “help” Adrian. I couldn’t resist snagging a shot of him helping out. It was adorable!

What a great Mother’s Day! I think this was definitely the best Mother’s Day since I got to start participating when I was pregnant with Zachary!

Thankfully, one dilation exam and ultrasound later, I learned that I am NOT in preterm labor! But, I wasn’t just imagining things either — they did send me over to the hospital for a non-stress test to check out my contractions and monitor the baby. I was pretty bored at first, but I actually enjoyed the NST because it was a reason for me to relax – I even napped through it for a bit, lulled to sleep by the sound of the baby’s perfect heartbeat coming from the monitor. Good news is the baby is A-OK, but I did have a couple of contractions (nothing regular), so the doctor is being cautious and has ordered me to limited activity – no walking or exercising (like I do that anyway… LOL), and I need to relax as much as possible and drink plenty of water.

Of course, it’s a little hard sometimes to “rest” when you have an active 3 year old who constantly wants to play and is very demanding of your attention… but fortunately he’s in school during the week, and we do have some downtime during the day on weekends. And I have wonderful friends who I love spending time with that come and help me out when my parents or Adrian are unavailable – which really means the world to me!

I couldn’t resist documenting my little adventure to the hospital, so here’s a photo of my NST printout to make this post picture-perfect.

The only thing driving me nuts right now about my “limited activity” status is that we just had some renovations done at home – we swapped my home office with the kids’ room – so I will have the smaller room to work in, and the kids get to share a bigger room…. and since I haven’t been feeling well, I haven’t been able to do what I need to do to get the room ready, AND my house is a complete mess from the carpet installation and other work we’ve had done this week. Good thing I still have some time left until the baby is due so that we can finish things up.

I still can’t believe how different this pregnancy is from when I was pregnant with Zachary four years ago! Aside from some swelling and ending up with really low iron, I had a great pregnancy with no issues. I even shot a wedding at 36 weeks, which I couldn’t comprehend doing right now, and I’m glad I made it through my final 2 weddings at 29 and 30 weeks when I shot them last month. This pregnancy has been soooo different compared to my last one. It really shows that every pregnancy is unique and you can’t ever truly plan 100%!

This image was captured with the iPhone app, Tadaa.

I know this picture doesn’t show off the belly, but it was too cute not to share! I’ll have belly pics soon enough. :) I just love Zachary’s expression and how Adrian and I are looking at him with happiness on our faces! It was a great moment and a really fun shoot.

Thank you Jessica! You’re the best!!!