List of Dreams

2009 was a big year for me. I stepped out on my own to open CARTERelite in Atlanta Ga, and I had very big dreams! I was hopeful for the future in my personal life, as well as my professional life! One Wednesday night I sat in the back of my church before service began, and I had "quit time" with the Lord! During that time I made a Wish List for 2009, and I truly wanted all of the things I pinned to become reality...This would be the year that my dreams came true! 

So...I am going to share everything I wrote on that list with you! I wrote the list directly to God...with the intention of me being the only person to ever see it! (This is not listed in any specific order. I wrote as it came to mind.)

Wish List for 2009

1. To be full of Joy

2. To bring someone to Christ

3. To have at least one wedding a month

4. To find out one REAL need in someones life, and be used fill that need

5.To pay Mama and Daddy back in full within 6 months (they gave me start up money for the studio with no strings attached)

6.To go on a missions trip out of the country. Hopefully to a location with an orphanage!

7. To trust God to bring to people that I love so much, who do not know Jesus as their personal Savior,        to know Him and love Him!

8.To have my work featured in a national Fashion or Wedding Magazine

9.To make close Christian friends in Atlanta

10.To visit Italy

11.To photograph more Destination and High End Weddings

12.To fall in love with a man who loves Jesus more than he loves me

13.To have my work featured in a gallery

14.To build Alex (Alex Haynes check her out...she is awesome) up in photography, and to be everything that you need me to be for her as she grows in photography

15. To have $10,000 saved for rainy days

16. To buy a small house with a yard

17.To meet the photography Elite... Mike Colon, Joe Buissink, David Jay, J. Star, Anne Leibovitz... I'd like to become friends with at least one of them if that is possible.

18.To tap into a new creative place...to not let the world created the standard for me!

I came across this list tucked away in my Bible the other day, and as I began to read through my List of Dreams it became very clear to me that, as always, my timing is not always what the Lord has in mind! He does not always give us our heart's desires exactly when we want them, and most of the time they arrive in a different package than we expected them to be in! There are desires listed above that have not become a reality yet, and there are things that I wonder if I did to the best of my ability...

But there are also things that have changed my life completely, blown me away all together, and left me standing AMAZED at the God that I serve, and how much He loves me!

Many of these prayers have become a reality in my life, and I am thrilled at the way that the Lord has worked it all out! It has taken so much hard work, and many failures/struggles along the way! However, a few of the dreams that I wanted to happen, happened this year...3 years after the fact! Perfect timing...

I purchased a house with the love of my life (who loves Jesus more than he loves me!!!)!

I have spent the day shooting side by side with Mike Colon ( take a workshop with Mike if you are a photographer!! It WILL be worth it)

And I leave tomorrow to fly to Seattle, and spend three days learning from Joe Buissink at creativeLIVE

I am so in love with my life, and as I continue to follow the path that God has for me I know that every dream will come true!

Here are a few of the images that I captured when I shot with Mike Colon in Las Vegas this year...

Production and Stylist:  Kat Harris
Female Wardrobe: Gown:  Julia Lovan Designs; Jewelry: 31 Bits; Belt: H&M; Earrings:  Anthropologie
Male Wardrobe:  Jacket and Pants:  Zara; Sweater and Collared Shirt:  Nordstrom’s
Models:  Bailey & Maurizio; Envy Model Mangagement