• Personal

You have probably been seeing my Facebook posts and wondering what in the world is going on. Let me start  from the beginning…

Three months ago Jeffrey was told that his plant would be closing the doors and moving the work to Europe. This is where the company is based out of. Everyone always asks what my husband does for his full time job. He works for Reckitt Benckiser and his plant focused mostly on production of Mucinex. So he spent his earlier years working night shift as a chemist making the medicine we all take when we have the sniffles. The company supported him as he earned his MBA and soon started to climb the ladder. He quickly started make his way up in the ranks and has proven his commitment and loyalty to the company. After the big announcement he was asked to accept a promotion…up north.

Now let me take you back even further in time. We were married almost 5 years ago in NYC. A little piece of my heart was left there and I told God I wanted to go back on my 5 yr anniversary and celebrate. I think He took me literally and decided we would be more like living there than visiting. Jeffrey’s company offered him a job 45 minutes away from our favorite city! We will be living in Morristown, New Jersey. Now don’t go thinking this is the Jersey Shore or that I will start wearing leopard leggings with a poof on my head! It’s a quaint little town with a vibrant city vibe. It’s the best of both worlds. Mom and pop shops line the town center and churches that have stood for ages mix in with the new. I love that the snow stays around for a while and everyone is bundled in coats and scarves. The train to NYC is just a jump away!

My heart sank a little when I thought of all the scary stuff. I have been through every emotion you could think of. When Jeffrey first approached me I turned down the ideal all together. I have never left Texas or my family…ever. Why would I pack up my security and throw everything into the unknown? After a few days of saying NO, God spoke very directly to me. He reminded me that my days were already planned. Each and every detail was already planned and executed and I would have to trust Him. He reminded me of all the things He had brought me through when I was fully trusting in Him. All of a sudden things that once seemed so scary were not so scary. Jeffrey and I decided we should at least go look and see if this is what God had for us. We did go and so much was revealed. God showed me more than I could have ever imagined. I am not sure what is to come, but I feel led. Yes, led to New Jersey. 🙂

Many, many tears were shed and are being shed as I type these very words. If you know me…you know I am extremely committed to my business and clients. That was the first road block that made me not want to go through with this. I have only been in business a few years and I feel I am just now hitting my stride! All of the “What if” questions flooded my mind. I was completely sick over it. Then I cracked open one of the most amazing books I have ever read. Here is the first thing I read in this book:

“Approach this day with awareness of who is boss. As you make plans for your day, remember that it is I who orchestrate the events of your life. I may be doing something important in your life, something quite different from what you expected. It is essential at such times to stay in communication with Me, accepting My way as better than yours. I know the plans I have for you, and they are good.”

I was completely humbled. I started to pray different. I started to see different. I started to listen more than I spoke. Something was changing in me. I finally was allowing the reigns to be taken over and giving up full control for the first time in my life. I asked God specifically to open up doors to give me comfort. To help make our decisions feel right and for everything to fall in line as it should. And it has. I am able to fly home as I need to shoot and continue my business from abroad. We started to book more destination weddings, too! How wonderful! God has kept his promises and I am willing to go where ever He leads me. I will be coming back almost monthly to shoot weddings over the next year and plan on working in folks around those dates. I would be no where without all of my amazing clients and I don’t plan on leaving them anytime soon. As for how long we shall go…2 years minimum. In my mind I tell myself I will come back to Tx and raise Trace, but I will not limit God on what He wants for us.

After all emotions have been exhausted the only thing left is FAITH.

We are super excited now. The desires of my heart are being fulfilled in ways I never imagined. I have no earthly idea what the future holds and that seems so exciting! (So weird to say!) I will continue to serve and build my business wherever I go. And I know Jeffrey and I will always be grateful for the people who have gotten us to where we are. I was super excited when God aligned me with some of the leaders of Showit. I was praying specifically for God to bring people into my life that needed to be there. I ended up on the Showit Tour Bus with Andrew Barlow, David Jay, Julie Story & Josh Newton! (way to show off God!) It was like a divine meeting of sorts. I know a seed was planted and I cannot wait to see where and how it grows. So to all the NJ Showiteers– watch out, I’m coming for ya! 🙂

It was time to clean house. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. Time to rid of the old and let all things be new. New Jersey is old and historic and quite the opposite of big new Texas homes. So after some adjusting we think we have found the perfect fit for our lifestyle. Downsizing really makes you rethink how much you need ‘stuff’. I, personally, had a lot of stuff. 10 boxes of Teaching supplies were donated and every cabinet, bed and corner were cleaned out. It was liberating!!! The other big reason I was big on moving was to gain a quality of life. Jeffrey drives around 3hrs in commuting a  day. In New Jersey he will commute 30 min max a day! WAHOO! This means more family time and more daddy! Now we can look forward to trips to the city and take our family to see things we might not have ever seen! We are pretty stoked about this move!

Now let’s get down to business.

POPography is so special to me. It is changing, but will always keep it ‘all about people’! So wish us luck as we grow our lives and our business! I am going to have to have some major training on Yankee life. And I promise to have many many amazing new photographs and stories of people to share with you! I always wanted to be a city girl–let’s see how it goes! 🙂 We look forward to reuniting with Milad (video dude) who is now residing in NYC. POPography will be coming at you from the big Apple. We look forward to new faces and places! Here we gooooooo!

Cheers to 2013! And thank you for your continued prayer.

 

xx

Leaha

(& jeff, too!)

Your Texas/New Jersey/ New York Photographer people 🙂

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