At the risk of sounding like a sob story, I’d like to tell you a little about my family’s last two years. As the end of the summer drew near in 2012, I found out I was pregnant. It was thrilling news for us, and we looked forward to welcoming a new little person into our family. Our financial situation at the time wasn’t ideal (but then again, when is it?), but we figured we would be able to afford to buy a small home on Jake’s part-time contract work. He had been working as a contractor for a company for a couple years and had had fairly stable and consistent work with them. It was steadily increasing, and we were hopeful about his future with them. We began casually looking for a home, but soon found ourselves deeply in love with a little mid-century ranch-style home. We put in an offer, which was accepted. We quickly began the grueling work of gathering all our paperwork that would be needed to close on the house. To say we were beyond excited for this next phase of our lives would be a massive understatement.
A few days after our offer had been accepted, Jake was informed that the company he had been working for would no longer be giving him work. The floor dropped out from beneath us. We rescinded the offer on the house, we stared, blank-faced into our not-so-distant future of bringing a baby into this world with no income. We cried. A lot. However, we were both determined to remain optimistic. Jake put his head down and went to work looking for more work and/or a full-time job. There were small contracts here and there. We had money in our savings account that went from a down payment on a house to being our support for months. I got a few small photography sessions here and there, but between having a baby, moving, and having only a very small business to begin with, it was nothing note-worthy.
We thought about our options. We prayed about our options. We made the decision that Jake would pursue a different line of work–a steady line of work–while he continued to find contract jobs in music and sound design. He decided to learn computer programming. He had found out about a school/company in Seattle that teaches programming quite awhile ago, but finally decided to take some classes. He’s currently in his intermediate class. During the months of October and November, he will be taking a full-time accelerated class that will give him the knowledge, connections, and confidence to get a job in the programming industry. The kicker is that it is expensive. Really expensive. And since he won’t be able to work (it’s full-time, remember), we’ll be stuck without income once again.
We have been incredibly blessed to have generous family and friends in our lives. We have been gifted more than I care to admit. While we always seem to be about three weeks away from having no money, it’s a perpetual cycle. I have no idea how it’s worked out for us this long, but by some miracle it has. Jake has some temp work, we have a bit left on our most-emergency-of-emergencies savings. But the well is running dry, especially at the prospect of paying the tuition for his course (which sits at $10,000) and paying for monthly living expenses. We are trying our best to keep our debt to a minimum, and avoid using our credit card as much as possible. So this where you (and I) come in.
I would like to raise as much money as possible to put toward Jake’s tuition by offering photo sessions. They are just my regular photo sessions, but I’m hoping that my plea for help will entice you to hire me. ;) I now offer all edited high-res images on a disc as part of the package. Sessions typically last about 45 minutes to an hour. I photograph families, seniors, engagements, newborns (oh, how I love newborn sessions!), and weddings (fees obviously vary with weddings). Regular sessions are priced at $250. I am happy to book your session as far as six months in advance. I will waive my typical travel fee for any session booked in the Puget Sound. I also plan on traveling to Gilbert, AZ within a year (hopefully much sooner than that since my babe turns 2 next spring and will require a seat on the plane! But definitely within a year), and am happy to book sessions for when I am in town.
With the holidays right around the corner (they really will sneak up on us faster than we’re ready for!), its the perfect time to book a session for holiday cards! I also have some card templates available for purchase, or can create a custom design for you.
It has been a really tough two years for our family. We remain hopeful that there will soon be a light at the end of the tunnel. We feel confident that this class at Code Fellows will provide that light. I hope that if you need portraits taken for any reason in the next several months, you will hire me and book your session now to help us fund Jake’s class.
Trust me when I say, words would not be able to adequately describe our gratitude toward those who help. Thank you, all.