Happy Fourth Anniversary, my love!

Until then, it is one awesome “toy” to play with!

So when Max showed us this gorgeous Browning double-barreled shotgun, we knew it would be a fun afternoon. They even got us girls out to shoot (and I wasn’t too bad a shot!).

Enjoy this short clip of our fun in Wasilla, Alaska!

Today I received my Masters degree from the University of Washington.

I have spent the last two years working towards a MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Now I can teach ESL classes at community colleges or English abroad. But those jobs are either far away or unstable–and I have another idea up my sleeve.

I love school. Every weekend I shoot weddings and I am in love with photography and cinematography. But Monday (or Tuesday) morning I head to class and I am excited by ideas. My interest in people & politics sent me on a journey through the Peace Corps, grad school in Hungary and now to the University of Washington. And it isn’t going to end with a MA in TESOL. Instead, I am continuing on–fully funded–to the PhD program in language and rhetoric. I don’t yet know exactly what I will research and write a dissertation on: maybe social media and rhetoric, maybe the use of Russian and Ukrainian in contemporary Ukraine. Maybe something on bilingualism and the American Dream. I don’t yet know, but I have time to figure it out. I also have to figure out what I will be teaching the poor freshman at UW!!

But back to the title of this post: Risk & Hope. Some days I am scared–scared of living through another winter on a student’s budget. Scared that I don’t know what I want to study and maybe I’m going to school for THREE.MORE.YEARS! and I still won’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I am scared that I can’t juggle business and school as the stakes get higher. But along with all of this fear is a whole lot of HOPE! All the doubt was set aside the moment I got my funding letter for the TA-ship. The pure joy and excitement that led me to run so fast from the mailbox to our front door that I couldn’t get the words out. I am reaching my dream!

I guess I could say that I’ve always been good at following my heart: after growing up in Montana, I ran to the coast for college. I studied abroad in Wales for a year. After graduating from the University of Puget Sound, I moved to Florida for the summer with a friend and then left for the Peace Corps when Autumn came. In the Peace Corps I taught English, I traveled, and I found love. And I dragged my love across the world to live out his dream. With a law degree and 10 years of police experience behind him, Alex made a new start as an immigrant following his heart and his talent. The result is Zinchuk Studios. After just 4 years we have this amazing business and so many new friends.

I took a big risk to marry a foreigner for love and drag him across the world, and yet Alex has been so supportive of me in return. Even though our business was only in its second year, he let me return to school on only a Teaching Assistant’s budget. We moved from apartment to apartment looking for a balance of size and affordable rent because I am in school. I left a solid job to achieve my dream, and yet with our mutual support we are both finding success. It is scary for both of us to take the risk to achieve our dreams at the same time, but we are risking, hoping, dreaming . . . together!

I write this post both to celebrate but also to remind myself when times get tough–as they will. When I’m not sure how to juggle another wedding with finals. How to find time to design albums and grade papers. Each day we work hard, we take risks, and we hope and we dream!  Thank you to all of our friends, family, and anonymous supporters out there!! We couldn’t live this life or be this happy if not for each of you!
~Jennifer

A few nights ago, we met up with some of our photographer friends at the Seattle/Tacoma Pictage User Group (PUG) meeting. Pictage is the amazing company we use for our photo-hosting and they are so supportive of creative businesses.  The Seattle/Tacoma PUG is organized by Gerald and Airika of The Popes and was hosted by JFK Studios (in their AMAZING new studio space).  It was great to see some familiar faces and meet some new friends!

The topic of this month’s meeting was “Creativity.”  We had a lively discussion and it really got us thinking: what is creativity? What inspires us?

Today I spent an hour or so getting caught up on my Google Reader. I subscribe to, well, lots and lots of blogs. Some days I skim through blog content to wake up or unwind. But days like today it has provided endless inspiration. I follow photographers, videographers & cinematographers, creative professionals, wives and mamas. I know some of the blog writers, some I simply admire. And very often these blogs provide just the creative inspiration I need. Today’s inspiration:

City of Lakes: an amazing film/wedding put together by Kevin Shahinian. It brings up interesting questions about truth and fiction in the creative process and pushes the boundaries of wedding cinematography. A definite must-see.

How do I price myself?: This is an interesting FAQ posted by The Youngrens that discusses creative pricing. How do creative professionals balance cost and value for the consumer and also make some kind of profit to keep a business afloat. This is something that we’re working to balance, and in that vein I’ve been looking at several different album and print companies to find the best deals for our clients. We’re inspired to offer some cool new products and offer some new sessions–details coming soon!

Things we love: Our friends at Alante Photography just re-did their blog and added this “things we love” page. I loved reading though and finding we have so much in common! I’ve been “homesick” for Great Britain for a while now, and Kimberly & Loren’s love  of Britpop, Radiohead and Aston Martins made me swoon just a bit

Friends in the industry: We are inspired by our friends in the wedding industry–from PUG meetings to Facebook chats to our Twitter connections, we gain so much insight and inspiration from the support of our friends. Come join in the conversations!

Three Cups of Tea: I read this book this weekend cover-to-cover. Many of you know that I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine and I could definitely sympathize with Greg Mortenson’s desire to create change a world away and the difficulties he faced in working with a new culture. I am inspired by his perseverance to help his friends across the world in the face of war, poverty, and public outrage.  It is also a great reminder that good things take patience. In a world of multi-tasking, fast communication, and instant gratificiation, it is a good reminder that good things come to those who work hard and are patient.  This book is definitely on my bookshelf (next to River Town, which has a story in itself) in the stack of inspiring reads.

Those are some of the thoughts running around in my mind. Now I’m off to a fabulous photo shoot at Hotel 1000 and hopefully I can bring some of this inspiration to my pictures. Happy Weekend!

Last year’s event raised over $30,000 for the Making Memories Foundation which grants wishes for stage IV breast cancer patients and their families.  This year they hope to raise $50,000 so that even more wishes can be granted.  This cause hits close to home: many women in my family have suffered from this disease and it has affected everyone in my family in some way.

So save the date for October 28, 2010. Tickets go on sale in August–we’d love to see you there!

Then we went over to the fish market. The prices weren’t bad and I was in need of fresh salmon, so we picked out our fish. It’s not every day your fresh fish gets tossed around–it was quite the experience!!

Like a typical day in Seattle, it soon started raining.  Before we ran to the car, I made Alex stop for a classic Seattle portrait. I apologize for the quality of the pics–all we had was our little point-and-shoot

All in all, a fun afternoon

Happy Easter!

Eggs are dyed in bright, shiny colors; chocolate-covered marshmallow bunnies are in our bellies: Easter is here!

Easter is by far my favorite Orthodox holiday–the traditions are so sacred & beautiful. This year we didn’t make the trek to our nearest Orthodox church for nighttime services. Instead we are resting and celebrating at home. This day of rest is especially nice when all Christians–whether Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, or other–can celebrate together.

Easter has always been a time of new beginnings, and this year the first group of ducklings appeared on our pond this week. These tiny little wild creatures are a reminder of life! Every day is a new day and Easter is our yearly reminder of fresh starts