Happy New Year!
I joke around with Glenn that if we could survive 2018, we can survive anything!!!! We sold our home in NY and relocated to Virginia for a new adventure. Moving is no easy feat! We landed in Blacksburg, Virginia in March 2018. No luck on finding a home so we decided to build…enter the rain. And some more rain. And a few more inches. Ok, so 90+ inches of rain this year. This just happened to be the record year for rain here. We probably should have built an ark instead of a house. 🙂 Despite all the rain, Glenn and a small village have gotten our house under roof in exactly 2 months!! We are hoping to move in later this spring.
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Injury.
My mom didn’t name me Grace for a reason! Two weeks into our move I tripped on Pearl’s dog bed and did a faceplant into the corner of a sharp window sill. I was really lucky that it wasn’t a few inches higher as it would have injured my eye and likely impacted my ability to be a photographer. I have had two surgeries on my face and now sport a lovely new dimple on my right cheek. 🙂 I am just glad I was able to keep my eye. Dimples are fun!
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Engagement.
How does the saying go? The Painters house is the last to get painted?? I was so busy in 2018 photographing beautiful weddings that I forgot to mention that Glenn asked me to marry him in July! One of the few times I have been speechless in my life! We will tie the knot sometime in the fall of 2019. Other exciting news is that Glenn’s son, Nick, is also getting married this year too. We are looking forward to Nick and Dani’s wedding in Mexico later this fall.
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Pearl + Learning to grieve.
I said goodbye to my friend of 15 years a few short months ago. The void around the apartment is very real. People grieve differently and for me, it is taking a while. I love looking at her old photos and remembering the great time we shared together. We will open our hearts and home to a new addition to our family this Spring once the house is finished. Pearl would have wanted us to love another Weimaraner like she had been loved all of those years.
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2019.
Lots of fun things in store for this year!
As I settle into Virginia, I have been busy marketing and rebuilding my brand here. I am excited to photograph Weddings in Blacksburg, Roanoke and Lexington, Virginia this year! A few weddings in New York too!!! Thank you for all of your referrals–I appreciate every one of them. I am also excited to also focus on Real Estate Photography, Pet Portraits, and Family Portraits in this upcoming year. I will be offering my Fall mini-sessions in Ithaca, New York and in Blacksburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Richmond, Virginia this year so stay tuned for those dates to be announced.
The real exciting news is that we are building a Photography studio here in Blacksburg for Michelle Turek Photography! I will be focusing on Headshots, Bridal + Boudoir photography, Pet and some Family Portraits in my new space. I will still offer outdoor photography shoots as well but I am super excited to have an indoor option incase Mother Nature doesn’t want to cooperate and for those that would prefer an indoor shoot. Completion should be Fall 2019!
One of my biggest aspirations of 2019 is to be in the moment. “Life happens while you are busy making plans”—2018 was a year of losing loved ones (two and four legs), some failures, some victories and a lot of “life” in between. I am trying to remember that life isn’t always perfect, infact, it can be quite messy. But some of the most beautiful unplanned things can arise from the rubble.
Thank you for being amazing clients and friends. I hope that 2019 brings you all good health, happiness, a lot of laughs and fun.
xo, Michelle
