Fadedwords

This morning I hit a milestone in on-line (via my website) sales of my photos.  It’s a small milestone, but it’s still something that I had set a goal for back when I first started going to shows and photographing them.  I’ve sold more than that via cash and people emailing me for CDs and paying me through pay*pal.  This was my first goal for myself through only my on-line website sales.  I really like that my service with this hosting company just holds the money until I decide to get my payout or until I reach a certain amount (I think it’s $500).  I’m a long way from the cap, and even though I reached this small goal I think I will continue to let the money sit there.  It’s safe and I can watch it grow.  I suppose you’re all wondering what milestone I reached!  Drum roll…

I have officially made $100 via my on-line sales!   At least now I can say that I am 2/3 of the way toward the site paying for itself!   I think I will easily surpass that by the next time the annual fee comes due (next July).

Another really cool thing that happened today?  A woman contacted me asking questions about digital downloads.  She said that she would like to use the photos as sale photos of one of her horses she has for sale.  I was incredibly flattered because this woman is a very well-respected horse woman, her horses are beautiful, and I knew she would never use photographs that weren’t top-notch.  This woman also happens to be the same one who trained/owned Granite Ghost.  Sadly, he has been sold… but I still find it incredibly neat that I have connected with this woman.  I was just on FB and did a quick search for her farm, and she had a page.  Right there at the top was my photo with her sale info on the horse!  She also told me that she would love for me to come out to her farm one day and do some photographs.

To complete the trifecta- my friend Tracey contacted me this afternoon and asked if I would be interested in photographing a trail challenge in November.  I said I would be, and am really looking forward to talking with her and her friend Beth about the event.  I’m not sure what I’ll need to do to be prepared for it, as I’ve never done an event like that.  It’ll be nice to add another type of event to my repertoire of skills, and I’ll get to spend time doing what I love.

A good day for the photography business today.

• First of all thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts/prayers for Willie.  He is doing better today… putting weight on all four feet again.  It’ll be a long road to recovery but I really believe he is going to be OK.
• If you could add to your “good thought” list some for another friend.  Carol and her family lost their childrens’ pony yesterday.  Lulu (the pony) was 29 years old and has been ridden by both of Carol’s young children for years.  As you can imagine they are all incredibly upset and grieving at losing such an important member of their family.
• I really, really want a dryer.
• I had a truly amazing day with Tracey yesterday.  I can’t even describe how amazing.
• I went to weigh in this morning at the gym before I went grocery shopping and…. I LOST 3 POUNDS!!! I’m incredibly excited about this loss and am even more motivated to keep on pushing myself.
• There’s a barrel race tonight and I’m definitely looking forward to it.  I haven’t photographed a show in awhile and I’ve missed it.

I want everyone to meet Willie.

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The gym I joined has a fitness assessment built in to your membership fee.  This assessment requires you to meet with one of the personal trainers and do some fitness tests as well as get taped to measure your various parts (waist, hips, bicep, etc!).  I was a little nervous prior to going, but as it turned out i had no reason to be.

My BP  was 100/80.  My resting heart rate was 60.  These are both in the “excellent” range.  Way to go heart!

My BMI was 30, which of course needs work.  I also am realistic enough about BMI and realize that according to BMI I “should weigh” about 135 pounds.  Anyone who knows me knows that this is far too little for my height and bone structure.  So while I know I need to lose some body fat, I also know that I don’t need to get upset about having a high BMI!   I knew this one would be bad, and it was… and all I plan to do is continue to bust my butt to make it better.  The report I got said that losing  6-19 pounds will improve this number a lot.  My aerobic fitness was also pretty low, but I already saw an improvement yesterday when I was on the elliptical.  So that will continue to get better as I push myself aerobically.

My bicep strength was really good… I was measured at 67 on a scale that only went up to 72!  Tickets to the gun show!

Back flexibility was also low, which was expected.

It was a really positive experience.  I’m actually looking forward to my next assessment in a couple months.