Oh, sweet friends…its been a minute, huh? The last year has flown by and I am so thankful for all of the incredible things that have happened in my businesses and for my family since then. 2017 was the year I said “YES!” to the idea of change. I said yes to putting our house on the market and being willing to wait somewhere temporary until we found the place we knew the Lord wanted for us. 2017 was the year I said goodbye to a career in weddings and shifted our attention solely to portraits and local businesses. 2017 was the year I said yes to starting a business with Young Living and committed to creating a team of women who I could encourage and pour into so that we could all embrace a wellness journey that could change our lives…and it has. As cliche as it sounds…it really really has.
2017 was full of AMAZING weddings, families that left permanent smiles on my face, and so much goodness that it made me anxious about how 2018 could compare. But y’all, this year has been so good. For the first time in 13 years of being a photographer, I have felt rest and been able to spend time with my family and friends like I haven’t been able to do in such a long time. I was able to finish 2017 with a full heart and clients that made me never want to put my camera down. I finished the year with over 210 women under my wing(we have 235 as of right now!) with our oils group, the Be Lovely Collective. I finished the year with a renewed commitment to do whatever God told us to do about selling our house and moving into the unknown. As anxious as I felt at the end of the year for the calendar to change, everything we experienced that left us so full on December 31st, prepared us to be rested and ready for 2018. My heart overflows.
Because there is so much that I haven’t shared here and all things are new in 2018, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite things from the year so far!
*On a family note: My husband has recently stepped into a new roll at his hospital and is using his gifts and talents to lead people and help make his department more affective. This man…I swear there is nothing he can’t do. Every day I am grateful that I married a man who cares about others more than himself, sacrifices for his family, and dreams big dreams with me. My girl is knee deep in level 2 gymnastics meets and she is blowing us away with how confident and poised she is…last year was a struggle because she was so little and so timid with the sport…but a little valor rolled over her heart for some liquid courage and she has transformed into such a graceful, strong girl. Its amazing to see. My boy has progressed to an orange belt in TKD and his love of reading and drawing may never be quenched. He recently pitched a movie idea to Pixar and received a little back from Disney apologizing because they keep movie ideas and concepts to in house jobs only. He was a little bummed…but Im pretty sure he will be googling “Pixar job application” soon…his determination and creativity blows us away and its been an incredible year of growth for him. We are so proud!
*On a photography note: Spring means its portrait time again and I am SO excited to get out there and snuggle babies and play with families! We have spring mini sessions planned for April 7th + 8th and I can’t wait for you guys to see the light in the place we are shooting!
On an oils note: I am so thankful for this business! Our team is rapidly growing and every day I fall more in love with my oils! I’m teaching 3-5 classes a month…some in person…some online…and I love sharing about how much our family has been able to get support from these oils with anyone who will listen! I started my journey because I was was suffering from seasonal issues like crazy and pollen in March made me a MESS. Here I am, one year later, and now we use our oils for everything. Sleep support, seasonal relief, emotional and mental support, all the things…amen amen amen. This summer Young Living released a new makeup line called Savvy Minerals that I love because its all clean makeup and I can DIY my entire skin care regimen with my oils. One of my favorite companies to get bottles/rollers/tops is Got Oil Supplies and they have these amazing serum lids that have made using homemade tinted moisturizer and my nightly face serum so easy! These oils are as potent as a hyperpigmentation cream you’d get in the market. I took a few pictures too so you guys could see. These bottles are PERFECT and I love how easy they are to use. Got Oils Supplies also carries beautiful gold tops for their 10ml glass roller bottles (love!) and really cute glass bottles that I can use dropper lids with so that I can apply my oils topically in a bunch of different ways…I’m obsessed. If you guys want to try my favorite seasonal relief blend, I have extra bottles and would LOVE to share! And I have bottles to give too so follow along on our instagram page for that giveaway next week! You can also view my new oils only website here: www.melissa.belovelycollective.com
On a house note: We did it. We waited and the Lord has given us direction and we are following! We have sold our house, purchased a new one, and start a ton of renovations that will be going on through the first week of May! It.Is.Craziness. I am going to be documenting this whole process and can’t wait to share the transformation with everyone! You can follow along on our instagram at @lifewithmelissapepin, #PepinReno !
I am so thankful for a year of fresh starts. I am looking forward to blogging more because I will have more time…even though my heart still fills anxious when Im not shooting a wedding on the weekends…like I woke up late for a test and missed it! Eventually I will get into the groove of weekends being weekends instead of always being workdays…eventually. 2018 feels like a breath of fresh air for my soul…breathe deep friends and lets make this year the best one ever! P.S. I’ll be posting a slew of my favorite images from 2017 later this month. 😉
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