Jack sat across the table crunching on chips and salsa, while we sat at El Torrito’s waiting for our dinner to come out. (Thanks for the gift card Grandma Virginia!) I was excitedly telling him all that I was learning from my photography magazine. His face then got serious and then the words that I had been avoiding were flowing out of his mouth! “So now that you’re really serious about photography, what’s going to happen with your cakes? Are you going to still do them, or are you done?” The question seemed so final! I am serious about photography; I now have a clear vision of where I want to be at the end of the year. Doing engagements & weddings. I really want to focus on that and in order for me to get to that goal I need to turn down other kinds of shoots. This year is my year of second shooting. Hopefully it doesn’t take me a full year to finally book my first wedding, but if so then so be it! But I’m not sure if I NEVER want to do cakes again. I always have a backup plan, and for now cake is my backup plan.
When I explained this to Jack, he told me something I’ll never forget, “Stop having an Escape route, you need to go all in and MAKE IT WORK!” Was my backup plan, my escape route? Yes, it was. I am afraid of failing so when the road gets tough, I quit and go to my backup plan. Or Escape Route. The only thing I have ever fully committed myself to, with no backup plan, is our marriage. Other than the obvious like being a good mother, but to me there is no other option! So now I am faced with fully committing myself to my photography–which makes sense because if I won’t commit, then who will invest in someone who isn’t all in. This meant getting rid of my cake gear –because it is taking up the whole loft and we need to make room. This is stuff that I have been collecting for the past 3 years, and although I don’t use it as much anymore, I still am passionate about it. I have problems getting rid of things that have sentimental value to me. I even save my brothers and sisters old toys for them, because one day they will be glad to see it. Even though that day is yet to come lol! I guess I thought that I’d just store all the stuff in the garage until we moved into a house, then I would have room for each of my hobbies –haha nice try Janelle! I think I will compromise and get rid of most of my items, but keep some things JUST IN CASE I need to make a cake for my family. Photography is going to be like my husband and Cake will be my Sancho. Haha! Totally joking! Definitely don’t believe in Sanchos! Im leaving you with a saying that I heard, “There is no Success without Failure.” Goodnight Yall!!! Xx, Janelle Marina
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Not too long ago I left a post on my facebook Page Calling all Entrepreneurs to
contact me if they wanted professional photos taken of their products. I am all about helping others who are helping themselves! When I was making cakes I would have loved to have gotten professional photos of them to showcase on my website. Photos are everything; they can make your products look fancy! I threw myself out there and asked my friend Elizabeth if she would like me to take some photos of her products - Glam Tutus is the name of her business… (check her out! They are all hand crafted tutus and headpieces!) We met up last Thursday at a local park that had tons of trees. The ground was moist and the air was fresh, and I still felt drowsy from my cold –I just wanted to crawl up in a ball and sleep! Her daughters were modeling her products, ages 2 and 10. The youngest Ray Ray was a little ball of energy! There was no way she was going to sit still and pose for us, so I had no choice but to chase after her with my camera. I probably looked so silly running and squatting all over the place, to get to her eye level! Oh well! Alyssa on the other hand was a PRO! Anything I told her to do looked flawless! They are both gorgeous girls with cute New Year Tutus! Enjoy! This past week has been a real draggggg!!! My Jackz and I are all sick! Just when my son seems to have gotten over his bronchitis, he picks up a stomach bug. He hasn’t had a stomach flu since he was around 1yr old, so poor thing had no idea what was going on with his body. He sadly looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said “My poo poo and pee pee are broken!” So cute and sad at the same time.
We ended up cancelling our birthday celebration and I spent the night rubbing my son’s belly until he knocked out. The next day was New Year’s Eve (and Jack’s birthday)… Our condo felt like a dungeon of sickness and the walls were closing in on me! We were all suffocating in it! My brother invited us to hang out at my mom’s place. It was nice and relaxing, we stayed up until 3am playing Scategories. (Totally love that game!) I woke up to No Voice! Didn’t realize how much I talk until I couldn’t talk anymore! It was so frustrating, I felt like I was Ariel, from the little mermaid, just a brunette. Since I was officially out of service for the week I got to finish the Jasmine Star magazine. It left me wanting more! She included so much great information about starting your photography business, but I still needed more. So I became a stalker and asked her my remaining questions. In order to find out the info I needed to know, I had to purchase her online workshop. Each video takes forever to download and so far I’ve only seen 1 and a half, but it’s very educational. I have never been a fan of anyone. When I was young I had friends who had nsync posters on their walls, and I so badly wanted to be a fan of someone. But during that time, all four of us kids shared a room and my older brother would definitely not be okay if he had to look at an Nsync poster every day! I just might put a poster of j* on the back of my door and say goodnight to her everynight!! For inspiration of where I’d like to be one day! It seems so far fetched! One day at a time Janelle! I still have to make some New Years resolutions that I’m going to break!!! Anywhoo have a wonderful sunny Monday! |
I'M JANELLE MARINA
Wife, Mama Shark, + Photographer. Most days, you'll find me in mismatched socks and a top knot, working behind my computer with a smile on my face, listening to Zac Brown Band and R&B --or, dancing in the kitchen with my 3 littles and hunka husband, seeing who could come up with the coolest dance moves. I'm a wedding photographer, West Elm lover, aspiring advocate for our buddies with special needs, and a Certified Dreamer since 1986. We live in a cozy city in Southern California and are always up for a good adventure. I enjoy telling stories with my camera, grubbing on spicy food, and solving the latest Dateline case.
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December 2019
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