I thought September was going to be the craziest month of the year… that was until October hit. October was FULL of engagement sessions, weddings, family photo shoots, a senior portrait session, and even a desert adventure for me (blog post on that coming soon I promise)! It was by far my busiest month, and it taught me a good lesson. And by “it” I also mean Danny.

I talk about Danny a lot in my blog. The fun things we do together, the nice things he does for me, the things I’d like to cook for him, but more importantly this month – how he supports me. You see (I think I’ve been listening to Congressman Paul Ryan speak too much with the “You see’s…” but that’s besides the point),  working full-time as a Web Content Manager and doing Jill Tiongco Photography on the side hasn’t been a walk in the park. I often work 80 hour work weeks, sometimes forgetting to take a day off because I really do love working on my client photos. However, when the work piles up because I’m spending more time shooting than the time I have to sit down and edit, it weighs on me—because all I want to do is get to those photos!

Somehow, I set the goal for myself to shoot photo sessions in the morning and in the very same day… cull, edit, optimize, blog, post to the website, market, and burn/mail out the CDs…. All in just a few hours. I can tell you after a few times of attempting this—it was a bad idea. Not only was I missing out on life outside of my business, but I was putting unnecessary stress on myself that no one else was expecting of me, except well…  myself.

This is something I wouldn’t have realized if Danny wouldn’t have slapped me in the face (figuratively, not literally) and made me realize that I was just pushing too hard. It’s ok to wait a day or two before looking at a photo session. It’s ok if a client has to wait one or two weeks get their photos—because if I continued at the pace I wanted, the quality would have been sure to slip, and the attention to detail just couldn’t have remained as keen. Thank you to my amazing boyfriend Danny for being my support system. For being unbelievably understanding and compromising with my hectic schedule. And most of all, for loving the crazy person that I turned into the past two months.

The past two months have been insanely busy—and while I’m so very thankful for every single photo shoot… I’m ready for the season to wind down so I can focus on administrative tasks, tying up all loose ends from 2012 (I originally wrote 2011…. See! I don’t even know what year it is!), and most importantly get back some of my personal life outside my beloved business.

Which brings me to my October Goals Recap and Goals for November.

October Goal: Have all my September weddings edited, blogged, and uploaded onto www.jilltiongco.com by the end of the month.

• HALF ACHIEVED: All but 1. With October being so full, I haven’t had the chance to finish up one of the weddings I second shot. But I did finish everything that I booked for my own business so that’s somewhat accomplished.

October Goal: Workout 5-6 days a week for at least the first two weeks of the month before I head to Utah for an adventure-cation with my roommate. If I don’t, I’m sure the hikes and rappelling down canyons won’t be very forgiving.

• FAIL. Again. I’m giving up on this until I have more time once business slows down for the winter. And I was right, the hikes in Utah were NOT forgiving.

October Goal: Have at least one date with my girls. I have an Indian food and Champps Restaurant Groupon waiting to be used with my friends Jess and Sam… hopefully we’ll be able to schedule those this month.

• ACHIEVED: With two of my favorite girls getting engaged this past month (congrats again to Sammie/Dom & Tiff/Mike!), I definitely found the time to get together with them and catch up…. And of course talk wedding details, my fave!

October Goal: Get a 35mm  f/1.4 lens and start shooting primarily with that and my 50mm 1.2 at weddings. I’ll still use my 24-70mm 2.8 for families/kids, but I’m loving the shooting portraits/events with these prime lenses.

• ACHIEVED: I did purchase a 35mm f/1.4L, and I’ve been shooting my weddings primarily with that and my 50mm f/1.2L. I’ve even done a few family shoots with prime lenses only—which is something I was afraid to do, but I’m so glad I did!

October Goal: Although I love how busy I was this past month and it only means great things for my business, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t stressful at times. If I wasn’t stressed out about doing this right, it would mean I didn’t care about my clients, business, and quality of work. I take it as a good thing that I care so much… but I want to work on not caring so much to the point of tears. This month, no crying because of stress.

• FAIL: I’m just too emotional all the time. That was probably an unrealistic goal.

Which brings me into my goals for November.

Goal #1: Have all my shoots from October/November edited (with the exception of my stylized shoot with the Photography Stylistas), up on www.jilltiongco.com and other social sites, and in clients’ hands before December 1^st.

Goal #2: Update/organize my client wedding questionnaire.

Goal #3: Go wedding dress shopping with my cousin, Tiffany. (I’ve been a bad MOH, thus far).

Goal #4:  Make a dentist appointment before the end of the year (a promise Danny and I made months ago to each other and neither of us have followed through as of yet).

Goal #5:  Post/blog Dee + Vito’s Wedding (from September; second shot) and Utah/Vegas Trip.

Wish me luck…. Here’s to one of the last months in 2012!