so, things are always chaotic over here, a beautiful chaos for sure, but one that i have to choose to see as ‘glass half full’ most of the time, it doesn’t always come naturally. i guess i am just a stressball by nature but God surely gave me grace in giving me my very kind, patient and forgiving husband that holds me and grounds me at the end of every day. :) to say that the last few years have been a whirlwind would be an understatement. all in less than five years donny and i got married, had gracie just after, our businesses took off, we moved a few times, i had a long list of health issues, we had brandon, had our sweet clementine and all the while were trying to figure out what “normal” was, with the new normal changing all the time and donny and i switching roles, trying to find the best way to balance our growing businesses and family and also find time to be happy. i can’t count how many times we have said “well, after this we will be able to relax and enjoy life”! well, in waiting for the relaxation to come i realized it just never will, lol! this chaos is our normal, there is always a mess, there are always little ones screaming about something, i am always trying to find my head because i swear i lose it every day and donny and i continually have to grasp ahold of one another at the end of each day and literally count to twenty to be able to take a breath and remember where is all began… in those moments there is intense beauty. and i can finally say that i have given in to not fighting the madness and am making big strides to embrace the now. i have set better boundaries, i have gotten help with my business, i have changed the way i structure my sessions and have taken on less and i have really tried to be more present in the lives of my children. it has made a big difference in me and for them. i think i got so overwhelmed for so many years that i began to hide… from relationships and actually enjoying life and i know that the people that suffered the most were the ones that were/are the most important. so, in an effort of being free of the hiding, i am opening up. i am enjoying relationships with people. i am digging in with my kids more than ever and trying to find the happy in each day, even if it is just for donuts in the morning. we are making changes in our home and may be making a location change by the end of the year (the simple country life has been calling on me for a while, i was just scared to listen… i will be sure to update you as things develop). things professionally are good. i love my business and even more so now that it seems that my clients get me as a whole and desire creativity, passion and fun in their photographs and i will continue to shoot and work as i still find great joy in it! i have LOVED the women i have had the honor of getting to know the hearts of at my workshops; what a blessing to have a place where we have all felt safe to let it all unwind, be honest and be filled back up with what really matters. and i have made a big effort to start documenting every day with my kids. i have always been a big believer in leaving my big camera at home when i am with the kids… i just feel it distances me from them and puts me into photographer mode as well as the fact that i don’t have access to both hands (with three kids i need all the hands i can get!). but i did always feel like i was missing the great little beautiful moments of their childhood aside from our occasional photo shoot. well, donny got me the gift of an iphone a few months back and it has finally filled that void for me! i am so thankful for instagram as i can snap the kids and edit the pic in less than 20 seconds (yay for instant gratification!), still be present with them and also have a great memory for them. i actually print all of them out as 5″x5″ prints (i can’t say this about all the millions of other digital images i have!) and it is so fun to be able to have them for projects for the kids, making albums, flipping through remembering the joy (i use whcc but instaprint and mpix i have also heard print the square sizes). so, i am taking pleasure in my instagrams and am going to start sharing a lot more of them on my blog. i was hesitant at first because i know, i am a professional photographer and i always felt i should showcase professional images but in an effort of being real, here ya go. this is our life. messy, fun, stressful at times, difficult at times but we all try to hold each other at the end of every day. a big thank you to you if you read this all the way to the end! thank you for supporting me, some of you close by and some of you from a distance. thank you for your patience and kindness on our continual journey towards our happy place. xo :)
if you are on instagram and would like to follow me and our crazy life, my user name is ‘joyprouty’… just know in advance that i like to take pictures (of our kids, our chickens, our garden and our random dance parties) and sometimes a lot of them. here are some of my favorites from the last two months. my lil clementine (clemmie bug as brandon calls her) is getting big!!! :)
thanks for inspiring. I’m following you on instagram 
Lovely looking images! Fresh, funny, sweet, real life images to hold on to forever!!! You have such a handsome family!!! And Clementine looks a lot like you!