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Saying Good-bye for now... |
W ell, we officially live in the suburbs of Philadelphia now... it is surreal, but I can feel that it will be good. But, before we left, the good-byes were not easy. We have lived in Saranac Lake for five years, and in that time, we got engaged, married, got a dog, built a business from next-to-nothing, bought a house and had a baby... in addition to all of the life we lived in between. The unique thing about our community was that, for the most part, Chris worked and played with the same people. Most of our best friends were also Chris' co-workers. Of course, I keep saying most because we did make great friends with a handful of people from our church and community. But, even then, they were all so intertwined. Everyone knew everyone. Everyone we knew was friends with everyone else we knew (or at least, went to church with or worked with, etc). We lead a very quiet lifestyle, which was very different than what we had always lived. We became homebodies, and we LOVED it. We loved just having friends over for dinners and games. We loved that we saw the same wonderful people week-after-week. We loved the support we felt when we lived SOO far from our families. And really, it was a blessing in many ways to spend our newlywed years on our own away from all that was familiar.
Leaving was so incredibly bittersweet, feeling more heavy on the bitter to be honest. I love the community I served while we lived in Saranac Lake. The clients I have had have been so unbelievably supportive and grateful, and I would work for those kinds of people any day! It does just blow me away that it didn't even take me a year to book 17 weddings from only having 2 the first year we moved here... and then the next years that followed (save this last year when I tried to keep the numbers down), I had 22+... in a season that only runs from mid-May to mid-October. I can't deny that God TRULY blessed me with this gift. I thought I was sacrificing a good career for as long as we lived in Saranac Lake; I thought that there was nothing there for me... no school to get my masters (as I had planned to do before I fell in love), no work for me to accomplish... I thought I would be just passing time in a job that just paid the bills. But, it is clear to me that there was a different plan for us. And, I am blessed. And, I feel SO grateful for everything that has happened in the last five years.
Of course, this is our transition year... we have wedding contracts to honor back in Lake Placid/Saranac Lake (and Plattsburgh), so I will be back. And, I am still accepting portrait commissions for the weekdays in between the weddings we have booked up there. (Dates are filling up, if you are thinking about it). So, this year, I will wear down the trail between Philadelphia and Lake Placid. I will put A LOT of miles on my car. It does make the good-byes a wee bit easier, knowing I will be back for half of the summer. But, we already miss you, Adirondacks. I miss the simplicity of the streets with just a few stop lights. (It is going to take me a WHILE to know my way around this city). I miss seeing tons of trees, mountains and (frozen) lakes... but I am learning that convenience is nice, too! There is a store for everything within just 10 miles or less! Anyway... this post is getting a bit wordy. I just have to say "THANK YOU" to everyone in Saranac Lake, Lake PLacid, Tupper Lake, Plattsburgh, etc... everyone who has loved our little family and/or supported our business. You will NEVER be forgotten.
So, for now, I want to share some pics from our last days there... enjoying the Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake (the locals' cure for cabin fever). Happy viewing, friends!
our friends met up with us outside our house to walk to the parade... |
| these are the "Lawn Chair Ladies"- they are kind of a big deal... a real highlight of the hour+ parade every year. The theme of the carnival was "adirondack cowboy" (hence the get-up). |
| ... just some local flavor... |
| that night, Chris and I went out to get some night shots of the ice castle and the town... |
| i love the winter scene of Main Street in Saranac Lake... the snow coming down... the stillness of the town. |
| the next morning, we took Claire over to see the castle... |
| they actually tried to carve out a piano inside the castle this year. Chris was trying to teach chop-sticks to Claire. :-) |
| Chris' mom in the crawl-hole for the kids. Claire loved it, too! |
| thanks to Chris (who was more appropriately dressed to lay on the ice to get this shot!) |
| she LOVES all things cold! (might be due to the fact the high was -5 the day she was born). the ice palace was right up her alley. |
| hmm... what's this stuff? |
| Thanks again, friends! Keep checking us out. I am traveling down to NC this week to visit my niece Eloise! She was just born yesterday!! So, we will have some true newborn pics of her to share... and then an engagement session in Chapel Hill. |
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