Today feels like a big day.  Even as I'm writing this, I keep thinking, "Wait, this is for real?" And it is.But I feel like I need to give a little backstory first...I remember sitting in my cubicle in the P-3 building of State Farm.  I had basically been handed a job right out of college and it had landed me in a sales position.  It was a great company...one I'll always love because of the opportunity it gave me...but I also knew it wasn't what I'd envisioned for my life.  I was the girl that was going to be the actress, the astronaut, the jockey, a talk show host, and more realistically, the lawyer.  I had never dreamt of being a sales rep selling auto insurance...and not very well, I might add.I didn't hate my job...but I also knew it wasn't necessarily a good fit.  I worked hard and was decent...but knew this wasn't a long-term reality.  Pretty quickly, I started seeing not just months pass but years.  I moved to a couple different departments...new positions.  I decided to try out photography on the side...so I bought a URL, a camera, and made my big announcement.It was somewhere about that time that I was sitting at work when I got an email from my sister telling me that she started following a photographer out in California.  She said, "I keep feeling like I'm reading your story...this girl reminds me of you because she was homeschooled, she worked for an insurance company, she was going to be a lawyer, she likes to write, and now she's a photographer.  You should read her blog...her name is Jasmine Star." If you're in the wedding photography world, most likely, you know her name.To be honest? I didn't think I'd read it.  I wasn't much for reading blogs...just writing my own.  But it was late one evening and I looked her up...and the next thing I knew, I'd read all her post from the previous 5 years.  This girl was telling my story...or maybe, the story I wished was mine.  I began following her career, and a few months later, heard her speak in Chicago.  I remember 2 things from that day...1. She walked in and said, "Helllllooooooo DC!!!"  to a Chicago crowd.  I thought it was hilarious...I was trying so hard to hold in my laugh because that's completely a mistake I would've made and I thought, "Yep, I like her."  and 2. She said that her husband JD told her, "I would rather you fail at something you love than succeed at something you hate."  That next evening, I was sitting in a team meeting at work and we were each supposed to go around and say what our dream job would be.  It varied from landscaper, nurse, stay at home mom, professor...and me? Talk show host. :)  What struck me is that no one...not ONE person said sales rep for an insurance company.  We were all succeeding at something we didn't love.  And I walked out of that meeting knowing I was going to take the chance on photography and resign with State Farm. Through the years,  I met Jasmine one or two more times at different events she spoke at...and each time, she was extremely kind to me. For some reason, I always wanted to cry and pour out my life to her! Ha! That's embarrassing.  Her blog became my reference point for photography and business questions I had.About 3 years ago, she taught an online class with Creative Live called reSTARt in Seattle, WA.  I flew out to be an audience member.  After the last day, everyone was at the wrap party and talking to her.  I was tired and I could only imagine how exhausted she must have been feeling. Not wanting to make her talk to one more person, I turned to leave with my friend when she called me out.  I'm so glad she did, because we ended up talking a little and that was probably the first 'for real' conversation we had.  After we talked, she asked to take a