Opening my heart to you today...

For those of you who know me well know that I don't {or have not in the past} stepped out of my comfort zone for ANY reason. Well, this year has been a year for many, many scary "outings". I'm gonna start from the beginning (which is almost a year now).
My biological father passed away a year ago on November 7th, the relationship was strained at best, but I did love him and wanted him to be happy. Well, I took his death rather difficult because there was so much unsaid and undone and have really only just now been able to talk about him without a complete meltdown. I started analyzing my own life and realized that I needed to expand and stretch and stop being so scared of everything {don't get me wrong, I still have anxiety, but I push through}. I don't want to be at the end of my life and never have accepted challenges because of my own bubble that I have placed myself into. To be honest, I don't even know what I'm so scared of...
So, just a run down of my year so far... California to visit my sister {which is not a big challenge except that I HATE flying}, scuba lessons.... ouch on the bubble =), In June went to Florida keys to get certified for Scuba... overload on the OMG meter! Opened a new studio in Hammond... {which is amazing}, went to Chicago for a photography workshop {seriously... not my cup of tea, I hate talking in front of people and I had to... boo}. Out of all of these, my biggest challenge was the scuba diving... as of yet, which brings me to the next part of the story =).
There is a guy in church that teamed up with an organization that does missions in Haiti. I have always had a heart for missions and had one day planned on going on a million of them, but it has never come to pass =( So in lieu of that, I decided to do a fundraiser to help support them. This will be taking place on December 4th with packages starting at $50.00 and 100% of the profit will go to building this school in Haiti. {I will go into more detail in a couple of weeks when I meet with them}. I spoke with Jack Sunday at church, just getting permission to do this and sharing my ideas with him and he then asked me if I would be interested in going to Haiti to do pictures and teach about photography. I, of course, said yes and for him to just let me know when (thinking it would be next year sometime). He said that Ben {the pastors son} was delivering computers there in November and, if I could manage it, to go with him then... WHAT? {Yet another MASSIVE expansion}. Donnie immediately agreed and has been supportive in my going to Haiti with Ben! I can't tell you how excited and nervous I am about this trip. I know it is where I am supposed to be because every since I've agreed it's been hell in my world!
I'm not saying any of this for a pat on the back, but just to let you know that it is never too late to decide to live life to the fullest... I just wish I would have decided to do it sooner =) I am not the same person I was a year ago and I won't be the same person come November 26th and I'm soooo looking forward to it.
I will continually need prayers and support from everyone and will post pictures as often as possible. I do hope that you will make plans to come by on December 4th for some super portraits of your kiddos and to help support Hearts for Haiti...
Tiff~