Let’s be honest, it is scary to follow your dreams or to pursue something you love to do. It is scary because it is not always the most logical or safest thing for you to do. I wouldn’t consider myself much of a risk-taker, I am a play it safe kind of a guy. If there is a possibility of failure or getting hurt, there is a good chance I won’t do it. But two of the biggest things I have done with my life up to this point have been huge risks to me and they both have one thing in common, love. The first big risk was the day I (finally) decided to pursue my wife, it took me a long time to work up the guts to ask out my wife on our first date, just because I had that big fear of rejection and not wanting to put myself out there and risk getting hurt. But I did it, after much prayer (and the threat of not being allowed back in my home or being beaten with a hammer by my college roommates if I didn’t ask Jessica out) and confidence building I asked her out, and now we are married and in our first home. The second biggest risk was the day I decided I would quit teaching and pursue my love and passion for photography. It is by no means an easy decision to say goodbye to a nice and steady paycheck, but Jessica and I decided it was a risk we would be willing to make together and just see what God has in store. God would be the underlying foundation in all the huge decisions and risks I have taken up to this point, because his son Jesus Christ would be the ultimate example of risk and love. Coming to earth knowing he would die on a cross in order for us to have the chance to be seen as guiltless in the sight of God, solely on the act of love. Because His sacrifice was done out of pure love and faith in God, there ended up being no real risk involved at all, because God was in complete control. I feel the same way about my decision, since I am pursuing what I love and have put my trust in what God wants, I have faith that He knows exactly what He wants for our life and whatever happens is in His will, which makes this big risk seem much more manageable when it is not in my own hands.

With all that to say, 2009 has been an exciting year for my wife and I. 2010 will be the first full year of business and I can’t wait to see what is in store. I am continually amazed and blessed to see my business begin to slowly grow each month, I love getting inquiries for weddings and portraits and just amazed that more and more people find my site daily. Just that simple idea blows my mind. To close out the 2009 year I wanted to share some of my favorite portraits and weddings from 2009. Today I am going to share my favorite families, kids, and babies. Stay tuned for seniors, engagements, and weddings. Enjoy!

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I had a contest for the Jared Rey Fan Page on facebook once I reached 400 fans. I had a list of questions and people had to find the answers from my old blog, this blog, and a little bit of google searching. I thought I had some pretty tough questions and that it would take people a little while to get all the answers and answer them all correctly, but little did I know I had my first response under 30 minutes and all the answers were right! Courtney Auten was the winner of a free session and she used it for a little holiday session with her boy Nathan. Congrats on winning the contest Courtney! I will have another contest or giveaway once my fan page reaches 500 fans, so make sure you go and join if you haven’t already and go tell your friends to join while you are at it! Enjoy.

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