My other big life change.

What I wore: Boots, Target. Socks, DIY. Sweater, H&M. Necklace, Forever 21.

My apologies for my absence yesterday.

I know how it freaks people my mom and Amanda out when I skip a blog day

(I promise, even if I've been kidnapped, I'll convince my kidnapper to do a guest post for me).

But I'm not to blame for yesterday. It's all Lauren's fault. 

Not really...but sort of. Sunday afternoon Ryan and I drove down to 

Orange County to shoot Lauren's engagement session

and Sunday night I couldn't pull myself away from gawking at the 

heart-melting sunset photos. I'll post a few when I get more time!

Because right now, I'm swamped. Writing + photos + school + 

keeping the house clean watching TV while feeling guilty about not cleaning =

a schedule that's absolutely blowing my mind right now.

Which brings me to my next little tidbit of news.

At the end of this semester, 

I'll be taking a leave of absence from grad school.

When I started my MFA program, I began with plans to 

get a full-time college teaching position when I graduated with my Masters.

And, if I'm honest with myself, I think another big reason I wanted to jump into 

grad school is because it seemed to validate my writing as a career,

not a hobby or an excuse to avoid a full-time job. If I was accepted into a writing program,

that had to mean I have some talent, right? And if I was enrolled in a program,

I felt like that gave me two years of "cover" where I could dedicate myself to writing

without feeling judged by other people. 

But over the months that I've been in school, as much as I've loved

being part of a great, supportive writing community, I've started to realize that

in a few years I'm probably going to be more focused on starting a family 

than beginning a 9-5 career. And if I'm not positive I'll need a graduate degree 

for the career path I'm choosing, it doesn't make financial sense for us to spend

the money on an MFA program right now, even though the program itself is wonderful. 

So, where does that leave me?

I'm still writing diligently and I'm spending a lot of time developing my new photography 

business, which I hope will be both a fulfilling job and a fun break away from writing.

Years from now, when our currently non-existent children are in school,

I may go back for my Masters and pursue teaching. Of course we probably won't have loads

of extra cash then, either (I hear children aren't exactly cheap), but at least I'll feel more

confident about spending the money if I'm positive of the career path I want.

And right now, I'm happy with the choice we've made.

Happy to get through the next busy months and 

very happy to focus on my writing and my photography.