Hello, and welcome to the AeBlog! I'm Ashley Brunell, and my husband, Isaac, and I are a wedding photography team based in Camas, Washington. We hope you grab some coffee (or a sweet tea, in my case) and enjoy viewing our latest work and getting a little peek into our life!
Welcome Friends
I have now lived in Los Angeles exactly 10 months. Moving from Kansas City to LA, I have to admit that I had my preconceived ideas of what it was going to be like.
Let’s talk what I thought “Being a Female In LA” would look like:
I thought, once I rolled into LA, I would drop 50 pounds (needed or not). The sun would make me a nice tan, but wouldn’t damage my skin and actually smooth out my face. Oh, and that I would get my Tesla…since everyone gets one for moving here… (We can dream right??)
With moving, I knew that I was starting over with my business, but that meant I could focus on sunrise and sunset runs with my dogs. Go on hikes. Wake up early and enjoy avocado toast and kombucha while writing out my intentions for the day. Mediate before a light yoga sesh, then go on that sunrise walk with my perfect dogs along the beach. Once home, make my kiddos and husband a vegan breakfast, take them on a small walk to wake their bodies up before school and work.
Moving kids to LA:
This subject isn’t as idealistic as what I imagined my everyday life to be. My son, Oliver, was heading into 1st grade. He did well going to kindergarten; he is a “I-don’t-know-a-stranger” type of kiddo…so I wasn’t worried about him. I was worried about my daughter, Abigail. She had been in her school since kindergarten! I was going to send her to a new school, in a new state, in 3rd grade!! #girlscanbemean. (Can a hashtag be a sentence?? Is now!)
Uprooting a Service Based Business:
Moving to a new city, let alone a new state would be hard on my business. New hashtags should do the trick. I would sit back on the beach, Instagraming away with my new hashtags and geotags, and give it one maybe two months before the inquiries came in. There’s what, 10 million people in LA County, I surely should be able to find 10 couples. (I will do a separate blog post on how I actually moved my business, what worked and what didn’t. Keep an eye for that.)
There you have it. I thought moving to LA from Kansas City would be days of sun filled beach walks. A month or two break from work where I would turn into a skinny tanned vegan once I hopped on the I-10 in my new Tesla 😉
Stay tuned for my One Year Anniversary of living in LA post. I will spill all the beans of what it’s actually like to live here.
This year has gone by SO fast! We have started to make plans for the summer and it’s looking like it’ll be a fun one, but I already know it’s going go fast. Whoever said “the days are long, but the years are short when you have babies” was 100% correct! I blinked and I […]
“Travel brings power and love back into your life.” — Rumi, poet and scholar It is official, I am heading to Germany in SEVEN weeks, without my family! I know it sounds harsh, but I am SO excited! Working from home has loads of positives, but a girl needs a break! This week I am […]
The April 2017-2018 year for Oliver has been CRAZY! Between finishing kindergarten, turning 6, selling the only home he’s know, moving to LA, and turning 7 with new friends…it’s been eventful! Enjoy his year in photos below!
There are so many things that I could say about this day…. about this couple… about their story… about their joy. I’ll start by saying this…. Andrew and I have a phrase and motto that we use in our business…. “People over pictures, always.” We remind ourselves of this over and over again because we […]
I have been up since 4am today, but I haven’t gotten out of bed. I have a migraine! Anyone else get those?? I have a good pain tolerance, but I cannot stand migraines. So, instead of fighting my way through the day, I have decided to rest. Teddy, my cat-dog, is joining me. We have […]