Green Bay is a great place to start a new relationship, and even fall in love. There are lots of different first date options worth checking out. Here’s the breakdown of a couple of different categories.  

For all my outdoor peeps, I’d recommend going on a hike for your first date. What better way to get to know someone than hiking under a canopy along a creek? Fonferek’s Glen is perfect for just that. There’s a waterfall, a creek, and different pathways to hike up and down that are not too strenuous. For a date plus a furry friend, Baird’s Creek is great for walking dogs. A stroll along the Fox River Trail offers miles of scenic hiking.

People often ask me how my photography journey started, but I don't think it can be pinpointed to one specific moment. Perhaps it was growing up in my childhood home, looking at the big, beautiful black and white Ansel Adams landscape prints on our walls. Or maybe it was when I was gifted a camera for Christmas and went through a whole roll of film that night. Or maybe it was when I was in college and I had completed the Intro to Photography course, but I wasn't sure if it was for me until the professor who taught the remaining black and white and digital photography courses convinced me that I had found my home.

The decision behind committing to Whole 30 came from my realization that I had picked up some unhealthy habits when it came to eating. I had a bit of a sugar and carbohydrate addiction, but also for years I had stomach and digestive issues. I wanted to see if I could clear some of that up just by choosing smarter foods rather than this being some sort of medical condition. I had done some brief work with my doctor and had some gastro-intestinal testing, but I just wasn’t satisfied with the answers. Those are part of the reason why I wanted to do embark on this journey. I roped Andy into doing this with me, so we did it together!

It’s important to dream big and set goals for yourself and your relationship. I have my goals posted in various places around the house and my office as reminders and little pieces of encouragement to stay motivated to reach those goals. I find that setting goals and having something that we’re working towards makes what you’re trying to obtain just a little more tangible.

Goals are an important piece to a healthy relationship. And there are two parts to this: yourself, and your relationship. By setting goals for ourselves, we still get to obtain some of that individualism that is so important in a relationship.

Okay, so I know that just last week, I shared a big announcement with you all (you can read all about the here), but I’ve got another exciting piece I’ve been cooking up for a couple months now. I’ve created a community called the KLEM Klub for people who are truly dedicated to celebrating and cultivating love in their lives and their relationships.

As a wedding photographer, I bear witness to so many amazing relationships and I get to experience first hand what makes those relationships work. Seeing people so deeply in love and working to grow their relationship is incredibly inspiring.

To My House on Division Street:

I’m not sure that there are enough words and emotions to encompass everything I want to convey. You, my sweet little colonial home, were simply magical. When I started looking for a home, I was young and didn’t know what to expect. I fell in love with you as soon as I walked through your stained glass front door and saw your warm hardwood floors, enchanting fireplace,  and arched doorways. Your stairs creaked with each step, telling stories of the people who had lived here before. In your 92 years of life, I’m sure you had seen and heard some pretty incredible things.

I can’t believe that as I write this, Andy and I are getting ready to celebrate two years of dating. That number seems so small compared to the number of memories we’ve created and the years that lie ahead of us. We’ve filled the past two years with love, laughter, friendship, and growth, to the point that it doesn’t seem possible that we’ve only been in each other’s lives for two years. During this time, we’ve taken numerous vacations and getaways, survived a kitchen remodel and our first six months of truly living together, sold one house, grown KLEM Studios into a studio space, launched a second business, changed job roles, gotten ENGAGED and started planning our own wedding!

This big, beautiful life offers us so many opportunities, it can be hard to know which ones to take when they come our way. Then, there are times when we need to create our own opportunities. I did this when I started KLEM Studios, breathing life into what was little more than a bubbling hobby mixed with a college graphic design project. Now, I’m excited to announce the newest baby I’m bringing into the world: Wild Klementine.

Wild Klementine was born from a multi passionate lifestyle, blending a love of travel, food, and drink. As the sister business to KLEM Studios, it will still be very photography-focused, specializing in landscape photography, travel photography, and food and beverage photography.

Friends, 2018 has come to a close, and what a year it was. 21 weddings. 9 engagement sessions. 20 boudoir sessions. 29 other sessions. Not to mention all of the amazing memories with friends and family. I think it’s safe to say that 2018 was the best year of my life thus far. There are so many incredible people that made this year one for the record books, and I just want to say thank you:

Andy, you are my love and my best friend. I am so freaking excited to spend the rest of my life with you, to snuggle our puppies together, and to always adventure together while loving each other deeply and honestly. I love you to the mountains and back.

For those of you that have met my better half, Andy, you know that he's a pretty humble guy. He doesn't enjoy a lot of attention, so I'm can imagine how much he’s cringing knowing that I put this blog post out there.  He doesn't feel the need to do anything out of the ordinary for his birthday, and he certainly doesn't want all eyes on him for any occasion. However, seeing as this man has committed to spending the rest of his life with me, you know damn well that I'm going to celebrate this guy!

Twice now, we've spent the Day of Andrews birth together, which seems so miniscule compared to the number of things that this guy does that are worth celebrating.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a bit obsessed with trip planning, which is where part of the inspiration for my second business, Wild Klementine, came from. I’ve also become fond of bullet journaling to recap and remember our travels by. I wanted to share some of the road trip highlights (and downfalls) with you to either give you a bit of wanderlust, or to inspire your next Western adventure. This awesome road trip was the product of months of planning, and it had a surprise ending that was life-changing!

I've been working on another secret project, and I think this is the best one yet. I am so stinkin' thrilled to announce the launch of the KLEM Studios Associate Wedding Photographer Program! Allow me to introduce my two rockstar Associate Photographers: Sara Matuszak and Krista Hove. These ladies are incredible photographers, and I am just tickled that they've joined my team. Any of you who know these two know the amazing work they do.

To many, I wouldn't be considered an expert on love. I'm relatively young, I was previously engaged, and I'm not married. However, I have experienced all kinds of love, and I've witnessed dozens and dozens of inspiring, loving relationships.

In order to be successful in business and in life, I think it is important to ask ourselves why we do what we do. I believe we should evaluate what it is that drives us, why we wake up each day and make the choices we make, and what gives us joy and a sense of fulfillment. 

Friends, we've come to the end of 2017. Each year, I'm mystified as to where the days went, pages of the calendar flipping by. It seems like just yesterday I was writing about 2016 being the most challenging year of my life, and now here we are. New Year's Eve 2017 is just days away, and it's time to write another Year in Review post. I wanted to close out this year by sharing a bit of myself with you and leave you with a few thoughts. 

James Cash Penny said, "Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together."  The past few months, I have been quietly focusing on growth and how to make the KLEM Studios photography experiences bigger and better. 

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." Helen Keller said these famous words, I'm sure we've all heard them before. As I've gotten older and grown in my business as well, I've learned the truth in that saying. If we aren't taking risks in life, or seeking the unknown, or wandering off the popular path, are we really living? 

As much as we bosses like to think we're invincible, mistakes will happen, websites can crash, and sometimes we just plain old screw up.

I've thought about writing this blog post a hundred times. Part of me told myself to not write it because I thought it would seem like a feeble cry for attention. Another part of me was afraid of how to carefully word phrases, and how people would perceive them. But thank God for the other part of me that exists, the one that said, "Speak up. Share your story. Stay humble, show grace, and exude love." So after walking my pooch in the swirling snow and pouring myself a beer, here I am.