Well hey there!

I’M JESSIE…

My favourite things: All things Christmas, good food and wine, pretty stationery, even numbers and the snow!

Small town girl turned city girl now coastal girl, international award winning photographer with BIG plans!

I NEVER DREAMED OF OWNING MY OWN BUSINESS. ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS TEACH PRIMARY SCHOOL AND NEVER LEAVE…

It was only a decade ago that I was in my super colourful, grade 1 classroom doing what I love. I decided in grade 3 I wanted to become a teacher, and I did exactly that. I was loving it. My passion was in the classroom and I was good at it.

Then I became a mother and we moved out of the city. I tried teaching in a new school and I hated it. I didn’t feel at home anymore, and I dreaded leaving my baby (even though it was only 4 hours per week!). So I quit.

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN….

That the girl who carted a camera around everywhere she went, would be the one to grow up and become an international, award winning photographer someday!

CURRENTLY….

I am most likely watching a crime drama of sorts (NCIS baby!!) and sipping on tea or coffee in my happy place aka the studio.

5 fun facts about me….

1. I was cross eyed as a kid and had to wear a patch for half a day to school every day.
2. I gave birth to my daughter enroute to the hospital, on the freeway in peak hour traffic, on the back seat of our car!
3. Chocolate was my love language until I had my 3^rd baby. Now it just sits in the pantry unopened!
4. At 40, I have finally almost finished straightening my teeth. It’s been a dream since I was a teenager to have straight teeth and I am sooooo eager for the final result.
5. Favourite vege is definitely broccoli.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED AND WHO TO THANK

In short, it’s all my mumma. She was a photographer and it was my mum who bought me my first camera for my 16^th birthday. She often let me come along to weddings and newborn sessions as her assistant and it didn’t take long before I knew my way around my camera with ease.

So in hindsight, I was prepping for my future as a teenager! And I am so thankful for her persistence. Learning how to use film was the best foundation for becoming skilled in my industry. It’s was never about just quitting my job after having a baby and starting something new. For me, it was where my roots were and it just needed time to blossom and bloom. Or should I say “develop’ into what was my true calling….(haha see what I did there??!)

THE ONES THAT CALL ME FAMILY.

I am wife to Brad. We met after both coming back from big international trips while single. Thanks to a combined bible study night, we were introduced and the rest is history.

We dated for 2 years before marrying in 2013 just before Christmas. Yes, our bridal waltz was to Michael Buble’s Winter Wonderland!

We have 3 little people that call us mum and dad. Eddie, Ruthie and Albert. Most days I feel like a taxi driver to and from sport and school, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

WE HAVE 3 NEW BABIES…. AND THEY’RE FLUFFY AND ADORABLE!

I am fully in my chicken mum era and am all for an Instagram feed of dressed up silkies and chicken jokes!

3 THINGS I DO NOT LIKE

1. Parks. Yep I said it. I hate taking the kids to the park. I’ve always hated it and I really don’t know why!
2. Spicy foods. We are not friends and never will be. Same can be said for coriander!
3. Horror movies and sometimes thrillers. I can just handle a thriller, but there’s no chance you’ll ever get me to watch a horror movie! Give me rom coms any day and crime shows any day!

DID YOU KNOW…

When I met Brad, he was living in the same house he had been in his whole life. Not me…. I was in my 23^rd house and we moved a few times before building our home together and have stayed put for the longest time I’ve ever stayed in one particular home! Must be time to sell and move on haha……

My faith is my everything. My life has had many ups and downs, but through it all my trust in Jesus has been the one constant and what has saved me in the depths of my struggles in the past.