Twenty-Five Things

Thanks to Katie. I used to love doing these things in high school!

25 Things about me....that you may not have known.

1. I am indeed 25 years old. No one believes me when I tell them. Which I guess is a good thing, when I get to be 30....

2. I am originally from Orlando, Fl. Up until the age of 8, I went to Disney, Sea World, and Universal for my birthday....when I moved up to TN, I went to Pizza Hut. Everything is definitely better in the Sunshine State.

3. I've never been to camp. I know, it's sad, but I just didn't go. Camp wasn't a huge thing in Florida. Do I wish I had gone to camp? yes. I may have learned to enjoy the outdoors more than I do now.

4. I had traveled to Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, Puerto Rico, San Juan, etc before the age of five. My grandpa and dad used to own a traveling agency. So we took Cruises all the time. I wish every day that my dad still owned it....Spring Break would be awesome!

5. Speaking of my Dad, he used to own his own photography company in Orlando. He is where I got my love of photography from. :) I've been taking pictures since I was little.

6. I am terrified of any water that I can't see the bottom of. This includes lakes, rivers, ponds, and the ocean....and maybe even a few large puddles. When I was 10, I went camping with a friend and went wading in the lake for the first time....and a snake started wrapping around my leg. After that, I was pretty much done with anything but a pool.

7. I will buy any dress that has pockets. Seriously, whoever invented pocket dresses....I love you.

8. I had a cancer scare when I was 21. I have cysts on my thyroid that they thought could be cancerous. Luckily they were not. But, I am supposed to have them checked every few years to make sure they haven't gotten worse.

9. I used to want to be a Broadway singer. I used to sing all of the time....but due to the whole thyroid thing, it hurt and strained my throat when I tried to sing. I do have my own CD.

10. My right arm is disgustingly crooked. I broke it playing baseball with the kids in my neighborhood when I was 10. It didn't heal back properly and now it's crooked. I think it's pretty cool...it makes most other people gag.

11. I have a drawing I did in 7th grade in a calendar. We had a county wide drawing contest for a health calendar. I got honorable mention....I was 1 of 2 students in my school whose drawings were put in the calendar.

12. I have run 2 half marathons, but I call myself a marathon runner. 13.1 + 13.1 = 26.2.....which is what a marathon distance is. haha. But, for real, I am planning on running a full race one day.

13. I love, love, love scary movies....but, hardly watch them because no one wants to watch them with me.

14. I have an unhealthy relationship with the movie "The Little Mermaid". I watched it so many times when I was a little girl that I literally wore 2 VHS tapes out. I now own it on DVD and swear that it was fate that I joined Zeta Tau Alpha....because our secrets are in the movie....:)

15. I actually waited until I was 21 to begin drinking. I haven't met anyone else like me! Some think I'm crazy...I am proud. I'm a very strong-willed person and that just proves it.

16. I am 25 and have never had a pedicure. And I have only had a manicure once, and my best friend had to take me. I've just never really thought to pamper myself in that way. I feel like I can do just as good a job and not have to pay that much for it. Maybe one day....

17. I met Shaquille O'Neal when I was 8 (this was when he was in his Rookie year playing for the Orlando Magic). My mom used to work for the American Cancer Society and they took a group of cancer patients to go meet him and get autographs. I got to tag along......I came up to his knee cap. I have a picture to prove it.

18. I am OCD about cleanliness and organization. I literally start to freak out if things aren't in their place. Nate can vouch for this.

19. I believe the saying, "once you go Mac, you never go back". I changed over 2 years ago, and PCs disgust me. Mac's are just so easy to use, it makes my life so simple. I have even converted everyone in my family....and my boyfriend.

20. I used to be engaged...to my current boyfriend. We got engaged in January of 2008 and called it off November of the same year. We just decided that it was too soon in our relationship. We wanted to make sure that we both knew where we wanted to go in life and set a plan in motion. I think it was a great decision. He and I are both in school working towards the degrees that we want. We have now been together 3 1/2 years....so we will see when the ring will come again.

21. I hate sweets...especially chocolate. I think I had enough sweets as a child to hold me over the rest of my life. I have about a dozen pictures of me as a young child digging into some chocolate cake....not anymore.

22. I love Moleskine Notebooks. I try to justify buying one every time I go into a store that sells them. I have 2 large sketchbooks, a small sketchbook, 2 lined notebooks, and my planner (which I love and absolutely couldn't live without)....oh and I am buying a new 'Passions Recipe book'. love, love, love.....

23. Speaking of planners....and being OCD about organization....I have an obsession with different colored pens. Everything in my planner is color coded by what type of event it is, i.e., Zeta, School, birthdays, personal, etc.... I wouldnt have it any other way.

24. I am a health food nut. And I absolutely love all things organic! If Whole Foods wasn't so far away, I would do all of my grocery shopping there. It's sad that it costs so much to be healthy nowadays.

25. If there is a movie that you have watched when you were younger and you think it was awesome, say a cult classic, don't ask me if I've seen it, because chances are, I haven't. I just never spent much of my childhood or adolescent life watching movies....well except for the Little Mermaid.

26.....one to grow on....I am named after Jamie Lee Curtis. She used to be one of my mom's favorite actresses. I hate Jaime though...that's why as I've gotten older, I've been trying to go by Jaime Leigh....but it just isn't catching on. I was almost a Heather Alicia....but thank the Lord my parents thought about what my initials would be before they put it on the birth certificate....HAM.

that was a tad bit harder than I expected. I'm rusty since my high school days. Hope you enjoyed!

-jleigh.

Photo Website Update

So, I just recently updated my photoshop website. I added the Meredith/Crytzer Engagement Pictures and changed some of my Charleston pictures. I'm highly considering making my own website. I know several sites that offer you free space. Something I am definitely going to look into in the coming months. Especially if I decide to go forward with the engagement/wedding photography. Anyway....here is a slideshow of my favorite place in the world.....

Check out all of my pictures at: http://jleigh_photography.photoshop.com

There will definitely be more to come in the following weeks, so check back!

Save the Date Designs

After doing my sorority sister's engagement photos, I offered to design some Save the Dates for her. I did 4 different designs, some including her wedding colors (aqua and brown), and have added a few that I did for my brother as well.

After creating all of these Save the Dates, I would definitely like to do more. If I decide to go the route of engagement/wedding photography, I think I will make them an add-in to a package. Such a fun way to put photography and design together!

-jleigh

Zeta Tau Alpha Design Work

This summer I offered to do some design work for my Fraternity, Zeta Tau Alpha. I definitely didn't want to get rusty in my skills going in to the Fall Semester.

Our Bid Day theme for the fall is Smuckers (since strawberries are one of our symbols). I created a couple of designs for our t-shirts. We are going with the first one, since it looks more like the actual Smucker's jar. I personally am in love with the crowned strawberries...

We also needed a layout for our Greek Recruitment brochure. I think these are really modern looking, and I wanted to do something I didn't think any other sorority would do. My advisors and EC picked the first one....also my favorite!

Lastly, I was asked to design the Bid Day bags. This is one design I came up with. I wanted to keep it simple. It will be on a canvas tote with navy accent, so I thought that the red would really pop out. I love it, and am still waiting on the final decision.

Oh, and these are some designs I made for our Lipsync flyer in the spring. They are loosely based on a Hatch Show Print. (love!). The pink one is the design we went with.

Engagement Photos: Meredith/Crytzer

After seeing my brother's engagement photos, one of my sorority sisters asked me to do hers. I was absolutely thrilled! We went to a lot of the same locations as my brother did, but they added a few of their own. I was so excited to come home and get these on my computer. After doing so, and seeing them, I ended up editing a few and posting them immediately. They were such a beautiful couple and were so photogenic. I thank them a thousand times over for allowing me to photograph them!

After this session, I decided that I would like to try to do more engagement sessions. I just love being able to capture the love between two people and create amazing photos that they can cherish forever!

It Sure Has Been a While.....

Yet again, the happenings of life have caused me to neglect this blog of mine. I have been doing more engagement and wedding photography, as well as some design work for my chapter of ZTA. Nothing major or hard that I can put in my portfolio, just things that need to get done. I'm going to go ahead and upload my design work from my Type class. We didn't have too many projects this semester, so it wont be like previous times where I'm uploading a bizillion things.

For this project we needed to create our own digital font. We could only use horizontal and vertical lines, no diagonals, or stair steps. This is what I came up with. Kinda cool, huh?

I really enjoyed this project, because I took it as a possible design job I would get one day. We were to design a series of 3 ads for a cause related to health. Of course I chose Breast Cancer because of my grandma, and my Zeta Tau Alpha. I really wanted to grab the reader's attention, because by doing research and looking at ads in magazines and newspapers, those were the ones that I was drawn to. I also wanted to add a bit of humor, it was those types of ads that I remembered most. I think that simplicity it best. You want to be straight to the point, get across what you want to say, and let the reader move on. So, overall, I wanted to captivate, keep it simple, and make sure they remembered it. When I presented it in class, I had lots of people in the class tell me this was their favorite. And of course, I got a few chuckles.

This was our final project, and aside from the Ad Campaign, my favorite. We had to take pictures of letterforms in our environment (and not letters already spelled out, letters that were created by things in an environment), and they all had to have the same theme. I originally went down to my local run down train station and took shots related to railroads. But, unable to find a few letters, and having a change in my overall idea, I abandoned that idea. Instead, I moved on to letterforms from all over Nashville. And made a map of where you could find them. I really liked my design, the map itself. I wasn't so thrilled about my cover.

I really enjoyed my typography class, and am falling more and more in love with my major every single day. :)

A Personal Design Project

Ok....well, here is what I completed tonight. It only took me about 2.5 hours. It isn't anything really complicated, and I'm pretty sure it needs something else.....but this was my first shot. I do like the organic look of it, and the colors.

I Want To Be a Designer, Gosh Darnit!

I want more than anything to be a graphic designer. But, I feel like I constantly have an artist's block. I have all of these great ideas of things I want to design....but when I try, I just sit and stare at my computer screen, not knowing where to begin.

This makes me extremely nervous. There are so many people in my class that design things in their spare time and they look really awesome. I feel like even though I study and read about graphic design to try and be ahead of the game, really I need to be using my computer rather than having my nose stuck in a book. So......from now on, I want to try and design one thing a week. I'm not saying that it's going to be super fabulous, but I think just simply trying and working my way through the programs will help. I'm just such a perfectionist and I'm terrified of failure, that sometimes it's hard to just start designing while not really knowing how to do something.

So, here goes....I'm pulling out my moleskine notebook.....now!

I'm in a Funk....

Well, lately I have been in a little bit of a funk. Unfortunately, I am having difficulties with my thyroid again. This, most likely, is the cause of my fatigue, anxiety, and depression.

A little history on my thyroid issues:

About 5 years ago, I was diagnosed with cysts on my thyroid. My doctor at the time told me that he couldn't remove them, but that I needed to have an MRI done every couple of years to make sure that they don't get worse. Turns out that they can grow larger, even becoming tumors and cancerous.

Well, due to not having insurance, I have yet to get my thyroid checked since. A few weeks ago, I was having issues with fatigue and nausea, as well as having anxiety attacks. The doctor did numerous tests, thinking it could be my gallbladder or pancreas. I got my tests back this week, and everything was clean. (Which is great!) But, knowing my medical history, he thinks my thyroid is causing my symptoms and he wants to do an MRI scan. It's going to cost $200 +, and frankly, I don't have the money. I'm currently looking for a job so that I can hopefully save the money and get the scan done in the near future. But, honestly, not many places are hiring right now. So, in the meantime, I feel crappy and get to worry about whether or not I have thyroid cancer.

I'm trying to exercise and eat healthy and not get too stressed out, to help alleviate some of my symptoms. Hopefully the exercise will help some, but I think the stress will be around no matter what. Which is bad, because that's the worse thing for me....but, what am I gonna do...?

Speaking of exercising, I met with a personal trainer today. Ok, he's a friend of mine, but he's legit. He just got his personal training certification and he needed a couple of guinea pigs to get him experience. So, the first month is free, then I get a discounted rate thereafter. The CMM 1/2 is in 8 weeks, so we are training for that (he is an Ironman, so this is his specialty) and we are doing some core workouts as well. I'm hoping that this will help me get back to that size I so desperately want to be again....I mean, it's only a few inches, and about 10 lbs....but it's always those vanity pounds that are the hardest to lose. And me being a petite girl to begin with, one can really tell that I have gained weight.

So, here's to trying to get back to that happy size and it helping to relieve some stress so that my thyroid can calm itself while I try and find the money to make it better!

-jleigh

While snow is nice, I want it to go away

I've lived in Tennessee for 17 years now....I know, even I can't believe it! After moving up from Florida, I have always been excited to see snow in the forecast. Well, this winter, I have seen more snow than I have in my whole time here, combined. The first snow I got really excited! I made chili, had a movie day, and cuddled up with Nate; all of the things you should do when it snows. Now, about 4 snows later, I get excited, but only because of the hope of getting out of school. And really, I just want it to warm up, so that my walks to school can be more enjoyable and so that I can bring out my flip flops again.

Not to mention that I am really, really anxious to get outside and run! The 1/2 marathon is just 8 weeks away and I have yet to break that 5 mile mark....and the last time I ran was weeks ago. The weather is just putting a damper on a lot. It's hard to get out of bed when it's cold and I hate leaving the apartment, because I don't want to brave the frigid cold. I am praying that the warm weather will move in soon, but so far, the forecast has nothing but more snow and low temperatures.

The cold weather is exactly why I hate the north. I can't wait until I graduate and am able to move further South.

-jleigh

School is definitely underway....

School has been super crazy for me, and it is only two weeks in. Really, it's just one class: Typography. Which is the class for my major, so of course I am going to want to do all of the projects really well and in a timely manner.

At first, I didn't like this class, not because of the subject manner, because I find that extremely interesting, but more because of the teacher. She is super hard, and really harsh on critiques. This ultimately is a very good thing, especially in my field. It's better to have someone tell me now what I need to fix in my work, rather than them sugar coating it and later on I find out that my work is ultimately crap. So, in the first two days of class, she definitely has shown how hard she is going to be this semester. We had a presentation, a paper, a test, and 2 projects due within the first two weeks. While it was pretty overwhelming and I've already had some late night/early morning combinations, I actually really love my teacher. Yes, critiques are harsh and the workload is crazy, but I really enjoy what I am doing and am going to try my best at everything I do for this class.

Luckily I have the best boyfriend ever, who has helped me through a few stressful nights. He's been really helpful around the apartment and has taken on a few more chores when he has the time. I am very blessed to have him.

-jleigh

On my way to Charleston

I'm currently outside of Atlanta, on my way to my favorite city, Charleston, SC. Nate and I are going for my 25th birthday/our 3 year anniversary. For some reason I'm more excited this time than any time before. We are staying closer to the harbour, plan on eating at a few new restaurants, and doing some non-touristy things. We are also staying longer than we ever have before, just bc we got such a great deal on our hotel.

I hope to update this daily while we are there. Just kinda as a travel journal.


- jleigh (on the go)

A Look Back at 2009

2009 was filled with many ups and downs. The year started out with me being alone and single, due to Nate and I’s seperation at the end of 2008. On top of that, the year was filled with financial diffuclty, the loss of a job, and an extremely lonely summer. On the plus side, I accomplished a few goals that I had set for myself, became a more independent person with moving into my own apartment, and fell in love with Nate all over again. I couldn’t think of a much better way to review my year, than with pictures. So here you go:

The first major event of the year was my 24^th birthday. I was so blessed to have so many of my close friends in attendence. I love each and every one of them and thank them for making my birthday so wonderful! I also was introduced to the ‘Paddle of Destiny’ at Mellow Mushroom….even though I only got about 2 samples….it was amazing.

The next major event was moving into my very first apartment. It was so exciting and the place is absolutely adorable!! It was my friend Nicki’s old place and I thank her for introducing me to it. I painted the living room and my bedroom, and it was so nice to be able to decorate however I wanted. I absolutely love my apartment!

The great thing about Nate and I was that we were able to remain really great friends, even after we broke up. Our love for the city of Charleston took us there again for our Spring Break. We visited Ft. Sumpter, went on a Ghost Tour, and stayed at the fancy Francis Marion hotel. I had an amazing time!

Zeta Day 2009 was in Chattanooga this year! Iota Chi was allowed to go, and we even won awards!! Yeah, we were small, but we were AWESOME! We won: Zeta Day Attendence Award, Sisterhood Award, the Highest GPA Award, and Spirit Award. And….my own twin won the Zeta Lady Award!

I accomplished one of the goals I had set for myself a long time ago….I became a marathon runner. Now, I only ran a half, but still…I’m awesome! After months and months of training, it felt so amazing to cross that finish line. Race day was a lot hotter than anyone expected it to be. That combined with the inclines of Nashville, I finished a lot later than I wanted to (3:07:07). But, my main goal was to at least finish, and that I did, with a big smile on my face!

I also went to my second live soccer game. It was the World Cup Qualifier that was held in Nashville. I’m still learning the game, but I’m getting better at understanding things.

I have loved Dave Barnes for a few years now, but have never seen him live in concert. He had a show in Nashville at the end of April and thanks to my ZTA Big Sister, who gave up her ticket for me, I was able to finally see him! And oh…it was amazing!

Oh,…and he got his name up on the Exit In Wall of Famous Entertainers.

The 7 Iota Chi girls that stuck it through our chapter’s Recolonization, had our last sisterhood event together before the summer and the Recolonization in the fall. I love these girls so much and am thankful to them for proving to everyone that Zeta is Forever.

This summer I opened up my apartment to my best friend and Zeta Twin, Liz. I ended up putting some of my furniture in storage and moving my living room into my dining room, so that I could designate my living room for Liz’s room. It’s a little cramped, but I love having my twin so close!

June 19^th of 2009 was supposed to be my wedding day. This was a very hard time for me, but I was lucky to have great friends to be around me on this day. A few weeks after this date, Nate and I decided to give our love one more chance. It was great to sit down with him and talk about us, something that we really didn’t do at the time of our break-up. We just both realized how much we really missed being with each other….and now we are better than ever! Distance and time really do make the heart grow fonder. I am so thankful every day that I have him in my life. I couldn’t imagine ever being without him.

Oh and he ended up taking me to The Cheesecake Factory for a date! I have always wanted to go….and it was AMAZING. I love cheesecake! (and Nate)

I designed my first Tshirt this summer for our Race for the Cure Zeta Team. On top of that, I learned how to Screenprint thanks to my good friend David Penuel. He is so awesome and let me intern with him and even let me print my own shirt…

This Fall was the Recolonization of the Iota Chi Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha at Middle Tennessee State University. This was the moment that the 7 of us ‘old members’ had been waiting a year for (During the past year, we weren’t allowed to wear our letters at all…pretty hard for a sorority girl). We were so thankful to have amazing TLCs and an amazing National Council that supported us. They did an awesome job of getting 300+ girls to sign up to be a Zeta. Over a period of 3 days, the potential new members went through an Interview and Recruitment process. Then Nationals had the very hard job of narrowing the 300+ down to only 100 to invite back to Pref Night. At Pref Night, Nationals then extended a group bid to all of them. I think only a handful of girls rejected, but the screams of excitement from my new sisters brought tears to my eyes!

The day after Pref Night, we held a Bid Day celebration. We played ice breaker games, and ate, and ate, and ate some more….oh and we took lots of pictures!

For the first time in almost 12 years, my family went on a vacation together. I planned a weekend trip to Charleston, SC (of course). Due to Nate’s busy soccer schedule, he and I had to drive down on Friday night, hang out with everyone on Saturday, and then drive right back that night. It was a very tiring trip, but it was well worth it to have Nate there and be in Charleston with my family.

Over the summer I had talked Liz into doing the Middle Half with me. I didn’t stay on top of training like I should have and finished at almost the same exact time as I did in Nashville, even though Murfreesboro’s terrain is completely flat. I was pretty upset with myself, and due to this, decided to do the Country Music Half again instead of the full marathon. I just really want to beat my time! On top of a bad run time, I ended up getting a pinched nerve in my back, and I had to be out of school for a week. It just goes to show you how very important it is to train!

Nate registered for his first 5K, Race for the Cure! Even though he walked it, and I walked it with him, I was so excited that he came out for such a great cause. And everyone was wearing my shirt!

I met Stacie Garland during the summer. Michael Weston told me that she wanted to be a Zeta. As soon as I met her, I went into Recruitment mode and was asking her a ton of questions. I also absolutely fell in love with her! She became my twin this fall (because we are a class of (pretty much) only new members, we have twins instead of bigs and lils). I call her my lil because I am so old, age wise, and being an older member, that it seems a little odd for me to have a twin…plus I have Liz. And speaking of her, she is Stacie’s best friend, Amanda’s, twin. We then adopted another person into our little family, Nicky, whose twin dropped out after Homecoming. So I now have this wonderful Zeta family…I came up with the name JEANS (I know it’s kinda stupid, but kinda cute) but it’s the first letter of each of our first names. I love them and they are the greatest!

In December, Iota Chi initiated 77 (ish) members. We celebrated with a Luncheon and our National President, Laura Ladewig Mauro, and Deb Ensor, Zeta’s Executive Director, both came down to personally congratulate us. Most Zetas never have the opportunity to meet a National Officer, I myself have met 6 of them, and I feel truly lucky.

I must go back and tell a story that always makes me cry….the moment when Deb Ensor came back to MTSU to tell the Iota Chi 9 (originally 9 instead of 7 bc some transferred out) that Nationals had approved the Recolonization of Iota Chi. She said that 9 was a lucky number (there are 9 founders of Zeta) and she said that we were her heroes because of the sacrifice that we were making for the future of Iota Chi. We were now Founders like those Founders of long ago, and we should be proud of the sacrifice that we were making. Any time Deb Ensor talks, you know you better bring tissues! J

Anyways. Back to the Luncheon. The food was SOOO good! Haha. Here are some pictures of that fabulous day!

That pretty much brings me to the end of my year. Even though it was a tough one, looking back, I am really thankful for so much. I have amazing friends and family and such a loving boyfriend.

So far in 2010, I am looking forward to my 25^th birthday, another trip to Charleston, Nate and I's 3 year anniversary, a couple more marathons, my cousin having a baby, and my brother’s wedding in September! My future is so bright, I’m gonna have to wear shades!

-jleigh