My Goals for 2017

Photo by Sammi Evans Photography

I always love the start of a new year because it gives me time to reflect and to plan. I absolutely LOVE setting goals and I love reading what other people's goals are (I find it so inspiring!). Last year I shared my goals for 2016 and I am so happy to share that I accomplished most of them (at least most of the business goals!). A few of my favorite memories and goals accomplished from 2016 include: 
-A trip to England
-A trip to Charlottesville
-Photographing 14 weddings
-Being published in Budget Savvy Bride & Fab You Bliss
-Being featured on Kleinfeld's Instagram!
-Getting to know many new wedding planners, photographers, and other vendors

2017 is going to be a year of BIG changes. For starters, I'm SO excited to announce that we bought a house!!! I have been holding off on sharing this publicly until it was more certain. We still have not closed yet but our closing date is in 10 days and so I feel more comfortable sharing now. I can't WAIT to move in, decorate, and slowly make it our own. Be on the lookout for more home-related blog posts in 2017! In addition, my husband and I will be moving to Winston-Salem and planting a church (read more about that here). There are a lot of unknowns, but I trust the Lord and I could not be more thankful to experience all of them by Alex's side. Without further ado, here are my goals:

My business goals for 2017:

1. Photograph 20 weddings (including one international wedding!).

2. Re-brand and get a new website and new collateral items designed. In addition, I'd love to get a promo video made.

3. Do 2-3 styled shoots.

4. Get at least 2 weddings and 2 styled shoots published.

5. Invest in more gear.

6. Attend a workshop.

7. Start offering business mentoring and coaching and design and teach a class for beginner photographers.

8. Serve my clients well and find ways to bless each of them individually!

9.  Blog at least 3 times a week every week.

10. Establish my business in Winston-Salem and get to know new vendors and creatives in the area. 

11. Launch a branding photography package. 
I've had a few opportunities to take branding pictures and headshots for creative small businesses this year and I have LOVED it! I really want to do this type of commercial photography more often for creative small businesses and so I want to start thinking through a photography package to offer. Please let me know if you or a business owner you know would be interested in this!

My personal goals for 2017:

1. Spend time in the Word and in prayer daily.

2. Memorize a book of the Bible.

3. Work out at least 30 minutes 3x per week.

4.. Get to know my neighbors and other women in Winston-Salem.

5. Make our new house a HOME and show regular hospitality.

6. Grow in loving my husband better, encouraging him more frequently, and exercising more self control by withholding mean or unhelpful words.

7. Serve our new church plant faithfully.

8. Read 10 books.

9. Take more personal pictures.

10. Grow and maintain a garden. Also learn more about flowers and landscaping (yay for having a yard!).

We're Moving!

Some of you may already know this, but my husband and I are moving to Winston-Salem. We currently live in a small town, Mebane, NC, which is located about an hour east of Winston. We hope, Lord willing, to buy a house in Winston so our moving date is dependent on when we close on a house (our hope is by February or March 2017). 

So why are we moving to Winston-Salem? We are moving because we believe that God has called us to plant a church there. My husband has been working at Grace Reformed Baptist in Mebane as a "Church Planting Resident" for the past year and he's been pursuing his PhD in Historical Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. But his training and preparations for what he believes God has called him to do actually started a lot further back than last year...

 

The History Behind the Church Plant

My husband began to feel a call to ministry and the call to be a pastor when he was 13. A few years later, he began to pursue the idea of planting a church. He approached one of his best friends (Brad) and his two brothers (Anthony and Zack) about the possibility of planting a church together in the future. These 4 men approached Grace Reformed Baptist in Mebane and asked the church to train them and to determine whether or not they were qualified for ministry. Alex has also been extremely blessed to have an older mentor and pastor in his life, Pastor Fisher. Pastor Fisher was his pastor throughout his childhood and during his college years, Alex spent his summers at Grace training with Pastor Fisher. After graduating from Clemson, Alex moved to Mebane to attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and to continue training with Pastor Fisher. Throughout this entire process, Pastor Fisher and Grace Reformed Baptist have confirmed and continued to support Alex's calling towards becoming a pastor and planting a church. In the last year, as I mentioned above, Grace hired Alex and began to formally move forward with the church planting process. Alex and I are both extremely thankful for all of the support and guidance our sending church has given to us so far. I also have to say that I am particularly blessed by and thankful for Pastor Fisher's sacrificial involvement in Alex's life. I know that he has had a large part in forming Alex's theology, his maturity, his love for the Lord, love for the saints, and love for the church.

Why Winston-Salem?

So why are we planting a church in Winston-Salem? We desire to lean heavily on our sending church and we want to be directed by our elders. The elders at Grace felt that it would be best to stay in North Carolina so that the people at Grace can be intimately involved in supporting and helping the church plant. Once North Carolina was determined, Alex and Pastor Fisher began meeting with men who were able to give them detailed information about the demographics and needs of various cities in North Carolina. Winston-Salem emerged as one of the more needy cities in North Carolina. Winston-Salem is part of the Piedmont Triad and with a population of nearly 250,000, Winston-Salem is one of the largest cities in NC. The city features several universities including Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University, and University of North Carolina School of the Arts. With estimated population growth of over 40% coming to the city in the next 10 years, and with 85-90% of the current population not meaningfully involved in a local church, Winston-Salem is a prime target for church planting in the state of North Carolina. 

What Will This Mean for DiPrima Photography?

Thankfully, this move actually won't change much for DiPrima Photography. Many of the weddings I shoot are already in the Triad area and my hope is to continue targeting more weddings in the Triad area. It also opens up the possibility of traveling to Charlotte, Boone, and Asheville with reduced or no travel fees. 

How Can I Learn More?

You can learn more about Emmanuel Church of Winston-Salem (the name of our church plant!) by visiting this website. You can also read Alex's blog and subscribe to our newsletter. Please also feel free to email me if you have any questions or if you're interested in getting involved (or have friends living in Winston who may be interested)! If you desire to pray for us, here's a few of our current requests:

• Please pray for our small group meetings which are meeting every other Saturday in Winston-Salem. Pray that our time together would be profitable and unifying. Pray that God would continue to bring interested contacts and that God would form us into a church.
• Pray that God would continue to form and finalize a core team that will be moving with us from Mebane to Winston-Salem. We have a couple of families who are currently considering coming with us. They need the Lord to give them wisdom as they make many important decisions.
• Pray for opportunities to share the gospel in Winston-Salem. Pray that God would give us and our team boldness.

I am excited and nervous about this next big endeavor in our lives. I am so thankful to know that I can rest in God's sovereignty and His faithfulness to build His church. Our earnest hope and prayer is that we would be able to reach the lost and needy in Winston-Salem with the gospel and that God would form His church. In spite of all the unknowns, the fears, and the pressures, we look to Jesus for our confidence. My plea is what Paul's was in Acts 20:24: "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."

Charlottesville Getaway Reccommendations

A couple of weeks ago, Alex and I spent a night in Charlottesville, VA. We had an amazing time and definitely want to go back! Charlottesville is a great place for a romantic getaway or a short family vacation. We only spent one night, but I'd recommend spending a weekend there. Here's an itinerary of what we did:

Thursday Night:

Walked Around Downtown
We strolled around downtown Charlottesville. The downtown is adorable and there's lots of cute shops and used book stores (Alex almost bought The Collected Works of John Bunyan...the book was several hundred years old!). There's also a lot of music history in Charlottesville. Dave Matthew's Band got their start at Miller's (a bar in downtown). One suggestion I have if you want to go into the shops is to get downtown earlier in the day. I was sad the find that most of the shops closed around 5 (might be different on the weekends).

Ate Dinner at Hamiltons' at First & Main
We had an AMAZING dinner at Hamilton's! I highly recommend it if you're looking for a nicer dinner out! It's right downtown and it has a great ambience. There was live music while we were playing and I had an unbelievably good plate of shrimp and grits.

Got Gelato at Splendora's
I LOVE Gelato and was super excited to find a gelato place downtown. Splendora's was excellent! My favorite flavor is stracciatella.

Drove Around UVA's Campus
If we had more time, we would have spent a few hours walking around the campus. Since our time was limited, we quickly drove around. UVA's campus is GORGEOUS and definitely worth seeing! I love that all the buildings have Jefferson's distinct Palladian architectural style (he designed the school).

Stayed at the English Inn of Charlottesville, VA
Alex found the English Inn and did a great job! We wanted a reasonably priced hotel that was close to downtown. The English Inn was a great value and was really close to everything. It's an older hotel but was very unique and quaint.

Friday Morning:

Toured Monticello
You can't take a trip to Charlottesville without visiting Monticello! Alex is a big Jefferson fan and has read a lot of biographies about him and so he was particularly excited. Jefferson was a fascinating man and had so many unique interests and ways of thinking and so his home really is amazing. I'd recommend setting aside 2-3 hours for this. The tour of the home only takes about an hour, but then there's fairly large grounds you can walk around (with a beautiful view overlooking the mountains), as well as other parts of the house you can see that aren't included in the tour like the slave quarters, basement, Jefferson's grave, etc. I'd also recommend getting to Monticello 30 minutes before your tour is supposed to start. You have to take a shuttle up to park and take a shuttle up to the house.

Lunch at Monsoon Siam
This restaurant is a gem! It's probably the trendiest Thai place I've been to and the food is amazing! Seriously, not exaggerating, I had the best Panang curry I've ever had. I regret not taking a picture of it but just trust me, it was SOOOO good! Our waitress was also the sweetest and she told us all about the time that Dave Matthews came in and she served him Red Curry.

Visit Carter Mountain Orchard
This is definitely worth doing! I read that Carter Mountain Orchard has the best view in Charlottesville and we were not disappointed! Be prepared for a VERY steep drive up a mountain. You can also go apple picking and shop their adorable store for apples, apple butter, apple doughnuts (they were delicious), etc. 

Visit Ash-Lawn Highland
Once you visit Carter Mountain, you can keep driving through beautiful, windy mountain roads and you'll drive by Ash-Lawn Highland as well as several vineyards. We didn't have time to tour it, but we drove up and briefly saw President James Monroe's home. If we had more time, we'd love to go back and do a tour of Ash-Lawn Highland as well as Montpelier (James Madison's home).

Wine Tasting at Blenheim Vineyards
I wanted to do a tasting at a vineyard (there's 30 or so in Charlottesville) and so to satisfy Alex's Dave Matthew's fanboy desires, we went to Blenheim. Dave Matthews opened Blenheim Vineyards several years ago. I'm no wine connoisseur but I loved seeing the vineyard and tasting wines. My favorite wine is typically Pinot Noir but the grapes for Pinot Noir are mostly grown in California and Italy. Charlottesville is known more for lighter wines. My favorite wine at Blenheim was the Rose. We also drove by Trump Winery at it was GORGEOUS (that's right...owned by Donald Trump himself). Another vineyard I'd love to visit/my dream location to shoot a wedding is Pippin Hill.

I think we accomplished quite a bit in 24 hours! Hopefully next time we'll get to stay a little longer. I highly recommend visiting Charlottesville! If you've been there, what are some of your recommendations?

England Trip Part Four: London

We spent our last day in England in London and had a great time! We began by seeing all the major sights like Big Ben, the London Eye, etc. Then Alex toured Westminster Abbey while I got some coffee (I had already toured it when I studied abroad in London). Then we went to Spurgeon's church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle. It was closed, but luckily, one of the kind secretaries who worked at the church let us in and gave us a brief tour. She updated us on everything the church is doing now and how God has continued to work there over the years!

After that, we went to Bunhill fields (a non-conformist burial site) and then on to see where Spurgeon and his wife Susannah are buried. It was really impactful to see the graves of people who God used so much. Whenever I see graves like theirs, it always causes me to reflect on what I want my legacy to be. I long for my legacy to be that I loved Christ and loved others. Here's a few of my favorite pictures:

Left: Alex recently read a biography on Winston Churchill and now he's obsessed with him so he just HAD to get a picture in front of the statue! :) Right: Alex outside of Westminster Abbey! Alex got to tour it while I relaxed at a coffee shop (I had already toured it when I studied abroad)!

This isWestminster Chapel where Martin Lloyd-Jones preached. I had the privilege of attending this church when I studied abroad in London!

St. James Park

The Metropolitan Tabernacle where Spurgeon ministered for over 30 years. Alex's doctoral work is centered largely around Spurgeon, this building, and the ministry that was carried out from it. You can read more about Spurgeon in Part 2. 

A very sweet woman actually let us come into the building, though it was closed to take a brief look around. This bust of Spurgeon greeted us in the side room where we entered.

Do you recognize this? This is a picture of where Spurgeon was baptized. We got to visit that spot and I posted pictures in Part 2 of this blog series.

This is the current pulpit, not original to Spurgeon's day, but still beautiful. Unfortunately, the building was mostly destroyed during WWII. They were able to keep the original front of the tabernacle intact.

Alex in Dr. Peter Masters' pulpit. Masters is the current pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle and deliberately continues in a Spurgeonic legacy of reformed preaching and evangelism. When he first came in 1970, the church had been whittled down to about 30 people. They now run roughly 1,000 on a Sunday morning!

We were able to make it over to Bunhill fields where many Puritans were buried. This is John Bunyan's grave, which is in the most prominent place in the cemetery. John Owen was buried only about 15 feet away from Bunyan. Fitting given their mutual admiration for one another. I actually had the chance to visit Bunhill fields back in 2008 when I studied abroad and I wrote a post about it here. It's fun to reflect back on all God has taught me and done in my life since I wrote that post!

Just across the street from Bunhill Fields is John Wesley's Chapel and parish. Unfortunately it was closed that day but we still got to stroll around the grounds.

Outside St. Paul's Cathedral

We were able to snap a few quick photos before they told us photography wasn't allowed. Oops! Many famous funerals have been held in this building including Winston Churchill's and Princess Diana's. Also Christopher Wren and Lord Admiral Nelson were buried in the basement of the cathedral.

After some wandering around and getting a little lost, we finally found Spurgeon's grave in Norwood Cemetery. Absolutely amazing!

Spurgeon's stone reads:
"For since by faith I saw the stream/
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
And shall be till I die

Then in a nobler sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save
When this poor lisping stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave"

Susannah's stone reads (Spurgeon's wife):
"His love in time past forbids me to think
He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink
Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review
Confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through
Since all that I meet shall work for my good
The bitter is sweet, the medicine food
Though painful at present twill cease before long
And then oh how pleasant the conquerors song"
 

Other pictures from our phones that Alex took in Westminster Abbey and I took in St. Paul's:

We climbed a TON of stairs to get to the top of the dome in St. Paul's. It was amazing! 

England Trip Part Three: Cambridge

Alex and I were able to spend a day in Cambridge and we had an incredible time! We met up with one of Alex's good friends from his childhood, Kilby, and her husband Paul and their daughter Hillary. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was the most picture perfect day. The weather was beautiful and we started the day off by grabbing some wine, meats, and cheeses from a local market to take punting with us. If you're unfamiliar with "punting," a "punt" is a flat bottomed boat and the punter propels the punt by pushing against the river bed with a pole. Punting is very popular in Cambridge and there are probably more punts on the Cam than any other river in England. While on our boat ride, we took in the beautiful sites and ate our picnic lunch. Afterwards, we walked around Cambridge, stopped and got turkish delight, had lots of coffee and good conversation, and ended the day by sitting in the beautiful courtyard of Emmanuel college and feeding the ducks. 

To give you a little more history about Cambridge, Cambridge was founded in 1209. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled northeast to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. Cambridge is the second oldest University in the English speaking world. 

Here's some of my favorite pictures from our time in Cambridge:

This is the Airbnb room we stayed in before heading out to Cambridge for the day. It was adorable!

We met up our friends Paul and Kilby and had the perfect day together! We hit up the open air market and got a picnic lunch of fantastic english cheeses, bread, and meat!

And then went punting in Cambridge with our picnic lunch!!! So gorgeous!!!

I told Alex the one thing I wanted to do on our trip was to go punting...and we did! Loved it!!

King's College Chapel where Charles Simeon ministered.

Alex experiencing Turkish Delight for the first time (after reading about it in Chronicles of Narnia, he was pretty determined to try it)

Pembroke College, Cambridge! The Puritan, Roger Williams graduated here.

Emmanuel College, Cambridge. This was the center of Puritanism in the early 17th century. So many of the leading Puritans were educated and trained in this College.