Never say never

So this is my first go around at this.  Ok so maybe it's not for those of you who know me already.  There are a lot of you who will follow this that know me very well and know a lot about me.  And  some of you will know that I have said, I will never blog.  Weeeelllll, never say never.  It is odd how blogging has become such a large part of my life and more importantly saved my life on some occasions. 


Journaling was my thing as a young child.  Ironically I don't know where any of them are right now, but somewhere in a land fill some skunk or raccoon are getting a real chuckle out of all my secrets as a young girl.  I have learned through the writing of my journals that its not a good entry unless you are real and hold nothing back.  So bare with me.  I am about as real as you get.  

I will start out by telling you a bit about myself.  I know this will be a wee bit repetitive for some of you but there are some of you who don't know where a lot of my sarcasm, fear, laughter or faith come from.  Sounds like a train wreck right.  Well, life has happened to me for 33 years now.  I am a daughter of High School football coach so I spent my life moving around the state of Kentucky until College where I stayed for a while.  I am also the wife a construction worker/gospel singer/amazing man.  I am the mother of the most beautiful little boy in this world and he is what makes me smile on those days my face muscles seem to not work.  I am also the stepmother to a wonder stepson/teenager that has made my life very interesting at times.  I am a Christian and proud of it.  I believe in Jesus and I believe he died on a cross to save me from sins, most of which were written in those land fill journals but whatever.  So I am just gonna tell you now, most of life stories will be based on God and what he has done for me lately.  Which brings to me the reason I now "Blog".  I am a 33 year old Breast Cancer survivor.  I have seen things now in my life that most women my age never see for a long time if not ever.  At 31 years of age I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and then after many opinions and sleepless nights it was recommended that I have a double mastectomy and take 6 treatments of chemo followed by a year of a protein inhibitor called Herceptin.  So for those of you who don't know what that means, I am triple positive.  All receptors that feed Breast Cancer I was positive for.  Yep, I drew the lucky number.  As far as cancer goes, that was the best news I could have at that point in time.  They could treat it easily because they knew what fed the tumors.  They knew what to block.  Now the other good news is that I was only Stage I and my lymph nodes were clear.  I am 19 months out and I am doing fine.  And I plan to stay that way.  

So that is a little about me.  You will hear more about my journey as we get to know each other but for now, I will tell you how JHP~shooting for a cure got started.  Through my journey with cancer I blogged on the Caringbridge website set up families and friends that can keep in touch with loved ones who are sick.  With moving and having family all around, they wanted to know how I was doing.  So that's what I did.  I would update at least every week on my progress or my setbacks.  It became so important to me.  It became my way of telling the world how much cancer had screwed everything up.  But towards the end of the journey, though I still hate cancer and wish I had learned lessons another way, I discovered the cancer had taught me how to live.  It taught me how to love, how to get mad, how let someone know I was scared and needed help.  So yes, there is part of me that is thankful for cancer.  It allowed me to find a hidden talent that I know I had.  And in that discovery I thought no better way to combine my love for photography.  Since my son was born, he has had a camera in his face and I have taken many pictures of his growing up.  Needless to say his life is well documented.  Even down to the first time he sat on the big boy potty.  Yes, I have tons of blackmail pictures.  Anyway, after showing people and them telling I need to start doing it for a living, I thought maybe they were right.  

I did not want to do just the typical business of shooting pictures and selling them to the client.  I wanted it to mean something.  I wanted to make a difference with my work.  So I thought I could combine my want for cancer to come to an end and also show people my passion for the beauty of life.  JHP will donate portions of the final order to any cancer organization.  It's not just about the money to me, but I want my clients to know that I am fighting for them.  I am fighting for their mothers, sisters, daughter, fathers, and sons.  This disease shows no mercy.  It shows no prejudice. It has no age limit.  By taking pictures, not only can I do what I love, but I can help end this disease.  And by blogging about it, I feel it will get my name out there and hopefully raise that much more money for cancer's ultimate exit from this world.

I will say that my life is not all about cancer or photography.  Don't be surprised if someday you get on here and read about me trying on a pair of skinny jeans or literally crawling through the car to get into it because the door latch broke and the guy next to me is looking at me like I am an idiot.   

So never say never.  I said I would never blog because I didn't think I had anything worth blogging about, but I have learned that we all have a voice and we all need to get it out there.  Join me in shooting for a cure and lets not only chat about it, but make it look pretty along the way.