Happy Valentine’s Day. ❤

I want to share a bit about my own Valentine, the guy behind the scenes you rarely see. My husband Justin and I started dating our junior year at Ball State. In the last almost 8 years, he’s been my best friend and biggest supporter.

When I was a drawing major, he would let me spread out all my art supplies wherever we lived, help me step back, and most importantly, encouraged me to believe in myself. Justin bought me my first DSLR camera our first Christmas as a married couple. It was to take pictures of our life, but also create source images for artwork and photograph my finished pieces. He rooted for me when I thought wedding photography was a better career path. And after having run his own businesses in the past, he’s the one who acts as my sounding board on a regular basis. The work is mine, but without him as my partner, I would be putting the brakes on so much more in life when I need to give it some gas.

This drawing I’ve been working on was just going to be something simple to go with some other botanical drawings I made for our house. I realized this is the first drawing I’ve really taken my time with since starting CDP. There are other sketches in this book, but nothing I’ve really focused in on like I used to. It’s really easy for me to get consumed with running and growing my business. Not just for the sake of doing my best for my couples, but to be the best partner he believes in so consistently. Although he pushes me to grow, Justin also helps me to not lose sight of the bigger picture. He’s the one reminding me to not step away from making art.

After taking so much time on this, I realized how ironic it is I chose it to draw. The second picture, is our first picture we took together only a couple weeks into dating. Neither of us had ever eaten a raw pomegranate, so we cut it up in his dorm room and documented it. 😂 I see the two pictures together telling a little story about our life. I plan on putting them up together when we finish the reno on our bedroom. Even though they feel random, they remind me I have the best partner who’s been there from the beginning. And honestly, I couldn’t have a better Valentine. ❤