You know, I’ve been thinking about how awesome it is that I get to know everyone I work with on a slightly more personal level than a lot of people get to know their clients— it’s one of the MAJOR perks of my job! Think about it… I get about an hour, give or take, to hang out with an individual, couple, or family, and taking their pictures would be SO awkward if it was just silent the whole time! It leads to comfortable sessions and very often to better or new-found friendships.

And I love making new friends :) So I thought I would take a minute and share 10 things that a lot of you might not already know about me! (Obviously family and old friends excluded…)

1. In high school, I was deeply involved in the music program! I sang with the women’s choir, the show choir, and had the roles of Prudy Pingleton in Hairspray and Cosette Les Misérables. I participated in the state choir for three years and competed as a soloist for state my senior year!

2. I have cut and donated my hair to non-profit organizations three times! Even though I didn’t start doing it with this intention, I like to think of each donation as a representation for a family member who has had cancer. First, my grandma, Connie Tillotson, who passed away from cervical cancer almost seven years ago. I love her and miss her! The last two are for my cute cousins, known as the “twinnies,” who each received a leukemia diagnosis when they were two or three years old. They are champions and overcame their cancer, and they were both recently declared as cancer free!

3. I had intense training in classical piano music starting in middle school and into my high school career. I learned SO much, and I truly love to play the piano, but I craved more balance in my life and gave my piano training more of a backseat! I’m not nearly as good anymore as I was as a middle-schooler, but I still love to play. My favorite thing now is to play music for my baby and just watch him become so mellow and still as he listens.

4. I’m REALLY good at guessing the gender of unborn babies. I haven’t been keeping an official running total, but I’m something like 14 for 16 right now! (But now that I say that, I’ve probably jinxed all my future guesses.)

5. I want so badly to be a good indoor gardener, but I’ve had very little success… Everett made me an herb planter for our table about two years ago, and I’ve tried herbs in it like three times now, and I’ve killed every single one of them. I’ve had to resort to “beginner” plants to have anything living in my house to help me build my confidence. Right now I have three succulents, a rubber plant, and three Paperwhite bulbs that seem to be doing well and will hopefully bloom soon!

6. I cook dinner almost every night now and have developed a hobby for trying new recipes, but I used to loathe when I had to make myself dinner. Something about getting married and having someone else to feed good food helped me make the switch! If you’re interested, I find most of my favorite recipes on Pinterest, and have my food board linked here!

7. I grew up loving the snow— seeing it fall, playing in it, sledding, snowboarding. But as I get older, the more I dislike it. I still squeal for the first snowfall of the year (and maybe the second and third and fourth, too…), but for the most part, as long as I’m not in it, I’m happiest.

8. Despite #7, I am very emotionally attached to living in Utah. I don’t know if I could ever bring myself to leave the mountains and the seasons!

9. My husband makes a more-than-natural effort to keep me away from cutting carrots. A couple years ago, I sliced my thumb open carving a pumpkin and then my pinky a week later chopping carrots. Not sure why he chose to keep me away from carrots and not pumpkins, but either way, I don’t seem to have much luck with foods that are orange.

10. Probably the best know fact about me is how obsessed I am with my little family. I love my husband, and I love baby Leo. My life is so beyond blessed because of them, and I would be incomplete without them in my life.

And there you have it! I hope you feel like you’ve had a chance to get to know me better! If there’s anything else you want to know about me, ask away in the comments below! And leave a tid-bit for me about yourself— I’d love to know something new about you, too!