I didn’t walk around as a child with a camera in hand, capturing precious moments with my Barbie dolls, or my brother, or anything else. I loved my Barbie dolls, and back then, I loved them so much, I didn’t even pay attention to what a camera was. As a child you could find me hidden away somewhere creating Barbieland. Whether it was in the playroom of the old farm house my parents rented until I was in the 4^th grade, or after we moved, the playroom in our basement. I would quietly whisper secret conversations about the lives of my Barbie’s (when I thought people were listening). And when I had no idea that anyone was listening, I was so into the Barbieland world I created that I wouldn’t have known if they had been standing behind me hearing every word.

When I wasn’t letting my imagination, and Barbie’s run wild, I was running wild with my brother. We were outside climbing trees (literally) until my mother panicked and made us get down. Or riding bikes until I fell off and let some blasted cuss word slip, and then begged my brother not to tell on me. Which he did anyway! Or we were playing on the tire swing, digging in the sand, using rocks as baseballs as we held batting practice, walking the fields next to our house and wandering the woods. And we did all of that with just each other. Or I was packing my little red “Going to Grandma’s” suitcase so I could go to her house to be spoiled all by myself by my Little Grandma.

At some point in all of those fun times I fell in love with art. I was painting, drawing, coloring or making crafts of some kind. And I was doing all of these things or anything I could get my hands on. Such as my little Grandma’s wall, which still has the drawings of little people I put there as a little girl. Throughout elementary, middle and high school, I did every type of art project you could imagine. When I got towards the end of high school, I had taken all of our art classes, so a special class was created for me and a friend, where we could do just about any type of art we wanted during that time. It was great.

I went off to college. Starting at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as a biology major. I was going to be a “pediatric doctor” as I so proudly announced in an on-stage, on-camera interview when I was a contestant in the Miss Virginia 2000 pageant. Funny, someone who still can’t do any type of math without a calculator thought she could do such a thing. While I was there I also took every art class I could fit in my schedule. Sculpture, painting, drawing…it didn’t matter. Those were the classes that made me feel like me.

I soon realized though that VCU was too darned big for me. I was lost in classes with up to 250 or more students. And I literally felt lost trying to find my way through downtown Richmond. I love its history and cobblestone streets, but you can’t really take this girl out of the country. So I transferred to Hollins University in Roanoke. Yes, Hollins University. And no, I didn’t get a special scholarship or discount to attend. But, yes, it is named after my family.

There I studied English/Creative Writing and was working my way to becoming a teacher. But every opportunity I had to take a class of my choice, I took art. And it was there that I took my first photography class. I had gotten an SLR film camera the same year I started school there. And I took pictures of everything, and everyone, everywhere. That photography class opened my eyes to so many possibilities. And it was just one more experience that led me to becoming me.

One thing I never believed was that I could actually make a career doing something I truly love. I take risks, yes I do. But I am full of fear when it comes to stepping outside the realm of societal standards, and into the realm of possibility. I started my photography business in June of 2011. I had thought about it for years, and I knew it was something that I would fall in love with doing and could do well. It seems like I have. I know though, that there is so much I can do better, and I am committed to growing as a photographer, as a business-owner, and continuing to become me.

I have this business but there are so many other things I do, too. I am, first and foremost, a mom to Colson and Cayson. They are the BEST things to ever come into my world, and I wouldn’t be anything like the me that I am today without them. And right now, and for the past seven years, it’s just been me and them. I have a wonderfully supportive family who are always there to help us in any way that they can, and I am forever grateful to have them all in our lives. Recently, I think I got lucky and I met, well re-met, my first boyfriend from elementary school. Who would have thought!?!? And he has come into my life in so many wonderful ways. And I truly believe that from now on, he’s always going to be there, as my best friend, boyfriend and maybe one day even more. I have a full-time career as a communications specialist for an electric cooperative. This position with this company has been one of the most fortunate opportunities I have ever had. I have learned so much, I am surrounded by outstanding co-workers and have more opportunities than I could have ever imagined. Life is good.

And for fun….I like to eat pizza, followed by mint chocolate chip ice cream out of the carton, watch television series on DVD (preferably Sons of Anarchy), meet new people, help anybody I can, read books (real ones with pages-not on a kindle, etc.), write in my journals (I have a lot of them so I never have to search for one, there’s always one handy), take random, spontaneous road trips, hunt, fish, really just about anything outside, watch my kids play sports, catch a nap every now and then, and gosh just about anything I haven’t done before.

And that’s me….but every day, I’m still becoming me.

Casey