“Collect memories, not things.”

We met just before we were 18 years old; we were both in a production of Godspell. We didn’t start dating till almost a decade later, but we had made one of those “pacts” at 18 or 19 that if we weren’t married by the time we were 33 years old, we’d marry each other.

We met just before we were 18 years old; we were both in a production of Godspell. We didn’t start dating till almost a decade later, but we had made one of those “pacts” at 18 or 19 that if we weren’t married by the time we were 33 years old, we’d marry each other.

We just recently ended our time as an active duty Air Force family. My husband retired from the Air Force after serving for more than 20 years, and he flew Huey helicopters.  If you’ve never been on a helicopter ride, you should do it once! They are a lot of fun. We made it through two year long deployments, and those parts of our life were not as much fun. I have great respect for military spouses, especially those parents who hold down the fort during deployments.

In 2007 and 2008, we rescued our first two Australian shepherds, Darcy and Scout. Scout passed away in August of 2020 on my first day of school.  We had to let Darcy cross the rainbow bridge in February of 2022. (And yes, Darcy is named after Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and Scout was named after Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. They are two of my favorite books. See earlier note about my other job.) In 2020 and 2021, we added puppies Aussie, Kylo and Hux to our home. (Yes, we’re nerds about Star Wars.)

I’ve taken the official test on Pottermore, and I am a Gryfindor. So it should not surprise you that I work hard—like really hard, but when I get to relax, I love drinking a bottle of Côtes du Rhône or some other red wine. I love dark chocolate with sea salt, and Kakoa in St. Louis is my favorite. Since the start of the pandemic, I have been playing D&D every other week on Sunday nights.

If it’s winter, I love our real wood-burning fireplace. I adore traveling with my family.  I have loved my family’s trips to Topsail, North Carolina, our visit post deployment vacation to the mountains of Colorado, and our RV adventure in Central California where we hiked in four national parks. 

They keep me centered and grounded. I fought to have them. (Respect to all those parents who had to have IUIs or IVF!) I created my business so I could help raise money for their education. Every penny I make in TCJ Design that I don’t invest right back into the business goes into an account for their education.  They are my muses. I get so many of my tricks for my family photography from my experiences being their mom. I adore documenting their lives, and so much of my style as a photographer stems from what I have loved to document as they encounter each new stage of childhood. I love telling their stories. See more of me documenting their world and my life at instagram.com/tcj_photos.