I shared one of these photographs above on my instagram yesterday for the #theinstagramlab challenge created by the amazing Jenna Kutcher! But if you know me then you know that it’s Foster’s world and I am just living in it! So the photograph on the left is much more accurate! 😉 We were to introduce ourselves as people yesterday, not just as the wedding photographer, because it is true there is much more to all of us than our professions. We grow up and the questions become, “What do you do,” instead of, “Who are you?” This is what I wrote with this picture:

Hi, I’m Jessica Ryan! Most of my friends call me Jess and all of my family call me Ryan! I am most passionate about people and being there for them. I thrive off of sitting down with someone and having a real and heartfelt conversation. I love serving the world by helping others anyway that I can, big or small.

This week I traveled back to my high school with my parents to present the first Richard Scott Fee Memorial Scholarship to a graduating senior. The scholarship is in memory of my brother, Richard, at our high school as well as at the college he graduated from. It is surreal and a lot to take in when I watch my parents to do such hard work in helping others and keeping my brother’s memory alive. But of all of these feelings, I feel mostly pride to call them my parents. 

Most days you can find me hanging out with my fiancé and our dogs, hiking or just walking around the neighborhood. I knew that I was becoming an adult when our evening walks turned into talking about everyone’s yards and brainstorming what we wanted to do with ours! I have loved gardening this spring even though some things have survived, other’s haven’t so I won’t go as far and say I have a green thumb just yet!

Lastly, I wanted to add onto this part that I wrote: I love to know people’s stories. What got them to the place that they are now? This is because I believe we all are fighters. Rocky roads happen and we fight to get through them and hopefully they make us kinder, softer and more compassionate beings. That is what I hope that I am known for. Someone who is going to show up for you! 

We all are fighters in some aspect of our lives. You work hard day in and day out to get through something hard in your life or you are putting in the countless extra hours to make another dream a reality while sticking to your 9-5. I am here to tell you that this foggy stage of your life won’t last. You will get to the top of your mountain with blue skies and great views, but I want you to know that your view will be different from everyone else’s. You will be on a different mountain, and I like it better that way. I like that we all have our own mountains and our own views. Your success, your dreams and your goals are yours alone and should not be compared to the other mountain peaks in the distance. Will they even be as beautiful and rewarding once you get over to that one anyways? Your mountain that you hiked through fog and rain is the rewarding one. You have created the grit within you and have gotten dirt under your fingernails to get you on top of your mountain! Stand there for a little while and breath, put your hands out and feel the wind rush past you as the sun shines and warms you. Remember that when you see a man, woman, at the top of a mountain, they did not fall there.

If you are one of those people, like me, that thrives off of sitting down with someone and having real and honest conversations. If you want a listening ear and kind words, I will sit with you. <3, Jess