{"id":1513,"date":"2009-11-20T14:29:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-20T21:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jenamato.com\/blog\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2026-10-03T20:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T00:32:19","slug":"twenty-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jenamato.com\/blog\/twenty-five\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty Five"},"content":{"rendered":"

I woke up this morning with just one wish: to have my portrait taken on my 25th Birthday. I literally hopped out of bed, thought of a quick location, planned a couple of outfits in my head while putting on my make up, grabbed my gear, and we were off! I mainly wanted these taken to remind me of what today felt like and to reflect on all the things I’m thankful for. (And to also see what my clients go through every session!!) As each passing birthday rolls around, don’t we all step back a little and just do a quick recap of our life and whats changed over the past year? For me its as if the world stops for a moment and I give myself a chance to soak it all in.<\/p>\n

Since my last birthday: I’ve gotten engaged, photographed some really amazing people, blogged over 100 posts, moved into my new office, welcomed a new baby cousin into the world, traveled to New York, Colorado, and the beach a few times, seen Randy and his band play some awesome shows, watched 9 incredible Saint’s games this season, laughed, cried, celebrated, enjoyed the company of my family and friends, and lastly…grown closer to God.<\/p>\n

Randy gave me my wish this morning, by being THE PHOTOGRAPHER for a change :) I decided it was my turn to be on the other side of the lens for a bit. He’s actually quite good at telling me what to do, how to pose and doing things to make me laugh. He will be second shooting with me next month- so he’s been snapping away! He learns anything technical within about 5 minutes, so he’ll be right beside me shooting RAW – Full Manual mode before I can even blink!<\/p>\n

So anyway- here’s a glimpse at what I look like on my 25th Birthday and here’s whats in my head: Today I am loved and feel a bit overwhelmed with happiness. Days like today just remind me of how lucky I am to have people care about me so much. I’m reminded of how much I love my job- taking pictures is what I was born to do! Thank you Jesus for blessing me so generously not only with my career, but with my family, friends and wonderful fiance’ Randy. Thanks to all my blog readers who keep coming back to see whats new!<\/p>\n

Here’s me just a few hours ago :)<\/p>\n