Meet Rachel Abelson!

Rachel is one of the three new SOAR! Recipients that you saw on last week’s exciting SOAR! Video!  If you missed Rachel’s SOAR! video submission, here it is below.

I love to begin the new SOAR! year with giving our blog readers a chance to get to know each of the three recipients.  As you follow the SOAR! Blog this year, you’ll watch these ladies tackle Business Coaching Exercises the first Monday of every month, Photography Exercises the second Monday of every month and much more!  All of this starts a week from today on the SOAR! Blog, and I’m excited to see what happens in your lives as you tackle the assignments too!

But before we start, I’ve asked Rachel, Charisse and Ali to take a moment and write about their “beginning thoughts”.  This beginning marker will be wonderful to recall as we all begin to grow and transform.  When we hit moments of discouragement, we can look back to these early posts and see how far we’ve come. If you are following along with the SOAR! year, I invite you to break out a new journal and start with your own beginning thoughts.

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Beginning Thoughts, Rachel Abelson

As I sit here, I have tears in my eyes. Not only am I about to embark on a journey I never imagined, but I have the support of my amazing husband, wonderful family and friends, and a huge group of women(and men) that I have never met. There are no words to describe what a feeling that is. If I could put how I feel about being selected as a 2010 SOAR! recipient into one word it would be HONORED. I believe each one of the 129 applicants are deserving women, as I have seen from your videos. I thank you for the support you have already shown and hope that you will learn to SOAR! in your own unique way.

As you saw from the video, I was completely shocked when Wendy and Christine came to my house. I saw the pink and brown boxes and thought, “They must have the wrong house. There is no baby shower here.” Then Wendy introduced herself on behalf of Me Ra and the SOAR! scholarship and I screamed so loud that I scared my poor 4 month old baby! I think you can hear him a bit in the video!  I have been in shock ever since. It still seems so surreal to me that I am going to get to pursue something that I have loved and feel is so very important.

Now, I’m not going to lie, of course I am PUMPED! But, boy, am I scared! You are reading about a gal who is starting from ground zero! How do I run my own business? How do I set the camera for low lighting? Why are all my pictures either yellow or super bright? What setting do I use for fireworks? How about for action shots? Gosh, I should start looking for props! My mind is going a mile a minute. I have a lot to learn! But you know what? I am so excited about it. Excited to learn and excited to share with y’all the things I learn. I am excited to learn from you!

I bet you are wondering who I am. Who is this girl, well woman I guess, that you will be watching over the next year? I write girl at first, because even though I will be 30 this year, sometimes I feel though I am still so young. I feel there is so much I have accomplished, yet there is so very much for me to learn. Not only learn about photography, owning a business, but more learning about myself. Learning how to follow my dreams, how to open my eyes, how to accomplish anything I set my mind to.

I am first and foremost, a wife and a mother. Some girls dream of being a doctor, lawyer,   ballerina, actress when they grow up; all I ever wanted to be was a mom. I grew up in Houston, Texas and the first time I left was when I went to Texas A&M, a mere 90 minutes away. When I accepted Pete’s marriage proposal, I knew I would have to grow up quite a bit…I would live farther from my family than I ever imagined. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man, who is a Marine. Throughout the short 6.5 years of our marriage I have grown in ways I never expected and accomplished things I never imagined. I have survived 3 deployments to Iraq in 5 years. I have moved houses 5 times in our 6.5 years. I gave birth to a baby while my husband was deployed. I have learned to stand up for what I believe. I have learned how to believe in myself.

So who am I? I’m a mom. I’m a wife. I’m a runner(training for my first marathon!). I’m a group fitness instructor. I’m a friend. I’m a daughter. I’m a woman who is truly blessed-in more ways than I can put into words.

I’m sure the upcoming year will be one of laughter, joy, tears, and excitement. I hope that you will be able to share in those emotions with me. I hope that together we will learn about ourselves, learn about each other, and learn how to SOAR!  So put a smile on your face, patience in your pocket, and spread your wings…it’s time to SOAR! together.

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Thank you so much Rachel for sharing yourself with all of us.  Three deployments?!  You are amazing!  Clearly, you are a strong woman!  We are so excited to get to know you more and watch your photography dream take flight!

xoxo,

m