Clayton, Nc 27520~919-795-1514 JTRUELOVEPHOTOGRAPHY@GMAIL.COM
Lindsey + Jordan Strickland Wedding! 💍🥂🍾
Vendors:
Venue - The Paisley Barn
Wedding Planner - Darren Wilkins
DJ - “Mr. Ricky” Starock Entertainment DJ Service
Cake -PeeWees Cakes
Florist - Susan Marshburn
Hair - Jordan Marten
MU - Skylar Thornton
Rentals - Something Borrowed
Cater: Parkside Cafe
Rental - SomethingBorrowed + RSI Party Rental
Officiant - John Dunn
Tamika + Kenyatta Styles’ ~ 20th Anniversary Vow Renewal Ceremony!! 💍🥂🍾
Vendors:
Venue - Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel
Wedding Planner - Sally Oakley Weddings & Events - Mandi Degnan
DJ - Randal Calloway
Cake - Erin Cavender Zinsli
Florist - Petal & Oak
Hair + MU - Arielle Hackett
Balloons - VLM Balloons
Rentals - Curated Events Raleigh
Meet 8 year old Paige Turrone and her best friend Winter.
On January 7th of this year Paige waited patiently with her Grandpa like she did most every evening. Together sitting on the golf cart, they watched over the herd monitoring as it was time for this season’s new arrival of calves on the farm.
On this particular evening #9913 went into labor giving birth to a healthy girl, #3….but she was not done. There was a twin but she was stuck and could not safely be delivered without the assistance of a special vet.
After a very long evening, Winter made her arrive in this great big world and it was love at first sight for Paige. Due to Winter’s legs being turned her mother rejected her and she was orphaned with noone to love and nurture her. Paige stepped up and became her caregiver with the guidance and wisdom of her Grandpa. Together they made her stronger and stronger each day. I am happy to report she is a very healthy and spunky but most of all happy little calf!
Paige has learned a lot of life lessons at her young age growing up on her family farm and that night was no exception. She learned the beauty of life but the perils of birth. She learned that when someone is in need, you help them and in turn they can help you more than you did them! But most of all she learned how to be a BEST FRIEND!
Here is my interview where Paige answered my questions about her relationship with Winter….
• How did you come up with the name Winter?
PAIGE: Because Winter was born in the Winter time! It was very cold.
• How did you feel when you found out you could have her as a pet?
PAIGE: I felt really good because she was really sweet and I have loved cows my whole life!
• Did you enjoy bottle feeding her?
PAIGE: I did! It was really a dream come true!
• What is her favorite thing to eat?
PAIGE: Milk and I would also say my fingers and grass.
• What do you love most about her?
PAIGE: She’s sweet. She’s so cuddly and she’s the best cow ever! I love her so much!
• Tell me some of the fun things that y’all like to do together?
PAIGE: Play tag, chase each other around, kiss each other. We really just like to do everything you can think of together!
• What do you want to be when you grow up?
PAIGE: A cow trainer and I want to take care of cows and horses. I want to have a horse and a cow stable and call it Horse and Cow Vet. I want to have the big barn. One side for cows and one side for horses! I want to have a big tack shop in my barn!
“Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,…” ~ Proverbs 12:10
To complete this series I wanted to close by talking about what no one really wants to talk about. The emotional side effects of PCOS. In Part 1, I discussed what PCOS actually is and in Part 2, I discussed its symptoms and ones that affects me directly. The emotional toll it takes on you mentally in itself can be another physical effect.
When we first started trying for a baby I thought the first month I was pregnant. My period never came, the next month the same thing, and again the next. I went to the doctor, got medication to start my cycle, with renewed hope I did this again and again and again. You begin with hope in your heart and have the excitement of becoming pregnant only to get let down month after month and year after year. Then you are just left feeling defeated. The constant frustration, the heartache, and just plain desire weighs your heart heavier and heavier. Then to factor in the slim chance you do conceive but miscarry, that pain and lost hope is total devastation.
It is so easy to fall into a depression. I didn’t need any extra reason to gain weight because I already battled with Insulin Resistance and the excess weight gain with it. For me this just amplified the emotional state that I was already in, especially since I was never able to conceive again after my miscarriage. Between the hormones from medication, just the simple irregularity with PCOS and the emotional toll, it can be a lot to handle at times and difficult to dig yourself out of the dark place of depression. At times I felt like I was going crazy or losing my brain all together.
In addition to all of the emotional toll, I have excessive hair grow on my arms and chin/neck area. I sometimes shave my arms and get comments from people as to why….but what is the most degrading part is having to shave every day like a man. Some should say I shouldn’t mention this or don’t embarrass myself by talking about it. Well, honey, you don’t know what its like to live with it or walk around every day worried if you have a 5:00 shadow. These same people are also the first to be quick to critique that I may wear too much make up or others might say I am high maintenance because I may have on a “full face” on. What they don’t see are the dozens of times I re-did my makeup because I had to cover the tracks of tears that flowed from my face because of the humility of having to shave in front of my husband as we get ready together. He has never made me feel this way but as a woman it crushes your dignity. Sometimes, I am simply trying to get the puffiness out from under my eyes because while I was in the shower, my only private moment, I just cried and cried and cried my heart to Jesus.
What I want the woman that reads this to know is this, you are beautiful. We all have a story to tell. As bad as things have been for me, I know others have had it way worse. I have learned to be grateful for the struggles and obstacles I have experienced because while I was sitting in the bottom of my shower broken, God was picking up those pieces and putting them back together better and stronger than before. If you want to put a full face on, then do it, do what make your smile brightest. But just also know that confidence isn’t skin deep, it shines from deep down within. You are beautiful just the way you are, full face or not but love yourself and the perfectly imperfect pieces.
When I decided that I wanted to take my life back from PCOS, I decided that it may have taken my fertility, dealt me more than my handful of pain both physically and emotionally but I wasn’t going to let it take more than I was willing to give. It could eventually take part or all of my sight, but it will not take the memories I have captured and printed on my heart, the families that I have met and friendships I have forged. But most importantly I will not let it take my voice or break my spirit. God has used my disease to teach me the value of my talent and to use it as a vessel to tell the story that he wrote special for me to help those like myself!
Love,
Jennifer
In Part 1, I discussed exactly what PCOS is (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and a few of it’s symptoms. If you were like me, when I was first diagnosed, I was wondering what the difference was between syndrome and disease. A disease is something where you know the cause therefore typically there’s a cure or series of medications and procedures to correct or manage it. With a syndrome it is just a cluster of similar symptoms and requires a series of test and maybe even a period of time for a diagnosis can be issued because there is no known cause nor cure. It is solely a management of symptoms. What we do know about PCOS is that it’s an hormonal imbalance but the why and hows are still being discovered. With this syndrome you can experience of array of symptoms but many articles about PCOS just list the main handful of the most common.
When I was first diagnosed I wasn’t given any information other than a verbal diagnosis. Literally that was it, however, at the time I was just grateful to have an answer. As I tried to research information on my own, I became very discouraged because everything I would find was extremely limited and very generic. I felt like I was reading the same information just on different publications. Through the years these articles have evolved with a more in-depth look into the medical breakdown and an overall better understanding of PCOS. I feel this is largely due to the fact that more women have shared their story. I felt led to do the same and share my story too in hopes that maybe a young woman starting her journey as I once did can read this and find comfort that they are not alone. PCOS is not a one size fits all!
Other than maybe one or two, I have every classic symptom you see listed for PCOS.
· Irregular/Absent Cycle
· Hormonal Acne
· Insulin Resistance
· Excessive Weight Gain
· Unwanted or Excessive Hair Growth
· Increased Testosterone
· Pelvic Pain
· I fortunately have been spared with the high blood pressure and cholesterol as well as diabetes.
However, there are a few other symptoms that are rarely mentioned and one is the sole reason I stared my photography business and that is IIH! I had no clue what it was or that it was even a related symptom of PCOS.
IIH (idiopathic intracranial hypertension) also known as pseudo-tumor cerebri gives the symptoms of a brain tumor including pressure headaches, ringing in the ears, and brief periods of blindness. The CFP (cerebral fluid pressure) builds so high it causes papilledema, which is pressure on the optic nerve. That pressure leads to blurred vision or the acute periods of blindness. Over time, the increased pressure on the optic nerve will cause permanent damage resulting in partial or full blindness in one or both eyes. If the pressure were to get high enough the optic nerve could rupture abruptly resulting in immediate permanent blindness. When you have a pressure headache there is no pain medication that you can take to relieve the pressure or pain. It isjust a matter of getting your spinal fluid lowered. It takes a long time to get medications regulated to the right dose to try and maintain the pressure but for immediate relief I have had several spinal taps to draw off the excess fluid to release the pressure to give some immediate relief. With everything I had experienced so far with PCOS, this one was a complete shock to me and the most painful. It took me 3 years for doctors to discovery that my IIH was in relation to PCOS. During those 3 years I was poked, prodded, tested and retested for everything from MS to Lupus, even diagnosed at one time with it.
Being faced with losing my vision I became desperate for an answer as to why and how to treat it. I wanted to get it under control to prevent more damage and save my sight. That dreaded feeling and fear that I could just go blind at any moment was, a times, paralyzing. I was so worried about the when’s or what if’s that I forgot about the now’s. At the time I did photography just as an armature, so I got my camera out and decided I wanted to capture everything I could possibly capture. I wanted to live every day as if was last day to see. I put everything I had into learning and honing my craft and that led to the business I have built today.
So now that I have explained a little about my PCOS symptoms, in Part 3 I want to discuss more of the emotional side to them. It’s easy to just list them in a row however what I also feel is not talked about enough is the emotional side effects to them and how to handle the adverse effects.
This is the first of a three part series where I discuss my journey with PCOS and why it is the reason I started my photography business.
What is PCOS? Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a hormonal disorder. Specifically, you have higher Androgen hormones, resistant to Insulin, and do not produce enough Progesterone hormones. This causes the reproductive hormones to become unbalanced resulting in irregular or missed periods. In my case and many women like me, we not only do not have a period at all but we do not ovulate either, resulting in infertility.
Cyst can also develop as a result of the unbalanced hormones and can be great in numbers, hence the name, poly cystic. These are different than your typical cyst that develop normally in women however even being smaller in size they are usually several on one or both ovaries. When being viewed on an ultrasound, they can resembled a string of pearls draped over and around your ovaries. Sometimes they can rupture causing pelvic pain and bloating from the excess fluids.
Diabetes is another symptom women with PCOS can develop. This is due to the body being resistant to insulin therefore producing more Androgen hormones than is needed, elevating the insulin levels. The body then does not absorb insulin in the muscles, organs or tissues like it should therefore creating more insulin in the bloodstream which is what leads to diabetes. These elevated levels cause the ovaries to not function properly and can prevent ovulation.
There are several other symptoms of this syndrome which are hair loss, unwanted facial hair and weight gain all resulting from the same hormone imbalance. While the cause of PCOS is not known, it is considered hereditary between mothers, sisters and daughters. At this time, there is no known cure, but science has come leaps and bounds to get a better understanding to help manage symptoms.
When I was first diagnosed almost 18 years ago very little was known about PCOS. To see the advancement in science and medicine is very encouraging. I have battled this disease for a long time and it has dictated so much of my life. I never expected that it would change my career and set a new course of uncharted waters for me. It has affected me both Physically and Emotionally a great deal and in so many ways. In series 2 and 3, I break them each down separately to discuss the nitty gritty of all its ugliness and what I specifically have experienced. I am raw and unfiltered but with that transparency you will see how it lead me to live my dream of becoming a photographer.
Part 2 Continued, Wednesday, September 22, 20201….
Kalya and Alex are expecting their little girl in just a few short weeks. I have know Kayla since she was in the first grade, she and my daughter have been childhood friends. I have photographed her many times over the years but this session was by far my greatest honor. She is going to be an amazing mother, her little girl will soon learn just how lucky she is! Congratulations Kayla and Alex! Can’t wait to meet your sweet baby girl!
The is my youngest sister Sarah! Forever, the BABY! She is the youngest of us 4 siblings and we are almost 12 years apart. I witnessed her enter this world and she was my real life baby doll. I have watched her grow from a baby, to little girl, a crazy teenager and now as an adult becoming an amazing wife and mother. To say I am proud would be a complete understatement. She is so selfless and caring and has the biggest heart. You can’t be around her less than 5 minutes without laughing. She brings a smile to everyone she meets with her pure joy and charismatic charm. She has definitely passed that trait to my sassy and sweet niece Scarlette!!
In a few weeks, she along with her husband Jeremy, will welcome her second child into this world, Mr. Walton Ronald Narron. A year prior to conceiving Walt she had a miscarriage, making him her rainbow baby! 🌈 Being the person she is, this was something she dealt with privately and pushed through her unseen pain. It took her and Jeremy another year and with a lot of tears, heartache, and discouraging moments it was all worth this bundle of joy we will be spoiling in a couple of weeks. Our sister Maegan, who is no stranger to her own loss, gave her this beautiful necklace that you will see below as a reminder to Sarah that some babies are just worn with wings. 👼
Happy 1st Birthday to Miss Willow Ann Lee!! 🥳
I can’t believe that it has been one year since this sweet angel was born. This is my youngest niece and she is nothing short of pure joy. With that blonde hair and those blue her smile melts your heart instantly. I was honored to capture this milestone in her life and celebrate her first year. She definitely loves cake as its pretty evident in the pictures below….living her best life for sure.
To top off the session, we ended with a nice cool milk bath….(it is August in NC 🥵). We didn’t use just any ordinary store bought milk but the last of her mother’s breast milk. The symbolism shows an end to a miraculous and beautiful contribution mother’s give to their children. While her mother Samantha has literally been “meals in heels” this year, it has provided Willow with all the nourishment and nutrition that her little body has needed to survive. What is any greater blessing and gift God has given to us. I know that it is not for everyone and some mothers that long and wish for that experience and bond but can’t, however, for those that do and can, what a blessing it is!!
Jennifer Lee Truelove
j. truelove photography
