Operation: Love ReUnited

For nearly six years, my husband has been an active duty Airman, and I've been incredibly proud of his service. We've gone through a nearly 7-month tour to Afghanistan, three PCS's ("moves") including overseas to Okinawa and back, and countless exercises, long hours, and piles of smelly uniforms. It's been an honor to be part of the military family, despite it all, and in that spirit ...

I am so excited and very proud to announce that I am the newest member of Operation: Love ReUnited.

What is Operation: Love ReUnited ("OpLove")? It's a non-profit organization that provides photography services for military personnel and their families for free!

I've been doing homecomings for free for a while now, because I've been there - I know the nervous/anxiety/excitement and really, the last thing you want to try to remember is a camera or taking a picture.

So, what does this mean?

Members of the Armed Forces and their immediate family members  may book a session with me AT NO COST prior to or at deployment, as well as homecomings from a deployment overseas that is at least four months long (unaccompanied tours do not count, i.e. Korea)! In addition to that, depending on the type of session, either a book of 4x6 images or a CD of images will be given to the family AT NO COST.

How awesome is that?

I am so pumped about this, especially with our upcoming move in August to Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is home to Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, Fort Carson as well as the US Air Force Academy.

Interested in booking a session or want to know more information? Please email me at AshleyDurhamPhotography@gmail.com.

Soon it will be time to say farewell ... and then hello, again!

I have some very exciting news to share with my blog readers ... those who 'follow me' or are my friend on Facebook already know my announcement, but I hadn't yet sat down to blog about it because it has been a whirlwind of a week for me.

So what's the big news? My family and I are relocating to the beautiful city of Colorado Springs, Colorado this summer!! WOOOOOO!

What brought this on? My husband and I decided that our time being a full-time active duty military is not what we want for the next 14+ years to my husband's retirement and when that big steel door shut, this beautiful window of a job opportunity opened up and together, we're taking the leap out the window and into civilian life. Well, sort of ... My husband will still be either active Air National Guard or Reserves (haven't quite decided which, although I am pushing more toward ANG), and being in Colorado Springs is perfect for that because of the proximity of not only two Air Force bases, but also the USAF Academy and Fort Carson.

All in all, I am very excited about this upcoming move - because hopefully, with any luck and a lot of prayer - this will be our last move ... ever. For those who don't know, in the last nine years I have moved a total of ten times and believe it or not, moving is sooooo over-rated! It will be nice to put some roots down and stay long enough in one place to find a church, see my kids able to go to the same school more than two years in a row, buy a home - and essentially live our version of the American dream.

What does this mean for my North Dakota fans and clients? Well ... it's not so good news for them. I will not be booking anything past the last day of June since we are expecting to leave either the last week of July or the first week of August, and as much as I love you all - I don't want to spend my last month here chained to a computer editing or worried about business stuff and who knows when all of our household goodies will get packed up and shipped out.

I am not sure when I will start booking for Colorado Springs quite yet ... but if you read this and know someone there, I'd sure love for you to spread the word of my upcoming arrival in late summer!

I'd like to thank all my friends and fans here in North Dakota for helping this first year of business just be one of the most exciting years of my life - it has definitely been a learning experience and I would like to think that I've met some lifelong friends as a result!