lifestyle – jordana lee bennett

One Week at Walt Disney World with a One-Year-Old

I’m finally sharing our Disney World experience, including the good, the bad, and the cranky. I added a few of the life-saving things we packed (and what we should have packed), Disney-inspired outfits, tips for traveling with a teething toddler, and cute photos I never posted!

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know we went to Walt Disney World the week after Mother’s Day. We went with family, so we had a big group to keep Emerson entertained. Dallas and his family had been before, but this was my first time. I didn’t really know what to expect, much less with a teething one-year-old, but YOLO, right?

I’m finally sharing our photos from the trip (the good, the bad, and the cranky), as well as including some of my favorite Disney gear and life-saving toddler products we packed.

Continue reading “One Week at Walt Disney World with a One-Year-Old”

Why I Stopped Blogging

I’ve decided to start this blog back up because I need more in my life. I always have. This is my creative outlet. And now, more than ever, I have stories to tell. They’ve been burning up inside me for well over a year, and I’m ready to share.

Well, hi there. This is awkward. You might be wondering where I’ve been (or maybe not). Or more likely, you follow me on social media and know where I’ve been, but not why I stopped writing.

I could easily say that I’ve been too busy to keep up with a blog, but the truth is I’m much busier now than I ever was before. I’m a mom now (more on that later). In fact, I stopped blogging right before I found out I was pregnant last year. I quit my job in marketing when I was about 20 weeks pregnant and have been a stay-at-home mom for the past 9 months. I just started working again from home, as a part-time personal stylist. I’m busy from the time I open my eyes in the morning until my head hits the pillow at night (and sometimes in between those times, too).

So if I’m being honest with myself (and you), I stopped blogging because it required me to be vulnerable. Pregnancy and giving birth made me feel more vulnerable than I ever have in my life. Before that, whatever happened to me happened to only me. Now, if something happens to me, it greatly affects the little human that relies on me to take care of them 24/7. That is terrifying to me. I didn’t want to blog while pregnant because it would open me up to all sorts of judgment and criticism. My anxiety jumped to a whole new level when I became a mom too. An anxiety that told me I don’t know what I’m talking about and no one cares about what I think (again, I’ll talk more about that in another post).

Despite all those new negative changes in me, becoming a mom also made me more confident, more willing to fight the judgment and criticism. It’s this fierce mama bear instinct that I didn’t know was inside of me until I grew and pushed another human out of me. How could I not be more confident? Look at him. I made that.

Jordana

Photo by Vanessa Mendez Photography

Senior Portraits // Alyssa

Last weekend I had the opportunity to take the beautiful Alyssa’s senior photos in Marion and Gruene, TX. Alyssa is graduating from Marion High School in a couple of months and is interested in pursing agricultural science. We had a lot of fun trying to make Alyssa laugh, playing with how to shoot in the super bright sun after all the rain we had last week, and even found a crawfish hanging out in the river!

Click an image and scroll through to view. xo

Prom 2016

Because I had so much fun taking my sister-in-law’s senior pictures, I decided to take her senior prom photos as well. And bonus, I invested in a new camera! These were all taken with Nikon’s D330 and edited with Photoshop CS6. It was a really good opportunity for me to get some experience shooting groups of people, rather than just portrait shots. Although it’s easy to get good shots when your subjects are this gorgeous! As always, I welcome any feedback and can’t wait to play around with my D330 more.

Continue reading “Prom 2016”

This might turn into a photography blog…

I honestly thought that was what my college years were for and that I would have my shit together by now, but I was very, very wrong. College gave me a clear-cut path for what my life was supposed to be. It gave me structure with deadlines, course catalogs, assignments, applications, schedules, and attendance policies. And then I graduated, got married, went on my honeymoon, looked around at all my choices and said, “okay, now what?” And the universe gave me white noise.

I’m not even going to try to come up with excuses for why it’s been so long since I’ve posted on here. Shit happens. I’m trying to get it together. And this is probably mostly going to be me rambling, because I haven’t written in awhile. I’m sorry in advance.

My quarter-life crisis is in full effect, which means I’m constantly looking for new and exciting ways to fill my time, even though I have very little free time. I guess it’s not really to fill my time as much as it is to find some sort of purpose in my life. There’s been a reoccurring theme since turning 23 in which I decide I really want to do this or be that or go here or try this new something, and then I realize: I hate all of those things. Those things are not for me. Better try this new thing.

Continue reading “This might turn into a photography blog…”

Fifteen of My Favorite Feelings (As Told by My Instagram Feed)

1. When I wake up too early on a Sunday, but there’s soft light filtering through the blinds, so I get up to watch the sunrise, drink coffee, and listen to the silence before the rest of the world wakes up.

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A post shared by Jordana Bennett (@jordanaleebennett)

25 Goals for My 25th Year

Last night, my husband and I were discussing our future. (Casual, I know.) He suggested we each make lists of goals we want to accomplish within the next ten years. Not going to lie, the idea of that freaks me out. Ten years is such an intimidatingly long time. And the idea of writing down things like, “buy a house” or “have babies” gives me much more anxiety the older I get. But since my birthday is a little less than two weeks away, I figured setting mini goals for my 25th year of life wouldn’t be the worst idea. I started my quarter-life crisis at 24 so I’m hoping turning 25 will be slightly more graceful.

The most random blog post you’ll probably ever read.

So, elephant in the room: it’s been awhile…

I’ve noticed I do this thing where if my life isn’t going well, I shut down. I’ve heard of fitness bloggers or people who are dieting that do something similar when they have a bad week. They fall off the wagon, don’t workout for a week, splurge on pizza, and feel like giving up on their diet altogether. I take that to an extreme. If everything in my life isn’t going well, the voice in my head decides, “Screw it. Why bother chasing any dreams at all? Oh, you don’t have your dream job yet? Forget your diet or travel plans. You feel behind in life? What’s the point of finishing this book you’ve been wanting to read for months? Don’t write in your journal. Don’t blog. You have nothing worth writing about anyway.” It snowballs. The longer I wait to workout or write in my journal, the longer it goes on.

Negative thoughts and actions are contagious. But so are positive ones. Continue reading “The most random blog post you’ll probably ever read.”

A Photo An Hour | Saturday, August 2nd

I’ve been stalking various blogs this week for a little inspiration and came across the “a photo an hour” trend. I’m already obsessed. Google it and you’ll see what I mean. I attempted to do my own yesterday, taking a photo (sometimes two because I’m a rebel like that) every hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. This post might end up being completely boring, but I think it’s an interesting way to get to know someone. So come hang out with me on a typical Saturday. Continue reading “A Photo An Hour | Saturday, August 2nd”

I am my mother’s daughter.

In honor of my mom visiting this weekend, I thought I’d reflect on the life lessons I’ve learned from her in my life so far. It’s funny how things we learned in childhood become stronger as we get older. I appreciate everything my parents did to shape me now more than ever before. I am my mother’s daughter and proud of it. The following are the most important lessons I’ve picked up from her: Continue reading “I am my mother’s daughter.”