As cheesy or cliche as it may seem to say, I’m very thankful for everything I have in my life.  I’ve never really taken things for granted in my life because I’ve always been quite aware that things could always be much worse.  There were times in my life when things weren’t easy and I didn’t have a lot.  My life story is a novel in itself…so we won’t even go there…but I was never the spoiled child which caused me to appreciate what I was given.

I remember being in school as a child and when Thanksgiving came along, it never failed that everyone was required to write a paper on what they were thankful for.  I guess when you’re younger you only view material things as those things that you “have.”  But then as you get older your perception on life and the world changes and you start to value things that don’t have material value.  I know that now as an adult, I’m thankful for things that I wasn’t thankful for in the past because my view was different.

First and foremost, I’m extremely thankful for my health and physical attributes.  Health is something that I believe many take for granted, which shouldn’t be taken for granted at all.  There are so many things that can go wrong with the human body and I’m lucky that asthma and allergies are the only health problems I have to deal with.  Saying that I’m thankful for my physical attributes may sound shallow to some, but I’m not stating it in the context those might take it in.  If it wasn’t for my physical attributes, I wouldn’t be able to model, which has been my full-time job for almost 6 years.  There are many things that people can change about themselves to aspire to look a certain way, but I didn’t have to do anything.  I have never had any plastic surgery of any kind…I was lucky enough to get my parents’ genetics, which seem to have meshed well together.

I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am to have adopted the most amazing dog on the face of the planet.  I don’t think I could survive without him!  Since age 14 I had always wanted a Mastiff.  Finally three years ago, at age 24, I found the perfect dog.  It was seriously fate that brought us together.  His owners gave him up due to severe allergies…they couldn’t afford his medications anymore.  They were told to put him down and that no one would take such a big dog with health problems like his.  But they didn’t put him down and waited it out until they found a rescue that would take him.  A week after being at the rescue, I was the first person to see him.  I didn’t go there specifically for him…I just went to get a Mastiff.  I looked at all the Mastiffs that they had and he was the last one I was introduced to.  They almost didn’t bring him out because they didn’t feel that he was ready but figured he had to start meeting people at some point.  The two of us immediately hit it off and they allowed me to take him home that night.  We’ve been inseparable ever since.  He’s my shadow, my sidekick, my sunshine.  Nothing can melt my heart like my dog can.  He’s amazing and so well behaved.  All he needed was someone to be patient with his health problems and take good care of him.  I don’t think he could have picked a better owner…everyone will tell you how he’s a child to me.  I put him before everything else.  And it’s been a long road trying to get his health in prime condition, but he’s almost like a normal dog now.  We’ve come a long way together…he’s always been there for me and I will always be there for him.  I enjoy every moment with him and am so thankful to have the opportunity to experience unconditional love.

The one other thing I’m very thankful for is my boyfriend.  Not everyone is given the opportunity to experience true love which makes me ever so grateful for having it in my life.  It’s one thing to find someone you have commonalities with and you enjoy being around.  It’s another thing to find that one person that “gets it.”  Someone who can finish your sentences, who is on the same page, who understands where you’re coming from.  Someone who you can tell anything to, who you trust with all your secrets and who trusts you with theirs.  Someone who makes you laugh out of control, who brightens your day just by being themselves and who you can be yourself around.  Someone you can learn from, that will tell you how it is (even if you don’t want to hear it), that you can enjoy a comfortable silence with.  That one person who is your best friend, lover and partner in life all rolled into one…who makes you feel like no on else in the world can.  I’ve found that one person and I will never take him for granted and will ALWAYS be thankful for him.

There are obviously other things in life that I’m truly thankful for and reflect upon often, not just during the holidays.  My family, my friends, my house, being a US citizen, my intelligence and having an education, etc.  So I ask you to think about what you’re thankful for and to never take those things for granted.  Enjoy every aspect of life and try to live it to the fullest.  Find what makes you happy and hold onto it.

xo

j

This entry is long overdue, but I’ve been really busy with the relaunch of my website.  Some models say that they run their own site, but they don’t do everything themselves.  I, on the other hand, do.  And since I run the website entirely on my own, I have a lot on my hands.  I would have to say that the relaunch of my site was the most difficult thing I’ve done since taking over my site three and a half years ago.  A lot goes into relaunching a site…especially since I also moved my site onto a new server.

First I had to re-name and compress all of my existing content.  I’m OCD and super organized so I wanted the content on my site to be seamless, organized and concise.  Makes everything much easier in the long run so I figured that I should take the time to do it now as opposed to later or never doing it at all.  This was probably the reason why it took me so long to do the relaunch.  Only because I want it done right.

Then I had to upload all of the content to my new server.  My old host was awful so I got set up with the best hosting company on the planet (they truly are…the best customer service and tech support I’ve ever experienced in any facet of my life) and now my site runs much faster and has better support if any problems occur.  Definitely a bonus for me, as well as for the members of my site.

Next was having to set up the new content management software that my site now runs on.  I use content management software to run my site so that when I’m out of town I don’t need to manually update my site…it just updates on it’s own.  My site was run by content management software in the past but it wasn’t the greatest program.  The new software I have now is state of the art and the best in subscription site based cms.  I can’t even tell you how many things this new software allows me to do with my site.  I love it and it’s definitely not only made my life easier, but it has also improved the appearance and function of my site tenfold!  I’m now able to display tons of features on the members homepage…upcoming content, latest updates, featured store and auction items, polls, featured videos, my webcam schedule and suggested sites.

After setting up the cms and making the site appear the way that I wanted it to, I had the tedious task of scheduling all the content.  As I said before, I’m super organized and this worked out to my advantage.  I have kept publishing schedules since I began running my site.  So I had records of what content went up on the site on what date.  This made it easier to put the content up in the correct order of appearance.  If I hadn’t kept detailed publishing schedules then it would have been a huge pain to match all my content with the correct date.  Scheduling content is a little time consuming.  I have to input the title of the set, what date is appears on, the description, what categories it falls under, what model(s) appears in the set/video, and then I have to import it into the system.  After it’s imported I have to tell the software what thumbnails or photo zips I want it to create and then I have to wait for it to create them.  So a lot more goes into putting content up on a site than you might imagine.  Once everything is created I have to select the main thumbnail and crop it to certain specifications.  Then the set is done.  I had to do that for hundreds of videos and thousands of photos!

I also had to set up other areas of the site…move my message board from the old site to the new one, set up my webcam page, set up the girlfriend profiles and create the thumbs for that, etc.  I relaunched the site a month ago and have spent the past few weeks fixing little bugs that are expected when starting up a new site.  But things seem to be running smoothly now and I’m excited to have an amazing website for my members!

I’m currently updating every single day!  On Monday my members get a photoset.  Tuesday the previous week’s Camz network chat goes up to be archived so those that missed it can watch the entire thing.  Wednesday is a candid photoset…I travel and do all kinds of fun stuff and I’m always taking photos for my members to get in on the fun.  Thursday another photoset goes up.  Friday a sexy video goes up and once in a while I do a video diary for my members where they can ask me questions and I answer them on camera…so you know it’s truly me and not someone else answering them online.  Saturday my Members Only chat goes up on the site from the week before so that, once again, if you missed it you can view it on the site.  And Sunday is a girlfriend photoset where you get to see a sexy girlfriend of mine every week!  So as you can see, there are tons of photosets and videos for you to see on my site.  The photosets I post vary from glamour to amateur to fetish to artistic to soft girl/girl.  And my videos are just as varied as well!

I work really hard on my site…it’s a full time job!  And I try to make it the best that it can be.  So if you’re not already a member, go check it out and see what you’ve been missing!  I promise that you won’t be disappointed!

xo

j