I have been following Melissa Jill’s blog for quite some time now. I can’t even remember how I stumbled across it, it’s been so long. It was during my early days of business (2008-2009) when I used to spend hours on the internet looking at other photographer’s blogs. Reading. Learning. Trying to soak up every bit of information as I possibly could. I dreamed of going to her MJ2day workshop one day. The workshop was definitely an investment and it’s hard to find the funds when you are first starting out. Plus I was also working a full-time job at the time, so taking vacation time wasn’t always in the cards. But after 5 years, my stars finally aligned! It was the perfect time for me & my business! Either way I was planning to sign up, but I was super thrilled when my friend & fellow colleague, Brooke, decided to sign up with me! We were ready to take our businesses to the next level!

With the workshop starting on Monday and a meet & greet Sunday night, we decided to head out to Arizona a day early & make a little getaway out of it. We flew in to Phoenix bright & early Saturday morning and made the two hour drive to Sedona! If you’ve never been to Sedona, GO. It’s gorgeous. This was my 2nd visit and I’ll certainly be back! I just love the rocks, the views, the hiking. AH-Mazing! So I’ll start my MJ2Day recap series (not sure if it will be 2 or 3 parts yet) with Sedona and move in to the nitty gritty in Part 2.

Saturday afternoon, we decided to drive up to the top of Sedona Airport Rd. The view up there is awesome! We did a short little hike from there to the Airport Mesa Vortex. What’s a Vortex? I asked the same thing. There was all this hype in Sedona about Vortexes, so I looked it up! Check out Sedona.net. Here’s what they say: “A vortex or vortexes are areas of concentrated energy rising from the earth. Whether you agree with some vortex enthusiasts that the vortices are a portal for celestial and terrestrial spirits, you may feel a range of sensations from a slight tingling on exposed skin, to a vibration emanating from the ground when you encounter a vortex. Most often a vortex is felt by palpable sensation across the nape of the neck and the shoulder blades. Many people believe that Sedona has several vortexes or power spots, making Sedona a highly sought-after spiritual and metaphysical destination.”

Here is the view from the Vortex. It was spectacular! There was also someone up there playing indian music, which I thought was really cool. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of him.

The next morning we did a hike at Bell Rock. We had breakfast at a little place close by before our trek. Wish I noted the name because it was REALLY good! I’m a sucker for breakfast food I think. Anyway, Bell Rock…

We took a little detour on our way back to Phoenix & stopped to see Jerome, AZ. Wow! What a view!! The town is on a side of a mountain! We were slightly disappointed with the town being portrayed as a “Ghost Town”. It wasn’t really what we had in mind. But still cool to see. We didn’t do any shopping or eating while there, only checked out the view, but I wouldn’t mind paying a visit to the Jerome Winery sometime! 😉

After we left Jerome, we headed to Phoenix. Sunday night was the MJ2Day meet & greet at Melissa’s house. We met most of the attendees & got acquainted with Melissa. We went around the room introducing ourselves and told a little bit of our story. I was pleasantly surprised to hear how many of the attendees had been in business for almost as long (if not longer), as I’ve been. It just goes to show you can really do Melissa’s workshop at any point in your business.

Well that wraps up Saturday & Sunday!! Part 2 will be all about the workshop and photos from our mock engagement shoot! Stay tuned!