#jensenleigh

[sunspocean]

Another Update!!

Sooooo I have neglected mentioning this because it hasn’t been official yet, but my ticket to LA is officially booked! I’m flying out to LA on the 16th of January, and heading into my agency early on the 17th to take digitals and get everything ironed out so I can start working as soon as possible. :)

Y’all don’t know how excited I am about this. Really. I’ve loved staying at home and catching up with family and relaxing and saving money, but I feel like I’ve plateaued. I’m so excited to be in a place where I can follow the dreams I’ve been working so hard towards the past couple months.

I’m really nervous about this move but I’m more excited than anything, I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve been able to truly taste my progress in terms of my actual modeling career, so this is a really encouraging update for me!! I’ll keep you guys updated as time goes on :)

[sunspocean]

As you guys know, I’ve been pretty sick the past week or so. Okay, like last weekend and the beginning of last week, but I digress. I had a hard time finding my motivation again, so I lost sight of my goals for a minute and took a mini hiatus from pretty much everything. And to be completely honest, it kinda sucked.

I took almost two weeks off from working out, and I started my workouts back up yesterday. Holy crap, I didn’t know I could regress that quickly. Basically I did a leg workout yesterday and I feel like my legs are going to fall off, which means it was a good workout, but I had previously gotten past the “getting so sore you can barely walk the next day” stage, and into the “I’m sore but I can tell I’m getting stronger” stage.

Now, I probably wouldn’t have changed anything because most of my workouts are cardio-based and doing those types of workouts with a cold is equivalent to cold hard torture and I would recommend it to absolutely no one. But I was talking with my mother about it after the workout yesterday and she said, “now imagine if you would have taken months off. Imagine how much that recovery would have sucked.”

Mom. I have been there. I know what that’s like. It’s even less fun that a recovery from a 2-week hiatus. But it is disheartening going from feeling at the top of your game to returning somewhere in the middle of your previous best and ground zero. BUT, I didn’t return to ground zero, so I suppose that’s a personal victory.

The moral of the story is that yes, it is important to take breaks from your workouts in order to heal, but one must remember the changes that will happen to your body when you choose to do that. It’s the ultimate self-betrayal. It’s okay though, body, I still love you even on your weakest days.

[sunspocean]

BOOKED!

I think I finally booked my first paid job! It’s been a long time coming here in LA but I’ve tried to be patient because I know that good things are going to happen as long as I keep my faith. I went into a casting yesterday with a really positive attitude and clicked with the casting director and the other model that showed up at the same time as me. If I’m not mistaken, I think they’re going to book the both of us for the job! I haven’t gotten a confirmation yet, but I’m staying positive and hopeful.

I think my positive attitude, on another note, is helping a lot with my interactions overall. More and more people are seeing my radiant side, and I think I’m making a positive impact on pretty much everyone I meet. I mean, who doesn’t need more positivity and light in their everyday interactions??

I’m sorry for being so distant, I’ve been going through a lot the past week and a half. I really do think my life is gonna slow down a bit and be more productive but less busy. Talk to y’all soon <3

[sunspocean]

a bit of an update :)

Have you ever gotten yourself into an uncomfortable situation and have absolutely no idea how to get yourself out of it? I feel like that’s where I’m at right now. I moved to LA into this model apartment that my best friend was living in solely because I would rather live with her than live in one where I didn’t know anybody, even though I knew this particular living situation wasn’t as ideal as my other option. At the time, I knew I might regret the decision later, but decided not to act upon it. 

Now, I’m reconsidering whether that decision was a good idea, and I’m trying to figure out how to get out of my current situation. I try not to step on people’s toes, and I don’t want to inconvenience anyone, but I have to keep reminding myself that at the end of the day, my mental health is the most important thing, and nothing else should come before that.

I’m really struggling with trying to be an honorable person and saying “fuck it” and doing something I know is going to benefit me more than anyone else, because the people I’m “protecting” really have never done anything to deserve that treatment in the first place. I’m just trying to be a good person. We’ll see how it goes I suppose. Wish me luck, and I’d appreciate anybody sending me positive vibes the next few days while I figure all this stuff out!

[sunspocean]

Moving across the country

Since I’ve done this twice now, I feel like I have somewhat of a grasp on the severity of the situation. Wait, that sounds negative. I want to stress how amazing the entire experience has been, both times. Although I will admit that my move to LA has been exponentially easier than my move to NYC was.

When I moved to NYC, I overpacked and started that process entirely too late. I’m talking the night before I was supposed to leave is when I started putting stuff together. I left my parents with an insane mess to organize and clean (sorry, mom). Plus I had to take winter coats and all that bulky stuff with me.

Basically, my ten months in New York kinda taught me what essentials I need to survive, and what I can live without. I learned to be more frugal with my items. But that’s really not what I wanted to write about.

I’m sure y’all have heard people talking about how amazing it is to move somewhere where you know no one, and how terrifying it is at the same time. Having social anxiety on top of that made it so so sooooo much harder for me, but I obviously survived. My first month in NYC basically consisted of me sitting around in my airbnb doing absolutely nothing. I didn’t even wander like I said I would.

I was really lonely at first, but as soon as I moved into a model apartment, I started meeting new people. I got a job and made friends there too, and it was all amazing. I finally felt like I belonged. I left NYC a couple times for vacations and the like, and those were the only times in my life that I have ever felt homesick. I didn’t even feel homesick when I went to college, let alone when I left Iowa for the city.

Moving home was necessary, but I knew that’s not where I wanted to be forever. I made preparations for my move to LA almost immediately after touching back down in Iowa. And I was so much more prepared for this move, too!

My best friend from New York had actually moved to LA about six months prior, so that made things a LOT easier. I actually have a lot more friends living here in LA than I did in New York, so the transition has been a lot easier. Overall, I’m almost always outside of my comfort zone, and that’s a truly invigorating experience. I truly believe that everyone should experience that utter uncomfortableness at least once in their lives, but preferably more than twice. I’m actually hoping to spend this summer in Europe, so keep your fingers crossed for me :)

Have any of you moved across the country? Or even far enough away from your family that it caused a mini panic attack?

[sunspocean]

Prepare yourselves...

Today, I’m gonna share some behind the scenes shots from yesterday’s editorial shoot!!

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I had my first shoot today after moving to Los Angeles! It went really well, I’m sooo excited to see how the pictures turned out.

I was a little nervous for it at first because I haven’t shot in so long. The photographer asked me if I would need direction at all while I was putting on the first look, because I told her I hadn’t shot in several months. I remember responding with a meek, “yeah, maybe, just too make sure I’m back in the flow of things...”

Boy, I’m so happy I was wrong!! It honestly could not have gone better. I really need to start trusting my talents and realizing that it’s something I was born to do, and that I’ve really got a knack for this type of thing. I’m gonna post a couple behind the scenes shots this weekend, PLEASE tell me what y’all think!!

[sunspocean]

Stylebook

In preparation for my move on the 16th, I’ve been trying to get my life more organized so I can pack with ease when the time comes. I’m a very particular person, and I like to be prepared. One of the first things I wanted to do was organize my closet and get pictures taken so I could figure out what I had, what I wanted to pack, and what I wanted to leave at home. 

I’m going to be living in a model apartment, so I needed to make sure I was as organized as possible, because I’m limited on what I can bring with me. And I think I hit the jackpot with the Stylebook app. You just take pictures of your clothes (I hung my clothes on a pushpin on a stretch of wall in my room), remove the background, and organize each item into different categories.

You can make outfits AND packing lists. Basically both things I would use. I don’t know if they have the option to let you see which items you wear most often or not at all (if you record your outfits), but that would be a huge plus. I only got the app on Sunday evening, so I’m still trying to figure out how it works to my advantage. So far, however, I am in love.

I’m hoping this app will help me with outfit planning later on, because looking good on the fly is kinda what models are known (and expected) to do.