Something old, Something new

Man what a year it has been! A great one in many ways and a hard one as well. I’ve been looking back at this past year for the last few days and I’ve definitely been blessed with more smiles then tears. One major highlight from this year was the birth of my baby boy Benjamin. He has brought Casey, Anna, and I so much joy. He is definitely a great addition to our family and fits right in. On the flipside, two children is way different than one! Having a very active three-year-old and now six month old comes with struggles but we’re having fun with this part of life and figuring out what our new normal is. One hard moment from this year has been Casey’s grandmother passing. It’s tough to lose a loved one and I hold on to the hope that we will see her again some day. I tried to honor her memory this Christmas by baking her famous chocolate cake. I hope I did her proud.

I wanted to share a few highlights from Christmas on here because I didn’t really share a lot on social media with my children during Christmas. I wanted to take a step back from the phone. I use my real camera to photograph everyone else’s families and children and yet I look back and don’t have any of my own except on my camera and like every other parent I never get them off my phone. In a lot of ways it is harder to document your own children. It seems like my client’s children are a lot quicker to listen and do than my own kids! I think that’s how it is with everyone though. Anna was definitely all about Christmas this year whereas Benjamin just had a great time crunching the paper. To see the magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes is amazing! I loved hearing her conversations about different things to do at Christmas and Santa, the Elf, and even baby Jesus. We had a birthday party for Jesus earlier on in December and she definitely recognizes baby Jesus now although she’s still working on understanding the whole story. I am excited to continue to watch my children grow with each coming holiday.

On to the New Year! It was definitely busy the last few months before Christmas! This past year, I have photographed 22 weddings, over 100 Santa Claus sessions, several events for Lake City, lots of family and senior sessions, and I’ve lost count of all the newborns! It’s been a privilege to be able to serve Lake City and the surrounding areas, and I am thankful for each person that stepped through my doors this year and entrusted me with capturing their special moments. Looking forward, I like to keep things really simple with resolutions. I only have five this year. I’m not going to bore you guys with long detailed explanations I’m just gonna let you know my resolutions so you all can keep me accountable. At church on Sunday our pastor talked about how goals and resolutions are learning points and that’s what I want mine to be this year. I want them to help me to be able to grow as a better person a better mother a better wife and a better photographer. There are plenty of moments that I fail God, and Casey, my children, and my clients. I try not to fixate on these moments but pick myself back up and try to start over again and I am grateful for forgiveness most from God and also everyone else. So with all that being said these are my five resolutions: 1. Growing in my Relationship with Christ, consistently having quiet time personally, and attending church on Sundays consistently. 2. I want to be a better wife and mother by spending more time with my family this coming year and not being gone every weekend. 3. I want to to be a better business owner by setting goals each month for my business reviewing them so each month is better than the last. I want to not only photograph your special moments but also treat each client like I would want to be treated in relation to your photographs and turnover rates. 4. I usually set a goal on losing weight but you know what instead of saying that this year I just want to treat myself better whether that means to eat a little better with no weight number in the picture, or to do something just for me because my mental and emotional state is important too. 5. My last goal, for anyone that knows me, you know that I struggle with being on time. My family laughed when I told them this was going to be one of my New Year’s resolutions but truthfully I’m going to strive to be on time. Happy New Year to you all! Thank you for a great 2018! I cannot wait to see what 2019 holds. God has truly blessed me, my family, and my business this past year and I thank him for that and I hope that 2019 brings each of you something to look forward to hope for too!