2018 Recap

I’m spending 2018 New Year’s Eve at home with the babes tonight while my husband is working late, and I caught myself really stopping to reflect on this past year. We all do this, right? I usually think a few nice thoughts and then forget it all, but I want to start making a yearly post…so why not now, while the fireworks are all going off in the neighborhood and making my dogs crazy!

Going into 2018, I had no idea what to expect. I had so many ambitions and fears. I was pregnant with Eile, and due in April, which meant that I would have to take off the whole first of the year, and then miss the spring wedding season afterward. That’s pretty much half of my year! Needless to say, Eile came early in March and I was back at it at the end of April. God pulled through in so many ways by giving me the most amazing brides who were patient and so gracious with me. I even had to turn away brides after hitting my max of 24 weddings for the year AFTER missing the whole first half!

As if having a new baby wasn’t enough madness in 2018, Emmy’s bio mom had another baby, baby B. 3 ½ months after Eile was born, we got the call to see if we would take him as a foster placement, and of course, we said yes! We wouldn’t have it any other way. I had NO IDEA how hard it was going to be. Yall… it has been a hard year. I don’t like to say much about it because we are so grateful for him, and we love him so much, but having a 3 year old and two newborns has been insanely difficult. I found myself dealing with some pretty serious anxiety that I’ve never experienced before. But again, God has been so faithful to us. He placed people in our village who knew we would need help at just the right times. For starters, a family from our church got qualified to watch him, and kept him every Friday night for us so that we could have a little bit of a break one night a week. Then my sister’s mother in law (yes you heard that right) followed a calling from God to come stay with us to help out for a couple weeks. You would think that would be strange, but when you hit desperation, you take all of the help you can get. She fit in just like family, and I seriously don’t know how we would have done it without her.  Things are finally starting to feel somewhat normal, and we are anxious to see what happens with his case in 2019.

Another major milestone in 2018 was deciding to learn and switch to film photography. In this past year, I bought all new gear, studied and learned for hours, and then shot film for tonsss more hours. I have absolutely fallen in love with film and the beauty it brings to a photograph. I even took a trip to Moab to study under the amazing Jonathan Canlas. Colt came along and we brought Eile because I was still breastfeeding her, and wasn’t ready to leave her overnight yet. I think film has been the hobby that kept me alive and passionate about what I do. I’m not sure what would have happened this year without it.

In 2018 we also took Emmy and Eile to Disney when Eile was just 8 weeks old, and had an amazing time! Emmy still talks about it and we are slowly working her through the Disney movies.

In November 2018, my beautiful niece, Miller, was born! I am absolutely head over heels in love with her, and can’t wait for our girls to got up! I’ve been hiding on the her newborn photos to wait for my sister to post, but they will be up soon! 

Below are some photos of my family through the year. Some are favorites from film, and some are just every day. Unfortunately, I can’t post baby B’s face for now.

My first roll of film:

Maternity portraits

The birth of my Eile

Eile’s newborn portraits

Easter

Bluebonnet photos

The family session below is credited to the amazing Savan Photography

Savan photography session ends here.

Easter Sunday

Summer Fun

Moab

More Summer fun

Fall

State Fair

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Looking forward:

In 2019, I am not setting too high of expectations for myself.  I always want to continue to challenge myself and grow to be the best I can be in photography, and I know I will always have growing to do… always. I plan on working my butt off to serve all of my clients and give you the most meaningful photos that you will cherish. 

A personal goal this year is to be more present with my kids. I want to put my phone away more, and spend more time with them. I want to be more intentional teaching them about my love for Jesus. Colt’s work shift is abut to change and for the first time in years, I will have him home every evening. I really think this is exactly what our family needs to bring a sense of normal back for a while.

If you have been following my story, or even supporting my business by trusting me to capture your lifelong memories, I want to say thank you. You are what allow me to follow a passion I love, and to be at home with my kids at the same time. Had you asked me just 10 years ago where I wanted be today, this is exactly what I would have said, and I wouldn’t be here without your trust and love. I am so excited for all of the new friendships to come in this new year.