Happy 2017!! I’m sure like most people, December was crazy busy. Thank goodness I took lots of pictures, otherwise I don’t know if I’d remember everything. Ben and I took a couple days and went back to Newport to tour the houses decorated for Christmas since I love that little town so much. (I had the most amazing peppermint ice cream from Kilwin’s). My sweet friend Mekina gave us tickets to see the Rockettes and we stopped by the Rockefeller Christmas tree. I made SO MANY sugar cookies for parties and a cookie exchange and then I delivered lots of packages and Christmas cards to the post office. My best friend, Jess, and her daughter, Lucy, came to visit too! Then we celebrated Christmas with Ben’s family on Christmas Eve.

Since December was so busy and fun, I had to make another block of images this time.

We drove to my family on Christmas Eve night so we could wake up Christmas day for our all day ridiculous/awesome celebration. Then we visited my best friend, Kate, her husband, Jordan, and I got to finally meet their son Judah : ) They’re missionaries in France so it was so nice to catch up with them in person and give hugs! Then the three amigas got together (Jess, Chelsy and me) since we were actually all in Pittsburgh at the same time. Plus they brought their little ones: Lucy, Elle & Cece. I may have got Elle hooked on the classic Cinderella movie : )

Whew… well January should be a lot simpler than December. I’m hoping maybe even boring ; )

• Business Goals:
  • I have my 2016 sessions done and edited!! Oh thank goodness! Starting next week I’m going to begin editing the weddings that I assisted other photographers with in 2016. My goal is one wedding a week.
  • Submitting weddings just keeps getting pushed back. But I have no excuse now, I have my sessions edited so I’m determined to submit the 2 weddings that I was supposed to submit the past couple of months.
  • I’m so close to finishing my office! I think I have everything for my gallery wall and I’ve already printed out the images. So once Ben helps me hang it all then my office with be finished!
  • My new Mac Pro is amazing! Like seriously…. AMAZING!! I had forgot how nice it is to have a brand new computer that’s completely empty. It’s been annoying setting up all my settings in each program, but I think I’m finally there. I’m just trying not to junk up my new computer and keep all of my files organized. Anyone have any tips?
  • Finally, I’m already starting my 2017 season by helping my friend, Leandra, shoot a wedding at the end of the month.
• Personal Goals:
  • My main goal is to be at home as much as possible and just relax.
  • I guess I should take down my Christmas decorations? I just love them so much! I may leave some of the “wintery” decorations up for now.
  • I’d like to read most of Brandon McMillan’s Lucky Dog Lessons. I love his tv show on CBS and he really seems to break down training a dog into easy steps. So in preparation of hopefully getting a dog in the spring (fingers crossed!!), I asked for the book for Christmas. Now I just need to read it.
  • Since my my nights are now free of Christmas planning, trying to catch up on CKP editing and there’s really just not much to do in the evenings… I’m hoping to edit some of my personal images. I really tried to limit the number of pictures I took this past year and I did a pretty good job, but I still took pictures of the important stuff… and they need to be edited. I owe family and friends pictures and I promise they’re on their way!

Happy new year! Here’s to 2017!!