We've made it through another year, and survived... no... thrived. If nothing else this year has taught me that we can do anything. When Lucas showed up 4 weeks early, in the middle of our busy season and threw the entire business into my lap so Erin could be with him, we made it. With help from our intern, our colleagues, and support from family and friends, we made this year our best yet. I can't wait to top it all next year! Rewinding a second now... I set some goals for myself last January including this little 365 project. It started as a creative challenge to make a photo every single day. Some months had themes, some did not. Some photos were great, others a little lame. But I stuck through, I kept creating, I kept sharing, and I can now check this project off the list. And it feels good.
Some of my other goals included: -Decluttering my newsfeed/email (I did this by hiding people whose posts I always found myself shaking my head at and unsubscribing from dozens of emails I didn't read) -Bike a 50 mile event. This one will stay on the list another year. My best event this year was 33 miles. -Start a new hobby (Archery). Didn't happen, but I am still interested in it. -Workout 3x a week. I think I get partial credit here. I actually put this on the calendar for Mon, Wed, Fri mornings which makes me much more likely to do it. I've been good the last 2 months, but over the summer... this goal always seems to die. -Simplify finances. This I can say I did accomplish. I got rid of unnecessary credit cards, closed unneeded bank accounts and made everything much easier to keep track of.
So I can say I accomplished 4.5 out of 6 goals. Not bad, but I can do better.
I spent a while on the Christmas theme this month, trying to explore it in different ways.
Do you ever find yourself thinking "Where has the time gone?" Yeah? Me too. The cool thing is this photo-a-day project has helped make me really aware of how I spend my time. There are some days when literally -nothing-interesting happened and I found myself photographing the shadows on the wall. Other days were so full, it was a challenge to pick the best photograph/moment to share! So as I review my images of the year, I thought it would be fun to share some highs and lows with you in this recap.
First, the cool stuff: -LASIK! AKA the best investment I ever made and wish I made sooner. It is seriously the biggest change to my life this year. I am free from contact lenses and glasses, and it's something I am thankful for every day. -Seniors! This year we photographed 26 seniors, shattering our goal of 12. I learned just how much fun it is to work with this age and look forward to growing this portion of the business! -Lucas! He's only going third because he didn't arrive until August. But this little man entered the world lucky enough to have two fantastic parents and the best auntie in the world. He changed everything, and I can't wait to watch him grow. -Friends and Family. Between a little road trip, a new nephew being born, throwing a themed party, and just hanging out on game nights, I love looking back at all of the fun we've had this year. -Home Improvement. We finished the kitchen by finally installing a backsplash, added a nice gate for the dogs, and replaced our old windows and sliding door to improve heat retention. This crosses off a few items we had on the house list for a few years, yay! -Being outdoors: Rec softball, hiking, hammocking, jarts, gardening. Love it. -Eating. In true instagram style, I photographed a lot of our meals this year. I'm happy to say we have been eating healthier, more local and more in-season. There's room to do better here, but a good start nonetheless. -Portraits. This was a record setting year for how many folks I was able to put in front of my lens. Thank you to every single one of you, I'm so lucky that this is my profession!
2014 wasn't entirely sunshine and rainbows though. We said goodbye to my grandmother this year, learned about Erin's father's cancer, and I had a frustrating ordeal with technical issues in the middle of our busiest month. But we made it through alive, stronger, and ready to conquer a new year.
And what's Christmas without the people you love?
And of course, my lapdog.
Looking ahead to 2015: we'll be traveling to New Zealand, Florida, Colorado, Massachusetts and who knows where else! We get to celebrate several weddings with friends, family and clients. I'll be replacing the 365 project with a new challenge (more to come). But most importantly, we'll get some more time to spend with our family, our friends, and our awesome clients as we continue on this journey.
Thanks for being here, I hope to see you around this year. Get in touch, let us know how it's going for you too!
I encourage you to set some goals, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you with them! Wishing you all the best in 2015! Lori
If you'd like to see more from this project, check out these other posts of 2014:
January | February | March | April | May | June |July | August | September | October | November
The final photo of 2014... and I'm excited to hand this project off to Erin this year!