Travel.

Day #6. I have 30 minutes left in today. It still counts right?
Traveling. Going new places. To say I love it would be an understatement. Taking new trips and flying in airplanes excites me so much. I took a trip to Colorado back in September for a lighting and portraiture course with IPS, and loved it. They taught us how you can use flashes and lights to make amazing images. It was a wonderful week, and I learned so much!
After the class ended, my wonderful friend Kira came and picked me up, and we spent the rest of the day hanging out in Denver. I got to take her senior pictures...then we just hung out. It was SO much fun. And guess what? Kira is with me right now! She is here in Georgia hanging out for a few days.

The sisterhood of the....sisters?

Day #3.
Another event that made my top 2011 favs would be what I call "Our foursome date." Let me explain. Anna is my best friend. She has a sister named Rebekah. Rebekah is good friends with my sister Katelyn. And all four of us are tight.
It's been a friendship that has lasted for quite a while. Bek came over one day for a party we were having at our house. Katelyn and I thought she was pretty cool because she was one of the only girls we had met that thought building forts in the woods was cool. She was quiet though...and so were we. So we built a fort together. Pretty much in silence. But it was fun anyway.
I thought Anna - on the other hand - was an annoyingly perfect little teacher's pet (my sister taught our children's choir and she thought Anna was the sweetest, most adorable little girl). I would just roll my eyes (and yes i was the perfect example of a stuck up little snob...and that's what Anna thought of me).
But, after the fort incident...we became friends with the Hammond family, and eventually Anna and I became friends as well. And now, she's my best friend.
The four of us have really had a blast when we've gotten together...all of our late night talks at sleepovers, and our black friday shopping tradition. I can still remember the time our siblings took us to Chickfila, and I remember telling Bek, "Wont it be so cool when we can drive ourselves and go out to eat??" Crazy how time flies.
Well, in April, Bek got married! Anna and I even got to shoot the wedding =) But right before she got married, we all went out for a fun dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We wanted to spend the evening hanging out one last time before she got married.
So, we curled our hair, put on lots of makeup, and wore pretty dresses. It was a rainy night, and it was super crowded. But we still enjoyed it! Our dinner was absolutely delicious, and we had some great talks.
I'm so grateful for the wonderful friendship the Lord has given us, and all of the fun times we've had together.

pancake breakfast, hot chocolate, adventures....and ice.

So here we are. Day #2 of the countdown to January 9th. It's been so cool to watch God work this year. A big thing last year was for me to get my photog business off the ground, and it happened! I got to shoot everything last year. Weddings, families, kids, seniors, business headshots, a jewelry shoot for a website, and interior design. With all the shooting, I was really able to narrow down what I want to focus on shooting. It really was a great year. It definitely wasn't easy, and I've learned that owning your own business really isn't as glamorous as it looks sometimes, but that's how we learn. And I learned a lot. If it all came easy, I wouldn't grow.

Fun Event from 2011:

You northerners are probably going to laugh at me. It's about snow. Last January we had more snow and ice than I can ever remember here in Georgia. I felt like a little kid…I watched it come down and got SO excited! We even got snowed in for several days. Ok, maybe we got iced in, but it was still pretty awesome! Or at least it was for the first two days...after that, I have to admit I got a little cabin fever.
But, we got to do fun things like, make big breakfasts (hey, it's a big deal...usually I grab a tangerine while I run out of the house), drink hot chocolate, watch movies, play games, and, of course, explore in the snow!
The worst part was going to work when the "roads were clear". I'm pretty sure every road except for ours was clear. There are tons of trees shading our driveway and road outside our driveway. Sliding on ice is really not fun. I don't know, maybe i'm not adventurous enough. Or maybe I just like having control over the car ;-) But no accidents occurred, and eventually the ice did melt.

I was thinking, it's easy to get SO busy that you just don't have time for important things. Getting stuck at home for several days showed me that. I spent more time with God and my family - the most important things to me! It was quite wonderful.

And yes, I am hoping we get some more this winter. Goodness, it's cold enough out there right now! ;-)

Hey guess what?

So, if you've been following my Facebook page, you may have noticed a few little hints I've been dropping about some changes. Basically these changes started back in February when i attended a workshop that totally changed the way I thought about my photography business. The main subject was branding. I….i don't even have a brand. So, I started doing lots of reading and thinking. This branding thing is a pretty big deal. So after basically taking a break from the photography biz for the summer, i got back on the ball when i arrived home from camp in August. At the beginning of October, I started an 8 week program/class. I'll share more about that later. So…after 8+ intensive weeks…some major changes have happened for my business. It's still got a ways to go…but I'm excited about the big changes that have been accomplished.

The big day is January 9th! I will be "releasing" the big project. I'm pretty pumped! A lot of work has been put into this by many people….and I'm so grateful for the help of others. More on that later too =) Until next Monday…I'll be blogging every day. Yes, you heard it right. Every day. I'm almost panicking that I'm admitting that to the world, because now I actually have to do it ;-) We all know I can struggle in the consistent blogging area ;-)

What will I be blogging about? Just some random events that 2012 held. Some big, some not so big. But they all had an impact on me, so they're a big part of last year. I guess maybe it's my "year in review"….just a different kind of twist on it.

Happy 2012, everyone! I don't know about you, but I'm pretty stoked about what this year holds! =)

Enjoy some fall 2011 favorites...