Me.

Well, welcome to my first ever blog post. I want to connect more to my clients and followers. I want you to see that I am a real person too. As you get to know me you will find out that I love the beauty of nature, the sound of laughter, and the deep feeling of love. I think those three things are what have really drawn me to photography. I am able to catch the energy and joy that a family radiates, capture the smiles from littles, and share in the deepest of moments. I get to witness the most special moments in time and capture them for an eternity for families. There is nothing that makes a soul more joyous than knowing you are helping families to remember. Remember the birth of a baby, how a child sparkles at 3, the glowing look of an 18 year old, the love of a soon to be mother, I could go on and on. As time progresses we forget but photos help us remember. They bring memories flooding back. I only hope that in 30 years you can look back and remember the way your grandmother laughed or the way your husband's eyes lit up the first time he held your new bundle of joy (who is then 30!).

Over the last year I have grown in so many aspects of life. I've grown as a photographer, small business owner, mother, and friend. How can 365 days generate such tremendous growth?

Let's start with my growth as a photographer. It has been a little over a year since I decided to start my photography business. In that amount of time I have seen my photos evolve. They started good but over time have become better and better. I cannot wait to see how they progress over the next 6 months, 1 year, 5 years. I have taken the chance to learn a new skill and have loved every second of it. I mean, I couldn't do it without following other blogs and YouTube videos. But that is what is awesome, starting photography I have found a whole new community. A community that has very similar goals and passions. I guess I am now leading into my growth as a small business owner.

With starting my photography business I became a business owner... HOW COOL IS THAT?! That is something I never thought I could do. I have always loved being creative and I have finally found a way to be creative and run a business at the same time. My growth as a business owner has included learning bookkeeping (Thank God my husband is an accountant), marketing, and connections with fellow photographers and clients. I have had to get out of my comfort zone and focus on the future and not just the present. How can I make this business the absolute best experience for my clients. I want my clients to become family. With that it takes planning and making sure I have a vision for my business. All things that a small business owner has to think about.

My growth as a mother. I am a mom of two sweet and spunky girls. They are the most marvelous beings that have ever come into my world. They each express their personalities in different ways but both possess parts of me and my husband... if you've met them, you know. My growth as a mother has been in creating more memories and having more patience for the girls. I want to model for them a strong mama and create wonderful memories for years to come. We took family vacations throughout the year, these vacations are precious. They are times that we spend with family and fostering a healthy soul for the girls. I became a soccer coach for my oldest daughter, she's 3... I really had to practice patience here but hey, everyone survived. This provided growth within me. I was able to work with daughter in a completely unfamiliar setting and help her to become more confident over the season. I need both of the girls to be confident. They need to love themselves. They need to know they can accomplish anything and everything they put their mind to. They will rule the world and I will support them in any way I can. I look forward to see how they prosper over the years and to see how they help influence me.

Okay, am I ever going to stop typing... maybe. My last area of growth this year was as a friend. I have some of the most out of this world friends. Old and new. My "old" friends have been there for me through everything, challenges and joys. They have been my crutches and they have fed my soul. I have worked on focusing on the "old" friendships that bring me up and putting my love and effort there. I want to give them the energy and love they deserve. I plan to work on becoming an even better friend this coming year for these beautiful friends. Now to my "new" friends. Holy Moly, I am so ecstatic you have come into my life. In the past year I have met and formed spectacular relationships with some of the strongest women I know. We all come from different walks of life but we are all there to cheer on one another. This was something that I grew in, I have only ever focused on my handful of "old" friends because I love them and how can someone have soooo many friends??? Well, I grew in allowing myself to go beyond my comfort and open my heart to a new handful of friends... can you even believe I have two handfuls of friends now?

I would say my growth has been pretty awesome and I cannot wait to grow with you over this next year. Here is to making every day worth living and loving. Thank you for reading my first blog post! If you have ideas for other blogs please feel free to reach out! I hope this has helped you to get to know me a little better.

Photo Credit: Amy McKinley - Sarasota, Florida