366 posts before this one, I wrote my very first blog post.  That was 4 years ago today.  That year I started project 366, and it failed miserably, as I often do when I 'plan' projects like that.  I've seen a lot of changes, sometimes slow & painful, but all well worth it. I've seen growth, both in my work & in the children & families I am blessed to shoot. I've made decisions, some that worked, some that didn't.  It's been an amazing journey so far, and I am excited to see what the new year, 2012, has in store for me.


So far there are some pretty awesome things happening, both for business & personal.  I hope this year I give you a better glimpse at me, the artist, the person, the mom.  I hope that my talent continues to grow & I am constantly learning & striving to make this a better adventure. This is the year for purpose, for living life with a purpose, making decisions with a purpose & doing it all with love & dedication.

Today I will be moving the blog over to my website.  This one will stay here in it's place in Blogger land, but this will be my last post here.  When it's all set & ready to roll out, I will be back with a link & redirect you all over there.

Thank you for joining me on one of the most amazing journeys of my life. Thank you for allowing me into your homes & hearts. 

One of the things we're going to be doing a lot more of this year, is getting out & enjoying the natural beauty that surrounds us. We live in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  There is so much to do here if you love the outdoors. 
Here are a few shots from our little adventure on Monday. 
 This first one is one of my most favorite ever & will be the first printed scenic shot that I print large to hang on the walls of our home.  I have pictures everywhere, lots of pictures, every wall has at least one, but this will be the first non-portrait photograph that joins the ranks.

One of the things you probably don't know about me, unless we've been friends for a while, is that most of my friends growing up were guys. Still to this day one of my best friends is a guy, who isn't my husband (and yes he's aware, and okay with that). We've actually been friends since kindergarten, about 23 years now. This past week we went on a little end of the year adventure, I took some shots, he took some shots (both with different equipment).  I came home with a bag of 'goose & duck' to learn how to cook and a few images to add to my collection & expanding portfolio.

Probably my favorite one from the day. 

 

One of the most difficult jobs I get each & every year is taking our family portraits. It's not that I couldn't give that job to someone else and I'm sure eventually I will, but I really love this challenge. It takes a little planning and an extra dose of patience, but in the end it's totally worth it.

This year I started the 'plan' with a little inspiration from Pinterst for our clothing. Out of the previous 6 Christmas card photos we wore black/red and/or some variation of the colors, with the only exception being the year we announced Grace's *girl* status, which we wore pink/black/grey for. We ended up going with an earthy, neutral sort of 'John Deere' color scheme (which if you know me well or have been to my house, you know that I've got a small collection, so it's not all that surprising).
Once I had all my clients images caught up and ordered, I decided I better get going to get our photos taken.  About a week before Christmas I said, 'Today is the day', and without an actual shooting place in mind we set out to make some other deliveries & just happened to be going the 'back way' and when we drove past a place I'd been wanting to shoot forever and the lighting was perfection, I knew we had found our place. 30-45 minutes later, we ended up with these, mostly taken on the tripod with the camera timer, as my remote has decided to malfunction outdoors, the couple of me with the munchkins were taken by the hubby.
I must say these are probably my most favorite family photos to date. I love how they came together and even with shooting via the tripod, for the most part, everyone, is paying attention.

This greeting is actually coming a little late, but with all that is Christmas, here's our wish for you.





I really LOVE how our card come out this year. Everything about it, from the photos, that we ended up shooting in a place I've been wanting to shoot at forever,  to the shaped Christmas-y text (which just so happened to be inspired by several things I saw floating around on Pinterest, a great source of inspiration, not only for everyday, but especially for the 'creative' side of me).  

I'll be back later this evening, with a look at the rest of our photos and to announce the winner of the Black Friday give-a-way!!!