2013... where did it go?!

I know it's cliche, but holy cow, 2013 absolutely flew by. Here's where my husband Opie, who's 8 years my elder, would pipe in to say, "Just wait a few years. It only goes faster." I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to say that sort of thing until you're at least 50-years-old AND you're 20+ years older than the person you're addressing, but what do I know? I'm just a whipper-snapper.

So what all happened this year? I graduated with my Bachelor's degree from UT Dallas, finally. I was named the "Best Family Photographer" in North Dallas & Park Cities by Living Magazine's readers. My husband and I traveled to Seattle in May to meet our niece for the first time. Said niece's adoption was finalized in December. I began volunteering my photography skills for the National Psoriasis Foundation. My parents and several close friends all moved out of state within about two weeks of each other during the summer. I did a photography trade with a friend, and got new portraits of Opie and me for the first time since our wedding four years earlier. I finally turned our spare bedroom into my home office, so that my husband's and my conflicting work styles are no longer battling it out in one confined space. I re-started my garden after foundation repair at the end of last year's growing season undid all my hard work. I posted about 9,000,000 photos of my great danes on Instagram, because obviously. I became an Offbeat Bride Vendor, and was featured on their blog yesterday. I came on full time in my role as the Head of Photography for Earthbound in June, while also working every other moment of the day on this business. That last sentence sums up where most of this year's time and energy went.

In 2013, I photographed 10 weddings, 34 portrait sessions, and 5 parties/events, if my quick count is correct. Add to that quite a few 10-14 hour days on set at Earthbound apparel or home decor shoots, as well as the daily, low-key, in-house product photography, and that's a whole lot of time spent with camera in hand! Not to mention the many, many hours of planning and post-processing that goes on behind the scenes, whether for my own business or for the other. It's been a busy year, but also a rewarding year full of personal growth. I look forward to meeting the challenges of 2014.

Here are a few photos of me in action this year, to round out the post:




I'll soon be recapping my favorite photos from 2013's shoots, so check back over the next few days!