Another year end, another year of gratitude and high hopes for 2013!

This past year brought a lot of surprises and changes to my life.  I celebrated my golden birthday on Sept. 27... so I turned 27 on the 27th (that's a golden birthday if you didn't know it.)  I moved not once but twice, I became a cat owner (two cats to be precise), I shot a record number of weddings and portrait sessions, I upgraded my camera to my dream camera (FX baby!) and I got involved with a great dog rescue.  It has been a great year... a phenomenal year.  I can say whole heartedly that I am extremely blessed and I am so lucky to have a loving family and amazing friends.  I would not be where I am today without their continued support and love. This is my thank you to helping me be where I am today.  While I gush, I do want to say the biggest thank you to my love, Brett, who has been my rock through out the low points of the year and also my biggest fan.  I am truly lucky.

One of the biggest reasons I love photography is the ability to hold onto the past.  As the year comes to a close and I browse through my MANY jpegs that fill my harddrive, I think about how far I have come in just the past couple of years taking my hobby beyond a hobby.  It's much, much more than a hobby.  It's my deep rooted passion and happy place.   There has never been a time (at least not yet) where I have taken out my camera and been unhappy.  Holding that camera opens up inside of me and breaks down those personal walls that I sometimes put up.  It is a creative escape.  There are people who go their whole lives and don't feel that thing that pulls at them.  I am fortunate to know what pulls at my heat strings and with that ability I in turn create lasting memories for others.  So it all comes full circle.  Do what you love, give back to others and be happy.  If only life could always be so simple but I digress. :)

On a less deep note, I have been meaning to blog about the big life change of this past year.  Brett recently bought a house so we moved ourselves, 2 curious kittens and our furry love Kona from a 900 square foot apartment in the heart of Midtown to a beautiful ranch home in the suburbs of Atlanta in north Decatur.  I cannot express how AWESOME it is to finally have a yard! For four long years, I had to wrap myself in jackets, slip on the shoes or grab the umbrella to take Kona out to potty.  Now, all i have to do is push open the back door and off she goes.  This is especially great now that it's been freezing in Atlanta.   We've even experimented letting out the kittens.  They have done well and seem to enjoy it although our male gave me a scare the other night.

We let out the kittens midday and around 5 p.m., it began to get dark and we could only find one of them, Pam.  Sonny, our orange and white male, was no where to be found.  We searched high and low but we couldn't find him.  Brett assured me that he would be fine but I was still worried.  I was mainly concerned because we have two large owls that live in the woods in the neighborhood   These owls are big and can pick up small animals.  So yes, I was worried and was sure the worst had happened.

Later that night (8 hours after we let out Sonny) Brett finds him in the neighbor's yard.  Little mother f'er went exploring but I guess the cold and hunger got to him.  I was so happy but now, I am hesitant to let him out until he gets bigger at least.  


So, now the family is complete again and we're grateful for the new space.  I'm grateful that we had a cute red door to hang a wreath and a roof to hang our icicle lights.  It's good to finally be out of a boring apartment and have a place that feels like home.

Now, for some cuteness....

Pam -named after Pam from True Blood- we're big fans.  The name works because she is a beautiful, crazy female with fangs. 

Unlike her sweet brother, this one acts like a dog and normally comes when she is called.  She'd rather nap than explore the new backyard.

Sonny, aka "Son-Son."

I'm sure these sweet moves would deter any owls... yah right.

Kona's signature move...She looks like a circus bear.

I'm sure she's pissed she didn't get a treat for this move. 

Not Committing to a New Year's Resolution- Because it doesn't work

It sounds good and it feels good when you say, "This year, I am going to *Blank*."  But let's be honest, making these new year's resolutions sets us up to fail, at some point.  Some people fail at week two and others fail around February  Granted we all make these commitments with good intentions but unless you make the commitment while in action, it's not going to happen.  This is coming from experience of course because for years I have tried to "start out fresh" and make these lifestyle commitments.  Normally I make them while I'm drinking some sugary cocktail and eating so high calorie food.... "Tomorrow!" I shout in my mind-only to realize four days later I haven't done anything except take my dog to the dog park and watched her run.  Well at least Kona is a doing a good job of sticking to her diet and getting her work outs in.

So instead of a resolution this year, I am making a goal to live a healthier life by taking action.  Action means moving, running, getting out of bed and not hitting the snooze button, running to the dog park instead of driving, cutting fruit the night before, prepping meals and left overs for lunch.  Granted, I do DO these things but I want to do them more and get myself on more consistent healthy and happy routine.

And, to cheers this goal, here is my yummy snack thanks for the wonderful Dekalb Farmer's Market... Oh, how I love thee.

New Years Make Me Excited!

I cannot explain how excited I am for 2011.  For the past couple weeks, I have been composing a "2010 in Review" and an action plan for 2011.  Both these exercises have helped me tremendously to see where I was last year and where I want to be in the new year.  I went through different lists of what went well and what did not go well in 2010.  I was pretty surprised that I had so many good things happen last year for myself personally and professionally.  For anyone who knows me well knows I am my own worst enemy and hardest critic.  I have the highest expectations for myself and when I do not achieve my goals, I get down on myself more than I really should.  After seeing that list and seeing how much I had done last year, it gave me hope for the new year.  It helped me to realize that I have done some great things and I should be proud of the things I was able to accomplish.

From those two lists, I started brain storming about my 2011 purpose, outcome and theme followed by 8 categories of goals with action statements for each one followed by a deadline for each goal.  My categories are:
1.Health
2.Service
3. Travel
4.Photography
5.Learning
6.Financial- Earning
7.Financial-Saving
8.Other

Each one of these categories ended up having at least 4 goals so right now it's looking like I have 34 goals to accomplish.  Seems a little overwhelming but each goal has certain steps I need to follow so I'm actually really excited to get started.

My top goals include:

-Run my 3rd half marathon in March and my first full marathon in October. (Training is slowly happening now, gotta get back on the grind!)
-Do my photography business branding. (I am creative but I do not have the time to be creative for my own brand.  I'm looking for a fresh perspective on my business.)
-Start a 401K. (Yah yah, probably should have started right out of college or before... )
-Travel more! (I make too many excuses i.e. money, time off work etc.  No excuses this year, just proper planning!)
-Read one new book at month. (I am really excited about this one because this gives me a reason to linger in Barnes and Noble for hours while searching out the perfect book that peak my interest.)
-Start saving! (I have not been the best at future planning in the savings category. Having a financial plan for the future is very important and I'm ready to make that commitment to myself.)

I realize now that making this outward statement of my plans makes me accountable but that's O.K.  I want that pressure so that when I am tired and exhausted from life, I can look back and say look, I put it out there so I have to make it happen.  We all strive to make changes in our lives but living inside our heads and saying "I wanna do this one day.." but not making the effort to do it...it's sad.  I decided to stop saying "I wanna" or "I'm gunna" (those phrases are lovingly called Iwannaland and Imgunnaland, thanks Jim. Those are islands you wanna get off of.)  This is a year of action and determination. I will be the driving force for the events that take place in my life.  Life doesn't happen to you, you happen to life.

To finish this super long entry (and thank you for anyone who is still reading), I want to thank the people who have influenced my life in the past 6 months.  Whether directly or indirectly, many people have touched me and helped me to re-focus my energy and pursue my goals.  From my real job of selling telecom to the amazing photographers who are great bloggers. They may not ever know how they have touched my life and inspired me but I'm am thankful nonetheless.  I hope that one day I too can be an inspiration for others looking to change their lives.

It's gonna be a great year, I can feel it! :)

And what's a post without a picture? And of my little piggy: