Ringing in 2011

Engagements

I am the youngest of five. To say the least, I matured early. I had my wedding planned by the time I was 10, when my oldest sister got married. I fired a handt gun when I was 8, ventured into Tyson’s Corner Mall ALONE when I was 12, wandered around San Francisco ALONE when I was 13, had my first kiss around 12 and got married at 21. I always prided myself on being the “best” in my family – the one who made the least mistakes. I had 4 other people to learn from, after all. And perhaps they were just distractions so my parents didn’t see what I did wrong (kissing boys at 12?!). My Dad would always say, “out of the five of you, you’ve been by far the easiest to raise.” While I took it as a compliment and always tried to play the innocent card, the truth was that I did make mistakes – lots of them. But how is anyone supposed to learn if they don’t make mistakes for themselves?

2010 has been an incredible year – completely satisfying and completely stressful, all at the same time. I’ve met some amazing people along the way, drank WAY more Starbucks than I’d like to admit, and have watched my business grow beyond where I ever thought it would go. I know I thank you guys all the time, but for real – thank you. The words don’t even describe my gratitude for all you’ve helped me do this year. 2010 was not a year without mistakes. I’ve learned that growing a business requires you to make mistakes. There are times (yes, several times!) when I wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits. But then I would have a million more happy moments that make it all worth while, and encourage me to keep going.

So that’s what I’m doing: I’m going to continue to keep going. I have more new friends to meet, relationships to grow, (babies to birth!), Starbucks to ingest, and I cannot wait for every second! And while 2011 will probably contain many more mistakes and trials, I hope that I only grow from them – making me a better person, friend….and photographer. Thank you again – for your kindness, patience and encouragement. Now, please excuse me while I wipe a tear 🙂

I want to sincerely apologize for my lack of blogging in the past few weeks. Things got super crazy with Christmas, and trying to return things back to clients before the Holidays that I didn’t have any time to blog! My poor MacBook needs a pedicure for all the footwork it did. So now, as things so down, I’ll be “catch up” blogging. I also have some shoots happening in January and February, so be on the lookout for those, too!

For now, here’s an Engagement Session I’ve been drooling over the past few days and couldn’t wait to share with you! Mitch & Lauren are tying the knot in July, and I am so excited to photograph their wedding! These guys are such troopers, I cannot even tell you. We met at 6:45 IN THE MORNING to get things started at Baugher’s Apple Farm in Western Maryland for their Engagement Shoot. It was also the most freezing morning of the whole year. Regardless, we had a blast, and caught some awesome light while we were at it!

Enjoy and Happy New Year!