Friday Photo Journal, January 1, 2016

Happy Friday friends and welcome to 2016! Hard to believe another year has come and gone. It almost feels like I'm sitting on a train watching my life whiz by. It seems to go faster and faster and all I want to do it hit the pause button.

In this last post of 2015, I am sharing a few images I took this week when I finally eeked out a little time for some personal shooting, along with a video compilation of our holiday celebration this year.

2015 was a year of growth, struggle, change, success and a whole lotta stress. Honestly, I had hoped the year would be more golden than it was for me. But it was a stepping stone and a necessary building block to where I hope to take my business and where we, as a family, hope to go. I worked hard. Really hard to build something substantial, and while I did not reach all of my goals, I reached many and that is worth celebrating.

I had hoped to find a better balance between work, family, and personal growth. While I did manage to balance the scales a bit better than the year before, I fell short in coming to any real solution. However, I am sincerely grateful for all of the opportunities, the support and the love that 2015 afforded me. And I am very appreciate of your continued support here as I find my way through the struggles of parenting, homeschooling, business building and mid-life.

I wish you all much joy, love, peace and prosperity in 2016. Happy New Year!

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Friday Photo Journal, December 18, 2015

So sorry this is late - again. I was having some technical difficulties. : / I hope you all have had a great week. I can hardly believe we are down to a week until Christmas! Where did this year go?! 

We finally carved out some time to enjoy some festive fun this week. We visited our favorite holiday display last weekend, and attended a Christmas party on Thursday. The girls also went caroling with their Girl Scout troop this week. I still have a long way to go before I am ready for the big day - but I am starting to feel the holiday spirit. I have a wedding to shoot this afternoon, and a family session on Wednesday, then I plan to take a couple of days for some family time - finally. 

How was your week?

I do sincerely appreciate your visits and wish you much love, joy and peace.

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have an awesome week! :)

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Friday Photo Journal - December 11, 2015

Ahhh, so late! So late! I'm sorry I dropped the ball this week. The madness continues with late night editing marathons as I try to crank out galleries before next Friday's wedding. And our puppy girl had her spay surgery and gastropexy this week. So, we are nursing a sad puppy and taking turns keeping the pups separated but occupied so they don't chew everything in sight.

And as usual, I haven't much to share as I just have zero minutes in the day for myself right now. I do have one shot I managed to edit of my big girl, who I can hardly believe is only 10. She looks more and more like a teen every day. Other than that, I haven't even had a chance to upload the few phone pics I took over the week. But, my sincerest hope is that after this week, I will have a little time to enjoy some holiday festivities and get back to a little creative me time.

I hope each of you is having a wonderful holiday season and that you are fully immersed in the merriment and memory making that this time of year brings.

And just a peek at what's been keeping me busy!

I do sincerely appreciate your visits and wish you much love, joy and peace.
Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have an awesome week! :)

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Friday Photo Journal - December 4, 2015

Another crazy week down. This one was rough., I tell ya. No rest for the weary around here. I am up to my eyeballs in work and dog tired. Plus, our rambunctious pups like to rise and shine early - like sunrise early. I am not a morning girl. Especially not after editing until 1 AM every night. Oy!
Is it January yet?
When I remembered that today was Thursday and that I needed a post for FPJ, I thought, "I've got nothing." Then I remembered our family shoot from last weekend. I did shoot family pics for my sisters, and we did our own family Christmas picture too. My big sis was awesome and took some shots for me so I didn't have to run back and forth to a tripod this year. :)

I'm not winning any awards with my creativity, but we are all in the same shot,
 so I call that a win with this crew!

What have you been up to?

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have an awesome weekend! :)

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Friday Photo Journal, November 27, 2015

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Or, a lovely Thursday if you weren't celebrating. :)
I am super tired and will keep this short and sweet. Just wanted to get the post up before I turn in for the night.  

We had a wonderful celebration with family and I enjoyed the time away from my computer, just catching up with everyone and relaxing. My sister and brother-in-law are always amazing hosts! The food was delicious and the cousins were all giggles. Here's a quick mash-up of photos from the day. I didn't take as many as usual, but I'm glad I got a few.

How was your week?

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have an awesome weekend! :)

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Friday Photo Journal - November 20, 2015

Happy Friday all! I will keep this short and sweet today. My entire house has been overcome with a nasty cold and I have a ton of work to get out before this weekend's wedding and sessions.
I haven't felt great, and have been taking care of all the sick kiddos at home, so I haven't shot much this week. I did play around with some freelensing one day before everyone fell ill. And I had a session in Colonial Williamsburg last weekend and grabbed a couple of phone shots on my way back to the car. It was gorgeous up there!

How was your week?

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have an awesome weekend and a Happy Thanksgiving!! :)

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Friday Photo Journal - November 13, 2015

Hey, it's Friday! This week I've got a mishmash of randomness thrown together. But hey, we are screaming through holiday portrait season and right on toward Thanksgiving and Christmas and I am just in over my head, I tell ya. The past week brought the usual madness and Daddy's birthday. The weather has been warm and lovely (mostly), so we have enjoyed some time outdoors. I am ready for the mosquitos to vacate but, I don't mind a bit if the warm sunny afternoons decide to stick around. 

Here's my peek at our week. What have you been up to?

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have an awesome weekend. :)

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Friday Photo Journal, November 6, 2015

Happy Friday all! I went from one measly photo last week to so many this week that I can't edit them all. Halloween was tons of fun. My oldest is now 13, so he wasn't able to trick-or-treat this year, but he dressed up to hand out candy while we took the kids around the neighborhood. We actually had quite a few kids in the neighborhood this year and it was a beautiful evening for walking. It turned out to be a great Halloween!

And, my mom treated us all to an afternoon on the farm last Saturday. It was a fun-filled family day and I enjoyed every minute! So, I have an abundance of pics, most of which I have hardly had time to look at. But I threw together a couple of collages to share.  ;)

How was your week?
Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have an awesome weekend. :)

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Friday Photo Journal, October 30, 2015

Halloween here we come! After several weeks of online shopping, several orders that were promised, but ended up not being fulfilled because items were out of stock, several emails, phone calls and much wasted time and energy, we finally ended up costume shopping in store tonight. Ugh. I am utterly exhausted but we are ready. Finally. 

I have only one pic to share this week. It's all I could manage with full time puppy duty, homeschooling, and work. I hardly picked up my camera aside from client sessions and the wedding I shot last weekend. So I'm toast, but I'm counting on a sugar high to carry me through the weekend. 

I sure hope the kids score some Twix bars. :)

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have a safe and awesome Halloween.!! :)

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Friday Photo Journal - October 23, 3015

I almost forgot what day it was. Friday again already?? Sometimes this life is such a blur. 

I lost my mojo this week. Srsly. It happens often this time of year, I'm afraid. Hopefully I will find it again before long. But Oy! I need a vacation. 

Here's a quick peek at what I've managed to scrape together for this post:

What have you been up to this week?

Thanks for stopping in! I hope you have a great weekend. :)

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Friday Photo Journal - October 16, 2015

Another week down. Man it feels like we are just screaming toward 2016, doesn't it?! Feels like we went straight from March to October to me.

Well, I survived last week's crazy. Woot. This weekend I have 3 sessions, but no weddings. So it'll be a breeze right? ;)

I actually took more photos than I had time to edit this week, but here are the few that I got to. (It's starting to look like fall here. Yay!)

What have you been up to this week?

Thanks for stopping in! 

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Friday Photo Journal - October 9, 2015

Hey, it's Friday again! I'm feeling a bit like burnt toast after this week's mayhem, and it's really just begun. I just completed a wedding gallery from a huge wedding and have another due tomorrow. I'm also shooting a wedding in the Outer Banks this weekend. So, I'll be wearing out my Keurig for the next couple of days. 

The storm last weekend brought lots of rain, a bit of flooding and some wind. But thankfully, nothing major in terms of damage. Sadly, we have only one lone surviving caterpillar, though. I sheltered them during the storm, and they made it through ok, but I think the colder nights have taken a toll on them. Most have disappeared and I found two that were dead. 

So, my luck with caterpillar rearing remains unchanged. :/

How was your week?

Thank you so much for stopping in. I absolutely appreciate your visits!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe weekend.

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Friday Photo Journal - October 2, 2015

Happy weekend all! Looks like it will be a wet and blustery weekend for us here on the east coast. I'm hoping we don't lose power, but it's highly likely that we will. That always throw a big wrench in my schedule. :/

Our news this week is that we adopted two 5 month old great dane puppies. Yes, I am certifiably insane. 4 kids, 3 dogs, homeschooling, running a full time business...yeah it's pretty certain that I have bitten off more than I can chew. As usual. Every time I almost find my normal I have to go and screw it all up with a bunch of crazy. I'm awesome that way.

They are adorable. Of course. And fairly well behaved. But they are puppies! The good news is that they aren't completely house trained and we're having a hurricane this weekend. Yippee!

Here are my pics from this week. I have hardly picked up my camera, but did take a few on their first night with us.  I also made a point to take a couple shots of our growing caterpillars this week, and I ventured out in the rain today to capture the first signs of fall. I needed a few minutes of "me" time and didn't mind the rain a bit.

The two-headed monster that roams our house all day:

 They have mastered the art of the puppy dog eyes.

 
 


How was your week?

Thank you so much for stopping in. I absolutely appreciate your visits!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe weekend.

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