hello february 1st.

I am counting today as my own personal new year’s day.  A fresh start.  The first page of a new journal.  I am so excited for you 2011!

In the spirit of new and fresh beginnings I’d also like to give myself an exemption from one little thing.  For the past 10 years or so I have sent out Christmas cards & newsletters.  Well, it didn’t happen this year.  So, then I was going to send digital cards (and save the earth while saving money on postage) but I got in a minor fender bender the day before New Year’s.  In a flurry of insurance paperwork, chiropractic & massage  appointments it just didn’t happen.  And…I am okay with that.  This past year has been a year of learning how to be “okay with that.”  If you thought you were kicked off my card list, I promise, you weren’t!  Here’s one of the photos that I intended to send out…Happy New Year!  Photos taken by my uber talented friend, Heather Gilson of One Love Photo.

Reflecting back to 2010 I had a myriad of wonderful things happen…Here’s my top five…

1.  I photographed the most amazing couples.

I say that every year, but this year was remarkably different.  Every wedding, so different, but so in line with who I am and what my business is about.  Each couple was so unique, relaxed and trusting of me on their wedding day.  I am heading into my fifth season shooting weddings and it still ceases to amaze me the weighty importance of my role at each wedding.  I hope I never lose that sense of awe.  I may or may not get around to doing a “best of” post…but check out some of these couples HERE.

2.  I found my feet.

Every new year is the same…I make the same goals: get fit, eat right, floss, journal, yada yada.  But last year I committed to training to run my first half marathon and did it!  I had great encouragement and training partners that helped me stay consistent.  I am the most fit I have been since high school (with plenty of room for improvement) and Mark & I eat better than ever.  I still have my dark chocolate & other vices but we have cut out a lot of processed foods and incorporated a more clean way of eating.  I have lost about 10 pounds over the last year and feel really good.  So, if you are interested in running, let’s talk!  I’m not very fast but I have a love/hate affair with this latest addiction of mine.  My first half marathon was the North Olympic Half Marathon in June and then I ran the You Go Girl Half Marathon in September.  I also ran the Sound to Narrows & the 12K’s of Christmas.  HUGE thanks to my friend Krista who was one of my main inspirations to get going, my friend Jen for being my first training & running buddy, and my friends Jodi & Soila who faithfully meet me four times a week rain or shine, snow or sleet.  I am such a co-dependent runner- I am not sure I would still be running without the accountability of my friends!

Sooo, please don’t judge the quality of this photo–stole it off of Krista’s facebook page :)  And don’t judge my Sue Sylvester jacket, either.  Function over style sometimes, people.

3.  I found my voice…again.

I started helping out with the youth group at our church, Puget Sound Christian Center and I feel like I found my voice again.  Sometimes in the flurry of raising families, running small business, and trying to figure out your way, it is easy to lose yourself and forget about yourself outside of yourself (as in everyday self.)  Does that make any sense at all?  Well one thing I know about myself is that my voice is meant to encourage others and I have been so caught up in my life I forgot all about this.  All that to say, I am loving helping out as a youth leader for our middle school youth group.  I love encouraging the young girls and reminding them of their beauty–it is such a rough age!  It feels good and right to be there and I love it.

4.  I celebrated my grandma’s life.

I have never watched someone die and it totally changed my life and made an impression on my heart that cannot be undone.  I always thought I valued life, but never like this.  Every Asian grandma I come into contact with walking with their hands clasped behind her back is my Halmoni.  I see her in so many different places–talking to her at the grocery store, smiling at her walking her dog at the park, or even driving more patiently behind a grandpa.  Every grandparent is my grandma.  I am so thankful to have known her.  How brave she was–how brave she makes me want to be in my everyday life.  She was so amazing that my words seem so small in attempting to describe her.  She made me value even more the ability to document the priceless lives around me.  Maybe you can catch some of her spirit in these photos.  She lived a long life of 90 years.

5.  I went to Kona.

I love Hawaii.  My husband and I had a humble honeymoon in California even though I really, really wanted to go to Hawaii.  Well, we have been blessed with parental units that also love Hawaii and have helped us get there!  This was our first trip to Kona (we’ve been to Maui several times) and the first time we brought our kids.  It was our first major family vacation and it was exactly what we needed.  This past year, I took a bit of a step back from my business (hence the lack of blog posts) and really took some time to focus on my family and myself apart from photography.  I had been blessed with a busy 2009 and really lost myself in the business (as in live, eat, sleep, & dream about wedding photography!)  Now, I feel like our family is more unified and I have a better balance with life, both physically and spiritually.  Soooo, I am really ready for 2011 and what unfolds with my business.  I will say, I have an updated blog, website and logo on it’s way…and I am excited.

Thank you for reading this and sharing a part of what my life has been the past 12 months!  My one and only new year’s goal is to blog 3x a week.  So, consider yourself cordially invited to join with me as I share what 2011 brings.  :)

xo,

j