2012: One Crazy Year

2012 in Review

I got home from my Dad’s house late last night after celebrating Christmas with the family. He lives in Kentucky and it’s an almost 3 hour drive. While on the snow covered road home, my husband and I were talking about New Year’s goals (I am adamantly against calling them resolutions). Anyhow, that lead to what we may have “resolved” to do in 2012 that we didn’t do or did accomplish.

I set out in 2012 with a small list of goals. Top one was to take my photo business to the next level. The second goal, like it has been since I was about 22, get in shape. I also had things on that list like: get organized (epic fail), finally decide on a school for my masters and an area of study, and to run a 5K. I was focused, determined, and raring to go. Some of my drive was derailed mid January, when my Grandmother passed away. This was not something that was expected and was obviously trying for my very close family.

This is my Grandma and Grandpa Perry on their wedding day. 

The thing about death though is that it makes you realize how short life is and that taking risks and doing things out of your comfort zone are the only real way to really live. I started training for that 5k (I really dislike running), I made plans with people for upcoming photo shoots, and in February, I shot the first wedding of 2012 at the beautiful historic hotel in the town where I live, the General Denver.

The happy couple!

In March, my husband and I headed to Savannah, GA for a few days and then onto FL to spend some time with the family. We had a great trip!

Hubby and me at Forsyth Park in Savannah!

Spring came and with it a new purchase. My hubby and I happen to be fans of Jeeps and he is a fan of rebuilding old cars, while I just like old stuff. I was happy to find a college friend through Facebook and as a bonus she happened to be selling a 1971 Jeep CJ5. We had to have it. So, it now lives with us and plans are being made to restore it. It’s so much fun and we are so glad we bought it. J

May comes with all kinds of celebrations. My niece turned 3 (getting so big), I turned 29 (sigh) my hubby and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary (yay), and we always have a family reunion at my Dads house over Memorial Day weekend (super fun). One of my favorite events of the year as my family lives all over the country and we don’t get to see each other near enough.  

Also in May, I made the decision to return to school for my Master’s Degree. This was a big decision that I feel was the right one. I decided to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration and to do so online with Ashland University. I filled out the application and started school less than a week later. I still have a ways to go, but it will be worth it.

In June, I did my first ever pin-up photo shoot. It was a blast and one of my favorite photo sessions ever.

I haven’t mentioned much about the dreaded 5K that I had set out to the do in January. Well, that 5K turned into a 10K mudrun that I somehow became the co-captain of an 14 person team. The event was the MuckRuckus for MS and we ran in honor of a co-worked of mine. Our team actually did pretty well and we had a really fun time. We are planning to run again this year. Go Dirty Critters! J

About halfway through!

At this point, summer was upon us and so was senior photo shoots.

…but a girl can’t be all work and no play all the time and if it’s a “long hot summer” one simply must travel to Nashville, TN  with her best girl to see Keith Urban at the Grand Ole Opry. The bucket list got a whole slew of check marks that weekend and it was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I can’t wait to go back!

 Before the show!

Taking the tour!

Come August, my nephew had his first birthday! Here’s Cas! J

Oh how I love fall. It is my favorite time of the year. The smells, the colors, the food, the holidays, and deer hunting! I love it all! This year in September, I was asked by the Kentucky Houndsmen Association to be the photographer for the Kentucky State Youth Hunt and the Kentucky State Hunt. Both are great events that I have been to before, but not to take the photos. The photos were just published in the Coonhound Bloodlines magazine December 2012. Very exciting!

Also in September, my cousin and his wife had an adorable little boy, Levi Cole. He lives almost 1000 miles from me, but I got to meet him around his 2 month birthday! This is him and me.

October is just as busy as the spring time and this year was no exception. Photo shoots were in full swing, plus my cousin got married (gorgeous bride, gorgeous wedding), and I went on the annual gals trip with my moms side of the family. This year was the first without my grandmother. We went to Brown, Co Indiana and it was a nice relaxing weekend with a lot of shopping and a lot of memories being rehashed and new ones being made. Plus, the leaves there were the prettiest I have seen anywhere.

 One of the fall photo shoots!

My cousin Amy and her new husband, Jon

In November, Veterans Day to be exact, I got the call that my Grandfather had passed away. It was deer season, one of his favorite things. I like to think that since Grandpa wasn’t able to make it to the woods in the body that he had, that he decided to go hunting in heaven in his new body. All of our family (which is huge) gathered together to give him a very personal funeral and well deserved military burial.

My Grandparents over 65 years ago! 

Thanksgiving and all the December festivities came in a rush. After a long trip to FL to lay my grandpa to rest, it was time to get ready for the holidays. The trip, the stealing of my purse (this actually happened while I was in the funeral and 1000 miles from home - awful), a very difficult accounting class, and general work pressures were beginning to take their toll and I was more than ready for a break. My classes ended for the semester the same day as my husband’s 31^st birthday. My other niece turned 3 and I also started my Etsy shop. I had introduced antler letters to my alphabet art series and the orders were coming in for Christmas gifts. Of course we also had the end of the world madness (dodged that bullet, lol), and I was awarded Dispatcher of the Year at our Police Dept Christmas party and I was honored and humbled to have received this award as I work with some great dispatchers.

Over the weekend I was thrilled to have additional family in for Christmas, including my Grandmother who traveled with my Aunt from FL. We even visited the Mega Cavern in Louisville, KY, which has the only underground light display in the world. (check that off the bucket list ;) Pic to follow!)

I can say that 2012 was a big year for me as it was for many folks. Lots of ups and downs, but such is life. We had terrible tragedies in this world and great victories (the world didn’t end). I thank God daily for this life he has given me and that I get to wake up to it everyday.

So, what does 2013 hold? Who knows! I will make my list of goals and probably accomplish a few, but every now and then something happens that you simply don’t plan on. That’s the beauty of it all. Do something memorable, do something crazy, take a risk, take a leap of faith. I lost two people in my life this year that had a huge part in shaping who I am and when they passed away we told stories of those people. The moments of courage, the funny moments, and the moments that each of us shared with them one on one that we will always remember. I just shared some of my most memorable moments from the past year that will stick with me and I pray I have many more ahead of me. Go and make a memory today, there really isn’t a good reason not to.

Happy New Year Friends! :)

Fall Trees

This is just an image of some fall trees and an old barn that I shot back in Sept that is available for sale. 

Falls of the Ohio

Back in September, my husband and I took off for a little weekend away. We drove a couple hours south to Kentucky. We visited the Falls of the Ohio, Mammoth Cave, and spent an hour or so at Newport on the Levy. Here are just a few black and white shots from the falls that I was particularly fond of. 

Antler Alphabet Letters

For awhile I have wanted to start my own line of alphabet images that can used to spell names and other words. This is something that I have worked on for a few years and they have done quite well. I love this project and so do my customers, especially around holidays. 

My next step in this project was to start doing series letters. Antlers was the series that I wanted to do the most and that was going to be the most easily accessible for me. Over Thanksgiving, I was at my Dads house in Kentucky and he has a box of various antlers. We sat down and started putting letters together. My three year old niece thought this was a fun game too. :) The following are a few examples of names that I have put together from the images that we produced. 

Adventures with Taylor. Senior Session!

Here are a few of Taylor's pics. She has been so much fun to work with and has been up for all kinds of fun locations and pics. Taylor is honestly as sweet as she is pretty. 

We have had some adventures during the couple of photos sessions that we have had. We did our initial shoot with her horses. During that session she was bit and stepped on. The next session was in a sunflower field. We got within 1/4 mile of the field and couldn't get to to it due to an accident on the road. This ended up working out better for the photos. We went to another couple of little places nearby and got some great shots then went back to the sunflower field and the light was perfect. With flowers comes bees and this field had no shortage. We managed to escape any stings, but poor Taylor wound up with a terrible case of poison sumac. The next session was at some hiking trails by a lake and we had amazing fall colors and we managed to escape any real problems during that shoot.

We are still planning to do one more session of Taylor with her horse show awards. The following images are a couple of samples from the first 3 sessions. 

 The above image is her buckskin yearling, Pistol. 

 This big bay is Raisin. Raisin was an absolute ham for the camera and really is this pretty. I didn't retouch the horse at all. :)

 I love that this shot really shows just how big the horse is. 

 On our little side trip due to the accident by the field, we found a couple really cool little buildings. 

 Loved the sunflowers!!

 I think that Mossy Oak found a new model....and a new photographer. (hint hint Mossy Oak) ;)

Stayed tuned for images of Taylor in the new year. We still have one more shoot to do. :)

Baby Hank!

I had the pleasure of taking 3 months pics/family pics of some good friends of mine. Here are some pics of Baby Hank with his Mama and Papa, Aunt and Uncle, his Grandpa and Grandpa, and his little dog. ;)

This shoot was so much fun and Hank was so good the whole time.

One a side note, the pumpkins in the shots were grown by Uncle Keith. :)