I went into 2017 with new priorities and that change made for the best year in decades. I wanted to change my work-life balance to involve less work and focus more on living life (money is important but so is making time to have fun). I took a gamble and took 1/2 as much work as in previous years and that gave me space to feel myself again and restore a little balance in a crazy, heavy world. So, I let myself have a summer of weekend plans (my first in a decade) and less stress and I allowed joy and lightness to take over. I took vacations with family, went to Africa, got married, got a puppy, got a hot tub, went to music festivals, slept outside more, went to great photography conferences, hosted fun house parties, & I met so many new friends this year that I feel like I belong more to my communities – all of this has been filling me with joy and gratitude!!! In some way, I feel like I reclaimed my life back from being a mother and a business owner. I was able to change things up because I had Neil, my now sexy awesome husband (who’s kind of my ghost writer for these blog posts). With his love and support + half the housework & bills divided, I was able to have less stress and do more cool things. I guess it was just that simple!! Hooray for love!!
I’m so lucky and grateful for the way this year went. I made so many memories that will last forever and make me smile every time I see photos like these.
I’m kind of a weirdo and so are my friends. When we get together, the parties get weird. Go figure.
Our blended family of kids is still in full creative play mode. This was one night they were doing space training in the “water unit”.
We liked the photos of the kids so much, we totally ripped them off.
The weird gene passed on to the next generation.
Neil and I were getting married soon and I had envisioned the 2nd photograph for years for an engagement session. Neil is the funny one who thought it would be best if we wore matching swimsuits. Photoshoots with Neil are the funniest. One of our best friends and most rad photographer Sharon Vanrony documented this glorious event, and the bathtub space training shots too.
Getting married this year was by far one of the biggest highlights and the best day of the year. It was simply pure magic. Click here to see.
Even though I worked less this year, I love my job so much!!
Lessons learned: if you throw a party at your house, skip the confetti.
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Photos credits: I appologize for being slow on this and also being disorganized on who took which photo. I am going to come back and revise. Meanwhile, here are some of the photographers who took the party shots at the conferences:
Ilana Natasha- My fellow local Madison wedding photographers and also one of the Best of Madison winners.
Kara Counard-Another wonderfully talented Wisconsin photographer who lives in Door County.
