As I look back at 2008, this is what I see:

Laughter, tears, sleeping, not sleeping, learning, reading, going, going, going, snuggling, squeezing, kissing.

Thinking I know it all and then realizing I know nothing at all. (Repeat that cycle about 5 times.)

Thinking I can do anything and then facing and overcoming my own old fears once I’m there doing it.

Wondering where this business has been my whole life, yet knowing that I would have never been ready for this until I’ve traveled the path that I have.

Finding myself, once again, at the beginning of another grief process with an absolute unknown ahead of me. I know though, that with every fire comes refinement. Perhaps 2009 will bring more clarity to that.

I see that being a mother is one of the greatest joys and never dreamed it was this amazing. (I have to keep my feelings about Miles to a sentence or I will write a book about how much I’m in love with him!)

I see my husband as a pillar of patience and strength as he held me up and sacrificed his time away from his own business to help me pursue my own dreams. (Once again, I’m showing restraint by only writing one sentence about my hubby when I could write more.)

I see myself wrapped in love and support from my family and friends as I have grown and find myself redefining who I am once more.

I see myself amazed at the outpouring of new friends that have come along at exactly the right time.

I see myself comforted by the presence of my old friends and all the love our history brings.

All right, enough of me describing what I have seen in 2008, it’s time for you to see! I created a slideshow of what 2008 looked like for me. There are photos of our family life, us shooting (John posing for test shots), our life with our friends and snapping photos of their kids here and there, and everything else that came along. I tried to keep this video as short as I could, but it IS a whole year. So hang in there. There are lots of photos from us, our friends, our iphones and our own computer’s built in cameras.

Hope you enjoy a peek into my year. 🙂

I will say that one of my goals for 2009 is to work on staying in the moment. That means letting go of the past and not holding on to a particular outcome for the future. For a photographer constantly capturing the past and then pouring over the images constantly, that is a VERY tall order to do. So as I create this memoir of 2008, I also release it, give thanks and move on to what is in this moment. And for now, that is a very overdue BEDTIME!!! Nighty Night!