This year was somewhat of a rollercoaster year. Many things happened in a fairly short amount of time, but most of them were super amazing. I’m thankful to the Lord for giving me such great opportunities. I love looking back on the previous year, seeing what personal goals were accomplished, reminiscing about the great, and learning from the not so great or improving for what is to come. As a wife, traveler, photographer, and business owner, I strive to make the future even better than the past. Cheers to 2019, y’all!

Goals

Just some of my personal goals that I accomplished:

• Designated quiet area time every day – I did this most days and continue to do so. I think it’s so important to start the morning on the right foot.
• Relax more & plan it out – I definitely overworked myself in the years past and was thankful I had enough work coming in to set aside time to myself.
• When I have Saturdays off, be intentional about what I plan – I’m wanting to get even better at this, mainly to plan something with Daniel too that we both enjoy.
• 3+ (new to me) states to visit. – I did twice this amount and traveled to these states this year: Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Kentucky, Indiana, & Georgia!
• 3+ new countries – Two of these I planned in 2017, but the other two were amazing additions! Philippines, South Korea, Peru, Iceland > all of which were stellar.
• 1 new continent: South America – trying to knock out all the continents before babies! 😉

Personal Highlights

• Saw some amazing concerts: Lord Huron for the 4th time & I’ve always wanted to see Kesha, so it was a double win seeing her with Macklemore and they were stellar together!
• I not only went to 31 weddings to photograph, but I got to be IN two weddings! I can’t say “always the photographer, never the bridesmaid” anymore! My brother-in-law married his beautiful bride, Erin! I actually knew her from being in the same “Thursday School” homeschooling class back in ’06! After I met her for the second time after they started dating, I realized it’s a super small world and was so excited to welcome her into the family.
• My best friend since I was 3, Mary Joy also married her best friend! It was such an honor and so rewarding to not only be in her wedding, but document the day for them as well! It was like seeing everything and being involved everywhere too!
• I gained a little niece, Mia Rose! She’s now 4 months old and she’s the cutest, most smily baby!
• Started our First Hargrave Annual Christmas Baking Day for the ladies in the family to get together!
• Went to two super fun parties with my wedding industry family & friends: Andy Austin’s 25th Annual Christmas Party & Le Force put on a fabulous Halloween party. I went as Joan of Arc, & my friends Allison & Jessica went as Cleopatra & Aphrodite from the song: She’s so High by Tal Bachman.
• Me, Daniel, & Nitrous finally had our first professional family session! 🙂
• A successful Christmas with my family hosted at our house for the first time.

Travel Highlights

• Full-on adventured in Peru! It was my first time to South America and boy, what a great first trip to South American! Allison & I made a new friend, Amanda! She became the best food buddy for me, seriously! We tried so many foods: from their native Peruvian food, to alpaca & guinea pig, two things Peru is known for, we had to at least give them a shot. Our adventure was filled with 3 days in the Amazon Rainforest & we stayed in a real-life treehouse 40 feet in the air! The Treehouse Lodge was an amazing experience. After that, we went to Cusco, hiked to Rainbow Mountain & Lake Humantay! Both of which were 15k-17k foot hikes. Machu Picchu was an amazing experience in itself, so much history and beauty. We ended our time there in Lima after a relaxing day exploring a museum with dinner in their outside garden.
• Road tripped to Nashville with Allison. We wound up making it a random trip after my Nashville shoot. We went to see caves in Kentucky and had pizza & Ice cream in Indiana, then the next day we started our journey home by hitting up a Braves game in Atlanta.
• Traveled more than ever: Saw 4 countries I haven’t been to before including Philippines, South Korea, Peru, Iceland, and 6 (new to me) states Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia + Colorado & one more continent has been checked off the list! Next up: Hawaii & New Zealand!
• I learned how to surf in the Philippines! I did pretty well for being a first timer on waves almost as tall as me!
• Daniel & I experienced a new city & state together: Portland, Oregon! It was a lovely time together. We relaxed, adventured, tried all the foodie places, ate lots of local donuts, and drank lots of coffee. He also drove me all the way to Seattle during that trip so I could see what it was all about!
• Planned a 4 day trip to Iceland on a whim with my friend Zirwa! I planned this awesome trip in a month and it was a stellar time + SO much beauty we got to see. She took another friend and I talked my sister Audrey into going with us!

Upcoming…

• Bought my ticket to New Zealand for 2019! After this, I’ll only have Antarctica to go! Whoop!
• Bought tickets to Kauai, Hawaii for my mom for Christmas: her dream vacation!

If you blog your yearly goals personal or business related, I would love for you to leave a comment including a link below! I would love to read yours! It is so encouraging to read through others goals. If you don’t have a blog, simply share your word of the year (if you have one, I don’t yet) or one goal you hope to accomplish, so we can cheer one another on!