Confession time: This post almost didn’t happen.

Things have been super crazy busy this season, and my to-do list is still miles long, so when the time came to put together a 2013 recap post, I asked myself if it was realllly worth it. After all, last year’s post took me a solid 3 days to design and write, and for some inexplicable reason I feel compelled to outdo myself every year, so after doing the math I figured this one would take me at least a week. But then, as everyone’s else’s year-in-review posts began popping up in my newsfeed, I had a revelation: sometimes I just have to stop making things so darn complicated and difficult. The whole reason for these kinds of posts is to reflect on the past year… the ways we’ve grown, the mistakes we’ve made, our triumphs, our losses, our good times and bad. To see how far we’ve come, but also to learn from the past in order to grow in the future. It’s not about how fancy it looks. The sentiment is what matters. So in the interest of keeping this simple enough to be motivated to actually do it instead of just stressing out about it, this year’s format is a little different. It is simply a collection of some of my very favorite images from this year. No specific order, no rhyme or reason, no division. I did include at least one photo from every single wedding and portrait session I’ve done this year, some of which have never been blogged or have yet to be blogged, but other than that, there’s no real format.

And now that it’s done, I’m so, so glad I made the time for it. On one hand, I consider it a way of saying thank you to all of my wonderful clients who allow me to make a living doing what I love. But I also didn’t realize until just now how much I needed this for myself. Lest I forget how much this work matters. Lest I forget the smiles and the tears and the belly laughs and the warm embraces. Lest I forget that some days I learn that a grandmother I just photographed at a wedding passed away unexpectedly and mine was the last photograph of her ever taken… and other days I have the privilege of taking the very first photograph of a newborn baby with its adoring parents. Goodness, how easy it is to get swept up in editing and to-do lists and silly stresses. This is not a job I have to do. It’s a job I get to do.

2013, you’ve been a hard year. A year full of changes and challenges. But you’ve been a very good year. And lest I forget, here’s my reminder:

2014, you’ve got a tough act to follow! But I cannot wait to see what you’ve got in store…