Goodbye 2023
I don’t know about any of the rest of you but I’m kinda glad to be putting 2023 behind me. It was an eventful year, that’s for sure. My eldest daughter lost a kidney, we gained a new house (moved from West Laurel to East Laurel), my youngest daughter had a house put up and moved in with us during the build, we gained the most adorable little puppy, who is also very naughty so lots of vet visits and a lot more travel for continuing education. My favorite of which was a 4 day photographic conference event in a castle outside of Dublin, Ireland! Best of all, I moved my photography studio from downtown Billings, MT to Laurel, MT, which means no more fighting traffic, hunting for a parking spot and paying for it (yay!). It also brought a lot of new props, dresses, outfits and backdrops to offer my clients (I am now filling my 1200sq ft studio plus three other storage facilities…goodness). At least there isn’t too much that I can’t offer my clients now, if they have requests.
This year is also going to bring a lot of travel for me for continuing education. In a few days, I’ll be headed to Salt Lake City, UT. In February, it’s Seattle, WA for another hands-on clinic with the amazing Ana Brandt, then in March I’m off to Dallas, TX for a 7-day conference and learning event. That latter trip is the one I most look forward to and attend every year. It gives me the wonderful opportunity to sneak in a few days of visiting with my best fried of over 40 years for an always much needed soul reset. Every event gets me all psyched up about upping my game for my clients. It’s also a great opportunity to see the beautiful sights along the way, because I usually drive. I am the queen of seeing something interesting and pulling off the side of the road (or driving for miles and miles off the intended path) to get a cool photo.
One of the things I’m very excited about for 2024 is offering more themed mini-sessions. For Valentines Day, we’ve got a Valentine’s Day kissing booth, heart wall, heart and flower arch (on Saturday, February 10th, $50 for one background set or $125 for all three), for Mother’s Day, it’s Mommy & Me sessions for moms and kids of all ages, Watermelon minis for Summer, Back to School, Fall truck sessions and the ever-popular Santa Experience, Christmas and Holiday In-the-Box sessions for Christmas. Everything will be done right here on my 2 acres. I’m also working on the most adorable “Fairy Sessions”, so keep a look-out for information on that, sometime this Summer.
I would love to hear about your travel plans for the year so feel free to tell me all about it. Maybe it’ll inspire me for a trip, myself!
