Well, 2012 is officially ending. It’s the last day of the year, and I’ve spent the last week enjoying some much needed time off with my husband. 2012 was a great year for me. I feel like I really accomplished a lot within the past 12 months, and had a really fun time doing so. Yes, there were some ups and downs, as there usually are, but, as a whole, I saw growth and achieved some accomplishments that I’m proud of. Here’s a little recap.

In January, Clay and I actually spent our first anniversary together! It wasn’t our first anniversary, but it was the first one we were able to spend with each other, which was awesome.

February saw the first time I was able to photograph a family for the second time.

In March, I photographed my first newborn session. Despite taking place in the NICU, it was an amazing experience and sparked a new love. I had no idea how much I would come to love newborn photography!

April brought more newborns and a trip to Palm Springs to visit with my parents, who were in town for a convention.

During my birthday month (May), I ran across the Coronado Bay Bridge, photographed a really fun wedding in Redlands, CA, and toured the farm from whom we purchase our bi-weekly CSA box.

In June, the one only weekend I didn’t spend photographing with Aimee was spent hanging out with my mom’s side of the family at the Mo Ranch, outside of San Antonio, TX.

In July, I spent one weekend as the official camp photographer for the National Teen Leadership Program, I went ziplining for the first time, I trusted Kammi to give my virgin hair a gorgeous ombre (and she delivered!), and I photographed my first wedding as an associate photographer for Captured by Aimee.

I hit a huge milestone in August, when I took (and passed) my final ARE (Architect Registration Examination), and became a registered architect. Though my passion has shifted from architecture to photography in recent years, I was proud to accomplish this goal. My architectural background has helped form my photographic style, and I’m very thankful for it.

Over Labor Day weekend, I got to travel to San Francisco to second shoot a gorgeous wedding with Aimee, and the rest of September saw two back-to-back homecomings and several family sessions.

October was travel-heavy: Clay and I were at Pala Casino for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, then up in Sonoma and the Napa Valley for a wine-tasting trip with my parents, and I traveled to Seattle to participate in Doug Gordon’s workshop with creativeLIVE. All trips were a blast!

We took some time off in November to see family in Texas over Thanksgiving.

This month, I finished up client orders for the holidays, added a few blog posts, and took time to relax with Clay in other parts of California. December came in with a bang and is ending rather peacefully, which I’m excited about. As a Christmas gift for myself, I broke down and ordered some film for my vintage Polaroids. After traveling out of state with a Hasselblad, I figured taking a Land Camera to Palm Springs was a good, lightweight option. And it was fun! Here are a handful of the exposures taken with some PX 100 Silver. (This is an iPhone photo of the Polaroids!)

Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a great 2013!!