{joy} 2009 in a nutshell

As this wonderful year is coming to a close I find myself reflecting on 2009. This was such an interesting year for me as a wife and as a photographer. My husband graduated from college (woohoo) in December of last year. In January of this year we decided it was best for me to quit my day job (another big woohoo) and we packed up and moved to Atlanta to hang out with family while we waited for Brad to get an amazing job offer. Little did we know that the economy was not doing really well (you can insert a big DUH here) and it ended up taking quite a bit longer for that great job to come calling. While he was struggling every day to feel like a provider for our family I was loving every minute of not working at a job I hate. I was finally able to put all of my time and energy into my photography and was doing it full time in Atlanta. Ahhhh I love my Atlanta clients more than words can say. That 6 months was definitely not an easy time for Brad and me as we lived with my family and while he was searching for work. We felt encouraged and challenged by so many others that were in very similar situations. As hard as that time was, it was also such a refreshing and encouraging time for me in every single aspect you can imagine. I was able to rest and relax and hang out with my friends and family and laugh alot....none of which I had been able to do much of for the three years prior. Exciting things were all around us - my oldest brother and his wife welcomed their third beautiful baby boy, my middle brother found the one that made him come alive and married her in August, Brad's brother married the love of his life in July, and we were able to be in town and celebrating with our family that whole time. Then finally in early August Brad got a wonderful job offer that brought us back to TN. Thank you Lord for answering our prayers! Now we are in Nashville loving life, making new friends, settling into a wonderful church that we love, and making this town feel like our home. Since I was working full time while we lived in TN before, I was not able to put any energy into building business here. I knew regardless of where we moved after graduation that I would be able to keep business in Atlanta though so that is why I traveled back and forth so often. So now that we are back I am still trying to find my place in Nashville and really start to build my business here. We love this town and would be happy to live here forever.

2009 has been a big year of change for our little family. Changing jobs, changing cities, changing houses, changing roles, changing churches, changing attitudes. Although this has certainly felt like a roller coaster year I am so thankful for every hill and every valley that we have passed through. Our GOD is truly amazing and knows every single step we will take. HE has guided us through and we continue to put our trust in HIM. We are praying for an equally amazing 2010....but hopefully it will be a slightly smoother ride. :) Come to think of it....I am sure there will just as much chaos next year as well. We hope to buy a house, possibly start a family (another huge woohoo!), and who knows what else. Regardless of what next year brings, we are looking forward to it and are so thankful for this amazing year in 2009.

What were your favorite memories from this year? What are you most looking forward to next year?

Stay tuned....I will soon be posting my top 10 favorite images from this year! :)