"And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!"
What comes to your mind when you hear these lyrics?
For me, I think of the dawning of a new year. Yes, 2011 is quickly approaching and once again, I am in retrospect.
Todays post is going to be another lack of photos, because I just finished up a shoot yesterday and I'm working diligently on editing. With that being said, at the end of this post, I have a huge surprise for you. Like HUGE.
So let's review 2010 for you.
I rang in the New Year sipping on champagne with the family and we watched the ball drop. A little less than fabulous but it was quite comfy.
In February, Justin and I celebrated our second Valentine's day.
In March I was still struggling to stick it out in public speaking class. Ouch. That teacher was dreadful and I'm happy to say that she will not be my teacher this semester coming and I'm sad to say that this semester coming, I will be stuck in public speaking at 8 in the morning. Ugh.
April was an exciting month for me. I emailed an old friend and asked her if her wedding business could use a little helper. Before I knew it, I was emailed back with a proposal to be Ashley Rhodes Events newest intern. UM ACCEPT! Yes!
May, I wrapped up my freshmen year of college. Yikes! Where did the time go? With a new job on the rise, and summer around the corner, that was quite the relief. Along with May came a new love.
My camera. One night, on a whim Justin and I went to Best Buy just for the heck of it. He made me go look for this ridiculous game for his xbox while he looked around. I couldn't find it and I came back to find that he was buying me my first real camera. My Sony Alpha 330 was beautiful. It introduced me to another new love: photography. What would I have done if Justin wouldn't have given me this treat.
The summer was calling my name. I loved everything about summer. Long days in the boat, weddings almost every weekend. It couldn't get much better.
July met me with super hot temperatures. And lots of tourists at Giuseppi's. One asked me if I were from Southern California. They said I had a strange accent. Well, um, I'm from a southern area, but more like here, in South Carolina. Weird. Along with tourists came lots of stressful nights which led to drinks at LaHacienda after I got off work. Also in July, Trio Thursday was created while my best friends were home for the summer. We'd go out to downtown and enjoy all that the town had to offer. Lots of fun.
August was one of my more interesting months of 2010. I had to go back to school. I quit working my second job at Giuseppi's. No more serving pizza for me! Also, I moved back home, to my parent's house. I didn't see the point in busting my butt to pay to live in an apartment when I was actually just paying to have a room. I was never home. I always worked. It just didn't make sense to me. "You know they say, you can't go home again. I just had to come back one last time..." And so I did. One last time. I brought my sweet girl Daisy with me and we made it right here. I'm not the kind of girl that lives in an apartment. I've never had neighbors in my life and it just wasn't right to me. This is where we both belong. I mean, a labrador retriever needs to be in a wide open space, not on the third floor of an apartment building. Nope. So, in my journey to accept being back at home, life happened. There was school and work and lack of work going on. I had to become accustomed to not being able to drunkenly walk through my front door at 4 am and I had to learn how to share my space again. Whew! That was interesting!
School was moving along, slowly but surely. September lead to a birthday. I turned 20! Woohoo, hello adulthood. Along with this new found adulthood, Justin and I went through our second break up. It was so hard on me. It tore me apart and I couldn't stand it. I hated being apart from him and it truly broke my heart. Along with this heartbreak, I also had my camera stolen while I was in Charleston visiting. It too broke my heart. What in the world was I going to do without both of my loves? I couldn't take either of these. I quickly got a new camera, but not a Sony, a Nikon. It opened up my eyes to a whole new world of photography. And being back with Justin was confusing at first, but it turned into a brand new relationship. Life was good again and September was one of the longest months in my life. Also, in the month of September, I had my first photo published in the Hilton Head Monthly magazine. Now, it was only a tiny photo, but it was published. My heart was full of giddyness.
October gave me a new love for weddings. I was introduced to fall weddings. My goodness, I know know that when and if I ever get married, I know when and what I want my wedding to be like. Also, October, I had 3 more photos published in Hilton Head Monthly. It was amazing. I've never been so proud. As all of this photography love started to come about, I started having people mention things about photos being taken... but I took it very lightly. I know how people like to say things to be nice.
November showed me that people weren't just saying things. I started to get shoots in the books. I got to enjoy Thanksgiving and I got to prep for Christmas. Also, I really got into blogging, one of my most favorite outlets.
December is clearly most vivid in my mind since it's coming to an end. I enjoyed the holiday season almost more than ever this year. December brought me business and relaxation. It brought me lots of love and happiness and it was just what I needed.
2010 has been an incredible year. I never expected all of the ups and downs that I had to face this year. But everything was completely worth it. Next year is going to have a lot to do to fill this year's shoes. I've never been happier than I am and I hope it continues on to next year.
Sorry to be all chatty once again, but this year has been incredible. I hope you all have a great New Year. I sure do know I'm ready for it!
Love to each and every one of you!
OH AND THE SURPRISE!
I almost forgot!
Ready?!
Feast your eyes on this.
My WEBSITE!
How do y'all like it?!
