Hi, friends! Happy New Year? I have been a bit in hiding. Only peeking my head out a couple times online. I’ve taken the beginning of this year to dream, plan, and make lots of changes to this little business of mine that will help us better serve you with all the love we’ve got. More to come on that. First I wanted to take a few minutes to share a little practice I’ve been doing over the last few years where I take a look at the year that just passed and see what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what I’d like to change, the things I want to say no to, and the things I want to say yes to. I usually just write this in my beloved Powersheets or in my favorite journal. Now, I’m sharing it for my little corner of the internet world…which is kinda scary.
Good…
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Bruce…I want to do a longer post about Bruce and his family. My heart breaks when I think of his life ending. And, at the same time, I am overjoyed by the love he brought to me, and to all those who heard his story. Bruce has touched so many hearts and he has forever changed me. I think of him and his family constantly. Being a small part of his story, capturing the most raw and heart aching love I’ve ever witnessed, is the greatest honor I’ve had as a photographer. I learned so much about love from him and his entire family. His love was loud and big and it showed up. He didn’t hide it away. He gave it away freely.
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Steff’s snuggles…seriously y’all I will put this on the list every year until he stops snuggling. He is still so snuggly and sweet…when he wants to be.
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Bret and I dreaming together about what we want.
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Bret and I working on our parenting. Sheesh…when y’all said having kids was hard, I didn’t realize it was the actual act of parenting that was the hardest. I wish I had read parenting books instead of pregnancy books. We have been studying all things peaceful parenting because…well, we need all the peace we can find. We are a super sensitive bunch. I’m more sensitive and Bret’s more firey and Steff is the perfect combination of both. Gosh…what an awesome combination when he’s older. Right now we are all setting each other off. But we are learning and working our way through it. The absolutely beautiful thing about having kids just so happens to be the absolutely brutal thing about having kids…they bring out all the things you didn’t know about yourself. If you let it, parenting can help you become who you were always meant to be. You can grow up together. The journey is certainly a bumpy one.
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Starting 20 minutes a day of just Steff and I time with him leading.
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Finding something to help the anxiety and depression.
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Our annual TN trip with our closest friends.
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Being more involved in church and making new friends.
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Watching Steff learn and grow through Kindergarten and the start of first grade.
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A summer of learning in the garden. Didn’t produce much, but I sure learned a lot.
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Traveling to North Carolina for a day in the life session.
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Having a clearer vision for Priscilla Baierlein Photography.
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The business coming to life during the second half of the year and being filled with so much love.
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Growing our little team…Emily & Bella 🙂
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Creating some of my most favorite work to date with so many I love dearly.
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Having miss Marissa Noe create videos for our family and business!
the not so good…
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Losing sweet Bruce.
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Half of the year I spent with pretty deep anxiety and depression. I hate typing that. But it’s just another part of my journey. There were days it took the drivers seat. Finding something to help was such a gift. The darkness can be scary and feel so lonely.
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Social media not being used intentionally. More mindless scrolling than anything.
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Unhealthy habits.
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Not being the kind of parents we want to be. We all deserve more.
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The first half of the year being the slowest the business has seen.
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More time on editing and not enough time on growing.
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Not enough time spent with our extended families.
And with that…I bring you some of my most favorite images of 2018. I’ll be blogging more from 2018, but this is a glimpse into each of the year’s sessions. I cannot wait to see what we create in 2019!
These next three images may not seem like anything spectacular, but they are of me and sweet Bruce. Being the photographer, I took pictures of what I could. Us sitting together watching Scooby Doo and him holding my hand while walking down the steps.
Also, see if you can spot Steff in a couple of the images below.
You made it all the way to the end! Thank you sweet friend! I cannot wait to see what we create together in 2019! Soon I will blog more about my goals and all the wonderful changes for this year, but, for now, I’m sending you all my love and hugs!
Much love,
Cilla
PS…Are you ready to book your 2019 session?
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