This year has been freaky. I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around how much things have changed. Lets take a little tour through 2014 shall we?
On December 31 of 2013 I was admitted to the hospital. Though I have spent many various holidays in the hospital, New Years was a first. It only seems fitting to start this post where I started the year, so lets talk about health. My health in the early months of 2014 was worse than it had been in years, but stayed tuned because there is a happy ending. In February we decided to take a trip to clinic in Columbus Ohio that specialized in motility studies to have some repeat testing done. While this trip was not exactly what I would call pleasant, we left with encouragement knowing that the improvement over the years was definitely there. From this point forward everything started going up.
After a few rough months we were all in need of some relaxation and Vitamin D. We booked a flight to the warmest place we could find ended up in Arizona!
April was extremely exciting for many reasons but the main one being that on my birthday (April 3rd) we gained a new member of the family! I was so excited to have a nephew born on my birthday and to welcome little Logan to the family!
For many many years I had been looking forward to what took place in May. I won’t go into the details but lets just say graduating High School with a chronic illness that causes you to miss a LOT of school is very tricky. I am SO happy to finally be done! Praise the Lord for providing the strength and diligence I needed to work through piles of make-up work and graduate on time.
July marked a very important step for me. I shot my very first wedding for my best friends. Ya’ll I fell. in. love. I did not expect the Lord to show me so much through one day. I had unimaginable confusion about what my next step after graduation would be but I walked away from this wedding knowing that photography was what I was called to do. I started a blog, registered for an LLC and decided to just follow the Lord’s lead in starting a business. It was terrifying just for the record. : )
Later in July I started shooting seniors and fell in love with this as well. I am so grateful for every girl who has trusted me with documenting this time in their life. My Mom and I both fell in love with trying to capturing the beauty of a young woman at such a monumental time in their life.
September was big big big. While everyone was leaving for college I was certain I had been called to stay. Explore the passion the Lord had placed in me and the opportunities He blatantly laid out in front of me. After sending an email to Ashley Slater about how much I loved her work we ended up meeting for coffee and she offered me an internship. I dove into assisting her at weddings and learning so much from her. I had previously registered for the Bloom Workshop but got to see it from a whole new point of view by being her intern. This workshop piled on information and really helped move my business forward.
October was busy! I was so grateful to be busy with shoots and time with family. I got to go on a quick trip to Chicago, and spend a week in the happiest place on earth- Disney!
That brings us right up to now. First of all my health is overall better than it has been in a looongg time. I am working pretty much full time for my business (what the what?!?) and am so grateful everyday for what the Lord has lead me to. I was so wrung out after high school and the thought of starting college made me nauseous. Photography has been a passion of mine for about 5 years, but I never considered doing it as a job. In fact I used to make jokes about how I wouldn’t want to (the Lord has a sense of humor). God slowly revealed to me how deep this passion went, and showed me how this could work. He slowly shaped my heart until all I wanted was to be a photographer and videographer. I started exploring the option of going to an art school and couldn’t have felt Him saying “no” any clearer. I was terrified to not have a plan. I didn’t want to just sit on my couch all day and be the bum that never had a future. The truth was that my tiny little mind couldn’t wrap around the ideas the Lord had for me. If you had told me a year ago where I would be today I would have never believed you. It is crazy to think how much God can change a heart and life in just 12 short months. To think today I have shot 3 weddings, numerous seniors newborns and families, have a blog and do this full time is nuts.
I love the feeling I get every time I releases its shutter. I love editing and blogging and making friends with people who live hundreds of miles away through instagram. I appreciate so deeply that the Lord has put me in a job where I can work from my couch if I am sick (with no make-up homework! Hallelujah!). I am anxious with excitement for next years weddings and am in love with every single one of my brides. I cannot wait to share some things I have been working on!! If I have learned one thing this year it is that the Lord’s plan is far better than mine. I have been repeating this phrase in my head constantly in 2014. In times of disappointment and desperation and in times of joyous celebration, His plan is better than mine. After everything my Father has done unexpectedly in 2014, I can’t wait what to see what He will do in 2015.
Happy New Year everybody.
…..Oh wait? You wanted to know what Tucker’s year has looked like? 
In August upon registering for an LLC, Tucker was named the “Katie Grace Photography Office manager”. He is pawing at my computer while I type this. Let’s just say, the title has gone to his head.
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