I have no hesitation saying 2014 was the worst year of my life. People don’t like to hear that. We want a happy ending, a shining hope. I just can’t do that this year. Losing my nephew this year changed me as a person. It will now always be a part of who I am. I have brownish hair, hazel eyes, I’m mid-height and I lost my nephew in 2014.

And yet crushing loss does make all that is right in your life stand up taller. It separates itself and whispers not to give up. Here’s what has stood out this year; my family who love each other and laugh with each other, my girls who keep me going, my dazzelingly beautiful friendships, my community that allows me to be myself, my camera from Chet which allows me to savor my life, my businesses which allow me to meet the most amazing people, my neighborhood, my church and last because it is the biggest… Ben Childers, my husband who loves me, believes in me, supports me and still makes me laugh. I am grateful.

I’ve never combined my professional work and my personal photography before.  Somehow this year it felt right.  Here are my favorites in random order –