Happy Black Friday!! I hope you’re out there getting all the best deals. I don’t have any Black Friday deals for myself, but if you haven’t already, would you consider leaving me a review? Social proof is absolutely priceless for a small business, so I always appreciate your support! Remember to review some small businesses to show them your support over this holiday season.

And with that, let’s get into my personal update!

What I’ve Been Up To:

Like most of you, we’re recovering from Thanksgiving over here.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so I’m always so excited each time it comes around. I love that, as a whole, Thanksgiving is a slow family day. Besides eating an epic meal, there’s nothing else to do. We get to relax, watch football, play games, and eat!

I’m sure I’ll also set up the Christmas trees at some point today. We’re going on vacation soon, so I want to make sure that the trees are up before it gets too close to Christmas.

We have a nice tree for the main level of our home, and then what I call the “kids tree” (read: hot mess, ugly, deformed tree) downstairs. I repeatedly ask the kids to not touch the beautifully decorated tree upstairs, but I let them have free rein downstairs. This means they usually tear off the ornaments daily and then re-cluster them all together. Why do kids always want all of the ornaments touching one another?!

I officially wrapped up my 2024 season last week. This was one of the most beautiful and one of most physically challenging seasons yet. Being pregnant and nursing for the previous four seasons was incredibly difficult, and I’m grateful that this year I didn’t have to find spaces to pump in. But I also committed to two triple header weekends as well as an international wedding, so I found a new way to exhaust myself this year.

While I am definitely working towards more destination work, there will be–for the most part–no more triple headers. I never want to say never because at times there are great reasons to make an exception. But doing triples again just because I can? No thanks. 🙈

I want to say thank you to all of my amazing clients and all of the other amazing photographers I had the opportunity to work with this year.

During my slow season, I’ll be tackling some annual maintenance, like updating galleries on my website, pre-planning my blogging for busy season next year, and taking care of little to-dos that have been stacking up all summer. But I’ll also start dreaming of new ways to grow and improve.

Each year I always try to uplevel my experience. This year I added drone photography, which I’ll continue to tweak and improve upon. But I also want to find something new to wow clients with. I don’t know what that is just yet, but I can’t wait to discover what else is out there!

Finally, I had my first intentional stock photography photo session with an amazing jewelry brand, Itzy. We focused mostly on product this time, but in the spring we’re planning to incorporate models. We have some inspiration photos bouncing between us, and trust me when I say it’s so different from what I normally do. I’ve been trying to get a little outside of wedding work as a way to inspire myself to be creative in new ways in my wedding work, if that makes sense. I cannot wait to create some magic, and I’m sure I’ll show you some behind the scenes along the way!

What I’ve Been Reading

So, as always, I’m a bit late to the game, but I’m newly obsessed with the author Megan Miranda. She’s been publishing novels, both YA (which I’ll always love) and adult since 2012.

She writes a lot of mystery/thrillers, but her thrillers aren’t that scary. To me, that’s a positive! I like the creepy suspense, but I also like being able to sleep at night. If you’re looking to be terrified, I don’t think she’ll fit the bill. But if you’re into the unease like you feel like you’re being watched, she could be your girl.

So far this month, I’ve read Such a Quiet Place, The Only Survivors, Fragments of the Lost, and Fracture.

Such a Quiet Place was amazing–I’d say 4.5/5 stars. It’s adult fiction where a cul-de-sac of neighbors experienced the tragic loss of a couple in the community. The neighbors believe that one of their own, Ruby, murdered the couple. But when she’s released from jail and her case is dismissed 14 months later, a whole level of unease sweeps through.

Fracture, which is YA, had me completely obsessed. It’s not like, high literature or anything, but I gave it 5 stars because I was absolutely engrossed in the story. I’m currently not-so-patiently waiting for the library copy of the next installment, Vengeance, to come through. My library had one… let me repeat… ONE digital copy of the first book, which I had checked out. So imagine my rage surprise when I finished that first book and couldn’t immediately download the next one. Who starts with book two?!

Fracture is about a girl, Delaney, that miraculously survives falling through the ice and drowning on a Maine lake. She’s pulled out by her childhood best friend, Decker. But as Delaney has to live with the consequences of surviving something she shouldn’t, and being different from who she once was, she struggles. This was a bit paranormal, slightly thriller-ish, and a bit of a romance. Apparently this is a catnip-like combination for me, because I could not put this down.

What I’ve Been Watching

I’m just finishing up season 4 of Emily in Paris… and I have to admit, Emily drives me crazy.

I watch this show simply for the Paris vibes. But the whole will they won’t they–I can’t believe we’re still doing the same plot line for this long. I want something else. But I’ve always been obsessed with Paris and France in general. I took 7 years of French for those that don’t know!

What I’m Excited About

-We’re about to head on vacation. We’re going down to Puerto Rico for a Southern Caribbean cruise. We’ll be visiting St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, and Barbados. We’ve been to Old San Juan before, and technically St. Maarten. Redlen was super little, so we didn’t make it beyond the port. We’re excited to do real excursions again on this vacation! I’ll be sure to share all about it once we’re home!

-Dillon’s birthday. I’m not sure how we’re celebrating yet, but I know it will be special.

-Christmas! There will be several parties, a candlelit Christmas service, and lots of celebrating to go around.

-Some more vacation time! I’m taking time off for Thanksgiving and our vacation, and then another two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s. I’m so grateful for the time to rest before fully jumping in to the new year. It feels like I’ve been going nonstop in my business since April, so I know that this rest is both needed and deserved.

I know that the holidays can be hard for so many different reasons. I hope that you find a way to celebrate and enjoy yourself throughout the next month. I can’t wait to connect with you all again soon!

Until next time,

Christine