February goals + behind-the-scenes : personal

Now that February is half over, I think I'll post my goals..ha! :)

I just got back a few days ago from traveling, so I need to catch up on things here.

January was a good, slow month..amidst the craziness of last fall I began dreaming of cold, winter days
where I could do nothing and 'just be'.

And this last month felt that way..which was super refreshing!

Looking back at my goals, here's what got done:

personal:

+ get letters written. Every time I make this a goal, I fail miserably. Enough said. :(  

+ take a week off from social media. Not gonna lie, this was hard..but I did it. Cutting yourself off completely from facebook/twitter/instagram definitely makes you feel isolated. :) #cavewomanstatus But it's always good to step back and focus more on different things, and makes me wonder why I think I need to keep up so much on what everyone else is doing with their lives?!

+ get together with friends. I am so blessed with amazing friends in my life..planned a few get togethers and also was totally blown away by a surprise birthday party Amanda organized for me. Still can't believe that happened! :) 

work:

+ BLOG.  Made a lot of headway in blogging..still not caught up yet though! More portrait sessions will be popping up here and there, so stay tuned. :) And I did get my '2014 Favorites' up, although later than I wanted to. #lifehappens Check them out here, here + here if you didn't see yet!!

+ taxes/paperwork.  Done. #ohthejoys :)

+ go through 'what worked and what didn't' in 2014.  Always a great exercise! Looking forward to the changes/refinements I will now have with my business this year.

+ new score thrifty. Not up yet..sadly. Will be soon..definitely by the end of this month!!

+ start working on web/blog redesign. Met with a friend who gave me some good tips and knowledge on this..exciting things ahead!!

p.s. one other thing I was utterly stoked about (that I didn't have on my goals list) was that I cleaned out my whole e-mail inbox and got it down to zero!! #fireworks Most days I'm just trying to keep my head above water in this area, and so taking the bull by the horns to knock it out felt so good. 

Alrighty, February..

personal : 

+ reorganize room/office/piano studio. Having an 'office' in your bedroom is kind of an interesting scenario at times..because you have all the normal things a room holds, and then add to that all my photography gear/computer/printer/papers/files/etc. Time to tackle this area and put things in better places so life can function easier!

+ work on reading more of 'Make It Happen'. I don't want to rush through this book, but need to make more progress. :) Something I find helpful with good books is 'journaling' favorite quotes or things that stand out to me while reading. Then I have all the 'gems' down in a notebook for easy reference! I also want to look into "Entreleadership" by Dave Ramsey. Anyone read this? I've heard it's awesome.

business : 

+ new 'photography tips' posts. Awhile back I asked you guys what your favorite things are on this blog, and some people mentioned the ones with photography advice! So I will have a new 'some things I've learned' one up about finding backgrounds when I'm shooting, and also one about photographing a sibling's wedding! :) I shot my brother's wedding back in September, and need to blog about it while things are still 'fresh' in my mind. 

+ structured e-mail time. My latest 'revelation' game plan with e-mails is to have 30 minutes in the morning where I strictly only focus on e-mails. Whatever I don't get to that morning, is pushed to the next day..and if there is anything urgent I will reply in the evening sometime before I go to bed. It's so easy to just respond to messages all throughout the day, and that can be a total time-sucker for productivity. So we'll see how this goes over the next few weeks! So far it has been totally freeing. :)

+ work on secret projects. I have a couple fun things in the works for this spring, can't wait to share about them in the future!!

Did you make any goals for your business/personal life this month?

Would love to hear them in the comments on this post, or if you blogged them feel free to post the link!

So I rarely ever have a second-shooter unless it is for weddings, but I decided to share some of the images Amanda grabbed of me 'in action' from weddings this year.

Personally, I enjoy seeing other photogs do a 'recap' post with behind-the-scenes shots like this,

so for what its worth -- here they are! :)

^^ there is no such thing as packing light, especially with wedding photography. :)

^^ "hold your bouquet like THIS!" 

I'm not a bossy at all. ;)

^^ taking one of my favorite wedding party shots of all time.

^^ could never shoot weddings without this girl.

^^ pew crouching stealth mode.

working with Chels + Alli on hair/makeup was a total dream team.

They had everyone ready to go for portraits exactly when we needed them! 

So fabulous.

^^ if you wanna know what an awesome second shooter looks like, this is it.

Toting a camera/boxy camera bag/shootsac and still stooping to fix the bride's dress for me.

#rockstar

^^ you know its a great couple when they stay posed like this while I adjust hair.

seriously, SKILLS?!

  ^^ I don't think I have enough gear to shoot a wedding, guys..     ^^ sometimes getting a killer shot means climbing up in an old attic, surrounded by storage boxes. #KeepinItReal   ^^ if I do a newborn shoot for you, there is a 100% chance I will ask for my turn to hold your baby.    ^^ I got to second shoot 2 weddings with Caitlyn last year -- always a blast! ^^ my Harper girl..so grateful for all the friends I have made through this business!! hope you all have a great weekend!! love, Hannah Elise

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