Well, I failed. Literally–if it had been a test, I would have gotten an F. Still, I’m glad I set the goals–it did help me to push myself more in certain aspects. At the same time, I realized some of my priorities shifted through the year and what seemed important at the beginning were not so much later on.

So, what did I accomplish? Let’s take a look.

1. Improve album design workflow to deliver the proof layouts within 2 weeks of the wedding. Nope! Well, to be honest, I changed my entire workflow–including album design–to where this wouldn’t even make sense now. So, I’m not surprised I didn’t accomplish this one, and I don’t plan on keeping it for next year.

2. Attend one photography workshop/conference (heh, I know I’ll be doing this one when I attend WPPI in March). Yep! I actually attended 3 this year! WPPI, Zack Arias’ OneLight Workshop, and the Foundation Conference.

3. Shoot an e-session at Kennywood (I really want to do this). Check and check! I actually photographed TWO engagement sessions at Kennywood. It was so, so fun!

4. Train for Pittsburgh’s half-marathon and run it at a 9 minute mile (or less) pace. I know this is ambitious–I was closer to 10 minute miles last May. Yep, I managed to accomplish this, too.

5. Improve packaging for DVDs and albums to match brand (already working on this one!) Yes! I love my new DVD packaging.

6. Visit a national park. Yes, I actually accomplished this, too, when I visited the Flight 93 memorial site this fall.

7. Read one book a month. I almost accomplished this one. I read a total of 11 books this past year. Kind of pathetic, really. But when the summer got super busy with weddings, I just didn’t keep up with it. I’m still glad I had the goal because it pushed me to read more than I might have.

8. Shoot two Trash the Dress sessions. Again, I accomplished half of this one. I held one workshop where we did a mini trash the dress shoot.

9. With that in mind: Hold 5 workshops (some can be small!). Um, I did not come close to holding 5 workshops. I did manage to do two, though. Again, things were just too busy this fall to focus on anything else but my couples and their weddings.

10. Do 3 photo walks of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Another partly completed goal. I only got around to doing a photo walk along the North Shore, but it was enjoyable!

11. Create client anniversary cards. Sadly, no, still haven’t decided what I want to do with this. I’m going to give it more thought this winter.

12. Cook 1 recipe from every cookbook I own. Well, this was ambitious…and I failed miserably. I probably only cooked a handful of recipes from a couple of favorite cookbooks. Still, I’d like to try something like it again this year.

13. Submit work and have published in two magazines or blogs. Another half-way completed goal. I had a wedding published in WHIRL’s wedding guide.

14. Finish and launch studio. Yes, I opened my studio in April of this last year and love using it to meet with clients.

15. Go horseback riding once (I really want to do this!). I fit this goal in on our trip to Kauai.

16. Host a game night at my house and place Settlers of Catan (nerd alert). While I attempted to host a game night back in February, the blizzard kind of ruined those plans, and we never found another time that worked for folks. I’d still love to host one this winter.

17. Exercise 5 days a week for a month. That one definitely wasn’t easy.

18. Create custom thank you cards. I checked this one off but never blogged about it. Oh well.

19. Keep my dresser top clean for a month (it attracts a lot of clutter–Jay really laughed at me for this one). I’m sure Jay is not surprised by this, but I never managed to keep my dresser top clean for a month. There were a few days or weeks it was clean…but inevitably things got busy and I found other more interesting activities than cleaning my dresser. But, I’m happy to say it’s currently spic and span. So, maybe this will be the month!

20. And my most ambitious goal: triple my blog’s subscriptions. Right now I’ve got 32 subscribers. Can I get to 96?? This was kind of a silly goal, really. And while my blog’s subscriptions didn’t triple, they did more than double! I think I’ve got 72 last time I checked. But really, it’s not about numbers…I want to create quality content that folks enjoy reading. And if that’s only a few folks, so be it.

So what’s in store for this year? Well, I haven’t sat down and laid out all my goals yet. I still want to spend some more time thinking about them. Thanks to all who encouraged me this last year and helped me accomplish the things I did. Here’s to a new year and more wonderful couples, families, and stories!

I’ve enjoyed the challenge of this goal, as it’s made me set aside time to read, something I enjoy doing anyway but often neglect for other things. I don’t know if I would be reading as much as I am. As for what I like to read, it’s mostly fiction…and from the looks of it, I especially like 19th century Russian writers. I admit it, I have a fondness for the classics, but I’m also open to reading good new fiction. To keep track of what I’m reading, I’ve been using goodreads.com. If you are on it and want to befriend me…yes, another social networking website…feel free to find me here. I also welcome book suggestions!

And we had a blast! Seriously, it was so fun, and Sarah and Rick are just wonderful people in and of themselves. I can’t wait for their wedding in August! Oh, and this means I can check one more thing off of my goals for 2010.

There were a lot of firsts for me…riding and photographing on a swing was one of them!

So awesome!

I love Sarah’s expressions here.

They got to ride the new ride at Kennywood, which looked like fun!

And then we took a little break after the rides.

Then it was time to play games.

We headed back to the swings to grab a couple of photos as the light began to fade.

Love this.

So, so fun! Can’t wait to see you two next month!

The rain began to fall about two minutes into the race, a somewhat welcome relief to the stifling humidity. Dry shoes and socks soon became soggy, as I blinked away the rain from my eyes. The sounds of cheering bystanders, cowbells, and bands intermingled with the trump, trump of hundreds of feet hitting the pavement–we’d completed our first mile; only 12.1 to go. The start is always easy.

The next five miles went by quickly…but then my knees began to hurt…and I felt a blister forming on my foot. I entertained the idea of stopping, but, as always, the thought that I’d have to walk back one way or another goaded me on. That, and the fact that I didn’t want to give up…I really wanted to give this race my best shot, despite my less than stellar training method. So I followed the ponytail in front of me and kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Somewhere between mile 9 and 10 with my soaked feet squishing in my shoes I had a strange thought: “I think I’m actually enjoying this.” Which, was a first for me…I can’t recall ever enjoying running a race…just finishing it. Not long after that I saw Milla and Brad cheering from the sidelines, which was a another nice surprise.

At mile number 11 I began to think of Secretariat running his race, just when I needed something to help me pick up the pace. Lame, I know, and perhaps odd, but it distracted me from thinking about my aching body. By mile 12, I knew the end was in sight, and I tried to get my legs to move faster, but they were very slow to respond. And then I saw Jay, and before I knew it, I was going around the corner to the finish line. And then it was over–success! Despite not finding the right pace group (something to do with a 30-minute wait for a bathroom right before the race), I managed to keep to a less than 9 minute/mile pace to finish in under 2 hours (goal number four for 2010), 1:56:41 specifically. I was really not sure I was going to make it, so that was a nice surprise.

Jay snapped this photo near the finish line waiting for me.

And here I was moving so quickly he didn’t even have time to focus the camera.

Finished! (And looking like a drowned rat)

We’ll see if I go for it again next year…

Well, I knew I needed something to strive for when it came to exercising. Remember, one of my goals for 2010 was to exercise five times a week for a month. And I’m glad to say I accomplished that goal this last month–though, I was rather lenient with my definition of “exercise.” I certainly wasn’t in the gym everyday…or running as much as I should have–which is exactly why I’m kind of dreading the half-marathon. I don’t think I’m ready. Plus, goal number five was to run the half-marathon at a 9 minute mile pace or faster.

What?? What was I thinking when I made that goal??

So, I need some motivation and inspiration to get me excited about the race. I’m afraid the typical running bib and nondescript finisher’s medal isn’t going to do it for me.

Do you know what does inspire me? Secretariat. Winning the 1973 Belmont Stakes. I get chills every time I watch the video on youtube (and no, Jay, I do not watch it everyday!). I think it’s one of the most exciting sport clips you can see–even when you already know the outcome. And while I don’t have any illusions that I could be the human equivalent of Secretariat (I’ll be doing well just to stumble across the finish line), I’ll try to muster some of his enthusiasm for the race when I’m on mile 12 and wishing I could just curl up on the side of the road in the fetal position. (Don’t laugh! I’m going to need every inspiring thought I can get!)

I’ll let you know how it goes…

One of the major goals I left off my list was to become a member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA), an organization comprised of the best wedding photojournalist photographers in the world. Membership depends on the approval of your portfolio meeting their high standards. Unlike a lot of photography associations, you can’t simply pay your way into it. And so, I was afraid my work wasn’t good enough…that I’d be denied membership if I applied. While I knew that I wanted to apply this year…I was afraid to share this goal with the world. So, I didn’t.

Well, three weeks ago I spent an entire day revamping my website and making sure my portfolio accurately reflected my work…and then I applied for the WPJA.

And then I waited…

And waited…(meanwhile, I was told it could take up to three weeks to hear a response…but if I wasn’t accepted, I wouldn’t hear any response).

And finally, on Friday morning, I’d resigned myself to the fact that I had not been accepted…that I’d just have to wait and try again later in the year.

And then I got an email. From the WPJA. They loved my portfolio and wanted to extend membership to me. YAY!!!!

So, I’m thrilled to announce that I am a proud member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association, and I’m as dedicated as ever to capturing the story of your wedding day. If you’re a bride or groom who’d love to know a little more about what a wedding photojournalist is, check out this page for brides and grooms. And for my photographer readers who are interested in membership, check out this page for photographers.

But then the blizzard struck.

And that kind of made things difficult…I’m not one for running in the snow and cold, and I couldn’t even get to my gym. Traveling to Texas and Las Vegas didn’t help matters, though I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the break. So, now I’m trying to start things up again, and I’m running out of excuses!

I even bought a new pair of running shoes to get me excited about the half-marathon (and to ease my aching knees!). Still, it’s hard to make the time to exercise five days a week.

Can I count shooting a wedding as exercise? I think I’m going to…

So, what get’s you moving? I need some motivation!

If you’d like to see what I’ve been reading, feel free to join me on goodreads here.

With all the traveling these past couple of weeks, I managed to finish three lovely books: Anna Karenina, On the Eve, and My Cousin Rachel. I think I have a Russian author kick going now, but I need something new to read for the rest of this month and April. I also want to add some non-fiction business related books, and I have a few suggestions from speakers at WPPI. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome! What are you reading now?

Here’s my collection–21 books:

My favorite cookbook, and the one I always go to first is “Joy of Cooking.” Me and Joy have a good relationship. She’s always there to explain the basics, her instructions are easy to understand, and her recipes include mostly easy-to-find ingredients. I’ll have no problem cooking a recipe from Joy.

As for eclectic books, I have a nice cookbook from Scotland, and I can’t wait to try my hand at this funny-sounding recipe: Cullen Skink:

But, I’m afraid I’ll have to pull out my Russian-English dictionary and have a metric conversion table handy to get through “The Big Culinary Encyclopedia.” Mmm…looks appetizing, no? Heh, that last bit of the title says “the way to a man’s heart.” Not sure if Jay would be thrilled if I put that down in front of him for dinner…

The recipe I’m going to tackle tonight comes from “The Barefoot Contessa” cookbook my best friend gave me. Unfortunately, a lot of the recipes in this book require exotic ingredients, but I found one for broccoli that should be simple enough.

Of course, I like this book for its title (my sister’s name is Martha):

I’m sure I’ll have to try President Bush’s Texas Pecan Pie from my Aggie cookbook:

But the book that I’m most intrigued by is this old thing:

Apparently, it was written for ladies to learn how to use their new gas ovens…such a step up from wood-burning stoves.

Well, let’s hope my culinary adventure doesn’t end in disaster. Broccoli sounds like an easy starting place. We’ll see…

Well, as you may recall one of my goals for the year is to triple my blog’s subscription rate. I don’t know if that’s even possible, but I figure the more people who find my Pittsburgh photography blog, the more subscribers I’m likely to get. So, here’s where I need your help, dear readers. Would you mind rating my blog on delightfulblogs HERE. Of course, I went ahead and gave myself a 10 to get things started…just my unbiased opinion, you know.

P.S. I’ve been tweaking my blog header a bit in the last couple of days…how do you like it? It needed some freshening up!

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