I am fully engulfed in processing and remembering 2024 now that I’m starting my scrapbooking journey and boy, did a LOT happen. 

2024 was…an adventure.

It felt like it completely flew by, while simultaneously being full of memories and activities that feel impossible to be packed into one year. A lot of that feeling comes from the fact that I traveled somewhere almost every month!!! My first trip to Europe obviously took the cake but that wasn’t the only time I was on a plane or even the only time I left the country. 

It was a year of exploring. It was the exact refresher I needed, in multiple ways. I loved experiencing so many new things, celebrating the fruits of my hard work and strong friendships and budgeting. I reconnected with the artistic side of my personality.

I also learned how much I love being home. A year of being constantly on the go has set me up beautifully to want a year of stillness, loving and enjoying what my own home has to offer. 

It was a year of practicing so much of what I’ve been learning about boundaries, knowing who I am and what I want, and being able to confidently communicate that. Security and confidence create such a strong foundation that allows you to freely step out to explore and know that regardless of what happens, you have something to fall back on and run home to.

2024 was also just plain FUN. 

Dancing on tables, eating delicious food, belly laughs, flying through the wind on boats, catamarans, and yachts, singing loudly in the car and hotel rooms, deep talks on my nana and papa’s patio, low country boils in the backyard, and making big celebrations out of regular holidays. 

It’s not always peachy keen but I really love the life I have created, and am still creating.

I can’t wait to relive the year through photos as I start to organize them in scrapbooks.

These lists are about to be long but here are my highlights, wins, challenges and lessons learned from 2024!

Highlights from 2024:

• Started the year by jumping in the ocean and going on a 4 mile run
• RAN A FREAKING MARATHON at Disney World!!!!
• Went to Universal for the first time (didn’t love it)
• Replaced my fireplace with custom built-in cabinets and shelves
• Mountain weekend with my family – took Dune on his first vacay!
• Ran a half marathon 6 weeks after my marathon (anniversary of running!)
• Celebrated Weston’s birthday with a surprise party
• Watched Weston’s band (Giant Robots) play multiple shows around town
• Went to Jamaica to help my best friend Marien get married
• Opened the summer with a low country boil at the house
• Celebrated Dune’s 3rd (21st – puppin’ bottles!) birthday at Ruff Draft
• Visited Arizona with both mom and dad’s sides of the family
• Took my best friend Rachael’s engagement photos
• WENT TO LONDON, CANNES, AND PARIS!!!!
• Celebrated my 31st birthday with a low country boil and pizza on the beach
• Visited Arizona at Halloween for our first conference for More Than Creative
• Took my mom to see P!NK
• Hosted my first Thanksgiving and cooked my first turkey!
• Took Weston to see Kacey Musgrave’s with the girls
• Hosted my annual Christmas cookie party
• Photographed 18 beautiful weddings, 36 seniors, and countless other sessions!!!!

Wins: What Worked in 2024

• “Letting” them – releasing control of other’s actions
• Surrounding myself with friendships with similar goals
• Putting Weston in a role to hold me accountable
• Knowing the boundary of what I am willing to give (avoiding resentment)
• Planning out outfits and packing only those
• Renting clothes
• Playing with creative styles
• Group chats with long distance friends and family
• Capitalizing on time with family
• Defining my personal style and only buying clothes that fit with that
• Falling in love with direct light and shutter drags
• Scheduled friend dates (ex. monthly supper club)
• Hosting thanksgiving
• Celebrating holidays in big ways

Challenges: What Didn’t Work in 2023

• Not enough of a stable schedule
• Trying to find the balance in both businesses
• Burn out from running but not being committed to the gym
• Not taking the paddle board out once this year
• Too much screen time (can’t even justify it because I wasn’t posting)
• Not waking up early enough in the summer time
• Finding the balance between alone time and social time
• Falling into a functional freeze

LESSONS LEARNED: WHAT DID THE GOOD AND BAD TEACH ME?

• You have to accept people for who they are, not who they could be.
• You can communicate the way you feel regardless of how the person is going to respond.
• Wedding season is much more manageable and fun when they are all booked together, rather than having them spaced out.
• I am an artist, not just a business person who is artistic.
• A day on a boat (or catamaran, or yacht) will never not be fun.
• The best way to learn to like coffee is to put Nutella in it.
• Music sounds better on vinyl.
• A silk scarf elevates any outfit.
• If you go to Europe, you will return a tea and coffee drinker.
• The key to variety in your outfits is accessories.
• I can live without alcohol but a glass of red wine is so good for the soul.
• Only spend an hour in an art museum so you can fully take it in and not get overstimulated.
• Loud music makes life worth living.
• Pay extra to see the movie in IMAX.
• Summer should start and end with a low country boil.
• The best friends will order and split food as a table.
• Moleskin is the answer to all blister concerns.
• There is nothing like the feeling of a secure attachment – with a partner, with your family, with your friends, and mostly with yourself.
• Dinner tastes better with a tablescape.
• A spray tan is an immediate confidence boost.
• A hotdog is a perfect meal.

2024 was a beautiful first year of my third decade, full of what everyone promised me my 30s would feel like – fun, confident, and with a little more money LOL. I used to think I wasn’t much of a traveler but now I’ve been bitten by the bug…I just need to make sure I have plenty of time at home in my own routines too.

I can’t wait to see what this next year brings. I feel SO ready for 2025.