2022 In Review
2022 has been a challenging year. It’s been a very long year that has felt very, very weird to me. TIME has felt very strange. How is it that these happenings and all of these images and gatherings were in 2022??? Truly, it feels surreal!
January we spent in Florida with friends, tucked away in an estuary on the Gulf Coast. We spend mornings kayaking through the mangroves with the dolphins and evenings with the sunsets and manatee. I had a lot of time to focus on scheduling and marketing for the year because even though January is traditionally a slow time of year for shooting, that is when all of the back end magic happens.
The pastel sunsets in Ozello, Florida were so lovely!
We had to be in Arizona by the first few days of February so that I could start my season off with a women’s mountain bike retreat hosted by my friends Mirna Valerio and Wild Bunch Desert Guides. What a phenomenal time was had in Scottsdale and Sedona, witnessing an amazing group of women connect with each other and power through honing in some new skills together. I did take my first big spill on my bike that I’ve taken since I broke my arm a few years ago but I got up, shook it off (until that night anyway!) and kept riding. I’m pretty sure I ended up fracturing ribs on that spill but I’m all healed up now!
Much of the spring and early summer was spent in Utah, shooting for my commercial clients, working my usual retreats (ya know, following Mirna wherever she goes!), hiking, mountain biking and squeezing in some other fun sessions in between.
I finally got Jenny & Megan, some of my Midwestern lovelies, out to the desert for a week of helping our friend Shanti with her property, hiking and adventuring. Megan Jefferson really worked her ass off on painting every nook and cranny of Land Beyond Zion and even helped me get Frankie, the bus, painted!
I wrapped up my time in the desert adventuring with some new friends in Moab.
Through those first six months of the year I spent A LOT (over $15,000) on repairs to Frankie, our bus, to make sure that she was actually as road ready as I had been told by mechanics before taking her on the road. That was super stressful, especially because I don’t always spend my time in super accessible areas. I ended up stranded in Flagstaff for ten days while a mechanic did troubleshooting and tons of work…including all new glow plugs, injectors and valve cover gaskets. I was later stranded in an REI parking lot in the SLC area when my transmission suddenly gave way. Luckily, I had that done with a shop who was ATRA Certified, in case anything failed or wasn’t done correctly. Turns out, two months later, I would need that warranty to have the transmission dropped again in SW Utah. In between all of this I kept having to RE-replace parts that had been replaced in Flagstaff and finally discovered that the original mechanic smashed the valve cover wiring when closing thing up, which led to parts continually shorting out. All of this created a lot of anxiety for me, making me nervous to be on the road, in remote areas, alone. And with Noah at his dad’s a lot, I was doing most of that traveling alone. How I would have ever made it through those months without the undying support of my Utah and Colorado friends, I’ll never know.
The last six months of 2022 were spent in Indy: resting, regenerating, shifting, pivoting and creating. Noah started working for Indy Urban Hardwood and is really loving working and creating with his hands. I took a break from a lot of outdoor commercial work and refocused my energy back to Indianapolis portrait clients and really put my energy into my Fantasy and Empowerment work.
We managed to make it to more concerts in 4 months than we’ve done in 4 years and that was so, SO fun! Music is a common denominator in our family and it was amazing to get to share the experience of live music together again…especially with some of our dearest friends in tow. Some of our favorites shows of the year were Brandi Carlile/Tanya Tucker, Old Crow Medicine Show, Willie Nelson, Michael Franti, Squirrel Nut Zippers and Neko Case.
There was a moment there when I was questioning whether I’d be able to hit the road in 2023. Between shifts in my work, shifts in Noah’s needs and the anxiety I dealt with from so many mechanical issues earlier in the year…I just didn’t know what the New Year would have in store for us. I’m so grateful that we’ll be still traveling plenty in the months to come, even if it will look a little different than usual. My goals for 2023 include taking Dark Magic Sessions on the road, complete with a traveling rental wardrobe custom designed by Savannah Norris. Can you imagine shoots like these in epic locations around the country? I can and the idea makes me squeal with delight!
Through all of the ups and downs of 2022, I can certainly say this was a year of reflection and growth. I learned more about personal boundaries and self worth this year than I have in all of my 48 years, I swear. So much so that moving forward and mapping out my travels for 2023 were made much easier by reminding myself of those boundaries. I have joyfully turned down big opportunities that make me feel overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. While these shifts have not been easy, I am moving confidently through this season of life knowing I will not be bowing down to large corporations who do not see my worth and I will no longer be stressed out by people who show me that they are happy to take more than they give.
I truly hope that whatever you’ve experienced in 2022, that it can all help you move forward into 2023 with love, compassion, joy and the knowledge that growth comes from the highs and the lows. I hope you seek adventure, however that might look to you. And I hope that 2023 is a beautiful year for you and yours!
Happy Holidays, my dearest ones. I’m grateful to have you in my life and I hope our paths cross in the coming months!
With Love,
