This post is going up 20 days into the year of 2020…and I’m forcing myself to be okay with that 🙂 A little later than I’ve had it ready in past years, but better late than never!!! Each year, I share a recap of my BEST work and a “year in review” that includes my favorite moments in my personal life and my career throughout the last 365 days. It’s such a special way for me to look back through what my life looked like in January 2019 vs. what is looked like in December 2019…and SO MUCH HAS CHANGED. I’m not sure if I’ve ever experienced a year where life looked THIS dramatically different from the beginning to the end! I’m also not quite sure if I’ve ever ended a year THIS grateful for God’s goodness. So, I’m going to just dive right in.

Before I start, just remember that this is NOT an attempt to share my “wins” and show you how wonderful my life is. This post includes the ups AND the downs of my last year…and it’s a special way for me to document my life and look back on the year of 2019 when I’m old and grey. It just happens to be on a public platform because I love taking you all along with me for the journey 🙂

JANUARY: 

I kicked off 2019 New Year’s with my favorite friends in Richmond VA! This month included a lot of family time, hard work in the gym and trying (+ failing) the Keto diet. It’s also the month I completely chopped my hair off (scroll down a few pics!!!), we got the first snow of the year in VA and I filmed Happy Hour with Hope episodes for the very first time!!! To end the month, I took my first EVER solo international trip to see Morgan in Argentina and came home to celebrate Erika’s birthday on the 31st!

Girl time with some of my fave people! This was when we went to see the Rachel Hollis movie!!

Snip snip!! I ended up going even shorter later in the year!!

Getting content for the Happy Hour with Hope launch!!!

I will NEVER forget this trip!!!

Happy birthday, Erika!!!

FEBRUARY: 

This month was a bit more on the relaxing side! We hosted a family Superbowl party (my mom is a rockstar), I visited Charleston (having NO IDEA I’d be moving here!!!) and shot a wedding on a CRUISE!! I also did TONS of home decor this month (again, not knowing we’d be moving just a few months later…haha!!)

Trying to soak up as much of Charleston as possible because I didn’t know when I’d be back!!!

This was the LAST time I got to see my best friend Morgan before she left to join the Peace Corps in Panama. I haven’t seen her in almost a full year!!! BUT, I’m going to visit her in Feb and may die of excitement!!!

Also purchased my all-time favorite hoodie this month. Haha!!!

MARCH: 

I hosted a workshop in my home (this was SO special!!!), more work in the gym and on the house, visiting friends in Richmond, hosting family in town, seeing a concert and #allthethings!!! I finished out the month by speaking as a keynote at the Reset Conference in Kentucky and going to TOUR HOMES IN CHARLESTON!!! This was the first month that moving to Charleston was on our radar, and we spent almost a week exploring the area and looking at homes. But I couldn’t tell anyone yet!!!

Speaking at Reset!!!

Going to the Ariana Grande concert immediately after speaking at a conference!!! WORTH IT!

Leaving for CHARLESTON!!! But I couldn’t tell anyone the real reason why!!!

 

I took this pic of my sister in front of this home the day we toured it because it was our FAVORITE. Little did we know…we’d end up living here!!! This is such a special photo!!!

This was taken against a wall in what is now our backyard!!! I just loved the color and wanted a pic so bad for memories!!!

APRIL:

I kicked off the spring months exchanging pictures with Josh and Erika in the cherry blossoms (DREAMY!) and this month kicked off a busy shooting season! I did a lot of senior sessions, another trip to Charleston, speaking at more conferences and a Caps playoff game!!!

Family trip to the Greenbrier!!!

MAY: 

Example of me cutting my hair even shorter below, haha!! May was a SUPER exciting month because I got to go BACK to Charleston to film content and get images for what we HOPED would be our big move. But, what most people don’t realize is that the entire time I was doing this trip and filming this content…we had no idea if the move was going to end up happening. Our house still wasn’t selling in VA, and the possibility of us actually getting to move seemed to be dwindling. But, I did it anyway!!! I did a ton more shooting this month (including my first 2019 wedding!) and landed myself in the hospital for the ONLY time in 2019!!! I finished the month out with a very lowkey girl’s trip to the lake…because it was the day after I got out of the hospital. Haha!!

Filming day in Charleston!!!

First wedding in the year was with my best friend and her hubby as the film team!!! Such a perfect way to kick things off!!!

Photographing graduation portraits for two of my favorite friends!!!

My sister’s 8th grade graduation and award ceremony!!!

Womp womp. A case of tonsillitis got out of hand and my throat swelled shut. I was all fixed up with an IV of steroids!!!

LAKE TRIP!!! An annual tradition with my two fave girls: Kristen and Natalie!!!

JUNE: 

OUR. HOUSE. SOLD!!! This was potentially the biggest month of the year for my family because the move was finally in action!! We waited MONTHS for an offer on our house that felt like it was never coming…and this selfie was taken the night we found out we had an offer! We went to Outback for celebratory cheese fries!!! This month was JAM-PACKED with packing, planning, filming, shooting and preparing for a HUGE life change in July!!!

I took the selfie on the left at a traffic light because it was the moment I processed “HOLY CRAP. IM GONNA BE LIVING IN CHARLESTON”. My sister also sent me the funniest selfie she had taken outside what would become our Charleston home!!!

So much girl time soaking up the summer!!

Helping my sweet friend Kristen move into her Richmond apartment!

Filming the brand new version of the Spokesmodel 101 course!!!

Family reunion in Florida!!!

I flew home early to shoot a wedding and drive to NC and speak at the Creative at Heart Conference!!!

Flowers on my birthday week from my sweet dad!

My 23rd birthday!!! The BEST day.

JULY: 

I kicked off July by going to see Hugh Jackman LIVE with my momma on the 1st!!! I spent a lot of time with my family this month preparing for the move because at the end of July we MOVED to CHARLESTON!!! It was a month of simultaneously celebrating and saying our goodbyes to people who lived in Virginia that we wouldn’t see in awhile. I hosted a goodbye party for my senior clients in my home, we packed up my family’s entire house and lived in my house for about a week before officially driving down to Charlesotn!

4th of July fireworks!!!

Slumber parties in my house!!

Visiting my 99 year old grandma in Williamsburg!

Goodbye party to my seniors!

Visiting Kristen and Natalie in Richmond for a final girl’s day!

My little sister’s birthday!!! Note ALL the boxes…the movers came the very next morning!

Our LAST photo in the Virginia house!!!!

My parents lived in a Fredericksburg hotel for a week while I lived at my house with my siblings and the dogs.

Erika and I’s final goodbye before I left!!! But we definitely saw each other less than a month after this…hahaha! So dramatic!

My LAST wedding while still living in Virginia! And it was only two miles from my Fredericksburg house! We drove down to Charleston the very next day!!!

Up bright and early and CHARLESTON-BOUND!!!

Made it!! We lived in a hotel for over a week until our house was ready and closed. You can read more about the Charleston move HERE!

AUGUST:

August 2nd was the day we officially were able to move into our new house!!! Lots of celebratory swimming and moving and getting cozy in our new place! It was also a really long month of traveling for me. At the end of August I went back to VA to host a workshop, move out of my new house and film a big project. Then I drove to Maryland to photograph a wedding, flew to Nashville to speak at a conference, then flew to Florida for an in-person mastermind meeting. It was craziness! I was EXHAUSTED but it was so worth it to finally be living in Charleston!

Taking our first family pic in the front yard! The tripods were clearly still packed because I had to rig this instead HAHA!

First Target run!!!

Making my room feel like home!!

Back in VA prepping for my second and LAST in-home workshop in Fredericksburg!!

I packed up and moved out of my house the very next day!!!

In Maryland for a wedding with a bride who became a bestie!!! Love you, Caroline!!

Nashville…

Then Florida…

Finally back home!!! I got to wear my fave dress for a family dinner!!

SEPTEMBER: 

Another crazy month of traveling! I had a wedding almost every single weekend this month in all different states with conferences to speak at in between. It wasn’t easy. I was so tired and became pretty sad just wanting somewhere to feel like HOME since I didn’t have time to settle in in Charleston before traveling like a mad woman. But, it was so worth it and I had the sweetest and most supportive friends in VA to help me shoot and keep me company!!!

Maddie came back to Charleston with me from VA for a girl’s week between weddings!!!

Photographing a wedding on the beach in Cape Cod (where I lived on base a few years growing up!)

Then straight to Texas to speak at the Next Level Retreat and see my girl Laylee (+ eat SO MANY TACOS).

SUCH an incredbile retreat experience and EXACTLY what I needed during a crazy month of travel.

Back home for one day just to drive to VA for another wedding!!!

It was still SO hot in Charleston in September…so I got to soak up some time on a boat!!!

Meeting so many amazing new friends in Charleston!

I finally had ONE weekend off with the fam at the end of September and soaked it up as best I could!!!

OCTOBER: 

My LAST month of traveling for weddings!!! I had a wedding every weekend in October, and they were all in different areas of Virginia. I booked a total of 19 (!!!) flight between August-November. INSANITY. But, again, so worth it to serve these amazing brides and get to live in Charleston! I also got to do tons of exploring Charleston in between, had my first styled shoot in Charleston and photographed so many amazing portrait sessions (both in VA and SC)! First wedding of Oct called for some chicken minis:

Getting to explore the Montage in SC!!!

My first styled shoot in Charleston!!!

Ended the year with back-to-back portrait sessions and my LAST wedding in Fredericksburg!!!

Cheers to the end of my crazy travel season!!!!

 

My first fall activity was getting to shop for mums in November!!!

Also, this was kind of epic – in my humble opinion.

NOVEMBER: 

Ya’ll, I’ve never been so happy to be HOME as I was this month. Sleeping in my own bed for more than 5 days in a row and getting to finally make Charleston feel like home was the BIGGEST blessing. I soaked up every single second I could: shopping, exploring, eating and being a bit of a homebody with my family that I missed so much over the months prior! My mom and I kicked off the month with a Charleston home tour:

Boat days with Nicki (yes, it’s still hot enough to be on a boat in November!!!)

GIRLS TRIP! I spent a lot of time in Nov and Dec inviting my friends from VA to come explore Charleston with me!!! Getting to show them around the new place I called “home” made it feel even more real and so, so special!

November was when I found the townhomes online that I would eventually buy. I toured the model home (below) in mid-November…and immediately knew I’d be wanting to buy one!!!

Friendsgiving at Felix with my new Charleston friends!!! I feel so lucky that they welcomed me with such open arms.

Thanksgiving with some of our favorite people!!!

DECEMBER:

This month felt like the biggest month of the year all crammed into 30 days!!! I had my first bridal consultation in Charleston, became an official SC resident with my new driver’s license, visited friends back in VA, shot my last 2019 wedding and CLOSED ON MY OWN HOUSE!!

Back to VA one last time to visit Kristen and Natalie!!

Top Golf to celebrate Natalie being ENGAGED!!!

Shooting my last 2019 wedding followed by TONS of Noodles & Company! Haha!!!

Back in Charleston to photograph a Christmas event!

Hosting my very own gingerbread house party with Erika & Josh in town!!!

We also photographed pics in my new house…but the closing still wasn’t official! So I couldn’t share them anywhere yet!!

Girls trip #2!!! Natalie and Kristen came to visit!!!

CLOSING DAY!!! The house was officially mine!!

Christmas Eve dinner with my family!!

Shopping for my house for the very first time and moving things in!!

Painting and moving and unpacking furniture!!!

New Year’s Eve…what a special year you were, 2019. I can’t wait to see what 2020 has to bring <3

If you enjoyed this post, you may also love:

2018 Year in Review

2019 Best of Weddings 

2019 Best of Portraits