In 2013, I resolve... | #101in1001

Each year my resolutions look kind of the same: exercise, simplify, learn better time management. So when I make my list of goals I try to be more specific, as specific goals seem to work better for me and I achieve more of them. It's as if the specificity holds me a bit more accountable. I've had some fun ways of displaying my goals around my office in the past. Check out my 2008 and 2009 goals. (Other years have been lost around the internet.)

This year I am resolving to bring back my 101 in 1001 list I started back in 2010. If my calculations are correct, it's been 743 days since the start of this challenge, approximately 500 days since I've abandoned the list, and I've got 258 days left to work on it. Of course, my life has significantly (an unexpectedly) changed since I started the challenge, so I went ahead and added a few more relative goals to the second half of the list (thus finally finishing the creation of the list).

Below are the goals I added, but you can see the list in it's entirety here.

1. Run another half-marathon
2. Earn a PR in the Smithfield Sprint triathlon
3. Earn a new PR in the 5k distance (so far my best time was 36 mins in 2007)
4. Run in a trail race
5. Have my work featured on at least 3 different blogs
6. Submit images and apply for WPJA
7. Work on lowering carb and sugar intake
8. Make the switch from coffee to tea in the morning
9. Swap our chemical cleaners for home made cleaners
10. Simplify our medicine cabinet by purging a lot of medicines and replacing them with herbs and essential oils
11. Learn how to heal our bodies naturally (and save money in the process!)
12. Travel to Florida to visit my grandmother
13. Travel to Colorado to visit my sister
14. Go on an anniversary trip with Tommy
15. Spend more time finding inspiration through online photo sites
16. Write something every day for a month
17. Create a social media marketing plan and follow it
18. Hire an intern
19. Transfer business status from Sole-Proprietor to an S-Corp
20. Repaint my kitchen walls
21. Incorporate the use of an ipad into my business workflow
22. Enhance Sincerely, Liz client experiences by adding gifts and surprises into my workflow
23. Redesign Sincerely, Liz website and combine all of my online sites into one
24. Rebrand Lynchburg Snapshot Studio
25. Create a marketing plan for Lynchburg Snapshot Studio
26. Develop and begin a preschool curriculum for Sunday (even if that means toddler school for now)
27. Make running a regular part of my weekly routine
28. Make 5 Pinterest recipes
29. Complete 3 Pinterest DIY projects
30. Create a "Sunday's First Year" book/album
31. Go to the Farmer's Market once a month in the spring/summer. Buy and consume more fresh foods.
32. Go geocaching with my nieces
33. Shoot a photo session in an ice skating rink
34. Simplify our magazine subscription list
35. Make a photo album of our wedding pictures
36. Swap out my beauty care products for natural, less expensive versions
37. Go to a dinner theater with Tommy
38. Have new head shots taken annually
39. Start an annual head shot mini session day in late winter
40. Go on a camping trip with Tommy while in Colorado
41. Sell my landscape and art prints online
42. Print and frame images for a collage of "life" in our hallway
43. Take a weekend and "unplug" from all things digital
44. Do a "day in the life" blog post
45. Send a bouquet of flowers to someone "just because"
46. Get a bold haircut
47. Create the habit of making a weekly meal plan
48. Find 3 healthy dessert recipes and make them often enough to no longer need to look at the recipe
49. Host a party in our home
50. Change most (if not all) the lightbulbs in our house to energy efficient bulbs
51. Print at least two landscape canvas prints and hang them in our home
52. Purchase some plants for our home and keep them alive
53. Simplify my wardrobe by making smart accessory purchases and blog about the experience
54. Move the Sincerely, Liz office into the basement from the current office space

I'm looking forward to documenting this journey here on the blog this year. A lot of these goals are already in-progress and it's exciting to think of all the great plans we have on the calendar for this year, both with the business and at home. I love living with intention. Life is so much better that way. <3

#christmas2012 | Christmas 2012 Recap

Last year at Christmas Sunday was still a teeny tiny newborn so this year really felt like our first Christmas with her as an interactive baby. We were blessed to have three different Christmas celebrations this year: one with Tommy's family, one at our own home and then one with my family in Fredericksburg. After the first celebration Sunday seemed to catch onto the unwrapping presents thing so it became super fun to watch her explore! Our first celebration was with Tommy's family and Sunday received soooo many goodies. I actually saved two gifts to put under our tree for Christmas morning because she was already having so much fun with the gifts she received first. One jackpot gift was this little Dora chair from Grandma & Grandpa (Tommy's parents).

She LOVES this thing and I think she feels like such a big girl when she sits in it. Sometimes it's the only place I can put her down when she is feeling especially clingy. I love these pictures of her!

On Christmas morning Sunday slept in until about 7:30, the latest she has slept in months! Of course! When she did wake up I insisted that the very first thing we do was put Jesus in His place in the nativity scenes. Tommy was a super good sport about that, as was Sunday. :) (I made him do it a few times so I could get pictures.)

We invited my mom and brother to come to our house for Christmas morning since my dad was going to be in Florida with his mom. Both of them brought gifts for Sunday and she opened the big one first. Tommy had to help her wake up a bit and give her a quick reminder of how to open presents. She got the hang of it quickly and we had a great morning of giving, receiving, and watching her discover.

Tommy got me an ornament to match my awesome Holy Land nativity scene (his mom gifted us the nativity and picked out each individual piece while she was in Jerusalem in 2011), and I went with a sweet homemade ornament I knew he would love. I was right, he asked me to make the same ornament every year from now on! :) He's so easy! Oh, and yes. We got Sunday a sock monkey ornament. So did everyone else in her life. We now have FIVE sock monkey ornaments. Too funny.

We had a lovely Christmas morning at home followed by a delicious lunch with Tommy's whole family later in the day. Fast forward a week and we were celebrating again with my family in Fredericksburg on New Years Day! Of course the entire time we were there was just depressing because my sisters family was set to move on the third. So, instead of taking pictures of the gift opening and dinner, I focused on capturing some sweet cousin interaction. Trying to freeze time, ya know. :)

We had a lovely Christmas and again I find myself overwhelmed with the blessings in our lives. Between our three celebrations we made incredible memories and each received wonderful, thoughtful gifts. I somehow managed to collect really nice trail running gear to help me kick off the new year on the right foot, including a subscription to Clean Eating magazine that I'm SUPER excited about! But... more on all of that later... :)

Gratituesday: The anticipation is behind me

This week, I am grateful that the anticipation of my sister and her family moving halfway across the country is finally behind me. They have made the move. The ugly grey cloud that hovered over me has now moved on and things aren't so bad. I'm going to be honest. Their impending move felt like preparing for a deployment. Only it was worse because they won't be moving back in a year. Nor will it be the highlight of their days to Skype with me. Instead they will start a new life in a new area with new important people. They are happy and excited. And in true Liz (middle child) fashion, I was totally pouting.

When I think of life here without them I feel anxious and depressed. Those kids... their whole family... they are a light in my world. A big one. My sister's home... with acres of land surrounding it, no internet access and the living room view of solitude... It was a vacation home for me. Peace lives with them. And it goes where they go.

I guess it's time I work on creating my own peace to carry with me, eh?

In trying to think about the positives of the whole situation, I am reminded that there's always skype. And how amazing will it be to visit Colorado?! Plus, my sister will still be home to shoot every wedding with me. And since she will be living so far away, I expect our time together to be of higher quality since we will make the most of our time together versus our quick chit chat now between the busyness of our lives.

I used to love change. But the older I get and the more settled I become, change is proving to be challenging. Maybe it's the mama in me. Sunday needs routine and familiarity and maybe her needs are growing on me. I'm afraid of how things will be different with my sister's family, but maybe, somehow, this will be better for us, too.

In any case - I am so glad the anticipation and anxiety is behind me and we have stepped into this new chapter. The grey cloud is gone and so far, everything is just fine.

On January 1st, our last day together as a family before they moved, we all stuck out the frigid temperatures and took some family portraits. I will cherish these pictures for years to come. I love all the pink noses that depict how chilly it was…!

Equipment used for this session:  canon 5d mark ii // canon 50mm f/1.2 lens // vivitar universal wireless remote // vista explorer lightweight tripod

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Liz Cook is the owner and photographer of sincerely, liz: photography. She is a virginia wedding photographer and virginia portrait photographer who loves virginia weddings, family portrait sessions and couple photography.

To see more of Liz’s work, check out her latest work as well as some of her favorite weddings. To hire Liz, simply fill out this form.

My first blog post of 2013 | New Orleans Wedding Photographer

Whew! What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been! You're going to have to forgive the delay in my posts, but I'm totally gonna be talking about Christmas later this week. I feel like it was so long ago, but I have pictures to share and I want to tell you about Sunday's first Christmas as a toddler! :) First up… I am home and settled in after one of the busiest two weeks of my life. I am not sure if it was actually the busiest, or if it just felt that way because I was running on no sleep almost the entire time. It's a long story, but sharing a room with a toddler who knows she's not in her own bed and an anonymous snorer made for literally nights of 3hrs of sleep or less the entire time we were in New Orleans. I was running on God's grace the whole time and the trip was awesome despite my grouchiness.

The wedding in New Orleans was amazing and beautiful and so much fun. It was truly an honor to have been invited to fly out to capture Annie and Ben's beautiful day. I had three and a half sessions (the half session was my own family portrait session) before the trip and I loved every single one of them. I keep waiting to burn out, but I think finally reaching a place of having a manageable workload has so many underlying blessings one of which is NO burnout! (Imagine that!)

Anyway, here's a little peak into what's coming up:

I'm off to catch up on emails and process some images for blog posts later this week!

The day after Christmas

Sunday is sound asleep...cuddling with her sock monkey under her fluffy blanket in her crib. Tommy is currently watching Seven Years in Tibet. The Christmas tree still sparkles and I am browsing the internet. Tomorrow we go back to the real world.

Tomorrow I have a session followed by packing for the most complicated trip of my life. In the next 10 days I will shoot three sessions and two weddings. I will celebrate Christmas with my family and say goodbye to my sister's family as they pack up and move to Colorado. I will fly to New Orleans and back again (with a toddler - on her first flight!). And I will hit up Trader Joe's on the way home.

I am feeling a weird sense of calm before the storm. I'm enjoying the last few minutes of our quiet Christmas at home. And when I wake up tomorrow I will dive into responsibility, creativity, and preparation.

I love this life!