Looking back on MY 2009...

I have the worst memory on the planet seriously, the worst.  It's one of the reasons why I take pictures.  I'm obsessed with recording my life or more importantly Hope's life.  I'd love to tell you what I did but honestly, I can't remember.  I had to go through my Lightroom library to try and construct this 'year in review' post.  As I was doing that, I said to myself 'self, why not just post the pictures?'.  So, that's what I'm going to do :)

He won't be here this New Year's Day but he was in 2009.

 

My BFF Sarah visited, a Christmas present from her husband.  So, why did I feel like it was the best gift ever for me?

My brother Billy and is wife Melinda visited us.  We had SO much fun showing them the island.

 

Then my world changed, I got a new camera.  An early anniversary present from my husband who had the intuition to know something I hadn't yet let myself believe.  This Nikon D300 changed my life.  Here is one of the very first photos I took with it.

Here is the very first picture I ever took that made me cry when I pressed the review button on my camera.  I've had a few moments since then, but this was life changing for me.  Her expression was completely lucky but I did plan the rest of the shot. 

We spent a lot of time at the beach...

A lot of time with friends...

We had some family pictures taken that came out fantastic!

In June, our little girl turned three.

In July, we sent our husband and father off to Afghanistan.

We went to the East Coast and visited family and friends in Massachusetts and New Jersey that we were meeting for the first time or hadn't seen in 18 months (or longer).

Then we came home back to Hawaii and I started college.  What a journey it's already been.  If I can say one thing for certain, I have learned a LOT.  I was lucky enough to have Ryan Baldwin as one of my instructors at the Academy of Art University.  What an awesome opportunity!   Here are a few of my favorite photos from assignments I submitted this semester.

 

I'll leave you with a couple of my favorites of Hope and Brian from this year.  I'm beyond excited about 2010.  2009 was good to me, here's hoping 2010 is just as good, if not better!