It’s the first day of a brand new year! We’ve heard you can’t go anywhere unless you know where you’ve been, so we’re using the first day of 2014 to reflect on some of our biggest moments in 2013. Here’s our “13 in ’13” in no particular order! We hope this will inspire you to look back at your own 13 in ’13 and start this new year knowing exactly where you’ve been. Here’s to a joyful and prosperous 2014!

The 13 in ’13

1. Making the Leap to Full-Time

2013 will forever be the year we took a leap of faith and went full-time. This year has been such an awesome adventure for us, and we’re still pinching ourselves that we get to do what we love together full-time. It has been a ton of work, but anything worth doing is. We are beyond thankful for the support of our clients, friends and family who cheered us on and made this possible, and we thank God every day for this incredible blessing.

2. Being Featured in People Magazine Online

This was perhaps the most humbling experience of our careers. When we set goals at the beginning of 2013, we wrote down “Get published one time.” We imagine that God must have laughed at us in that moment. We had no idea what He had planned.

3. Adopting Two New Furry Family Members

These two little guys needed a home this year, and we needed to be overwhelmed with cuteness on a daily basis, so William Wallace and Mr. Carson became our newest, furriest members of the family in 2013. We have become those crazy cat people, and we don’t care who knows it. These two do something photo-worthy multiple times every day, so while they may have slightly decreased productivity around here, they more than make up for it in snuggles. They are definitely our two cutest highlights of 2013.

4. Helping, Teaching and Getting To Know Other Awesome Photographers

It’s no secret that we have a passion for teaching. We were blessed by so many different teachers along the way, and to be honest, we were pretty shocked when other photographers started coming to us with their questions. We’re continually learning and growing ourselves, but it’s been a true privilege to help others on their own journeys. We’ve received the most humbling emails, connected with photographers from all over the country, and have had the chance to mentor some amazing ladies in the process. The photography community is so special, and we feel honored to be a part of it.

5. Shooting a Surprise Proposal and Seeing it on The Huffington Post

Being trusted to capture one of the most important moments in Paul and Nikki’s life was a true honor and the adrenaline rush of a lifetime. Seeing it featured on How Heasked.com and then chosen at the top of the Huffington Post’s list made it an even more unforgettable highlight of this year. Nikki’s genuine reaction to Paul popping the question will probably be one of our favorite split-second moments that we ever capture.

6. Getting IN FRONT of the Camera

It’s so important to us that couples never forget to capture their life and love after their wedding. How cool will it be to sit down on your 50th wedding anniversary, and have 50 years of beautiful photos to tell your complete love story? We got to get in front of the camera of one our dearest friends (not to mention the grand wizard of photography), Melissa Jill, this year, and she captured images for us that we will treasure long after 2013.

7. Spending Time with the World’s Best Friends

Whether it’s the friends we’ve known half our lives, or the ones we just met this year, we are so thankful for each and every one of our friendships. We might be just a little biased, but somehow we lucked out with the greatest friends in all of the universe. Whether your face is in this photo or not, you know who you are. You guys are the peanut butter to our jelly, the cream in the Oreo, the sprinkles on our ice cream. Thank you for bringing so much laughter and love into our lives. We love you so much.

8. Launching a New Website

With a new year came a new idea for a new website, and then the countless hours of work began. We designed it ourselves, and it truly became a collaboration. It finally felt like us. The day it launched was definitely a highlight of 2013.

9. Spending Time with our Wonderful Family

2013 was another awesome year for our family. We welcomed our first baby nephew this year, and got to watch our grandpas celebrate their 8th decade. We had a Thanksgiving in August, a family reunion in Florida and lots of family visit from all over the country. We celebrated tons of birthdays, enjoyed lots of time around lots of dinner tables and were reminded of just how blessed we are to have combined two large, loud, laughter-filled, loving families.

10. Staying Actively Involved in our Church

In 2013, we renewed our commitments to serve God and volunteer at the church we love so much, CCV. There is nothing more rewarding. We get to pour into the next generation of leaders and build meaningful relationships with people who are just so fun to be around. We get filled up , pumped up and are proud to be a tiny part of this awesome family. We are constantly challenged at CCV and are constantly growing closer to God, and closer to each other. We stepped up and gave in ways we never have before, with our time, our money and our hearts this year, and we don’t think it’s a coincidence that 2013 has been our best year ever.

11. Meeting and Working with New Industry Friends

One of the things we were looking forward to the most about going full-time was finally having the time to get to know other incredible professionals in the industry on a personal level. We’ve been so blessed this year to build friendships with other photographers, planners, florists and other talented creatives whose hearts are just as good as their work. Whether it was meeting for a lunch date or collaborating on a project, we feel blessed to be a part of this amazing community.

12. Meeting (and exceeding!) Our 2013 Goals

At the start of 2013, we took out a pen and and wrote down our goals on paper, on purpose for the year. As we mentioned before, one of our goals was getting our work published on one national blog. It seemed like a big, hairy, audacious goal at the time, and now, as we look back, it’s still hard to believe we went from hoping to be published once to actually getting published sixteen times (a new mini-goal for us should be to update our featured page, which is currently out of date!) This week, we’re going to sit down and write out new goals for the new year. We’re looking forward to aiming high in 2014!

13. Connecting with Our Amazing Clients

THIS is the true highlight of our year. We truly have the best clients in the world. We met so many new couples that we absolutely fell in love with, and reconnected with old clients who make our hearts so happy. Our 2013 wouldn’t be anything without you! Thank you for trusting us with your most precious memories. We’re looking forward to another amazing year!