Kate Densmore Photography | Fresh, Modern Photography | Senior Portraits, Family, Maternity, Baby, Wedding Photographer

Usually I face the New Year a little bittersweet that another year has passed. I look back at all the great things that have happened and am a little sad to see it go. But this year – I am so glad 2010 is over! It has been such a crazy year! I started it as a middle school teacher in Colorado, struggling with my wonderful co-workers to come together as our school faced massive budgets cuts and the retirement of our principal. I saw a district do ridiculous things to save money which shook the very foundation of everything we’d built as a school community. I saw my friends and co-workers lose their jobs, others forced to go to a different grade level and subject. Personally, we completed a big kitchen remodel and then found out we’d have to leave our lovely little home – Brian got picked up for his first permanent job in the park service! He left for Philadelphia in March, I packed up and said way too many goodbyes and joined him there in June. We quickly realised that Philadelphia was not the place for us, and so by July Brian had accepted a job in Washington state at Olympic National Park. I scrambled to find a teaching job, knowing that the area we were moving to was too isolated to support my photography business initially, and was lucky enough to get hired at a school 35 miles from our park service house. The position has come with its own challenges, and adjusting to life here has been harder than anticipated. Its not that we aren’t enjoying life in the Pacific northwest, its just that we really, really loved Colorado. However, in the park service, you go where the jobs are, and a big part of why we chose this life was to experience some of America’s most beautiful places as a family.

I am relieved to put 2010 behind us – it was a year of too many goodbyes, not enough new friendships made, and 6000 miles of moving. But it was also the year that Brian finally got a permanent job, something we’ve been working towards for 4 years. It was also the year that we found out we were having a baby, and while its all just a little scary, its also really exciting. Here’s to 2011, with all we hope it will bring!

So, I have been living in Washington for nearly 3 months, and I have taken my camera out exactly once. I’ve been a bit unmotivated and a bit too busy with my day job, and that has got to change! So, I’m going to do a 365 Day project starting in January, where I commit to taking a picture everyday. Some people who do these focus on one thing, like a self-portrait or clouds or whatever, but I think I need a little more freedom if I am actually going to be successful, so I am going to just focus on little things from our daily life. This next year will be one of big, big changes for us, in so many ways, which I’ll tell you about in more detail in January. Because of this, and the changes we’ve already gone through the last 6 months, I particularly want to document and focus on the little details as our life unfolds during the year 2011. These are the little things that personally give me pause for moments of joy, reflection, celebration, and quiet. Can’t wait!