2017 was a year of change personally…and the moment that topped them all was in February when Ben came home after his long ass deployment (11+ months you guys…smh).

I really loved going through and pulling some shots from my favorite photographed moments of 2017 - so let’s dive right into it!!!

Bellie Girl celebrated her 5th birthday and 3rd Gotcha day with her own cake, a tutu, and some glitter…you can see she didn’t love the tutu part - but the cake was worth it!!!

Ok so this is obviously my favorite part of 2017 - Ben came home!!! I’m still so insanely grateful to Sydney for capturing such a great moment for us…so. happy!

Erin wasn’t able to come to Ben’s homecoming so we were required to send a selfie to her! 

We went ahead and took a trip soon after Ben came home, and we both headed to NYC for the first time!!! We had such an amazing time and I cannot believe we haven’t gone back yet. I fell in LOVE with the city and I cannot wait to go back.

The above pictures at Sarabeth were after our sunrise session with Anna in Central Park. It was so great to have pictures taken in a moment during a trip that I will never forget. Seriously - that NYC trip was one of those trips - you know the ones that were just so good, they always make you happy when you think about them.

So 2017 was the year that I officially implemented film into my photography business, and even in my personal work. It’s also a great excuse to have a few more pictures of Belle

So, second to Ben coming home, going to Julie Paisley’s Cottage workshop was amazing. Literally life changing. If you are a photographer reading this - GO. Do not wait!!!!

Ok ok, so there were a lot of great moments in 2017 because Creative @ Heart was AMAZING!!!! It was so awesome because I had an awesome road trip with the gorgeous & wonderful Andie of Costola Photography to Raleigh, NC and met some amazing people. Including one of my all time favorite photographers - Abby Grace. It was such a great event.

While there, I was able to take an awesome hand lettering class with the talented Prairie Letter Shop. I LOVE hand lettering, it has become a creative outlet for me and taking her class was so awesome!!! 

I was also lucky enough to get headshots by the talented Hope Taylor - so lucky! 

Another great part of August was my birthday!!! Ben was a super sweetheart and gifted me a custom Sweets by E cake - and Evan was so kickass and created a custom Belle to put on my pink cake filled with lemon and raspberry goodness!!!! mmm

We also moved apartments because I officially need an office space…and my new office space is actually a sunroom which makes my heart so. freaking. happy. Seriously I’m obsessed with it.

Ben & I took a trip to Charleston, SC which was so freaking gorgeous. I cannot wait to do the blog post on our trip, but I loved our trip so much. The food was AMAZING!!!! It was great for us to just get away too.

In 2017 I was lucky enough to have a dear friend become the first member of the Luck & Love Photography family as a member - Lauren is now my assistant (eek) and has been slaying it. Seriously, I don’t know how I did this before her!

I was so excited because Bethanne Arthur Photography came into my pretty office and had a gorgeous lifestyle branding session. The insanely amazing and talented Kevan, of Makeup by Kevan, made me look like a real human (hair & makeup), and I was fortunate enough that Bethanne pulled Ben in for a few shots as well. I cannot wait to share more with you all later!

To really round out 2017 - I was insanely lucky to be featured in Washingtonian Bride & Groom magazine. Which is so awesome. (so go pick it up in Barnes & Noble and see it in real life!)

2017 was so freaking amazing, and I cannot wait to see what 2018 has planned! What was your favorite moment of 2017?!