We've talked about how we must never stop growing and pushing your limits, as it relates not only to life but to my experiences at the Illuminate Retreat in Fredricksburg, Texas. The Illuminate Retreat put on by the Motherhood Anthology was an experience that I will never forget.

As an artist and a human, I make it my mission to never stop growing and to never stop learning. It can be easy, and perhaps a little tempting at times, to fall into routine. You find a system that works for you and you stick to it. That is when you know you need to find a little inspiration.

As a photographer and small business owner, one of the greatest compliments to receive is a referral from a client. To know that a client not only enjoyed their session but loved their images enough to recommend Reflections of Life Photography to a loved one or friend means everything to me.

Do you know that feeling when you look at an image and you think of every possible thing you wish was different or you wonder why it seems like you're angry or what your face is really saying? You know the ones you want to hide before you ever frame them? Maybe that day you were tired or your kids were all over the place or you just met the photographer. I want to change that for you.

Have you ever held an old photograph in your hand and it transported you into a moment? Maybe you picked it up in a thrift shop and you don't even know the people, but you're drawn into this look in their eyes? Maybe you found it in your grandparent's attic and you are pulled into a memory or a still moment of imagining what their life was like? That's legacy.

Family is more than blood. Family starts with choosing. I think family is a choice. Family is the choice to look at your husband or wife every day and choose them. Family is a decision to when your stomach flutters with life to say I choose them.

Family is everything.  The ones whom we love and get to wake up with everyday, the ones that know our potential and our scars, the ones we first turn to -- they're so important.

You have invested the time, energy and money to have beautiful images of your family and children created. The connection, joy and beauty of those who you love most has been captured and celebrated on film so that you can hold onto them forever. Once you receive those images...

Does it ever feel like there is so much to do and yet so little time? Maybe you forget about things if you don't write them in your calendar right away. Maybe you feel exhausted by the end of the day because it was packed and you still don't feel like you made a dent in your to-do list...

Over the past year I've learned so much.  I've expanded my business by adding employees, increased my love of guitar and singing by listening and practicing, read many books about self care, business, parenting and done various bible studies...

You know those moments where you laugh so hard, it almost becomes silent? Like joy is a fountain inside of you that cannot be contained and something has hit you in a way that just leaves you giggling? Notice how you feel after that and how full of life and goodness you feel…

Sometimes things just don't happen in the way that we want them to; they don't show up like what we hope for and sometimes they take longer than we ever wanted. There are some things in life we cannot control and we cannot just wake up one day and make happen…