TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN

Happy New Year, friends!!! 

My blog has always been a place where I can look back on my own personal progress, and see how I've grown and changed over the years. Since I only posted a handful of times in 2017, I forgot to document a lot of things. For my own sake (and if anyone else wants to see where I've been and what's been up) here goes my recap of 2017. Warning: It's a long one!

January -

It snowed. It snowed in Columbia, South Carolina. It almost never happens, so when it does you have to document it! Such a beautiful start to the year. I also got to ring in the new year at one of my favorite state parks - Table Rock. Every month, the park has bluegrass on the mountain events, and it's so fun to rock in a rocking chair next to a warm fire in an old CCC lodge with a view of some beautiful mountains. The third photo below looks a little strange, but it's one of the view photos I took at my future college! Around this time last year, I toured USCA and had no idea that this would be the only school I could consider for college. 

February - 

February was a difficult month. My older brother Isaac has severe autism, and in the winter months his behaviors typically worsen. As a family, we were actively searching out assisted living homes that Isaac could move into since he had recently turned 18. We didn't get out much in February just because of his difficult behaviors. I did however get to hang out with the Shelby Raye band for one of their studio recording days, and take some photos! I admire Shelby so much for her talent AND her incredible drive! Despite the stress February brought, I did a lot of business planning, research, and preparation for Cathleen Slagle Photography, eventually launching my Senior Rep program. I did my first big portrait shoot of 2017 (not counting Shelby's) and a lot of those photos ended up being some of my all-time favorites! 

March - 

After a difficult February, March was such a great month! I did my first male senior portrait shoot and met up with a super sweet blogger friend. I also got to experience a little rest and relaxation at a super cute air bnb in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. It was a much needed mother - daughter mini vacation. OH and it snowed while we were up there!

April -

Another AMAZING month! My dad and I road tripped from Columbia to Elon, North Carolina to tour Elon University. Oh, and do some senior portraits for Allie! My first college senior portraits, and just a dream session... beautiful location, beautiful senior... such an amazing shoot! While in Elon, I met up with another fellow blogger, Renee. You can see more of Renee's photos in her post about her winter rush experience! Then it was Spring Break and my family and I ventured down to Myrtle Beach State Park. We visited our friends, The Richardson Family, at Huntington Beach State Park. I photographed my first (notable) family session, and it was a bunch of fun! I also got to meet up with another fellow blogger in North Myrtle Beach. Madison's family was kind enough to pick me up and take me over to their adorably decorated condo for a fun beach day. I don't usually spend time up North Myrtle way, so it was nice to explore! (also those adorable hats - MADISON MADE THOSE!!!) And the flower photo below, I took that over spring break while visiting Brookgreen Gardens... however little did I know that it would be hanging up at the Columbia Museum of Art and then on its way to Washington D.C. to hang in the senator's office a few short months later. 

May -

And just when I thought no month could top how wonderful April had been... May came and caught me by surprise! I started the month a little stressed, only because the first Friday of the month was my APUSH exam and the following Saturday was prom. I was slightly more stressed because I was on prom committee and there was SO much that needed to get done! AND because I was taking prom pictures for a fairly large group... as a photographer who had never done large group photos before... I was pretty nervous about not being able to deliver decent photos. Boy oh boy. What a great memory! Prom pictures on a parking garage was a fabulous idea and I was so overjoyed at how well the photos turned out! And prom itself? I wrote a blog post about my experience - but we'll just say that my experience taking the prom photos was much more fun than the prom itself! Not much else happened in May, but I was so hyped after that FIRE session, and that alone made it such a great month. 

(you best believe I'm doing more prom sessions this year!!! such a fun time!)

June - 

I said goodbye to junior year of high school... I can't tell you how crazy that was to process. However, my start to summer kicked off with super fun photoshoots with some super fun people! Courtney and I walked around some antique stores, and got some really interesting photos... definitely some favorites out of that set! And a couple weeks later, Anna Marie, Courtney, and I all met up at the Riverbanks Botanical Gardens for an amazing photo set... such a fun session! Also, the first of quite a few times that I got to shoot with Anna Marie this past year. A new library opened up a few minutes from my house, and I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I've spent there since opening day. Mainly because also in June, my two online summer classes began - government and economics. I was pretty motivated in these courses because they were the only things holding me back from my two senior study halls! In other words - they were essential. Another huge thing that happened in June was my church's Vacation Bible School. Boy oh boy, this week had me emotional. The hope and joy that all these sweet children had was truly overwhelming, and being able to photograph those precious moments was such a privilege. 

July - 

I turned 17, ate way too much ice cream, strolled Soda City almost every Saturday, and saw the prettiest and tallest sunflowers. Oh yeah, and photographed five of my gorgeous CSP senior reps! My mom and I took a post birthday, trip to Aiken, SC where we stayed in an adorable air bnb and really got to explore this sweet little town. What a time to be alive, am i right? There's not much else to say about July... but there are definitely quite a few photos from this super fun month! 

August -

At first, I was kind of bummed when August rolled around, only because I was sort of dreading my last year of high school becoming a reality. However, I photographed so many dogs this month that I honestly can't complain. I had been volunteering at various animal rescues all Summer long, but in August I saw so many dogs go to so many good homes, my heart was so full. I photographed a couple more CSP reps and visited Oconee State Park all before the beginning of senior year. On August 1st, my older brother Isaac moved out. After so long of searching and begging for Isaac to be placed in an assisted living home... a spot opened up, and we helped him move in. What a wild transition that was. I swear the house was so quiet, and taking our first vacation without Isaac was so weird too. Fun times, just different.

 

September - 

My personal life slowed down as school sped up. And because I became yearbook editor this year, my personal life became whatever school events were happening! Not complaining at all: yearbook allowed me to take in every fun moment of the first semester of my senior year. Taking my camera to capture my classmates in these memory making moments was so much fun! I also had a super beautiful senior session in September with a sweet friend from middle school that I got to reconnect with. Reminiscing on funny times from the old days was such a fun time! Other than that, I spent some time hanging around Soda City on Saturdays too... 

October -

My high school's principal was named National Principal of the Year, I photographed a charity ball (for an animal rescue!), more fun yearbook photos, my photos on display at the Columbia Museum of Art (and then shipped to Senator, Lindsay Graham's office in D.C.). I know I've said it a bajillion times, but my heart was (and is) so full! 

November -

So thankful for November and thanksgiving because with so many crazy hectic things happening at school, I missed my family members! Definitely got to spend some much-needed, quality time with my favorite people over break. Football season came to an end, student government hosted an adorable Veterans Day breakfast, we stressed over yearbook deadlines... Oh and I got accepted into the only college I applied to! Well, okay, that happened in October, but there was a lot of of photos for that month so I'll just include that here... USC - Aiken class of 2022!

December -

I still can't get over that it's not December 2017 anymore. Crazy how time flies. Here's my mom's super creative Christmas tree this year, and some of my favorite photos from my latest photo sessions! I was super blessed this past month and got to do a couple senior portrait sessions and my last session of the year being a precious family shoot! Couldn't think of a more perfect way to wrap up 2017!

 

WOW MY HEART IS SO FULL

thanks to everyone that made 2017 so memorable, here's to 2018!