1. Family/Marriage 2012 was undoubtedly the hardest year yet for our marriage and family; probably the hardest year yet of my whole life.  As 2012 came to a close, our church went through a seven week series in which our theme verse was Samuel 7:12 – “Thus far has the Lord helped us”.  I have really come to cling to that verse, as it gives me great hope and great peace as we march forward into 2013.  Despite what 2012 brought us, we know that God was walking through every moment with us and we are believing in great things for our future.  And really, even with the hard stuff, we had some really sweet times in 2012 (as you’ll see below) and we’ve got SO much to be grateful for.

Moving, moving all the time.  As mentioned, in December we moved into yet another home.  Although, this time, it’s for the long haul.  This is the fourth house we’ve lived in this year; the fifth house Boone has lived in his two short years of life.  We are beyond grateful to be here – especially being able to have moved in before Christmas and with enough time to settle in before baby girl is here.  

Home #1 – If you recall, early last year we had moved into a cute little home in our dream neighborhood.  Unfortunately, we got word just after the new year that our landlords had to move back in, which gave us the boot outta there.  We were sad to leave, as we loved that home and we loved the neighborhood….especially our wood burning fireplace, the park down the street and our family walks to Starbucks on Friday mornings.    

Home #2 – And so, because we couldn’t find another home to move into before we needed to be out, we put all of our belongings into a POD and moved into a month-to-month condo with just the bare necessities.  Living in the condo for those couple of months was a really sweet time with a lot of fond memories (besides hauling three dogs up and down three flights of stairs twice daily to let them out).  We loved our view of the skyline that we had from our balcony.  

Home #3 – After a month and a half of my daily Craigslist scouring, we found a home that was available and moved in May.  However, after finding out that we were pregnant and due to have a baby in February, we decided it best to begin the home buying process so we wouldn’t have to move again with a newborn and during wedding season.  We were beyond ready to settle into somewhere for good; into our home.  

Home #4 – We’re here!  We closed on our new home mid-December and have already begun to make some sweet memories (pictures below are Boone’s first night in his big boy bed, making sugar cookies and our annual tradition of sleeping on the living floor for Christmas Eve).

Baby Schultz #2. About a week ago I almost sent out a tweet to proclaim my love of pregnancy and how I would miss it.  And now, I am thankful, as I would be eating those words.  Goodness, things are getting uncomfortable!  We can’t wait to meet this baby girl – we’re hoping she stays put until February when she is due.  🙂

  

News 2012 from The Schultzes on Vimeo.

baby #2 is a… from The Schultzes on Vimeo.

Frank Almost Dies. Our poor Frank.  This summer he ate a rope toy, which got stuck and required surgery for removal (not to mention, a foot of his intestines were taken out).  Poor old goat has had a hard life; we were so thankful for his full recovery.

Boone Turns 2. Oh, how we love this child.  This August he turned two years old.  On his birthday we celebrated with cake, a few presents and a trip to a local farm where he got to pet lots of animals and even ride a horse for the first time. 

Family/Maternity Pics. We were blessed with the opportunity to have Jenna w/ Red, White and Green Photography take some professional pictures of our family this past November.  To see more, visi
t HERE.

2. Business 2012 was another good year for us business wise.  However, early on in the year we knew we needed to pull back a little to focus on our family life and decided to freeze our bookings for weddings and only shoot what we had scheduled already.  This was especially nice when the fall season came around and we weren’t running ragged trying to keep up with a normally insane time of year.  

Weddings.  2012 brought us 21 beautiful weddings to photograph.  

Babies/Maternity.  When time allowed, I photographed the occasional newborn session.  Here is a preview of little baby Harbor, which will be hitting the blog very soon.  🙂

Studio.  At the end of 2011 we signed a lease for our first-ever out of home studio space.  We got it fully functional in 2012 and really did love it.  However, we ultimately decided it best to move things back home – at least for the next year with a new baby.  

Published.  We are always so honored and grateful to see our work being picked up on blogs and in print.  To see some of our features from the year, you can click HERE if you like.  🙂

Speaking.  This was a lot of fun.  We were asked to give a talk about branding at the 2012 Wedding Photographic Society (WPS) Convention this past summer.  It was our first-ever speaking engagement and hopefully won’t be the last.  

*Let’s just ignore the name spelling error on my nametag.  🙂

3. Travel 2012 brought us to California, Mexico, Chicago, Blowing Rock, Wilmington and Chimney Rock.  We are seriously grateful for these memories.

Boone and I fly to California for a trip to my hometown.

Celebrating our five year anniversary in Mexico.

Parents day and night out in downtown Chicago.

Boone seeing Thomas the Train in Blowing Rock, NC was probably the best moment of his life.

Beach trip to Wilmington.

Long weekend getaway to Asheville, NC with a stop in Chimney Rock.

4. Elevation Church This past September was Geoff’s four year anniversary of working for our great church.  Every year has been a banner year for our church; this year was no exception.

Code Orange Revival.

Code Orange Baptisms (below is probably one of my favorite-ever pictures I’ve shot for our church).

Easter – Seven Mile Miracle.

Night of Worship.

Timeless Christmas.

And there you go.  2012.  🙂