2015 a year in a review – part 2

After the best of and behind the scenes post I can present you today the second post reviewing 2015.

Where 2012 was the year of saying good bye and making new friends, 2013 was the year of arriving home and traveling at the same time. 2014 was the year of finding new roots and starting to dream big. 2015 was the year of realizing a big dream and building a new business and the year where Conrad asked me to marry him.

So here it goes again my top-10 2015

So here is my top 10 experience list of 2015

Most challenging

2015 has been totally under control of our biggest wedding season ever and building up a second business at the same time. I guess this time was the biggest challenge for us in 2015.

Most exciting thing I did in 2015

Most exciting for 2015 was our „The French Experience“ workshop in October in a chateau in France together with my friend Anouschka Rokebrand, yes I can definitely say that this was the most exciting event of the year: speaking in front of a group of photographers, teaching business and photography and mentoring our students was such a lovely experience that I don’t want to miss this year.

Biggest inspiration  and best books in 2015

As for this year I didn’t only need inspiration for photography but also and mostly on how to grow and build a business there are a few different sources of inspiration:

The Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful + Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms

Get Rich, Lucky Bitch!: Release Your Money Blocks and Live a First Class Life

Melody Gardot – Her songs just truly speak to my heart….

The FPA and FEA – one association for Female Photographers and one for Female Entrepreneurs

Most emotional moment in 2015

Conrad proposing to me on his birthday under the Eiffel Towel – so us, so unique and definitely an unforgettable moment for our lives.

New technology in 2015

Apple TV – I just love video on demand!

Biggest laugh in 2015

Looking back I think we laughed a lot this year. Luckily. Because without laughing the world would just be too sad. But I remember one movie that we both watched where we just couldn’t stop laughing: Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au Bon Dieu?I just love sarcasm and French movies, perfect combination.

I am grateful for

It is clichee but classic – I am grateful for my family and friends, I am grateful for Conrad by my side living towards our shared dreams. I am grateful for everybody who believed in us and for everybody who made this big and scary dream for building up a webshop out of nothing true. I am grateful for dinner evenings with Conrad or with my parents where we just get to talk about life, work and everything in between. I am grateful for good red wine, because sometimes everything you need is just a fine glass of red wine and a table to put your feet on. I am grateful for everybody who keeps following my blog, though the frequency of posts decreased this year. I am grateful for each and every client, for weddings for monograms, for mentoring and for marketing templates – thank you for trusting us.

Favorite Quote 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-Mark Twain

Best movie I watched in 2015

Für immer Adaline (Forever Adaline)

Die Entdeckung der Unendlichkeit (The Theory of everything)

Best food I had in 2015

Since January we take a few times off every now and then to head to the see and get a fresh mind. There we found this fantastic small tapas restaurant Casa Paloma and I just love their small tapas and Spanish food combined with a super cute interior. You feel like sitting in a backyard in Spain – so worth it.

Resolutions for 2016 besides living healthy, loosing weight and stop smoking (wait I don’t smoke…)

I read through my top 10 post for 2015 and I want to quote my answer to this question last year:

„My resolutions all come down to one word for 2015: authenticity. I think it is the most important word that describes our style of photography and I want to take this word for 2015 for every step of my life and business.“

Looking back this was exactly what 2015 was all about the authenticity of work and of living.

Thinking about it for a while now and looking at all the projects ahead of us (there are going to be some moving houses, growing a store, a new wedding season with lovely couples  our own wedding (!!!) and a taking the shop to the next level… and a lot more….) I say that it all comes down to one word for 2016: intentional. I need to be and feel intentional with all the decisions and to-dos ahead of me to live an intentional life without loosing my authenticity. If this makes sense at all…