01 January | A New Chapter

It's hard to believe it's 2018. It's harder to believe how much our lives have changed in the past 365 days. I don't have many regrets in life but one of them is not journaling enough. So here we go, better late than never -- a new year and a solid effort to journal again. Honestly, even though I don't think that writing is one of my strong suits and I feel I have quite the limited language, I have always enjoyed having a journal (aka blog). Back in the day, when I first started photography, there were the pressures of saying it right and creating marketable, inspiring, creativity-related content, but those pressures are long gone for me. If you like it, please visit regularly; if not, feel free to click away. One thing I have sworn to, is to be very honest and real, as I don't feel we have enough of that online, especially with today's social media.

So where am I now?
Where are we now? 

Last year, we moved back to America from three years in Japan -- and God, I miss Japan. God, I miss the traveling. i know that one day we will be back to traveling regularly again, hopefully via sailboat, but life is different now and this difference, this new, is something to be embraced, just like all the other relocations. 

Between Japan and America, the kids and I had the ridiculously awesome opportunity to travel Europe for three months, thanks to my husband, who does his best to support my wild and crazy dreams. In July, we finally made it to Williamsburg, Virginia, where we experienced some reverse culture shock, for sure.

So here we are, in Williamsburg, for the next six or so years. After relocating every two-to-three years for the past TWENTY-FIVE years, living in one place is quite the strange feeling, one that I'm still striving to settle into and fully grasp. Is this the time that I will finally consider a place "home"? I'm not so sure, but we will see as time progresses. 

My kids are older (the baby just turned 13 --yikes!) and it has me a bit floundering with my photography. I don't want to say that it was easy when they were little, but it kind of was. I remember long ago when my babies were still relatively babies, my friend, Aline Smithson, said, make sure you're photographing other stuff besides your children because one day, they won't be around every day to photograph. Hard to believe but I am pretty much at that place in life NOW; it seems like just yesterday my kids were little and her words were ringing in my ear. With being back to public school and now involved deeply in rowing and swimming, I barely see my kids on the weekdays. I also am now *that* parent that seems to be driving my children here, there, and everywhere, but you know what -- that is okay with me because they have relocated every two-to-three years their entire lives and if they want to dive deep into sports and are loving it, I will be there and fully support them. This is their time to shine. I've always looked at my life as having chapters and this time, it's their chapter.

And so I will do my best to continue to authentically and regularly share this new chapter, as we settle into our new norms of life in Williamsburg.