{Image of an unspoilt beach on the west coast of Sri Lanka: I kind of like the blank canvas feel of this image….it feels like a starting the year kind of metaphor….}

So new year ends and a new one begins….and it’s a natural point of renewal and reflection. I don’t make new years resolutions as such, but take the opportunity to reflect back over the past year and acknowledge my successes and personal achievements. It can be so easy to always look forward, I believe that to acknowledge and celebrate your past and successes is as important as it is to make plans. Like the act of photographing, it is sometimes only through freezing a moment in time that we are fully able to feel it. To reflect upon it, to acknowledge and appreciate it.

2012 was in many ways a challenging year for me, as I know it was for lots of others (apparently it’s all in the stars according to astrology experts…) but it wasn’t without it’s joys and successes and new discoveries. Oh – and travel of course. Lots of travel. Besides shuttling between the UK & Ibiza throughout the year, I also visited California – Joshua Tree, the Big Sur, Palm Springs, LA; Valencia, Formentera, Paris, the South of France, Sri Lanka and finally on the last day of the year, India. Some of it was pleasure but most of it was work, and all the more exciting for it. It’s going to be a tour around the world on the blog this Spring.

We sold one home in London, and bought another, and in the process signed up to a whole new lifestyle….a whole ton of decluttering, simplifying and streamlining how we live. The Man & I did our first full renovation together (I chose the flat, he designed, he project managed, and I furnished/styled). The flat is almost finished and it looks beautiful & is becoming a source of pride and joy rather than stresses and workmen… ;-). Not context with designing and creating one kitchen in a year, we went on to do a second just before Christmas. Like all good building projects it ran a teensy bit behind and consequently Christmas dinner only just came together in a half finished kitchen. Definitely a learning experience (not a lesson I wish to repeat in 2013!).

I discovered Paleo, and found it in a way of eating that is delicious, sustainable, and effective. Out went the rice, pasta, bread, sugar…. in came tons of fresh fish, chicken, coconut products and vegetables. And pancakes: lots of pancakes (I am the unofficial Paleo Pancake Queen). When eating out I still eat what I want, but even that has subtly changed…and I no longer need lots of carbs to feel full (note to brides dieting for the big day: this is like a non-diet diet and it works!). I trained intensely for the wedding day with a personal trainer (it was worth it brides-to-be!) and in the autumn I started Pilates. I miss my beloved yoga classes in London, and have yet to find a good teacher in Ibiza anywhere near where I live but I hold out hope. I converted a bathroom to a darkroom (which currently sits somewhere between the two but functions as neither…!) and saw my gorgeous bulldog’s health go from strength to strength after a rocky first year, assisted by our amazing housesitter/petsitter Lorraine. Lorraine, along with my assistants, and our cleaners brings some order to our crazy, at times, hectic lives, and I am so grateful to them all for their help & support.

Probably the most significant achievement of all was our wedding, and hopefully in years to come our marriage will also rate as one of our greatest successes. Like all good things it will take hard work, patience and effort, but the love is the greatest thing of all and to celebrate and honour love is right at the heart of what I do.

Things I am loving this month:

1. This amazing house (tipped off by the Reverie girls). Apparently it’s one of my husband’s favourite houses ever. And also apparently you can stay in it. Um, yes please!

2. Fiona Rae’s new exhibition at the Timothy Taylor Gallery in London… the gallery very kindly allowed me to sneak in whilst they were hanging the exhibition and I was blown away…utterly magical, vital and expressive.

3. Julia Hetta’s amazing fashion & portrait photography…elegant, still, refined and so beautifully constructed.

4. Being back at work! Woo hoo! I love what I do and believe it or not I sometimes miss it when I am away….it feels great to be back and I am so excited about all of the weddings I will be photographing this year….and the ones I have yet to share that I photographed over the past year. Here’s to sharing the love!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year. May 2013 be a magical and happy year filled with your own successes, joy and love xx