Year In Review: 2021
I’ll probably be the 85th person who’s said this to you this year but… 2021 has been both 2 months and 10 years long all at once. I can’t comprehend all that’s happened this year and how we are still managing to cope with a pandemic still happening. Whew. Last year I felt the need to write a “year in review” covering the highs and lows of 2020 (it was quite the task to sit down to write about that doozy of a year.) I didn’t write it to show off my accomplishments, how much money I made, or any of the showy things. I put it together for myself to serve as a way to reflect on the year, to remember the big and little moments, and acknowledge why some things stood out more than others when remembering all that happened in a year’s time.
So I’m back with another year in review, 2021 style! I like to think of this more as a stream of conscious life update to anyone who’s interested. It reminds me of the holiday update letters my family would receive that were accompanied by a cute and/or clever photo, typically delivered by relative or family friend who had their shit together enough to write out a whole letter and get it out before Christmas.
Even in virtual form, I am not that on top of it, and I take full ownership of that. So, here is my holiday letter, my 2021 year update, with all the life events both big and small first–season by season–and scroll to the bottom for my 2021 session highlights!
Consider this my little holiday letter life update!
WINTER
I entered 2021 with a certain kind of cautious optimism. The past year had been something else, and I was hopeful that the upcoming year was bound to be an improvement. And in many ways it was.
I did finally ditch my 2006 coupe that I had been driving all over the midwest since 2012 and got a new vehicle! I also was able to book several rooftop dance sessions throughout the winter months, and had incredible clients who handled the weather like champs. When the cold was too much to handle, I was able to shoot some awesome indoor sessions as well. Check out Izzy’s rooftop session, Jordan’s rooftop session, and Mallory’s studio yoga session.
Late January through mid February brought frigid cold and blizzard-like weather to the midwest. It was a period of spending time cozied up indoors. During this time, Dave and I got creative and set up a workout “gym” space in the basement of our space to encourage working out and dug out some old Insanity videos to motivate us. We tapped into our creative sides even deeper with puzzles, games, and even a couple indie video games that we got on sale over the holidays. I got into embroidering as a deep focus activity and focused on the backend of my business.
Rehearsals for Ashleyliane Dance Company were going strong, were still distanced and masked, and performances were all virtual throughout the season.
A fun winter highlight for me was impulsively getting out one snowy afternoon with my camera and took some “advanced selfies” aka self portraits. I haven’t given myself much time to explore self portraiture, and when I have, I have not been pleased with the results, so the fact that I enjoyed how these turned out was a big moment for me.
Part of Dave’s Christmas gift to me was a date night in from a fancy restaurant in town. They, as so many of us did, had to pivot during the pandemic and started doing “Cottage to Carriage.” Stone Soup Cottage provided a three course meal accompanied by a bottle of wine to pair with the meal, and the chef/owner himself dropped off the meal to our doorstep! We cleaned up our living space, hung twinkling lights, put on a record, and set the scene as if we had our own room at a nice restaurant.
SPRING
The weather turned, flowers began to bloom, and St. Louis was colorful! We were able to schedule our Covid vaccinations and ensure that our families and loved ones did so too. The world felt so hopeful.
I was able to work with some awesome creatives on shoots, one of my favorites being my friend Dom, who released an album this year. We created some images to use for promotion and for his Spotify artist profile - check out his website here at Dom L’Amour and on Spotify.
We were also able to do some mini adventures, road tripping to Johnson Shut Ins and Elephant Rock, and camped out at Klondike Park. It’s always nice to be reminded that sometimes you don’t have to travel far to find beautiful places to explore.
This spring I had a pretty full schedule with rehearsals, colorful spring shoots, and created my first ever Lumosco workshop! I launched “Dance for Photography Basics” in March and was able to do my first workshop over Zoom with my alma mater, for the conservatory students at Southeast Missouri State. Later in the year, I was able to take the workshop to the suburbs of Chicago to teach young, studio-aged students about the basics of getting in front of the camera as a dancer.
I traveled to Cape Girardeau, MO a few weeks after my virtual workshop with the SEMO students for some mini sessions for those who wanted to apply what they learned from the workshop. They absolutely killed it and now have some quality dance shots for their portfolios before graduating!
In April, some of my very best friends and I took a long-awaited trip to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. It took a lot of planning to get four of us from St. Louis, one from Atlanta, and one from New Jersey all in the same place (and safely!) Luckily, we had all just been vaccinated and had backup plans in case of emergencies or exposure, and we all stayed healthy throughout the trip. We stayed in an Airbnb with an insane view from just about every place in the house. We didn’t leave the house the whole weekend and simply stayed in, played games, caught up, cooked food and made cocktails, and enjoyed being reunited.
In May, I taught a one day workshop in Columbia, IL to help musical theatre students with performance through their dancing and focus primarily on expression and personality over learning steps. It is always a blast working with MT kids, as they bring a big, full energy to the space.
Dave and I took a trip to Chicago, where I was a bridesmaid in a dear friend’s wedding. It was my first time back in Chicago since I moved in August 2020! That same weekend, Joey had his 10th birthday! Double digits, we truly cannot believe it.
Workshops, zoom classes, more virtual performances and rehearsals
SUMMER
By the time summer rolled around, our schedule was moderately packed. I will say, it felt nice to finally have things to look forward to again!
ADC had our final concert of the season and it was part in person.. FINALLY! It was my first live performance since November 2019. We were elated to have a live audience and have that energy to feed of off. The show was an impactful piece about environmental social justice that we performed the first act outdoors and the second act indoors. There was also a virtual aspect to the show, two full length works, reimagined and also about climate change and humans’ effect on the environment.
I was able to spend lots of outdoor time, at local parks, hanging in our hammock, hiking, visiting the zoo and other awesome free activities St. Louis has to offer, going on a fun float trip with friends, and lots of swimming.
In June, the three of us went on a beach vacation to Myrtle Beach. There were many firsts for Joey on this trip: first time on an airplane, first time seeing the ocean, and first time ever watching the sun rise! We thoroughly enjoyed our first beach trip together. We did a dolphin cruise (where we got splashed a lot!), explored different parks and beaches, and lounged near the water.
We enjoyed lots of adventures, both big and small this summer. Joey continued to work hard at karate, doing tournaments and leveling up in his belt status. We are so proud of him. We endured some crazy Missouri weather, visited with friends from out of town and in town, and when we weren’t outside, we had fun making crafts and artwork. We went on a quick road trip to Lake Erie in Ohio, an annual trip that Dave’s family takes and there we rode seadoos, swam in the lake, and paddle boarded. Joey’s last week of summer went out with a bang by going to rock climbing camp before going back to school. He absolutely loves rock climbing now, which is just so fun to see!
In July, my good friend Leshay brought together an awesome tribe of gals to celebrate her bachelorette weekend in Chicago. She decided on having a circus themed party, Cirque DuLeshay hehe. We had a blast dressing up in theme, doing a Lake Michigan boat cruise and skyline view hangs in the water, as well as romping around my old stomping grounds while visiting with old friends and meeting a few new ones too.
…Then the following weekend, went back to Chicago for a weeklong trip full of shoots, workshops, and being back in my second home, culminating my week visit with another dear friend’s wedding.
We closed out the summer and began the fall with a weekend trip to southern California to celebrate my cousin and her husband’s wedding and visit my family.
FALL
Fall for me was a time of slowing down a bit after a full summer. It was nice to have some weekend time available to hang out with my family and do some fun outdoor activities. We went apple picking, carved pumpkins, wandered around town, went on some hikes, and enjoyed some lovely fall days and nights.
I kept busy with rehearsals with ADC for various festivals and our fall concert. It was a great show with a vast variety of dance for every pallet. With it being a fully in person performance, I finally felt alive again with my dancing in finding choices in movement, finessing choreography, and diving deeper into each piece. There were so many loved ones who showed up for me and I want to thank them all truly for all the love and support.
I did a soft launch on a new type of session that I now offer on request, Simple Sessions! I created these sessions in lieu of doing 'mini sessions’ this year. Mini sessions are typical for photographers to do in the fall, before all the holiday hubbub and are back to back to back sessions (normally 15-20 minutes) all on one day or even a whole weekend. This fall, I did not have a single weekend day that I was available all day to even remotely make this happen. But I did want to offer anyone who was wanting holiday cards, updated photos of themselves, or simply wanted photos taken but felt overwhelmed by a longer session and lots of planning to have photos. Thus, the Simple Session! The launch went great and the sessions are now available on request all year round.
At the end of October, Dave and I celebrated our birthdays (Dave’s 30th!) on a more low-key level with our families, each other, and a few friends. I also had the pleasure (and thrill) to shoot for an article in Missouri Life magazine for the St. Charles annual “Pumpkin Drop”! It was a crazy and unique experience. I got to fly as a passenger in a tiny aircraft and capture the writer of the article tossing a pumpkin out of the window of a plane. It was truly a random and exciting experience!
As December rolled on in, I started limiting my bookings for the winter to really hunker down, enjoy the holiday season, and focus on myself, Dave and Joey, and my business. I have found that taking breaks, allowing myself rest, and taking time away from the work as a whole has already done so much for my business and I feel so refreshed by taking this time.
As 2021 comes to a close, I feel grateful and content with the year I have had. It has been another uncertain and rocky one, no doubt, but at the end of the day I feel so much support and encouragement from my community. If you’re reading this, I am certain that you are one of those incredible people.
Dave, Joey, and I wish you a healthy and happy holiday season. I cannot wait to see what is in store of 2022.
THE 2021 SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
Dance and movement sessions
Portraits and creative sessions
Summer branding session with Lost Hill Lake Glamping and Events
Family sessions
Couples, engagements, and weddings
Thank you to all of my amazing clients! Each of you was such an honor to work with and to hear your stories. Lumosco would not be anything without you.