As I sit here on my desktop that I’ve been blogging from since 2011 listening to the same Boyce Avenue songs that I also have been listening since 2011, it sorta feels like nothing has changed. I feel the same inspiration typing over these keys as I have for years. My feelings towards this haven’t changed at all. This little space has become so special to me. If you ever want to hear about the good times, great times or the heartaches, it’s all in the archives of this website.

Reflecting on this year is hard. In a way its been the best one yet, and in a way it’s been the absolute worst one yet. This was the first year in 25 years that I’ve had to walk through it solo without my number 1. My grandmother. Frig it’s hard to write. We lost our girl 1 year ago today. Today is tough. I know for my family we still can’t quite believe it’s still real and that she’s not just a call or visit away. The only person I could ever just completely drop in on any time of the day or night and be greeted with a hot meal, a laugh and a cup of tea and a nap on the couch. The numbers 672-5464 will be with me forever. BLAH. She was so funny and special and I miss her everyday. I hope someday I have a grand daughter that is like a daughter to me. So many days this year were so hard, I lost the first person I’d call with good news or bad. Every time something amazing happened, I was then hit with a quick sadness. She would have loved to be along for all the ups that 2018 had. She was closer than a mother to me, and as much as I miss her, I miss her loving me. She was the best person to talk about love with, her outlook was so funny. I miss hearing about her love to my grandfather and how I should never settle for anything less then being treated like a queen. Lol. She loved that Justin and I are 6 years apart, because her and my Grand dad were too. (If that weren’t the case she would have hated that age gap hahahah) UGH. I miss her so much.

An amazing thing that happened this year was our sweet little pup. Getting him this time last year was so bitter sweet. We were in the midst of loosing my favourite person, and gaining a new member of our family. It just makes him so much more special. I’m so happy they got to meet. Mason has been the best addition we could ever ask for. He is seriously the sweetest dog with an old man/puppy personality. Minus him eating a sock & soft toy, and a couple surgeries, he has been perfect. Lol. I love having a little buddy to work from home with, we love how funny he acts when we blow on his face, how he always gets up to join us when Justin and I are hugging, and how him and Mercy are slowly coming to terms with each other. Lol.

We bought a house!!!!!! It has been so exciting seeing Justin & I’s relationship evolve into more than I could have ever imagined. So much has happened since our first few low key nights in 2016 cooking dinner and getting to know each other. Our relationship has turned into so much fun and the biggest fight we’ve had this year was about Mercy being up on the ledge in our bedroom. Lol. Feeling pretty lucky. I never even thought that painting a few red walls in the condo would lead to us buying our own house to flip. All I can say is that it is so much fun. That’s the only way I can think to describe it, is fun. I’ll never forget the feeling and looking at each other when we got the first official offer on the condo and we both were like, oh my god, it’s happening. So crazy!!! I love working on this house and it’s so rewarding watching all of our visions come to life. I’m sure 2019 is going to be exciting with house news!!! Eeeeee

The business this year blew me away. I have always been set on not taking on projects that don’t fit my brand, or that don’t inspire me, or that just don’t feel right. When you’re a self-employed artist, this might not be the best business approach LOL. But- This year it worked!! I stayed so so true to myself and what I wanted. The quote, “How you spend your days is how you spend your life” Sorta scared the shit out of me once, and it stuck with me ever since. When I thought about a perfect day, it was filled with coffee, dogs, podcasts, hanging in my studio creating. So for 2018 I really tried to make that my reality. I got to work with huge international brands like, Lululemon, Second Cup, McDonalds, Coterie, Cala De Mar Resort, Blanco, and so many more as well as support so many local & Canadian brands like Endy, Oceanstone, Kavuus, Lordon, Grand Bay Home Hardware and the list goes on. It’s so fun that this kind of advertising is part of my job, and it’s so fun combining things I love with my love for photography, painting and creating. This year I’ve added a page to shop my artwork on my blog. I don’t know why it took me this long to add, but it’s here!! Now you can shop all available artwork right here!!

My work life this year has definitely been the most successful yet. I am so excited about the numbers side of the biz this year and honestly I’m pretty damn proud of them. I was pretty hard on myself for the numbers in past years, and had no patience, but I can finally say I’m in a great place. When you’re a self-employed artist, it’s easy to say there’s no money there, but I’ve always been determined that that wasn’t my case. This year I’ve proved it, and I’m excited to beat it in 2019.

Now for goals:

Eat a bit healthier.
Lol. I need to do this, I know I need to do this. Maybe writing it here will help

Celebrate the good things.
So many times, huge accomplishments are recognized with a “congrats!” text, or a comment online. This year I am going to make a conscious effort to intentionally celebrate the accomplishments of myself, and the ones around me. Too often we just quickly move on to the next thing without even taking a minute to take it in.

Make 100k
2019 is the year.

Create an online course.
This has been weighing on me a lot this year and it’s finally coming in 2019. I am still in brainstorm mode but all the information is there. It’s just how to get it to you in an organized, straightforward way. There will be a few courses. Branding: Step by step to creating your brand, building your brand, marketing your brand, and more. The other ones will be Photography: Shooting with your smartphone, beginners guide to photography, taking your photography to the next level, etc. I can’t wait to finally get this out to you guys.

Give back.
I do give back, but this year I want to give back even more. This year I will be making a list of charities to contribute to and giving frequently. I know right now I’m not doing enough. This year I will be going through the steps to qualify Mason as a therapy dog and if he qualifies, we will be making many special visits to the hospital.

Thanks to you for following along this journey for another year. If you have booked a photo shoot, commissioned a painting, liked a post on Instagram or bought anything you’ve seen me talk about, you have no idea the difference you are making. Thank you thank you thank you. I hope you have the best year yet, and I truly appreciate your support.

Cheers to 2018.

Read last year’s post here

xx

Allie