Wow, trying to find a word that started with J (you know, for the January alliteration) that also meant “relaxing” was nearly impossible. I just spent an embarrassingly long time trying to come up with the perfect word!

Anyway…. 😀

I am admittedly a workaholic, and not in a good way. I spend way too many hours at my desk. I’m obsessive and it’s not healthy. If I’m not working, I feel guilt.  It’s a self-employment thing. I know that because I hear many other self employed people saying the exact same thing.

After putting together that year-end slideshow, it was crystal clear; we needed to take January a bit slower.  You know… work on the house, go on dates, hang with friends, lounge on the couch, and cook real dinners; all the while completely guilt-free! While we definitely did work a bit, it was at a much slower pace. 🙂 …and it was awesome!

By the way, those are all from my Instagram feed. 🙂  They’re in chronological order, starting January 1st. Expect more images like those in the coming months. 😀

Much love to you friends!

~Bobbi

PS. if you’d like to follow my Instragram feed, my handle is “bobbiandmike” 😀

Our year.

Images from our point and shoot, our DSLR, Facebook tags and both of our iPhones.

(If for some reason the slideshow below isn’t showing up for you, refresh this browser window)

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2011 in a nutshell

(in parenthesis, where we traveled)

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January – Mike’s family in Indianapolis  •  Published in Rangefinder Magazine  •  RAIN, Beatles cover band concert

February – Made an offer on a gorgeous old house  •  Withdrew offer after it failed inspection miserably   •  WPPI Speakers  •  The Bobbi Shop announcement  •  (Las Vegas, Nev.)

March – One wedding  •  Family vacation  •  The Bobbi Shop release  •  Found an awesome newer house that wasn’t ready to fall over (Marathon, Fla  •  Treasure Island, Fla.)

April – Friend slumber party • Closed on our first home  •  Three bbmk workshops  •  Moved  •  Road trip for Maya Angelou  •  (West Virginia)

May – Two weddings  •  Traded in my VW Beetle  •  Replace it with a 2008 Volvo S40  •  (Merrillville, Ind.  •  Chicago, Ill. •  Cincinnatio, Ohio  •  St Louis, Mo.)

June – Three weddings  •  Tornado wedding  •  Mom in hospital  •  Surprise birthday trip  •  Turned 30  •  Surprise birthday party  •  Another healthy train finale  •  (Kokomo, Ind.  •  New York City, NY  •  Chicago  •  Gainesville, Fla.)

July – Three weddings  •  4th of July Party  •  Rapid-fire sessions  •  Air Conditioner stopped running, holy hot 90° tamales Batman!  •  (Terre Haute, Ind.  •  Bedford, Ind.  •  Bloomington, Ind.)

August – Three weddings  •  full Air Conditioner replacement  •  Paul McCartney with mom  •  St Louis Shot Party Speakers  •  Mom starts college  •  Mike’s 31st Birthday  •  Ms Pacman console table  •  (Bloomington, Ind.  •  Cincinnati, Ohio  •  St. Louis, Mo.  •  Chicago, Ill.)

September – Four weddings  •  Labor Day with family  •  goddaughter August Rose turned 1  •  (Fort Wayne, Ind.  •  Toledo, Ohio.  •  Batimore, Md.  •  Grand Rapids, Mich.)

October – Two weddings  •  8-Year Anniversary Mini Vacation  •  Rapid-fire sessions  •  Repainted house  •  (Sacramento, Calif.  •  Yosemite National Park, Calif.  •  San Francisco, Calif. •  St. Louis, Mo.)

November – Her Conference Speaker  •  Two bbmk Workshops  •  Thanksgiving crab legs feast with friends  •  Surprised Kansas City family on Thanksgiving  •  (Grand Rapids, Mich.  •  Kansas City, Mo.)

December – Mike & Dad Vacation  •  Holiday card  •  Christmas with Mom  •  Christmas with our friend-family, AKA Framily  •  Christmas with Mike’s family  •  2nd Annual Get Fancy New Year’s Eve Party  •  (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.)

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1 bobbi  •  1 mike

10 states  •  28 cities

18 weddings  •  dozens of sessions

5 workshops  •  3 speaking engagements

375 Bobbi Shop templates

and 1 perfecto house!

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WHAT A YEAR WE HAD! …a year full of lots of highs and a few lows… a year that was both exciting and exhausting… a year that we will never ever forget!

We have the most incredible friends and families that greatly contribute to making our lives what they are.

Thank you. Everyone…

Much love,

bobbi+mike ❗ + ❓

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For those who are new to the bbmk blog this year… I’d like to formally introduce you all to our holiday card! We’ve been creating these since 2003, the year we got married. That year the card read, “Married Christmas!” I know… OH so witty! 😉 We’ve been trying to turn the creativity notch up every year since then.

So, before I show you 2011’s card, let’s make a quick trip down memory lane… here are the last three years…
My personal favorite. I thought we’d never top this.  This was the first year I altered the bobbi+mike logo on the back to match the theme. I’ve been doing it since. 🙂

Mike’s all-time favorite… our Awkward Family Photo. 😀

Without further ado… Our holiday card, 2011! 😀…the year that our holiday card almost caused an accident!  You see, we were shooting in front of our home (self timer style) when a gawker swerved into the oncoming lane… SCREEEECH, HONNNNNNNNK, WHOA!!!!!!!

Though, if I had seen this scene happening I’d probably stare too… ESPECIALLY with me running back and forth in a dress that was WAY too long (I fell twice!), while a reflector hoisted to a light stand kept flying away (it was SOOOO windy)! If only we’d had video of this. I’m telling you we looked like a live British comedy show!

Oh, by the way… many people said that they thought we looked super skinny… it’s an illusion.  I stretched the photo so that it looked more like the original. 😉

Merry Everything friends! 🙂

Much love,

~bobbi+mike