Today I turned 17. A year ago I wrote about my sweet sixteen birthday party. I can’t believe this year has gone by all ready. I don’t know what it is about that small change in digits, but seventeen just seems so much older than sixteen. It’s like I’ve crossed this invisible line between the very end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood. I’ve crossed over to the second-half of my teenage years.

Maybe it seems so different is because I know this is my last birthday I’ll be celebrating at home (at least for the next four years). Or because I know my mom met my dad when she was seventeen. Maybe it’s because I know that while I’m seventeen I’ll graduate high school and go to college.

So much happened in one year. I learned how to drive, I saw NYC for the first time, I took my first newborn, senior, and family pictures, navigated five airports by myself when I flew to CA and back home again all alone, rode a 10 hour train by myself, took both the SAT and ACT, learned stick-shift, got my driver’s license, started shooting in RAW, made some new amazing friends, bought two new lenses, began editing with LR3, saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time, and visited colleges for the first time. All the new experiences gave me new confidence and independence. I learned to break out of my shell quicker, be less shy, have more fun, worry less about what people think of me, and overall try to do my best at following God’s will and trusting him with everything I am.

I’m excited for this next year and all the changes that will happen. I’m excited about the places I’ll go, the people I’ll meet and all the new things I’ll do. I’m excited to see where my photography goes, what I’ll do and how I’ll grow.

And now because I can’t publish a post pictureless…

~Mary Kate