Husband of the Year

I'm not gonna lie, this week has been pretty rough.  So that's why my husband wins the husband of the year award yesterday :] 

 I came home to this....

My wonderful husband fixing dinner!  I thank the Lord everyday for preparing this man for me.  For bringing us together.  For supplying me with a husband who knows just what I need to feel better, to feel loved.

Thank you Daniel.  Thank you for being my companion for life.  Thank you for loving me even when I don't deserve it.

Children Portraits: Randall Family

The Randall kids are crazy.  I mean absolutely loony.  But that is what I absolutely LOVE about these kids :)  They aren't afraid to be kids.  They aren't afraid to go into a dead sprint in the middle of the woods.  They love being free.  I am so excited to show you these kids (and I was sneaky and got mom in there too!) because I have known them for a while.  I used to work with Beth, and even though I haven't been around every day, I have witnessed them grow up in just a few short years.  Beth is an awesome mother to her children and I hope I was able to capture their spirits and I hope these are images she will cherish forever.

so without further ado...here are Anna, Gus & Oliver! :)

Since these kids are so crazy, I am surprised I got them all to sit down and smile all at once!!

 Here is Anna....isn't she beautiful with her cute little freckles?  This reminds me of myself when I was her age.

Oliver!

 And of course the handsome Gus :)



Anna is so pretty.  She was so hilarious when we were trying to get her to do her serious face!  I was laughing so hard I could barely take the picture :)

Gus was getting a little tired of the picture taking, so I let him take a break to have a star wars battle with Oliver :)

Oliver is such a ham for the camera!  He was doing all kinds of poses!  I loved working with him.

One of my favorite photos.  If you know this family then you know that laughter is the glue that holds them together.  They love to laugh--that's why this picture is a perfect reflection of these two :)

Whoa!  Gus is working it here!  He wasn't a fan of pictures (and what boy his age is...am I right?) so I had to get really creative.  But look at him here--what a heart breaker :)



Finally got mom in the picture!

Ok, so I know this isn't the traditional picture, but I just HAD to post this!  This is soooo them :)  I mean, come on...Gus is over there shooting me, Anna is just so over it, and Oliver is trying to climb the wheel whilst mom is begging him to stand still.  Priceless :)

I told you he was a ham!



So the kids one request was....to throw leaves.  I think on the way there they asked me about 3 times.  Then, once we got there, Anna stopped me and whispered in my ear....."Don't forget to let us throw leaves!!!!!"  So I couldn't disappoint them!

I will leave you with their last request.

This is reminds me what childhood is like.  Free, fun, carefree.  Oh to be a child again!

Thank you Randall family for letting me be apart of your crazy life!  Can't wait until Christmas to come help decorate your tree & to have some of your amazing grilled cheese!!! :)

Catching up...

Hello Internet! :)  It has been a while, hasn't it?  Well, I can tell you things have been quite hectic around my neck of the woods lately!  Between the new addition to the family and trying to keep our house clean, and cooking and the group--yikes!  Needless to say, I am emotionally and physically exhausted.

Thankfully, TDQ (The Disciples Quartet) is slowing down for the next couple of months since it's holiday season.  The house work will never dwindle down because, well, it's house work and since I don't see dust or dirty dishes becoming invisible anytime soon....the house work will continue!  But Chloe is a whole story within herself.  Since we got her from a rescue, she has a whole past life of abuse (she came from a puppy mill) that we have to correct.  So we just have to be patient and wait for her to trust & love us.  So in the mean time, we are giving her alllll the love that we can possibly give! :)

I do have an awesome announcement!  I finally have gotten my own camera!!!! :)  Wait.....now that I am typing this....have I mentioned this already??  Oh well if I did, it is still exciting!  I am so excited to start using it as soon as possible.  I have a really fun shoot plan for next weekend and I know that it will be put to good use.

I don't want to make this post all negative or depressing...but I just need to be honest with you guys.  You know when you are in the in between stages in your life? In between your worst nightmare and your future dreams?  I guess that is where I am right now and I would appreciate prayer.  I have such a passion for photography and I can't wait until I can get more clients and really dive into this profession.  But until then, I am stuck in a place where my dreams are just......dreams. 

But I am so thankful for my family and friends who support this dream that I have and who encourage me daily that I can do this.  That I can succeed.  That I can take people's love & emotions and show that through my camera lens.

And a post wouldn't be a post without a picture.  So here is one of our precious Chloe :)

Featured....Kind of :)

So This summer I had lots of opportunities to capture my sister's dogs swimming and jumping into my parents awesome pool.  We had a great time playing with Atlanta (just 1 of my sisters sweet & awesome dogs) and watching her jump in for her toys :)  I always love when Jennifer & Robyn come over and swim--we always have a great time and Jennifer always complains that I lay in the sun too much and don't play with her in the pool enough!

So anyway, I captured some awesome photos of Atlanta jumping in the water and Robyn decided to submit one into this dog magazine called The Bark.  They feature readers dogs pictures on the website just for fun! :)  So she submitted my photo, and they picked it to feature on the website!  How fun!

So here is one of my favorite pictures of Atlanta for you.  Then click on this link to see the featured picture in the magazine! :)

Stay tuned for a family portrait session coming soon! 



New Addition to the Family!

So Daniel and I have a annoucement to make.....we have a dog! :)  We went over to a rescue in Ohio to pick her up on Sunday and we have been loving every minute with her!  Her name is Chloe and she is a 5 year old toy poodle. They rescued her from a puppy mill earlier this summer.  So Daniel and I can't wait to give her all the love she deserves :)

Without further ado.....meet Chloe!

Stay tuned for lots more post about this cute little girl!

I've Been Tagged!

Watch out my Blogging friends--you may be next! :)

If you haven't heard about a question blog hop before, thats ok--because I haven't either! The awesome Kara from Life Thus Far (Check it out!  She is awesome!) tagged me to answer a few questions about myself, and in turn I will tag some of my blogging friends :)

Here are the questions Miss Kara thought up for me!

1) What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?Man, this is a hard one.  I think it would be to become a solo Christian Artist!  I love to sing in our group (The Disciples Quartet) with all of the guys, but the truth is I absolutely HATE singing solos!!  It is so nervewrecking for me!  But I would really love to be comfortable with my own voice so that I could have my own tour around the world.  I have a strong passion to share my story and help uplift the young women around the US.

2) If you were stranded on an island with only one replenishing food source, what would it be? Note: it doesn't have to be logical or grow on a tree.
Wow.  It would have to be chocolate preztels.  I know that sounds so strange, but I have a good reason--I promise!  You know how when you eat something salty and then you want something sweet?  Or when you eat something sweet you want something salty?  Well, if I had cholocate pretzels I would always have something sweet & salty!!  :)  Am I crazy? Don't answer that....

3) What do you like about where you live?
It's a college town!  So pretty much anything I need is within a 15 minute drive :)  Marshalls, SHOE CARNIVAL!, Walmart, Lowes, pretty much any sit down resturant, Kroger, Meijer...the list goes on :)

4) What crazy activities do you dream of trying one day?
I had to think on this one for a while.  i don't ever think about doing crazy things?!  I would say either taking a helicopter ride or skydiving.

5)If you could have a luncheon with any three people (real or fiction / from any time period / dead or alive), which three people would you choose and why?
This is a hard one too!  There are so many people to choose from!  It would have to be my friend Erica Dorsey, my Mammaw (she passed away when I was a young teenager), and Beth Moore

6) What is your idea of fun? If given a choice to skip work for a day, how would you spend the entire day?
I would spend it with my husband!!!!!!  We would take a trip to some mountain trails, get lost and walk for miles and then spend the night in a HUGE cabin on top of a mountain with this view :)

Wow!  Those were some challenging questions for me!  I hope you guys learned a little more about who I am...and hopefully that doesn't scare you away :)

Now I want to hear from MY fellow blogging friends!  Here is who I have tagged:

Tara Howell

Brooke McClain from McClain Family Blog (Missonaries in Costa Rica)


Here are your questions:
1) What is the best vacation you’ve ever had in your life?
2) What is your most cherished childhood memory?
3) If given a complete freedom to start afresh, what profession would you choose and why?
4) What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
5) if you could retire anywhere (money is no object here) where would you go?

Can't wait to hear your answers! :)

Nathan & Sessily: Engagement

This past weekend I had to awesome privilege of capturing the love between this amazing couple.  These two are possibly the cutest couple I have seen. ever.  What's funny is that when they first met, they didn't fall madly in love.  Actually, Sessily didn't like Nathan at all!  Doesn't it always seem to work out that way?  But of course with Nathan's charm and good looks (oh you will experience these in a minute!) he won Sessily over :)  Let's just take a look at this gorgeous couple!  These guys could be models, I swear.  Sessily, if the Nursing degree doesn't work out.....you totally have something to back you up :)

 Nathan totally worked it the whole time.  See what I mean about his handsomeness????

 Are you kidding me with this?  They know how to work the camera :)

 They love to kiss and they love to laugh.  I love how smitten they are with each other :)

 This is one of my favorites :) 

Wow Sessily, you are so gorgeous. 

I will end with our little trip to the ice cream shop :)  This is actually the place where Nathan & Sessily had their first date!  Of course I was all over getting some chocolate ice cream!

Nathan & Sessily, thank you so much for letting me be apart of this season of your lives!  I pray for years of happiness and joy for you both :)

A mother's love.

You know how moms are.  They are always wanting to know how your life is.  How was my recipe you fixed, how are those pants I hemmed for you, when are you giving me grandchildren--you know, normal mom things.  And a lot of people are annoyed by their mom at my age and younger.  But since I have been married, do you know what I have realized?  MY MOM HAS ALWAYS BEEN RIGHT.  What is with that? Why are mom's always right and why didn't I listen to her sooner? 

My mom has always taken care of me, even when I didn't (don't) deserve it.  She constantly wants to make sure that I am living my life for the Lord and keeping me in check when I become selfish.  But one of the best things about my mom?  She makes me gifts all the time.  Not BUYS gifts, makes them :)  She has no idea, but these are the best gifts ever for me.  She makes these wreaths that would put Hobby Lobby out of business!

So I thought I would share her latest creation with you :)  She made me a fall wreath for our front door!

So all of this to say....thank you mom.  Thank you for loving me.  Thank you for teaching me how to be selfless.  Thank you for being a mother and friend. 

Adam & Natalie: Engagement

So this week I had the privilege of doing a engagement session with Adam & Natalie.  Adam just happens to be my brother-in-law (a.k.a. Daniel's twin brother).  So this was a fun shoot for me :)  They were a little nervous starting out (and to be honest, so was I...) but we got some really good shots and I feel like I was able to capture their "essence" perfectly.

See, if you know them, you know that they both have a passion to love each other unconditionally.  They are always smiling at each other, kissing each other and hugging each other.  They truly love one another and it is a beautiful thing to witness.  So that is what I wanted to capture about these two--their undeniable love.

And BAM look at that bling :)

Another thing about Adam & Natalie, they love games.  Any kind of game,  Board game, card game...you get the gist :)  So I had them bring along their favorite game for them to play so they could have a little fun

Gorgeous :)

Thank you Adam & Natalie for letting me capture these moments for you!