Friends

This weekend I am visiting one of my best friends. ever.  I have talked about Bethany before and here is a picture of us back when!

The night this picture was taken, we went out on the town, stayed up watching movies until 5am, got McDonald's and went to bed at 6am :)

Now we are all grown up, we are both married and.....SHE HAS A BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!! 
Yes, yes, I love my friend, but I cannot wait to meet her adorable, cheek-pinching, (almost) 1 year-old girl :)  So I will be spending 4 wonderful days in Tennessee with Bethany & baby B! So if you see me disappear from the technical world for a few days.....it's all ok!  I will be back!  I have used so many exclamation marks today!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Seth & Becky

As we speak I am eating a mug cookie.  It is glorious and I thank Pinterest for showing me this wonderful treat!  It's like heaven in a mug.

Now onto what this post is really about.  Wait.....were you thinking it was all about mug cookies?  Sorry to disappoint, but this post will be far more glorious than mug cookies :)

Seth and Becky met while studying at Anderson University and after years of being friends, they decided to give a relationship a try.  When Seth proposed, I am sure Becky was thinking....finally!  See, it was almost Easter and the day before, Seth had planted an Easter basket in her closet full of eggs.  Becky found it and thought for sure the ring was in one of these eggs.....so she frantically opened them all, but alas it was just candy.  She was a little disappointed and when she told Seth she found the basket he knew his plan was in place :)  The next day, he recreated their first date and just when Becky thought the day was over.....Seth finally asked her to be his wife :) 
I can't wait for their beautiful wedding this Spring and when they said they wanted to do a snow session I was even more excited!

We started out in Byrum Theater on Anderson University's Campus.  Both of them being music majors, they spent many months preparing for opera's here.

So gorgeous.

They also love literature and poetry.  A lot.  So we stopped by the Library to read some books :)

Seth was dying to peak out from this Shakespeare book!

Are you kidding me with those eyes? 

So gorgeous Becky :)

I have the best clients. ever.  Thanks for working with me guys :)

Bad Dreams

Last night I had a terrible dream.  In this dream we were fostering Chloe, our super adorable dog.  Then a horrible thing happened.  Someone wanted to adopt her!  I was heartbroken.  We had to gather all of her things and take them to her new owner.  And her new owner was a weird older lady who painted pictures of herself in fancy clothes.  So needless to say as Daniel and I had to give away our precious Chloe, I was so devastated.

Then I woke up!  I could never, ever think about having to give Chloe away or put her down.  I am thankful that WE adopted her :)  I mean who could give away this adorable girl??

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! :)

Addictions

What should we do with our days off?  Clean, maybe.  Do dishes, possibly.  Laundry, meh. 

Search Pinterest all day and pin things to re-do in your house......YES!  I am sure most of you have heard of Pinterest and it's a great place to gather creativity for all sorts of things! 

So happy Friday everyone.....AND happy Pinning!  You can find me here on Pinterest :)

Late nights

Staying up late on our computers, watching Netflix and cuddling with Chloe is a normal Tuesday night.  I am determined this year to take more photos of our everyday lives.  I want to be able to look at a picture and remember these normal days.

 

Also.....if you haven't visited my website yet.....you SHOULD!  I am giving out a 30% discount until this Friday!  Just go to my website (www.courtneyhowellphotography.com), click on the contact page, fill out the information and on the subject line put "discounted session".  I will contact the winners on Friday!

Happy Wednesday everyone :)

Parents & Thankfulness

You know those moments when you feel overwhelmingly blessed?  I am so thankful that after all my parents have been through over the years they are still going strong at almost 33 years.  I am thankful that they still aren't afraid to show affection to each other in public.  And in front of my camera :)

Thanks mom & dad for the awesome example you have set for me!

New Beginnings

As I sat in my living room New Years Eve, I kept reading all of my favorite photographers blogs talking about a new year, goals, dreams coming to light, new beginnings.  It made me think.....where am I in all of this?  Shouldn't I be in the same place, making similar goals and aspirations?  The one thing I struggle with is believing that I have the talent to be hired.  Talent that sets me apart.  The talent to be in the mix with all these other very talented people.

So here it goes guys....this year I am going to set myself apart.  I am going to set goals and aspirations. 
I am going to believe in myself.

And since a post isn't the same without a picture, here is a photo of Chloe we took the other night with Daniel's handy iPhone....she was determined to help Daniel with his mixing project :)

Happy New Year everyone :)

Christmas time......was here :)

This year we had an awesome/busy/insane Christmas week!  My parents decided to move the week of Christmas which was....exhausting.  But they are closer to us now which is wonderful :)

Daniel's Brother and his family were in town from Georgia and we couldn't wait to spend time with them.  They have 3 beautiful kids and their middle daughter attached to me right away.  Which I loved!  So I thought I would share a collage of photos from our time together!  Enjoy and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year.  Oh, and one of my favorite gifts this year....a F.R.I.E.N.D.S. coffee mug!