Nashvillian things

Happy Sunday to you - I am going to have to go back to work to recover from this weekend, but it has been a blast. I headed up to Nashville Saturday morning and hung out with my friend, Christi, all day. We went to a spa. I've never been much of a spa person...I don't know why, because it's fabulous. But let me tell you - if you have never had your feet dipped in paraffin wax, this is a must-do. I've had pedicures but never one that lasted this long. It was heaven. And I had my 1st facial...which could be a story for Today's Laugh. I would doze off during the facial, but when she pressed her fingers against the sides of my nose, it cut off my air supply - therefore, waking me up! It was hilarious. Hanging out with Christi is always a riot too. She's the type of friend who makes you feel so funny, because she laughs at everything you say. We have the most fun together.

I also shot some engagement pictures of Michael and Mary today in downtown Nashville. I worked with Michael at a restaurant when I lived up there. We always had the most fun working the counter. Anytime a margarita order would come up, we'd have our own little fiesta - yayayaya eeee!! I finally learned how to roll my R's. Anyway, I met Mary there too, b/c she would come to hang out. I love them both - they are so much fun and such great people. I was honored when they asked me to shoot their wedding in June in Cleveland, Tennessee. Here's a single pic from today that I like. I haven't finished editing them but thought I'd post one...

Laura Gail & Steve at Independent Presbyterian in Birmingham

Hello friends and neighbors. Today's post is dedicated to one of my dearest friends, Laura Gail, who married Steve last Saturday here in Birmingham. I met LG back in 2004 through a small group at our church. And she's had an amazing impact on my life ever since...in more ways you could imagine! My most valued and appreciated aspects of our friendship are heart-felt honesty and inspiration from such a fabulous woman....but on a not-so-serious note, I don't think I've ever had conversations with anyone like I've had with LG. Talk about some outrageousness! And we've always had so much fun.

Laura Gail and Steve met for the first time embarking on a trip to Israel to visit the Holy Land. He lived in Tulsa, and she lived in Birmingham. They anticipated returning home with changed lives but not necessarily in the area of romance! I remember not really knowing what to think about it but Steve seemed like an OK kind of guy....so I was alright with it. : ) Ha! Like I had a say in the matter! But then LG moved to Israel for 6 months to do some amazing work and get 'refined in the Furnace!' Their relationship only strengthened...consisting of a couple of visits, ichat, emails and phone calls...it didn't take long before she was back in the US with an engagement ring! It's hard to express how excited I am for them to begin their lives together...finally in the same city! I love them both!

This church was one of the most beautiful that I've seen. LG has always wanted to get married here, so it was extra special. I wasn't the official wedding photographer as they had a friend of the fam offer to shoot it at no charge. But I did get to follow her around all morning and tell a bit of a story of the day. So here are a few pictures and a link to a slideshow at the end...




The Reception Hall at the Church:




Beautiful cake...




Geez at the buttons!!


The stunning bride...



and the ever-so-studly groom...


Anticipation...


Probably one of my favorites - waiting for the grand moment...









LG and Steve, I certainly wish God's best for your lives, and I'm positive that's exactly what you'll get! I'm definitely coming for a visit to Tulsa as soon as I can!

Click HERE for a slideshow if you'd like to see more of the pictures. The song playing is by the David Crowder Band and is a very special song to LG and Steve.


Even though it has absolutely no relation to this post, we certainly can't go without TODAY'S LAUGH...
Cause it is preeeeetty funny right now. I was just sitting here thinking - what is today's laugh? hm...how sad that you can't think of one. Is it bad that you've gone all day and not had a good laugh? Yes, it is....Wait, where did those notecards go? (That I just bought at the store tonight.) I need to do that tonight. They weren't on the kitchen counter. They aren't in this bag. OH NO! I threw them away! Great. Well, haha...there you have a laugh. That's pretty funny. Write about that. (Get up and start digging through the garbage, find some liquid gross stuff, find the plastic bag, pick it up. They're not in there. Find another plastic bag, leftovers from the restaurant, yuck...) WAIT A MINUTE...they're in my purse! (Go to room, look in purse. Sure enough. There they are. At least I got a laugh.)

He's not here!

Hey hey people. I hope your Easter has been lovely. And that your Easter Frock came together in spite of the cold weather. Some of you may have purchased springy/summer-y clothing and probably got a bit chilly today.

I'll start off with TODAY'S LAUGH since it is relevant to the holiday we are celebrating. I went home to Cullman yesterday. So I woke up at my parents' and went downstairs. The first thing my dad said was Happy Easter!
Me: Happy Easter!
Dad: He's not here!
Me: ......Who?.....the Easter Bunny?? (I thought he was rubbing in the fact that we don't get Easter baskets anymore - boo...)
Dad: No......Jesus!!
Me: Oh, ha! Ahh yes, He lives!
And so all morning we were singing...Up from the grave He arose (He arose)....
I thought it was funny.

Last weekend I shot some Senior portraits for my gorgeous and amazingly talented cousin, Mallory. I was excited to do this and was hoping we would end up with some really cool pictures. We surprisingly found some great spots in Cullman (including their house)...who knew there were so many locations with color and cool stuff? So here are a few of my favorites:






A little winky wink. Haha!! (Sorry, Mal, I had to put this one up!)







Very awesome red on the back of a shoe store...








As we were driving off, somebody spotted these pink doors!




She is super fabulous beautiful...yes, I know...

Spring, Ring and Contrabands

Hello and Happy 1st Day of Spring to you! It's so funny how we always say we didn't have a Spring and completely forget about weather like we've had the last week or two. Do other states experience the "turn your heat on in the morning then turn your A/C on a few hours later" like we do? I wonder about that.

And I'd like to give a big fat CONGRATULATIONS to my friends, Julie and Gavin! At the end of an eventful scavenger hunt, Gavin proposed to Julie at a spot somewhere really high up in the sky - I currently cannot remember where! Haha. From the stories I've heard, he's a super duper creative guy. I'm very glad because Julie is super duper special. This will be a fun time for them. And for me because I get to shoot the engagement pics AND be in the wedding! Yes, I'm special too. Anyway, they were at our apartment Sunday night and had not taken a picture on their Engagement Day. Of course, we had to make that happen. So here are two pics from the big day:




This is Tracie barely getting in a thumbs up. She approves.
It is quite appropriate that Julie & Gavin are sitting on the LOVE seat, eh?? And I know you are jealous of our beautiful rustic-colored loveseat. No, you cannot buy it because it is priceless and not-for-sale (...and currently the only piece of living room furniture we have.)





TODAY'S LAUGH: This laugh is from Saturday. I remembered today though, and it still makes me laugh. So that counts. My stepmom, Ann, has such a way with words. Our family has started to call them Ann-isms. It will be difficult for me to tell specific stories, but sometimes she will mispronounce a word or use a totally different word that has such a different meaning. Don't get me wrong - she is an intelligent and very talented woman. She means well, and it is a common mistake that all people can make. But for some reason, when she does it, it is absolutely hysterical. For example, referencing Muslims but calling them mausoleums. The result is usually a puzzled look on our faces and breakouts of laughter when we realize what the word was supposed to be.
Anyway, I was talking with her and my Dad about attending church on Sunday. And she said there would be contrabands at the service. (Oh I am laughing even thinking about this.) My dad and I didn't get it. What are contrabands at church? Well...what she meant was...the kids who go through confirmation classes and are 'confirmed' during the service. We really got a kick out of that and of course, gave her too much of a hard time.

Greenie

First of all, I just have to tell you something very important. And that would be that everyone should be exfoliating. I don't care who you are - go get one of those loofahs and use it everyday. After a month, I promise you will thank me. Or you will thank something or somebody, b/c it makes the biggest difference! It shall be your first step on the way to summer.

Tonight I went to see Horton Hears a Who, and it was fabulous. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, and I recommend to anyone. Very cute.

And today I wore green without thinking about St. Patrick's Day. Yay for me! I was so glad when I got to work and realized it. Therefore, I did not get the pinch.

I love not being cold. It is absolutely fantastic that the weather is getting warmer. I can't fully describe how glad it makes me. Almost beach time!

Last weekend I went over to visit my friend, Sheri, and take a few pictures of her youngest baby, Sam. Her oldest, Jack, also made it into a few pictures. Even though I'm starting to focus more on weddings here lately, I thought I would post them. These two boys are so adorable. Sam looks just like Patrick while Jack looks just like Sheri. Isn't that funny how they're different?

music music

hello to you. doesn't music just make all the difference? i created a slideshow of pictures from my friend, laura gail's, shower this past weekend to pass around for our friends. you can look at the pictures with no music, and it's good. they are cute. but add some cute music, and it makes it so much more emotional. that is amazing to me. i love it.

today was fabulous b/c i finally purchased a computer bag for one of the loves of my life - my macbook pro. i'm embarrassed to even show someone what i was carrying it around in. maybe that's why the apple on the front is cracked - hmmmm... that's not cool. but that's what happens when you ram a computer into a door. genius! so now it has a special bag and has no worries about injuries.

if you watch american idol, was tonight not just the greatest? i was surprised when they pulled out john lennon/paul mccartney songs. some of them had such a fantastic performance (but yes, some of them were baaaaad.) they all tried though - i guess that's important and such. i'm a big, huge fan of the beatles, so that made me super happy.

TODAY'S LAUGH: i came into work this morning singing a bon jovi song. i think it was 'never say goodbye.' so drew started singing 'you give love a bad name.' and it still makes me laugh to think about it. isn't it hilarious when someone sings the wrong lyrics? i love it. and i'm sure i do it all the time as well. but instead of singing 'shot to the heart, and you're to blame...', drew sang 'shot to the heart, and you're too late...' i don't know exactly why but it was hysterical. we laughed and laughed. and certainly gave him a hard time for quite a while.

Whiteness

Happy Snow to everyone! Yes, we only got a pathetic little dusting, but I was still glad to see snow. If it's going to be this cold, I'm always glad to have some snow along with it. Might as well! So I went outside this morning around 9:00 and took some pictures just to mark the event. I could already hear it all melting. Here's a leaf:




And more:





Yes, it's not much. You can always count on your car though. It never fails to collect the most:





And while we're on the topic, I just found this picture from December of my mom and Gary's house in Boston. Gary must have shot it. Isn't it cute? I'm glad we don't have as much snow as they do, but it would at least be fun to come along once or twice. I've been surprised at how much my mother loves the snow and wants it to be there all the time. She gets so excited when they are forecast a big storm.

hands and feet

just some thoughts for today. one of my favorite opportunities to come along while i'm driving is for me to not have my foot on the clutch. a lot of people say that after driving a 5-speed, they grow to love it. well, i'm not of one of those people. i long for the day that i can purchase another automatic. ohhhh the day. anyway, a most wonderful thing occurs when i'm driving the route from work to home: i travel down shades crest, which is basically all downhill. from the curvy part to the red light at 280 (could be a mile?), i have no foot on the clutch and only tap a brake when needed. i absolutely love it.

now to other thoughts: there's a certain body and bath company out there that i love. it ends in "works." but if i could comment to them about something, this would be it: why, oh why, in your soaps (with the pump that you leave at your sink), do you make the tube inside so short that it leaves the 1/2 inch of soap unable to be used and left for dead? i refuse to do it. i will not throw it away. i unscrewed that pump, and my soap bottle is lying sideways on the back of the toilet. therefore, despite the inconvenience, i will use ALL the soap! a-ha!

i was looking through some photos and noticed that i take a lot of pictures of shoes. i may have posted this photo once before - i can't remember right now. but i like it a lot. this is from makesha and shawn's wedding here in birmingham. i think either a groomsman or the best man had some truly uncomfortable shoes and kept taking them off.

For Reeeaaalll

So sometimes I wonder if I'm seriously a freak-a-zoid. Who goes shopping with the intent of buying something new but can't find one single thing? There are 2 main reasons for this. Let's explore Reason #1: I'm not the biggest style-savvy fashionista (that's really a word in the dictionary.) Trends are great, but I have an issue with getting tired of trendy items very quickly. Therefore, I know I shouldn't spend a lot of $ on them. I usually stay with classics (a.k.a. BORING.) Anyway, I decided today that I need to hire a personal stylist. How much do those cost?

Ok, exploring Reason #2: At this time of year, it's usually evident to myself that I need to shed a few pounds....uh...well like 10 or something. Therefore, going shopping just puts me in a foul mood, and I come home empty-handed. Where are Stacey and Clinton when you need them the most?

I was walking around the mall realizing that ACTION needed to be taken. How do I expect anything to change if I don't take action? Next step: texted 3 friends and asked what the top 2 fashion magazines were. Of course, Laura Gail responds within 1 minute and tells me In Style and Vogue (and a paper called Women's Wear Daily.) I came home and immediately ordered the first two. Yes, I did....By golly, if I don't know anything about fashion (I mean nothing), I'm going to do something about it and learn. Surprisingly, I've come a long way from a year ago.

Next step: Diets are for the birds. I don't need someone (called me) telling me I can't eat something. So here's my plan. I looooove lists. I'm going to make two lists. And the fact that they are lists, will motivate me. Because I looooove crossing things off the list. One list will be things I'm not going to have that day (BUT here's the key: I'm either cutting them or allowing myself to have them again.) Another list will be great things I can eat. Ok, that makes no sense. So I'm not that prepared yet. All I know is I'm going to stop eating stupid stuff.

Um and then I'll exercise. Because that's really the main key. And no, I don't have a plan for that yet either, but I'd like for it to include Pilates.
I feel good just writing all that out. In six months, you won't recognize me. Ha.

TODAY'S LAUGH: I thought I might not have one, but then I remembered this. I was in Reba's office today at work and nearly busted it out into the hallway when I tripped over her heater in the floor of her office. It was hilarious.

Saturday Goodness

So what's the best news you could hear first thing after you wake up on a Saturday morning?? Obviously...that your stepmother has free tickets to the pancake breakfast at the high school! I think pancake breakfasts are the best thing ever. I drove over in my pajamas and went through their little drive-thru, and it was fabulous.

Wasn't the weather lovely yesterday? I began the day attempting to wear flip flops...mainly because I am so excited about the weather getting warmer that I can hardly stand it. But my feet got cold, and I realized quickly it was not a day for flip flops just yet.

But it was warm enough to shoot some fun Easter pictures for my friend, April. She had found a beautiful green patch of grass, so we trekked out to it through the mud and dodging a crazy, spastic dog (he wasn't really bothering us, but just kept running around seriously like a spaz.) Here are a few of my favorites that we shot:










TODAY'S LAUGH: It's a little early to already have a laugh, but I do. Sometimes do you wake up with a song in your head, and you have no clue where it came from? This morning I laughed because I woke up singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad." What?!?! Haha....