yummy!

I had another busy weekend which I am anxious to blog about...so check back soon. I had a wedding on saturday and it was beautiful and wonderful, but they always take so much out of me physically. (I talked briefly with their videographer, and he said the same thing, that he is always so tired after a wedding, no one understands, they think he is just out of shape. it was a great moment of realizing I am not alone in the world of aches and pains after a long day of shooting!) I had a good friend of mine (Maya) come down with me (along with my great friend Kerry as well!) to help at the wedding, but she needed to get back by lunchtime today so we woke up pretty early and hit the road. I usually like for Sunday be my rest day after a wedding but I always end up booking at least one shoot (usually two) on a sunday despite my desire to rest. So since we woke up early and came back, I decided to take advantage of the sunday afternoon with none of the usual photo shoots, and take a nap. I slept for a couple of hours, no cat naps allowed for me! Brad had gone to church with a friend of his and then to lunch so he was not home when I got here. When I woke up from my wonderful nap (seriously, what is better than a Sunday afternoon nap??) I walked in the living room and saw Brad sitting on the couch, watching football of course, and then my eyes looked over to the kitchen bar. To my wonderful surprise...I saw this!!!!!




I looked back over at Brad and he had a huge smile on his face, he is sneaky! This was such a sweet surprise! We have both been SO busy lately, we havent had much time to spend together so he said this was a small way to just let me know he loves me and wants to make me feel special. It really made my whole day! It is true that we have been so busy. Brad is still in school, while working as the music director at the radio station at school, DJ'ing a show, interning at Tooth and Nail records, and working part time for Sony BMG. He has SO much on his plate, we both do. I work full time obviously, and basically do photography "full time on the side" if that even makes sense. So we both use every minute of our spare time for work. Just another reason I am counting down the days until he graduates, in the hopes that both of us can but back on one thing or another and actually see each other. We will have kids in the semi-near future but I don't want to have any regrets with each other. We want to really take full advantage of it just being the two of us. So, for today, it's just us, relaxing on a sunday afternoon, nibbling at delicious fruit dipped in chocolate.....ahh.....this is the life!

thanks Love for spoiling me with such sweet treats...they are yummy!

I am a superhero!

Ok, so apparently I have too much time on my hands while at work (dont tell my boss!) and I found this and it made me laugh so hard that it made my cough about ten times worse. But....laughter is the best medicine they say, so hopefully if I keep watching it will get better. for your viewing pleasure....

SUPER JOY!

Thursday 13

Today will be 13 things I love most about photographing weddings

1. Getting to be an important part of such an intimate day in a couple's life.

2. The smiles I see through my lens, when people don't know the camera is on them, that are more genuine than any smile you get from saying "say cheese". (seriously...I can't stand the strained smile some people immediately give when they see a camera pop up...I must train my children otherwise!)

3. The smell of the beautiful flowers and how no bouquet ever looks the same as those from another wedding. A friend recently blogged about how she wishes you could box up a smell because it triggers memories, and I couldn't agree more. There is a distinct smell from a bouquet of wedding flowers that the same flowers in any other situation wouldn't smell like. Sounds crazy, but I have the worlds most sensitive nose, I know these things to be true. :)

4. The unique touches each couple puts on their day.

5. Wedding music (in the ceremony). even if I have heard a song a thousand times, it will surely still make me smile.

6. First dance songs. With ALL of the weddings I have done, I have never had two couples choose the same song! I am always surprised to hear a new song at each wedding. side note: the wedding I did last weekend totally did a "rock the reception" first dance. it was awesome!

7. Wedding cake. More the way they look than how they taste, I often feel bad eating cake at the weddings I photograph.

8. Hearing a bride say "you captured every detail of my day, I feel like I am reliving my day through these photos!"

9. Getting to relive my wedding day in my mind and realizing that I would not change one thing about it. perfection.

10. Watching old people dance!

11. Making new friends. I really do feel like I become friends with my brides! I am blessed.

12. The way a groom smiles at his bride.

13. The fabulous night of sleep I get after shooting a wedding...no better sleep than those nights....pure bliss

Spencer turns 4

Happy Birthday Spencer man! Precious baby spencer is a baby no more. He is 4 years old!!!! I had such a busy weekend planned, I did not know if I was going to get to see the little guy and wish him a happy birthday and this made me very sad. However, when Brad and I rolled into town around 8 on Friday night, we walked into mom and pops house and from the kitchen I heard the sweetest sounds.....it was the babies!!! I squealed, and ran to see if they were both there! YES! They surprised me and were all there waiting for us. Will, Jamie, Ean and the birthday boy himself. I love love love it when they run to me and hug me. Well, Ean runs and hugs me with the sweetest hug a person has ever felt, while Spencer will run and abruptly stop before an actual hug takes place making me reach out to grab him and kiss him with that wonderfully annoying auntie kiss. I love the babies! It was such a treat to get to see them that night, and wake up on Saturday together (Spencer's actual birthday) and have breakfast. Mom made the usual grits and eggs for the boys and also some pigs in a blanket which were conventiently used for Spencer's birthday cake. We always get an interesting treat to blow the candles out with- pigs in a blanket, a biscuit, cinnamon rolls, really whatever is around. I love that tradition. Here are some quick pics of Spencer on his 4th! Love you buddy!

three busy weekends

I have a fairly busy schedule coming up which is exciting but a bit overwhelming at the same time. Brad and I are packing up once again for another weekend in Atlanta. I have a photo shoot in the morning, then a wedding for the rest of the day on saturday. I had a shoot scheduled for Sunday but it is sortof a breath of fresh air since they had to cancel at the last minute. Now I will hopefully find the time I need to celebrate the hundreds of birthdays that need to be celebrated this weekend as well. Well, not hundreds...just a handful. I usually equate December with being busy with birthdays but September is a close 2nd. In September we have 7 birthdays to remember! Brads sister and Dad, my Dad, my nephew Spencer, and some of my best friends- Stacy, Candace, and Steph's little girl Mimi. its a busy month for birthdays! Next weekend I have another wedding on saturday, then the following weekend will be a girls weekend full of baby showers, girls night out, and a couple of photo shoots as well of course. I am excited that so many weekends are full becuase it feels like the time is going by so fast. The count is on- we currently have 85 days left until Brad's graduation! So I welcome the busy weekends! If only I did not have a full time job during the week to slow me down...

Thursday 13

A friend recently asked me what my favorite movie was. It is hard to name ONE favorite movie, so today you get my top thirteen....in no particular order. What are your favorites?

1. Notting Hill

2. Shawshank Redemption

3. Pollyanna

4. Rudy

5. Stranger Than Fiction

6. Disney's Cinderella

7. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken

8. Back To The Future

9. That Thing You Do

10. Hope Floats (my favorite movie soundtrack of all time as well)

11. American President

12. Moulin Rouge

13. Forrest Gump

Thursday 13 (on friday)

I have been sick this week so I thought yesterday was wednesday and today was thursday, somehow a day slipped by without me knowing. So, here is my thursday 13 a day late.

These are 13 places that I want to visit. Some I have been to before, but I really want to go back with Brad so we can experience it together. My parents always took us on amazing vacations and I pray that we will be able to do some of the same things for our children one day. Even though I am sure my parents' memories arent quite as fond as mine, it has taken some years for me to really appreciate all of the work and planning tney did to make our vacations so special (and educational...thats where we would all whine and complain of course, causing the unpleasant memories for mom and pops). I am so grateful for those wonderful trips now!

1. London - have never been but it is top on our list.

2. San Francisco - I went when we were little, but Brad wants to go see where the "summer of love" took place.

3. Greece - never been, hear its the most beautiful place on Earth.

4. Italy - we took a mediteranean cruise and it was one of the most wonderful trips I have ever been on. I seriously have some of my sweetest memories of my family from this trip. Jamie was pregnant with Ean, so it was our last trip with just the "grown up kids". We would tour all day and go back to the boat and play cards, sounds simple but it was such sweet time. If I go back, I would love to spend several days in Rome, gorgeous. That was my favorite day of the trip.

5. Hawaii- went right after I graduated high school, but went with a chip on my shoulder so I would love to go back and really be able to enjoy it.

6. Costa Rica - Brad's brother, Brian has spent the past two years there doing mission work and I am so mad that we were never able to go visit him. We still would really love to go and see what some say is a place more beautiful than Hawaii.

7. Colorado- I went when I was in high school and fell in love with the parts of Colorado I saw. My sweet friend Michele is from Colorado and she thinks its the next best thing to Heaven. :) I want to go skiing somewhere fancy and beautiful and serene and Colorado is alot more convenient than Switzerland. Brad has bever been skiing, so we will start with Colorado and move our way up from there.

8. The Grand Canyon area- another one we went on when we were younger. I want to go and spend more time here, camping and white water rafting, really taking in all of the natural beauty.

9. Key West - This is one place Brad and I have been together. We went on a cruise with my family a couple of weeks before we got engaged. I have always loved Key West for all of the colors, laid back feeling, and even the strange people. It feels like a world of its own and I love it there.

10. Prague - Brad and I were so close yet so far away when we went to Slovakia and Vienna last year, but could not make it work to go to Prague. It is another location that some say is the most beautiful city in the world.

11. Paris - cliche I know, but everyone has to put this on their list right?

12. Seattle - I picture going to Seattle and getting a great hotel by the water, sitting on the balcony reading a book while it rains, then going to get a great cup of coffee, and just enjoy being together. This seems like a place I could enjoy living.

13. Big Bear, CA. This is where Brad and I spent our honeymoon, and we would love to go back. It would also be a great excuse to see our friends Kyle and Alissa and their sweet baby Kaitlyn. Maybe venture down to LA again and relive our honeymoon.

I want to start packing my bags now! :) Tell me, where would you want to go?

Etsy

I am obsessed with www.etsy.com. I love arts and crafts and baked goods and cheeky fun things. This website is FULL of those things. If you ever need to kill some time, which I seem to do alot lately at work, check out this site. I have ordered gifts for myself and for friends from this site, and have a wish list of about 100 things that I might email to Brad in case he ever needs ideas for me. :) I found these today and am in love with them. They combine two of my favorite things- baking and photography!

we will rock you

My mom rocks!!! My parents came in last night to visit for the weekend. They actually came in town to hang out with my aunts and uncles for a grown-up Neuendorf weekend. My Uncle Wayne lives here in Franklin, Uncle Dale and Aunt Mary came in from Birmingham and Uncle Ron and Aunt Nancy came up from Decatur. Mom is the baby of the family, just like me. :) Getting to see us is just an added bonus for their fun filled weekend. Matt and I were hanging out playing guitar hero before we went to dinner and mom was looking at the TV with wide eyes, like a little kid. We could tell how anxious she was for her own turn! So matt quickly handed over the guitar and she proceeded to rock out! My mom is officially the coolest mom around.

you're on my heart just like a...

In my 27 (nearing 28) years, I have been known as a goody two shoes, an old lady, the "mom" of my friends, among other boring and safe labels people have given me. However, deep down I always knew there was this rebelious, artsy person desperate to come out. I have always loved photography of course, and am branching out into painting and other arts now and I love it! I recently told Brad that I would love to be known as an artiste (preferably said with a fancy french accent). Not even simply a photographer, but an artist of all sorts. What is one thing that every artist needs??

Body art of course!

I have always wanted to get a tattoo, but have always been a little chicken - the above nicknames should explain why. I have thought for years that I knew what I wanted, and I pondered it for so long that I (with Brad's permission) decided to go ahead and do it! Jamie and I had joked about going together to get tattoos, but she decided to go a different, but still rebellious for someone in their 30's, route. Bling bling, nose ring. So for our 10 year sister in law anniversary, we celebrated big!

Here are some photos from our journey at the tattoo parlor.

Ten years!

Gorgeous!

The guy that did my tattoo.  Hector.  SO nice and fun. He helped make it as painless as possible when needles are involved.

would you expect anything less from me than to hold the camera in one hand at the same time I am getting a tattoo on the other!  Jamie couldn't come in the room with us so I had to pull double duty. 

I love it.

I chose a music note because music plays such an important part in mine and Brad's lives, individually and together.  I hope that each time I look at it I am prompted to pray for him, us, our family (who are ALL involved in music in one form or another).  It is a constant reminder to be thankful of the good in my life and to pray for God's hand in guiding our steps in the future.  

Psalm 95:1-3

Here is a bonus track.....although it is completely un-music related...it is just as fabulous....

Sister-in-law Day

I don't know if I have ever blogged bout sister in law day before. Surely I have but my memory is fading in my old age. Here is the explanation of one of my favorite holidays!


The year before Will and Jamie were married, she and I decided to spend the day together. Just by chance, no special reason for it, just the two of us on a random day hanging out. We ended up at Publix because we were both craving some cake and decided to grab one just for the two of us! Jamie knew they did free writing with icing on the cakes, so she surprised me with "Happy sister-in-law day". I loved it! Thus, Sister-in-law day was born. July 28 will forever be our day. Our special day to eat cake, have fun, just be us. We discovered in the middle of celebrating this year, that this is our TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We decided to go low key this year and met in Cartersville. Random I know, but they have such a great little downtown area. Lots of cute shops, restaurants, bakerys, etc. I found a fabulous old quilt at this great antique store, I cant wait to put it in our guest room. We had lunch at this great little sandwich shop. We trekked up to the bakery and got some sweets. We walked around for a while and before we called it a day.....we decided to......




more details to come!