busy weekend (again!)

it's been a busy weekend, and i'm not quite sure where the time went. justin and i headed to winston-salem on friday night and had the pleasure of staying with matt and patrice again. it had just been a few months since we last saw them, and we promise to get in a longer visit next time!

one of the main reasons i came to visit was to take some pregnancy pictures and family pictures for them. i was excited about being able to do this again and to include matt in more of the pictures as well. between a make-shift "studio" in their house and the gorgeous wake forest university campus, we got some awesome pictures. there are a few more up on flickr, so check 'em out!

(by the way, it's been a couple of years since i was on WFU campus, but man--can you find a prettier campus? not in my opinion. i fall in love with it every time i visit, and though i could never afford going there, i do remember being heavily swayed by the campus tour when i visited in high school so many years ago.)

i had a great time figuring out how to create a studio in their dining room. it wasn't a perfect setting, but with a little photoshop to help outlets and cable jacks dissapear, they turned out great. it also helped that they had a "sponged" wall treatment, so it was ten times easier to make them dissapear without too much change in the background.
and beyond photographing, it was just fun to spend time with them. i miss patrice dearly and can't wait for the little one to be here! if all works out, i will try to be there to document the birth sometime in late february.


(by the way, there was a better pic of me without half-closed eyes, but i went with the more flattering picture of patrice. just for her :) )

we left saturday afternoon for fayetteville just in time to make it to the 30th year of the singing christmas tree. this is a tradition for us in fayetteville, and i was glad to make it again. we were happy to visit with mom and grandma for a while, and made it back just in time for a few hours of rehearsal for our christmas program on sunday. it's going to be a crazy week with practice and holiday parties and rachel's graduation, but it'll be over soon!

for blogging fun: as promised, the sledding video. i am not responsible for justin's actions here. i'm just surprised we got finished with this activity without any broken bones or bruises.


and our most recent problem? pepper's smarter than her doggie gate. much smarter.