a new family member (on a trial basis)

so i've been bugging justin for a dog since june, when i had way too much time during the day and spent hours searching humane society websites to find the perfect dog.

well, i found this one :) she's from a family that wasn't able to take care of her anymore and couldn't give her the attention that she needed for basic discipline and potty training. they got frustrated and so...we're trying it out. she's smaller than both cats (which allows them to maintain the physical upperhand), walks decently on a leash, is a mix of chihuahuas (both long-haired and short) and will have a name once we've determined that she's staying.

but look at those eyes...



we'll see how she does through the night...

finding time to post...

even though i've had a couple of brief posts over the last week or so, i realized it's been a while since i've posted anything of substance. so... here we go!

pirate football. what a beginning of the season it has been. though i haven't been able to attend a game, i've loved watching them on tv and cheering on my pirates! it was particularly tough not to be at the wvu/ecu game yesterday, but i had a photo job (more about that below) and we knew it would cost us big to get tickets--guest tickets were already at $55 a piece! because of the timing of my other photo job and hanna coming through, i wasn't able to take any photos beforehand like i had hoped to. next home game, though, we'll be there! and i just hope that my pirates can continue this great winning streak. to be receiving this national coverage and finally get some recognition is just amazing!

i had to include one of my favorite pics from last weekend--the game-winning football from the blocked punt against VT (with coach holtz in the background!)

by the way, we had a lot of rain and some wind with hanna, but no damage. a few leaves off of our poor little trees, with one of them bent over sideways during some of the wind gusts. i had the work crisis phone for the weekend and was worried that i'd be up all night answering calls, but no calls! we were able to go out to dinner friday night, drive around town to find open grocery stores on nearly empty roads, and by lunchtime on saturday, the storm was gone with minimal damage around town. it looks like ike is going to leave us alone, so hopefully that's it for the storm season.

additionally...

i realized i hadn't posted about my awesome john mayer concert experience. the thing that bugs me about this...i forgot my camera. now, jennifer has a couple of pictures that we took with her little camera that she keeps in her purse--but it's only like 2 or 3 mp and i'm not sure that it will really capture the awesomeness of our seats. jennifer is a member of the john mayer fan club and was able to get first pick of the tickets for this concert. she ended up with.... 11th row, dead center. she had an extra ticket, and since she and i went together a few years ago to see JM and maroon 5, she knew i would enjoy going. we headed out as soon as i got finished with work on a wednesday afternoon and made it to raleigh just as the headliner was finishing up (onerepublic--also a very entertaining band!) when john finally came out...wow. i could read the stickers on his guitar, we were that close! it was one of the best concert experiences i've ever had and i'm still reveling in the musicianship and the inspiration that he put forth.

most people wouldn't see him as being "inspiring"--unfortunately, his social life has gotten more attention that his ability to play the guitar. however, this concert brought back his genuineness, his openness and his desire to share love for MUSIC with his fans. he told such wonderful stories that added so much to the concert, and in a way that true fans would appreciate. i think anyone who calls themselves a musician and feels the music could relate with his anecdotes and the emotion he put forth when performing.

noting halfway through the concert that at that point he had only played a couple of songs that were on the radio, he commented on the depth and the appreciation of fans who loved him for more than the top 40 hits. one of my favorite quotes was about his motivation--that he used to play concerts to hear the screaming fans and to get girls. and he would leave the stage empty and wanting more, and then he learned to play for the love of playing music, for the love of sharing what he loved, and now he's never been happier. and as corny as that sounds (as i now write it out and realize how corny it sounds) in the moment, it was real and honest and just him pouring his heart out. 

my other favorite quote--"we are musicians. we don't think linear or logically. we're like children, finger-painting, playing. and when you have an amazing group of musicians that get to play together like this, then it's like we're painting a beautiful work of art."

sigh...oh, john mayer.

to conclude, it was awesome and ranks up there with the coldplay concert from '05. 

back to the real world. though my reflector jobs have not been as numerous as before (mainly because of an already busy schedule and school hours affecting when i can work with clients) i have been picking up some additional work on the weekends, this time a 5 year old birthday party with one of my former oakwood families. a friend from church and oakwood who is getting into specialty party planning was able to recommend my services as part of the party package, and so i spent yesterday afternoon documenting a "fancy nancy" party for young sydney. i especially loved the colors and frills of the decorations--everything was quite "fancy!"

believe it or not, this is the cake... quite tasty, too.


the dress-up station was a very essential part of this event. i loved all of the shoes, lined up in a row.

some coloring of a "fancy nancy" picture, but with a fairy wand close by...
and once i get some of those up on my pro website, i'll let you know. need to check with the family first :)

my other creative outlet lately... well, it all started with a fabulous pair of linen pants that was 70% off at new york and co. and fit beautifully--except for the length. i couldn't turn them down, so i bought them anyways and said i would get around to hemming them eventually. many of my friends know that i hand-sew when need be, and in the dorms, i would be the go-to girl for patching up a pair of shorts or basting in another hem for pants when it got torn out. my grandmother sewed constantly when i was younger and still does occasionally. i would take old scraps from her sewing room and make doll clothes, pillows, even a Nativity scene that still gets put out at Christmastime. when it looked like i was going to do senior project, she taught me how to use her sewing machine and we made an apron together. the plan had been to make my black concert dress for band concerts as my senior project, but then i dropped out of the global studies program (so i could take ap music theory, if i remember correctly) and that was the end of my sewing experience beyond mending tears and reinforcing buttons by hand using the sewing kit my grandma gave me for graduation.

so--i had the linen pants. then i went shopping for some work-appropriate jeans (yes, i can wear jeans to work!) and absolutely loved a wide-legged pair that i found at jc penneys. again, great fit except for the length. knowing that i had to hem the pair of linen pants, i bought them anyways and figured i would hem those at the same time. 

then i got to thinking--both of these pairs of pants were for work and a more professional looking hem would be appropriate and could i get my hands on a sewing machine...and i remembered that my niece, destiny, received one for her birthday a couple of years ago after she took some sewing classes and wanted to have her own machine to work with. so, long story short, i borrowed a presumed broken sewing machine (minus the manual or any other information that would help in actually using it), watched several youtube videos on how to thread a sewing machine, and worked diligently (albeit quite frustrated at several points) for a few hours to hem both pairs of pants AND finish piecing together my t-shirt quilt that has been a project for probably...three years? it's not quilted yet, but i figure that can be a project for the winter months. i LOVE that it's finally finished. 

then it became a quest to see what else i could do. and the weekend before, when i was out taking pictures during the ecu/vt game, i commented on a cute top a girl was wearing with pirate skulls that looked adorable. she told me that her mom made it, and that got me thinking about what i could make to wear on game days. i was frustrated with the fabric that i found, and i think i might check out some other places in fayetteville the next time we're there to see if i can't find something less...busy? but i had to try it out, so i bought a pattern, the necessary materials, and worked for a few hours several nights this week until i finished my "pirate" top.
now let me say, i'm not thrilled with the shape of the top or how it was cut, so i tried to fit it as much as possible once it was actually pieced together. the fabric pattern was a bit much once i had it made, BUT it's a wearable piece of clothing and not too bad for a first try. and i had to show my pirate spirit after the awesome win last night!

i have some madras print fabric that i'm going to test out with a halter top pattern that came in the same set of patterns. wish me luck! 

alright, i think that's it for now. i've got to get some groceries so we have something to bring to our church small-group picnic this evening. 

for your amusement...

if you love making fun of people's grammatical or punctuation mistakes...

weird-looking edible creations...

witty/sarcastic commentary...

and cake...

have i got the blog for you!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com

laughed so hard i cried on a few of these. enjoy!

we are the pirates of ECU--hey!

my day was quite busy--but what an awesome day it was!

great opening game, and i can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes.

maybe we should have splurged on the season tickets...?

justin's birthday!

so there are only a few hours left for justin's birthday, but much like my week-long birthday celebration, he will continue the festivities for a few more days.

we kicked it off last night with his birthday barbeque, where we invited family, friends and neighbors over for a backyard party. we weren't sure how the weather would do--last year, it was too warm for us to spend too much time outside, but we also knew that we'd invited too many people to all comfortably sit inside. thankfully, the weather was gorgeous and the only complaint was the flies that came out when the food was served. justin's dad and step-mom had come down from west virginia for it, as well as family in the area and several of the neighbors from our street. we grilled out, enjoyed side dishes that other people brought, and listened to a custom playlist that justin created just for the evening.

as the evening began, his mom and mike had him open one of their presents early. it was a "birthdays bite!" dog that could be signed by people attending the party. the dog was decorated with several "30"s and "over the hill" and featured huge glasses and bushy eyebrows. it was a hit!

a close-up of the dog.
here's a picture of some of the family that was visiting. my dad and joy came in as well and brought some teriyaki beef skewers that were quite popular among the guests. he's always comfortable in front of the grill.


justin in front of his cake, with 30 candles lit. we counted 'em!and a shot of the cake before the candles were blown out. we got this custom made by "your perfect cake" here in town, and it was delicious! we had them put a steelers jersey on top with justin's last name and (of course) the number 30. there's also a steelers logo airbrushed in the background...
this tied in well with the steelers' pre-season game that was on tv last night. the guys were in and out of the house checking on the score.
we spent the rest of the evening playing yard games like bocci and catching up with our family and neighbors. we missed several of our friends that were invited, but we're sure we'll get to see them soon!

today, we celebrated by going out the lunch after church and watching movies around the house. justin's taken the next couple of days off while his dad and kim are down here, so they're heading to the beach tomorrow while i have to work :(

in the meantime, i have pictures on reflector.com from my saturday morning volunteer work with university million meals, a special event planned by "stop hunger now" to help put an end to world hunger. i helped bag meals of dried vegetables, rice and soy with about 250 other volunteers during my shift, one of three that would happen through out the day. then i took pictures to use for a slideshow (i love turning my every-day activities into photo jobs!)

my brother has a job! he's the new band director at frink middle school about 45 minutes from here. we wish him the best of luck as he starts his new job tomorrow. he's already had an interesting week with a snake in the band room, finding a set of hand chimes that he wants to incorporate into general music classes, and not getting his class lists until a few minutes before open house.

i'm starting with outpatient therapy clients this week at work. i am so excited about this and think that my clients and their families are awesome. it's a refreshing change of pace.

tonight, we're saying goodbye to the olympics. i'm encouraged that it will only be a couple more weeks until real tv shows start back up! this has been a real crazy summer as far as tv is concerned, and the pickings have been quite slim. they've started playing previews for some of the upcoming fall shows, and i'm excited to finally have some decent tv back on.

no plans of yet for labor day weekend... we'll probably be figuring that out at the last minute.

that's all for now. later, y'all.

worship is...

yesterday, at church, we had an awesome service where the main focus was worship and how we worship God. The point made was that we worship God in all aspects of our lives, not just on Sunday morning when we sing. i think it's always great to get this reminder and to remember how we can use everything in our lives to worship God and to show others how He is the center of all we do.

at the same time, i will admit that the music was AMAZING and i have always known that music is how i worship. it's the way that i connect to God and i believe that's why i have been blessed with musical abilities and interests. jordan, the worship leader, led us in an awesome version of "here i am to worship" (with just the right acoustic riff that seemed totally john mayer-like) and then ended with "did you feel the mountains tremble?" that song has always given me chills and energized me, especially in live music settings. i remember going to see the passion band while i was in college and just jumping up and down, dancing and singing as loud as i could with an auditorium full of other followers, just praising God.

before we went into our worship time, they played a video over the projector that just said it all. this one really hit home and i had to search online until i found it. i hope it speaks to everyone else as much as it did to me. remember this the next time that worship seems dull or something just doesn't feel right. is it really about what you got out of it, or is it about what you gave to God?

our new bed

we've made few "large" furniture purchases for our home since we moved in. everything that we had in our individual apartments essentially found a place in our new home, even if it was slipcovered, got a new coat of paint or just looks out of place. my queen size mattress we were using was a hand-me-down as well, and after going through a number of mattress toppers and also getting to experience much better, softer mattresses at hotels we were visiting--a new mattress made it to the top of our "want list."

then...between my new job, the overlap of salaries, the stimulus check, etc...a new mattress became possible! (as well as the great furniture we got from lindsay and jeremy.) we shopped around in july, finding the perfect combination of price and amazing pillowtop softness. the delivery charge was, of course, ridiculous, so we opted out and said we would pick it up ourselves.

our fabulous next door neighbor john (the shed builder) helped us out by lending his truck once more and picking it up for us. we got in the house and removed the old mattress, quickly realizing that our old mattress/box springs combination was about the same size as the mattress that we were bringing in--without the box springs. once the mattress was actually in place, it because humorously obvious that this was a much taller bed that the one that we'd had.

i found an old picture from when we first moved in--note where the mattress hits the wall underneath the pillow shams and the regular pillows. you can just barely see the bedside tables next to it, but it's clear that they are just barely below the mattress.




now, the new bed. comes all the way up to the chair rail and there is a dramatic drop from the bed to our bedside tables. i had to make an emergency trip to j.c. penney last night to find sheets that would fit our now 14" mattress. the comforter still fits, somewhat, but it's stretching it.
sleeps like a dream, though!

our kentucky wedding weekend

so it's been a busy weekend and i've finally gotten a chance to catch up a bit around the house and at work. we had a lot going on and i didn't want to rush through writing about it, so bear with me.

we left for our trip on thursday after work and made it to winston-salem, where we got a chance to socialize with matt and patrice and enjoy some delicious desserts! in the morning, as we were getting ready and eating breakfast, patrice shared with us their exciting news--she's about two months pregnant! we were thrilled and i can't wait to go back up and take another set of pregnancy pictures in the winter. we will be praying for them and their growing family, as well as the job opportunities that are out there for patrice.

we continued on i-40, stopping a little ways past asheville to eat lunch (never pass up the opportunity to eat before heading deep into the mountains. you have to drive a ways to find decent food.) we lucked out in finding sherry's apple crate cafe in waynesville, where we enjoyed some western nc barbeque and unique apple-themed atmosphere. we had a few more stops in sevierville, tn, to check out the russell stover outlet and other tacky touristy stores, and then drove about 11 miles into kentucky to the little highway stop that is williamsburg.

as soon as we walked in the lobby, we saw why jon and carrie wanted to get married there. it was beautifully designed, with a grand double staircase and huge chandeliers. there are tons of pictures up on flickr if you want some more details (i couldn't add them all here!) by the way, i've noticed that for whatever reason, my pictures that i post here are not the best quality--quite pixilated and fuzzy. by clicking on them or going to flickr, though, you can see them in full resolution.

so... the cumberland inn.


the unity candle stand from the rehearsal---and justin got the best groomsman gift--a monogrammed grill set!
after the rehearsal and dinner and driving around williamsburg and visiting one of the few places that was open late--the wal-mart--we got some sleep so we could get up fairly early the next morning. on saturday, we drove to the cumberland falls state park and ate an awesome breakfast at the lodge there by the river. then we walked down to the falls and several of the overlooks, taking full photo advantage of such a beautiful morning!

the falls and the mist rainbow
us in front of the falls. it was simply gorgeous!
but we couldn't stay for too long or hike any of the trails cause it was time to get ready for the wedding! we got back to the hotel and got cleaned up, and justin joined the groomsmen to get ready with jon, the groom. i took my time, grabbing some lunch and getting dressed before going down to the lobby to join the rest of the wedding party as they took pictures. carrie and jon chose to do all the pictures beforehand (like we did) and it made a huge difference considering the reception was on-site. i tried to stay out of the way of the photographer and didn't use my flash in most instances because of that, but there are (of course) additional photos on flickr.

johnnie (getting married in october to my co-worker heather--you might recognize him from their engagement photos i did), jon, and justin. they've been friends for many many years!
the lobby decorated for the wedding. the bridal party had to walk down the stairs! pretty, but made me nervous for them. (bridesmaids dress was the one i wore for maggie's wedding, but in red--apple, of course--instead of black. it's crazy how you start to recognize the david's bridal line immediately!)so after the wedding, it was time for the reception in a banquet room right down the hall. one of the hits was the pee dee pirate groom's cake. the string quartet played jimi hendrix's "purple haze" when they went to cut it!

and after the cake cutting and eating and dancing, it was time to for the groomsman duties of loading up the presents and--decorating the car. when we were in wal-mart the previous night, i asked justin if he had anything to decorate the car. after the horrible sliced cheese incident of alan's wedding, i've learned that leaving groomsman left to their own devices unfortunately does not turn out well. so we tracked down some glass chalk, had the tp ready to go, and the boys quickly went to work. they needed some help with the "girly" stuff, though, so i jumped in. then it became a plan of staging photos so it looked like i did it all....
and it got quite a reaction...
but it was all in good fun.

so then they drove off into the sunset, and we changed into more comfortable clothes and did the rest of our touristy kentucky stuff, like...

visiting the original sander's cafe and kentucky fried chicken museum!

and trying out a krystal burger--definitely a tasty treat!the next morning, we went back to sevierville, so justin could check out the beef jerky outlet, which boasted over 200 flavors of jerky. they had jerky made out of about every animal possible.
(i also got a new "life is good" shirt at one of the all LIG stores. love finding those!)

then it was back to the highway and onwards towards boone. we had to drive some very curvy mountain roads to get there, but it was worth it for these views of lake watauga and the surrounding mountain ranges.


that evening, my great-uncle and aunt, pete and mary, took us out to dinner at a fabulous restaurant near the base of grandfather mountain called artisinal. similar to our dinner at bonterra in charlotte after alan and rachel's wedding, we were encouraged to order a selection for each of the courses and tried a taste of everyone's plate. it was DELICIOUS...some of the best food we've ever had, and we enjoyed catching up with pete and mary.

after dinner, we went on out to their river house near the tiny town of todd, nc. justin and i were able to spend the night there and loved waking up to the sounds of birds and the river and little else. it is a gorgeous area, and we hope to spend more time there in the future! we finished out the trip with a visit to downtown boone and lunch at "our daily bread." there were pieces of boone that came back to me--parts that i recognized and some parts that i clearly said, "that wasn't here before." i always joke that if i had ended up at appalachian, as i almost did, i could have easily embraced the more natural lifestyle. hippy clothing, hiking and kayaking, granola and the whole deal. that part is in me somewhere, but it's just buried deep and only comes out during camp cheerio week or mountain vacations. i still love the mountains in the summer--the temperatures easily stayed in the 70's for most of our visit and only went over into the lower 80's a few times. everything is green and the air is clear and fresh and it just feels so comfortable. i wouldn't be able to drive anywhere (as justin constantly reminded me when i attempted to drive in the mountains) but i could definitely appreciate some long visits, even if i couldn't make it through the winters.

and then it was back to real life. traffic around raleigh, unpacking at home, and craziness at work. sigh... but it was a great vacation, especially for a long weekend. looking forward to the next one as soon as we can swing it!

until the next post...

photos are up on flickr! check 'em out!

we're back!

safe and sound.

jon and carrie are married.

we've visited with friends and family across three states.

driven about 1,200 miles of highway and curvy mountain roads.

and i promise a real post with tons of pictures in about two or three days (which is when i'll be caught up with laundry, household chores, reflector jobs and work.)

back to watching our recording of the olympic opening ceremonies--so awesome!

i need to start packing...

but... here's our plan for the weekend!



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a weekend without a camera

so i was a doof and left my camera(s) at home this weekend. i think that after squeezing out four boys and girls club shoots for reflector and still editing the 700+ photos from the wedding on the previous weekend, my subconscious was telling me that i needed a break. so we left for the beach on saturday morning with alan and rachel and no camera in tow.

we headed down to atlantic beach for the rest of the morning and the first part of the afternoon. this was my first trip to the beach since the beginning of the summer, and i had missed it so much. after having summers off for the past three years and at least one (sometimes two) beach vacations for a week with family, it was somewhat sad that we hadn't been to the beach yet this year. we blame it on the weddings. the fact that we had a weekend free where i didn't have to be in, attend or photograph a wedding was such a positive thing! at any rate, after i was lathered up with sunscreen and had my little two-person tent set up for shade, i was in the water and loving every minute of it. alan brought his boogie board, so justin and i took turns catching waves and diving through the breakers. we had a cooler full of turkey wraps and drinks, so we had a picnic lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon reading or listening to music on the beach and then getting in the water to cool off.

after several hours in the sun, it was time to head down east and get cleaned up before meeting my grandparents for dinner. we hadn't seen them since our last trip down in january, and we came with wedding videos and photos in tow. we checked into our rooms at the driftwood, a little motel right by the ferry terminal to ocracoke. we've been here plenty of times for dinner, but never actually stayed there. it was a basic motel--nothing fancy, a few crickets who tried to make themselves at home in our room, but certainly closer to my grandparents and cheaper than anything in town. we had a great dinner with some of the freshest seafood you can find, and then went back to my grandparents' house for dessert and wedding videos/photos.

the next morning, we stopped in for one more visit and made it down to snug harbor to visit aunt esther, who will be celebrating her 100th birthday this coming january. it was then time for lunch in beaufort at one of the waterfront restaurants and a little browsing before heading back home. as we prepared for the week, we wondered where the weekend had gone and how quickly the week would go, too, as we got ready for our trip to kentucky. i'm so thrilled to be making this trip and really looking forward to each stop along the way. i will definitely have my camera on this one and plan to take tons of pictures as we drive along some very scenic roads.

one fun thing that we learned friday night--i never really met our backyard neighbors, but we were putting away some groceries and i spied the wife out in the backyard, setting up a tripod with a speedlight on it and then attaching a large reflective umbrella. we headed outside in a couple of minutes to visit with diane and john next door, and the neighbors came over. we introduced ourselves, and as it turns out, she teaches photography classes at one of the local community colleges and has a fantastic website and blog, as well as an offer to ask her any questions as they come up with my photography.

alright, that's it for now. i promise some great photos next time!

finally posting

though i certainly didn't intend to get a couple of weeks behind in posting, the sheer number of photos and events that i've been working with made it so. i wanted to use justin's macbook for the wedding pictures, but needed some of my pics that weren't up on flickr--so here we are. finally have moved them all to the right places.

last week flew by with a crazy busy schedule that almost did me in. after a fabulous cook-out with my new co-workers and a great kick-off for vbs on sunday (covered on reflector.com of course) i learned that i was in charge of one of the pre-k groups. not that i minded, but it was just somewhat of a surprise to find out on monday night that i would have a group of three and four years olds relying on me for the remainder of the week. it ended up being a fabulous fit--more than one mom told me that i missed my calling of working with preschoolers, and i got mistaken for being the mom of one of the kids because of how well i handled him. my only complaint was the 6-8:30 schedule that left no time for dinner with justin, little time to do stuff around the house, and was way past the bedtime of many of my kids. BUT it was only for a week, and for a week, it was fun!

combo of the regular church band and the youth group band--my buddy will there in the front!


i like this one not just because it looks like little miss jordan is in fish bowl (it's a playground window) but also because you can see me in it :)
ahh, angelina. cutie pie to the max.
and i could definitely identify with this little one (and wanted to take her home with me.)
all their cute little shoes in a row.so once we finished with that, then it was time to fix up the house. we got some great new couches from our friends jeremy and lindsey for a bargain price--and it was time to close in the shed that our neighbor john has been building for the past few weeks. justin was recruited to help on friday since it was his day off, and they made quite a headway on it, putting up all of the walls and trusses with the roof going up on saturday.

my artsy shot of the not quite finished shed.
saturday brought my second wedding photography job of the summer. this one was lined up with my hair stylist, and it was absolutely beautiful. i just loaded several pics up to flickr, so check them out there, and then there are more on my business site (www.laurenthornphotography.com) so sunday was church, "mamma mia!" with justin's mom and sister (where i got to see jennifer macneill-yay!), and hosting the small group at our house since we had jeremy and lindsey's furniture :) the weekend felt like it went by very quickly, but hopefully the week will go by just as fast! we have plans to go down to the beach on saturday and stay down east saturday night, so i'm thrilled to get a beach trip in before summer is totally gone.

and i leave you with a cow that i spotted on my way to farmville (another reflector shoot) who looked just about as comfortable as a cow could be in the middle of july.

later, y'all.

kicking off the weekend

it's been a busy week with lots going on, and the weekend promises to be just as event-filled.

i'm still learning a lot at work and preparing to start with my first client family. yay! in the meantime, i'm having a great time getting to know people and finding my way around the office. i also joined the gym across the street and have made plans to meet a couple of my co-workers there in the morning. also good :)

on tuesday, i got to do a relaxed engagement shoot. this is a couple that has several connections to us--johnny is one of justin's longtime friends here in town, and heather is one of my new co-workers. they'll be getting married in october and though they'd already had their "official" engagement shoots, they wanted some candids and more artistic shots. we had a great time out at johnny's house, and they were so pleased with the results. i've put just a few up on flickr, so free to check them out.


i've been helping put up decorations for VBS at church, and i'll be volunteering there next week. they're going with an original theme--"Bible school musical"--that's modeled after "high school musical" of course, and i also got asked to cover it one evening for the paper. that'll keep us busy sunday night and most evenings next week.

and tonight, we began our task of shopping for a new bed and watched "the dark knight," which i watched through partially shut eyes a good portion of the time. great movie, but definitely a dark theme and some scary villains. i'm up for a movie with lighter content next time--anyone wanna go see "mamma mia"?

we're still making preparations for jon and carrie's wedding in august and have a few more pieces of information in place. we'll be staying at the cumberland inn, where they're getting married, and will have the opportunity to visit.... the kentucky fried chicken museum! no joke. i also hope we can check out one of the local state parks, cumberland falls. looks gorgeous from what we can tell by the websites...
and we'll be stopping in to visit with matt and patrice on our way up, and my great-aunt and uncle pete and mary on the way back. i'm excited to spend even one night in boone, since it's been....six years?...since i spent my summer up there with duke tip. i love the mountains in the summertime, and i can't wait to get a sandwich at "our daily bread" or maybe stop in at the real mast general store. should make for a great extended weekend and will break up the eight hour drive to kentucky quite nicely.

alright, that's it for now. later, y'all :)

wedding weekend in fayetteville

after finishing my first full week of work (yay!) justin and i spent the afternoon watching our wedding videos (also yay!) and then ran out to do some errands and enjoy the beautiful weather during dinner on the back patio at ham's.

saturday morning, we headed down to fayetteville for my second cousin katie's wedding. i helped katie and brandon find an apartment in greenville a couple of months ago in preparation for their move to ecu this coming fall. they are a sweet couple who have a bright future ahead of them, and we were glad we could be there for the special day.

with the wedding being in fayetteville, katie's mom had contacted us after our wedding to ask for referrals. we loved all of the businesses we used, so we gave them positive recommendations and encouraged them to contact them. they ended up going with our caterer, florist and photographer, so it was cool to see our photographers again and to enjoy the delicious food (and cake!) from the caterer.

so a few photos... me and justin after the wedding brandon and katie at the reception
doing the cake thing--they were very nice to each other!
there are some more pics up on flickr, so feel free to check them out!

we had another great dinner of crab legs over at grandma's and a nice visit to hay st. where we met the new preacher and listened to alan play during the offertory. complete the visit with a lunch at micasita's and a trip to edward mckay, and before we knew it, it was time to head back to greenville.

so now we're getting ready for another week of work and making plans for our big trip up to kentucky in august. i'm actually excited about the drive and the opportunity to spend some time in the mountains, so we're trying to make a mini-vacation out of it like we did with the weekend in charlotte. should be a good time :)

that's all for now. later, y'all.

a couple of fun photos for a mid-week post

we had a great time at the mudcats game--awesome fireworks, a mudcats win, and an enjoyable evening (even with the threat of rain!)

milo and our new wii fit--he doesn't quite grasp the concept yet.
and a fun night with the young adults small group at jeremy and lindsay's, where we cooked out, watched jake crawl for one of the first times, and taught him to play aerosmith guitar hero :)now it's back to trainings, photo sessions and getting ready for our... third wedding?--yes, third-- this weekend (fourth if you count the one where i was a photographer)

hasta luego!

celebrating the 4th

it's been a busy couple of weeks since i last posted, and justin and i were happy to see the holiday weekend approaching so we could relax and spend time with some friends and family.

i accepted a job offer last week to begin working at an agency here in town as an intensive in home family therapist. though it will be a couple of weeks before i start actually going out to see clients, i had trainings this past week and several more lined up for next week. this is a great agency that has a positive reputation in the community and is looking to grow over the next few years. the program that i will be leading involves a team approach where we help families and at-risk youth stabilize their environment so the youth can remain in the home. i am really excited about this and can't wait to get started after all my training are complete.

in the meantime, we've been enjoying the summer and some of the new "toys" that are out on the market. we searched for a wii fit all last weekend--with no success. we eventually ended up borrowing one from heather and wylie and were immediately hooked. after calling around during the week, we gave it one more shot yesterday and lucked out--toys 'r us finally had some in. so now we are proud owners of the balance board. what a cool accessory and awesome game to add on to our wii library.

we also went to see "wall-e" last weekend and loved it. pixar never dissapoints! (though they didn't do outakes or bloopers after the credits again :(--we waited around just in case, but maybe they've gotten out of the habit of doing that in the theater releases.)

and finally, we've spent some lovely evenings in little washington. i still haven't made it down to the beach this summer, but perhaps it's because we keep darting over to washington for dinner and really enjoying ourselves on the waterfront. last week, it was to celebrate my new job and get out of greenville due to the water contamination that had all of the restaurants closed in town. we headed on over to backwater jack's, a great waterside restaurant with a tiki bar atmosphere, complete with a double-decker outdoor porch and awesome views of the river. after delicious shrimp burgers and the best sweet potato fries i've ever had, we walked along the waterfront and got some ice cream. after such a nice evening, we considered going that way again yesterday for the 4th of july. i knew i was scheduled to take pictures for the paper at the greenville town commons, but i had already planned on going down there early before it got too crowded or dark. we thought about going over to kinston for the baseball game and fireworks, but once we looked into it, the tickets were already sold out. new bern was just a little too far to drive, and they have the main bridge closed so we'd have to drive through town to get to the point park. so... it was decided we would head on east to washington to catch some waterfront fireworks. we packed my tripod and camera, picked up some bojangles and got an excellent parking spot for the evening. i had to share some of the pictures from our evening out there, and after hearing that it downpoured in greenville just as the fireworks began, we're really glad we ended up going.

(since justin still wants to do a baseball game and fireworks, we're going to go see the mudcats play this evening and enjoy their second fireworks show after the game)

the docks were full and there were tons of boats coming up and down the river yesterday evening.

a candid of justin as we walked along the waterfront.
the lights of the boats reflecting off the water--that was one of the most popular spots to view the fireworks!
i was so happy with how these turned out--there are more up on flickr, but these are just a couple of my favorites.
part of the "grand finale"--they had said a couple of weeks ago that washington wouldn't be able to do their fireworks because of the burn ban and the huge wildfire that started last month, but they changed their minds earlier this week and i'm so glad they did!alright, that's it for now. we've got a couple of things to take care of around the house before we head to zebulon. check out the pictures on flickr and reflector