weekend wrap-up

i'm interrupting my current "veg out" sunday evening to make a post. you'll understand why i've declared it "veg out" sunday once you get all the way through my past 48 hours...but i have enjoyed a quiet evening at home. i had already scheduled not to be at choir and my other church commitments because of a photo shoot... then the photo shoot rescheduled due to weather and i really needed to relax and take it easy. so apologies to all that may have been looking for me and justin tonight, but we needed a night to ourselves.

so friday evening, we had our kick-off sleepover for the girls' ministry at church...
we began the night with some "recycled" halloween costume contests, where the girls created a costume out of junk materials they were provided. we had a bride...
and a car!
then it was time for some pumpkin painting...
and a couple of hours talking and answering questions from my "ungame" cards. as a therapist, i have lots of great talking tools, including great conversation starters. we used my ungame cards earlier in the year for our retreat, and they were a hit! i also included my "would you rather?" cards this time that are a great icebreaker for groups. we ended the evening by getting comfy and watching a movie.
love these girls :)

the next morning, my engagement session came to me! joe is an intern that has been working with our youth ministry this school year, and kristi is his lovely fiancee that we get to see on the weekends helping out. i'm photographing their wedding next july, and since the house where we were staying is in a fabulous neighborhood that i've used for photo shoots before, i just had them meet me there. this is only a small tease, but i had to include a few of them :)


i've told joe numerous times that i think he has an early john mayer look. he doesn't listen to john mayer nor does he know what he looks like, but i'm standing by it.
their idea--so cute!
then it was back across town to meet my mom and grandma, have lunch and head over to the rose band competition. my brother's band was coming in town to compete, and we were over to the school early to see the first performances.

(my brother the band director. and his buddy keith, also helping out with other bands.)

my brother's band taking the field... they're small, but alan's hoping to grow the program over the next couple of years!
we stayed through the entire competition, which ended up being from 3ish until almost 10 pm. i'm definitely out of practice for my band competition preparation. for example, i didn't bring hand warmers and definitely didn't layer well. it was very chilly for this early in october and we were frozen by the end of the night. but we did get to see some great bands!

east carteret, where my brother has helped out for the past few years...
this was white oak out of jacksonville--one of the largest bands there, complete with sails and a ship on the field that moved around during the show...
and the big finale--west carteret, with their two story pit cart that was towed out on the field. they did the music of journey...
and had their colorguard in zebra stripes and lime green belts and headbands, using guitars as props!
i was surprised by how many bands use amplification now. it was just starting to become an option for bands when i graduated, but now everyone has a keyboard, guitar or microphone hooked up for the performances. the journey show had several electric guitar solos, and many bands fill in their sounds with keyboards and other synthesized sounds.

alan's band ended up getting 3 1st place trophies, a couple of 2nd places and 2nd place overall in their class. we won't be able to make it to any other competitions this year, but we were glad to be able to see this one. and it was a great introduction for justin to band competitions in general. quite a learning curve for him :)

we had a praise band rehearsal scheduled for 7:30 this morning, so i was planning to get home and pretty much go straight to bed. well, then we got a call from alan that he hadn't left town yet because one of his students had to go to the hospital. he might need a ride to his school because the bus had already left, and he was in the ER with the student. so then we were figuring out if someone would drive him the 30-45 minutes to his school and then drive back, or if he would spend the night at our house. i went to bed but had a tough time falling asleep with all of the visitors and not knowing what was going on. so i think i finally fell asleep close to 1 am, and then was up way early for the rehearsal. alan was on the couch and his wife came to pick him up and eat breakfast with everyone while i was at first service. then justin, mom and grandma came to the 2nd service and we all went out for lunch afterwards. needless to say, it made for a long morning and i was glad to have this afternoon's photo session rescheduled and a wide-open evening become available :)

off to enjoy the rest of it. hope everyone else had a great weekend!

a first candle

october 15h has been set aside as a day of remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. across the country, people are encouraged to light a candle at 7 pm to remember the children lost in pregnancy or infancy and their families.

tonight, candles were lit for ayden in a small high-school auditorium, where his story continues to be told and to reach others in the community.

but even though i love candlelight events--relay for life, breast cancer awareness vigils (even christmas eve services)--i loved the idea behind this event even more.

"because every baby deserves a first birthday."
we lit candles tonight for children who were not able to celebrate their first birthday. and tonight they got that first candle.

lindsey did a great job of speaking tonight, and i was so impressed by her students that organized the event as well.
they also had the information that was available for their blue ribbon day several weeks ago...
then after presentations from the healthy start program and a video about remembrance day, we headed outside for the candle lighting...
and sang "this little light of mine." a theme used at their high school this year is "let your light shine," and the song was just perfect for the evening.
"let it shine, let it shine, let it shine..."
the shirts read: a life so brief, a child so small, you had the power to touch us all
the school had been selling butterflies for students to decorate to raise funds for the "first candle" foundation. they took us inside to see the butterfly bulletin board after the vigil, and they set a goal to raise $500.
so great to see students working together to support such an awesome cause.

light a candle tonight. for ayden. for the babies in your life that left too early. for the families that are learning to live with their grief and only want to make sure that their children will not be forgotten.

we will not forget.

worship music wednesday

i've come up with a new idea for a "themed" day. there are so many amazing worship songs out there that i feel like the general church-going person misses. i love music and i love worshiping through music. it is where i feel most at peace, most encouraged, most moved.

and last night, as we sang this song at our youth group, i felt the need to share it. so what better way than coming up with a great alliterative title that will give me a weekly post to share :)



AND if you have any suggestions of other songs to share, feel free to comment and let me know. what awesome worship songs are out there that the world should hear?

if you are in my local area, please come out tomorrow evening to ayden-grifton high school at 7 pm for a candlelight vigil where lindsey will be speaking. they ran a story in our local paper as well this morning. it's so cool to see how ayden continues to touch and change lives and the opportunities that lindsey and jeremy have gotten to share his story. i'll be there taking pictures--i LOVE candlelight pictures. but i love it even more when it's for such a great cause and wonderful family...

i heart faces: excited

it's been a while since i've featured molly and lily on the blog, so i figured this was the perfect picture for this week's theme--excited!
lily's expression is priceless here! so animated and cute. i loved the colors that we used for this shoot and the urban setting. no one would believe that it was a gross cloudy day in march and we were wrapping the girls up in their jackets in between locations.

be sure to check out the other excited pictures over at "i heart faces" this week!

next we're going to use cheetos.

(i particularly like this "lady and the tramp" re-enactment with the pretzel stick.)

channeling the spirits of stacy and clinton

it's been a busy weekend at our house, but different from the usually busy-ness. we had nothing scheduled and were able to focus on some household chores that had been put off over the last few weeks. mainly a good cleaning in the bathroom and kitchen, and then switching out our clothes from summer to winter. justin had asked that during this switch, if i could possibly go through my clothes and get rid of some things that i don't wear anymore, that would be great...

that's quite a task. especially because i've been in the same "size range" since i was in high school and i also have this unhealthy attachment to clothes that have sentimental memories. hence the creation of my first t-shirt quilt a little while back, and now i have a whole new pile of shirts to start a new one.

but we did have some fun going through and finding things we had forgetten about--like justin's high school wrestling warm-up shorts...
yes, my husband wrestled, as did most of the guys in his family. whereas many wrestlers are worried about losing water weight to make their weight class, my hubby would have to load up before matches so he could make his weight class. we could do a whole post about fun stories from my husband's wrestling days, but maybe another time.

i have also have a random collection of pajama shorts and t-shirts that i just can't get rid of. these are both pair of shorts that i'll wear for pj's. my estimated age for them? the dr. seuss pair is from the 7th grade. the cat pair is from... 5th grade? maybe 4th grade. back in my "i heart cats" stage.
that's been the other thing. my various stages that i went through and explaining them to my husband who only met me at the mature age of 21. as i sorted through my overflowing basket of socks (that i never wear), i shared that yes, i had this thing for novelty socks in high school. in fact, for my sweet sixteen birthday party, that's what everyone gave me. and we spent yesterday afternoon going through my aging, amusing collection. every animal, holiday and cartoon character-themed pair i could find.

this was also around the same time that i collected bouncy balls for my car. the late 90s were a weird time. what can i say?

in the end, we filled 3 huge trash bags full and a couple of extra shopping bags, too.
and my closet and dresser drawers are breathing a sigh of relief.

after we purged, then it was time to go out and buy new stuff, right? granted, i love shopping and do so on a regular basis. we have a monthly amount set aside in our budget for my shopping habits, and i enjoy finding a good deal. i'm one of those people who can go through a clearance rack or browse at tj maxx and rugged wearhouse and come out with some great stuff. (i'm also one of those people who will just buy things because "look at this price! it's such a good deal! 80% off the original price!" which is why my closet was overflowing. i'm working on it...)

our shopping was focused on justin this weekend, though. he shops about every 2-3 years and (like me) has been the same size since high school. we're entertaining when we shop together... usually we're on the same page about what he should buy, but we speak different languages in the process. for instance, comparing the colors of his newly-purchased dark wash jeans to his faded, worn-in relaxed blue jeans--i'll try and explain that the new jeans are really better for wearing out to dinner or with nicer shirts, and definitely with his better pair of shoes... he'll say, "so i don't wear these to mow the lawn." and i'll confirm that and we're good.

(shoes are worse. oh, shoe shopping together is like a remake of "who's on first?" hence, the reason we do it infrequently.)

i do love shopping with him (and for him) and i LOVE some of the stuff we got this weekend. i have a very well-dressed, handsome husband and it's fun to see him try some of the things that he adamantly refused to wear a couple of years ago.

my one "must have" item of the weekend? this shawl-collared sweatshirt from target. it's like a hoodie, but not one. and i love that, cause sometimes i want the warmth and comfort of a hoodie but need it to be a little bit nicer. this one even has pockets and comes in several different colors. i see it becoming my new favorite fall/winter item...

how do you approach maintaining your wardrobe? are you a hoarder or can you easily part with the older stuff?

it makes my heart happy

i've been waiting for jim and pam's wedding for quite some time. the office is one of my favorite shows on tv, and i have been following jim and pam's relationship (or lack thereof) for the past four years.

granted, we had a little drama on thursday night when we were supposed to watch it. we'd gotten back from the fair and were settling in. justin "joked" about "accidentally deleting" it... and then actually accidentally deleted it. i was not a happy camper.

justin worked his tech magic and had the full episode ready and waiting for me to watch friday morning when i got up.

by far, my favorite part of the whole episode was this clip:


sniff sniff.

evening at the fair

i love the lights.

i love the food.
i love people watching.
i even enjoy (some of) the rides.
though i try not think about the fact that they're disassembled and reassembled every five to ten days.
i love the cool night air falling all around us.
the tinkling sounds of calliope carousel music,
and though it only comes once a year,

i love the fair.

all things fall

i don't think i can explain how much i love fall. it's a combination of happy memories: friday night football games, marching band competitions that lasted late into the cool, crisp evenings, awesome long weekends at camp cheerio with my seventh graders, and just the sweet relief of fall after a sweltering summer.

i even love the fall foods. pumpkin pie coffee creamer. apple cider. and the girls at work have gone crazy this week talking about our deepest, strongest desires to have some of these...

pumpkin spice krispy kreme. oh yeah. i had one tonight and it has fulfilled my need for cinnamony-nutmeg goodness for just a little while. at least until i attempt to make this....
apple cake in an iron skillet from pioneer woman (her photo as well)i have all intentions of attempting it this weekend when I HAVE NOTHING SCHEDULED. NOTHING. (except for that fall housecleaning/clothes swapping that needs to get done--but still, there's nothing scheduled. and i'm so excited!)

and finally, i realized i hadn't written about my second photoshoot last week. granted, there's not much i can share. you'll have to wait until january 16th to see some of the amazing photos that i took of connie. she was absolutely beautiful and we're going to have a tough time choosing the one for her big portrait.

let me also say that she brought three friends with her (thanks, melissa, heidi and jamie!) and i'm now thinking that that's what i need for every bridal shoot. you just need a big crew to rearranage the dress, carry props, adjust everything, create make-shift shade when needed, etc. i told melissa i would hire her alone just for her height and quick thinking! they were amazing and i have no clue how connie and i would have done it alone.

(this is the barn that i'm already planning on using for a future shoot. LOVE IT.)

what are your favorite things about fall?

sights of fall at the farm...

just a few more from our morning at briley's. i'm interested in checking out brock's farm in winterville, too. anyone been there yet?

a little peek...

at our morning trip to briley's farm. we had a great time (even though it was hotter than any of us had expected--where'd fall go?)











and you'll have to wait for more later--i'm off to relax and enjoy the rest of my saturday!

texturized

okay, so my big "photoshop" lesson this week has been learning how to do textures. i've messed around with it when i've had the time and finally gotten a decent grasp on it. i still have some reading up to do, but i love trying them out and seeing the cool effects i can get on my photos.

jessica is a senior that i've been working with on her senior project, and she and rachel have been great friends for years. we traveled to the little town of fountain for these pictures, and i am digging them. i'm a little weak in my "best friends" poses though--but we had lots of laughs as we brought a little life to the town of fountain.



and then just to cap things off, i had to share a secret spot for barbeque. i don't know, it seemed fitting, what with all the small town atmosphere we had in the photos.
several of the girls at work and i headed over to b's for lunch one day this week. it is unlike an experience you've ever had. the best wood-smoked barbeque from this little run-down store front on the side of the road. we got our plates to go and ate at the picnic tables outside.
and oh yes, it's as good as it looks.