Summer Savings!

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't been updating things lately. Hopefully soon I'll be filling you in on everything! I just wanted to share a great deal with all of you Louisville area people. Summer is a fantastic time to get photos taken, with all the sunshine and great weather going on. So, here's a little something to bless your pocketbook:

Book your portrait session before July 25^th, and get $25 worth of free prints for every $50 ordered! Or, get $50 worth of free prints with the purchase of all of your images on CD (includes permission to print)! Sessions may be scheduled through September. E-mail me or contact me through my website to get your session booked today!

Meet the Browns

A few days ago, Matt and I got to hang out with the Browns, an awesome family we know from church. They're such a joyful, warm, and friendly family. It was great to spend time getting to know them better. I also got to take pictures of them on their large, country property. This is one of my favorites:

Land Between the Lakes

I just had a fantastic week with my family! Once a year, my parents come down from Michigan to do some vacationing with my brother, my husband, and me. Last year we had a great time in Gatlinburg. This year, we met up at Land Between the Lakes, in western Kentucky. It's a really pretty wildlife area, with lots of water (us Michiganders love water and sailboats!), trees, trails, and the like. As always, we made tons of yummy food, relaxed at a nice cabin (I would highly recommend the Lake Woods Log Cabin), and enjoyed laughing and talking together.

Our first evening there, we made sure to visit the Elk and Bison Prairie at dusk so that we could spot the animals. We definitely saw quite a few elk and bison. It was hard to take pictures because it was so dark, but I did manage to capture the neat textures and colors in this one:


Matt and I were off to the side, viewing the animals, when I decided to take a picture of Shannon, my brother, and my parents looking out at the prairie. Then they spotted us!


On another day, we hiked around a small lake. There was this neat area where you could walk across stepping stones at the top of a waterfall. Matt went to take a picture of the four of us, and while he was walking away, we set up in the YMCA stance! He got a kick out of that when he turned around! We're so silly.

This one shows the waterfall:

There were tons of butterflies all over the trail. They gathered in little clumps a lot.

We had fun playing put-put golf at Maggie's Jungle Golf, and then checked out their Jungle Run, which is filled with lots of crazy animals, from emus to goats to donkeys to a camel.

I think this is an emu:


They had peacocks EVERYWHERE!!! I asked the owner how many they had and he guessed it was around 28 to 30. Crazy!

The camel liked to have food thrown in his mouth!
After the awesome weekend, my parents spent a few days in Nashville with Shannon. Then they came back to visit us for a couple of days as well. We did some shopping, lots of eating (as always!), and a little sightseeing. We stopped in at the Jim Beam distillery, and checked out the Bernheim Forest. Both are places I'd like to visit again--especially since they're just 20 minutes down the road!

I'm always thankful for time I get to spend with my family, and this week was no exception. It's great to get together and talk, experience life together, and encourage eachother in our walks with God. It's such a blessing! I wonder what we'll do next year!

Quick trip

I just got back from a wonderful whirlwind weekend in Michigan! It was jam-packed with lots of people and fun. I got there after midnight on Friday since I had to work 'til 5. I got up super early Saturday to run over to my friend Corey's house for a short short visit (I'll steal a chance to see her any time I can!). I got to see her son Aedan for a few minutes too (hubby Jer was still sleeping--sorry I missed you!). He's growing up! He'll be three in a day or two, I think... Corey and Jer are expecting a second baby soon! I'm excited!

Then I ran back to my parent's to have breakfast with them before Matt and I headed over to his sister, Teresa's, where Matt's three sisters were gathered with some of the kids and hubbies. We had lots of fun talking and watching the kids play games. We were there a few hours, then headed to the riverfront where my uncle, aunt, and cousin were hanging out with my parents. They made the trip to see us since they're a few hours past our hometown! It was awesome to see them.

We discovered that Aunt Sandy and my mom have the same coat!

Katie and I by the bridge:

Having some fun with Katie and the camera:

Then we headed back to my parent's to hang out for the night. We played Charades and had a blast! We always laugh so much when we're together!

Katie and I again :) :

Sunday, we got up super early again and drove to Matt's brother, Rob's, to meet our newest nephew, Jeremiah! Congrats, Rob and Jacquie, on your third wonderful little boy!

Of course I had to get lots of pictures of photogenic Nathaniel. He's so smiley! Still as cute as a button.

Then we headed over to my grandparents to celebrate Grandpa's 89th birthday!

After that, we made the drive back to Kentucky, stopping in Dayton to see Megan & Andy before they move to Colorado. We'll defintiely miss you two!

It was a jam-packed weekend! I'm so grateful that we were able to see so many people. It's always so hard to say goodbye every time, but I'm glad we have the opportunity to make trips as often as we can!

Website Update!

I finally got my website updated! Woohoo! If some of you have peeked over the last couple of weeks, you may have seen some of the changes. Now everything is completed, so take another look! New pictures, new slideshow links, new everything! Click the picture above to check it out.

Ice Storm

2009 has gotten off to an interesting start. As you may have heard on the news, Kentucky got hit by a pretty big ice storm. Thousands of people lost power--us included. Some still don't have power, over a week later. We were out for 6 days. Thankfully, friends took us in so we had a warm place to stay! We were able to move back home just in time before Matt had shoulder surgery, which was on Thursday.

Besides the power being out, I must say that I really enjoyed seeing snow and ice all around. Crazy, eh? Seriously though, it felt like I was home! You're supposed to be surrounded by snow in January!

Keep on watching for my website updates. I was planning to have them done last week, but between the power being out and taking care of Matt, it's gotten pushed back quite a bit! I'm looking forward to sharing some new photos with you all though!

Catching Up

My goodness! Time flies! I haven't written an entry in over two months! Finally, though, I am entering my slow season (thank God for that!) and I have a chance to sit and catch up.

Let's see... Some of you may wonder how I've been doing on my new lease on life. Well, I've been doing better! I still catch myself getting caught up in the busyness of just living, but I've found some opportunities to live a little more. Shortly after that entry, Matt and I had the opportunity to spend a day together (he had it off, and I was in between jobs... more on that in a sec), so we lived it up the best we could, despite the cold, rainy weather. We decided to scout the downtown area, where I would be training for a while, and in the process discovered a covered walkway that runs all the way from Fourth Street Live to the Galt House Hotel! So we took that and snooped around the big, luxurious hotel. Then, we headed to Frankfort Avenue, where there are lots of cute boutiques, antique stores, and unique restaurants. We found an awesome pottery shop called Pottery Rowe. The artist, Melvin Rowe, was there working on some Christmas ornaments. There is some amazing stuff there! I absolutely love pottery. I used to make it when I was in college. I would give anything to have the chance to work on a potter's wheel again... ah... so therapeutic. After that, we explored the campuses of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. They're both in a beautiful area with lots of pretty houses.

Then, my parents and brother came for Thanksgiving.

It was a lot of fun to have them here! We spent a little bit of time back at the Frankfort Avenue area, and discovered a model train shop! That was SO fun! My brother and I had an HO scale train set when we were kids (we still do, but it's boxed up now). We had so much fun building it, painting the landscape, adding trees and grass, racing the cars, building mountains, etc. etc. Needless to say, we really enjoyed being around that stuff again.

Christmas was different this year. I was only able to make it home for a day and a half. We tried to make it home in time for the annual neighborhood Christmas party, but bad weather all through Ohio and Michigan turned our 7 hour trip into 11 1/2 hours. :( We spent Christmas Eve at home, and Christmas day I flew back to Louisville, leaving Matt behind to enjoy some more time with his family. I had to work the day after Christmas. I'm really glad I did get to spend a little bit of time at home though!

So did you catch that I have a new job? Haha... Yep, I'm a part time teller at a bank now. I had been working at a portrait studio. It's been an interesting change. I think it will be nice to not be doing photography related work 24/7 now. Now I can focus on what I want to do with photography and enjoy it more!

So that's why I was incognito for a while. I had full time training for the new job, then it was the holidays on top of the adjusting to the job. Now I'm back in business! I'm looking forward to what lies ahead in this new year. I'm sure it will bring many new and exciting things!

Now, before I head off to work on my website updates (stay posted!), I'd like to share a quote from Ronald J. Sider's book, "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger." I've been reading it lately, and this part really jumped out at me today. He's talking about social injustices, but I really think that this principle applies to the grander scheme of things too. Some food for thought!

"However, living differently...by no means involves trying to do everything. We each have our own unique gifts and calling. God wants many of us to fast and pray about social sin. Most should study, and many should write and speak out. Some should join and support organizations promoting social justice. Others should run for political office. All of us should ask how changes in our personal lifestyle could help model a better world. But God does not want anyone to feel guilty for not doing everything--or for taking time off for relaxation and recreation. Everyone should prayerfully ask God what limited, specific things God wants him or her to concentrate on. It was God, after all, who made us finite with only twenty-four hours each day. Being called to do all God wants us to do to correct social sin is not a heavy burden. It is an invitation to joy and meaning in life, an occasion for blessing our neighbors, and a wondrous opporutnity to be a coworker with the Lord of history."

Colorado

I've always loved Colorado. Before I had ever been there, I heard about all the beauty and adventure that was there, and I knew I had to get there. About four years ago, I got to go for my first time. My dad works for Youth for Christ, and he had planned a trip to Crooked Creek Ranch (totally awesome!) for his kids. I volunteered to go along as a counselor. The 36-hour school bus ride (one way) was rough, but it was worth it! Ever since then, I've wanted to go back, especially with my hubby. We finally did! To celebrate our second anniversary, we set out to conquer Colorado...

The first day there, we checked out Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. It's a really neat rock formation where concerts are held. I totally enjoyed being out in the fresh air and wide open spaces!


It was a beautiful, slightly cool day (probably 55 degrees), and I was shocked and excited to find snow (and right next to cactus at that... still crazy to me)!

Our second day was spent in the mountains. We went on a horseback ride at Aspen Lodge. It was a gorgeous area with stunning views.


Then we drove around and went on hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park. A lot of the park was closed for the winter (unfathomable to us Kentuckians... it was only October!), but we managed to see a good bit of it. We'd definitely like to go back again.

On one of our hikes, we climbed up a big rocky area. I thought this pic was fun with the sun flare and all!


In that same area, we discovered a herd of elk! How neat is that!? We could hear their call and everything. We were standing up where the people in this pic are:

This is a view right near where the elk were:

Then we drove up to Bear Lake. By then, it was freezing cold because the sun was going down. It was really neat to see.

The next day, we headed out to Waterton Canyon to do some mountain biking.

We had heard that the mountain biking trail was 6 miles down a dirt road from the parking area. No biggie, right? Well, we didn't know it was 6 miles up hill! And with the high altitude, it was rough! By the time we got to the trail, we were running short on time and I was exhausted. Matt went on and explored the trail for a bit, but our "mountain biking" didn't turn out like we had thought. Regardless, it was worth it. The scenery was so nice, and we ended up seeing big horn sheep on our way back! They were so close to us too! It was neat to see them running all over the hillside--it's amazing how they can do that when it's so steep and rocky. The big guy was checking Matt out:

Then we went on to visit my cousin, Michele, and her family. They live in Denver. It was so great to spend time with them on their own turf! They took us out to Boulder, where we did some shopping, hiking, and climbing. We climbed on these rocks:


Matt ventured out to the edge:



The rocks again:

It was such a great vacation! We definitely want to go back some day. Thanks go out to Becky for letting us borrow her little camera for our biking and horseback riding! And thanks so much Michele and family for having us stay with you! We had a blast!

And thank you, God, for such a beautiful creation and for making it possible for us to enjoy it. :)

LIVE!

I visited my parents a few weeks ago. While I was there, I stopped by at the home of a friend of my mom's to help her out with a computer question she had. To give you a little background, this friend, Ms. Stone, is an amazing pianist and wonderful piano teacher in my hometown (my mom is also a piano teacher). She is originally from Louisville, so she was telling me about all the wonderful things she did while she was there. Then she started asking me questions. "Do you go to Iroquois Park much?" Um... no. "Do you go to the concerts at UofL? They have a lot of free events!" Um... I've been meaning to, but no... Etc. Etc. She paused, then looked at me and said something I'll never forget: "You aren't living! You're just existing." Ouch! But so true! I have all these things that I'd love to do around here (most of which are free): spend time at a park, attend concerts, see a ballet, spend time by the river, do the trolley gallery hop, find a good stargazing spot, play in the fountain... The list goes on. And I'm not doing them! I'm always "busy." But with what? Existing, that's what. So I'm taking out a new lease on life. The laundry can wait. I can give up an hour of sleep here and there. Dinner doesn't have to be magnificent. I'm going to LIVE! I'm going to take advantage of opportunities while I have them. I won't be perfect at this, but I'm going to try!

So thank you, Ms. Stone. I needed to hear that.

Brian & Megan

This weekend, I spent some time in Bowling Green, Kentucky, photographing Megan and Brian's wedding. After meeting them this spring to take their engagement pictures, I knew that their wedding would be lots of fun to take part in! They are such a sweet and fun couple.

There were so many nice things about the day: The church where the ceremony was held was really gorgeous, with huge windows in the foyer that made it feel like it was outside. Megan's dress had intricate beading all over it, and an elegant silhouette--absolutely stunning! The reception was held at the Kentucky Museum, which had a huge staircase, and lots of deep, dark woodwork. And one of my favorite moments was at the reception when Megan and Brian thanked everyone for being there, supporting them, and helping out. Too often we forget to stop and appreciate others, and that was so nice to see them do that!

Getting ready at the church (check out that beading!):


All four of Megan's sisters stood up with her. Can you tell they're related? ;)


The flower girl playing in a little sunshine:


Those huge windows at the church that I told you about:


The newlyweds sharing the last dance of the night:


And, once again, check out that ring!!


Congrats Megan and Brian! Thanks for having me share in your special day!