{the reindeer}

have landed.

the elves have retired.

and, santa has left the building.

2011 complete. 

now, to enjoy my family &

celebrate our Savior! 

{dear nikon}

it seems that i do not work for food

but,

for your upgrades. 

although i am VERY excited,

it is also a painful experience.

just sayin'.

{check!}

i finished my last shoot of 2011 last night.

it was beautiful, but all i can say is THANK.YOU.GOD.

i survived.

i'm very thankful for the business, but very tired at this point.

so, i will finish up my edits and orders and enjoy Christmas

with my little family.  church will not be happening for us

this morning as scott is down for the count and evan has upper

respiratory havoc going on.  so,  although unplanned, we will be staying

home and in our pj's today.  i will finish my marathon on loading and ordering

{it is expected to last until the wee hours of tuesday morning}.  and, then, hopefully

finished for the most part except for orders.  whew! it's been a busy time and 

i'm ready to settle down.  i've met with my photog friend jess and we

are both revamping once again this year.  little tweaks to help us

stay in better balance with business and family.  i'm excited to start the new year. 

our barn pad is clean from debris.  starting over there as well, ha! 

{i can really only laugh.  really}

although, a  gingerbread house may be built today instead.  and,

if you know my reputation with gingerbread houses.  the outcome

will not likely be pretty.  fun maybe, but not pretty. 

the boys are going to start some Christmas gift projects today they've

been dying to do and i will supervise from my desk.  probably, not the brightest

idea in the world on my part.  but, i've put them off long enough. 

praise music in the background.

peppermint mocha in a new polka dot Christmas coffee mug. 

{you know, i drink from them all year long, so i added a few this year}

i may even get brave and post some snaps of the Christmas decorations 

today.  i do have one outside wreath out of eight hung outside.  i finish things

promptly like that.  so sad!  maybe they will all be hung the d day of tuesday.   

i'm looking forward to a cozy but productive day!! 

{i need a t-shirt that says....}

i survived two out of town weddings this weekend.

i may not be able to see straight.

but, i'm breathing and moving very slowly.

that's about all i can say with only one cup of coffee down.

be back later!

{yay!}

I got this from the wedding planner:

"Great news! I already had someone from The Wedding Post (Arkansas's daily wedding blog) contact me wanting to feature Anna & Michael's wedding! I told them I'd send pictures as soon as I had them. I also want to submit to at least one wedding magazine (Arkansas Bride or Southern Weddings or Southern Bride) and I'm also planning on submitting the images to Style Me Pretty. Just wanted to keep you posted on the plans! "

Fun!



{answered prayer}

For all of you who prayed for my sweet friend Jessica and her husband Ryan after

she delivered precious Wyatt and through the days & months after they lost him.......

here is the answer to many, many prayers

meet little Miss Finley....

{spring building projects}

It's not even spring, and I'm thinking we're already behind. 

*new shed to stick all of my props in for easy access.

*chicken coop - I've decided to go ahead and bite the bullet.

*dock on the pond.

*get a new tiller {other one was beyond repair} and get to planting!

*finish the barn restoration before it gets blown away.

 it's just a skeleton at this point.
*clothes-line

*new fence in front of house, barb-wire is coming down

*fence {prop} installed {very small scale}

i'm tired already.   

{to my girlfriends}

If you are thinking of having pictures made this spring / summer.....

it is booking up super-fast. 

Not much room left, but wanted to give you first choice of course!

{Yippppppppeeeeeeeeee!!!}

i am so stinkin' excited! and, i could use a little of that of late!

got my BIG early Christmas present. well, it's all i'll be getting from this point on but it had to be done or i couldn't be done.

i'm going to houston this spring to spend time with a photography genius! i could dance right now. {but, i'm waaayyyyy too tired!}

she's a rock star in the photography world. and, her style really speaks to me as i am not even close to her ability, but, our front-end style is similar if that makes any sense at all??

oh.my.goodness.

i cannot even believe it! woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!

and, she just emailed me!!!!! j

breathe.

on a bummer side.....my beloved lense that died. then, fired up again. died again. this time for good. new lense ordered. the upgraded version of course because nothing stays the same longer than 6 months in the photography equipment world. very bittersweet. but, that's okay, because i'll just take it to texas with me!!!

nite! edited until 2 this morning and if i don't make myself get away from here, i will not be sitting upright tomorrow. it takes a day to slam me.

rambling i know!

but.so.stinkin'.excited!!!!

{pretending}

Well, Cinnamon Cider hit the shelves.

I grabbed some.

I am burning them now.

Pretending it is not 108 degrees out there.

I'm not even thinking what the heat index may be.

Session tonight.

Praying for a cool front around 6:45 pm.

{family & friends}

If there are any of you out there who may be wanting fall pictures, please let me know as my calendar is already busting. Well, "busting" in the scaled-back version for the school year.

And, I've had 3 wedding inquiries in less than 12 hours. With each one I am literally having to pray as I am determined to stay focused on what needs and deserves my actual focus. Saying no is very difficult for my personality and it takes pretty much everything I have. I hate that about me?

In saying that....my favorite sessions are those of family & friends, so I don't want to miss out on those if at all possible.

Just a PSA.....ha!

{on your mark, get set, go!}

Getting this 2.something page to do list completed {with more be added as it comes to my mind}


will determine if we get to do this next week.

It is several weeks earlier than planned, but Scott got a wild idea yesterday. As he often does, I might add.

The bonus: there are several precious families going next week and I am envisioning loads of sweet beach pictures.

There is no better backdrop.

I would be in paradise more than you could even know.

Plus, I have two boys who are pretty much already packing.

And, that list - that is not counting the normal stuff - 2 MD appts, 3 sessions and a wedding in Joplin Saturday night!

IF I accomplish all of that {it is all necessary stuff, nothing that wasn't a "have-to" was not added} then I plan to do nothing and take pictures.

Perfect!

{just say no}

Wow! That can be a very difficult thing.

I was challenged yesterday and today with a very enticing wedding - however, in my months of prayer {and agony} in getting to the point of resigning from the law firm - there were certain things {God and family things to be exact} that were to be placed back to their rightful place in the line of priorities.

So, I just "hit" send with a very polite decline.

And, it felt really, really great!

And, the world did not stop turning.

Amazing!

{through His eyes}

All of it made my stomach sick.

We feared it had returned.

The ugly "c" word.

I had been out all day and had not yet received the news that the biopsy had indeed confirmed it, but the second I heard her voice on a message of my phone, I hung up on it and dialed her. I didn't listen to it.

I knew what she wanted, or maybe more of what she needed.

This post is NOT about me in any shape or form. I will simply be standing behind one end of the lens looking at a precious family standing on the other end. This is about a constant (& I mean constant) prayer I am carrying with me right now begging Him that I capture for this precious family what they need next week.

It's not about the technical stuff or the editing or anything other than their moments. My chest literally hurts when I think about it. I haven't seen any of them since they found out it that it had returned. I am praying that God is very merciful and places a HUGE game face on me. I have to have that.

I need to capture them laughing

and loving

and being them.

Maybe, just maybe they will briefly forget.

and, in writing all of that -they were to meet with the physicians yesterday re: treatment plan. I have no idea what the tx plan will consist of at this point. But, I know there is hope - so I don't want this to convey that there is not. This is simply me putting pressure on myself to get this more than perfect for them. And, I know that I cannot do that without Him.

{new sign}

My friends stress me out! As much as I love them, they stress me when they come for pictures armed with gifts. It is not suppose to work like that. I need to start posting all of it. Actually, if you've seen the pictures of my house, uh, alot of it is thanks to gift cards, gifts, etc from the girls. In fact, just got a sweet set of lamps from Mrs. Linda Carter a few weeks ago due to a gift card. And, they were on the clearance table, even better. {i added that, because she would really like that part}

Somehow I need to figure out how to scan them before they enter the premises! :) Although it is SOOOO not necessary and actually hurts my stomach. I do appreciate it.

So here is the new deal. You bring something along you are not suppose to, I will totally call you out on it! :) Even though it is against the rules, MW toted this along last night. When I saw her carrying the wrapped package to me, it didn't even click. I thought she had a picnic blanket with her. Yes, it was wrapped. Shocking, because I only use bags. But, not shocking from Mandi. :)

Okay, now that I've "griped" at her. {in love of course} Isn't it the cutest?? She had Angela L. paint me a sign for my new studio!!! Okay, so only the concrete is poured for said studio. But, now we have to do it because I have a sign!

I absolutely adore it, but you sooooo shouldn't have! Now, I need to back-track and go through my house and show everything.

Thanks, MW!

{be back later}

I've got a wedding today. Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful Saturday!