happy birthday lesley ann!

for starters, i have been locked out! yes, locked out. josh's school email is linked through google and for some reason it put his email in and wouldnt let me take it out to log into my blog. i know it sounds crazy and like an excuse, but its the truth!

so im back... aka logged in. :)

and today is my wonderful friend lesley ann's birthday! remeber when it was laura hunter's birthday? well la is the other half of the trio! lesley ann is currently living in atlanta but is from greensboro. we met at meredith college and became close friends during a wonderful tradition called CORNHUSKIN! and im sure you are asking what the heck is cornhuskin'... "you just have to experience it!"

this was before we even turned 18!

now we are 23.

no matter how far apart we are, the three of us will still be best friends.

i love you both dearly.

have a wonderful birthday lesley ann! 

umm oops.

has it really been a month? where did that month go? i mean really... can a get a calendar check on this one? please dont really check that calendar of yours. 

so here i am... here we are...

we made it.

WE HAVE BEEN MARRIED A YEAR!

whoa... where did that time go?

now check the calendar.

that was the craziest year of our lives/life.

(we are debating the use of this word here.

i say life... we are one.)

and thats just it... i really feel like we have become one in this last year. 

i mean, no we dont have it together and we didnt master marriage. but dern, that was a good year. we did a lot and a lot changed. we grew up a lot. overall, marriage is freakin awesome. everyone should get married, i mean if thats what God wants for you. but seriously, its rad. 

so you ask how we are celebrating our one year...

(pretend like you asked)

well we are going on a cruise.

we leave tomorrow.

j's family is going and we are super excited about it being the 8 of us again.

happy first anniversary to the love of my life.

i cant wait for 78 billion more. :)

stay tuned for cruise pictures.

and laura hunters engagment party pictures.

and 4th of july pictures.

and probably some more.

(umm i got some catching up to do.)

the big news

for starters, 

remember that wedding in april that i helped lesley ann shoot?

well the pictures are ready! (this is where you say wooo hooo!)

even though the link is over to your right... 

and i hope you all have visited the website.

ill put it here just in case...

okay, so i just realized i have posted the wrong link to her blog over there. oops.

here is the right link.

i am very excited about the way they turned out.

i cant wait to shoot with her again.

so the big news of the week, well more big news.

i finally got rid of the crackberry and got an iphone.

the keyboard on the berry just decided not to work anymore,

so i used it to its full potential.

and of course you have got to have a cute cover, right!

just a little advertisement.

(sorry its a little yellow.)

remember me telling you that the lousiville slugger field had a beautiful entryway...

well here ya go.

and of course i had to make it b&w because im obsessed.

but isnt it just gorgeous.

i cant wait for one of my friends to have their reception there...

hinthinthint.

alright... im going to attempt to go running with my husband and brady (hinthinthint).

see you guys on the flip side...

or at bdubs! 

woo hoo.

a lesson for friday

my husband was not amused with me pouring cold water over the shower.

so he locked the door.

then i tried to take the door knob off, but he said he wouldnt put it back on.

now we are going to five guys and a movie... aka: a date.

just a little household rivalry for a friday night.

on another note, a lady at my job... 

well old job, it ended today... 

asked me to take pictures of her precious 15 month old.

hopefully they will all look like this.

have a wonderful friday evening friends!

and next time you try to throw cold water over the shower at your husband,

make sure he cant see you sneaking in the bathroom.

the questionable green thumb

if you know me,  you know that i definitely do not have a green thumb.

i mean, i killed a peace lilly for crying out loud.

 but i begged josh to let me buy some flower seeds and give it another go.

and after some serious begging, he said yes. 

 so i finally planted them on memorial day. 

and i was super excited because i was going to have pretty flowers.

 see, they were only $1.29.

 well we went home this past weekend and i asked a friend to water them. 

so i thought i was set.

well this is what i found when we got home last night.

some stupid animal, we are going to go with squirrel, dug in my zinnia's!

and now i cant even prove that i could grow flowers from scratch.

and another bad thing... 

i had put off taking a picture of the cute little sprouts. so i really have no proof.

(and j refused to call them flowers at that point. he would only call them sprouts.)

so i guess i will have to sacrifice another $1.29 and try again.

and ill beat the next animal that touches my flowers.

the findings of a scavenger hunt.

so as you saw we went on a scavenger hunt in april. 

and we bought some pearls.

well this is what i made with the pearls.

 so you take your pearls... 

i bought 2 or 3 packs (lets go with 3)...

 you gather all your pearls and loop them together.

 you tie ribbon on either end...

keep it lose. i had to redo it several times.

then you add a broach.

 viola!

and then you give it to your sister in law...

or whoever you would like!

so besides seeing this darling girl and all our friends and family...

we are super excited because we are going home to see these two lovely people get married!

josh and neil are best friends... they grew up together.

jana and i have been friends since 9th grade,

 when we lived around the corner from each other.

(aka... walking distance to borrow clothes! :) and hang out alot.)

we pray their marriage is blessed by God and that it honors Him.

we cant wait to see what God has for their future.

ignore the unedited picture from facebook.

see you in north carolina. :)

do you feel my loyalty?

im still in my work clothes because im so dedicated to posting tonight? (ignore the time this actually posts. this statement was legit when it was typed.) why you ask (you probably arent asking because you already know), because i have not been dedicated! im so sorry all my faithful followers! (im praying there are more of you out there than the nine that are sitting in little boxes over there... we are gonna go with yesss!) 

i guess i cant really title this one ketchup again, can i?

one second, i have to refresh myself on what we last discussed... oh yea.

 the louisville bats games are becoming a regular part of time here in lville. 

as you have viewed... loyally!

 he's handsome. especially with those sunglasses on.

 i promise there is a bat in his hand.

there was some rain, 

and there was some awesome fireworks.

the only thing sad about this baseball game was that it was going away party for "our dear friend nathan". nathan will be doing work at a church in arizona, arkansas, arizona... arkansas. (that is what i do in my head everytime i say it so i thought you could be a part of that.)

on another note,

 i got this amazing, thoughtful, precious, creative, WONDERFUL little babe in the mail last week.

so clever! 

and i was super excited to find out what the inside held!

 to which i said...

umm... excuse the fact that im an idiot.

let me translate. this says...

"i was born for this. HECK YES!"

im so excited (insert many more words for excitement times 10) for LH's wedding next june! 

and in case you have forgotten, this is her and that cute fiance of hers.

taken by the amazing lesley ann hix (aka maid of honor).

umm and i found this at a thrift store for $20.

well, it found me. it was living on the sidewalk for the day.

its just screaming to be "shabby chic-ed".

(against some legit arguments, this noun may be used as a verb.)

please ignore that it is already catching clutter.

ill post pictures of where it will live in our home,

when the dresser decides where to live i decide where i want it to go.

on another note, a great 'nother note...

THE BACHELORETTE STARTS TONIGHT!

unfortunately it goes past my bedtime...

which just means coffee in the morning, 

because there is no way that im missing out.

so i think that about covers it...

but just know,

there is an exciting post about a look alike

and another about how much L liked her birthday present coming

(after i research what i have written about it already).

enjoy the bachelorette!

im gonna work on that.

 so there was a kentucky derby...

we decided that we would watch it, 

you know since we live here and all.

see, these guys are super excited!

but seriously, it was thrilling.

i may have cheered. possibly.

my personal favorite.

"pants on fire" or also known as in my book "the girl"

im her. 'kay?

then this sucker got stuck in my tire... 

that nail thing, not josh.

we do solemnly believe it came from the apartment complex's recent roof job.

or the workers that participated in said roof job.

josh put the doughnut on and took it to get fixed. yay.

such a wonderful and handy husband.

i also helped though... i was flashlight girl and bolt holder girl.

we have decided to take on the important yet daunting task of memorizing 1 Peter.

 J decided to write all of it out and i wrote the first 5 verses on notecards.

5 verses a week. however many weeks it takes. (im not good at math.)

we pray the journey of memorizing it is one we can do humbly and for God's glory.

www.pintrest.com

to conclude.

i found this today.

i want to paint it in my house.

im gonna work on that.

lets play ketchup.

why is it so easy to not blog after its been so long and hard to get back into the routine? yea, i dont know.  and its not that i have been neglecting yall. i havent even been on the computer. i was reading blog post this morning and i realized just how much i have missed. and also, its the end of the semester so i havent really had dibs on the computer, but ill let that one slide i guess. :) but because of a work related injury slash my middle name being grace im home today. so i get to edit and blog and finally catch up.  but i have a lot of pictures to show you which im pretty excited about. (which just means multiple posts)

so i got the chance to play with one of the sweetest children while i was home. his grandma is my moms best friend and they came to visit her when she got out of the hospital. just like any two and half year old boy, the bundle of energy knew right where the park was. so i volunteered to take him so they could talk. what a joy this little angel is! 

he was very fascinated by my lens cap. 

and he kept saying "cheeese!" everytime i would go to take a picture.

we also got this in the mail this week or last week... it all runs together. 

is it not gorgeous!

inside of it was one of our dear friend's wedding invitation. 

we are so excited to see neil and jana get married in june!

and ill leave you with a picture of us. 

i get so excited when we do things and are able to have our picture taken. :)

we were celebrating our friend andrew's 25th at the old spaghetti factory!

gorgeous place. but its very hard to find parking!

oh and my foot...

i tripped over a crate at work, got my toes caught in it, and tore some skin off the back of them. apparently your feet are vascular so that would explain all the red stuff that made me panic. fortunately, no stitches were needed. my dads advice was to stop being so clumsy... ill get on that dad! :) but dont get me wrong he was very concerned as were all our parents. so im posted up at home with my foot elevated (it turns purple if i dont elevate it...ewww!) and catching up on last nights greys, or at least thats where im headed. and i wont show you a picture because no one wants to see a purple foot.

its good to be back friends.

dont forget to wear your derby hat tomorrow!

im back to good ole derby land.

and no we arent going to derby... but i wish. 

we just dont live the life of luxury.

now that i am home to my wonderful computer, i can dive back into blogging. 

and in case you were wondering what i spent my time doing in nc besides the hospital and taking care of my sweet mother...

here's a small peek.

well obviously there was that nightmarish 10 hour drive home, so what else do you wear in the car besides your "b-shoes"! uhh hello!

my sweet j suggested i take a picture of these really awesome mountains. 

i guess ill keep him. ;)

i believe this is in tennessee??? it all runs together.

 then i helped my sister in law set up for a four year old's Lilly themed birthday party.

 she babysits this cute little thing and her sister.

happy 4th birthday molly brock!

and what is a lilly birthday with out pink and green cupcakes?

and this awesome cupcake stand their mom made. 

she just covered a cardboard cupcake stand with lilly wrapping paper and added ribbon.

how presh!

so mom is doing well... healing nicely. :) i enjoyed spending time with her this week and so did my allergies... ill explain.

kentucky is known as the death state to people with allergies and even without. (i may have named it that.) i never really had problems with my allergies until i moved here. they say its something about living in a valley? ehh... ill trust them. and la says that living closer to the coast helps because you breathe salt air even if you arent directly on the coast. all of these things make sense. so its back to sneezing alot. but hey its a small price to pay, right? wait what am i paying for? we dont even get to go to the derby!

but i will tell you, by God's grace we have found some pretty awesome friends. and they did a great job of keeping my husband company while i was out of town. i will post some easter pictures as soon as i get them.

and the good news for the night, we were told we could wear jeans at work now... but its because we are working in the basement moving files... but i am not dwelling on that... 

yayyy for jeans!

wedding pictures!

i took this one...

and lesley ann took this one.

yayyy. i cant wait for her to finish editing them all.

im back in wilson, but not back to louisville yet.

sorry for the lack of creative juices.

if i do something fun, you will be the first to know.

ps... since i know you are reading this...

i miss you husband!

pictureless post.

...how weird. umm, i realized saturday morning that i didnt post friday. i will fix that, when i get home. but for now can we just ignore the fact that i forgot. ill make a fake last day of the challenge post.

but to recap, the wedding was amazing. i enjoyed so much being a photographer for the day. of course the bride was beautiful. but one of the most amazing things about her was that she was not phased by the weather one bit. she was totally calm. if there had been a series of tornadoes that swept the state and caused mass devastation on my wedding day, i probably would have lost my mind and had to redo my makeup multiple times. we are very blessed to not have been personally affected by all these many tornadoes. (especially since the sirens were going off outside of the church... kinda scary!) the Lord was very gracious to us. so of course (like you already know this), the wedding was in durham and my husband and family was back in rocky mount and wilson. well one of the bridesmaids checked the weather and said oh dont worry it said the storms were in nash county... immediate panicking took place from this kid. the really bad part was that i have a stupid blackberry that is old and doesnt hold charge so my phone was dead all day not to mention i was running around like crazy. j and i tried multiple times to get ahold of each and for a while it was back and forth but around 6 i heard from him and found out he was okay, which was such a relief. i was not aware of how bad these storms were until late saturday night. i was very grateful for their safety and ours. i asked him when i got home if he was more compelled to get me an iphone now since i desperately need a new phone. he said i should just charge it more. oh thanks!

things i learned about being a photographer...

1. i still get emotional when the bride walks down the aisle, even if i dont know her and im taking pictures.

2. it is a ton (x 10) of work.

3. i have no arm muscles with which to hold a camera. hence, i am sore.

4. i still want to be a photographer.

one of the reasons i havent blogged yet is that im still in north carolina while my precious husband is in kentucky. miss him terribly. but my mom is having a heart procedure at duke today... in fact she is in surgery right now. so i decided to update yall on my life, since i have been such a bad blogger.

and even though this trip home has been fast and not exactly exciting and somewhat scary, im still grateful to be in nc. it still has that magical appeal that i truly believe is fake. you might agree if you live in rocky mount or surrounding areas.

this blog will also be without pictures because lesley ann took all my memory cards. i have some really cute pictures of a four year old birthday party decor and her cute babysitter that i would like to share with you guys... maybe she will hurry and get them back to me. and maybe she will also work on those pictures from the wedding so i can show you some! that would be fun right? yep i believe so. okay so im going to watch the price is right and wait for my update phone call. ill let yall know how it goes.

on the road again.

so as you all remember, because im sure you do, this weekend is  the wedding that im shooting with lesley ann. i checked the forecast and they are calling for rain unfortunately. so i found this photo on none other that pintrest which i think is pretty appropriate...

but here is one that i would rather see!

but either way it will be a beautiful day.

and their wedding is in a church so it will be okay if it rains.

also, i have heard it is good luck... but who believes in luck! :)

see you in NC!

another night of the vera bag.

will all these clothes...

fit into this bag?

 yep! they do!

but im definitely not getting anything else in there.

this means a separate bag for all my cosmetics and toiletries (such a weird word).

tiny problem my friends... im flying back!

ahh... i guess ill cross that bridge when i get there.

and just for kicks... my husband broke this tonight. 

im not sure if you can see the crookedness or the detachment, but its there.

we were cooking breakfast for dinner and the bacon grease got him...

even though i quickly put the splatter screen down! 

he jumped and his knee conveniently hit the very small door knob.

his poor knee is beat up and unfortunately this knob aint budging again.

how much was that security deposit?