Monthly Archives: April 2012

there are things in life that just make me happy…they put a smile on my face and remind me that everything is going to be ok.  pretty sunsets, polka dots, my dogs, nature, cheesecake, the ocean…and fresh flowers.  There is just something about putting fresh flowers in your home that make things better.

when your house is on the market, you think to yourself that having fresh flowers will add life and make someone want to buy your house.  that’s what I told myself was the reason for buying these WONDERFUL ranunculus a few weeks ago.  Really, I just needed a little “happy” (as my friend Ryan would say) and wanted to treat myself to something that would make me smile.  I fell in love with these flowers when planning my wedding.  Melissa beautifully worked them into my bouquet (which I LOVED) and I’ve had my eye on them since. 

They were so pretty. Different, unusual, layered, and so pretty.  It worked.  I smiled.  Knew that everything was going to be ok.  Everytime I looked at them I knew that God’s mercies were new each day.  Just as I saw these flowers open up and come to life in my house, God continues to provide for me, forgive me, love me, and allow me to open up and enjoy this life He has graciously given to me.

meet tammy, tori, and tyler!  aren’t they cute?!

we loved spending the afternoon with this wonderfully sweet family!  tori looked beautiful and tyler rocked his best “I’m way to cool to really smile for these pictures” look! seriously though, it was a lovely evening and we had a wonderful time!

are you over the cutness yet? can you feel the love oozing from the pictures?!

Jennifer and Scott have been married for 3 months and they were so sweet to photograph!  I met Jennifer years ago and we always seem to end up in the same friend circles…which I’m so glad we do!  pinterest has also confirmed many common interests as well   Jennifer is now married and lives in Asheville with her sweet husband Scott.  They were home for Easter and I’m so glad we got to spend some time with them and meet Scott!

Is Jennifer not ROCKIN’ those beautiful boots?! love it!

oh, the newlyweds!  these two were just precious and loved spending the afternoon with them!

poor dylan.  it’s a hard life being a very well loved house dog.  our alarms start going off at 6:15am…Dylan stays under the covers.  we get up, shower, get ready…Dylan stays under the covers.  we get him food and start our days…Dylan stays under the covers.  usually we literally have to push him off the bed to go outside before we leave.  he comes back in and gets on his “spot” the window bench that looks out the side of our house to keep watch on the day.  he’ll fall asleep in no time.

If one of us comes home early he is SO happy for about 10 minutes and then returns to the window bench to sleep some more.  Since our house has been on the market his sleep has been interrupted…roughly 87 times…but who is counting?!?! a lot of times he stays for the showings.  sometimes he gets to go.  it’s his favorite word really “g-o”  it can make his head turn almost 90 degrees exactly.  friday we had a showing, saturday we had 3 showings, sunday…2 more. yesterday, another.  sometimes it’s just hard for the poor pup to keep up.   us too dylan, us too.

this sweet little girl is just growing up so fast and seems to get cuter and cuter every time I see her.  seriously…just look at this face?!

helllooooo adorable!  libby just turned 2 and I LOVED getting to capture these moments of her at this fun stage.

can we talk a minute about this adorable dress?! so cute! gotta love the feathers!

I LOVE libby’s sweet parents.  I get to work with her wonderful mother everyday and hear all the fun libby stories…but it was such a treat to see a daddy and his girl.  matt is just a great dad!

what’s a photo shoot with a girl without a little wardrobe change?!

and of course we had to have a little family fun!

thank you so much Matt, Julie, and Libby!  I love your family and libby is just too cute!

a week ago today I was sitting out at the beautiful Arrington Vineyards anxiously awaiting the arrival of 2 very important people.  It just so happens, I’d never met these people AND for that matter, 1 of them wasn’t to know that I was there…taking pictures of here.  WHAT?  see what I  mean…I was anxious…but more like giddy.

I was completely giddy for these 2 people I had never met.  I had been smiling all morning and was THRILLED to be out at Arrington that day to meet them and photograph this VERY special day in their lives.  Just a few days before Austin had called me to see if I would be able to photograph his proposal to Courtney.  YES!!! my instant answer.  How sweet!  as a photographer…and a girl, I think this is such a wonderful idea!  I have no idea what all Josh said to me when he proposed (except what was in the newspapers and on the news…but that’s another story) and had the Nashville Flood of 2010 not happened our proposal would have been documented as well. So naturally, the fact that he cared enough to be thoughtful, thorough, and want to make sure she had images from this very special event to last forever…I knew he was a keeper and I was elated to help him out!

he had ordered a basket for a nice little picnic.  I waited for them to come…nervous with each car that pulled up the gravel driveway.  and they were finally there.  confirming it was them, I was on to my stake out and my attempt at being the undercover paparazzi for their picnic and then proposal.

I was so happy the day was perfect for them…they seemed like the only 2 in the world at that moment!

and then it was time!!! I may or may not have squealed as he began to pull to the ring…and don’t brother asking if I cried, of course. this is just the sweetest moment between two people and being able to capture these sweet memories for them was a pleasure!  enjoy the moment…

I think you can tell she said YES!  it was just so sweet!

“hiya courtney!” your fiancé is the sweetest and hired a photographer to document this wonderful moment!

they were too cute and SO happy and she LOVED her ring, um what’s not to love!

naturally they started calling mom, dad, friends and family!  such big news to tell!

I was able to grab a few shots of them together…now that she knew why I was there!  they were so fun and happy!

Austin and Courtney, thank you so much for letting me be a part this special day!  I loved being able to capture these wonderful memories for each of you!  Congratulations you two!!!

awww, young love.  isn’t it sweet?!  Kaci and Jacob are both about to graduate college…and both about to become teachers…and both love the other dearly.  they are just too cute to be around.  their wedding is literally DAYS away so I was excited to spend the morning with them on Kaci’s family’s farm out in Dickson, Tennessee.  Their property is BEAUTIFUL.  seriously…I can have all this delicious yellow-y floweriness in my backyard?!

kaci is just a doll and has the sweetest the face!

see what I mean? this young love! it’s so romantic!

Buddy is Kaci’s dog and OF COURSE I had to get him in a few shots…and not just because he was the perfect model!

to say I want a creek in my backyard too would be an understatement!  It was a cool morning in the water, but they were troopers and waded back to the spot on the creek bed where Jacob proposed to Kaci! so stinkin’ sweet!

so, do these cuties look familier?

I took their christmas card pictures back last fall and I was so excited when their mom asked me to do more pictures for their family.  Specifically for her mom for mother’s day!  SO SWEET!  What a great gift for a grandmother…all her little grandbabies in pictures together.  I loved spending the afternoon with all of them…especially Murphy.

if you have a dog, I’m going to take a picture of him! josh loved his UT collar most of all!

you can tell these boys have LOTS of fun when they are all together, and I’m sure the new girl will be bossing them around before too long!

I love this one of all the kids with grandmom in the tree!  It was brady’s idea actually, and it worked out perfectly!  She is one lucky grandmom to have such cute kiddos!

and of course one big ol’ family photo for the scrapbooks to end out the day!

bridges…water…fog, there is just something special about all of these things.  they make you ponder, dream, pray, reflect…and apparently take pictures! 

On our way back from Atlanta earlier this year, Josh and I decided we would stop in Chattanooga for dinner.  A friend had told me about Tony’s and we are ALWAYS up for Italian (duh, free bread!) so we thought we would try it out.  While we were there we noticed flyers for a cute little bed and breakfast.  Little did we know, the cool area we were in was actually a city block all owned by the same people.  It was dark when we arrived, so it wasn’t until the Inn Keeper gave us the full tour that we realized what a cute little happenin’ hot spot we were in.  The Bluff View Art district is just adorable!

There are 2 restaurants and coffee shop/bakery, as well as the houses for the B&B and an art gallery.  They’ve got a bocce ball court that overlooks the river and they roast their own coffee, bake their own breads, and make their own chocolates.  seriously, it’s awesome.  If you live near Nashville or close to Chattanooga at all it is just a great get-a-way spot.  Needless to say we decided driving home over the mountain at night was less fun as staying the night in the cutest little art district on the bluff.