Hello everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend and can I just say how GORGEOUS it is outside today?!?!  I am loving this weather!  It makes me so excited for fall…I got my first pumpkin spice latte of the season last week and it was delicious!  I cant wait to break out the fall boots and clothes!!  I can hardly wait to see what is in store for this season and all the wonderful things we will get to do as a family!  Last week I shared some of our annual traditions we do during the fall…I would LOVE to hear some of yours!  What family traditions do you have planned?  🙂

I will share a little bit of our weekend with you…Friday we didnt do much at all….we had our normal “Friday night pizza on the couch and watch TV” evening and Saturday I was gone all day for a wedding!  It was a beautiful day up until the reception.  Massive gusts of wind came through the tent(it was an outdoor reception) and everything under the tent went flying everywhere!   It was a  little scary…I wasnt sure if the tent would hold up…and they even had plans to cancel the reception if it got too dangerous with the storm.  Thankfully, things calmed down a bit and we were able to finish out the evening!  And, I learned a big lesson that day…..ALWAYS wear shorts under your dress…no. matter. what.  Lets just say a little *too* much skin got shone….Im glad I(and a few others) were able to laugh it off.  But let me tell you, it will never happen again haha!  Sunday I had brunch with a friend and it was so much fun!  I havent been out during the day with just myself in SO long!  It felt nice to get out for the afternoon and not have any responsibilities!

Tomorrow I am sending my baby off to preschool for the first time.  I will tell you the truth…I am not ready for it!  I wish I could keep him all to myself and spend our days snuggling and reading books like we always do.  But, the sad thing is, he is growing up and there is nothing I can do to stop it.  I know he is very excited to start preschool, especially since his best friend is in his class…but I am not quite ready to let go.  Tomorrow will be tough for me….but I guess that is just life.  And on a happier note, he starts soccer tomorrow, and we are all excited about that!  Jay is going to be the coach this season, so we all have our hands full!

OK onto the goals!

 

 

Goals from last week!

Personal:

-prepare for Kaleigh going into THIRD grade and Carter’s first year of PRESCHOOL!!!!  Im going to be kid-free for three hours Tuesday through Thursday….Im going to cry or jump for joy…or both haha!

-celebrate my birthday with my family

-get back into a exercising routine

-Carter’s parent orientation, meet the coach day for soccer, and get things straight for Kaleigh starting on the team for gymnastics

-finish unpacking and doing laundry from vacation

 

Business:

-edit, edit, edit

-get excited for my wedding on Saturday!

-send client packages

-answer emails

-put together new packaging

-purchase a new laptop…its no fun having to spend hours opening files!  My hard drive failed once, I replaced it, it started failing again…replaced it….and in less than a year, its failing again!  The heck with it…Im getting a new one! 🙂

 

This week’s goals:

 

Personal:

-put together school outfits for the next two weeks(makes our mornings SO much better!)

-start working out THIS week!

-finish editing beach pictures and start editing Beth’s pictures of our family

-get excited for soccer season

-get ready to send my baby to preschool tomorrow!

-clean up so I can head to the river with our friends and their family this weekend!

 

Business:

-write down expenses/miles

-follow up emails

-write 3 blog posts and blog them this week!

-edit, edit, edit!

-purchase new laptop

-install light room and learn how to use it! 🙂

-meet with a potential bride! 🙂

-decide whether or not to hold mini sessions this year….I would love your input!  Let me know what you think! 🙂

 

Hope everyone has a great week!

 

  

Well, Manic Monday did not get posted yesterday.  Being that it was a holiday, my birthday, the day before school, and just getting back from vacation…there was just a bit too much going on to get it posted yesterday!  I really wanted to post, but just never had the time to sit down and write!  So, here we are on this Tuesday morning…I just said goodbye to my big 8 year old on her first day of school!  As sad as I am to see summer go(it always feels too short), I am really glad to finally get back into a routine…even if it is a crazy routine!  Most afternoons and evenings I will not be at home unfortunately….with gymnastics, girl scouts, piano, and soccer….the weekdays are spent driving around.  With that being said…I really wouldn’t have it any other way.  I love watching my kids have fun and do things they really enjoy.  And I am really looking forward to the fall season…its my favorite time of year!  Apple picking, camping, pumpkin spice lattes, the state fair, beautiful fall foliage, football, pumpkin picking, leaf piles, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and maybe a new tradition like going to our first football game!

So, last week we went on a mini vacation….for Jay it was more of a long weekend.  The kids and I stayed until Thursday and then headed back for orientation(she loves her new teacher and her best friend is in her class again!)  We went with Jay’s parents, Rick and Ginny, and his brother Will and his girlfriend Kara.  It was a great way to end the summer!  We played on the beach, swam, played putt putt(Kaleigh and Carter both got a hole in one during the game!!), ate ice-cream, and ate yummy dinners!  We were all sad to leave but happy to be back home again.  Saturday, Jay and I went out for my birthday to The Boathouse and then out with friends to hang out for the night….Thank you to everyone who joined me in celebrating my birthday! 🙂   Sunday, we spent the afternoon with our friends Eric and Cari to celebrate their son’s 4th birthday and then yesterday I did some birthday shopping and we had a cookout with our families to celebrate my birthday!  It was an awesome week and such a great ending to summer.  I am already looking forward to the summer of 2013!

This morning, Kaleigh got up and was so excited for school!  She showed no signs of nervousness or anything…just got up with a big smile on her face!  I can’t wait to see her again and ask her about her first day as a third grader!  Below are a few photos from today….its a tradition that we do on the first day of school every year!

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And now for the goals….these were my goals from two weeks ago…didnt really have any goals while I was at the beach last week except for relax and have fun!

 

Personal:

-pack for the beach and clean

-get organized!  3rd grade and pre-school are approaching fast and I need to get all my paperwork, physicals, etc filled out and ready to go!

-finish Kaleigh and Carter’s school shopping today!

-edit family photos(Ive got SO many that I am behind on…but I am GOING to edit at least a few of the ones Beth took!)

-get back into a routine of exercising!  Not sure if this is going to happen or not…may have to wait until September when the kids go to school!

-do something FUN with the kids…if this doesn’t happen this week, we have all week at the beach next week!

 

Business:

-get ready for TWO  6 month sessions

-catch up on emails

-record expenses and miles

-edit bridals and wedding photos

-send client packages

 

Goals for this week!

Personal:

-prepare for Kaleigh going into THIRD grade and Carter’s first year of PRESCHOOL!!!!  Im going to be kid-free for three hours Tuesday through Thursday….Im going to cry or jump for joy…or both haha!

-celebrate my birthday with my family

-get back into a exercising routine

-Carter’s parent orientation, meet the coach day for soccer, and get things straight for Kaleigh starting on the team for gymnastics

-finish unpacking and doing laundry from vacation

 

Business:

-edit, edit, edit

-get excited for my wedding on Saturday!

-send client packages

-answer emails

-put together new packaging

-purchase a new laptop…its no fun having to spend hours opening files!  My hard drive failed once, I replaced it, it started failing again…replaced it….and in less than a year, its failing again!  The heck with it…Im getting a new one! 🙂

 

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!  For all the moms who sent children back to school, good luck with the new school year ahead! 🙂

  

The day could not have been more beautiful when Erin and Josh were married.  It was warm and sunny and I was amazed at the beauty of UVA.  I have never been there before so when I saw the beautiful white columns and the well-known landmarks surrounding the campus I got really excited!  I knew we were going to get some really great photos! 🙂  I loved working with these two, they were so laid back and easy to work with.  I don’t think they stopped smiling the entire day…they just were so HAPPY!  Josh has been good friends with Jay and his brothers for many years so it was neat getting to see friends and family while I worked as well.  It was a perfect day filled with lots of love and I was so honored to be a part of it.  Thank you Josh and Erin for choosing me as your photographer on your wedding day!  I loved working with you both and wish you all the best!

PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGEErin, you look BEAUTIFUL!   PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGELookin good Josh!
PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGEThe guys did a great job and were so fun to work with!  PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGELOVE the bridesmaid dresses! PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGELove this chapel, so beautiful! PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGEA favorite! PIN IMAGEI simply love these images of Erin below.  So gorgeous! PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE
PIN IMAGELOVE! PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGEThe image below is one of the traditions at UVA(looking through the keyhole of the Rotunda toward the Galt statue of Thomas Jefferson.) PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGEAhhh!  Love these! PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE PIN IMAGE

Vendors:
Coordinator- Amanda Gray
Catering – Harvest Moon
Bridesmaids Dresses – Lula Kate
DJ – Patrick Critzer
Ceremony- The Chapel at UVA
Reception – Colonnade Club, UVA
Makeup – Ruth Ann Beaghan
Hair – Julie Tolbert
  
comment
  • August 20, 2012 - 10:01 PM

    Hollie - Wow! What a beautiful and fun wedding!ReplyCancel

    • August 20, 2012 - 10:06 PM

      Ashley - Thank you Hollie! 🙂ReplyCancel

Good morning everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend. 🙂  Other than the wedding I had yesterday, this weekend was pretty uneventful for us!  I did meet with my beautiful April bride on Friday and then Saturday I spent the day with my aunt(who flew in from Florida) and grandmother.  I haven’t done anything like that in years haha so it was a nice change.  Normally if I go out with a friend it is for dinner…I feel guilty if I take away time from family during the day so I normally don’t do anything like that.  It was a nice change though…made me feel like my own self! 🙂  Jay and I decided to introduce the kids to the classic movies Back to the Future.  I was excited because I LOVE these films, but I didn’t realize how many curse words are used during the movie. :/ Anyway, Sunday I shot a wedding at the Jasmine Plantation and it was beautiful!  I loved working with Tori and Peter and can’t wait to share the images from their wedding day!  This week is going to be a pretty hectic week with all the packing, cleaning, shooting, editing, and agendas for getting ready for school!  Im trying to take it one day at a time and keep reminding myself that I will get what I can get done and that is all I can do!   With that being said, here is a recap of last weeks goals:

 

Personal:

-unpack and clean

-get organized!  3rd grade and pre-school are approaching fast and I need to get all my paperwork, physicals, etc filled out and ready to go!

-finish Kaleigh and Carter’s school shopping!

-edit family photos(Ive got SO many that I am behind on…but I am GOING to edit at least a few of the ones Beth took!)

-get ready for CES(Camp Evening Shade) for Kaleigh’s girl scouts

-get back into a routine of exercising!

-do something FUN with the kids…and really BE there with them.  Get involved!

 

Business:

-get ready for Coleson’s 6 month shoot!  Cancelled again because of rain!

-catch up on emails

-record expenses and miles

-edit bridals and wedding photos

-blog Josh and Erin’s wedding!    TODAY!

-send client packages

-meet with my April bride 🙂 Thank you Monica! 🙂

-get excited for my August 19th wedding!  so beautiful! 🙂

 

And for this week’s goals:

 

Personal:

-pack for the beach and clean

-get organized!  3rd grade and pre-school are approaching fast and I need to get all my paperwork, physicals, etc filled out and ready to go!

-finish Kaleigh and Carter’s school shopping today!

-edit family photos(Ive got SO many that I am behind on…but I am GOING to edit at least a few of the ones Beth took!)

-get back into a routine of exercising!  Not sure if this is going to happen or not…may have to wait until September when the kids go to school!

-do something FUN with the kids…if this doesn’t happen this week, we have all week at the beach next week!

 

Business:

-get ready for TWO  6 month sessions

-catch up on emails

-record expenses and miles

-edit bridals and wedding photos

-send client packages

 

Whew!  I may not be ready for this week, but here we go!  And THIS is the reason my Monday blog posts are titled Manic Monday haha!

 

  

Good morning everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend. 🙂  I have so much to tell you all!  We went to visit our friends, the Harris Family in Kentucky this past weekend and originally, I had planned to take my work with me(editing during the 6 hour drive).  Well, my plan quickly changed when the inverter I bought(to plug in my laptop to the car charger) did not work.  At first I was a little frustrated, but it ended up playing to my benefit. 🙂  If I had to pick a weekend where I gave myself a 100% complete break from work, it was this weekend.  I cannot even begin to describe how freeing it was to not worry about ANYTHING!  We spent the weekend boating, picnicking, climbing and throwing rocks, exploring caves, eating frozen yogurt(thank you Sean and Beth!), swimming, playing at the playground, and of course, taking photos! 😉  It was such a wonderful break from reality and we all had a blast!  Even the little things like the amazingly comfortable bed, the yummy breakfast and coffee in the hotel lobby each morning, the awesome BBQ restaurant(best BBQ Ive ever had!) ……the FUNNY things that happened like when it POURED about 10 minutes after we got out on the lake, Carter and Dylan taking their shorts off to play in the creek, the hilarious things the kids would say(too many to name haha!), laughing at Carter’s facial expressions from our photo shoot, my new obsession with Angry Birds…..Kaleigh getting attached to sweet Landry(she is now obsessed with having a baby sister!) and EVEN the not so fun things like filling up the van with gas($100!!), Carter getting a big chunk of wood in his foot(no really, you couldn’t call this thing a splinter..it was bad!), bickering during the car drive……it ALL made for a memorable weekend getaway!  Im sad that the Harris family is so far away, but we are making it a point to see each other at least once a year!  Thank you Harris family for inviting us and showing our family all the great things to do in Kentucky and thank you Roark family for opening your home to us!  It was great seeing everyone and we can’t wait to hang out again!  🙂

After such an eventful weekend, I knew I had a lot to come home to.  I can already feel the anxiousness inside, but I am going to do my best to take it one day at a time!  I can only do but so much in a day and this weekend really made me realize just how much of this summer has been dedicated to work and not family time 🙁  I do realize I have a business to run, but it is so difficult to set limits when I “work from home.”  Sadly, it is the most important people in my life who suffer the most when I choose work first.  I am going to end the summer on a good note and try to balance life a little better.

Ok!  Onto the goals…..

 

Last week’s goals:

Personal:

-pack for Kentucky!  SO excited to visit Beth and her family for a long weekend! 🙂

-clean, clean, clean!

 

Business:

-get ready for a fun 6 month shoot on Wednesday  Poor Coleson was sick so we rescheduled! 🙂

-send out client package

-schedule ordering session(hopefully before I leave)

-record expenses/mileage

-place client orders

-blog Josh and Erin’s wedding(I am REALLY going to try to make this happen!)

-order new business cards, thank you cards, address labels, and stickers  This wasn’t originally on the list, but I did it 🙂

 

This week’s goals:

Personal:

-unpack and clean

-get organized!  3rd grade and pre-school are approaching fast and I need to get all my paperwork, physicals, etc filled out and ready to go!

-finish Kaleigh and Carter’s school shopping!

-edit family photos(Ive got SO many that I am behind on…but I am GOING to edit at least a few of the ones Beth took!)

-get ready for CES(Camp Evening Shade) for Kaleigh’s girl scouts

-get back into a routine of exercising!

-do something FUN with the kids…and really BE there with them.  Get involved!

 

Business:

-get ready for Coleson’s 6 month shoot!

-catch up on emails

-record expenses and miles

-edit bridals and wedding photos

-blog Josh and Erin’s wedding!

-send client packages

-meet with my April bride 🙂

-get excited for my August 19th wedding!

 

Phew!  That is a BIG list this week!  Ive got my work cut out for me. 🙂  Hope everyone has a great week!

 

  

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