Adventures in Wedding Photography

 

It’s been a little over a week since we served as photographers at Ryan’s cousin’s wedding, and I wanted to tell you a little more about that adventure!

            Gabrielle messaged me several weeks ago to tell me she was getting married and asked if I would be willing to be her wedding photographer. I was absolutely honored to be considered, but I quickly told her I’m not a real photographer, and I was pretty sure she would probably want to entrust her day to the pros. She assured me that she wanted me there and it was okay that I wasn’t a full-time photographer.

            I immediately made myself an inspiration board on Pinterest and spent weeks researching poses and ideas, as well as lists of things I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget.

            (Note: I have completed my editing of all the pictures and sent them to the happy couple, but since I don’t know how much they plan to share online, I’ll mostly show some of the behind-the-scenes pieces from our day, rather than actual wedding pictures.)

            We had to travel a couple of hours to the wedding – so of course, an obligatory car selfie!

            Ryan helped me take pictures, so we had to do some practicing when we arrived.

            The photography duo! Excited and nervous!

            I just took this one with my phone, but doesn’t it look yummy?? They got their cakes from The Cake Bake Shop, which might only mean something to you if you’re from Indiana. But their cakes are so, so good.

            A peek at the sanctuary:

            I did get pictures of Ryan with a few of his family members. This is his Aunt Ruthie and Aunt Sandy. Aunt Ruthie and Ryan’s mom were sisters, and Aunt Sandy is actually a great-aunt. She used to babysit Ryan when he was little!

            Ryan with his Uncle Dave – father of the bride! (But he didn’t put on a navy blue tuxedo and wander around a grocery store complaining about superfluous buns.)

            If you’ve been reading here a very very long time, you might remember that when we went on vacation to Gatlinburg years ago, we found this old church in Cades Cove. Ryan had a little Michael W. Smith wannabe moment that has always cracked us up. He told me he wanted to recreate it, so who was I to deny him?

            This is what happens after the reception when the kids (big and small) are waiting for cleanup to be over…

            Ryan got a couple of pictures of me taking pictures. I was really excited about how one of them turned out…

            This is one of my favorite funnies from the day: Ryan was pretending to eat cake straight from the full cake, and the groom’s sister photobombed. She apologized for it later, but I think it’s the best picture ever! Ryan is always the one photobombing everyone else – so this is PERFECT!

            So that’s a glimpse behind the scenes. And I will share this picture I particularly loved!

Sunday Sentiments: Thank You for Saying No

 

Earlier this week, I read a question that stuck with me: If God had answered all my 18-year-old self prayers with a yes, what would my life look like right now?

            I thought about it for a while. I thought about my 18-year-old self and my 21-year-old self. I thought of all the prayers I prayed in those days, and they were many.

            I thought of the relationships I wished to be in, the jobs I wished to have, and the dreams I would have loved to see come true.

            The no answers were hard, disappointing, and even devastating at times.

            But as I look back now, I am so grateful for the no answers. I am grateful God didn’t give me all the things I asked for. I’m grateful He asked me to wait, to grow, to mature. I’m grateful some of those no answers led to a richer yes.

            It’s also true that some of the no answers have never made sense to me. I don’t know why they weren’t permitted, but I also know I am seemingly no worse off without them.

            God sees such a bigger picture than we do at any given time, and we can’t possibly know His reasons.

            But today I say thanks for saying no.

Saturday Suggestions: Ideas for Your Weekend

 

Good morning! Happy Saturday to you! Hope your day is restful and joy-filled today. Ryan and I are looking forward to a great day together – and while we enjoy today, I hope you enjoy these ideas!

ONE. 

This month our Sunday School class is studying Scripture passages about stillness and rest. Isn’t it interesting to see how a topic keeps popping in front of your face anytime you’re intentionally studying it? Monday morning, I opened my inbox and found this devo about removing the badge of busyness from our lives. Though I realize it sure doesn’t appear to be true from recaps of our days, Ryan and I really are working to “unbusy” our days so we can enjoy rest and stillness. These words were so encouraging to me, and I hope they will be to you as well!

TWO.

Last summer, one of the couples in our small group hosted an outdoor meal that was SO BEAUTIFUL. They set up a pretty table outside and decorated it all fancy. It was one of my favorite outdoor dining experiences, and it was just in a backyard in the middle of town. I saw this post this week and am reminded that it will be fun to host an outdoor meal at our own house this summer…and we already own all the things, I’m sure, to make it pretty. I just have to round them up!

THREE. 

This post is intended to teach kids how to pack their own balanced lunches, but I think it could double as a great thing for adults, too. I pack Ryan’s lunch every morning, and whenever I have the chance, I try to pre-pack some of it the night before, so I can grab and go early in the morning. It’s just easier when you’re in a hurry (and sleepy)! If mornings are a rush for you too, packaging your food this way after you buy or prep it can make those morning lunch-packing events go much more smoothly.

FOUR. 

In my sorting through tubs from the attic, I’ve found a couple of notebooks I kept while on vacations with my parents. I was little and my journaling skills were limited, but I love it that I have these specific memories recorded. Even if you’re not a big into journaling, these ideas can help you know what kinds of little tidbits to grab to help you remember what happened each day! BONUS! No link for this one, but just an idea for you. When we travel, we use our phones for some photos, but we also use our DSLR cameras too. At the start of each travel day, I take pictures of our chalkboard with the date and location written on them so as I scroll, I can easily tell when we’ve changed days, which day it is, and where we were. Sure, that information is captured on the photo, but it makes it faster for me to see to have those “intro” pictures each day.

FIVE. 

We’ve done a better job with our front porch this year than we did last year, I think. I haven’t told you all about our porch, but in short – it’s amazing and under-utilized. We have a glider out there – one that we purchased back in our Kokomo days. I love it. We have a little coffee table out there, but I haven’t 100% figured out how to make it pretty, because things blow off the porch easily. Anything I put on there needs to have some staying power. I did get some great pillows on end-of-year clearance last fall, and I love the color they bring. We added some hanging baskets this year, and that has made a HUGE difference, but it still needs some more love. Maybe not this year, but in years to come. This post was very inspirational in giving me ideas. Maybe a few more plants…a rug…some lights. When I figure it out, it’ll be pretty! How about you? Are you a front-porch dweller?

SIX. 

And to round out this week’s list…awhole post of ways you can use muffin tins. I’ve seen some of these ideas before, but others were new to me! My favorite, I think, was using it to prop up stuffed peppers! Brilliant!

BONUS:

I’m officially into my summer capsule wardrobe! Here is the first week of outfits!

Saturday, June 01, 2024

Sunday, June 02, 2024

Monday, June 03, 2024

Tuesday, June 04, 2024

Wednesday, June 05, 2024

Thursday, June 06, 2024

Friday, June 07, 2024

Flashback Friday: Writing Your Story One Week at a Time

 

It’s Friday! On Fridays we talk about what it looks like to write our story – one little piece at a time. This week’s prompt is a little bit different from some of the others we’ve done.

            When you capture your story for the generations that come behind, you offer your own perspective on the life you’ve lived. You share what you see in ways that others cannot. And today’s question is part of that.

            Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

            This one might surprise the people who read about you, and that’s why it’s such a great question to explore.

            I’m an introvert. Sometimes people don’t guess that about me, because I share so much of my life in this space and from platforms. (And from behind a radio microphone before that.) I spend great amounts of time talking with people in groups and at events. And in truth, I love all those moments. I love meeting people. I love talking to them and with them. I find great purpose and fulfillment in life in those moments!

            But when those moments end, I need to be at home by myself. (And by myself, I mean with Ryan, Braeya, and Lexi.) I need evenings…and full days…with no one around so I can recharge and be creative and brainstorm. I need large sections of time with no plans at all – people notwithstanding – so I can refill my tank and give again.

            I love quietness. I love nothingness. I love creativity that can only happen in solitude.

            And while I love talking TO a big group of people, trying to find my place IN a big group of people creates so much anxiety in my heart. Ryan has noted before that if I’m going to be in a crowd, I need a job. If I have a job and a purpose, I’m fine. That’s one reason I love it when people task me with taking pictures at an event. I can hide behind my camera and have a purpose – and that makes the social situation more palatable. I don’t feel lost in between conversations.

            So that’s my introverted story. What’s yours? Are you an extrovert or introvert? And would that surprise the people reading about you?

Date Night Fun!

 

Ryan and I had a fun date night last week, and I wanted to tell you about it today! As I mentioned a couple of times, we photographed a wedding on Saturday, and it was far enough from home and a long enough day that it wasn’t practical to leave Lexi home alone for that long. So Friday evening after work, we took her to her little puppy hotel, where she loves to board. (She has a lot of friends there and is well-loved.)

            We imagine that dropping her off there feels like what parents feel like when they drop their kids off at Grandma’s for the weekend. What do we possibly do with all this time???

            Our first plan? Go to the park for an actual picnic. I had made grilled chicken salads and packed them in a cooler, so we went to this little park by the river, pulled out blankets, and sat on the grass to eat and enjoy the quietness.

            Granted, the river is completely muddy, but it’s still serene. It was rushing pretty quickly, the birds were out chattering, and it just felt so sweet to sit and enjoy a leisurely dinner and conversation out on the grass.

            (There was also a nice breeze and no bugs, so that helped!)

            Ryan may or may not have taken a brief nap after he ate. It takes me forever to eat, so it was a fair nap.

            We packed up our dishes and drove over to a little town not far from us that was having a “Final Friday” festival. (You know – like a First Friday, but not on the first?)

            They have a little coffee shop and bakery that I follow on Facebook, and I had seen that they were doing a pie and coffee night. Pie is Ryan’s favorite, so I didn’t want to miss this! And it wasn’t just pie. It was good, homemade (from complete scratch) pie. They had several kinds of fruit pies, and we chose triple berry – like our beloved razzleberry pies we love.

            It was nice enough to enjoy our treat out on the patio. They had a concert nearby and people were making their way down the sidewalks toward the concert. It felt like a proper small-town evening, and we loved it. The music wasn’t really our style, but we enjoyed hearing it as we ate – and then we decided to walk around town for a while just to explore. Cute little place!

            We came home, watered the flowers and the garden, and then we sat out on the back patio for a while with the fire pit going and the lake rippling in front of us. I read some chapters in a book on preaching that Ryan bought for my birthday.

            It was the sweetest evening, and though we missed our girl tremendously, it was fun to use words other than “sit!” for a minute!

138 Months of Love

 

This past Sunday was our monthiversary! We celebrated 138 months of marriage, and as always, we tried to do something special to honor the day.

            We started the day with a deacon meeting – which might not be the most romantic way to celebrate a monthiversary, but it was a reminder to us of how much we really love serving together at church! (I actually really enjoy going to deacon meetings, so it was not a bad way to start the day at all, in my opinion.)

            I am speaking at our church throughout this summer, so I left the meeting a little early to get prepped for the service. Not-so-fun fact: I had a nightmare about this message as I slept the night before. I’ve never had a nightmare about speaking before, so that was new, and it rattled me! I was really thankful for Ryan and some friends at church who prayed extra for me, because it was rough in my head! I actually felt fairly ill for the majority of the message, and then suddenly, about ¾ the way through, I felt fine! I’ve had that happen to me before, and it’s always such a relief to not feel sick!

            After church, Ryan and I had to go pick up Miss Lexi Grae, who had been boarded for the weekend while we were away photographing the wedding. She was so super excited to see us and to come home! 😊 She was also exhausted from her fun weekend, so she conked out while we had lunch!

            We spent the afternoon resting after a super busy weekend. We watched TV, napped, I read and did some scrapbooking, we took a walk, and then we decided to have our adventure for the day.

            A few weeks ago, we got an ice cream maker for FOUR DOLLARS at a thrift store. We’ve been wanting to try out a recipe in it and just haven’t had time. I’ve been doing all kinds of research, trying to find some healthier ice cream options.

            We tried one.

            We’ll skip straight to the verdict.

            Yeah. So sad. It was AWFUL. Both of us hated it entirely, and it was so nasty, it was just funny.

            Thankfully it was just a small batch, and we were able to focus on the fun we had trying and not the disaster of the result. (Also, happily, the maker works splendidly. It was just the recipe that was a fail.)

            The evening ended with a pretty sunset over the lake and good conversation from our hearts. Oh! And we made bread, too. That went much better than the ice cream.

            It wasn’t an extravagant monthiversary, but it was a good one. No one I’d rather have adventures (and fails!) with than Ryan. He makes it all fun!

Goals and Dreams for June 2024

 

Four days into the month, and I’m finally unveiling the dreams and goals for June! I’m really excited for this month – even though there are some things about it that remain unknown to me/us right now!

ONE. Finish writing messages for my summer speaking. I have six more messages to write and hope to accomplish that between this week and next. I am learning so much as I study and write, and I am excited to continue that.

TWO. Finish planning our vacation. The bulk of the work is done. But there are a few final details I need to accomplish before it is HERE!

THREE. Edit wedding photos. Like I told you yesterday, Ryan and I photographed a wedding this past weekend, and I need to edit all the photos. I have started on it. (Couldn’t help myself the night I came home from the wedding.) But I need to finish it!

FOUR. Set up fall photos. It feels weird and wrong to even be thinking about fall photos when summer is technically not even fully here yet, but slots fill up fast and I need to let her know we want to be on her schedule again this year!

FIVE. Sort through remaining boxes and totes. Both of us are most eager to have our living room space restored to its toteless glory, so we need to work hard to sort through what remains in there. I am learning much about what matters in keeping memories – and what so does not. Perhaps there will be a post – or series of them – on this topic at some point.

            Those are my main goals for the month. I know there will be some other things that appear in the pipeline as we go along, but those are the main things on my list. I also have some books I am reading/want to read, some house projects I want to tackle if there’s space in the schedule, and lots of summer enjoyment to soak in, too!

            How about you? Any plans for June?