time for an update

wow! it's been ages since i've posted! ok, maybe not ages...but 2 months definitely feels like ages!

it blows me away how crazy and busy life can become, if you're not careful. it's super easy to put something off, and then never get it finished!

a quick update on our lives...

in the middle of March we went to the land of "la dolce vita" (italy) with our dear friends david & carey. and the sweet life, it certainly was! we spent almost two weeks exploring Venice, Florence, Rome, and the Cinque Terre. it was incredible! truly the trip of a lifetime. I'm working on a longer post, with some photos...but who knows when that will be done! ;)

the couple of days right before trip I had a couple of newborn shoots. (another post to be finished, and published)

Pastor Boy's parents were in town last week, it was a great time to hang with family! we hiked, and canoed, and cooked, and shopped...a great spring break for them!

in 2 weekends, carey and i are throwing a fabulous baby shower for our sweet friend Miranda, and her precious baby boy. i'm really excited! can't wait to share all the fun details of that!

tonight, we have UNITED. at CrossPoint.tv #cpstudents we have a quarterly event where all the students (6th-12th grades) at all the campuses get together for a big series kickoff. tonight starts a series called CRAVE...its about filling the voids in life with what you're truly craving...as opposed to what you THINK you're craving.

ok, off to work on that Italy post! wish me luck!

~b

piper madeline :: nashville newborn photographer

this precious little one has quite an amazing story! she was due to be a valentine's baby, but came as a late Christmas present instead. born 7 weeks early with no complications, little miss piper was a her parents little miracle. i had so much fun catching all her precious expressions and adorable tiny features. i brought a few of the props, but some came from their own amazing modern/vintage decor, it was a match made in heaven!. here are a few of my favorites from the shoot!

grace anne :: starkville newborn photographer

my bff, carey, & i had the chance to head to starkville, mississippi to meet her newborn second cousin. and, of course i took along my camera to catch a few special shots. baby grace met her great grandfather, the photo with her brand new feet, and his big aged hands is my favorite from the whole mini shoot! i love the contrast!

 

i am not a cat person, by any standard. in fact, i think cats are generally dreadful creatures, but melinda, and patrick's cat fascinated me! she had stunning green eyes, and quite the personality!

zachary turns 28 :: nashville event photographer

september 9

that date has held importance for the last 11 years of my life. why? you ask? well,  z's birthday! and yes, even when we weren't talking for 4 years, i made a mental note on september 9 that it was z's bday. kinda crazy! i can't believe we've been together for 4 years already! this year, i wanted to do something a little different for his birthday. 

our life in nashville would not be nearly as amazing without a few close friends, so of course my plan had to include them! jason & miranda, david and carey, and jarrod & laura . 

ever since we've been here we have heard about kix brooks' (of brooks & dunn) vineyard out in the country. it's about a 30 min drive from nashville, and incredibly beautiful, or so i'd heard!  they have "music in the vines" on friday nights, free wine tasting, and a bunch of picnic tables where you can bring food to enjoy the atmosphere.

so, unbeknownst to z, i raided trader joe's cheese department, put together a bag of supplies and dropped it off at miranda's a couple days before the big event. i really wanted to pull this off without him knowing!  

we spent the morning lazily, in the early afternoon we went the mall, and z bought himself a few birthday presents (he's far too picky these days for me to try to pick out clothes for him...so he gets his own). then we meandered through the farms bewteen franklin and arrington, as we headed toward the vineyard.

these are just a few iphone photos along the way

         

                                                               

              

 here's the spread, the crew, and the memories! enjoy!

a southern experience

labor day.

all past labor day celebrations have usually consisted of family birthday parties for my grammy & me (and more recently, zach too), since we are the September birthdays of the family. however, this year was different. very, very different. after moving to nashville, our lives have turned upside down, in most ways for the better. but there are still those moments when it feels like it was for the worse. i gotta admit, i was a little nervous about labor day, i was fairly certain we would wind up on our couch, all by ourselves, and i would be a mess. HOWEVER...our amazing friends saved us from that dreadful fate! instead, we spent labor day weekend in jackson, mississippi with 2 of our dearest friends experiencing all things southern! 

we met david & carey in our small group from crosspoint.tv and were instant friends! they have 2 boxer/mix female pups, and we trade dog sitting back and forth (honestly, they watch our boys, far more often than the girls need it). the 8 of us (including the dogs) are fast friends, and i can't imagine life without them! carey is from mississippi, and asked if we wanted to join them for the weekend. it truly was a stereotypical southern weekend, we shot skeet, and had a fish fry, and rummaged through the junk in one of the back pastures, the dogs chased cows, i pet a cow, the dogs swam in the cow pond, and we worked on a bathroom re-do for her mom! it was a fabulous weekend! here are a few images from the weekends adventures!