please help us save Leo!!!!

Meet Leo.  Leonidas actually.

Pretty cute huh?

Well there’s more story to it then that.

We had been trying to find a friend to go along with our Boxer Paddington.  We are HUGE fans of rescuing dogs and there are so many dogs out there that needs homes!

We hopped on Craigslist, checked in with the local shelter, and talked around with friends, hoping to find a dog that was right for us.

One day as I was poking around Craigslist I stumbled across an ad for a German Shepherd/Rot puppy! He was 6 months old, great with kids, and great with other dogs.

Perfect!

So I called the number on the ad and the lady told me that she had rescued the mama and the mama had gotten out, gotten pregnant, and had 10 puppies.  They just couldn’t keep them all.

She said the only thing with him was that he had tried to get out of his kennel and had gotten his hind due claw caught.  They had gotten it repaired, but it would take another week and a half for him to heal.  We talked about it and decided that wasn’t too big of a risk, it seemed like a simple procedure and it wouldn’t be that long until he was better.

So we agree to adopt him, got his medicine, his paperwork, and headed on home!  

He is the sweetest puppy.  He is mild mannered, doesn’t chew too much, hardly barks, and is mostly potty trained.  For an outdoor puppy who hasn’t been worked with, he was like a miracle!  Just as good as all of that, he gets along so well with our Boxer.

Two days later we decided to take the little guy to our vet, to have him de-heartwormed, checked for worms, and just to make sure he was healing correctly. 

Well the vet knelt down, felt his leg and said, “I think we need to do surgery, it feels like he has torn something in his knee.”  My heart sank.  What were we going to do?!? We had just rescued this puppy and now they were telling us he needed surgery! I asked the question I really didn’t want to know the answer to, “How much is it going to cost?”  Between $1500-2000 was her response.  

 

My heat sank lower.

I knew that we couldn’t afford that.

So we said our thank you’s, piled back into the truck and headed home to tell Britt the sad news.  I didn’t think we were going to be able to keep our new little guy.  It wasn’t fair to him to have a hurt leg, but there was nothing we could do financially. 

Sure enough, Britt was heart-broken.  We had barely had this guy for a week, but already he had become part of the family.

We talked about it and decided we couldn’t just get rid of him, give him back, or take him to the county.  We were sure that he would just be “put down”. 

So we started talking around to rescues, talked friends and everyone suggested we try to get another opinion.  We took him to a vet where a friend works and they did x-rays.  

It was discovered that he didn’t have a torn ligament in his knee, but that he DID have 3 broken bones in that one leg!  Poor guy!  The x-rays were sent to a specialist to check out what should be done…The vet called us the next day and said that Leo would need surgery, it wouldn’t be as bad as a ligament reconstruction, but he would need 3 pins put in his leg!

We decided that although it wasn’t our plan that we were given a chance to make a difference for this little guy and to save his life!  The friend that works for the vet had told him that I do some graphic design and Britt does photography and it look like we are going to be able to barter some of the cost of the surgery, but not all of it.  

That where we need your help.

If you would consider donating $10, $20, $50, or any amount to help us save little Leo!
You can donate here!!!

-- i "borrowed" this from my wonderful hubby's blog... repaintedcanvas.com

i am not them :: nashville photographer

comparison.

we all do it. he's more ripped than i am. she's got better hair than me. their kids are better behaved than ours. their house is cuter than mine. how is she so skinny...i eat better than her!

for me, it's about my work. her images are dreamier than mine...they use lighting better than i do...i would love to have the clients they get...etc, etc, etc. seriously?! my degree is in photography, i've been shooting since high school, i know what i'm doing. that's not to say that there's noting else for me to learn...there's plenty! But i think i need to start by being somewhat content. i am not someone else. i am the person God created me to be. i have my own style. i don't need to emulate someone else's look! it's dangerous for me to continually compare myself to others. i start to get lost in a "i might as well give up because i'm not them" funk. i lose sight of why i do what i do (because i love it!). it starts to become a "me vs. them" battle within me.

Z is constantly reminding me...."you can look at others image for inspiration, but not to compare yourself to them. you are not that person...you are you." i think being a part of Crosspoint.tv has really helped me realize that people are appreciative when someone shares their gift. i have never before felt like someone was thankful when i shot an event, or documented a moment in our community. it was always just expected. but here, there is a true appreciation for creativity, and being willing to spend valuable time shooting. i'm thankful for that. every time i get a text from the creative arts director..."hey can you shoot at ---" or "thanks for sharing your gift, and art in our community" i know that i am truly valued, and appreciated for me.

i am me. i have my own style. i love 1.2mm. i am a pastors wife. i love vintage. i love to craft. i will always love to preserve God's glorious creations. I adore capturing moment when people are effervescent and real. i love my puppies. je t'aime my husband. and everything i do is part of who i am.

i am not them.

i will strive to be more like me everyday.

what do you compare yourself to?

who are you?

everett's baby shower :: nashville maternity photographer

 at crosspoint.tv we strongly believe that community groups are where true life change takes place. and our community group is no exception! z and i were blessed to jump into a group where we have made some amazing friends, and feel totally connected. one of the couples is pregnant, and due in just a few weeks! so naturally, all of us girls wanted to throw a baby shower! the weather has been fabulous lately, and one of the girls in our group has connections to a home with a beautiful in-ground pool. so we decided on a pool party! and yes, we made the VERY pregnant Jessi don her swimsuit and flaunt her belly! we were so excited to be a part of her pregnancy. they've had a less than wonderful experience being pregnant, and while incredibly thankful for baby everett as the gift God has given to them, she's stoked to meet him! here are a few images from the shower! we had just as much fun planning as we did at the shower! enjoy!



jessi, we cannot wait for baby everett to arrive! we are all so very blessed to be your friends! love you!

Turner Family :: Nashville Maternity Photographer

The adorable Turner family met me at a recent favorite spot, The Factory at Franklin. Elias, a free-spirited almost-3 year old, kept the morning interesting! With his amazing brown eyes, and contagious giggle, we created fun family memories while capturing the precious little one on the way! Miss Adeline is due to arrive very soon, and everyone is eager with anticipation!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from today! Thanks Matthew , Jessica , Elias and Adeline! Can't wait for the sweet girl to make her appearance!

 

why not diy? : wednesday: a cabinet re-do!

a few weeks ago, z and i emailed a lady on craigslist about some lockers. yes, a set of old, nasty, rusty gym lockers. gross! BUT, we had talked about putting some in our garage for storage (so the dog couldn't get into things) or in his office as a functional aesthetic piece, or in the youth room. we came across this set on craigslist, and could not pass it up. they were $50. ANYWAY...we met up with the lady who had them..turns out, she's somewhat of a picker! the lockers were in a storage unit, along with TONS of other stuff. actually, there were 3 storage units chocked full of stuff. we went through each unit, and wound up with not only the lockers(which we got for $40) but also a fabulous black retro cabinet. the moment i laid eyes on it, i was smitten! with a new paint job, some cute knobs from hobby lobby, and a little tlc, it could be the perfect piece for our living room! as we pulled away i made sure to save "bernie's" number in my phone, just in case i need something else in the near future!


here's the cabinet makeover!

 the original look...ick

 who would put pulls like that on? people definitely under-value the knobs. it leads to major furniture bore...in my opinion!

 since nothing in my house is black, the handy-dandy sander and i got to work! (of course wearing a mask...don't want to accidentally inhale any lead from old paint!)

 i took most of the corners and edges all the way through to the wood...

i unscrewed the door hinges to sand the rest of the cabinet, and both doors...

 

 one of the doors had major breakage going on, nothin' a little gorilla glue, and some a-clamps can't fix! :)

i got a few coats of paint on it, but had to table it for a few days, mom & dad were in town...no time for re-store projects!

and, in my usual form, when i picked it back up, i got so into getting it finished, i forgot to take step-by-step shots! oops! oh well, i'll walk you through it:
- before i painted it green, i sprayed all the edges and corners and both doors entirely blue
- then it took several coats of green to get an even color
- after it dried i grabbed a coarse sheet of sandpaper, and my sander, and went to work. i sanded all the edges, and corners down to the wood
- i sanded the top, and the sides, not down to the wood, but just enough to give them a worn old look.
- i sanded the doors. the shutter-type doors were a major pain-in-the-you-know-what to sand, but sooo worth it! the look that came through when i finished is pure perfection! i am crazy about how the blue peeks through just enough to look amazing, but not so much as to look planned or cheap!

- i grabbed a couple cute knobs from hobby lobby, and viola!


(yes, the lockers are still sitting in our garage untouched...i'll get to them, eventually!)