Its that time of year again, when the thermometer is rising and Brad and I are ready to hit the road for a change of scenery and maybe some cooler temperatures during the month of July. Just like last year we will be offering great portrait specials and half day photography mentor sessions. So if you want to meet up for a beautiful summer portrait session, a one on one learn fest or simply to get some delicious frozen yogurt on a hot day, email us and we will add you to our itinerary of fun!
Current Stops Include:
Atlanta, GA
Knoxville, TN
Asheville, NC
Roanoke, VA
Washington DC
New York City
Nashville, TN
Cookeville, TN
We are so excited to be shooting in some really great places and to visit all our friends and family along the way. If any of you have some great points of interest that we HAVE to stop and see, please let us know. We will be documenting our trip through our blog along the way so you all can join in the fun. For all our current and prospective clients, not to worry, our assistant Kari will be running our FL office while we are on the road. She will be available to answer questions and help with anything you all need.
Beep beep whose got the keys to the Jeep!?! (thats my road trip theme song)
Hello lovely blog readers. I just wanted to thank you all so much for all the wonderful birthday wishes. I have officially been 30 for 2 whole weeks now and am happy to report I still feel like a 20-something. I was so excited to see that I amassed 2 full hour massages from all the comments you guys left and can’t wait to force Brad into his promised slavery. Haha. He is actually a pretty good little massage therapist. For those of you who don’t know I have been a Licensed Massage Therapist since 2002 and practiced until just a few years ago. So I have trained my boy well and can’t wait to cash in soon! A lot of people have emailed and asked how the big birthday was and if I did anything monumental to ring in this new decade of life. I am sad to report that we did nothing monumental. We have been super busy this month with four weddings and a ton of shoots so we didn’t have much time to do anything big but we spent my birthday with some wonderful friends as well as my family and that is what awesome birthdays are made of. We are actually treating ourselves to a big birthday gift in the form of a vacation to Washington D.C. and New York City this April so we can’t wait to really celebrate then. So if you’re in that area in early April, drop me an email and we will hang out!
Below are a couple pictures from our random impromptu birthday celebrations. Every year (seriously every year) Brad randomly likes to turn a normal planned game night with friends into a birthday by adding a birthday cake and party hats. Its corny but its cute. Oddly enough Ryan found a new use for his butter knife in this photo.
Lisa and I like to throw math inspired gang signs. Its how we roll. Just a few days after this photo she popped out the most adorable baby boy ever! I asked her to hold him in until Feb. 16th so we could be birthday buddies, but baby Cam wanted to be born on Valentine’s day instead. You can see some pictures our friend Kara did of him just days after he was born here.
One night my sister came to visit from Gainesville and we introduced her to one of our favorite games… Settlers of Catan. Yes we party hard folks! Seriously though… I’m the master at this game. You should play this with me.
Thanks again everyone for the birthday wishes and messages you all sent. Also, thanks to our wonderful friends Kara & Jeremy, Ryan & Lisa, Christina & James for being so awesome and letting my husband sneak attack a birthday party on you at the last minute. I’m so happy to be surrounded by such incredible friends and am excited to see what this new chapter in my life has in store for me. Hopefully it contains zero gray hairs or wrinkles.
PS: Stay tuned for lots of blog goodness coming soon. Weddings, engagement sessions, kayaking photos… oh my!
For those of you who may not know (or maybe you do), it is Mel’s 30th birthday today!! She has turned the big 3-0! She’s just now catching up to me (as usual). So, I hope you will all join me in congratulating this wonderful woman, who is the best wife and friend I could ever have. She has enhanced my life in more ways than I can count.
Happy 30th Birthday sweetheart, I love you!!
p.s. Some of you may have seen her Twit-pic the brand new iMac and Drobo I got her for her birthday. As an additional birthday gift from all of you… I will give her three minutes of relaxing massage for every Happy Birthday comment on this post, which can be redeemed on any date and time of her choice (I learned from the best massage therapist on the planet… Mel herself).
“Shoot yeah it did… so tell me about this Christmas miracle.”
“Oh there is no miracle, but there is a Snuggie!”
“Score!”
For Christmas, Brad’s mom bought Lucy this little piece of hotness. Lucy loves clothes (I’m not kidding… I have witnesses) so we figured she was gonna super extra dig her Snuggie. We were right.
Here’s the proof!
Please allow me to narrate (as you can see I’m quite good at it)
“Geez Mom I was totally sleeping. Did you really just wake me up to take pictures of me in my Snuggie? Seriously?! You are so lame!”
This past week has flown by faster than I thought was possible. Not only was it Thanksgiving and Brad’s 30th birthday, but it was also my last week on CRUTCHES!!!! Being attached to these mechanical armpit torture devices now for six full weeks has brought about some interesting insight into my life. I have had to learn to be dependent on others, graciously accepting the fact that I cannot possibly do everything myself. I’ve also learned to slow down, be patient and thankful for the present day even if my mind is filled with new ideas, goals and aspirations for my future. What good is the future when I cannot sit back and appreciate today? Both of these “lessons” have been two very tough pills for me to swallow, but something I have needed for a long time now. It is funny how life is often timed so perfectly, even when something like unexpected surgery happens. Everything seems to fall into place in a way that we know must be part of God’s plan. Back in October when we discovered I would have to have ankle surgery, it came at just the right time in my life when my schedule could be adjusted to accommodate my absence, and my heart and soul needed some down time too. Talk about an abundance of down time. The first few weeks were hard. Pain medicine and discomfort made it difficult to do any sort of work at my computer. I got caught up on lots of napping and TV watching that’s for sure. Eventually I could work for short bursts of time as long as I could keep my leg elevated. This was tough because mentally I was ready to be working again, I needed to be working again, but physically I was still in pain and my work time was limited to short intervals throughout the day followed by periods of elevating and icing my foot. I learned to appreciate the moments when I was work free and to indulge in my ideas and dreams for the future. At the same time I had to be careful with this because often it would make me even more resentful towards my current situation all the more because I would be fired up to take on the world, but still restricted by my crutches. Eventually I took note that these ideas and aspirations would all come to life in their own due time and it was a blessing to have the uninterrupted free time to just think on them and plan a bit without trying to take on the world at the drop of a hat.
The beginning part of my recovery moved at a snail’s pace. I remember one day when Brad and I looked at each other, completely exhausted, and said “can you believe its only been 2 weeks!?!?! It feels like a month already!!!” It was hard on both of us. Me having to ask him to help me with everything. Him having to do double the amount of work he did everyday. He never once complained though. I have always known I am incredibly blessed to have such a selfless and caring husband, but these past weeks have proven to me he is ten times more amazing than I ever thought before. Even when our plans to travel for Thanksgiving and his birthday had to be cancelled he never complained once and insisted on staying by my side although I urged him to go ahead without me. It was me who had a difficult time accepting the fact that the plans I had in store for celebrating his 30th birthday would not come to life after all. This past Monday my sweet sweet husband left his 20′s behind and officially turned 30 years old. Thirty on the Thirtieth. He opted to have a very low key birthday weekend playing games and sharing in the company of good friends. He was so happy. Happy to be with me, happy to be with people we love, and happy just to be enjoying the simplicity of life. I was happy too.
Often we feel that life is not good unless it is characterized by grandiose events and accomplishments, but the reality is it is the little things that make life truly sweet. My life is so so very sweet. Characterized by a husband who adores me even if I wear gym clothes and no makeup everyday. A sweet puppy who cuddles with me when I’m feeling lousy. Loving family and friends who don’t mind sitting around the house with me watching movies or playing games. And today, the simplest thing of all, being able to stand up and walk! Although it is painful, I am SO happy! I am mobile again! I am able to carry things as I walk. Able to stand in the shower instead of sit. Today I can strap on my moon boot, and walk. All the things on my “To Do When You Can Walk Again” list will come about one day soon, but for now I am so happy to have been given six weeks to learn to appreciate my husband, my friends and family, my body’s incredible ability to heal, and even myself for just being me. I am so blessed and happy in this moment. No matter what deadlines I am behind on, how tight my pants are after six weeks of no exercise, or how big my to do list is… I AM HAPPY!
We chose to name our business La Dolce Vita Studio after the Italian phrase for “the sweet life” and I have come to realize that life is so much sweeter than I ever thought it could be. Most people do not know this, but it is Brad who has been the huge positive driving force behind our business. Back when I wasn’t sure if I wanted to start this business or if I wanted to continue on to grad school like I had originally planned, it was Brad who said “you can do this, we can do this, we were meant to do this.” He is the most positive, fearless, hard working man I have ever known and I would not be who I am today without his constant love and support. So, my dear sweet husband, I hope you had a wonderful 30th birthday and hope to spend seventy more by your side! Thank you for being a constant blessing in my life! You are my heart!
Here is a snapshot taken with our Canon G10 during our impromptu birthday game night with Jeremy, Kara, Ryan and Lisa. Ryan won the birthday hat marathon, leaving his on the longest. No prizes were awarded as we figured the sheer honor of the “birthday hat king” title would suffice.
I’m so happy to be surrounded by such incredible friends and am excited to see what this new chapter in my life has in store for me. Hopefully it contains zero gray hairs or wrinkles.
