Words with Friends
Hanging with Friends
Draw Something

Last week I also went through and un-followed a BUNCH of people on twitter, and I went through my Google reader to get rid of blogs I don't really follow that clog up my feed.

It initially made me feel anxious, like I was missing something important. But now? Now it feels GREAT.

I've been on a kick lately of getting rid of things I don't need in my life, or things that make me feel behind/take up too much time/are a uesless waste of time. Those games on my phone were DEFINITELY one of those things I didn't need in my life. It made me feel anxious - every time I opened my phone I had lists of notifications of games I need to play. I'm anal about keeping my phone neat, so I HATED seeing those little red numbers in the upper corners of my apps showing me I needed to play games. So I'd sit down and play them multiple times a day, just to get rid of those numbers. Then people would play me back right away and I'd be anxious to get rid of those numbers again. And it made me feel like I was behind - like I couldn't keep up with these games. HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT? If something so stupid as a game on my iPhone is making me feel behind in life, I gotta get rid of it. So I did. And it feels great.

Twitter and my Google reader were the same way. Every time I opened them, there were hundreds of unread blog posts, hundreds of tweets since the last time I checked my phone. I always feel the need to go through each and every one (not sure why) - so paring down whose blog I follow and who I follow on Twitter felt like heaven.

Before, when I'd need a little break during the day, I'd check my phone - twitter, facebook, instagram, draw something, words with friends, hanging with friends, etc. Once I realized these little "breaks" were making me feel even more behind/anxious, I knew they had to go. Now instead of checking anything technology related, I'll grab Holly and we'll go for a quick walk around the block, just to get outside and clear my head. Much more healthy, and such a better way to clear my brain. Cause I don't want to feel behind and anxious. I want to feel like this girl, who clearly has not a care in the world:

Napping is her specialty.

Her biggest concern here is, "dude, why did you just wake me up from my nap?"

So content:)

Anyone else feel like that lately? Let me tell you, it feels GREAT to pare down a little!

PS - I had to keep Scramble with Friends on my phone. Cause it's the best:)

Here are some of my favorites from their session:

See what I mean? Gorgeous:)

LOVE this one:)

One of my favorites!

This right here is why I love this couple - this wasn't scripted, I didn't ask Melissa to throw her head back and laugh - they were just hanging out while I was getting set up, and I snagged this quick:)

So pretty!

Love these two:) I can't WAIT for the wedding!

Another one of my favorites!

Aaand a third favorite of mine:)

I had such a great time hanging out with you guys for the night! Can't wait for the wedding in just a few short weeks!

Here are some of my favorites from their session, it's been so fun watching their family grow!

Such a precious photo of momma and Anna on the left - it's one of my favorites from the session:)

Cutie pie!

Love these two!

Thanks guys! Can't wait to hang out again in June:)

So we explored the grounds of Brookside for their engagement session - there were so many little hidden spots that had never seen before, that's always the best:) Here are some of my favorites from their session!

Gorgeous:)

One of my favorites:)

Another favorite:) Dave, thanks for putting up with my requests for these!

Lisa, you're going to make a gorgeous bride:)

Love how he makes her laugh:)

Thanks so much for spending the evening with me guys, I can't wait for the wedding in October!!

Proofbooks are hard-back, magazine style press printed books - I love the silver patterned covers:

Here's a side view, you can see how they're magazine style - not the lay-flat pages that you'll get with fine art wedding albums:

The proofbook contains every single one of your wedding photos. Each page has 12 thumbnails, printed directly on the page, with their corresponding file names. These file names match the online proofing site and your CD of high resolution images:

It's a great, tangible way to have all of your wedding photos in one spot. The proofbook comes in especially handy when you're designing your wedding album - it's MUCH easier to flip back and forth through the pages of your proofbook when you're selecting photos, rather than clicking one by one through photos online:

Hope that clears up exactly what the proofbook is, leave me a comment or shoot me an email if you have any questions!

I was so excited when Kelly and Jake loved the idea of exploring all of those little areas for their engagement session - this is one of my favorite sessions to date because of it! Here are some of my favorites from their session:

When you get expressions like this in some of the first few photos you shoot, you know it's going to be a good session:)

One of my favorites:

Loved shooting on the street where my OWN wedding photos were taken!

Love how you can find the most random little spots tucked away in the city:)

Another favorite:)

Kelly & Jake, thanks for exploring center city with me.....and putting up with me saying "OHMYGOSH I WANT TO LIVE HERE!" about 49 times:) Can't wait for the wedding in September!

I got home late last night from my last trip of the month, an amazing, relaxing weekend in Indiana visiting my good friend Gail. I was also in the Outer Banks shooting Trisha & Aaron's wedding (my first destination wedding!), then also spent a lot of time in Raleigh visiting my sister and baby niece:)

As much as I love traveling, it felt great to unpack my suitcase this morning, put it back in storage, and know I won't need it again until June. There's no place like home!

We were all a little nervous the days leading up to the wedding - it had been cold and gloomy for the days leading up to their wedding, but their wedding day was nothing short of perfect:) The clouds parted, there were blue skies and they had an absolutely perfect day for a beach wedding - I wish I could shoot every wedding on the beach!

Here are some of my favorites from their wedding day, and check out their SLIDESHOW for even more photos from their day!

The first time I was ever able to use a starfish for the ring shot - love it!

Gorgeous:)

Such a sweet moment with Trisha and her mom before the First Look:

Trisha & Aaron opted to have a First Look for their wedding day - it's always my favorite part of the day!

See what I mean? Perfect blue skies:

I officially love shooting at the beach:)

One of my favorite shots of the day - I see a large canvas of this hanging in your house Trisha:)

Have you ever seen a more excited bride walk down the aisle? Love it:)

Married!

Such a fun way to display the name cards:

I am in LOVE with this cake - how cute is this??

Loved the decor of the reception venue - the space looked so amazing with these drapings and lanterns:)

They even had a perfect sunset to cap off the wedding day:)

Trisha & Aaron, thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your wedding day! I hope you're enjoying your time as newlyweds:)

These two made my job easy:)

One of my favorites:)

How awesome is this place? I was in love:)

My view:

My fabulous second shooter's (aka my sister) view:

So sweet:)

When I saw this industrial area covered in brick, with the lights strung around, I just about died and went to heaven. A photographer's dream:)

Another one of my sister's shots:

Hello gorgeous couple - they could work the camera like no other:)

This series was another one of my favorites:)

Love love love:)

Thanks guys! I had so much fun exploring Durham with you!

I had seen SO many sewing tutorials and projects on Pinterest, so that's what sparked my interest in wanting a sewing machine. As soon as I got it, I bought a ton of fabric on Fabric.com, loaded up on sewing supplies, and got started.

My first sewing projects were these pillows for the third floor window seat, and the curtains hanging behind them:

I was proud of myself with the pillows, but don't look too closely at the curtains. They're not the best things you've ever seen:)

And here was my 2nd big project - roman shades for our back door. I used THIS TUTORIAL that a friend sent me from Pinterest, I was surprised how easy it was:

I liked the idea of roman shades vs. curtains, because this little girl likes to keep watch out the window - I wanted to be able to pull the shades up for her:)

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty proud of myself with this project:

And here is the shade completely pulled up: Don't mind the pile of Jay's shoes in the lower right corner. It's a never ending battle in our house (I just want them put AWAY). I have "don't sweat the small stuff' on repeat in my head when I look at that shoe pile:)

I've been loving all of my sewing projects lately - but so far nothing has been to complex. Everything I've sewn has literally been a rectangle - I'm hoping to tackle something more complicated soon!