Spooky Ookey Hallween Contest!!

It's here!  My Spooky Ookey Halloween Contest is up and ready for you to vote!!  Just pick your favorites and vote by leaving a comment here, on my facebook or go to my contact tab on my website and leave your vote!  Happy Halloween!!

My Model, Emily

I'm sure you've seen most of these, but I thought I would pull my favorites from my MANY sessions with my little sister and willing model, Emily. 

Emily

Oh, I love my little sister!  She was born during my senior year of high school, so I'm 'technically' old enough to be her mother;)  She and my mom came down to Arkansas this past week and we've had such a blast!  I've taken them to a few of our favorite spots, (Hot Springs, Little Rock, Pinnacle Mt......), and it's been so wonderful spending quality time with them!  If you've been on my website, you've, no doubt, seen Emily in about 3 featured galleries.  We've shot everyday!  I'll be posting more later, but here's a fun out take.  She's so fun:)

It's DONE!

We successfully finished painting Bailey's room!  It looks so cute:)  Next; boy's room.  Lord knows when we'll get moving on that one;)  On the plus side, their ceilings aren't vaulted, so we should be able to knock it out pretty quickly.  As soon as they decide what color they want, (they're leaning toward 'Cubs Blue'), I'm getting the paint mixed.  I think that will force us to be a little more productive:)  Here's some more images of Bailey's room in progress.

 

It Begins!!!

Thank you, God, for color!!  When we moved into our new house every room was/is painted the same color: tan.  Floor to ceiling.  Even the ceilings are painted tan.  And it's flat paint.  Dull, flat and ugly!  Until today!  Today I start painting Bailey's room!  I know, in a recent blog I said we were doing it a couple weekends ago.  Obviously it didn't happen:)
Last weekend Jon painted the ceiling and got everything ready for me to start sloshing on the color!  So, by day's end I should be covered in hot pink semi gloss.....and that makes me happy!  I'll post more picures as we go.  Just thought I would share some of our progress with you.  Happy Wednesday, Everyone!!

Fall Kids.........so far!

It's starting to pick up!  I don't have much on the books, but I've got a lot of interest and a few things in the works.  This makes me very excited!  I've been doing mostly kids sessions and I'm loving every minute!  You've probably already seen these images on my website and facebook, but I thought I would post them here as well.  These are my favorites from my sessions so far....enjoy!  (And don't forget to call and book your Fall Family/Kids/Halloween/Pictures with Santa!!)

HO! HO! HO!

I am sooooo excited!  This year I'm going to be offering pictures with the big man!  SANTA!!  I went out and bought a Santa suit and set aside a day in November especially for the jolly fat man!  I'm sure I'll be using him more than once.  I'd love to put him in a few family sessions to be used for Christmas cards.  How cute would that be?!
Now I just have to bribe my husband to put on the costume.....unless I can find a willing volunteer.  He put the wig, beard and hat on the other night, but I don't think THIS would impress too many kids.....

Getting to Know Me.......

It's nice to see the professional side of people, but I also enjoy learning about the personal side.  I think it's a good idea for business owners to be human........not so buttoned up all the time.  So, I decided to get personal myself.  My blog is the perfect place to be a little less formal and a whole lot more 'interesting'. ;)

I thought I would 'break the ice' with a list of things all about me.....just so you can get to know me better.  This ia a completely random and nonsensical list, which, if you know me....it just makes sense;)  Let's get this party started:

1.) I absolutely LOVE chocolate!  If chocolate were a person, we would be having a scandalous love affair!

2.) Sometimes I'm shy.......baaa haa ha!!  Ok, maybe not 'shy'.  Sometimes I'm reserved.

3.)I could watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation all year 'round.  Best Christmas movie of all time!!

4.) I could sit and listen to an 80+ year old tell stories of, "When I was a kid...." all day long.

5.)I think ghosts are real.

6.)I hate that I have to put makeup on and do my hair everyday!!  Shower?  YES!  But getting ready....HATE IT!

7.) There are certain things about my past that really tick me off, but I'm stronger because of it.

8.) I dislike coffee....a lot!

9.) I'm recently addicted to Sonic Sweet Tea!

10.) I make killer cupcakes......(see photo above!)

11.)  There's an interior designer down deep inside me dying to get out. When we have the income my house will look like Kirklands threw up in here!

12.) I love to buy clothes for my kids, but I can never, (rarely ever), pull the trigger and treat myself:/

13.) I have a bucked list.  I've crossed off 3 out of 100 things to do before I die.  I hope to live to 592 years old so I can knock everything off that pretty little list!

14.) I will put off dinner plans in the hope that my husband will come home and create something spectacularly wonderfully delicious!  He's so much better at it than I am!  I can cook.....I just despise it!

15.) Pumpkin spice candles are my favorite of all time.

16.) Fall is my favorite season.

17.) I hate drama....like, REALLY hate drama.

18.) I've never sprained my ankle.  My husband finds this fascinating.

19.) I can dance.....pretty well.

20.) My goal is to be completely happy and satisfied with every aspect of my life.....and to be independently wealthy if at all possible.  I still haven't figured that one out.  Yet.

Something Worth Quoting

A little over a year ago I found this quote and wrote it down in my photography journal. I look at it often and almost have it memorized. It's about being inspired.  It's about catching a spark from something that others may not see.  I've learned to always keep my eyes wide open,  my ears always listening and my mind a steele trap!  Jon, my husband, jokes all the time and tells me to turn off my 'photography brain'.  I see a picture in the way the lights hit an exhibit at the museum.  I see a picture in the way the birds sit up on a telephone wire.  I see a picture when a man on a bike is towing his dog in a wagon.  It's all about finding inspiration in so many little things that go on around us everyday!  OK......so, on to this quote.......

This is a quote from a true genious named Jim Jarmusch. Someone unthreatened by his talent and secure in the artist he is!  He calls us out on the truth:  we all get our ideas from somewhere, and most of the time it's NOT from our own 'amazing' creative minds.  Learn to be o.k. with that.....it's very liberating!
"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, lights and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work, (and theft), will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don't bother concealing your theivery!! Celebrate it if you feel like it! In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said, "It's not where you take it from, but where you take it TO.""