Mr. and Mrs. Elmore

This was my second wedding to shoot with Bayleigh M. Photography and it did not disappoint! Jana was so sweet and she and Aaron were so happy that their day had finally arrived! It was one of the most beautiful days that Mobile had seen and a cooler day which made an outside wedding even better! 

I loved her "something blue"--How special!

They chose to have a "first look" and it could not have been sweeter! Aaron was so excited to see his bride!

 

Loved that all the girls wore boots! So fun!

 

 

They were just so happy to be married! 

 

 

Love her face here! :) 

Thank you Aaron and Jana for letting me help Bayleigh! I wish you the best as you begin your life as 

Mr. and Mrs.!

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor

As I mentioned, I have had the privilege to shoot a couple of weddings with Bayleigh M. Photography. My first one was a few weeks ago and I am so thankful that Haleigh and Byron allowed me to help Bayleigh. 

Haleigh was so relaxed the entire day! Their entire bridal party was relaxed. It was such a fun experience and I wish them the best as they begin their lives together as a married couple! 

 

Hope your day was extra special! Thank you for letting me be a part!

he & she (march 2012)

:.. he and she ..:

She helped assist her very first wedding with Bayleigh M. Photography

And had a blast doing it!

He was very disciplined and got up early and ran many mornings

She barely blogged at all

He ran his first 10k and first race ever

She took a lot of pictures! 

They were both really busy with work. 

She did a few projects around the house...

He (and jeff) built and planted our garden

And he built a coffee table!

They found out they are having a NIECE in August! 

Sorry for the lack of posting lately....it's not for lack of interesting things to post about but life is just busy! April is sure to bring fun and exciting days! Brett is on spring break and I will be in a couple of weeks! We will be road tripping to Atlanta in a couple of weeks! Mangs and Pudge finally decided on a name for Baby Jacobs!! I don't want to reveal it! I'll let Mangs do that but its precious!! :) This is also the month of Baby Charlotte's arrival!! AHH!! SO SO SO EXCITED!!!

Have a happy happy week!!

Around Here In March

I cannot believe that we are almost through the month of March! Seems crazy but I am happy cause it means closer to Spring Break and then Summer! With the weather being as beautiful as it is, it is hard being inside! A lot has been going on in the month of March. 

I did this craft project....

Tutorial here

I hung these new prints in my kitchen! Love these colors!

Printables found here

Also, I have had a couple of neat opportunities lately. A friend of ours asked me to take some pictures of her son at his soccer game. She had seen some pictures I had taken and wanted me to come so that she and her husband wouldn't have to! I was happy to oblige and happy to learn more and experiment with my camera! Here are a few shots from the night. (They won the game by the way in double overtime! :) ) 

A couple of weeks ago Brett decided he wanted to build something. :) He decided on a coffee table and bought the wood and put it together in a couple of days. It turned out really great and I am excited to paint it soon!! 

Hey handsome

Good job husband...

We have also begun the process of starting a garden. Mangs and Pudge who live across the street really wanted to and I did. Brett is not a huge fan of veggies (we are working on that! :) ) so he didn't really care too much but we are using our backyard! Brett and Pudge built some boxes and they have been filled with soil. We are hoping to begin planting some veggies this weekend! I am really excited about this! 

I'll keep you updated on the progress! 

We are still constantly making our house a home and we added some new curtains that I ordered. 

This past weekend after finding out this baby was a girl, we went and helped these two register at Target! Well, not really helped but kept them company! SO READY FOR BABY J!!

Other than those happenings we have been keeping busy. Life seems to never slow down! We are learning lots about patience and trusting the Lord. I am learning that my husband is probably the best leader for me and encourager. He is so patient. I mean, I know everyone thinks their husband is great but really, he has been my biggest supporter during these last few months when things have been hard. 

Also, yesterday a year ago, was the day I said YES to him! 

What a year it has been!! 

I made the best decision of my life a year ago! 

I LOVE YOU so so much Brett and am so thankful that you are my husband!

Hope your week is going well! It's WEDNESDAY!! :)

On Blogging

So I have seen a lot of different blogs in the last few years. People blog for various reasons. When I started this blog it was because I was heading out of the country for 2 months on a summer project to Brazil. I was going to keep everyone updated on my summer and the things that God was doing and teaching me. I have to say, that kind of flopped. Between 21 other people needing to use the internet while we were there and just personally wanting to "be" there and not on the computer the whole time, it flopped. I started this blog on May 2, 2009 and only wrote 9 posts in the span of 7 months. 

So, when 2010 began I made a resolution to blog more consistently and in the last two years it has only grown. No, I don't post every single day and there are certainly weeks where I might not post at all. However, I feel like this is something I am starting to get better at and I really love posting. I never want this blog to be something that consumes me. That is why I do not post everyday. 

So why do I blog? I blog mainly to keep track of big things in my life. I love taking pictures and this blog allows me to share them. I love my family and I get to share stories and memories. I occasionally get to share a recipe or a craft. I get to share the things in my life that are good and the times that are hard. The Lord is constantly teaching me new things or convicting me of new things and that is something I enjoy sharing. 

I blog because I get to share pictures of memories like this..

Exciting news like this......

 This little girl going from this........

 to this.....

 Excitement for friends like this.....

Sharing accomplishments like this...

Good things that the Lord is teaching me like this.

And the hard things too like this.

So, blogging has been a fun thing for me. My goal above anything else is to be transparent. I don't ever want it to look like I have this perfect life. I always want to be real about the things that I post. 

So that is my ramblings for today. Thankfully, Brett and I have a week off together. We couldn't be more thrilled but I will say, the days go by much more quickly when we are home as opposed to being at school. But, we plan on enjoying this fun week! 

Contentment

I have been learning a lot lately. January was a really tough month for me for various reasons. The Lord has really been teaching me a lot about contentment. It is interesting how things can change when you have your own house. I have NEVER been a shopper and truly I am still not much of a shopper at all. However, I will say that now that I have my own house, I am always seeing a project. I see something while I am out and think..."Oh, that would be so cute here or there." I also find myself going to other people's houses and notice things that I would have never noticed before. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this but it is taking control of my thoughts before they get too far.

God's Word says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." -1 Timothy 6:6-8

In the end, nothing else is going to last. All that will last is people and God's Word. 

I have been learning a lot about being content. I don't want to sugarcoat it but I have been pretty discontent with certain areas of my life. I have not been joyful. I recognize my sin and want it to change. I am usually never the person that has always been looking towards the next thing.

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:11-13

Paul said this and all I can say is that I truly don't know what it is to be in need. I have so much to be thankful and joyful about. Nothing in this world is going to satisfy me. Brett is always good about reminding me of that. At the end of the day, all I know is what it is to have plenty. Brett and I both have jobs. We have a home together filled with plenty. We have food on our table and plenty of clothes. We have more than enough. We are incredibly blessed. I could dwell on the other "things" I want or "other places" I want to be or "situations" I want to be in. What good is that to me? I have to CHOOSE to walk with God DAILY. I have to CHOOSE to ask the Lord what He wants me to do today. I cannot look so much to the future. I have to choose joy daily. 

This has just been what the Lord has been showing me lately. I know that I am a great sinner and I am so grateful for a loving and forgiving God. I only want to be in the center of His will and be content with all of the MANY things He has blessed me with. 

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" -Hebrews 13:5

Thank You Lord that You never leave me where I am.

Pinwheel Painting Project

So in these almost three months of marriage and having our own home, I am realizing that projects don't really stop. You kind of just always have something. Well, the space we are using as our office was pretty much the only room that was a junk room. Our bedroom, kitchen, and other rooms were still needing some work but were certainly organized. However, the office had stuff EVERYWHERE. Well, it has finally been MOSTLY organized and we are getting things on the walls everywhere. (Eventually I will take pictures of our whole house) I am loving how things are turning out. 

I saw this project a few months ago and LOVED how it looked. I wanted to do something like that in our office. I have always been a color freak but since getting married I have been all about some neutrals. Go figure. So, I played around with what colors to use and here is how it came out.

I started by putting a dot in the very center an drawing random lines coming from it. I knew I didn't want a million different colors so it doesn't have as many triangles as the inspiration one I saw.

Then I started painting....I chose cream colors, a tan, and a gray. I obviously did not use painters tape. Mainly, I didn't have any and also I wasn't using as many colors so I was just careful and used a small brush. I wasn't super concerned about the lines being perfect.

Finished product after painting.....

I also knew I wanted it to have a verse and this just seemed perfect.

Final product on the wall...

It is surrounded by a picture from the slum I visited in Africa, a great picture I was able to capture in the slums or a little boy catching a raindrop, and a picture overlooking Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a place so close to Brett and I's heart!

Really loving how this turned out. Again, I will show the rest of the house soon. It seems that blogging has taken a backseat lately. 

Tonight has been so nice....Brett had a game and I have gotten to spend some quality time with my mom! Oh, and tomorrow is FRIDAY! Woo....Happy day!

Little Things

Little things that made the week a little better.....

30 Day Photography Challenge-Days 10, 11, 12, and 13

Day 10 was a childhood memory. Well, this week we have been teaching money in first grade and while I don't remember this in school, I certainly remember playing with pretend money MANY times when I was little....

Day 11 was something blue and literally I forgot till right before I went to sleep. This is framed in our bedroom. It's a print with a blue bird on it with Matthew 6:33 on it that was given to me. It was purchased from Jones Design Company. LOVE this site!

Day 12 was supposed to be the sunset. I missed it cause I was watching my husband coach and WIN I might add in basketball. I figured that could be my picture since this is a 30 day challenge and there are 31 days in January. I'll just move things up a day! :) He is cuter anyways!

Day 13: Sunset....so pretty behind my house

Haven't done todays....workin on it! 

30 Day Photography Challenge-Day 9

Day 9 was "Someone You Love"

This was tough. I love a lot of people. He has been a real encouragement to me, especially lately when I have had a really rough couple of weeks. 

Love you sweet boy! 

P.S. Wedding pictures have arrived so expect some posts coming soon!