Virginia Louise turns 4!

On July 8th we celebrated Virginia turning 4! 4? What? I cannot believe it has been four years since she came into our lives! What a privilege it is to know her! She has the sweetest heart and most precious spirit and we love her so much! For her party she requested an "under the sea mermaid party" so that is what she got! Here are a few pictures from the weekend that we celebrated her!

With her JimPa

The big birthday girl!

Hello sweet Charlotte!

Her daddy prayed for his girl and I had to snap this picture! :)

Virginia's best friend! How cute are they?

We also had some "spa" activities starting with nails! :)

She opened some presents....

Y'all she is going to school this year.....what???

Blowing out the candles! :)

The whole family!

Sweet Virginia, we love you so much and are thankful for your first four years! You are such a sweet blessing to our family! :)

Update and Hello!

I can't believe I haven't posted in a month. Well, that's a lie. I can actually. School ended and it's as if summer started, took off, and hasn't stopped. Life is busy. But, at the same time, I am still able to rest and relax.

Summer has been busy so far. I kicked it off with a vacation to West Palm Beach with my family. It was an amazing week of rest. The weather was so so but that didn't stop us from truly enjoying the rest and relaxation that came with it.

I think being an aunt might just be the best thing ever.

This man....I love him!

Sadly, we were missing Sam on this trip and we HATED that!

We made the 12 hour ride home on Friday and I jumped right back into work with a wedding on Saturday. It was a LONG and hot day and night but so much fun!

Congrats to this happy couple!

So my week has consisted of tons and tons of editing! I have another wedding tomorrow so I am gearing up for that as well. I am thankful to be busy and I really am having to practice balancing my time! Thankfully, I am off for the summer from school so that definitely helps.

In other news around the Kittrell house, we have been doing a couple of updates. I need to do a house tour soon! :) The other big news is that Brett is in the process of changing jobs. It has been a whirlwind of decisions and lots of prayer that has been leading up to this and we are really excited! I will share more at another time but we are still praying for direction and we are very thankful for how God has been leading us so far!

I need to get back to editing but I am so hoping I can pop in more frequently around here. I miss it! Plus, there is so much happening this summer! More weddings/shoots, a special niece's 4th birthday and a 1st birthday,  (however, I need to blog about Charlotte's first as well...it's coming Linds!), changes around the house, a trip to Tennessee, etc. So much stuff to pack into two months off of school! :)

It Is Well With My Soul

I have been putting off writing about this but not for any reason other than uncertainty on how to address it. On April 20th my family was in Georgia looking forward to celebrating a special little girls first birthday. However, early that morning my mom got a call. My grandmother had passed away.

My grandmother, affectionately known by many as Ding Dong :), passed away. She had been having health trouble but it certainly was sudden. It was one of those situations that you know it is coming but are shocked when it happens.

You may be wondering, "Why Ding Dong? That is kind of cruel!" haha. Well, my older sister gave her that name at age 3 when she would ask her to go hear the clock "ding dong" at our house. The name stuck and at times, it fit. Just being honest! :)

There are so many things I could say about Ding Dong. There are so many funny stories and so many memories that include her. She was always there! Every holiday and birthday included her! She was thoughtful and kind! She was such a great grandmother and I think her greatest contribution to me personally was my mother!

We were blessed with many years with her!

She will be missed and I look forward to seeing her again one day!

Hello There, It's been a bit!

Well, where to begin? I feel like so much has happened and yet I don't know if there is a way to remember all that has happened during this time. We will have to go with a pictures update instead to get you caught up on the craziness of this busy time!

First of all, Brett and I have been doing a lot to finish up various projects in our home!

New throw pillows on the bed....Brett loves having multiple pillows and the fact that they are monogrammed makes him love them all the more! :)

Our master bath does not have a linen closet. Since we moved in we have searched for something to go in the bathroom to hold towels, sheets, etc. Finally, we found something and although it was too big to go in the bathroom, our bedroom was big enough and I just love it.

Oh, and then my awesome husband built this bookshelf! Yeah, it looks fabulous!

Don't worry, we haven't neglected the outside. :) We kind of love being outside and since last year with having a garden I pretty much think I have a green thumb or something. Haha! But seriously, I love having plants and seeing them grow! :)

Just watering azaleas! :)

Oh, and again, husband built this table for our porch out of pallets. Seriously so handy! :)

We also planted our garden this past weekend! Praying for tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet peas, zucchini, squash and more! :)

Other than that, we have been very busy. I have been busy with school and photography! Brett got to celebrate his spring break last week and I will begin mine tomorrow! I am more than ready for a week to relax!

Oh, and let me just say....I am incredibly thankful for my husband. He shows me so much grace and is such an encouragement. I don't deserve him but am so grateful God made him just for me! :)

Perhaps while on spring break I will blog a bit more! :)

A Few Ramblings

I am simply terrible at getting a decent post out these days. I seem to wait and wait and finally just spit it all out and most likely forget important updates.

Anyways, February has been an incredibly quick month and March is upon us. I just cannot believe it. We celebrated my sweet husbands birthday this month. Let me just take a minute to talk about how thankful I am for him. I feel incredibly privileged to do life with him and be his wife. He is a true blessing in my life.

We had a week off and that we celebrated Brett's birthday, Valentine's day, and also welcomed a new member to the Kittrell family. World, meet Marcie.....

She's a sweet little girl and we are happy she is ours! :)

Oh, and just because I happen to think she is precious, we also took this sweet girls 6 month pictures. 

I know, I can hardly handle the cuteness. I am a proud aunt.

This month I also began a new Bible study at my church. We are going through Ephesians and it has been wonderful. There is just so much goodness in that book. I am loving being reminded of the gospel and thankful that I have been adopted and chosen as a daughter of the one true God. I have been learning a lot about my purpose. Currently, I am striving to be thankful for my daily routines that seem so insignificant. I am striving to be thankful for a job that I enjoy and that while it is not the only thing I want to do, it is what the Lord has for me to be doing. I am thankful for a wonderful home and my responsibilities here. I am thankful I have a husband who takes care of me and that I have the privilege to cook for and take care of him.

I have been reminded recently of Micah 6:8 that says, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." --I pray that I can simply do that. I long to abide in Christ and have His love and His attributes to be evident in my life.

As for March, there are lots of exciting things happening... starting with welcoming another new Kittrell into the family! Ash and Drew are getting married this weekend and I am thrilled to be able to be the photographer of this wedding!

So it should be another busy month and I am excited and ready to embrace it!

Life Lately...

January was the month of no blogging. Obviously. :) I hope this isn't a sign of the next year. Life has been busy so I'll give a few updates.

On the photography front I have to say, I thought things would slow down in January. After the hustle and bustle of fall and getting people's Christmas pictures done and edited quickly before the deadline of Christmas cards went out, I thought January would be slow. While, it hasn't been as busy, the Lord has been gracious to still allow me to do what I love on the side. Here are just a few updates......

First up, this lovely couple who will be getting married in June! :) They were SO FUN!

Secondly, this sweet couple who are waiting for their lives to change forever with welcoming the birth of their first son, Aiden.

I surely cannot wait for him to get here! :)

Lastly, just this weekend I had the privilege of taking my brother-in-law and ALMOST sister-in-laws engagement pictures! They have LESS THAN A MONTH! I am so excited for them and cannot wait for March 2nd to photograph my first official wedding on my own but also to welcome Ashley to the family!

So sweet....

January was an incredibly long month. We also had a visit from my aunt and cousins which was such a fun weekend!

Other than that, we have just been watching this little girl grow and praying the other cousins would move home! :)

It's been a long month and I am thankful that we are now in February! God has been so gracious to Brett and I. He has been teaching us a lot about dying to ourselves. He has also taught me a lot about trusting Him. Nothing is too hard for Him and I am grateful for the grace He continues to pour over my life. I am thankful that He satisfies and that He is enough! What a blessing to serve Him and have a relationship with my Lord

Oh yeah, I am also thankful for this guy who will be celebrating his birthday on Monday! I think he is definitely worth celebrating. Brett is such an answer to prayer and I am thankful for his sweet heart.

Well, that was a short and sweet update but hey, at least there were pictures! :) Hopefully I can blog more soon!

The Best of 2012

Happy New Year friends! I cannot believe 2012 is over! Time really does fly. In keeping with the typical blog trend I thought I'd share some of the best and big moments of 2012.

January: One of the hardest months, lots of changes and lots of tears. Happier news was sharing my wedding photos!

In February we got to announce some of the best news of 2012! Mangs and Pudge were going to have a baby!

We also celebrated a dear friends engagement, Brett's birthday, and Valentine's Day.We also took a trip to Lagrange to visit Eric, Linds, and V.

This was also the month I got my new camera which was actually a pretty important part of 2012 :)

March brought some warmer weather.

Which brought about a new hobby of gardening.                                                                       I was a second shooter at my first wedding.

We also found out that this baby we were so excited about would in fact be a girl!!

April outdid itself! The BEST of April was the arrival of this angel,                                  Charlotte Elizabeth Blackman.

We also spent a weekend in Atlanta, and I second shot another wedding.

May brought the last month of school for Brett and I! Yes! It was busy and full! We made lots of gardening progress and celebrated 6 months of marriage!

In June we were out of school and hit the ground running with the craziness and fun of summer! We gave Mangs a shower honoring she and sweet Lucy Myer!

We also traveled to the beach for a week of fun with my family and took some maternity pictures of Mangs.

We also had the privilege to witness two friends tie the knot!

 We ended the month with a week long trip to Puerto Rico with Brett's family!! It was a busy month of fun!!

July was a little more restful! I learned a lot in our summer Bible study. We continued to anticipate the arrival of sweet Lucy!

We also celebrated Mangs birthday as well as sweet Virginia's 3rd birthday! It's time to meet the Muppets! :)

August was a long awaited month! We kicked it off with my birthday but I was quickly upstaged by the arrival of Lucy Myer Jacobs!

We also began school and tried to get back into a routine with me starting a new job teaching 5th grade! At the end of August I also started my new part time business, A Little From Laura Photography! :)

In September I took lots of pictures and did not blog too much :)

October was even busier with multiple photography shoots. That pretty much consumed my free time and it was incredibly busy! Oh, and we bought a house! :)

In November Brett and I celebrated a year of marriage! We also moved into our new home and celebrated thanksgiving!

Finally in December we decorated and did lots of Christmas activities (P.S. I'll blog about Christmas soon! haha) We visited family and I had the privilege to stand by my other college roommate as she got married this past weekend!

It has been a year full of many many blessings! I am amazed by the Lord's goodness and His grace in the life of my family! He is so good to us! I pray that in 2013 I will glorify Him more and seek Him in all that I do.

Happy 2013!

Oh Happy Day

It has been a busy few weeks! I am just too thrilled that today was my last day of school for a couple of weeks! I was showered with tons of gifts and my students were too sweet today. Brett and I have been trying to get settled, finish up work, and I have done tons of shoots lately! I am thankful to be done with those for a couple of weeks too but also extremely thankful to have booked 3 weddings for 2013! I am excited to continue this photography business and hopefully see it continue to succeed! :)

We have also been hanging out with this peanut as much as we can! She is changing so much and we pretty much are obsessed with her!

I am most looking forward to getting to be with my entire family on SATURDAY!! These three girls in the same house! :) AHH! This aunt is ecstatic! 

Other plans over the break include lots of resting, Christmas in Phenix City, and a trip to Birmingham for sweet Sarah's wedding! I have to say, I am looking forward to taking pictures over the next couple of weeks of everyday life and not just for a client. I LOVE doing that but I am excited about taking more of our life. I feel like since I have started this business I haven't done as great of a job documenting us and my family!

I hope that wherever you are, you are enjoying time with family during this Christmas season!

Our First House

So since we have moved into our new home I realized I never shared pictures of our first house. It was the house I cooked my first meals in as a wife and did loads and loads of laundry. Here is our cozy little house.....

When you walk in you see the den straight ahead....

To the right is the kitchen. I have to say, I am thankful that in this house the kitchen is a little bit larger! :) I spent a lot of time here and really enjoy cooking so this is a bonus!

Through that door is the laundry room. One downer of this new house is the laundry room is a bit smaller. The place I spend a good bit of time as well. haha. I LOVED this laundry room!

Another view of the den and then we go down the hall way...

To the left is our guest room.....

This house had 1 and a half baths. Thankful for the extra half we have in this new house! :)

 Then we have the master! Loved our room! :) Love our headboard!

I will say for the most part our house was actually this clean. MOST of the time. However, just to keep it real.....this was our office which went through stages of being organized and then stages such as this.....Hoping for a more organized office in this new house!

I really loved our first house but the BEST part about it was what we got to see when we walked out the front door. It was the best living across the street from my sister and brother-in-law and sweet Lucy for a few months! :) We miss them so much even though we are only about 10 minutes apart. It's just not quite the same! :)

Anyways, when this new house doesn't look like a bomb went off in it I will share pictures. Maybe it won't be a year :)

One Year

One year. I cannot believe how quickly it has passed. It has been the greatest year of my life. During our ceremony last year Chris said "Marriage will literally kill you. It will kill the parts of you that need to die." I certainly hope that some parts of me have died this year. I will say that the first year has been almost bliss. Not that there haven't been some tough times because there certainly have been. However, I am sure that there are many more struggles to come.I am so thankful for what I have learned! I am thankful that I get to fall asleep and wake up next to my best friend! We have been through many changes from getting used to new jobs, learning to take care of a house, cook meals, traveling, and now buying our first home!

I am so incredibly blessed to be married to Brett. I don't deserve his kindness. I mean.....he has played with my hair literally almost every night as I have fallen asleep for the last year. Seriously. Love language. :)

Brett, thank you for being so wonderful and for taking care of me for better and worse this year. I pray that we will strive to look more like Him and glorify Him through our marriage in our second year together.

Here is a video to commemorate our first year as husband and wife!

One Year as Mr. and Mrs. from Laura Kittrell on Vimeo.

Love you forever! :)