Consumed:

I'm exhausted.

I'm not complaining though, I am thankful.

Here is my life in a nutshell.

It's consumed with working 3rd shift full time,

then heading to my internship for a minimum of 15 hours a week,

then finishing my last semester of my masters,

yelling at my husband to stop swinging his golf clubs in the house,

shooting sessions then lots and lots of editing,

squeezing in sleep every chance I get,

playing volleyball with the Pink Panthers,

Playing Bunko and Scrapbooking with my friend, Devon

(who will likely be the first one to read this),

trying to catch up with my nieces before they grow another foot and a half,

eating a home-cooked meal once a week (when my momma cooks it)

and lastly playing with my puppy dog between each of my naps throughout the day.

It may sound crazy, and hectic, and miserable- which it is, most of the time.

But no matter what I am so lucky to be able to do all of these things,

to be able to afford school, to have a job,

to have a husband (who is about to get yelled at because I kid you not he is swinging the golf clubs in my face right now),

to have a mom who is alive and in good health and who actually WANTS to cook me dinner,

to have my friends and family who love me very much.

And to have the most incredible clients I could ever pray for.

I'm lucky. So though my life is overwhelming at times,

I am thankful for every minute of it.

Here is a pic of the hubs playing golf in a more appropriate place:

Just Around the Corner

I normally hate fall because it means winter is coming and I HATE freezing weather. Then I remember how much I loved it as a kid and I can't help but warm up to the cold weather. The holidays were so magical. I hope every kid had my experience. I had the picture perfect family. Every holiday we met at my grandparent's house and had an amazing time. I hope my kids and grandkids get to live the same magic I did. Christmas was the best. We would have dinner at Grandmas and Grandpas - Grandpa and I always decorated the tree weeks before. We set up tables made of old doors in the basement and for the longest time, the entire family fit at the table. We would then open presents, which looking back, is shockingly the part of the night that meant the least to me. After presents we would pile into the car and go look at Christmas lights. I will never forget one street that was incredible. The whole circle participated, one guy even set up Santa's Magical Kingdom in his garage. I LOVED watching that toy train make its rounds on the parameter of the garage. Then we would go home, say our goodbyes and my mom, dad, and I would walk back to our home next-door. It was perfect.

Now, for the first time in years, it is the first week of September and I am bubbling with excitement. I am thrilled to have apple cider, get ready for hayrides, pleased to drag Andrew to go apple picking, go to SEVERAL wineries, plot my pumpkin carving, and ready to shop to decorate the house!

Although I am cheating on this image (I took it last year and I'm pretty sure it has already appeared on this blog), I am very excited to enjoy the last day of August tomorrow and prepare to celebrate the fall!

Catching the Moments "In Between"

It's the moments before and after the pose, its the seconds before the kiss, it's the first glance, it's right before a bride meets her groom's eyes- Life in the IN BETWEEN as Jasmine Star would call it. It's another one of my goals, catching more of the "in between". Recently I had the honor of shooting a milestone in life. My cousin Michelle hired me to document her dad's retirement party. It was really amazing to see the transition going on his life and all of the friends, family, and coworkers who came along to show their support in his decision to retire. Congratulations Paul!

You can't help but love Michelle. We actually paid her to marry my cousin.

I can't imagine what it would have been like for the girls to grow up with these guys as brothers. They were all characters, very, very funny characters.

Here's a few examples of the "in between". I believe the following was in between a pose and one of the girls deeming them the "hot cousins".

Right before the kiss...

Right before the pose...

Right before she punched me in the nose...

Ok I was totally kidding on that last one but holy cow isn't she cute. She wasn't very pleased with me interrupting her dinner and she didn't think I was too funny either but by golly I was determined to get a pic of her and those amazing curls!

Anyway, instead of choosing a retirement gift for himself from AT&T, Paul became husband of the year when he asked for a BEAUTIFUL ring for his lovely wife instead.

Another gift from the guys at work

You could tell Paul was going to be greatly missed at AT&T. His bosses and coworkers were much more than just that- they were his friends. Each of them wanted to say something about Paul though many held back. They all trusted him, learned from him, and were honored to have worked beside him. Congratulations Paul!

Tea for Two

So it's day two of blogging, lucky for me I have something easy to blog about. Today was the Bridal Shower for my friend, Trish. It was at a cute little tea room in Fenton. Trish is number 2 of 4 "Stracke Sisters". Each of them are gorgeous- I can't even imagine what it must be like to be their Dad. Anyway, I remember the day I met Trish. I was really nervous because it was the first time meeting a group of my husband's friends. Trish may have said "hi" first but I don't remember it. What I do remember is 30 seconds into meeting her she told me I had a cute butt. I liked her immediately. I'm really excited to see Trish get married this fall. Bryan is wonderful for her, he loves her so much- you should see the massive rock he got her. : ) Plus, he will be a great father to the other two loves of her life, her dog, Silva and her cat, Kik.

Congratulations Trish, you are going to be one Beautiful Bride!

One of the games we played was a "Project Runway" type game. We had to design a wedding dress out of toilet paper! Heres our "bride", April.

Trish judging- Our team won!

Well that's all for today! See everyone tomorrow!

NERVOUS.

I recently attended an always amazing Kelly Manno workshop: St Louis Shot Party Featuring Jasmine Star!! I can't imagine another photographer telling me they do not know who Jasmine Star is but I realize many of my readers likely have no idea who she is. I encourage you to check her out, she is incredible. I may as well be shooting with a Polaroid shooting next to her. She is nothing short of incredible. Pics from the shot party are coming soon. To be honest, I haven't even had time to look at the images I took. What I did have time to do was to let everything Jasmine said settle in. My business is going to go through some changes here shortly and I am really excited about some of them/really nervous about others. In the plans for the next year are: a website (not just a blog), my own Newborn studio in my home, expanding my lighting usage, and lastly- blogging...everyday. Jasmine made a great point during her talk with us. As a photographer you want to either attract or repel your clients. You may be asking yourself, "Why would she want to repel clients?" Well the honest answer is in their best interest. I am not going to be a fit for everyone. If a client does not personally like their photographer the likelihood that they will dislike their photos is much greater. I want my clients to know what they are getting, and be excited about it. I want to be excited knowing I can give my client exactly what they want. So although some photographers may think I am crazy for putting personal information on my business blog well so be it. Thats the kind of photographer I am. I want my clients to know me on a friend level, after all aren't we all more comfortable smiling in front of our friend's cameras? So here it is. My first post of a year of blogging. EVERYDAY. I'm not going to pretend to be interesting. I am going to simply be me. I hope to attract many more of you than I repel. I hope I don't bore you out of your minds. I hope that you don't read this and decide you never want to look at my blog again. I think of this commitment as a promise to my clients, I am putting in the effort to make my business better. To keep learning, pushing myself to become a better photographer. I hope you all will continue to join me for the ride.

Oh, and I always promise to include a picture. The first picture, of course its Miss Ellie, is a celebration of 1 year. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. See you tomorrow!

God Bless.

Prayers for Savannah

About a year ago, I had my first "contest". People were supposed to submit an entry nominating someone for a free session. It was unanimous, Savannah and her family won. I wish their reward would outweigh the reason for their nomination but it will never even come close. Little Savannah was born with a heart defect. Today, Savannah was placed on the Heart Transplant List. This little girl has God on her side but she needs your prayers. She is so brave, curious, and sweet. She has an older sister and a younger brother and two parents who love her very much and desperately want her to get better. She has been sick for quite some time.

I took this photo during Savannah's session. I love it because she was having so much fun testing out her shadow. It reminded me of our relationships with God. So many times we test him, question if he is still with us, keeping up with our every move. This picture reminds me that like our shadow, God is always there.

To keep up with Savannah join the Facebook Group: Pray for Savannah Joan Burritt

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=73887357263&ref=ts

Announcements/ The Lindsey Wedding

As many of you know I placed an opening for 6 weddings in 2011. I am excited to say that 3 of those slots have already been taken. So if you are planning on reserving your spot you may want to do so soon! I will make sure to post when all slots are full. I am also changing the way I schedule photo sessions starting in September. I will be setting aside 2 days a month to do family sessions (I will do 3 in November due to the high volume around Christmas). I will allow 5 sessions per day so check your calendars and reserve your spot as soon as possible (A $50 deposit will secure your spot)! I know this is not as convenient as last year but Running 500 different directions every weekend was really stressful and I can't do that to myself this year. So here are the dates:

September 19

September 25

October 17

October 24

November 20

November 21

November 28

*This schedule does not apply to weddings, newborn sessions, or deliveries (obviously)

Now that all the work info is out of the way I leave you with some pics from the Lindsey Wedding back in June. Shefy actually started photography at the same time I did. We even bought our cameras within a week or two of one another. I was a guest at this wedding and the incredible Kelly Manno was their photographer. All of the ceremony pics were taken from my seat but with an Indian Wedding you don't need to be front and center to get beautiful shots.

So before the wedding even started Bryan (the groom) and Shefy (the bride) had a contest to see who could get this strand of flowers around the other's neck first. I think it was to show who would be the dominant spouse but I could be wrong. (There was a lot of tradition that was over my head) The guy Bryan is sitting on is Sean, who happened to be my husband's Best Man.

P.S. Bryan Won

Onto the ceremony.

Little Toes, Happy Feet? Cheesy Amy?

Love the look on their faces here:

In between the wedding and reception festivities. This is our friend Nugget (who was also a groomsman in our wedding. He has no idea I took this picture. Im sure he will do some yelling when I post this on his Facebook page. Love you Nug!

Love the Reception Details.

I love this cake because it looks like you're being healthy when you're not. : )

Behind the Scenes: These Ladies busted their butts to make The Lindsey Reception beautiful. They were also hilarious.

This picture of Hubby and I was taken by Michelle Lunn. Michelle is not only an awesome photographer who is just starting out, she is also my old roommate, and person who introduced me to my husband. Needless to say, I love Michelle.

A happy momma watching her baby boy with her new daughter.

Shefy is a Chi Omega. These are her sisters.

Ahh The husband of a photographer. (Husband is the P.C. term for unpaid assistant) Thanks Andrew, You're the best camera bag carrier ever. : )

Bad Little Blogger

Yep, I know. I have been slacking on the blogging. It's summer and I'm finally done with my masters program, you would think I would have all the time in the world to edit. But I've been busy. Going on float trips, playing sand volleyball with awesome friends, going to California for the family girl's trip, and catching up on some much needed sleep. So here are some pics of everything thats been keeping me away from my computer all summer. : )

Leading off, The 4th of July was my Hubby and I's first anniversary. We spent it at downtown St. Louis. I had never gone there for the fair so we got an arch view room at the Millennium and took it all in.

I'm going to let you in on an Amy Meyerott cooking secret because it's just too good to keep to myself. Early this summer I was walking around Main St in St Charles waiting for a photo session to start. I was in the Olde Town Spice Shoppe when I saw a sign on Greek Seasoning that said "Tastes good on anything but ice cream". Since I hate ice cream I figured their Greek Seasoning would be a good investment. It was. My friends all LOVE when I use the Greek seasoning and it is really hard for me to season chicken with anything else now.

This next cooking creation is made by my cousin Val from California. She won my heart when the girls in my family all went to visit and she had made, with her own two hands, the best guacamole I have ever had in my life.

Val also had a lemon tree. They were the best lemons ever. Super juicy. I had a blast walking over to the tree to get lemons for my tea.

Cousin Char decided to have a BBQ at her house fully equipped with a cotton candy machine, snow cone machine, and pop corn machine. Donna (the one in the blue suit watching intently how to make the cotton candy) loved offering to make everyone's cotton candy. By the end of the day she was a pro!

Val and her daughter, Amanda. I had a lot of fun staying with her at her Hollywood Apartment. You could throw a rock from her apartment and hit the Kodak Theater. Slight exaggeration, but she really is right off Hollywood Blvd.

Our cousin Char sent us a limo (two actually) to take us out of L.A. and into Antelope Valley to stay at her dear friend, Lydia's house.

My Mom and I walking down Lydia's street in the desert. WE were literally walking passed tumble weeds!

Cousin Char also treated all of the cousins to a trip to the Madonna Inn and Hearst Castle. The following is from the restaurant at the Madonna Inn ( I can't believe I forgot to take pics of our room).

Everything in Hearst was incredibly detailed... even with real gold. Hearst made sure to impress all of his visitors.

Likely the only time in my LIFE I will walk on pure gold. I guess I have to wait till heaven to do that again.

I couldn't resist going here. Even if the only thing I could afford to buy was a bottle of water and a Tiramisu.

I took these for the hubby. I had no idea what a Bugatti was before taking this picture. BUt apparently the base price for the car is 2 mill. Which is about 10x the cost of my house!

The following is my cousin Char's poker set. It was also equipped with a marble chess set. Every poker player's dream and yes, it's real.

I have to include a picture of Cousin Violet. She had me laughing all week. Between her Smurf/Simpsons attire and the story of how she met her husband I had a stomach ache from laughing too hard.

We leave California with even a pup praying for our salvation.

I will close out this post with a picture of the love of my life, and the love of his: GOLF.