Where oh where have I been?

Here is the short version:

I met with my favorite album company, the ONLY company I trust to make my wedding albums, Forbeyon! I am really excited to announce that I will be one of their Sponsored Photographers this next year. Anyone who knows me that when I have very good service or very bad service, I am extremely vocal about it, and my service with Forbeyon has been nothing short of impeccable, so I am more than happy to spread the good word about the great people at Forbeyon and their handmade, top of the line wedding albums. I have been singing their praises to anyone who will listen for years now. If you’re a wedding photographer and you’re looking for an album company, shoot me an e-mail and I will tell you exactly why I adore Forbeyon!

Then I jet-setted to Toccoa, GA (by way of Atlanta) for the much-anticipated wedding of Jaclyn and Mark, which I shall be sharing with you verrrrry soon! Here is an extremely unattractive photo of the loverly couple, me, and my second shooter extraordinaire Kelly Niemann, courtesy of my little point-and-shoot and some random car’s roof.

I came home to find the best gift ever, a pair of awesome Luxe Deluxe earrings from my new favorite bride ever, Mrs. Nikole Bordato!

I treated myself to a day of girly fun, including a new set of highlights and some side-bang, although sadly I have no good photos of it Then it was off to little ol’ Ruston, Louisiana to spend a weekend with Jason’s family. While we were there, we got to catch a Louisiana Tech game, Jason and his brother Joey’s alma mater. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE college football? It borders on an obsession.

Tragically, my own alma mater did not fare so well that day… I don’t want to talk about it… But thankfully Jason’s nephews Drew and Chandler were great distractions, and kept me laughing through my tears all weekend.

Jason and I took Sallie Mae on a tour of the Tech campus, and we found Jason and Joey’s bricks! Louisiana Tech has an awesome tradition of getting a brick inscribed with the names of each graduate and placing them on campus in a walkway in chronological order. So cool!

Then it was off to Joey and Jana’s new house for some delicious multi-flip burgers. Their friend stopped by with a surprise - her new pet squirrel! So random, but very very cool! (Side note: To anyone seeing this and thinking how cool it would be to get a pet squirrel, think again.. This squirrel was rescued, and is being taken care of until it reaches maturity and then will be released into the wild. In many places keeping a squirrel as a pet is illegal.. Stick to hamsters and gerbils instead!)

I also had the chance to have lunch with the fabulous Kelly Moore while I was in Ruston. I have admired Kelly’s business and her photography for a long, long time, but she also just so happens to be Jason’s good friend from high school and college! Coincidence? I think not! A lot of people ask me who I would hire to shoot my wedding photos if I were a bride, and the answer is definitely Kelly. Her style is, in my opinion, classic and timeless and very unique (which is a tough thing to achieve these days). She constantly inspires me!

When I got home, partially inspired by Kelly and partially exhausted from four months of 80-hour workweeks and not having a true weekend off since May (I still haven’t, really), I decided to sit down and revamp my schedule. From now on, I am officially taking all Mondays off. The only photography-related thing I will do on Mondays is answer critical e-mails from clients or respond to new inquiries, but other than that, I am taking Mondays to myself. My Saturdays and Sundays are almost always filled with weddings or portrait sessions, and if not, I am usually scrambling around the house to get other projects done. No mas! Mondays are now Fundays! Maybe now I can catch up on all those episodes of Bridezillas saved on my Tivo….

This past weekend I drove down to Houston to shoot the wedding of my old college roommate Alli and the man I drunkenly introduced to her, Matt. I will share that story later, but keep an eye out for her bridal photos in the next week. She is stunning! I also got to shoot a great engagement session with Jennifer and Anthony/TJ/Teej, who are two extremely fun and friendly people. Now that I have finally met them and seen firsthand how cool they are (although their friends have already e-mailed me to confirm their coolness), I can’t wait for their wedding!

This week I took my first Monday Funday, and predictably enough spent virtually the whole day cleaning. I enjoyed it though, so that’s all that matters! Last night my mom, sister, and I went to see the touring production of Mamma Mia. To say that my mom is obsessed with this show would be the understatement of the century. She has seen the movie probably 20 times (it’s still in theaters, by the way, and yes, she is STILL going to see it) and saw the Broadway show while we were in NYC, but she convinced me to come along and see the tour during its stop in Fort Worth. I’m so glad I did, it was hilarious! Do we look related?

I have quite a bit of catch up blogging to do.. Zi and Gary’s engagement session, the Kelly/Elkins wedding and Day After session, Alli’s bridals, Laci’s bridals, Jennifer and Anthony’s engagement session, Sarah and Drew’s Day After session… Whew! Stay tuned!