Happy Friday!

Ok so it's Friday, I'm in a really great mood (because it's Friday!!) and I wanted to blog something kinda fun.  This past week I have been working every night painting our house, I couldn't take the white walls on white trim any longer!!  I'm totally loving the new color and now I'm ready to start filling my walls.  That is a huge task but I'm totally up for the challenge.  This has been my dream for a long time, to finally have a place of my own where I can put my stamp on it.  Last weekend when I was back home for a wedding, I remembered a couple of prints in frames that I had taken from my great aunt's house a long long time ago after she had passed away.  I was probably only in middle school at the time but for some reason I fell totally in love with these two prints.  There was something so romantic and mysterious about them that I knew I had to save them from being thrown out.  For years I've had these two prints with never a place to put them...that is until now!  Right before Doug and I left to travel back to Columbus that Sunday evening I went on a mission to find those two lost prints and bring them home with me.  After a few moments of digging through some of my mom's keep sakes in the basement I discovered them once again!  They were just as I had remembered :)  After years of being tucked away they finally found their home, with me, in my home. I'm not sure where they originally came from or what they are worth, but that's ok because they mean something to me.

Happy Friday!!

Melissa and Tom Married!

This has been a pretty amazing summer for me, I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to photograph so many of my friends weddings.  I had no idea that by following my love for photography I would be able to share such a wonderful time in so many of their lives.  Tom and I have known each other for a long time... since primary school to be exact.  We grew up going to school together and shared the same group of friends, so I was so honored and totally excited when he asked me if I would photograph his wedding.  The first time that I met Melissa at their engagement shoot over Thanksgiving I knew exactly why Tom was so smitten :) she was such a sweet and genuine person.  They were totally in love, and made my job easy when it came to photographing them... I don't think they stopped smiling at each other the whole time!  Their wedding was beautiful and it was great seeing Tom's family again.  Thank you Tom and Melissa for allowing me to be a part of your wedding, it was so great seeing a childhood friend marry his true love.  I wish you both the best!

Lauren and Eric

Doug and I head back to WV again this past weekend to shoot Lauren and Eric's wedding.  It was another beautiful wedding and a great day to get hitched!  This wedding was a lot of fun for me because I was able to catch up with a lot of old friends.  I've actually known Lauren's family for quite some time now, her older sister Alyssa and I were bff's in the old days starting way back in 5th grade :)  I grew up spending the night at the Roadman's so it was really awesome to be able to share such a special day in their family's life.  Lauren and Eric I was so happy to be a part of your wedding day, I know that you are going to have a wonderful married life together!

 

Bethany and Dan: A Ski Lift Kind of Wedding

Let's see where shall I start...Well, I first met Bethany at WVU.  I believe it was our freshman year at the Creative Arts Center.  We were in a 2-D foundations class together, and our friendship grew as we bonded over hours of sitting in class cutting tiny "2-D" shapes out of construction paper and gluing them onto, I believe, another piece of construction paper. (yeah not my favorite class!)  From there we spent a lot of time together at the CAC and our friendship stuck :)  Bethany was a bridesmaid in my wedding and when she asked me to be her photographer for her special day I was honored.  Since then, I have gotten to know Dan a little more over the past couple of months and it is so clear to me that they are made for each other.  He can make her laugh like no one else, and the looks that he gives her, you know he's in love!  The ceremony as on the top of a ski slope in Maryland.  It was an absolutely beautiful wedding with breath taking scenery.  Everything went so smoothly, it really was a perfect day.  Bethany and Dan, I am so honored that you allowed me to be a small part of your wedding day!  I know that you are going to have a lifetime of love and laughter together!  

                                                                                                  I thought that this was sweet, Bethany's sister practicing the scripture verse she was going to read during the ceremony.

                                                                                                               I can not take credit for this photo, this was totally Dan's idea and it turned out awesome!

Love this pic that Doug took!  He's a great second shooter and he's cheap :) 

Collections

So those of you who know me pretty well, you know that I am a collector.  I'm pretty sure it all started with my rock collection from primary school.  I would pick up really sweet looking rocks on my walk home from the bus stop and the put them in my really sweet Lisa Frank pencil box.  Then my sister and I started a weird collection of Dum-Dum wrappers, don't' ask why (which I'm pretty sure we still have to this day), next was my marble collection, and then my pog collection, then stamps and coins...the list goes on and on.  To be honest, I've never really thought much about why I love collecting things, just figured it was something that everyone does. That is not until this weekend.  As Doug and I were sorting through some boxes from the move, we came to a large Rubbermaid bin that my mother so kindly brought with her on her last visit to the house ;) labeled "Courtney's Beanie Babies."  Doug suggested that we go through the bin and try to "downsize" the quite large collection.  At first I agreed, but as I pulled out each one, memories started filling my head.  After sorting through maybe ten beanie babies and not finding any that I felt comfortable departing with, Doug finally smiled and said "let's just keep them in the bin."
You see this collection is extra special because it actually started with my grandmother.  She was a collector too, in fact I would often sit down with her and we would sort through our coin and stamp collections together.  So when it comes down to it, I guess you could say collecting is in my blood.  Even though the Beanie Babies aren't worth much today, they will forever be priceless to me because they made me feel close to my grandma again.  So for now, the Beanie Babies are staying, and who knows maybe one day I can share them with my children!

Just a couple of my favorites :)