Kelly Moore Workshop

5.25.2012

This was my second Kelly Moore Workshop to go to since I started taking pictures. If you have never heard of her, she is an amazing photographer, mom, gardener, wife, photo bag designer and on and on. This time we had it at her house, which was beautiful & a quiet, rustic setting. Go check out her blog.

Also, if you love a good adoption story/video, she has a great one. It's amazing to see how God has worked in her life.

This is Kelly, our amazing instructor for the day. 














Kelly is the best photographer. . . EVER! . . . 
so you can only imagine how excited I was to watch her shoot. 

 Thanks so much Kelly for having this session. I learned so much. 
Now. . . who's ready for a fun high-fashion shoot?



Engaged: Alex and Jennifer

Meet Alex and Jennifer. They are engaged, and I'm so excited to shoot their wedding in October. Are they not picture perfect?  I cannot wait for their big day! 

Jennifer is the client every photographer loves. She gets excited about her pictures. She is always emailing me saying "are they ready?" Which I love. It lets me know my clients are into their pictures. She also provided me with feedback. AND I LOVE FEEDBACK! Good or bad. . . I mean who doesn't love good feedback?  But, it's always good to know what your client likes and if you did or didn't meet their expectations. I get so tickled when I open and email or text that say "I love them!" 



P.S. If they get 20 comments ON MY BLOG, they get a free $50 print credit. So help them out! 

Almost Amish. . Wood Family. . . Step 1

5.21.2012

Key the music. . . DUM! DUM! DUM!
Welcome to our attic!

Throughout my new endeavor to become "Almost Amish", one chapter convicted me about keeping clutter. And where do I keep it? You guessed it. . .  .MY ATTIC! Everything is in our attic. In May 2009, we got married, bought a house, moved from Jackson to Tupelo, traveled Europe for a month, and came back 2 days before Arthur started his new job. During that time our parents moved our stuff. And my parents moved EVERYTHING I ever owned from t-ball trophies to cheerleading uniforms into the dining room and guest room of our new house. I had no clue this was coming, and when we got home, I was a little overwhelmed to find boxes from my parents' attic in our floor. So guess where they went?..... To my attic. I did not have time to sort through it all. I had a house to move into, furniture to purchase, wedding thank-you notes to write, school to start, and SO MUCH more. So it's all be accumulating up there for 3 years. We continue to add to it.

The Amish don't keep clutter. Obviously t-ball trophies aren't collecting dust in their attic. Yes, I believe in sentimental items, and don't worry, I didn't trash it all. BUT, do I need the beaded curtain that hung on my bedroom door when I was 13 or the Atlanta braves baseball hat (that I'm not sure ever belonged to me)? No! So. . . I cleaned! And there are TONS of boxes in my garage now trying to decide if they want to go to Salvation Army or participate in a garage sale after I clean out the entire house. . . We're doing what I call a "storage downsize" in houses. Our new house (yes, we bought a house in Waynesboro. . . more to come soon) is limited in closet and storage space. Somehow it's bigger than our house (I don't believe it), but has less than half the closet/laundry/storage space we have now! I can't admit I'm excited about this. Project Patty here won't have anywhere to hide her junk crafts.


 Why yes! That is a box full of old flowers. I had to hold my nose to take the picture. Who keeps dried flowers from high school? Apparently at one point in my life, I did!
 All of my wedding gift bows. Yes, it's sweet, but what was the point in keeping them?
 A box full of every letter my grandma wrote me in college. I kept a few, but I don't think I need everyone. I was hoping to run across a few buck in the process. She mailed me $30 every week. I guess I didn't look over any of that cash back when cash meant not eating in the caf!
 So here is everything that came out of the attic. . . . meaning it's no longer enslaved to our storage!
 O yes! I found a canister with 2 teeth I had pulled before I got braces. . . . GROSS!

Wow! It is one scary place I have been avoiding for 3 years, but someone really enjoyed the 117 beanie babies she got out of the deal. . . . don't worry, I'm not keeping them all!

Uncle Jack Graduates

5.09.2012

We went to Jackson this past weekend to watch Arthur's brother, Jack graduate from Mississippi College. Go Choctaws!
Arthur and Jack
All the Wood men: Arthur III, Arthur IV, Jack, and Reed
Arthur and I with the graduate
All the Wood men in the A.E. Wood Coliseum with portrait of A.E. Wood Sr
(Arthur's great-grandad).
Anne Elise turned 8 months on Sunday! She's growing faster than we can keep up. She is crawling EVERYWHERE (mainly to me) only to pull up and stand. She uses the couch and furniture to help her walk. When she gets to the end, she lets go and stands by herself for about 10 seconds until she sits. She's a very brave little girl, and I'm scared we aren't far from the walking phase. I'm just scared of all this mobility. I never expected this stage to get here so soon, but I'm loving watching our sweet girl grow.
Anne Elise joined us for graduation lunch. She was so proud of Uncle Jack!

Yes, I'm blogging about the Amish . . . Again

5.02.2012

Here are a few pictures from our visit to the Amish community last week. As you know, the Amish are EXTREMELY conservative. . . well to us, anyways. There are no cameras, so we don't see a lot on TV about them. . . other than the fictional romances or ex-amish testimonies. I love the Beverly Louis fictional romance book series, but I think it gave me a fake identity of the Amish. . . they aren't as glamorous and romantic as she portrays them. The most realistic view I've gotten from them (other than the visit of course) is the new National Geographic show Amish: Out of Order. It's a great show, and the ex-amish tell the not so glamorous side of the Amish.

The book I'm reading (check out my previous blog post for information) put my curiosity into words very well in the chapter I just finished. "The Amish certainly are doers of good. But one of their most attractive qualities- and one of the most important ways they serve the outside world- is simply by being who they are. Like Sara and Ezra {two Mennonite children mentioned earlier in the chapter}, the Amish show us that a more innocent, less harried state of being is still possible. They preserve skills and practical arts that would otherwise be lost. And they demonstrate that life without communication technology is not only doable but desirable. By taking us back, they help us move forward. Teaching through example, the Amish show us how to make conscious choices about the kind of world we want to leave our children, and all the other utterly dependent babies of the world." - Almost Amish by Nancy Sleeth

This is the first house we visited. We got several jams, pickles, and a candle here. So far, all have been WONDERFUL! I especially love my watermelon candle.
They have signs at the end of their driveway telling what all they have for purchase. This family had lots of tasty treats. Cinnamon rolls, breads, jellies, pickles, cookies. . . O, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Several people left me suggestions on facebook not to purchase baked goods because of the Amishs' hygiene. Yes, their kids were dirty. . . well dirty compared to our overly bathed children. However, the womens' hands looked clean. And while being nosey and snooping a look into one kitchen, I noticed hand soap on the counter. I don't urge you to buy if you aren't comfortable, but it didn't bother me. Those pastries looked tasty, and to be honest, a little dirt under the nails wasn't going to hold me back. Their life expectancy tends to be a little longer than the average American, so it couldn't be too deadly to dive in.
The main house belongs to an Amish couple from Michigan married just three weeks ago. The husband was tilling away (with a small shovel. . . I wanted badly to push him over a gas powered tiller) while his shy wife was working hard in the kitchen. Mr. Jacob Gingrich lives in the small Dawdi Haus (the Amish version of an in-law suite). The main house once belonged to one of his sons. Mr. Jacob is now 76, and his wife passed 2 years ago. He makes baskets, and his wife was a basket maker as well. We bought a beautiful piece he had made last week. His daughter is the only child who still lives in the Randolph Community. We also visited her home. . . save that thought for later. For fear I may get myself in trouble here, I'll keep it vague. (Thanks Hipaa!) Mr. Jacob and Arthur chatted for a long time recollecting a visit Mr. Jacob had to the Tupelo hospital. I'll leave it at that, and let you put the pieces together. No, I don't think I'm disobeying the law by having knowledge of this, as Arthur is not the one who brought this information to my attention. Mr. Jacob shared this information with me for the first time. . . There! I think I covered myself. Mr. Jacob and his late wife have 19 children, 189 grandchildren, and he lost count, but his last total of great grandchildren was 40-something. Whew! How do you remember them all? Don't worry. . . He doesn't! He said he has it all written down somewhere in the house.
For fear of disrespecting this young man (yes, young! He looked all of 8!), I took this picture from our car a long distance away. Then I cropped it in when we got home. Excuse the poor quality.
Talk about feeling guilty when I saw this. I complain if my remote start doesn't work. Some days I hear it crank from a distance, then when I get to the car, it's off, and my seat isn't cool. Well, this girl is hitching up a horse to a carriage. And you should have seen her pick this carriage up by herself and roll it over to the horse. My chin was dirty from hitting the floorboard of my car that hasn't been vacuumed since AE was born. . . I don't think I'd have to worry about that vacuum if this were my mode of transportation. I wonder if they ever see the cars drive by and think . . . Geez! Those spoiled English. . . Or to the contrary. . . Geez! It would be nice to leave that horse and buggy behind and have a set of keys to that thing.
I was shocked by the number of barns, sheds, greenhouses, etc. each family had in their yard. There were anywhere from 6-10 structures of all sorts in each family lot.

Ok. . . back to Mr. Jacob's daughter. She was 2 years older than me, and she had 9 children. The first birth was twins. She had no clue 2 were coming. . . . No sonogram! Can you imagine? . . no epidural, no hospital, no doctor, no reclining bed, no monitors, no sonogram. . . and SURPRISE! TWINS!

She was telling me she had 9 children and pointed to the children standing on the porch. About 5 minutes later in our conversation, she points, laughs, and replies, "well, he isn't mine. . . he's a neigbors' boy." If I had 9, I'd probably do the same. Arthur was wearing a baggy, new (bright white) Columbia fishing shirt. She asked, "Are you a doctor?" to which he replied "yes." He was curious why she asked and she said it was because of his clothing. What? To us a Columbia fishing shirt is a long way off from physician attire, but if you think, the shirt was baggy and freshly white. So, I guess it could resemble their white coat. Anyways, like her father, Mr. Jacob, she recognized Arthur from her visit to the hospital as well. They talked for awhile about that. She had a daughter a few months older than AE, and they played on the porch for about 10 minutes together. It was adorable. I so badly wanted to take a picture. The little girl had cloth wrapped around her with safety pins for a diaper. . . O! I cannot imagine cleaning that. She also had on the full Amish clothing which was ADORABLE. If I could've bought one for AE, I would have. The dress was SO dirty, but the little girl just looked so sweet in it. And I want even go into detail about how dirty all the children were. The nice thing to not bathing as frequent. . . no dry skin!

It was so amazing to visit this community, and I cannot wait to go back. I'm so sad I've waited this long to visit, and even more sad that we are leaving the area soon. If you are curious, I encourage you to go. It's a great field trip for your children. Be prepared to answer a lot of questions if they are of age to be curious or confused by this foreign lifestyle. They have patio furniture, baked food, canned jams, pickles, baskets, and in-season produce.

Anne Elise was inspired to wear her bonnet the next day to church. 

My Growing Girl

I just wanted to catch everyone up on our monthly pictures. Sunday, she will be 8 months. I can't believe it.

Right now she is crawling, but only to get to an object she can stand up on. Crawling isn't her priority choice of transportation. This sweet angel is ready to walk  run! Tonight, Arthur handed her my water bottle which she thought was a post of some sort (chair leg, toy, furniture) that she could hold onto for balance. She didn't realize she was standing on her own. She is so brave, which leads to a lot of bumps. I guess those are unavoidable at this stage. She will crawl to the couch, pull up, and walk all the way down the couch. When the couch will no longer act as a balance for her transportation, she lets go and attempts to walk on. This of course leads to a fall and bump. She is getting better at dropping to her bottom if she thinks she is losing her balance. I guess a few "noggin" bumps helped her learn that lesson. We haven't had any knots, blood, or scabs yet. Lets keep our fingers crossed.



Mr. & Mrs. Hall

5.01.2012

Wow! I had a perfect wedding Saturday. What a sweet and beautiful couple. I love love love outdoor pictures, and these just prove why I love them so much. They always turn out breath-taking. What better setting than God's own creation?

This couple is beyond adorable. They have such sweet spirits about them, and I really enjoyed working with them. The bride (as you can see) is GORGEOUS! Mississippi magazine would be crazy not to snag her up for the cover. I wouldn't mind being the envied Mississippi photographer to get that spot either! ;)

Anyways, here is their sneak peek. There were so many intimate images, I had to stop myself from flagging them all. We were about to have a 30 image sneak preview. But I decided to leave a little to surprise element for them later.








Did I mention I love outdoor pictures? 

Baby Luke

My cousin, Haley (who is 8 days older than me & lived a hop from my house growing up) just had her first precious bundle, Luke! Luke is a miracle baby. He was expected to be NICU bound, but after a lot of prayer, he came into this world just perfect. We couldn't be more excited!

Luke, Haley, and Aunt Linda came for a visit a few weeks ago, and I got to snap a few pics of the sweet man. I AM NOT  a newborn photographer, and this is not my forte, but I enjoyed getting to play around. He is so cute, the pictures couldn't help but come out precious. I just wanted to share a few of the shots as we celebrate the arrival of our sweet Luke.


This is the hat and diaper cover Anne Elise wore in her newborn pictures. A sweet girl that lived down the hall from me and Haley at Delta State opened up a knitting store in Cleveland, and she made this for me when Anne Elise was born.