weekend festivities...

My weekend started Thursday night with a fabulous date night with the hubby. We watched Mission Impossible 4 (which was awesome) while drinking way too much soda for a work night. It was perfect.

Friday night we had a Christmas party with our community group, although this photo is missing our lovely host and hostess, and Lance (he's taking the pic). Christmas parties are the best... if I could eat veggie trays, cookies and peppermint bark for dinner every night, I would be oh-so-happy.

And I mean, come on... any party where you have to wear a name tag is bound to be awesome. Our hosts also had several of their neighbors at their party... so there was lots of different circle groups crossing, hence the name tags.

And any party that ends in karaoke is truly deemed epic, no doubt.

Saturday was a little more low-key with some sleeping in, laundry and house cleaning. Then we headed over to our friend's house, John and Allie, for some yummy chili.

And no dinner at the Crew's would be complete without dessert... so little John Marshall headed into the kitchen to whip us up some cookies.

Sunday was even more low-key than Saturday... I finished the last little bit of my Christmas shopping, actually started on my December Daily book for this year, and made some of our traditional Texas Trash chex mix.

This weekend was the perfect combination of socializing and restoration... absolutely perfect. Can you believe that Christmas is only 6 short days away!?!?

crew family {louisville family photographer}

Meet the Crew family. Seriously some of my absolute favorite people. Little John Marshall was my very first client here in Louisville... and Lance and I quickly hit it off with his parents. The Crew family has become some of our very best friends over the past few years.

Are you thinking the little man looks familiar? Well, you may remember his cuteness from his very first session here... or how handsome he looked for his 1 year shoot here. I love doing continuous sessions with families... it's so fun to see the little ones grow up right in front of the camera lens.

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I had trouble picking a favorite from this session... too many to choose from. What about you? Which one is your favorite?

a handmade christmas

Lot's of handmade projects going on this year... handmade gifts... handmade tags... handmade goodies... handmade by me... handmade by others... you get the idea.

I love how my gift tags turned out this year. Simple shipping tags stamped with a green poinsettia and a bit of red sparkle in the middle. Those shipping tags are probably one of the best things I've ever purchased. I ordered them in bulk from Uline about 4 years ago. And when I say bulk, I mean 1,000. Yes. One thousand tags. Crazy, I know, but seriously... best purchase ever. I use them for everything.

I busted out the chalkboard paint for a few gifts this year too. This stuff is addictive... I wanted to paint everything in chalkboard paint. My sister had to put restrictions on me... and I think Lance hid the rest.

I also wanted to order a few handmade gifts this year too... and you can never go wrong in Elise's shop. Or you can just peruse Etsy for all kinds of handmade goodness.

I even pulled out a few of my jewelry designs from a few years ago... hmmm, thinking I should re-open my Etsy shop eventually... maybe in 2012?? Anyhow... I promise to show more pictures after the holidays, but I don't want to spoil anyone's Christmas present. What about you? Are you doing any handmade gifts or decorations this year?

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below}

This Thursday I am thankful for...

1) Wrapped (and shipped) presents. The presents are wrapped... the bows are tied... the gift tags are signed. This makes me so happy. And... if all goes as planned, everything will be shipped out to it's various locations today! Keeping my fingers crossed that the post office line isn't too terribly dreadful.

2) Our community group. I love this group. They encourage me, challenge me, and make me laugh. This past Tuesday we volunteered our time for a clean up at the Scarlet Hope house. I'm so grateful for these friends.

3) Encouragement. A thoughtful text... a kind phone call... a sweet gift in the mail... a perfect quote... I swear, it's like all of these things happened simultaneously all by different girlfriends... none of them even remotely aware how much their simple act of kindness encouraged me at just the right moment.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Be sure to visit the other Thankful Thursday participants and share the love!

he & she... lately

he is so ready for class to be over for the semester.

she is so ready for Christmas to be here.

he takes out the trash and picks up the mail.

she washes the dishes and folds their laundry.

they both hate cleaning out the litter box.

he is finally done with all of his reading for the semester.

she is finally reading the last book in the Twilight saga.

he has a closet the size of a shoe box.

she has a closet for all of her shoes.

they love their new neighborhood.

he spends most of his time working at the church.

she spends most of her time working in the upstairs office.

he has been building relationships with our neighbors.

she has been taking photos with our neighbors.

they have been learning how to counsel and love others.

he has recently started bow hunting as a hobby.

she has been turning her photography hobby into a business.

he set up their beautiful Christmas tree.

she has been wrapping presents like a mad woman.

they are hopeful this holiday season.

a help-portrait weekend...

I can't even begin to describe how awesome this weekend was. I spent all day Saturday volunteering for an event called HELP-PORTRAIT. This is an incredible event that happens annually all over the world.

So, you may be asking, what is HELP-PORTRAIT?? Basically, it's an annual event where photographers and volunteers all over the world donate their time and talent to provide portraits to those in need. Some of these people have never had their photo made... some are new mothers that might have never had a portrait with their newborn... some are married couples that have never had a formal photo of the two of them... the list goes on. I knew this event would touch my heart, but I had no idea...

We had photographers everywhere. No, really, everywhere. But it was so cool to see all of these incredibly talented people work together.

We had three photo stations set up, all complete with their own editing and printing tables.

It was so fabulous to get to know so many wonderful people through this event. Many of us started this adventure as complete strangers, but left on Saturday feeling more like family.

I'm pretty sure no one worked as hard as Melissa... our hair stylist for the day. She.was.amazing. Not only did she make people look beautiful for their photos... but most importantly, she made them feel loved and valued.

And this is Connie. She's the one responsible for making this happen in Louisville this year. Her dedication and hard work made all of this a reality. And... fun fact... she's my next door neighbor!

And while all of the photographers and volunteers were amazing... it's the people and stories that walked through those doors that really made this event spectacular.

We had young and old... This little cutie pie made all of us smile.

This couple was one of my favorites. They patiently waited for hours. This was one of the first photos they have had made together in years.

To see the smiles that spread across faces as they saw their images come alive on the cameras and computer screens was simply contagious.

I saw several people take their photograph out of their envelope over and over again, just simply to look at it. I can't explain how much this moved me.

Some were moved to tears after seeing their pictures. We heard so many stories about families that have never owned a photo of them all together. Trust me, there were tears all around.

We printed 2 photos for each person that came through. One was for them to take with them and the other was for them to write on... several people wrote simple words of thanks and others wrote beautiful stories of where they came from and where they are today. These stories touched my heart in so many ways.

This was our Louisville group of volunteers... such an amazing group of people!

This event seemed simple enough... but sometimes we don't realize how much we can bless others with the gifts God has given us.

You can learn more about HELP-PORTRAIT here...

villacampa family {louisville family photographer}

While I am out volunteering for this year's HELP-PORTRAIT, I thought I would leave you guys with a few photos of one of my recent family sessions...

Meet the Villacampa family. I love this family. Nick was Lance's roommate in college and then Robyn and I shared a room together one summer in Panama City Beach, Florida... trust me, there are plenty of stories to go around... But then you throw in those two adorable girlies! Here are a few of my favorites from our time together...

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Which one is your favorite??

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below}

This Thursday I am thankful for...

1) Caroling. On Tuesday night our community group went Christmas caroling in our neighborhood. I am realizing that the holidays can be a very lonely time for some people, and it's amazing how something as simple as a song can touch a stranger's heart. There was one woman that came out of her house to sing with us... and as we finished the song, she looked at me with tears in her eyes, and gave me a hug. Me. A stranger. The woman started crying and thanked us through her tears... I'll never know what exactly was going on in her life... but for that moment we were able to share the love of Christ with her through a simple song.

2) Christmas lights. Specifically Christmas lights outside. When Lance and I came home from caroling, we decided we were already freezing and dressed for the outdoors... we might as well go ahead and put some Christmas lights up. I can't even tell you the last time we put outdoor lights up. I mean... we didn't go all crazy or anything... just a few lights on the front porch columns... but none-the-less this is exciting stuff.

3) HELP Portrait. This is what I will be doing this Saturday. HELP-Portrait is a worldwide event where tons of photographers volunteer their time and provide beautiful portraits to those in need... people that may have never had their photo made before. It's an incredible event that will be happening literally all over the world. My words don't do this project justice... go here and watch the video... amazing... promise.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Be sure to visit the other Thankful Thursday participants and share some love!