loyd family {louisville family photographer}

Meet the Loyd family. Or perhaps you remember meeting them before? This is another adorable blue-eyed family that I enjoy photographing oh-so-much. When they were a little family of three with one on the way... well, their "one on the way" is here now... and he is simply precious. This was another mini session from my trip to Mobile, Alabama last month. Here are a few of my faves from our time together...

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Which one is your favorite??

spivey family {louisville family photographer}

Meet the Spivey family. Beautiful right? Just look at all of those blue eyes. When I was in Mobile, Alabama last month, I had a chance to schedule a few mini sessions after shooting this wedding. The Spivey's were my first family scheduled and they seriously made my job so easy...practically too easy. I mean... just look at those sweet boys! And... exciting news... this family of four will be adding a sweet little girl to the mix soon:) Here were some of my favorites from our time together...

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Which one is your favorite?

happy thanksgiving!

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Taking time to enjoy good food and special moments with family... Here's to wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving!

top 10 :: reasons why the closet swap rocks

Last year my sister and I started doing a closet swap any time either of us were visiting the other. At first it was just a handful of shirts each, but now it has become a full-fledged exchange of awesomeness. My sister lives in Alabama and we have now made the closet swap a semi-annual exchange. We each go through our closets collecting shirts, skirts, purses, etc that we think the other might enjoy. The point is not to just get rid of last season's clothes, but to actually throw in a few nice items. I'm telling you... it's flippin' awesome. So, here's the definition of the Julia/Jenna closet swap...

J&J Closet Swap: a semi-annual exchange of clothing and accessories complete with new styling ideas and tips from one sister to another... aka, most brilliant idea ever. The rules and guidelines have changed a little since our first ever closet swap last year.

Here are the top 10 reasons why the closet swap freakin' rocks...

1) I get to see my sister.

2) It's like a giant shopping spree.

3) It's free.

4) You acquire things you wouldn't normally buy.

5) You finally get to borrow that top you've been dying to wear.

6) It's free.

7) It brings new life to your old clothes.

8) It curbs your need for spending and shopping.

9) You have a new eye for new outfits/styles.

10) Oh... and it's free. Have I said that yet?

Have you tried a closet swap before? If not... you should. Size 8 1/2 shoe... medium tops... long pants... any takers? ;)

Linking this up to Oh Amanda.

gailey family {louisville family photographer}

I am waaaayyy behind on posting photo sessions on the blog, so I'm attempting to catch up on the weekends. For the next few weekends I'll be posting sneak peeks from some of my recent photography sessions.

Meet the Gailey family. They are some of my favorite people ever. When we lived in Habersham, Amy was always my saving grace during football season. Our husbands coached together, so Amy and I had lots of quality time together and we became fast friends. Tate and Amy have 2 adorable boys that always make my heart smile. You might remember Hudson from here... and little Will from here. My, how they have grown...

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Aren't they adorable? Which one is your favorite?

a little love for the college students out there...

I mean, who doesn't like a good care package every once in a while?? Especially if you are in college, away from family, and cramming for final exams? I thought it would be fun to send my cousin a little study love as she approaches her final exams. I'm pretty sure statistics say... that college students that receive care packages during final exams have higher grades. No, really... look it up... I'm sure you'll find that fact somewhere...

Here's what you need for an awesome final exam package... a pencil pouch, some markers, some erasers, awesome nail polish (for a study break, of course), fun hair elastics, chapstick, and index cards. Oh, and you should also greatly consider including some type of baked good... cookies, brownies, rice krispie treats... I'm sure the statistic for college students that receive baked goods during final exams is even more impressive.

Then you cram everything you purchased into the super cute pencil pouch. Just stuff it in there... it'll be okay. If it zips, it ships. ...at least that is my motto:)

Once you shove everything into the pencil bag, tie a pretty ribbon and tag on there to remind your favorite college student to study hard! Find a box that will fit both your pencil pouch and your baked goods (I sent chocolate chip cookies with mine)... and ship it off! I promise you will make one special college student very, very happy. Heck, this would make me very, very happy. Hmmm....

thankful thursday {link up}

{Link up your own Thankful Thursday post below...}

This Thursday I am thankful for:

1) My sister's upcoming visit to Louisville!!! My sister and her husband are driving up to Louisville tomorrow for a weekend visit... and.I.am.so.flippin.stoked. Lots of exciting things planned this weekend... mani/pedis, closet swaps, craft projects, and maybe some Christmas shopping!!

2) December Daily. Specifically my December Daily from last year... as in 2010... as in the one I just finished 2 nights ago. My goal is to finish this year's December Daily album before Halloween next year:)

3) Final payments! Lance and I just paid off a major loan. It was a big one.... a loan that we took out a few years ago when we built the best house ever. I can't even begin to tell you how good it feels to get a letter like this in the mail instead of the regular monthly statement.

What are you thankful for this week? Grab the Thankful Thursday button from the right sidebar and link up your own post below. Don't forget to link back here and be sure to visit the other thankful peeps and share some love:)

oh, so you want a house tour??

So, yeah...

We moved into a new house almost 4 months ago. Yes. Four months ago.

You remember... I talked about the chaotic move here... and then about us settling in here... and then gave you that awesome house tour here--- oh wait... no house tour? Oh, that's right, I completely forgot to do that. My bad.

Shall we? Welcome to our home... It's a work in process... but isn't it always?

We'll start at the front door. This is the view of the living room right when you walk in. We're lacking an area rug... but those things ain't cheap people. But we love this space... those hardwood floors... that mock fireplace... that awesome light fixture (kidding)...

Here's the view from the other side of the room. Little Cat is constantly on the lookout in the window.

Let's head into the next room... the dining room. I love being able to have our table and chairs out of storage. I mean, I can count on one hand how many times we have actually eaten at the table, but that's completely beside the point.

Moving right along... here's the kitchen. This picture is actually from before we moved in... it's the only photo I have of the kitchen when it's clean... because usually it looks more like this.

What's that? You need a bathroom break? Already? (geez, bladder control) Well, here it is... right off the dining room... the one and only bathroom. It's small people. Like really small. Counter space?? What's that? Never heard of it.

But we're making it work. The shower curtain is cute and the toilet paper is stocked. Oh, and the bathtub looks 100 times better after my encounter with the magic eraser.

Let's keep going... through the bathroom is our master bedroom. This room brings a completely literal feel to the word BEDroom... because that's pretty much all we can fit in here. No really... we have a bed in here, my $3 nightstand and a dresser on Lance's side of the bed... and that's it. Done. Do you see the foot of clearance we have at the end of the bed there? If only you knew how many times we've stubbed toes and uttered cuss words at the corners of that bed.

Oh, but that bed. I love this bed. It's the first grown-up bed we've ever had. For the first 6 years of marriage we did the no-headboard thing. And don't get me wrong... you can make the no-headboard thing work... but then Lance's step dad passed this AMAZING headboard onto us. I.love.it.

Just in case you were wondering what was behind that curtain in our bedroom... Yes. That would be my amazing closet. Oh, and the laundry room. This room was a major selling point to our rental. My sweet-as-pie husband whipped me up a few clothes racks and just like that I have an incredible walk-in closet:)

Let's head upstairs, shall we? I'm still madly in love with these stairs, just in case you were wondering. And I love them even more now that they lead to our "wall of fame" photo gallery.

Right off the top of the stairs is our office. Welcome to where I spend 80% of my day. Our IKEA expedit desks fit perfectly in here and cater to our "his & hers" working space.

This room is pretty small, but does the trick for the office. My side is happy and colorful and keeps me organized and productive. In case you can't tell, I live off of sticky notes:)

And then... then there's the guest room... well, kind of. It's actually been more of a storage space... you know the room... the one that still has unpacked boxes... pictures along the walls... and mattresses on the floor. But... exciting news... guess who's getting box springs delivered today!?!

So... there you have it. The grand tour. The one I should have given you 4 months ago.

My bad.