Brad & Ellen :: Wedding

FINALLY someone who can relate to me... I have been waiting for someone like her.

I'm talking about Brad and Ellen. Ellen and I have this bond... we don't ever want touch meat again! Ha! When we were chatting a few weeks back about her upcoming big day, she mentioned to me that she was a vegetarian and I was so excited because I knew that I was in for a treat. I usually pack my own meal, but not this time! I was thrilled to not have to haul my nice red cooler into the reception with my veggie salad. (Sorry for all of you who had witnessed this!) But Brad loves meat and so him and Todd could relate to each other, and relate how interesting life can be with us. Haha! Oh well! (I do have to say that Todd has tried some of my experiments and has enjoyed them!) But that's not the only thing I loved about this couple...

Brad and Ellen were married out at Stoneycreek Metro Park at their new banquet tent. What a beautiful place to get married! We were not sure if it was going to turn out beautiful or not, as it rained all morning long, but it cleared up just when we started at the hotel and by the time we made it over to the park it was extremely nice! We could not have asked for a better day or better couple. I was in love with this couple... seriously, they have such a sense of humor and are so laid back, Brad even mentioned in his vows that he was "more excited about getting married, even more than 'the LOST season finale'." Ha! I think we all got a laugh at that... especially those of us who watch it. Their wedding was so creative from the girls dresses, all in different shades of purple, to their reception with their tables named as trees instead of numbered... so much creative was put into that day. I'm so glad it turned out perfect for them! But not only are they fun and creative, they are two of the sweetest and in love couples we've met. Todd and I had such a great time, we left the wedding saying, "That was SO much fun!" We felt like just two of the guests... I love those type of weddings!

Congratulations you two! I hope Key West is awesome right now! (I'm so jealous, although it feels like Key West here!)


Check out some of my favorites and a slideshow from their day...

Venue: Stoneycreek Metro Park
Catering: Kosch Catering
Cake: Kathryn Verhulst
Flowers: Lasting Touch
DJ: Universal Tunes Disc Jockey Service - Mike McNulty

I loved this of her getting ready... her dress seriously had like 20+ layers of tule...



And she added her flare to her dress... what a great touch...



Ellen was so gorgeous!



Rarrr...



Her girls were awesome... and Ellen added more of her touch to it by putting them in different color dresses... LOVED THAT!




Brad was super handsome...



And his guys... HILARIOUS!



I love the grooms expression when he sees his soon-to-be wife for the first time... and Brad did not hold back...



No wonder he cried... she's stunning...



Mwaa...



I love the processional!



Sweet...



So happy to be married...



Love it...



Total models here...



One of my favorites from the day...




Check out a slideshow with more of their day...

I'm a WINNER!

Do you ever feel like your competing in just about everything you do?

I am the worst when it comes to games... I hate losing and I get SO mad when that happens, which happens A LOT! I hate the phrase "It's just a game!" Anyone who is competitive knows better than that.. it's not JUST a game, it's a confidence booster, the title of "WINNER" and not "loser", bragging rights, of course, and the idea that you can hold a backwards "L" to your forehead at your opponent. Haha! Ok, I'm not that bad! (Todd might disagree here, but I'm harmless... remember I lose a lot!)

But sometimes I feel like I'm competing more so lately than EVER before and it involves mowing our lawn. I've never really cared too much about our lawn, I mean it's nice to have green grass and not many weeds, but whatever. I'm not sure if it has become a new hobby of mine or just the fact that our neighbor has been mowing his every other day and I HAVE to keep up. I have grown to love those freshly dented tire tracks... it looks so neat and clean! But I have a feeling that it's more of a game to me than to our poor neighbor, even if he's not really playing I'm totally out there mowing and smiling from ear to ear, thinking in my head.... "GOT'CHA!"

So my game this summer is to mow more times than him and show him up with a better looking lawn... if I am successful I'm totally going to be bragging and making my backwards "L" at him... just kidding! He's such a nice guy I would feel terrible doing that, but I would think to myself....

"I'm totally the WINNER!"

And because every blog post is so much better with a photo, here is a preview of what is to come later this week...

Kristin :: Expecting

How would you feel if you knew your life was going to dramatically change in less than a week?

I would be a bit freaked out! I think knowing that the life you are living now will never be the same is a bit intimidating. I might be reaching for my brown paper bag to hyperventilate in to like I did a few months ago giving blood in panic. I might even be laying on the ground due to blacking out... you never know. Good thing that's not me right now... but it is Kristin and she's totally living it up, instead of being a wimp like me.

Kristin is probably the cutest pregnant woman you have ever seen and she hasn't even purchased any maternity clothes... not a lot of mom's can say that, huh? Not only is she the cutest, but also one of the sweetest girls out there. I met Kristin just about 9 months ago (right before she got pregnant), and I have grown extremely close to her. She has such a heart of gold and one that you are just drawn to. She is so encouraging, inspiring, and she's going to be the best mom to her little girl. All I know is that if you don't want to get pregnant, don't drink the water her and her family is drinking because just about every woman in it is either pregnant or just had a baby within this past year, even her mother-in-law who just had twins. Whoah!!! But I'm so excited to meet her little girl here soon and I can't wait to see what she looks like... I have no doubt that she's going to be gorgeous just like her mama. Don't worry she'll be featured on here soon!

Congratulations to you two... we are so happy and excited for you guys!!! Mwaaaa....


Here are a couple of my favorites from the session...

What a beauty!



She's so fun and so fun to be around...



Look at that little baby belly...



My favorite shot... it's so sweet!



Giving Ella a hug... I'm sure she's so excited to give her outside of her belly as well...



Another fav... gotta love the mood...



Namaste... hehe!



Adorable with her little belly ring on...



She is one hot mama!



Love it!

Mucho Gusto Tomatoes!

I heart this time of year... sooo sooo much!

The green grass, the warm sun, the clothes hanging on the clothesline (yes, I'm one of "those" people who has all their clothes outside hanging on the line... I love it, so don't hate and you save $3/per load... BONUS!), not only that but this begins the season of the sweet, mouth watering TOMATOES!

I remember when we first moved in to our house three years ago, we started our garden with this small 4' x 4' little square that took us so stinkin' long to dig up because little did we know that someone buried huge pieces of cement that we ran in to and had to dig up... Unbelievable! So the next year, we went with the raised bed route, which was awesome! This year we have expanded into Veldman Farms... seriously, Todd decided to build more beds and grow more veggies, which is one of the many reasons why I love that guy so much, I love veggies and he knows that... (Mwaaaa.... xoxoxox!!!- That's for Todd- Ha!)

All I know is that with more beds, we have way more room for TOMATOES! I can't wait for the time they actually start producing... but if anyone else is growing them and they are already blooming, you know who to share with! I will hug for tomatoes... how about that?!

Mucho Gusto Tomatoes... even ones in the magazine... mmm... I can't wait for ours to grow!



It got bigger... LOVE IT!!!



Maddox found a toad and was so confused as to what that thing was... I had to toss it over the fence since he started to swat at it... the toad was not a fan of Mad...



Happy "Nice Day Outside"!!!

Jason & Julie :: Wedding

I look forward to summer every year... not only does the weather start to get warm (love the warm weather!) but I get to start my favorites season of all... WEDDING SEASON!!!

But with all the rain, I have had some interesting nightmares... literally, I have been waking up lately having dreams anywhere from that it's rained so hard outside that inside my camera would focus but not take a photo (weird considering no rain hit me or my camera) or the dream where one of the bridesmaids was yelling at me for talking to the bride (yikes, I don't know how I can shoot a wedding without talking to the bride), or the couple would not kiss... at all! (Ummm... not sure why they wouldn't want to kiss)... it has been interesting at night, not all rain related, but totally out of no where am I having them. I think, I just think about taking photos too much and things start to form inside my head.

No worries... Jason & Julie was to the rescue...

Jason and Julie were married on the most perfect day! Rain was in the forecast, but luckily, it was morning showers and by afternoon it had cleared up and was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I met up with Julie and her girls over at the The Village Club over in Bloomfield Hills, and boy did it have some great spots... okay, the whole place was really cool and what a great place for a wedding and reception. But we headed over to Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Birmingham for the ceremony. What a beautiful church! It was super cute! Jason & Julie added all their special flare to it as well. What was fun about this church was it is being renovated so there are construction equipment all over. Not a fun thing for some people, but Jason is no stranger to it, so he thought it was great! Not only did we get a few shots in front of it, we headed down into downtown Birmingham. I had scoped some places out and it turned out one of the places was someone's driveway (oppsss!). But they ended up being home and invited me up to take an arial view of the wedding party. HOLLER! That's how I roll... haha! After our fun session in Birmingham, we headed back to The Village Club for a super fun reception, followed by a sparkler exit... LOVE THAT!

Not only was their day perfect, but we had tons of fun! Both Jason and Julie are incredible people and I think everyone at that wedding can agree that the two of them were meant to be together.

Congratulations you two... we had so much fun and can't wait to hang out sometime in the near future! Wooo...

Check out some of my favorites and a slideshow from their day...

Dress: Roma Sposa
Flowers: Blossoms
Cake: Nina Kelly Cakes
DJ: Beat Crazy DJ Entertainment


Julie was absolutely stunning!



Look at all her ladies... so sweet and so beautiful!



Check out the groom... very handsome!



Groomsmen's are always so great... esp. ones that like to have fun like these guys...



Bridal Party... HOLLER!



I love that Julie wore yellow shoes... so original!



Rarrr... I love this...



Umm... ADORABLE!



I LOVE how sweet both of them are...



And funny...




Check out more of their day...

It's the Little Things in Life...

I have to say that my job is not your 'normal, typical' job.

I usually work weekends, but mostly during the summer months. I work for 8+ hours with only one eye open... seriously, try it sometime... it's not easy! I work with a lot of people who do lots of PDA'ing. There is usually lots of dancing, which is AWWWW-SOME! Sometimes, my clients are only weigh a few pounds and cry a lot. Some have accidents in their pants too. Ha!

So it's not your typical job, and I'm totally ok with that!

I love how I can find little things about my job that make it even more fun, like the whole editing process, it's not the most enjoyable part, but after going through 2000+ photos from a wedding, I come across some random photos that just crack me up. It really is the 'little things in life' that just make it all worth while. Enjoy the "bloopers"!

This is Todd... I'm not sure what he's doing and I don't know why this makes me laugh so much, but it just does!



This made me laugh so hard, I couldn't breath too well...



Ha... Todd was trying to be creative and I totally messed him up! Haha... I'm such a jokester!



How funny... taking dancing lessons is always really great to see... even Julie was excited and what a great photo to put a smile on your face!

Happy Mother's Day!

So Maddox is almost two now and just last night, he woke up in the middle of the night getting sick on a piece plastic frisbee he ate yesterday, it was rough getting up to him hacking it up. I was worried and concerned if he was okay, but luckily, he's done this before and I know exactly what to do. Ha... I know that does not even compare to what it is like to have a real child and it's COMPLETELY different... but for the time being he's my child and I consider myself being a "Mom" even if it's to a furry, four-legged child and I still treat him like he's my baby for now... I love him and he loves me, and if he could talk he would totally be saying "I love you, mom!" Ha!

I do, however, have a lot of friends who are either pregnant, have kids, or have multiple kids now and seeing and hearing what they do and how much they go through, it sounds like it's really tough work! I commend all those friends out there, being young and having the huge responsibility of raising a kid in this world today... I think that's awesome! They are truly awesome!

I am SOOO thankful that I was raised to be a strong woman as well. I know when I was young I made endless mistakes (and still are making them to this day) and I sometimes wonder how my mom put up with me, but in the end I turned out to be one heck of a woman and I have only her to thank. High Fives to my mom! But not only was she great, but seeing how Todd turned out, lets me know that my other mom was one great woman as well. All I know is that I LOVE them both sooo sooo much and know that every mistake, every trial, every success I have them to thank for being there guiding me the right direction and praying continually for me. Wow... what awesome women they are!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mama's out there!!!



(This is all 4 of us last year...)

New 'Abby Record'

If I had a record book for myself, I think I would have lots of stuff in there, like the amount of shoes I have, or spices I have in the cabinets, or the number of glasses I have broke (I added a few of those this past week... oppsss!), or the pieces of gum I have chewed in a 1 hour period or should I say pack(s) I have chewed in a few hour period... ekkkk....

Well I might, just might, have added one that I'm pretty sure it has been a while to know for sure if I broke an "Abby Record". But there is a good chance that I broke it being in my 20's.

I have been working so hard this week trying to get lots of stuff done and I did not realize how tired I was until yesterday. I found myself doing stuff all the way up until around 7:30pm last night. Then after I finished eating dinner sometime around there, I finally took a load off and sat down or should I say, laid my head down. The next thing I know it is 10:30pm and Todd is waking me up to go to bed... I finally get enough energy to make it up the stairs to brush my teeth, take my contacts out, which are totally glued to my eyeballs at this point, and get in the bed. I close my eyes and I wake up 12 hours later to my black, furry friend licking me in my face. Gotta love those wake up calls... haha!

Whoah...!!!! I honestly have not slept that long ever since I have been in my 20's for sure... I'm sure I did that when I was in middle or high school, but it has been way way way too long since I did that. I am one who needs at my 8 hours, but 12... that's a bit too much! But I guess I totally needed it considering I'm finally back in the swing of things.

Speaking of "back in the swing of things"... I have a sneak peak of what's to come this coming week...



Happy 'Cold Windy' Saturday! Brr....

Derek & Leah :: Engagements

There are certain things in life that happen, either to you or to someone else, that you think to yourself, "I am so thankful to be alive and well!"

I know that I have learned, more recently, to appreciate being healthy and pain free because it just plain stinks to be in pain, or sick, or whatever it is that is not normal for you.

I know that BOTH Derek and Leah are the same way. Both of them were in two separate car accidents within the last couple months that have made them think differently on life and they are both saying, "We are so thankful to be alright!" What a great attitude and such positive spirits, despite their unfortunate events that happened. What are the odds too... to both be in car accidents months apart... all I know is I'm so lucky both of them are doing great! Not only are these two very positive people, but both are two of the sweetest, kindest people I know. Leah and I totally clicked when we first met, and I was so glad she found us. I was excited to meet Derek since we didn't get to meet initially, but what a great guy! I can see how great both of them are together and look together, (Adorable!) and a bonus with such a WONDERFUL story on how they got together and fell in love... so sweet! But who would think any differently... this couple is truly AMAZING!

All I know is that I'm so excited for their big day here in a few weeks! HOLLER!

Check out some of my favorites from their session...

The gorgeous couple!



And soooo sweet...



Adorable!



This is how Derek and Leah spend a lot of their time... Derek is so lucky to get daily head rubs!





So cute...



I love it!



Totally in their own world...



This random heart was super cute along our path... LOVE IT!



Gorgeous...



Is this ring not the most unique ring you've ever seen... I love it and am so impressed Derek did this on his own... WOW! He did awesome!



Being Sassy...



Mmm....





So genuine...



I love this couple and boy do they photograph well together!!!!