A Few Faves

Day 19! Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them. 

I'm glad to have the opportunity to rave about a few of my favorite blogs today. Blog love is always appreciated by those it's directed at, but you may feel like a bit of a creeper professing your undying devotion to another blogger without an excuse such as BLOG EVERY DAY IN MAY. Here's your free pass! Rave away.

I read and love a lot more than five blogs, but there are a few I wanted to mention. I'm actually writing this on Saturday evening and I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'm only going to talk about three blogs today. To be honest with you, since I started up my photography biz and I've gotten really busy with it (hallelujah!), my actual blog reading has decreased substantially. These days the main blogs I read are those of people actually in my life, who I actually truly care about or even see in person sometimes. It's interesting the way you often come full-circle with blogging. At first, you're obsessed with the lives of others and reading all the fabulous content they come up with. It's fascinating, this peek you get into another's world. But for me, somewhere along the way, I reached capacity and felt like I could no longer hold another ounce of information, especially if it didn't even pertain to my life or someone in it. I think this all happened somewhere in the last year or so, maybe when things started getting really bad with Edd's cancer. Seizing my own life became so much more important to me. It felt good to let go a little bit of the obsession I had with blog reading, and I think it's helped some when it came to honing my own voice in writing. 

Annnnnyway. Not sure where I was really going with all that, but please enjoy a few of my favorite blogs. I love them all for different reasons (and if you're a blog friend I didn't mention here, it's only because I'm outta time... SOMEONE came up with this crazy idea to blog on weekends, specifically during the busiest month of my photography career so far... dumb, dumb, dumb...)


1. WishWishWish

There aren't very many blogs I read religiously, but WishWishWish is one of them. Carrie lives in London and her blog and photographs are absolutely stunning (as is she herself). I would say this blog is my #1 inspiration for storytelling through photography. I never miss a post.

2. Across The Pond

Megan is a blogger I feel lucky to count among my real friends, even though our time together has only been spent over the glow of a computer screen (i.e. Skype., emails, and blog comments). I adore this girl, her story, her humor, her heart, her crazy-amazing model-esque good looks, her hot Irish man candy, and the fact that she's finally moving back to the U.S. and we're gonna take this friendship offline, right Meg? ;) She's the best. 

3. The Doctors Fleming

Emily is this incredibly amazing human being who is not only a beautiful woman but also really, really intelligent - a doctor and a really great writer. I am fascinated by her journey because it's so different from mine, I suppose. She faces some of life's greatest and most heart breaking challenges daily in the ER, and often writes about them so beautifully. Emily is going through some really tough things in her own life right now (as evidenced by her latest post), but her story is certainly one worth reading and I feel so lucky to her friend. 

* * * * *

OK, I'll have to rave about some of the other lovely ladies on my list another time. How about you - which blogs are your absolute must-reads?

A tribute to Ginger

Blog Every Day In May, Day 18.  Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.

My first experience with death was after the loss of our beloved guinea pig, Ginger, when I was probably about 6 or 7 years old. Ginger was a good pig - the best of any of the six I've had during my lifetime thus far. She was intelligent, good-hearted, loved watermelon and lettuce, and squeaked profusely whenever a family member descended the creaky stairs of our Virginia home to join her on the first floor in the mornings.  Little did she know, Ginger would be dropped down those same stairs one day, her leg would be broken, and she would die soon thereafter. Like I said, this would be my first experience with death.

I remember rather well when my parents told me Ginger had passed while I'd been out, or perhaps it was while I'd been sleeping. That part is fuzzy. But there were endless tears, and I was devastated that she  was gone for good. 

We wrapped her little lifeless body in a towel and placed it in a shoebox, and that evening we buried her in our garden out behind the house. I remember so vividly because just as her burial was complete and we were adding the last mounds of soil over her shoebox, "taps" began to play softly in the distance. We lived on an Army base, and they played taps every evening, apparently. We all burst into tearful laughter. It was such an appropriate tribute to our Ginger. Still miss you, little pig. Neither Lucy nor Grettle nor Clover nor Maya nor Benjamin ever lived up to the standard you set. May you continue to rest in peace in the little vegetable garden... I hope that taps still play to you every evening....

A favorite photo

Day 17 - an easy one! A favorite photo of yourself and why.

This photo was taken by my mother-in-law while we were getting ready for my bridal portraits back in 2010. It's actually completely candid... I'm not sure what I was looking at, but I was touching up the curls in my hair or something, and she snapped while I wasn't paying attention. There's just something about a perfectly candid moment, particularly when you have THAT TAN. Gah, I miss those days. Also, my hair and makeup had just been professionally done, I was wearing my wedding dress (yes, I promise I'm not naked here), and I just felt pretty and happy and hopeful. It's always been one of my favorite shots of myself.

Link up your favorite photos below today's featured sponsors... :)

* * * * *
Adorable Ash is the brains behind House of Glass, a lifestyle blog based in sunny Southern California. Ashley is one of those girls who bubbles over with personality (you can recognize a comment from her a mile away!), and she's such an inspiration to lead a healthy lifestyle. She shares great vegetarian recipes here, and I'm thrilled she's participating in the May Challenge right now - lots of great recent posts to help you get to know her. Also, just for kicks, go check out her and Justin's engagement photos. How stunning are they?

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

* * * * *

Meet Kimberly, the mastermind behind Small Moments Custom Invitations. Kimberly's graphic design business is based in Michigan, and she creates every type and style of cards and invitations you can imagine, from baby announcements to bridal shower invites to wedding invites to birthday invites and, seriously, everything in between! Check out her amazing portfolio of work here, and contact her for custom design work at kimberly@smallmoments.net.  

Website | Facebook | Instagram

HAPPY FRIDAY!

No complaints

Day 16 of the Challenge. Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it.

I have been mulling over this topic for days now, and I honestly had trouble honing in on something worth talking about. My family isn't perfect and there was definitely strife at points growing up, but I don't know a lot of people who haven't had family problems, and I came away from it all fairly unscarred. I've always been cared for and loved. 
I've lost people, but that's every bit a part of life as living is. 
I have a husband in law school right now, which probably deserves a whole post on its own (being married to a lawyer-type is NOT easy, my friends), but I couldn't be more proud of the guy, and overall, our situation is working for us.
I was homeschooled through 7th grade and often still feel like the odd-duck-out in social situations, but is that really exclusive to ex-homeschoolers? I doubt it. 
I'm genetically predisposed to gain weight in my ass, but really, does that qualify as having a difficult lot in life? Perhaps... perhaps. 

So I guess what this exercise has caused me to realize is that A) I'm resilient and the things that have happened to me so far in my life have not beat me down and B) I've been blessed or lucky so far and I have no real complaints. I'm really overwhelmed with gratitude to be able to say that at all.

What about you? What are your challenges and the things that hold you back about your "lot in life?" How are you working to overcome that? Do tell!  

Pieous, AKA the Best Pizza In Austin

It's been a while since I put up an around-Austin post (the May challenge is kicking my butt a little bit!), but a couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of trying out the new pizza place, Pieous, with a good friend, and I could not recommend this one more highly! It's a bit out of town (though if you live on the Southwest side or in Dripping Springs, you'll be golden!), but well worth the drive. I have honestly never had pizza more delicious. The varieties there are so inventive and perfectly flavorful. For example, Kelly and I both got The Rocket, which is a "white" (no sauce) pie topped with arugula, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and olive oil. They make their own crust AND mozzarella from scratch. My mouth is literally watering just thinking about it.

What's even cooler is that the owners of the place are usually there and totally care about your experience and making sure you love your food. Another winner, in my book. Here's a few photos from our lunch!

how adorable is my friend's baby?!

total ladies man.