Amy Horne Photography

Sneak Peek!

2011-10-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

Whew, trying to catch up on life around here :) Until then, here's a little peek at Mandi & Ryan's gorgeous Mt. Pleasant, SC wedding on September 30th. It was a perfect day. So much more to come!! And I hope everyone has a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Wreaths & Movies!

2011-08-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight, two things that I love are on my mind. Wreaths & Movies. And my day involved both of them! Needless to say, it was a good day :)

I love going to the movies. I love everything about it. I love the popcorn (But, not the price. Seriously, are all of their profits from popcorn!?). Wes and I went to the Cinebarre this afternoon to see Kung Fu Panda 2. They show movies that have just left the other cinemas, for just $3! It's way neat. You can order food while watching the movie, I love that. We had a cheese pizza and it was yuuuummy!

Now, on to wreaths. Wreaths, glorious wreaths! A front door's best friend. I love them. I've been seeing tons of yarn wreaths all over Pinterest. I ooh and aah over them. I've been wanting one so bad!

So after the movie, we took a trip to the craft store aaaaaaand...

My hands only cramped up 5 times! It was totally worth it :)

Bobby & Andrea: Asheville, NC Wedding Photographer

2011-08-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

Whew, what a Summer! It's been a doozy for sure. I've been working, working, working and my blog's been suffering, for sure! I have tons of sessions and weddings to post from this Summer, so I figure I better get to sharing :)

First up is Bobby & Andrea's gorgeous wedding from back in May. I had so much fun with them. They are the sweetest couple ever, and man oh man, are they in loooooove! The wedding took place at Hidden River Events in Asheville. It was a beautiful day in late Spring.

Andrea was a stunning bride!

She did the wedding flowers & details HERSELF! Wow.

A beautiful ceremony, by the river.

Their 2 sweet dogs were there.

After the ceremony, they drove off in a carriage.

Candybar!

The sunset was amaaaaaazing that evening!

This is Andrea with one of her bridesmaids... my purdy sister-in-law, Tracy :)

Wonderful ending to a wonderful day!

Thank you for letting me photograph your special day Bobby & Andrea!!!

Brynlee

2011-04-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, my friend Sarah gave birth to a beautiful daughter. Her name is

Brynlee Elizabeth.

Today I went and took some newborn pictures at her house.

Brynlee has a full head of long dark hair. Gorgeous!

She is so bright-eyed and curious.

Big congrats to Sarah, Stanley & big brother Bennett!

Brynlee is beautiful! :)

Giveaway Time!!!

2011-04-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

Visit my facebook page to enter a giveaway for a beautiful scripture print of your choice from my friend Jessi's new Etsy shop!

A winner will be randomly selected on Monday, April 25th :)

Marlee, the Lovebug

2011-03-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

I have 3 dogs with 3 very different personalities. This is Marlee and she is the lover. She will skip food for cuddles. When she is excited she shakes her entire rear end. She will stare into your eyes... and let you take pictures of her all day long :)

I'll try to take some pictures of Roxie, the Diva & Abraham, the Goofball sometime soon - but it's hard because they both have better things to do.

Anna-Claire's First Birthday!

2011-03-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege of taking Miss Anna-Claire's picture almost every 3 months for the past year. It has been so much fun to watch her grow & blossom into such an adorable little girl this year.

Last weekend she celebrated her 1st birthday with a Cookie Monster party. I came over before the party started for a little 1st birthday photo shoot.

AC had lots of fun digging into her "cookie" cake!

Thank you Jeff & Nancy, for giving me the opportunity to take pictures of your beautiful daughter :)

Such An Adorable Family!!

2011-02-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

Meet the Hendricks. Will, Kandi, Gray & Harper.

Gray is an awesome big brother!

He's such a handsome guy.

And Harper, well she's a princess!

Thank you Hendricks family, for letting me photograph you guys! I had a blast :)

Braxton: One Year Old

2011-02-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

Braxton is one of the sweetest little guys I know. I've taken his pictures quite a few times, and he has been all smiles each time :)

I love detail photos of little ones.

His mom had an adorable doggie outfit picked out for him and really wanted a pup in a photo with him. Since they didn't have a dog, she asked about one of mine. Well, I have 3 - but one is cranky, one is wild and one stinks. So, my mom was gracious enough to let her sweet english bulldog, Mack be our model.

They loved Mack so much that they got Braxton a bulldog of his own! :)

Thank you Braxton for letting me take your pictures! You are such a handsome little guy. I'm excited to watch you grow.

What we've been up to...

2011-02-07T17:10:00.001-08:00

Snow, Sickness, Resting, Surgeries, More Resting

Changes

2011-01-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life is tough, huh?

I just wrote a huge blog about anxiety and depression. And then I deleted it. It was all about the yucky misfortune in my life and it was completely negative.

Bottom line is, I've suffered with it over the past 4 years. Off and on. It sucks.

When I'm down I search the internet for answers. It's comforting. And, when I'm down I'll take what I can get! :)

So, I've been on the downside this week and in my internet perusing, I came across this post, from a blog I frequently read. #9 on her list hit me. Hard.

"9. decreased serotonin. several studies show that consumption of aspartame can lead to excess levels of phenylalanine (an amino acid that is safe in small doses). that means decreased levels of serotonin in the brain which can lead to depression, anxiety or panic attacks."

I drink excess amounts of Diet Dr. Pepper. Way more than I'm sure I should. Rarely do you ever see me without a drink in my hand. Just look at my about me page. I honestly didn't think twice about the amount of aspartame I was consuming. Seeing Bonnie's blog post gave me a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe this has something to do with the way I'm feeling.

So, 2 days ago, I made a change. I quit DDP. Cold turkey. The hope of possibly eliminating these feelings was enough for me. I do realize that caffeine withdraw can be quite terrible, so I'll have an occasional coffee with real sugar or a 1/2 sweet, 1/2 unsweet tea... but eventually I'd like to cut those out as well.

I want to take care of my body & mind. It deserves it.
Yay for changes :)

A Few of My Favorite Things: Mason Jars & The Color Red

2011-01-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

I love mason jars. Especially the light teal ones. I have them all over my house and I use them for storage. They are great pen/pencil holders. And, they make great vases too. Especially in the Spring with some colorful wildflowers. Yes, please!

Here are some awesome mason jar finds from Etsy.

7x7 Once- Etsy Project Embrace Print & Blue Quart Sized Ball Mason Jar Lantern

Block Printed Organic Cotton Mason Jar Towel & Firefly In A Jar Note Card

Mason jar rack with hooks and vase & UpCycled ReCycled Made to Order Blue Glassware Ball Mason Jar Chandelier Hanging Pendant Lighting Fixture

And speaking of colors... you know what I love with light teal? Red. I'm a huge red fan. I'd venture to say it's my favorite color. I like dark, bluish red best.

Maybe my love of red is why I'm addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper. I am seriously addicted. It's the love of my life. I'm pretty sure their marketed department chose the color of the logo specifically for me :)

Recycled Soda Can Art Diet Dr Pepper Sparrow Magnet & Retro Spaceman Astronaut Print

Birthdays & Cold Weather

2011-01-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday Friends!! We've got a weekend full of birthday parties to go to, so I thought I'd share a First Birthday Session from this past Summer. I think that birthdays are quite possibly my favorite thing to photograph, especially the first. Balloons, cake, all that jazz. I just love it :)

This is Miss Taylor. She's a doll.

I love those jellies!

Ohmygoodness, look at those lashes!

Wonderfully messy! :)

Those pictures are making me long for warm Summer afternoons. It's freeeeezing here today and snow is in the forecast. Brrr. To get back into the Winter mood, here's a quick picture of Taylor & her parents from their Christmas shoot this past December.

Looking Forward...

2011-01-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a lot of wedding photography inquiries lately. Wedding season is quickly approaching, how exciting!

I had an engagement session with Tim & Mandy this past fall. They are getting married in May and I can't wait to photograph it! :)

I'm glad they were good sports and laid in the leaves for me. I loooooove autumn colors.

I love Mandy's sultry look in this picture ;)

Congrats on your engagement Tim & Mandy! Can't wait to see you in May!!

New Years Resolutions!

2010-12-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

Well, hello my deserted little blog!

I'm a ~~pretty~~ incredibly terrible blogger. I have a long list of blogs that I read daily, but I just don't have the motivation to blog myself. There's so much I want to put out there, but doing it is the problem. Grrrrrr!

I can't believe Christmas is over and 2011 is right around the corner. I'm already thinking about my New Years resolutions, and I have 2 biggies.

1) To lose 30 (gasp!) pounds. Last year my one and only resolution was to quit smoking. Well, I DID IT! I've spent all year long as a non-smoker and I love it. Only problem is... I've gained a good 10 lbs in the process. Boo. So, I'm going to drop it, plus some more. I want to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight. My son is 4, so it's about time, huh? :)

2) My other resolution is to blog more. I have so much I want to share & document. I will put it out there!

We were hammered with a REALLY white Christmas here in NC. It was beautiful, but I'm going on day 4 of being stuck inside with not much to do and it's driving me a little nutso.

Here's Wes sledding yesterday. The snow is starting to melt away. Yay!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

A Few of my Favorite Things: Mushroom Edition

2010-11-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday!!

If you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of Etsy :) Handmade goodies tickle my fancy. A while back, I did a "favorite things" post about owls. Today is all about mushrooms. I don't eat a lot of mushrooms - but they sure are pretty to look at. The colorful, whimsy type anyway.

Top Row:

Wooden Hedgehogs & Mushroom, The Mushrooms - Watercolor Painting, Resting - Vintage Locket, Glass Jar Mushroom Terrarium

2nd Row:

Locket Pendant Necklace, Dainty Toadstool Wall Decal, Snail of Fury, Bruised Amanita Mushroom Ornament

3rd Row:

The Gnome House, Wee Toadstool Spool s, Mushroom Bowling, Abigail Print

4th Row:

Betty's House Ornamental Birdhouse, Reversible Pincushion, Felted Pin Brooch, Under The Weather Print

My Life: FOOTBALL!

2010-11-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday we took Wes to his first football game. Panthers vs. Saints. It was a terribly, horrible game - but we had loads of fun! It was colllld, especially when the sun moved and we were in the shade. But, I love the cold. It's how football games are supposed to be :) Wes sat with my parents the first 1/2 of the game in their seats down in the lower level. Gary and I were in the upper level. after the first quarter, we were sneaky and went down to some open seats beside my parents. It was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again.

Adorable Ayden

2010-11-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

Oh man, Ayden and I had such a fun photo shoot. He is one of the sweetest little 2 year ols that I've ever meet. A pure joy!

Ayden loves apples.

And, his grandpa's old blue truck.

And I did too!! What a cool car!!

Thanks Ayden, for making my day so much fun :)

Lately, I've been feeling a little bit...

2010-11-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

BUSY!

Since my last post, over a week ago (whoaza!) I have felt so extremely busy. I had that yucky rushed feeling about everything. I barely had time to do things I had to... and all of the fun things I wanted to do got swept under the rug.

Thing are fiiiinally slowing down and it feels so good to stop and breathe. In the midst of the chaos, I snapped some pics with my new iPod. Man, I am in love with this little gadget!

On my days off from work, I got up early to take Wes to preschool.

This is Wes' 2nd year of preschool. He loves it. He can spell his name which is so exciting. Hearing him spell out w.e.s.l.e.y. warms my heart. That little mind is such a sponge.

There are so many awesome photo apps out there for iPod/iPhone! I've been playing with several, trying to find out which I like best :)

In the midst of home grown tomato season, earlier this year - I found out about Caprese Salad from one of my favorite blogs. I had a teeny little basil plant that I used occasionally but now it doesn't produce enough goods for my basil addiction, so I got this sucker. Aw yeah.

Another favorite staple in my diet is granola. Yes. Mmmm. I like to munch on it by itself or put a big scoop in some strawberry yogurt. And it's fun to make because you can put whatever your little heart desires in it. This batch had pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts.

And, to end this little week in review via pictures, here's a picture of my little Iron Man. I'm so thankful he wasn't sick this year, like almost every other Halloween of his I can remember.

I've got lots and lots of photo sessions to share soon! I've had the best time with the most awesome families :)

Baby Love

2010-10-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Meet Maddox. He is my husband's cousin's bebe.

I took these pics last week when he was a mere 10 days old.

You know what one of my favorite parts of a baby is?
Feet!

And their little lips are a close second

We tried hard to get Mr. M naked for some pictures, but he just wasn't having it. He never really cried, he just had a little (but mighty) squeal that clearly got his point across! It conveyed something along the lines of:
"PUT MY CLOTHES BACK ON, SO HELP ME!"
And once we did, he went to dreamland...

This is Kayley. She is Maddox's cousin on the other side of his family.
She's a doll... and a 1/2. She came over to visit, so we snapped some pictures of her too.

Kayley can't quit say Maddox. She calls him baby "Maggot" :)

Thanks Brent & Holly for giving me the pleasure of taking baby Maddox's first pictures.
What an honor!

A Few of my Favorite Things: OWL EDITION!

2010-10-23T18:07:00.000-07:00

I've always had a little thing for owls. They are so solemn and intriguing.

Barn Owls are my favorite.

Have you ever seen the Brooke Collection from Pottery Barn Kids?

I've been drooling over this set since it first came out.

If I ever have a girl, I hope my love of owls will be passed along to her and that she'll go for a room like this...

*PICTURE SOURCE*

Here are some of my favorite Etsy owl finds:
(click on an item to visit the seller's store)

And a the beginning stages of a little owl plush that I am making :)

(this photo was taken with my blackberry & edited in Photoshop... because my BB is not cool enough to have an app like Hipstamatic for iPhone. Come BB, get with the program!)

♥ I hope you've had an excellent weekend so far!!! ♥

Birthday Ballerina

2010-10-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Meet Olivia.

She's a little bit beyond beautiful :)

Oh my, look at that hazy goodness!

This photoshoot was for her 2nd birthday.

Nothing says birthday like some big ole balloons!

EXCEPT CUPCAKES! Der! :)

Olivia is a ballerina in training.

She could twirl all day.

Thank you Olivia, for letting me take your pictures!

An Impromptu Photoshoot with some Lovely Ladies!

2010-10-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a little bit notorious for stopping on the side of the road to take pictures of farm animals. I live in the country, so this happens quite often :) I had a photo session earlier this week and there was a a pasture full of cows right next door. Usually it takes some coaxing to get the ladies to come over and visit, but these gals were actually super eager to see me. It was a delightful. And smelly.

* the photo below should say "has" not "as". DOH!

(& I'm too lazy to fix it :))

I Heart Faces: "In The Orchard"

2010-10-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

This weeks theme over at I ♥ Faces suites me perfectly. The town I live in is known as "Apple Country". Every Labor Day weekend, downtown is blocked off and a huge Apple Festival takes place. Apple season is currently upon us and last week I took pictures of sweet little Braxton in a local apple orchard. This photo is one of my favorites from the day. My goodness, he's such a sweetie!!!

The Village Flat Rock

2010-10-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Flat Rock is such a quaint little village. I drive through all the time and think, Oh, that would make such a pretty picture! So, the other day I had my camera with me so I actually stopped and made some pretty pictures :)

This is the cutest little shopping center...

It's so warm and inviting. And that blue wall... agh, love it!

I want to put a little girl in one of those rocking chairs and take her picture! (& move that water hose).

And, I'd love to put a little boy in that rusty chair above that beautiful sunflower!

I'm in love with the blue & the rust.

Brothers

2010-09-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

Colby is a very sweet young man.

This has been a very BIG year for him. He started kindergarten & his baby brother Jackson was born!

Colby LOVES Jackson. He is an awesome big brother!!

You know what else Colby loves? Tractors. We chose the perfect location for their shoot. There were tractors galore!!! :)

♥ Thanks for letting me take pictures of your handsome sons Hal & Brittany! ♥

Fix-It Friday #70

2010-09-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

www.iheartfaces.com

Here is the original picture, which I think is beautiful to begin with.

And here's my edit.

My Process:

First, I used MCP Actions' 'Magical Clarity' from the 'Bag of Tricks' action set.

Next, I ran My 4 Hens' 'Hand Crafted' from the 'Blended' action set (I tweeked opactities to my liking), for a little bit of warmth.

Then I Ran Coffee Shops 'Powder Room' action and gave the eyes, lips & nose a little more clarity with the 'Eye Definition' layer (I obv. use this for more than eyes :)).

Finally, I used a cute (& FREE) overlay from Pugly Pixel, that I thought complimented the picture well.

And here's a black & white for fun...

This is just my edit converted to b&w with My 4 Hens 'Stunning' from the 'Matchstick' action set.

HELLO SEPTEMBER!

2010-09-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's September! I know that Summer isn't technically over - but it soon will be and I can't believe I'm saying this, but... THANK GOODNESS! I'm hoping that a new season brings a change in luck around our house. This had undoubtedly been one of the most craptastic summer's of my entire life. I hope to goodness that no other summer will ever compair to it's crappiness :)

My husband is still recovering from his broken leg, artery bypass surgery & fasciotomy surgery. Just yesterday he had outpatient surgery to remove some deep debris from a wound that isn't healing well. His doctor thought that it might be infected and the plan yesterday was to cut it out - even if it meant going to the bone. THANK GOODNESS it wasn't deep at all!!! It's been three months since the accident he still isn't able to walk without crutches... which means he still isn't able to work. He has major nerve damage in his left leg & foot and some messed up tendons (that aren't able to be addressed yet. UGH.) that are preventing him from being able to stabalize his knee when he walks.

Things are finally starting to look up and despite all that has happened, I'm still in a pretty good mood :) I've been working my tail off trying to keep us above water, financially. I've really missed blogging and reading blogs that I love. My goal this fall is to start journaling my photography journey. I have loads of photo sessions from this summer to post, so expect lots of posts soon!

Until then, enjoy these pics that I snapped with my point & shoot camera earlier this week. My son Wes (who will be 4 next month!!!!!) & I stopped on the side of the road to pet these beautiful horses. I love living in the country where there is so much beauty surrounding me.

Would you like to win a free photo session???

2010-08-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

I need your vote to win a contest and you know what I'm going to do? BRIBE YOU TO VOTE :) A local want ad paper, the IWANNA is having a Summer Fun Photo Contest. The picture with the most votes wins $1,000.00. Now for the details of my bribery...

If I win the contest I will give away A FREE PHOTO SESSION or a $50 Target gift card if you live nowhere near me or don't like my photography. Hehe :) You can vote once per day for one picture that's entered in the contest. Each day you vote for MY picture you will be entered in my drawing. There's no way to tell that you voted so you MUST come here and leave a comment each time you vote (be sure to leave a separate comment for each vote and if you've already voted, go ahead and leave that # of comments). If you aren't able to comment on this blog, click HERE and leave your daily comment on my facebook fanpage photo. You may only leave a comment in ONE place. I'm relying on the honor system here, so please play nice :) The more you vote, the more chances you have to win! Voting runs through Thursday Sept. 9th - so start today and you'll have 15 chances to win! The comments will be combined, in order starting with blog comments and then facebook picture comments and the winning comment # will be chosen by random.org.

Now, you have to create an account through the IWANNA to vote, but it doesn't take long and they won't send you junk - so go ahead and do it right now!!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY ENTRY

And last but definitely not least THANK YOU!!!

Brooklynn: 4 Weeks Old

2010-08-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

This little miss was a pleasure to photograph. She is such an adorable, petite little thing!

Her mom is my husband's 2nd cousin. Not sure what that makes her, but she is indeed family :)

I'm excited to watch her grown into a little girl :)

Thanks Christal & Ray for letting me take pictures of your beautiful daughter!

I Hearts Faces: Week 29 - Over My Head

2010-07-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

My entry for this week's challenge comes from a session I did this past fall. This is Miss Caitlyn and she's an incredibly sweet little gal. She had so much fun throwing those leaves "over her head"!

Check out all of the awesome 'Over My Head' entries this week at I Heart Faces!

Baby Braxton, Bubbles & Bugs: 8 Months Old

2010-07-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

Baby B is one handsome little man! And oh sooo smiley :)

Look at those blue eyes! And that adorable gummy smile! And those cute as a button shoes!
I could go on and on and on...

I'm so glad baby B's (super sweet) Grandma joined him and his parents - and brought lots of bugs and bubbles! Props are so much fun!!!

Thank you so much Mama, Daddy & Grandma! It was such a pleasure hanging out with you and taking pictures of your sweet little man :)

Fix It Friday #61

2010-07-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

I loooove fix-it-fridays over at i ♥ faces! This weeks picture is one of my favorites ever. It's fresh & beautiful and a great photo to begin with! It was fun to dress it up, to suit my taste :)

And a ~~black~~ brownish & white too :)

My Life: Things are still nuts around here!

2010-07-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

My husband is still in the hospital. Today marks day # 24. Things are looking much brighter than they were though. He's had all of his surgeries and he's now on the mends. The last thing left to do before being discharged is physical therapy. He has to be able to walk down the hall by himself (with the help of a walker), without putting any weight on his left leg... which has proven to be quite a task, after lying in the bed for such a long time. This whole experience has made me think about the little things in life that we take for granted. What are bodies are capable of doing on a daily basis is truly amazing.

Back on the home-front, we have had a little drama this week, as well. 2 months ago, I found a basset hound in the middle of a busy, curvy, country road. There was construction going on and without help the dogs fate was surely grim. He had a collar on but no tags. I took him home with me and spent a few days trying to track down the owners, with no prevail. So, for the last 2 months Fred has lived with us. He is the sweetest dog I have ever met. Wes has fallen in love with him and calls him his "best friend".

A couple of weeks ago, I submitted a photo of Wes & Fred (from the little photo session that I previously blogged) to a local want-ad paper here, called the iwanna. Well, someone there liked my picture, because they used it in an advertisement in the paper, for the contest :)

I didn't even know that it was in the paper, until a sheriffs deputy showed up at my house looking for the dog in the picture. The owners saw it and recognized their dog! It was such a bittersweet moment. The owners got their pet back, that I'm sure they missed - but we (especially Wes) had to part with this sweet dog that we had become very attached to. I truly believe it was fate though. It was meant to happen. the fact that m bother in law just got a basset hound puppy has definitely helped Wes get through this easier. Meet Flash, Fred's "little brother" :)

He's so tiny! Here he is trying to get up the stairs. Those are Wes' lil size 10 shoes beside him :)

I Heart Faces: Week 26, Pets

2010-06-28T21:19:00.001-07:00

(Marlee, originally uploaded by hi im amy on Flickr)

Man, this was hard! I am an animal lover. I wanted to enter picture of one of my dogs for this, but I have 4 (I know, sort of insane) and they are all beautiful, so I had no idea which one to feature!! I ended up choosing a picture of Marlee, because she loooves to have her picture taken... well she loves attention the most anyway :) She's a sweet natured lab/springer spaniel mix and she melts my heart with those big brown eyes!

Brent & Jessica: Engaged!

2010-06-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

My husband needs one more surgery to be able to leave the hospital. It was scheduled to happen this afternoon, but I got word that the doctors postponed it a couple of days because of swelling :( Since I am super bummed, I decided to do something that always cheers me up - to get my mind off of things for a little while. I've spent the whoooole morning editing, while Wes watched Monsters, Inc. I played with some pictures that I took last fall of a sweet little couple who was newly engaged. Brent & Jessica were so much fun to photograph. I can't wait until their wedding!

Aren't they the cutest little couple!?

My Life: Worst Week Ever

2010-06-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

I've been out of the loop for the past week... not because I've been on an awesome vacation or anything, but because my husband had an accident and has been in the hospital.

Last week we got a trampoline. It was offered to us for free and it was in great shape so we took it. We finally got it set up Thursday night. My husband Gary, Wes and my sister-in-law Tracy were on it playing around. Gary was holding Wes and they were jumping around. All of a sudden I hear a loud POP (I thought it was a spring breaking) and Gary falls. He is in some serious pain.

Long story short, we get him to the ER and find out that he has a tibial plateau fracture. They are going to have to do surgery, but they want to wait until the morning since he ate dinner that evening and there's a big risk of aspiration when being put to sleep on a full stomach. The operation took place on Friday morning. By Saturday morning he was still in serious pain, his calf was severely swollen and he couldn't move his foot. On Sunday, he went back to surgery to have a fasciotomy (don't click that link unless you have a strong stomach) done on both sides of his calf. This gave him some relief.

Monday afternoon I was sitting at work when I got a text message from a friend visiting at the hospital saying "Gary's going into surgery for a blood clot". HELLO panic! After a quick call, I found out that after a CT scan earlier that day, they discovered a possible blood clot behind his knee and decided to take him in to see if they could get rid of it. Turns out, it wasn't a blood clot, it was a damaged artery. Seriously!?

They couldn't do they artery repair surgery right then because of the risk of infection to the 10" open wounds on both sides of his calf. Well, they could if it were dire need, but they'd obviously rather not. So, on Tuesday they took him back to surgery and packed the wounds with a foamy material and attached it to a vacuum to speed up the healing. Wednesday through today he's been on blood thinners to help prevent a clot, while the wounds drained. Thankfully, his circulation has been getting progressively better, so no emergency artery surgery has been necessary.

This afternoon he went into surgery for a 4th time and they sewed up most of the fasciotomy cuts. Next Tuesday they will go in and repair the rest and hopefully getting him walking with crutches so he can come home soon. Our hope is that everything goes well and the artery surgery can be put off until his leg heals a little bit more and the risk for infection is significantly reduced.

Needless to say, this has been the worst week EVER! This has been Gary's home for the past 8 days. This pictures is from the 2nd day. I thought I'd spare you the pictures of how it looks now, unwrapped.

I had a trampoline growing up and have never known anyone to get seriously injured on one, but it does happen. Please be careful and make sure only 1 person is jumping at a time.

My Life: Man's Best Friend

2010-06-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

My Life: Point & Shoot Adventures - Downtown Asheville, NC

2010-06-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Wes has been taking swimming lessons at the YMCA in downtown Asheville for the past 3 weeks. When the lesson is over, we do some sort of gallivanting around town. Yesterday I decided to pull out the old stroller (we haven't used it in ages) and push Wes through the Battery Park district (my favorite little part of downtown). As we were walking, I got a craving for something sweet. Wes is always down for a treat, so we headed over to The Sisters McMullen Cupcake Corner. I had an Oreo Cupcake and Wes had a ginormous Rice Crispie Treat. They were deeelicious. The 1/2 mile there and back, hilly downtown walk made me feel a little bit better about eating a cupcake the size of my hand :)

I'm so glad I had my new point & shoot in my pocket to capture the sweet memories!

My Life: Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

2010-06-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

	The White Stripes - We're Going to Be Friends .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

I'm not good at carrying my DSLR and all of my gear around with me all the time, so I have really been missing out on some important family pictures. I decided to invest in a little point & shoot to carry around with me. This picture was taken with my new lovie. I can tell that we are gonna be friends...

PS - Yes, I am the owner of a Canon & a Nikon. Can't we all just get along?! :)

Sweet Anna Claire: 8 Weeks Old

2010-05-31T18:23:00.000-07:00

Last week I meet with adorable little Miss Anna Claire. She is 8 weeks and so so so adorable :)

Look at those eyes! Babies have that glow in their eyes that's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's magical.

I had so much fun taking your pictures Anna Claire, I can't wait to see you again! :)

Little Luke & Family

2010-05-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

This was my second shoot with Mr. Luke. It was so much fun to celebrate his first birthday! You know what his favorite part was? CAKE!!!

Jason, Jessica and Luke are such a sweet little family!

Thank you guys so much for letting me share this special day with you!

Editing: M4H Sweethearts & Random Rocks

2010-05-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am a huge editing junkie. I used Photoshop to edit my photos long before I ever dabbled in photography. In photoshop, you can use actions to edit photo's more quickly. With the click of a button, you can perform several "actions" together, that take a longer to perform individually. Was my explination of actions clear as mud??

Anyhoo, one of my favorite actions creator is Sarah from My 4 Hens Photography. She put out a call for pictures of sweethearts that have been editeed with her actions. Since she is asking for pictures of "little ladies" and I am the mom of a little man, I am entering a picture of my best friend, Donna's little sweetheart. I love her like she is my own anyway! :)

Without further adieu, I introduce to you to Miss Brylee

* After some minor exposure fixture, I used the My 4 Hens actions: Birkenstock and Fluff & Stuff to achive this look.

Over at My 4 Hens, you can also find tons of FREEBIES! I used one of her free sets, Random Rocks to edit this picture of another one of my friend's (her name is Sarah too!) adorable son Bennett.

Ashley & Grant: Married!

2010-05-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

I love weddings! Last weekend I had the privilege taking some pictures of my friends Ashley & Grant on their wedding day. I don't have the proper equipment to photograph a wedding like I need to - but Ashley let me come and do what I could. It was WONDERFUL practice, without the pressure :) I followed the real wedding photographer around all day. Thank goodness he didn't mind!

It was a beautiful day, despite the crazy wind... which actually made for some really cute pictures!

3 gorgeous girls! Ashley and her sisters Monica & Holly.

My beautiful sister-in-law, Whitney was a bridesmaid :)

Thank you Ashley & Grant for letting me be a part of your special day!!!

XOXO