Lauren turns 23!

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Today is her actual birthday, but we celebrated last night when her and Jon came over to "housewarm" us by cooking us dinner in our new home.

We had pesto pasta with chicken and it was amazing....I wish I had more - Geoff ate the leftovers.





Ellen joined in the birthday fun by posing with Lauren's ribbon from her gift. Such a natural model, I know.







Thanks for coming over, guys...let's do it again soon! Next time, I'll even break down and play an actual board game (sigh....how I love my scattergories). :)

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Exciting news....coming soon! No, it's not a baby (Ellen is more than we can handle at this point in our lives), but it is something that I can't WAIT to share with everyone. I hope to be able to reveal the surprise in early January.

Also, check back soon, as I will have blog updates on Anna and Tim's engagement session and Latoya and Gerard's wedding day.

Headshots: Leslie

After returning from Cincinnati last Sunday I met up with Leslie in SouthEnd to do her headshots. She was a lot of fun to work with - really easy going and up for anything. I'm really happy with the way they turned out - she looks gorgeous, don't you think?











This was great - there was a bunch of traffic on the road where we were and we kept having to wave people by. A firetruck full of guys pulled up and refused to move. Leslie was waving at them to keep driving, but they just sat there and shook their heads. They wanted to stay and watch her! We were laughing.

First Christmas

Let's be serious....basically, I have the cutest dog of all time. Too bad she barks all the time, never stops licking people, and chews things up.

I only feel a little bad that I forced her into this ridiculous get-up for a couple of pictures. Geoff and I found these mistletoe pajamas at Target for only $5! I mean, c'mon...it's not like we really had a choice in the matter...we HAD to get them.



This week is Secret Santa week in my office. We do one small gift every day - on Tuesday my gift were these antlers for Ellen. Let me tell you - she HATES them. She was such a good girl to hold still enough for her portraits. :)





Even though we have just moved into our new house and the place is a wreck, Geoff was willing to humor me when I wanted to decorate and put up a tree. Since it is our first Christmas together since we've been married, we decided to make it happen.

Geoff putting the star up on the tree.


I love this one of him - it shows the look he gets on his face when he's concentrating on something (which is adorable, of course).


The final product...our Christmas tree. Complete with one strand of lights (Target was out) and a total of about 8 ornaments!


Each Christmas Geoff and I get each other an ornament so we can progressively add to our collection. Last year he got me this one. It says "Wanted: Cutest Dog in the World" because he knew I was desperate for a puppy.


This is the one I got/made for him. The pic is one of our engagement pictures - 170 days was what we had left until "the" day. :)


Merry Early Christmas from the Schultz's!

Back in town!

When I'm not doing photography, my other job is working at a college as the Greek Advisor. Last week I spent five days in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Association for Fraternity Advisors Annual Meeting. Overall, it was a good time. I got to reconnect with friends from graduate school, met some nice new people, and went to some good sessions.



This is my very good friend from grad school - Julie. I caught her in action as she was in the middle of this meeting for work.



The last night we were there Julie and I had our very own fireworks show from our 19th story hotel room!

Thanksgiving with the Kaczmarski's

This was year #3 that Geoff and I spent Thanksgiving with the Kaczmarski Family here in Charlotte. Since I'm from California and Geoff is from Illinois, we save the traveling for Christmas - which lands us here in NC. The Kaczmarski's are kind enough to adopt us for the day and feed us incredible amounts of food. Geoff and I are beyond blessed to have the opportunity to spend the day with an amazing family when we can't be with our own. Thank you guys!

To start, here are the Kaczmarski dogs - two of the cutest dogs in the world...

Claire


and Chloe (hanging out underneath Geoff's chair)


Prior to dinner, everyone played some cards....












Then came the carving of the beautiful turkey.....


I think this one is cute of Jon's mom....


These are Mrs. Kaczmarski's FAMOUS (declared by me) stuffed artichokes. Man, was I excited to eat up one of these....they were ENORMOUS this year!


After dinner we headed out back for a mini photoshoot (much to Jon's dismay of course).

Here is Jon and his little sister - Kristina. She graduated from high school last year, but we're still going to set up a shoot for her senior portraits...I can't wait...she's BEAUTIFUL!





And to conclude the Thanksgiving Day post, here are a few I got of Jon and Lauren....cute!

Happy Birthday Mustang Sallee!

Today is the day that my mother turns forty-something (I can't remember which forty it is this year...but I know that it's not yet 50...I know, I'm a bad daughter). Anyway....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER!!!!!!!!

Geoff, Ellen, and I love you and can't wait to see you at Christmas. Have a great day basking in your fortiness. :)

(Kristin Vining Photography took this one)



In addition to it being my mother's birthday, it is also the day that Geoff and I closed on our first house! AND, poor Ellen had to be spayed yesterday, so we picked her up today as well. That's how we do it - we like to keep things busy and try as hard as possible to drive ourselves totally out of our minds. :)