Happy Halloween!

I swore I would never be one of those people who bought my dog clothes and dressed it up in costumes. Clearly, I've compromised this vow severely...but I don't care. I couldn't resist the $8 pet pumpkin costume when I was shopping in Target last Saturday. Of course, Ellen is not the biggest fan of her Halloween costume, so we only put it on her long enough to get some pictures.

Tonight I had my Lifegroup over for pumpkin carving and cookie baking. I'd say both efforts were a success. One carving was deemed as the puking pumpkin - never had I seen one. Good job, girls! Thanks for the fun night and sorry you had to deal with constant Ellen lickings!

And finally, here's a couple family shots. :)

Congratulations Leslie and Kevin!

A few weeks ago I helped shoot the wedding of Leslie and Kevin with my friend Abbey Lesher. The ceremony and reception were both held at Saint Therese Catholic Church in Mooresville, North Carolina. These two were both a lot of fun - their first dance was to "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, which was a nice alterative to the traditional slow first dance. You could tell they really enjoy being around each other.

Leslie and Kevin - best wishes for your future together. Thanks for letting me be a part of your wedding day!

Here are some of my favorites from the day...enjoy!

In the spirit of Halloween....

I couldn't resist.




My husband and our friend Jon K. last Halloween. Believe it or not, Geoff's costume was from the children's costume section in Walmart. They never fail to make me laugh.

Check back soon - I'm in the process of editing a wedding and an engagement session and will update the blog accordingly! :)

Kimber and Matt - Wedding Day!

You might remember Kimber and Matt from their engagement shoot back in September.

Geoff and I had the opportunity to photograph their wedding on October 6th, 2007. We headed down to Moore, South Carolina to Tyger Pines Arabians - a GORGEOUS horse farm. Never have I seen a more beautiful farm...and never have I been to a farm that smelled this good!

Of course, Kimber looked stunning. Poor Matt wasn't feeling so well. After Geoff spent time photographing the guys, he told me "I think Matt's just really nervous". I had to inform him that while he may be nervous, I think his bigger problem is that he has mono!

The ceremony and reception were perfect - you could tell that every detail was intentional and had been carefully thought out. All of their hard work definitely paid off.

Congratulations, Kimber and Matt! Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your day - it was a blast!

It's time for you to bless back.

Coolest thing happened at church this past Sunday....the Bless Back Project.

Our church - Elevation Church - is only two years old. Every Sunday, over 2,000 people pack into the campuses of Providence High School and Butler High School here in Charlotte for church. The growth is outrageous. So, Elevation is in the process of launching a massive campaign called DOMINATE to raise the funds needed for the future home of Elevation.

This past Sunday, Pastor Steve told us that if they are asking us to do something radical with our money, then the church is going to do something radical too. With that, he asked the ushers to come forward. Just as Geoff and I were reaching down to fetch some cash, we are all told to put our money away.

"Today, we aren't taking up the offering. Today, we are giving the offering to you."

Confused, we kept attentive. The ushers then handed out the buckets full of stacks of envelopes labeled "Bless Back Project", of which we were each instructed to take one. Inside was either $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, or $1,000.

Pastor Steve then instructed us that we should use the money to bless someone in Charlotte and specifically told us to not give it back to the church. Then, after we've used the money, we are to log what we did with it on http://www.blessbackproject.com/ .

I'm sorry, but this is just nuts. And insanely amazing. Who does that?! Over the five services, the church had given out $40,000 for the purpose of blessing back! Wow!

I got $20 and Geoff got $10. We aren't certain what we're going to do with it yet, but are praying that God show us what He wants us to use it for. So cool!