Charlotte One

Dang, it took me awhile to get these up! In my defense, my day job has been keeping me crazy busy for the past two weeks.

Before the post - update on the hair. Actually, it's not all that dramatic. I went into my hairdresser - Christine from Halo Salon in Davidson - and told her my intentions to be bold and go dark. She talked me down and convinced me that we should do it gradually just in case I hated it...apparently once you are a brunette, it is harder to go back. So yeah, don't expect anything drastic this time around.

Charlotte One is a weekly worship experience for the young adults of Charlotte...and it's pretty cool. Right now they meet uptown at the Methodist Church on Tryon. This was only my second time going, as it meets on Tuesday nights, which conflicts with Lifegroup. Anyway, it was a really good message and had some great music. AND, I brought along the camera to get some practice shooting in low light.

P.S. Geoff designed the "Beyond Belief" logo above. I like it!

















Exciting news - tomorrow after work we're going to hit the Apple store...more to come!

Bye Bye Blonde Girl!

It was my sophomore year of college at University of Redlands in southern California when my roommate and sorority sister - Jennie - asked me to dye her hair blonde....highlights in fact. Now mind you, I had never dyed anyone's hair...EVER...but she knew that. In fact, I hadn't even ever had my own hair dyed before at this point in my life. You'll do fine, she said. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, alright...if you say so.

We only had a couple of hours before she was to get dressed up for her boyfriend's fraternity formal, so we got to work. Now, I vaguely can recall my mother giving herself highlights when I was little...but that was with a cap. Jennie wanted me to use foil. She went over the general concept of what I was supposed to do, which to me, seemed simple enough. However, there was one big problem that I didn't realize until AFTER the highlighting had been done.

I learned the hard way about the right way to highlight. I started off doing just fine....take a chunk of hair, brush the dye on, wrap it in foil and repeat. But wait; the step that I missed was the bit where you are NOT supposed to dye the next chunk of hair. Essentially what I was doing was dying the entire upper portion of her head - I know now that this is NOT highlighting.

To make matters even worse, I took so long to foil her head that by the time it was all done, the hair in the front was WAY over done and had turned a not so pretty shade of orange.

Poor Jennie looked like a Muppet with a mullet.

Hence my internal fear of having my hair colored. I am forever worrying that the hairdresser will leave it in too long or put the wrong stuff in, and that my hair will just fall out.

Even so, I am TOTALLY excited to have my hair done tomorrow afternoon. It's been awhile (since July in fact), so I can't wait. My most favorite part of getting my hair done is when my hairdresser shampoos my head....it's even better then indulging in my favorite dish from Macaroni Grill - Pasta Milano.

Tomorrow is an extra special visit to get my hair done. Because tomorrow - I'm going brown, baby. Back in November I was on a flight trying to distract myself from the take off (that's another story for another day - oh yes, how much I LOVE to fly). I decided I would make myself a list of 50 or so things that I wanted to do or accomplish by that time next year. One of those was color my hair dark (perhaps I'll blog about the rest of the list sometime). Tomorrow, it's going to happen.

Bye Bye Blonde!


*This is one Geoff took of me.

The Great Beagle Chase!

Today was a good day. I don't know why - it just was. I just felt a lot of joy in my life today...for no particular reason. I love it when I have days like today.

I've decided I want to start blogging more. And, when I feel like it, use my blog as a journal and not just a photo blog. I'm not the best writer, so you'll have to bear with me. However, in the 3rd grade my lifelong ambition was to be a writer. Ha.

My motivation for this comes from other photographers. There are SO many that inspire me with their amazing art. Lately, in addition to their photography, there are two in particular that really intrigue me and make me want to reflect more on my life. They are Scarlett Lillian and Jasmine Star. They have no idea, but they are an incredible source of encouragement for me personally and with my business.

I haven't really ever shared anything about my faith here yet...but tonight I think I will. Just because I feel like it.

Yesterday I stopped off at the good old Food Lion grocery to pick up some ice cream on my way home from work. I was just about to turn into my neighborhood when I noticed a small beagle cross the insanely busy street. He had a hurt paw and was limping. I suppose he could have been a "her", but for the sake of the story, we'll assume his manhood.

For some reason, I really have a heart for animals - especially one's that are hurting. Sometimes I think that I should become a police officer for animals in distress - like the one's on that show "Pet Rescue". (Although, I have a self-imposed rule that I'm not allowed to watch that show, as I end up hysterical and crying). Anyway, because of this, I just HAD to try to save the injured beagle. I flipped a u-turn as soon as I could and caught up with him.

He just kept running alongside the busy street, so I turned on my hazards and followed him until I got to a side street to turn off on. I jumped out of the car, got down on my hands and knees to try to appeal to him, and began calling for him to come to me. He gave me a quick look and kept on trucking. Clearly, he was freaked out, scared, and not knowing what he should do or where he should go. So, back in the car I go.

We played this game about four more times - everytime I got back into my unwashed, dented Honda - defeated and all the while, getting more and more upset (and yes, hysterical even...the way I get while watching Pet Rescue). All he did was run like a madman - trying to get to safety...trying to find his way back home.

I was SO desperate for him to come to me so I could help him. I kept thinking, "why won't he just come to me? All I want to do is to help him and take care of him and save him from the danger and madness all around him....he'll be SAFE if he comes to me!"

Even amongst this craziness of chasing down this dog for an hour, I began to think of this in a bigger picture. I began to think of this situation related to how God is always chasing after me when I get far from him....when I'm lost...when I'm hurting. And all I do is run further.

ALL He wants is to desperately get His arms around me so He can love me, nurse my wounds, comfort me when I'm freaked out/stressed out about life. He wants me to run to HIM, so He can calm my nerves and let me know that everything will be alright - and ultimately bring me back to where I need to be.

I'm sure God is saying the same thing that I did with the beagle - "Why won't she just come to me?! All she has to do is run on over into my arms and I'll put her in my Honda to drive her to comfort and safety!"

Okay...maybe I'm exaggerating - I mean....I'm sure God drives something a tad nicer then a Civic. :)

Sadly, the beagle did not ever make it to me. He crossed another street and I lost track of the poor little guy. I do hope he wandered into a quiet neighborhood and someone found him to help.

For me, this experience - the same experience that left me heartbroken and crying for the lost dog - is an incredible blessing. I do believe that God uses situations, circumstances, and experiences to teach us something or to reveal something to us. From now on, when I'm freaking out - running around like a crazy lady and on the verge of a complete meltdown - I'll remember the beagle. All he had to do was run to me.

Thanks for reading - I'm exhausted and need to have a cuddle with my pup and my husband. Some TV is in order - we won't be watching Pet Rescue....a marathon of Top Model should do the trick.

* Check back tomorrow night for a new photo blog post from tonight's "Charlotte One"!

Latoya and Gerard - Married!

Finally I have these finished and up on the blog!

A little over a month ago I got a phone call from a wedding planner in Charlotte - Shanika at SJB Weddings. She told me that Gerard and Latoya were getting married in a few days and needed a photographer. Not only was Latoya graduating from college on that morning, but she was having her wedding that evening too. Now that's ambitious! I was so glad we were available to shoot the wedding.







This is my favorite type of shot of all time - that moment that the groom gets his first glimpse of his bride to be.
















This shot cracks me up.




I think she may be the cutest child of all time. :)


And he's a close second.




I loved their cake - it was done by Gail at Cheesecake, Etc. They do BEAUTIFUL work!






Congratulations Latoya and Gerard!
I wish you only the best for your life together!

Let's hit the slopes!

.....or not. We had been talking about heading up to my dad's cabin in the mountains of northern california and then going skiing for a day. We made it to the cabin, but lacked the energy and motivation to haul ourselves even further north to spend a day on the slopes. Instead, my dad, Geoff and I just found some snow to play in. They did most of the playing - I just kept to my camera.

Beautiful!








Love this one of my dad climbing out of an igloo:




Love this one too.


All ready for a little push and a fun trip down the hill.


And this is why I didn't do much playing and preferred just to watch...




That's all - thanks for looking!

Four Dogs, Four Brothers, and a Baby

When I go home for Christmas to California - it's madness (usually in a good way). This year was no exception.

This is Zickarot - our terrior mix dog. She's OLD - 16 to be exact. Sadly, this may have been Zicky's last Christmas with us. :( Poor old goat is on her last legs.


Next up is Hannah (I call her Hannie) - she's real sweet - just a real nutcase.


Obie - the big black lab who drives me nuts and knocks my coffee off the table with his tail. Here he is with brother Morgan.


Fred - the Portugeuse mix we got from the pound. He's pretty well behaved - we think we'll keep him. :)


Geoff!


Instead of my mother and step-dad cooking the whole meal this year, we each got assigned a different food to make - in the kitchen - at the same time. Again, madness.

As you can see - I was in charge of crescent rolls. (they put me in charge of the really complicated things, you see).


My masterpiece


After dinner was a game of football.

Here's brother AJ:


Brother Joe:


And brother Brandon - looking on sad because he wasn't able to play. He broke both bones in his leg during the last football game of the season. He was sported a big old red cast.


And here's the newest and most CUTE addition to the family - AJ and Khadijah's baby girl...Eulalia.








Who doesn't love a good game of Catchphrase to wrap up Christmas Day?



Sister-in-law, Jessica:


Geoff gets REALLY into Catchphrase - it's hilarious to watch him.


And there you have it. Christmas in California.