We're on a boat!

This weekend was awesome. Saturday we spent the day on the lake in Indiana, and even though the weather said "isolated t-storms" all day, we only got about 20 minutes of actual rain, then thankfully the sun came out! I have nothing but good things to say about this weekend...so I'll let all the pictures do the talking!

OH, and I should mention that my husband isn't married to a 12 year old boy...that would be me :)

Once we left, the craziest thing happened. We saw this gorgeous rainbow... and actually SAW the end of it hitting a field nearby... I mean, it was crazy. Obviously we know it would just move if we got closer... but the field was GLOWING. So neat!

It was pretty late once we got home, so Caleb and I rented a movie and fell asleep on the couch...something we do best. Sunday we enjoyed our church service, and then I got to go see one of my favorite people (Hiii Christy!!).

Although I'm super sore pretty much everywhere from tubing on Saturday, it was worth it...PLUS I got a little sun!! Hope everyone had a great weekend, too!

Friday favorites!

We made it to Friday! My week has consisted of little sleep, lots of edits, late nights and loads of smiles. So, what were my favorite parts of this week?

Panera bagels. Caleb brought a few home from work last night and YUM...I picked the blueberry one for a quick dinner.

Sports Camp. It's been every night this week after work beginning on Sunday and ending tonight! Sadly, Wednesday night got cancelled due to crummy weather...but we more than made up for it last night. It's like VBS for our church, just with sports...its really a huge volunteer outreach event we put on for the community. Tonight all the kids parents/grandparents are coming to watch what they've learned...oh, and we all get Chickfila. That's like 400 chicken sandwiches...NOM!

My husband. It's been so fun to watch him teach these kids not only the basics of basketball, but about the love of Jesus, too.

My camera. Sheesh! I can't believe my little baby hasn't quit on me. I've never used it so much within one week, its craziness!

This. Just this. He's a hottie!

Free Pampered Chef. I threw a party earlier in the month, and got a little bit in free product... that makes me one happy gal!

Photo booth pictures. Scrolling through your pictures and laughing so hard at all of them you almost cry when its way past your bedtime.

Knowing you have a day at the lake. Whether or not we get great weather, it will be nice to have a 'free' Saturday with the family.

Savings money. Finding out your honest mechanic replaced your alternator for free because he put other parts in my car and said we had it under "warranty". We are so happy. Obviously, my car needs replaced in the near future... so we're still on the lookout, but at least she's running again.

Have a great weekend, friends!

"Not having enough time!"

Lately, I've found myself complaining about "not having enough time". Whether that be not having time to cook a decent dinner, or not being able to hang out with my best friends... or even not being able to go to the gym because I'm too tired with all the late nights of editing I've been pulling... but you know what I can't complain about? I'm photographing the most beautiful moments. As I said a few posts ago, this week my church is volunteering to teach 300 kids the basics about their favorite sports, all while showing the love of Christ. So yeah, I'll take this over a fancy dinner any day.

After Sports Camp last night we took the youth group to Sweet Frog and had a blast. Yeah, it was a super late night...yeah, I'm beat today, and yeah those teens say stuff/do I don't always understand...but I freaking love them. Every last one of them. It's so fun to be a part of such a fun group who absolutely love to serve. I'm so proud of them!

Also lately, I'm finding myself being more and more thankful for what I have, and also the people that I'm blessed to know. Life really is too short to not take notice of the small things around you every day... so, hug your family, compliment strangers, speak your mind, and go ahead...eat the occasional donut ;)

It's almost Friday!!

When your car dies...

There I go last night...driving home, minding my own business, and there comes up my battery light all bright and red. Ugh. I knew this day was coming. So, we took my car to the shop to wait for them to tells us the inevitable..."Sorry honey, your car is just tired", just like he told us last time.

We got home around 8PM and hadn't even had dinner yet...and I had a little break down. I literally started tearing up because once again, our emergency fund is going to be nearly depleted, and we may be shopping for a new (as in new to us, meaning very used) car. I started moping and my sweet Caleb said word for word..."Kayla, stop. We have two full time jobs, a side gig, an amazing apartment, and two vehicles, even if they don't run that well"... and it really just put me into perspective. I have absolutely no reason to mope around about a silly car problem. So I decided to look at my recent photos and see what's been making me happy as of late.

Wedding selfies with my man.

Hanging with my sweet brother. This kid went to a drum concert last night and they held a competition for "Fastest Hands" and he won with 434 beats in 30 seconds. So proud of what he's doing and I know he's going to go so far in life!

Hanging out with this awesome couple on Saturday and doing the majority of their pictures in the cutest little book store I've ever seen.

Using my Bride tumbler, long after my big day. #sorrynotsorry

What I'm trying to say is, sure...my car may be on her last leg. Sure, its going to cost us a lot of money to either fix, or get a new used car, but you know what? I have a roof over my head, income coming in, and food in my belly every night. I truly have it good.

It's the small things, friends : )

I LOVE love.

This weekend was craziness. Caleb and I shot TWO weddings this past weekend and although we had a blast, I got really sick halfway through the second wedding on Sunday. It got pretty bad, and thankfully my husband was able to finish up the 'dancing shots' at our second wedding.

Weddings really are amazing to me. It's so fun to be able to see how different each and every wedding  is and how each couple can bring their own unique personalities to their big days!

What's even more fun is when WE get to enjoy weddings, too...and we kind of pretend its a "free date night". I mean, we get dinner, cake, AND get to enjoy the dance floor a bit, too. We ended up chatting with the videographer and he said he thought it was "cute how naive and happy we acted at these weddings" and that after we've done over 100 we'd get over that initial joy...HA! I didn't let it offend me, because you know what? He was kinda grumpy, and that must just stink to have that kind of attitude, because we truly had a blast!

I love love. Happy Tuesday, friends!

Making appointments, ordering pizzas, and buying toilet paper.

Oh growing up...its hard work but also amazing at the same time.

As a kid I'd come home, finish homework and eat whatever dinner my awesome grandparents put on the table. Now I come home after a long day of work, fit in some cardio if I can...then order a pizza (I promise, not every night) :)

As a kid I got excited over a new box of pop tarts in the pantry...now I get excited about finally making an eye appointment and ordering my new glasses!

New glasses! FINALLY! (it had been 7 years with the old pair, ouch!)

As a kid the laundry was always finished and folded, now I can't tell which pile is clean and which is dirty, and certainly nothing stays folded for long. Sometimes I even take naps in the piles...I'm so clean.

As a kid my biggest worry was what my Xanga username was going to be... now I am running an actual blog and have to come up with REAL topics to write about... (but I totally love it).

As a kid I experienced plenty of family vacations, obviously already paid for...now I have to manage my vacation time off work, and save up for those costly trips!

As a kid I had a bedtime and would try to sneak on AIM at midnight...now I wake up in the middle of the night and decide to snap chat my best friends because what the heck is sleep?!

Things certainly do change as you get older, in both good and not so good ways. Bills have to be paid, schedules need coordinated, and laundry doesn't do itself...but you get to decorate your own Christmas tree, plan your own vacations, and YOU get to order take out as often as you'd like. I wouldn't recommend it often though, it'll catch up with ya ;) trust me.

So, I guess I should say that growing up is the best...and so are late nights with your husband. The weekend is almost here, hooray!

The calm before the storm...

...except not any normal storm... a beautiful, love filled, fantastic 7 days are coming up. I know I mentioned at some point how INSANE most of this month was going to be for me, but Saturday morning begins quite the stretch of commitments. Caleb and I are shooting two weddings this weekend; one Saturday, and one Sunday. Then Sunday evening, after the wedding, begins our church's annual sports camp, which I'm the photographer for. That goes on from Sunday through the following Friday evenings. That is all on top of my full time job.

It's going to be a whirlwind, but a beautiful one at that. This past Sunday at church our pastor talked a little bit about how exhausting that particular week can be for us volunteers (over 100 of us!), but to remember that through it all, we're teaching these kids (a record number of nearly 300) what the love of Jesus looks like...and that's NOT with tired eyes, exhaustion, or complaints. This shot was taken at last years event...I couldn't resist the selfie opportunity.

No matter how tired I get that week, its so worth it to see these adorable faces!

& I'm able to spend time with people I love more than anything.

my amazing uncle.

& see my super hottie husband lead worship (which he sadly won't be doing this year, he opted to coach basketball instead!)

But seriously, this is one reason I love photography. It can capture so much joy in one single shot...and that's why my job is the best. I can't get enough of it, truly.

I find myself smiling, and crying right along all the happy moments with my clients. This picture is probably my favorite from the recent wedding I shot. So much emotion! From her Dad's look right before he gives her away, to the tears rolling down each cheek...I may have wiped away a tear or two of my own behind my camera.

In the midst of all the craziness...I have to remember how very lucky I am. I have two amazing jobs that I love, and CHOOSE to have... I have an incredible support system, and I serve an incredible God. So, I'm choosing to be thankful today!

Happiness is...

...going to your grandparents for lunch, and spotting their adorable pup under the dinner table because she doesn't like to be alone...

...finally buying your first umbrella since college...yeah, I've been putting that one off...

...when a bride is amazed at the wedding pictures you and your husband took for her...

...freshly shaved legs : )

...adding more than a handful of cilantro to your recipe...

...brand new pictures printed from Shutterfly...

...getting to spend time with family on Father's Day...

...getting free shipping from Amazon Prime...

...Skyping with your best friends just because you miss them...

...teaching yourself to make "cake in a mug", and it being as amazing as you expected...

...getting a giant hug from your husband the second you walk in the door...

...when long office meetings are cut way short...

...remembering one of the best vacations of your life just from a little $2 souvenir...

...a smile from a stranger...

...being treated to lunch by a co-worker for absolutely no reason than to say 'thanks for being here'...

...getting home after a long day of work and having no plans whatsoever...

...making a yummy dinner for your husband, and getting lots of compliments on it...

...having leftovers of said amazing meal for lunch the next day...

....helping friends in need, just because....

Happiness is everywhere, we just have to open our eyes a little bit. Have an awesome Tuesday!

When bloggers meet up. #OHbloggers

I had the opportunity to go to Columbus with Erin for a blogger meet up and boy, am I happy I made time to do it. I knew a few current blog-friends would be there, but was so excited to be able to meet some new faces, too! The adorable Holly and super sweet Shane put this event together and we had an absolute blast for hours, they were great hosts and even passed out prizes to a few random winners! Isn't it crazy that you can mingle with women you've NEVER met, for hours on end and talk until the sun goes down?! I just love it.

One gal I was especially excited to meet? Miss Vanessa. We've been chatting and reading each other's blogs for quite sometime now...and it was SO fun getting to squeeze her and chat about life, face to face!

Shane and Holly had us all fill out a form about ourselves, and a gal named Katie overheard Erin and I saying we were from Cincinnati -- turns out, she was, too! I had a blast getting to know her. We talked about blogs (obviously), all things Cincinnati, and found out we BOTH got engaged in Hilton Head. What a small world?! She's a fashion blogger, and so stinking adorable. She's newer to this crazy blogging world, and you can find her blogging over at Out and Outfit.

Holly! So darn sweet.

Even got to finally meet miss Margaret, but I'm calling her Maggie : )

I can't say enough amazing things about these ladies. Blogging has truly brought SO much joy to my life that I never, EVER expected. One of the questions on the sheet we had to answer was 'what's the best blog advice you've received?', and my answer was to "always write for yourself". Writing for myself keeps me happy, and if I hadn't been, I may have quit by now, and wouldn't have met these amazing women!

Blogging is definitely hard work, but its worth every hour spent, every photo snapped,  every word typed, just to make new, fun friends from around the world. Some people ask if its really worth investing all the time. My answer? Heck yes, its worth it.

I can't wait for the next one!

Watch out Nashville!

So, its always inevitable...we just kinda grow up. You find your few close friends over the years, and you all just start following the different paths of life. For some of us, its college, marriage, a major job transfer, for others its simply based on the urgency for change.

I made a decision my Freshman year of college to only surround myself with people that challenge me to be better. People who look at life with optimism and joy...and people who will lend an ear when I need to talk. I'm thankful that I found them.

Blurry shots I found from 2008.

Today is the day my Lyndsie moves off to Nashville; her dream city! Since we were twelve, we haven't lived more than 5 minutes from each other. Not that we hang out weekly as it is, because both of our lives are far too busy for that, but it'll be SO weird not being able to swing by her house and drop off our favorite ice cream, or call her on a random week night to watch our favorite movie together. I know I'm going to miss her like crazy, I mean, we've been best friends for about 10 years now...but I just know she's going to do some some awesome things with this new adventure of hers. So I can't help but be psyched for her through this exciting, terrifying, and awesome next chapter in her life!

It really got me thinking about all the different paths we take. None of which are the "wrong" ones to take, but no two paths are the same, either. Thankfully, I know that no matter WHERE life takes my friends and I (emotionally, or geographically), we will always have each other. Fun packages will be sent, Skyping will ensue, and hopefully spontaneous road trips will be in the books.

So Lynds, I love and miss you already!!!
HAPPY FRIDAY!

I bend my books.

In this warm weather, there is almost nothing I love more than sitting outside (preferably in a hammock), with a yummy sweet tea (preferably from Chickfila) with an awesome, addictive book. I love all kinds of books... romance, mystery, medical, drama. I much prefer fiction but I've been known to pick up a memoir or two in my day.

This summer, although I have a crazy little calendar, I'd really like to make time to dive back into books. Yes, I have a Kindle...and an iPad... but there's just something about HOLDING a physical book; bending the pages (which drives my husband crazy), folding over half onto the other, accidentally getting pool or salt water on the pages which forever shrivels the ends up (which I sort of love). I do love me a good e-book, but in a world full of technology, its fun to unplug, kick your feet up, and dive into an ACTUAL book. There is something about getting caught up into a story, making this fake world up in your head, picturing people for characters in the novel, and getting emotionally attached to the storyline.

Yesss, you go Walt.

I totally was that girl and made a Pinterest board for books I wanted to read in 2012...HA, I got about 2 done, and gave up... so its time to revisit, and update that list!

What do I need from you? SUGGESTIONS! Please, let me know your favorite books and tell me what you recommend! I'd really like to finish a few books before the summer is over. I'd like to challenge myself to sit on my patio (which I have yet to do; our apartment is on the second floor and we don't exactly LOVE our fighting neighbors, who seem to always be outside), fix myself a cup of tea, and READ!!

So, help a sister out? ;)