Weekends for the WIN!

Caleb and I had NO weddings on the books for this past weekend so we both had lots of plans to spend it with friends, be productive and to spend some uninterrupted time together. I'm thankful to say we made all of the above happen!

Friday right after work I met two of my ladies at our local favorite Mexican restaurant for endless chips and queso! We had way too much fun using snap chat filters, reminiscing and talking about the future!

yeah we were definitely THOSE people who sat on the same side of the round booth most of the night... :)

Saturday, Caleb had a softball tournament that we didn't realize would last the MAJORITY of the afternoon. So around 11AM I started doing WORK on the upstairs. It was clutter central and I really couldn't stand it any longer. Our spare bedroom had basically turn into a life size junk drawer and even though the door was usually always closed, it gave me real anxiety just thinking about it. So I spent a few hours de-cluttering, cleaning, organizing (jamming out to my new playlist) and just kind of enjoying some solo time!

I got WAY too excited when I realized how many candles I had stowed away in our hall closet storage container...and I still told Caleb, a girl can never have too many! ;)

When Caleb returned home, he was really worn out, so he took a quick nap and then we both got cleaned up and headed out for a fun date night. No phones, no interruptions, and it was marvelous. We talked about random, hilarious stories from school, how we fell in love, etc.! I'm so thankful for a husband who pursues me everyday! We had such a great time.

Sunday. was. amazing. Our church started offering two identical services so we chose to go to the early one and we're pumped because this means we'll now get BACK an extra hour and a half in our Sundays, which is huge for us! After that we prepared for the Bengals game! We have been waiting for this day for what feels like FOREVER and were so excited it was finally here!

Our guys pulled out a WIN! It was close, especially after a rough first half, and the game was a nail biter, but I'm so happy to start the season off 1-0! Feels great! #whodey

I really hope everyone had a great weekend, too! I'm excited for this week. Caleb and I are starting to workout together again and that just keeps me motivated, he's a great personal trainer!

Well that was awesome.

Last night I touched the turf of the Bengals field! It was kind of a freaking incredible experience. Yeah yeah, its only pre season, but it was pretty awesome, still, and I'm not ashamed with my level of excitement! ;)

My old college friend Olivia asked me to join her for the game, and I hadn't seen her in years! It was honestly just such a great time seeing her and getting to catch up. I actually was there to capture when her then-boyfriend proposed to her back in 2013! Such a sweet moment that I was thankful to be a part of!

So last night, I picked her up, we grabbed Chickfila, then headed down to the stadium. It was so surreal to be standing literally 10 feet from some of these amazing athletes (hello Tyler Eifert. hello AJ Green, hello Tyler Boyd)...

Although the game wasn't amazing, it was still so fun to be there. We truly couldn't have asked for better weather. At kickoff, it was low 70's and felt amazing. Really put me in the mood for Fall. Too bad the temps this weekend and next week will be high 80's/low 90's.

So that concludes my friday post...it was basically the highlight of my week so that's all I've got! Hope everyone gets to enjoy a nice LONG weekend! We have one wedding tomorrow but we're extra thankful for the Monday that we get off to spend together.

Make it count, friends!

FOOTBALL FRIDAY!

August is my favorite month of the year. It's the month of my birthday, its the same month Caleb asked me to be his girlfriend, and years later its the same month that he proposed to me... but year after year, its also my favorite month because it means FOOTBALL IS BACK! Sure, its just preseason, but hello! It's still so exciting! Seeing orange and black back on the field makes my heart beat a little faster and its something Caleb and I love to celebrate together!

Since my sister in love is having her annual football link up today, I wanted to share some of my favorite #whodeymemories! Like...

-Ordering pizza when Caleb and I first started dating watching the game together!

...and if we weren't watching it together, it's usually because we were there together...

in 2009 Caleb gifted me tickets to my first Bengals game! It was the best! 50 yard line, 15 rows up.

-Driving to Pizza Hut 45 minutes away to watch the game since we didn't have cable at school!

-Celebrating a victory with family by taking crazy pictures and tossing a ball!

hi long haired me!

-Surprising Caleb with amazing seats for his birthday against the Baltimore Ravens, and WINNING!

-One of the craziest games we've ever witnessed was the Seahawks game last October when our friends came to town. We won in OT and the stadium roared in victory!

-Hitting the road with friends to cheer on our team! From driving to Indy for the playoffs (yes, all 5 of us in one tiny car, like, the tiniest), to the time we drove to Tennessee for a random away game!

-Of course, no football get together in our family is complete without our go to snacks...

ERIN'S CRACK DIP//MY SUMMER SALSA
RICE KRISPIES//OATMEAL CREME PIES

Honestly I'm so ready for Fall. I hate to wish the seasons away, but I'm more than READY this year! So what about you? Are you a big football fan? Who's your team!? What's your favorite snack!?

Have a great weekend, guys!

Life goes on..

Heartbroken. Emotional. Confused. Those are three little words that described me on Saturday night, and nearly all of yesterday. My Bengals were defeated in the playoff game against the Steelers at home, but I'm sure you already knew that, unless you aren't into sports or have been living under a rock.

The emotional roller coaster that was the second half of that game was just crazy. I cried real tears of joy and sadness all within ten minutes.  Its games like that that make it hard to be such an invested fan of any team. The truth is - the game just didn't end the way we wanted it. I could go on for a while about it, but I won't! We sulked and complained all the way home, and a little bit of yesterday, but I'm quickly reminded that although the loss hurt (bad), life still goes on...

...and I still have the same adorable, football loving husband, and we made a lot of fun memories together at the stadium Saturday night...

Other than going to the game, we cleaned our entire place this weekend - and finally put away all the christmas decorations! Our living room seems so much more open without that tree! I'm also happy to report I've now worked out 3 days in a row. I'm truly trying to make this new year a healthier one. I officially took my "before" photos, and I believe doing that was a pretty big motivator for me!

It also snowed last night, and my windshield wiper SNAPPED off my car from being so frozen, so we skipped youth group and made a trip to Walmart so I can safely drive to work this week! ;)  Although its freezing, the first snowfall was beautiful!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Friday means...

Friday means...CELEBRATE! We made it.

1. Sweet, sweet Friday. I'm a happy girl today. As you can see in that first photo, Caleb and I are (diehard) Bengals fans and proud of it. Win or lose, the Bengals are our team, but they are making it REALLY fun this season. A few of these games haven't been pretty, but no matter what, we've pulled through with another win! Last night was no exception - we were pumped!!!

2. We also got back into running this week. I had a few sessions/photography obligations, so Caleb would run with his brother when I wasn't around, but it feels great to hit the pavement again and I'm getting excited about putting my health first!

3. Speaking of health! That salad - it was amazing. Usually when I pack my lunch, its just enough to hold me over, but not without having a snack around 3:00 at my desk. This thing left me full all the way until dinner time - AND look how colorful! #bonuspoints

4. That last photo just makes me smile - are Allison and Austin not the happiest people you've ever seen?! These two seriously giggled the way through their entire wedding day. I edited my fingers off every other commercial break and made a huge dent in their photos, and this one stuck out to me, so I thought I'd share!

I know it wasn't a huge post, but its all my brain could muster today. Thanks for all of you who come back to this little blog. I so enjoy doing it, even when it makes no sense ;) I've seen a few new faces, so maybe its time for another 'about me' post soon?

I hope everyone has a fun weekend ahead. We only have 3 weddings left for the year and tomorrow's is going to be AH-MAZING! I just know it. Happy Friday, friends!!!

Busy recap, but amazing weekend.

Friday evening was a blast. I watched my baby brother march across that field arm in arm with my parents, and grandparents, and it was so awesome. Sadly, I was too close to the field to hear the speech they read that he wrote, but I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy soon. It may sound silly to  say about drum line, but this boy makes me so proud. He's the senior Captain and has worked his tail off to get here. I'm grateful for the community of friends he has! Watching him lead their final performance left me in tears (they played "Thanks for the Memories" by Fall Out Boy), and when I finally got to squeeze him...he held on extra long. I love this kid!

thanks to the sneakiest, best husband ever for this new favorite photo!

We had a blast as a family cheering him, and the whole band, on! As well as the football team! Some of these high school kids are really impressive!

We left at halftime, and had time to finally carve some pumpkins when we got home. Guys, we've never done this together and if I do say so myself, we ROCKED it! Caleb straight up free-handed a crazy awesome Iron Man, and I used a stencil to carve Wreck it Ralph.

Saturday I woke up and headed out to finally get my hair done. My girl Becca always makes me feel beautiful!

We kept ourselves busy by stopping by sweet little Charlotte's 1st birthday party! We got there really early and snagged some family photos for them. I mean, are they not the most GORGEOUS family you've ever seen!?

We even snagged our usual, ridiculous, traditional "mantle photo" :)

That evening, we enjoyed dinner with our best friends, and then passed out candy! While Erin and I didn't technically "dress up", the guys did...and we all had a fun evening passing out candy!

Sunday, of course, was spent screaming (with actual tears) at the TV during one of the ugliest games we've ever witnessed. BUT we won!! It may have been an ugly win (not as ugly as those bumble bee jerseys - gag me), but hey, I'll take it! 7-0 feels AWESOME!

We enjoyed the rest of the evening with the teens of the youth group. October was a crazy month that we didn't make time for church/the teens and boy, did we miss them! We're so excited to be back! ALSO - does anyone else watch The Walking Dead?! I seriously was so bored through the entire episode Sunday night. #comeon

I have SO many edits to mull through over the next few nights -along with a couple photo shoots, then my month slows down like crazy! Thank goodness, I need it! :) hope you all had a fun, safe, Halloween weekend!!

Blogging is crazy!

A few years ago, Becky and I started reading each others blogs and commenting nearly daily. We always joked that one day we'd meet and we'd eat as much Mexican food as our bellies could handle and finally go on a long run together. Well, I'm thankful that last March, Becky bought a plane ticket to make that funny dream a reality because now - I consider her a REAL life friend. She's always just a snapchat/text message away, and I'm so thankful for who she is...especially when she agrees to look like crazies in the Photo Booth app.

that time Erin and I introduced Becky to the COOLEST supermarket ever! ;)

I may not be the best at this blogging thing, but I sure am having fun with it. If there's one thing I'm most thankful for in regards to blogging, it's all these amazing friendships I've created that I genuinely know would continue if our blogs ceased to exist. Becky is not only a fantastic friend, she's extremely hard working! She's in the middle of training for her first FULL marathon!  If you have a second, leave a comment and tell Becky how stinkin' awesome she is and wish her a happy 25th birthday!!! =)

In other news, I had an incredible engagement session last night and holy gorgeousness, guys! Dani and Tony were amazing...

Even though he's a Steelers fan, I guess I can still shoot their wedding next June ;)

I'm thinking of showing more of my work on the blog, rather than just little snippets...like possibly doing a full post on my recent sessions? We'll see. I need to make the time to sit down and actually do it, this is a busy season of life for us! I hope everyone has a fantastic Tuesday.

About as Fall as it gets

We enjoyed friends, football and LOTS of fall-related activities this past weekend. I honestly needed a work-free weekend to enjoy, unwind and relax with family and friends. Friday evening we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday with some funny stories, plenty of gifts, and the best darn cookie cake we've ever had! Seriously, Sams Club is where its at.

Saturday we got an early start to the day when our favorite friends picked us up and we headed to the best little Fall farm in town. We hadn't gone together in a few years so it was time to reignite the tradition. We snapped this silly photo, spent HOURS getting lost in a maze (we're almost certain the map was incorrect), and then gave up. Oh well ;) we had a blast. I do have to take a moment to brag on Erin and I... we both picked out our pumpkins in about 5 minutes. The boys on the other hand? Not so much. 20 minutes later they still couldn't decide...but finally ended up making their selections. Can't wait to carve them up for Halloween! This will be the first time Caleb and I have ever done that together!

Of course, we had to get the same photo. 2012 vs 2015!

We had the best time, and of course, kept the day going with Skyline. After that corn maze, we were all a little hangry ;)

Later that evening, two of our other awesome friends came in town from Columbus to spend a quick 24 hours with us! I love when friends make special trips into town! We went to one of our favorite Mexican places and spent hours catching up with them! We all woke up early the next morning to score some donuts at our favorite local shop, then packed up the car to head downtown and grill out hot dogs while playing some corn hole! It rocked.

THEN!!!!!!! We headed to the stadium to watch the Bengals/Seahaws game. This was my first home game of the year, and I definitely picked the best one to go to. We got amazing seats and I definitely got burnt, but O-M-G, like I said...best game I've ever been to.

Our friends who came into town are Seahawks fans...Andy actually played with Russel Wilson back in college, as a punter. Unfortunately for him, my Bengals beat the Seahawks in OT and they are now 5-0!!!! Caleb and I may or may not have had tears in our eyes, while jumping up and down in celebration for a crazy amount of time. #dontjudge


After the game, we enjoyed the views our city has to offer before heading home. They already can't wait to come back to explore again! Maybe it was the Bengals win, but man, I really love my city!!!! The rest of that evening we edited and watched more football...because, why not? Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and that the weather was as beautiful as it was here in Ohio!!

We made it!!!

Phew, I can finally breathe... for now. I survived 2 engagement sessions and 2 weddings within 72 hours. Woo!! What kept me going? A comfy king size hotel room bed, and a lot of energy drinks.

The day started out in Downtown Cincinnati for Jessica and Justin's big day! We had a great time, and finally got to shoot at a new venue - New Riff! It was awesome. They were serious troopers, it was FREEZING outside, and also spitting rain... luckily, outdoor photographs were really important to them and they toughed it out. I think it was WELL worth it. My one piece of advice to brides? ROCK your dress. It's the only day you're going to wear it, so make it worth it. Suck it up, and dance in the rain a little ;)

After we left, we made the 2.5 hour drive up to Maria Stein, OH! The long drive brought to you by this delicious hot chocolate...

We woke up on Saturday and prepped for the day ahead. Molly and Chris were SUCH a gorgeous, sweet couple. Molly and I had never met in person, but spent many hours over Skype getting to know each other. She's one of the sweetest gals I've had the chance to work with. Unfortunately, the weather didn't agree with us and kept us inside the majority of the day. However, they chose the most gorgeous barn to get married in, so it all worked out!

Caleb and I didn't get to bed until well after midnight, seeing as we had a 2.5 hour drive home...so sleeping in is just what the doctor ordered. Caleb went to the Bengals game yesterday (can I get a WHO-DEY!!?! 4-0 baby!!!), while I stayed home and edited my tush off. Then met up with another sweet couple for their last-minute engagement session. Their wedding is next month, and we can't WAIT!!

I'm definitely exhausted today, but really proud of us for getting through this busy weekend. I'm really looking forward to getting through this work week because this weekend? FREE! I can't believe it. We have LOTS of fun planned and its going to be great! Hope everyone had a fun, fall-filled weekend!!!