Currently {birthday week}

Alright friends, I'm back this week. I am excited to take part in my favorite link-up, Currently, with Anne and Shea today!

Snacking on: hard boiled eggs. Random, I know, but I'm obsessed. I haven't taken the time to hard boil eggs in probably over a year. But way back then, I found THIS blog post on how to make the PERFECT hard boiled egg and seriously, it's amazing. My Grandma even swears by it now!

Anticipating: my birthday! It's officially a week from my 26th birthday and I'm getting excited! We won't do anything fancy on the actual day (it's a Wednesday) but apparently Caleb has some fun up his sleeve for next Friday! I'm looking forward to a fun, celebratory date night with my man!

Borrowing: the coffee mugs from work. They keep my (candy) coffee SO WARM!

Admiring: all my momma friends out there. You guys work SO HARD! I'm so exhausted after working 8-12 hours a day, your job is 24/7! Special shout out to my sister-in-love for putting on this fundraiser to help get new, educational books in the hands of some sweet kiddos in our area who are in foster care. If you have the means to donate, please consider, and if not, please just share that link!

Purchasing: not much, but we're thinking of getting a gym membership again at Planet Fitness. It's just so inexpensive, and although I can do a lot of workouts at home, there is something motivating about physically driving to the gym to put in a good workout! We'll see!

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday. We're half way through the work-week, friends!

4 years!

Happy anniversary, Caleb. I cannot believe 4 years have flown by! Marriage with you has been the absolute best. Choosing you, again and again, every day, will always be my favorite thing. There is no one else I'd rather do this crazy thing called life with!

Thank you for always making me laugh (and for not judging me when I CAN'T STOP laughing)!

Thanks for that adorable way you looked at me on our wedding day. I don't know how I didn't fall into a puddle on the floor right then and there.

Thank you for just letting me vent when I need it, and for being my sounding board when I'm going crazy.

Thank you for surprising me with pizza on random weeknights. Thank you for praying for us before bed. Thank you for being my rock, every darn day.

I always have a really hard time putting into words the way you make me feel, but I'm going to try. You're the most selfless person in the world, and I'm so insanely PROUD to call you my husband. I tell people almost every single day that you're the nicest human I've ever met. You're constantly looking for ways to make me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. There is no problem too small, and you're always willing to listen, even when you can't fix it. 

 I'm so thankful that you're a total kid at heart. I believe that is a quality that most people lose, and I'm thankful you want to hold on to that for us. You don't let anything embarrass you, and that's one of the most attractive things about you - other than your calves ;)

I just can't say thank you enough for all that you are! I'm so so so grateful to not only be your wife, but to be your best friend. I love you! Here's to a lifetime! <3

Love, K

Work, relax, play, repeat.

This past weekend went way too quickly. Isn't that how they all go?! We had ourselves a pretty eventful weekend, and they always say - time flies when you're having fun. So, I can't complain!

Before I left work Friday, Caleb had convinced me that we were going to treat ourselves to some Chinese take out since we'd been pretty good all week... so of course, my mind was dead set on getting my crab rangoon. So when I come home and see seasoned chicken ready for the grill, I quickly realized he had sabotaged our cheat-night and was going full blown healthy on me with a grilled chicken salad. I have to say, I was temporarily bummed because my heart was set on take-out, but man this salad was delish and I'm glad he made that healthy decision for us! We stayed in and relaxed the entire evening with a movie night.

Saturday was one of the earlier days we'd have to work this year, and one of the longest, but man was it awesome. We were pretty nervous because we woke up to our phones blasting an "Emergency Flash Flood Warning", which is never something you want to hear right before you photograph a wedding! I prayed and prayed and crossed all my fingers and toes that it would turn into a beautiful day, and you guys, it totally did! Andrew & Elisa were just so excited to get married and finally see each other, they weren't concerned with the weather at all. It reminded me that regardless of what the weather will do or what hiccups may arise, when you have two people who love each other that much, nothing else matters!

PS you're going to lose it when you see his reaction to her walking down the aisle (even after a first look prior). I MAY have cried, too.

It was a crazy long day and even with a slight migraine that I got halfway through, it was totally worth it when I saw a text from Elisa come through the day after with nothing but amazing things to say. Those day-after thank you's will NEVER get old! They truly keep us going, some days!

Sunday was seriously jam packed, but seriously awesome. We had a great morning at church, and a productive afternoon (groceries, Caleb's haircut, ran some errands) before a fun evening out with some people from church. We bought tickets nearly two months ago for The Outcry Tour (a concert put on by Elevation Worship, Lauren Daigle, Jesus Culture and one of my favorite pastors/speakers; Steven Furtick)! We stopped at Eli's BBQ (local friends: it was SO GOOD!!!) for dinner before hand!

The concert was incredible. It's so amazing to be in a room with thousands of believers, worshipping our great God. There were many points of the night I was in tears, just so overwhelmed! The evening did not disappoint and we all had such a great time. The late bedtime is rough on me this Monday morning, but I've got coffee in hand so I can tackle it.

Hope you had a great weekend, too! Tell me about it!

Life lately.

I can't thank you all enough for your encouraging comments, texts, emails, tweets, and all the love on yesterday's post! It truly means the world that Caleb and I have so many people "on our team" to cheer us on through this new and exciting journey!

I never did blog about my weekend, mainly because I haven't had time to sit down and upload all the pictures from my memory card, but I realized I just didn't care. I don't want to forget all the awesomeness that took place!

Last Friday we headed out to Athens, OH (it was actually Nelsonville, but almost no one knows where that is) to photograph our LAST WEDDING OF THE YEAR! I can hardly believe it when I say that out loud; 31 weddings this year?! I get a little exhausted just thinking about it, but it's something I'm really proud that we accomplished!

copy of a photo, not high res.

We photographed inside an old Opera House from the 1800's and it was AWESOME! Caleb and I love shooting in non traditional venues!!

We drove home early Sunday morning in time for our first Christmas celebration with Caleb's side of the family and it was a great time. I got so many wonderful gifts (like I wish I had the photo ready of my face when I opened my brand new 12 cup food processor - eek!!) and Caleb and I left with an entire laundry basket full of new gifts. We're so thankful!

Right after that, we rushed to meet up with our high schoolers to go Christmas caroling that evening! Like I said, I really wish I had the photos uploaded already so I could share the emotion, but with every home we stopped at, we all got more and more emotional. Every elderly member of the church we sang to had tears in their eyes. It was honestly such a moving experience! I hope we can make this an annual tradition!

I'm excited to report Caleb and I HAVE been a lot more festive since I created my December to do list earlier in the month. It feels great to really be celebrating Christmas every day leading up! We basically celebrate it until the new year!

I hope everyone has a fun day! I unfortunately have to work all week, but I took a couple extra days off next week to enjoy with Caleb. Can't wait to unplug and just BE! 

ITS LAUNCH DAY! Our business is here!

Today is the day, friends. The day our business and website officially launch. Our website is complete, images are finalized, prices are set, and we are SO excited to be business owners. We've prayed for this for SO long and I can't even explain to you how much love has been put into this (by so many people, not just Caleb and I), and I can't thank everyone enough. The support, encouragement and love sent our way has been so amazing! So thankful for one of our best friends (who doubles as our SIL), Erin, for making our incredible logo! We're just so grateful to get to do what we love!

So friends, HERE IT IS! ENJOY!

I also wanted to share the blog post below that I posted on our website, for those of you who are interested in our back story, or if you just need a distraction from work. We hope you'll tune in and give us all the virtual high fives from wherever you are today. We are so thankful for you!
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Welcome to Kayla & Caleb! We're Cincinnati based wedding & portrait photographers! We're so incredibly thankful to be starting this business together. This dream has been a long time in the making and we're so grateful it's finally here! If you've got some time, kick back with some hot tea, get your favorite box of cookies out, and read on!

I'm Kayla. When I was just a young teenager, I had dreams of becoming a photographer. I thought I wanted to work for National Geographic and photograph animals and see the world (those things still do sound a bit appealing). All I had to work with at the time was an original Wide Polaroid and my Motorola Razr flip phone, but I made it work. I would photograph anything I could see and anyone that would let me. I grew to love photography even more, and the passion only got stronger as I grew up. Fast forward a few years to post-high school life, when I reconnected with Caleb. We were young, and we fell in love FAST. We spent our evenings watching bad TV, and eating way too much ice cream. When we came home from school, I turned 20 and he gifted me my first DSLR (cue the tears and ridiculous happy dancing), and that's when everything clicked.

Just kidding. I really wasn't very good; I'll be honest! I had no idea what I was doing, but people didn't care because I had a passion for it. I slowly taught myself what I needed to know about my camera and did free sessions for years. I always had dreams of owning my own business, but always thought that dream was too big and that self employment was truly not in the cards for me.

After Caleb and I got married in 2013, he started to pick up my camera here and there to document our lives. He was a true natural and he really had an eye for it! He started to love it and joined me on one of my first weddings for fun, almost just to pass the time. Turns out he was pretty stinkin' good! A few months after our OWN wedding, our amazing photographers took us to dinner and they asked us to join their business as "Associate Photographers" (cue more tears and ridiculous happy dancing). What?! I couldn't believe it. My dreams finally felt within reach.

We happily accepted their offer and worked under their company for over 3 years, photographing 100+ weddings and meeting lots of new people. The experience and knowledge they gave us was invaluable. We learned a lot, and really honed in on our natural style of photography (raw, emotional, timeless and FUN) within the last year. We've grown so much over the last 3+ years, but neither of us could shake the feeling it was time to for a new adventure. We prayed about it, thought of so many reasons it could potentially fail, and then decided to just punch fear in the face and GO FOR IT. Our pastor once told us "you can what-if your dreams to death, but you'll never know until you try", and that was such a light bulb moment for us. We knew it was time to start our own business! So here we are, as "Kayla & Caleb".

We get such a unique opportunity as photographers; to witness and be part of some of the most intimate moments of our clients lives! It's truly an experience we don't take for granted. We can't wait to meet all of you, and start this adventure together. We want to give our clients an experience they'll never forget.

Caleb and I love what we do, and we can't wait to show you just how much!
Stay tuned for more fun!

Thankful for our weekend!

First I just have to say, YAY for a short work week! I'm very thankful to work for a company that allows me to not only have Thanksgiving off, but also Friday as well! I plan on spending LOTS of time relaxing.

I mentioned it last week, but Caleb and I started leading a Young Adult group within our church (for seniors in HS to age 24). This is more of a transitional group for the teens leaving youth group (which we actually help lead, too, so it'll be fun to see them grow) and going into adulthood/working/college life! Friday was supposed to be our first meeting, and we got some unfortunate news that our original plans would no longer work (a bonfire near woods with dry air and a burn advisory in the county do NOT make for ideal conditions). Instead of freaking out, Caleb and I decided to make the best of it and come up with Plan B. He had the brilliant idea of having a low key pizza night (where he also hosted my birthday surprise) in the party room at Donatos! Everyone loved it and a few of us even went across the street to Starbucks afterward. We spent a total of 4ish hours talking with everyone about life, their situations, their jobs, and just excited to grow in community together!

YAY for my first red cup of the season. I don't go there often so I was excited

My personal goal for this first meeting was for at least 10 people to show up, well, including Caleb and I, we had 13. It was so fun to hang with all of these awesome people. They have some amazing ideas for our group and we can't wait to see it all come together! We've invented "Frismas" (Friendsgiving/Christmas) that we're planning in a few weeks and cannot wait for! It is awesome to have a new community of people to spend time with, and grow in community with!

Saturday was a good mix of sleeping in, relaxing ALL DAY (it was amazing, seriously), and spending time with our best friends in the evening. It was Jared's birthday and so we planned a game night with he and Erin! It's always so fun and I'm so thankful we've made sure to continue with our tradition of game night over the years!

Sunday we heard an amazing message at church about us all having unique talents/abilities that we can "bring to the table", which was so perfect for the upcoming holiday! After church, we headed to Caleb's parents for a Thanksgiving/Birthday/Bengals celebration; unfortunately we didn't stay more than a couple hours because Caleb wasn't feeling very well. We're hoping its just a quick virus that he can shake soon! Sadly, the Bengals loss was pretty ugly! But the time with family was awesome, and the food was incredible! Yay for leftovers!

I'm so thankful for our weekend off. I also can't believe we have THREE more before our next, and last wedding of the year. We are so thrilled to just BE for a while! I hope everyone had a fun weekend, and can enjoy a short week before Thanksgiving is here!

Our much needed staycation.

Last week was our glorious stay-cation. Since our Hilton Head Island trip got cancelled due to the hurricane, we decided to still take a few days off to enjoy time together, rather than cancel it all together. That vacation time of mine will go away by the end of the year if its left unused, and we all know that can't happen! ;) 

We worked Monday, so our staycation started that evening! But Tuesday we decided to go see The Accountant at the movies pretty early in the day. You guys, it was so so good! I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it! After that we grabbed lunch and spent the afternoon at home relaxing. That evening Caleb decided he wanted to burn a birthday gift card so we hit the town and did a little shopping.

Wednesday was Caleb's 28th birthday! We started the day bright and early with an 8:30 AM tee-time. I honestly know next to nothing about golf, but Caleb is really good! I only did 9 holes, but Caleb went with 18. He had fun teaching me the ropes, but lets be honest, the only thing I'm good for at a golf course is driving the golf cart! ;)

Once we got back home and cleaned up, I gave him his presents and then we hit the local outlets for a few hours! After the outlets we decided to try out Miami Valley Gaming. It was a lot of fun and we actually won some money at first, so we left early and had a very high-calorie dinner and decided not to be sorry about it. We're talking spinach and artichoke dip, burgers, shrimp, chicken, garlic french fries... yeah, I'm drooling again. ;)

His birthday was much different than I had originally planned, since I obviously had an entire day planned in HILTON HEAD.  But I presented Caleb with lots of options and he chose what he wanted and we had the best time together. I love that I have a husband who is so "go with the flow" and low-key. We could've stayed at home all day celebrating, and he would've probably been just as happy. Regardless, we had the best time celebrating how awesome he is!!

Thursday was spent doing NOTHING but gorging on donuts and starting The Lord of The Rings trilogy. This was Caleb's idea, but I have to say, I really liked them. Well, we only got through the first one that day but I really enjoyed it. It was the extended edition, so we're talking over 3 hours for the first movie, ha!

Friday we stopped by the OTHER outlets in town because Caleb was less than thrilled with Nike's selection on his birthday a few days prior at the other outlets, and he scored big! I was so excited for him! He found some really nice shirts that will definitely be his new go-to's! After that, we spent our evening at Dave and Busters gaming the night away. We had way too much fun!! I feel like a kid every time I'm there, and I love it!

Saturday was spent in a giant pit of never ending laundry and taking our tripod/new camera out for a spin. We took over 100 and ended up with MAYBE 4 cute ones, but we had a fun time, and that's what matters!

This was honestly the "reset" week that Caleb and I needed. We did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We did a lot of eating, resting, and also a whole lot of nothing. It was everything we wanted and needed it to be! Thanks for making it through the long post. It was just the best week!! I'm so thankful for that week off!

Hope everyone has a great day!

We have news - and its not what you think!

Caleb and I have been keeping a little secret from the blog world (lets get one thing clear right off the bat - no, we're not expecting) lately!

As you probably already know, Caleb and I are wedding photographers, and I post some of our work here every now and then. Here's the quick back story, for those of you that don't know! In 2013, our wedding photographers took a huge leap in their business and decided to make us a part of their team (you can read about that here)! So every wedding you've seen on this blog has been booked under their company. Caleb and I still did all the consultations, emailing, photographing, editing and delivering, but we were building up our experience level and learning a TON with each and every session/wedding.

 It was an unbelievable blessing; and our calendars filled up very quickly! I remember crying ugly tears on the way home from dinner with them thinking "My dreams are totally coming true"! It was surreal, we've learned so much the last 3+ years, and the experience with them has been absolutely invaluable.

However, over the course of this year, Caleb and I both felt God nudging us to something new, something unknown, something slightly terrifying. It was entirely too scary to even talk seriously about for a while, and then one night we both said, what are we waiting for!? Lets kick fear in the face!

So in June, we had our good friends over who own the business, and after some good pizza and even better conversation, we informed them that we would no longer be booking through their company because we've decided to...

START OUR OWN BUSINESS!

We're so unbelievably excited! Being in this business has already proved to be somewhat difficult, but it's absolutely going to be worth. I cannot wait to be my own boss! There are so many things that go into starting a business I hadn't even though of, but we're ecstatic about this new adventure God has called us to. We haven't officially launched, and its eating me alive, so I just had to get the news out there. We're hoping to be live before the holiday season gets underway!

I truly can't wait to be official and serve our clients in a new, fun, exciting way! I want to give them a whole experience. I can truly say, we've been fortunate enough to get a lot of couples who not only value us as vendors, but as humans, too! We have real friendships with some of these people, and THAT is what its all about. Creating genuine, authentic community with people; not just showing up, taking photos and posing. I'm so ready to see where this adventure takes us!

I'll keep the blog updated when we're officially launched, but in the meantime, please send Caleb and I all the good vibes, prayers, well wishes, etc.! Thanks for your support!!

Happy birthday, hunk!

Today is this handsome guy's 28th birthday!!

Caleb, you're my absolute favorite person on the planet!! You constantly amaze me with how funny, kind and giving you are. I love the way you try to make everyone feel welcomed, how much you make me laugh, and that you never judge me (despite my weird flaws).

I'm so thankful that you're not only my husband, but my best friend. Life with you is such an adventure and I'm just thankful you're by my side through all the good and bad that life throws our way.

I wanted to thank you today, for ALL the little (and big) things you do for me! Thanks for...

...letting me steal the covers

...trying your hardest to stay awake during movies

...surprising me with random mountain dews

...doing our taxes every year

...always hugging me when I come home

...bringing me snickers ice cream

...not being mad on our wedding day when I shoved the cake in your face

...always pursuing me

...being down for ordering pizza at least once a month

...pushing me to be my best

...joining my photography dream team

...sending me sweet text messages

...being so darn handsome

...supporting my love of queso

...never taking life too seriously

...staying up way too late with me

...being so supportive
...constantly listening to my crazy thoughts
...loving me, and choosing me, every single day.

Basically, thanks for being the best husband EVER. You're my rock, and I'm so thankful you're mine! Have the best birthday ever. So thankful we get to spend today-and rest of the week-together on a last minute stay-cation! :)

New camera = fun weekend

Basically anytime I left the house this past weekend, my upgraded, new, amazing baby came with me; aka my new camera! So here's my weekend, with little words, through the eyes of our cameras...

Friday night we rushed home from work to get to Erin and Jared's for a little birthday celebration for Caleb and my mother-in-law! Can you tell they are brothers?! ;)

Saturday was an early morning, prepping for the wedding day ahead and cleaning the house.

Of course we had to make our usual gas-station pick up for some fuel (as in both gas AND food)... we stick to tradition.

Jessica and Scott were just the sweetest. They had THE MOST low-key, casual wedding day. It's so fun working with people who are so in love, and who love to have fun!

We drove a golf cart around for about an hour, which is always a fun part of any golf-course wedding day!

We enjoyed a delicious cup of caramel macchiato coffee at the reception...then made it home in time to watch the rest of the OSU game. It was pretty sad, so I fell asleep early.

Sunday we stayed in, watched a glorious Bengals win! Woo woo! Then we headed to my grandparents around dinnertime to enjoy some time with them. We watched the season premiere of The Walking Dead. I really HATE when people spoil/mention stuff within a day or two of the show airing, so I won't say anything except O-M-G. So good!

We took the camera (of course) and Caleb snapped the most gorgeous photo of their pup, Sophie.

I couldn't help but snag a couple photos of their new property. They are so fortunate, I truly felt like we were on vacation while walking their property! Which was nice, seeing as we planned to have a "viewing party" of the show at our Hilton Head rental last night (insert sad emojis)...but really, how lucky are they with this view?

There ya have it! Our weekend. Since Caleb and I were supposed to be in Hilton Head, soaking up the sun, and that didn't happen - we decided to take the rest of the week off. We're both working today, but will have the rest of the week off, so things might be a little quiet around here! We'll be celebrating his birthday, exploring more of our city, and honestly just doing a lot of relaxing together. We truly need it!

Hope everyone had a great one, and has an awesome week!

The weekend I wished would never end.

Guys, I am feeling so relaxed. This past weekend, Caleb and I were able to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. This isn't something that happens often, so for us, we were almost at a loss at what to do and ended up taking lots of naps. We weren't mad about it one bit.

Just like last Friday, we spent another fun evening with Erin and Jared while our nephew slept the night away. We laughed about everything and nothing, looked at old photos and stayed up way too late. Unfortunately we didn't get a ton of sleep, BUT woke up around sunset to help my grandparents move into their new home.

I'll be honest, it was a little emotional. This was my childhood home, where I had sleepovers with my best friends! The home I woke up in on my wedding day. I quickly reminded myself that home is where our family is, not a specific location, and I was all better. Their new ranch home is awesome, and you really can't beat the views. The family that owns the surrounding land is a family friend of ours and they have horse stables and acres of gorgeous land for miles.

After the move, Caleb and I had plans to watch the Buckeyes game, then hit up a local farm to pick pumpkins. Well, halfway through the game we took a nap and when we woke up, neither of us really felt like getting ready and driving 30 minutes to pick a pumpkin. So our "all things Fall" day was put on hold for a long nap and a late date night. I didn't mind one bit!

We got ready and hit up our favorite Mexican place in all the land. We stayed for a couple hours and just laughed the night away. We definitely ordered TWO sides of queso - you could call us wild ;) I'm so thankful for a husband who pursues me and still tries to get to know me more and more! We had so much fun together.

Sunday was amazing. So much lounging around! We made sure to have a breakfast date, watched a ton of football, got a lot of laundry done and relaxed the day away. I'm so thankful for this weekend that recharged me in so many ways. Now this upcoming weekend is packed full with two weddings and lots of football and church. I am so ready for vacation at the end of the month!!

My 25th rocked.

I can't quite put into words how wonderful my 25th birthday was on Tuesday. I also can't explain the overwhelming love I felt ALL. STINKIN. DAY.

I had a great day at work with lots of well wishes to keep my birthday tank full!

I beat Caleb home, so I cleaned up a bit and then changed into a more casual outfit for dinner. Once he got ready he let me open my presents - and holy cow - he nailed it. We never ever make wishlists or anything like that, but he got me exactly what I didn't even know I wanted.

This gorgeous purse, the flowers, and the most simple perfect pineapple necklace.

We left the house around 6:30 and had plans to eat IN at Donatos Pizza (its a silly thing with me, but Caleb never wants to eat in restaurants like that, and I always do, so to me this was super fun and special) then head to the movies. When we first walked in the restaurant, I was in the middle of watching the sweetest birthday video my friend Becky sent me, so I wasn't very aware of what was going on around me. Caleb kind of turned me to the side and wouldn't you know - 20 of our closest friends and family were there in the party room screaming SURPRISE!

I couldn't believe it.

The tears came and went quickly, and I just tried to hug everyone as fast as I could! Then we all dug in! Caleb pre ordered a ton of pizza, wings and snacks for everyone. We all had a blast. I kept looking around like, I'm so lucky, and also - how did I not see this coming?! I feel like I'm normally good at figuring things out, and I was totally clueless this time.

Oh hiiiii cute nephew. Baby T is the cutest.

We all hung out for a couple of hours and caught up on life, stuffing ourselves silly. It meant so much that so many people came. I know everyone has a million and a half things going on, and it really made me feel special to see everyone toss everything to the side for a night to celebrate my 25th year.

This guy, though. I can't even begin to tell you how special he's made me feel. Not only for my birthday, but the last 7 years. He's pursued my heart day in and day out constantly.

The surprise was unreal, the gifts were amazing, and the food was delicious; but I think my favorite part of it all was the letter Caleb wrote me. It's something that I'll treasure until the day I die. It was more than just a sweet paragraph in a card, and I honestly can't talk about it much without crying. That's all I'll say about that, but goodness, I love this man.

So if Tuesday was any indication of how my year of 25 will be...I'm pretty dang excited.

Thanks for all the well wishes, friends!