Maternity Pictures - Sneak Peek

This past weekend we had maternity pictures taken. Our photographer posted a couple sneak peeks on her facebook page and I wanted to share them here too. Wendy did such a fabulous job and I can't wait to see all of the pictures!

All photos from WLSissonPhotography © 2012

Fall Fun

Happy Monday! Isn't Monday so much better when it is a holiday?

We had beautiful weather here in Upstate this weekend. Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, it still looks like fall up here. I took some pretty pictures of the leaves because they are just starting to change. We also took a trip to the local pumpkin place and picked up pumpkins, mums, cider, and donuts. I decorated the house, including the mantle. It's a little heavy on the orange, but this way I can leave it up through November. I just need to switch out the witch with something Thanksgiving themed. Shouldn't be too hard for this decorating novice.





It was a really great weekend! I am feeling refreshed and ready for the week ahead. Hope you are feeling the same way!

Our Wedding Day...In Pictures

I have finally sat down and picked out a few (okay maybe more than a few) of my favorite wedding pictures. So without further ado.....

Getting laced up

Hard at work

The chapel

Arriving at the chapel (the rain stopped!)
Peeking into the sanctuary
About to walk down the aisle with my dad
The give away
Vows
My aunt and uncle singing the Lord's Prayer (they sang a duet before the ceremony as well, and also sang at my parent's wedding 25 years ago!)
Bubbles!
Relaxing after the ceremony
So happy!
The girls (look at that blue sky!)
The boys (my brother, of course, is not looking at the camera...making this picture perfect. He always does that!)
Cheers!
The Carolina Hotel
Arriving at the hotel
Wasting time before our introduction
First dance
Dancing with my dad
Somehow the flower girl got a hold of a bouquet
Our families (No...our mom's did not plan to wear the same color, and we did not plan to symbolize our union by sitting in front of each others family)
Dancing with my grandpa
Enjoying the rock concert
Our beautiful cake
Our rings

Last shot of the night

Such a wonderful day! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

All photos: Courtney Gray

Photograph Me On My Good Side

I must admit that besides the actually getting married part of the wedding, I think I am most excited for the pictures. I have always loved looking at wedding photography, so to see my own images someday (soon!) makes me so happy!

Our photographer is Courtney Gray, an associate at Tamara Lackey Photography. According to their blog.....

"Tamara Lackey Photography is a boutique photography studio, practicing authentic lifestyle photography and delivering images that showcase expression and relationships."

In other words, exactly what I was looking for.

Here is a webshow of some of Courtney's wedding images:
www.tamaralackey.com/WeddingPhotographybyCourtney

Not only are the pictures beautiful....that song makes me cry every time I listen to it! I can't wait until I have my own webshow of wedding photos!

Upstate NY Makes for Nice Photos

Since the move, I have not been participating in the Exposaroonie weekly challenges. Sad face. For the first two weeks I didn't unpack my laptop....and Alson's laptop doesn't have the necessary photo uploading programs for the pictures I did take. Plus, I was just too overwhelmed to partake in any challenges.

Recently I looked back to see what the challenges were.....and I was sad to find I missed the chance to submit some really nice nature photos we took while we were back in New York two weeks ago. So although I didn't submit my photos (and Alson didn't submit his....he took some great ones too!), I thought they were pretty enough to share with all of you. If you have never been to upstate New York, this is what you are missing!

Taughannock Falls...as seen from the falls overlook.


A view of Cayuga Lake


Lower Taughannock Creek (taken from the car while driving 55 mph...by the passenger, not the driver)

A winery along the Seneca Lake wine trail.

This area has so many photo opportunities I could waste a whole day taking pictures.

And one last photo to leave you with:

Kona illustrating what she thought of all the traveling we did that weekend.

Mission: Put Together

So I know I’m 16 days late in joining Mission: Put Together, but I just found RA's blog today.

I saw Janet’s link to an outfit a couple weeks back, but didn’t understand what her "casual day outfit" was all about until I saw something about it again today, and started doing a little investigating. What I found was a really cool way to see what other bloggers are wearing, so I learn how to put together an outfit while getting some feedback from the other picture posters.

What a perfect time to embark on dressing nice, as I will FINALLY be starting my internship in a couple months (okay, so it's still a ways away, but no sense in waiting until the last minute to figure out how to look good for work right?). Also, since I have recently transplanted from the tobacco fields (the town I lived in literally was built in the middle of tobacco land) of Eastern North Carolina...and graduate school for that matter...where it is acceptable to wear sweats, t-shirts, and un-professional clothing on a daily basis, to DC where all the people I see on the streets are so nicely put together, I sense it's time to stop dressing like a 4 year old (at least when I am venturing out into public).

I was planning on getting ready and looking nice anyway....I am going to meet Alson downtown after (his) work so we can do a little shopping and get a drink. Now I can photograph my outfit and share it with the blog world.

Exposaroonie Weekly Photo Challenge

Clearly I am bored today. I am without a car (as we sold Alson's yesterday and he has taken "ours" to work today) and I don't feel like packing, the only other thing on my to-do list. Hence three posts (so far) in one day.....

This week's challenge at Exposaroonie is to take a photo of a bad habit. Although I have many bad habits to choose from, I settled on letting Kona sleep in our bed. I know that lots of people say this is a no-no, but she's just so cute and snuggly! And she doesn't shed. Okay, enough rationalizing....here is my submission:

And some other shots:

Straddling our freshly washed and folded laundry

Sleeping the day away

Thanks to my models :)

Exposaroonie Weekly Photo Challenge

As I mentioned yesterday, I just got a new camera (yay Canon Rebel!) and am looking to take up photography as a hobby. I saw that Le Petit Chic had posted photos for a weekly photo challenge, and decided that this was the perfect way to start developing my skills!

To assist in the launch of Exposaroonie, this week's challenge is to take a self-portrait so all the photographers can get acquainted. Since I am usually all dolled up for pictures, I wanted to take a different approach and work with the "fresh faced" look. So here is my submission..... me in all my natural glory:

So excited to have a little direction on what to shoot in the coming weeks :)