back behind the lens

to add to our crazy summer, i had an incredible opportunity to shoot my first wedding!  i'm not going to lie, it made me extremely nervous.  i've been doing photography on the side for almost 2 years now, but nothing big --  mostly families and babies.  it was a great experience and i had a lot of fun doing it, but i did confirm that weddings aren't my "thing."  to say it was exhausting and overwhelming would be a HUGE understatement!!  shooting the wedding was awesome, but sorting through and editing all those pictures {about 1,800 to be exact!}... WOW!!  it kind of put me in a slump when i got through with it.

between the slump, school starting and baby king, photography definitely took a backseat.

about a week before the wedding {July 23rd to be exact} i took maternity pictures of my best friend, rachel, and her husband wiley.  thank goodness we did it then because little miss abby decided to make her debut on July 25!  she was about 2 weeks early.  i am embarrased to admit it, but i just finished editing their maternity pictures & abby's newborn pictures yesterday!

my sweet friend, ashley, who had caroline back in august, asked me take her newborn pictures and i am so glad she did!  most importantly because i got to meet miss caroline, but also because it forced me to get back behind the lens.  caroline is a doll and we even snuck her big brother, carter, into some of the pictures!

last wednesday i took pictures for a family that has become very close to reed and i.  they are another great example to us of a Christian husband and wife raising Godly children who are in love with the Lord.  the Lord has already started instilling a heart for missions in their oldest daughter, but i'll save that for another post!  i haven't finished editing their shoot yet, but my goal is to finish it tomorrow.

on a somewhat unrelated note, the Lord has called me back into small group leadership with BSF.  last tuesday, i met with a group of 16 women that i will be shepherding as we walk through the remainder of the study in Acts.  i am so glad he has called me back into this position.  the ladies in my group are so sweet and i am really looking forward to getting to know each of them.