A Blustery Fall Day

My friend Gloria and I are both semi-new to middle Tennessee (she more than I). We are both currently unemployed and thus have time on our hands for adventure. Today we went exploring a bit. We had a grand old time despite nearly freezing our hands off!

First she took me to a fantastic old graveyard out by where she lives.

The fall foliage here in Tennessee just amazes me.

In the afternoon, we went to a great junkyard/antique shop.

We each found some treasures and can't wait to go exploring together again!

A Sunset Wedding

My great friends Dustin and Gloria tied the knot this past weekend in Oklahoma. They were married at my in-laws' beautiful ranch just before sunset. I was so honored when Gloria asked me to help take pictures of her big day. I'm warning you all of the oncoming photo overload!

Look at that beautiful girl.

Gloria wore Dustin's grandmother's pearls.

I absolutely love this picture. She looks so hopeful for her future :o)

We had Dustin turn around so Gloria could approach him from behind and we could capture his first glimpse of his bride. Here he is patiently waiting.

The lady approaches...

I'd say he was pleased :o)

Getting married :o)

What a kiss!

Ze cake!

Bekah (or Fred, to a lot of us), the bride's sister and maid of honor, joyfully introduces the couple at the reception. (My mother-in-law, friend Raven and I made the gourd candle holders! Eek!)

I love this! They had a table with pictures of both families, complete with cameos of the bride and groom in the middle (which I also made! Okay, okay, I'll stop bragging; I'm just so pleased with how they turned out!)

They had guests write wedding wishes on quilt squares. Love it!

Glo and her new father-in-law. Precious.

Preparing for the sparkler sendoff!

Gloria and Dustin, thank you so much again for allowing me to play a part in your beautiful day! I'm so grateful to have you as friends and I wish you every happiness!

Oh, let's be honest. I'm just as happy for myself since y'all live in Nashville now! ;)

What I Saw

I was finished with work early in the afternoon yesterday, so I celebrated the significantly lower temperature by throwing on a cardigan and going on a drive around my area of Nashville with my camera in tow. This is what I saw.

I am in love with where I live.

He's so Fluffy I'm Gonna DIE!!!

It was early this morning, about halfway through my cup of coffee. Ryan had just left for work and I was wondering what to blog about today when it happened.

The door opened and Ryan said, "Hey, Sarah, wanna see the fuzziest caterpillar ever?"

"YES!" I sprang up and starting running toward the door. "Oh wait - camera!"

When my pajama-clad self walked out the door, this is what I saw.

Eeeek! Isn't he cute? (I don't know why, but all creatures in nature are male to me. I wonder what Freud would have to say about that?)

Not only is he attractive to the eye, but he also has an appreciation for the arts. Here he is crawling all over the neighbor kids' sidewalk chalk drawing to get a closer look.

"Come to me, and together we will play and laugh and daydream and I really hope you aren't poisonous and won't bite me even though 'death by caterpillar' would be pretty amusing on the death certificate."

He didn't bite.

Bye-bye, caterpillar friend. I sincerely hope I don't walk outside and find you squashed at my doorstep later today. I would cry.

I'm going to tell myself that you will find a pretty lady caterpillar who looks just like you, only pink and purple, and together you will browse museums and frequent local coffee shops on beat poetry night.

Elly is HERE!

A few weeks ago, I posted Colleen's maternity photos. While shooting that session, I kept thinking, "What if she goes into labor right now?!" Well, baby E's due date in late August came and went, and she was finally born, appropriately, on Labor Day weekend. Elianna Joy is here at last, and I had the privilege of going to visit her and snap some pictures of her now that she's home!

Never would I have expected a baby so new to this world to be SO alert and expressive. I expected her to be sleepy for all of the photos, which would have been adorable anyway, but she surprised us all with wide eyes!

Mother and daughter. Two beautiful ladies indeed.

Phil is the definition of "Proud Papa."

Now they are a family!

Cannot get over this precious girl.

Phil and Colleen, thank you so much for giving me the honor of taking sweet Elly's pics. I'm so excited to watch her grow and learn - she's already off to a great start!