What I've been up to....

Happy May 1st! 

Sorry for disappearing for a while like that. I've been crazy busy editing my friend's wedding pictures, a revival at the church we're helping, homeschooling, among many other things keeping me busy. Here's a few pics of what's been going on recently. 

Here's a couple new friends I made at the revival. The sweet girl in the middle is getting married this Saturday! :)

Here's my little buddy. :) He's imitating my editing pics on my laptop by pretending to type on Rachel's little Barbie laptop. Isn't he cute? :) 

Here's a pic of me at a church crawfish boil last Sunday afternoon. I of course had to go pick out a friend crawfish out of the bucket (before they were boiled) and walked around with him, scaring little kids and cracking up the adults. I guess you can say I'm 100% Cajun. ;) During the short service I had him sitting calmly on the end of my umbrella. Eventually my dad made me put him back before I asked to keep him as a pet. R.I.P. Pierre' Boudreaux. ;) 

A few weeks ago I was getting ready for Sunday evening service and didn't really like how flat my hair looked. So I attempted (once again) to get my hair to do what I wanted with my curling iron. And it worked! It had beautiful, flattering soft waves that I adored. Now, if I can only get it right again....

Then a couple of evenings ago my mom dropped me off at Hobby Lobby to get some chain for a friend's necklaces. I then walked over to my favorite Christian bookstore, Mardel because I love the atmosphere, and of course, the books. As I was browsing through their (really awesome) clearance section I found this book from one of favorite authors! Cliff Graham who wrote the Lion of War Series has an amazing knack for making not very explained Bible events come to life, and the people that only their name and a sentence about them are in the Bible suddenly become your favorite book characters. Of course, a lot of it is fiction, but he does a really good job of researching and making sure it could've happened like this. I have the first book and I downloaded the third on my Kindle, and now I have this one, which is the second book, for $3! I was so excited I almost bounced out of the store. :) 

I have another post planned about some natural stuff I've been doing and the hair and face products I use coming up soon! 

Things are Happenin'!

Right now, I am super excited. But you'll have to wait until the end of this post to find out the thing I'm the most excited about. But through out the post, I will share little things that are part of the excitement, and maybe a few hints about the main event. :) 

crossbody bag $10, blue suede flats $7, nude and black flats $10

Yesterday, I went to Cato to get a new crossbody bag. My last one went kaput when I got back from my trip to Florida in May. It had been such a handy little bag, the perfect size, easy to carry, and of course, cute! I'd been putting off getting another one, but yesterday I found this one. I had been down to three cute bags, but the nice saleslady was great at helping me decide. And I'm very happy with my choice. I was SUPPOSED to just go in for the bag, but of course I couldn't help glancing (More like thoroughly searching) the clearance racks (this is Cato we're talking about, ok?) That's when I found the cute flats. I realized that they would be really handy (Any excuse works when it comes to cute shoes) for this event I'm preparing for. So, of course, I happily got these new items. :) I love how the flats on the left match the purse so well. 

Then I went to Walmart, only intending to get these SD cards. I promise, I went straight from the camera section to the checkout! But next to the cashier were some scarves that someone obviously hadn't wanted. You know my weakness for scarves. I gulped, then asked the cashier how much they were. And you'll never guess. $5 for a two pack of scarves! I groaned, and told the smiling cashier that I wanted them.

Please forgive the not so great picture. The pink aztec print scarf came with the bright blue scarf, and the blush pink came with the awesome printed scarf at the top. O well. I now have 21 scarves. 

Next, I cannot tell you how much I adore this App. It's called DuoLingo and it's amazing! I'm learning Spanish so quickly, and it's so much fun! I way prefer doing this daily over playing any game. It's fun and you learn so quickly! If you ever wanted to learn a language and have an Apple product, (iPad, iPhone, etc.) I highly recommend it. 

And that concludes my random rant.

So, here's the big news.

I'm shooting my friend's wedding in Pennsylvania! Honestly, this little doubter didn't think there would be any way I could make it to her wedding, but the Lord has provided right in front of my unbelieving eyes. It's been amazing to watch.

And....

I'M FLYING!!!!!!!!

For the first time! 

I get to take pictures, be at my friend's wedding, visit states and be in a part of the country I've never been to before, and I get to FLY!!!! I'm only flying there, but I'm so thankful for this new experience. 

the picture of the white dog's expression perfectly describes what I'm feeling. ;) 

red and orange, among other things

Last night I got the opportunity to wear two colors together that I really like, red and orange. Thanks to this awesome shirt that has red, orange, black and white, I was able to put together a fun outfit. I've worn all of this together before, but with black shoes. Since the last time I wore it, I got these adorable red flats that I'm always looking for a chance to wear. It was a really cute and comfy outfit that I enjoyed wearing, something that has become a necessity with me lately. ;) 

Yesterday I had such a nice, relaxing day, watching my siblings play outside and enjoying a good book. My little brother Matthew even gave me a sweet little flower. :) 

a really good book, whether you're married or not. 

Then, last night while they were singing a special before the preaching, my friend Heather doodled a little drawing. It took her less than a minute.

At the end of service she was about to crumple it up, but I stopped her and begged her to let me have it. Imagine, throwing away a piece of art like this? Isn't it beautiful? She couldn't understand why I wanted it. It's so simple, yet has the title of one of my favorite songs, so it means so much. 

So how was your week? 

The good, the bad, the ugly, and the blessings.

Today has been a day of contradictions. 

The Good~ My church is having a revival Monday through Wednesday and one of my favorite preachers is preaching for it, Bro. Jon Jenkins. I got to see my best friend Megan Saturday and give her her birthday present. She gave me a cute little album of our trip to Florida. I'm listening to an amazing cd from a friend that is so beautiful and touching that it makes me cry. A good friend that I see once a year texted me this morning and we had a great conversation. I'm singing a solo one night for the revival. I won a giveaway here that I didn't expect to win. I now have a mint necklace to go with all the mint clothes I've been getting. :) 

The Bad~ I found out this morning that the grandmother I never met (my biological father's mother) is on her deathbed, and I'm too far away to get to her before she dies. Due to uncontrollable circumstances, I won't be able to sing tonight, and I'll also miss the preaching of one of my favorite preachers that I haven't seen in two years. I can't even cook, do housework, or play with my siblings. 

The Ugly~ The reason for almost all of the Bad is because I woke up this morning with pink eye. I can't put in my contacts, so I feel blind, and I'm terrified of infecting my family, so I'm becoming a hermit in my room. It's my first time ever having this, and it happened at a very bad time. 

The Blessings~ We found out that I can get medicine over the counter, so I don't have to go to the doctor. No one in my family has gotten the pink eye. It doesn't itch or burn as badly as I've heard that pink eye can. All this alone time in my room is giving me plenty of time to read and study. I talked to my choir director, and I'll be able to sing tomorrow night and hear the preacher then. It's better that I got pink eye now then the end of this week. My biological father believes that his mother is saved, so I feel a little better believing that she's going to Heaven where she won't be in pain and can be with her recently departed husband. 

It's truly been a few days of ups and downs. But if you notice, the good and the blessings are much longer than the bad and the ugly. I've learned that when you focus on all the good around you, that the bad seem  minuscule in comparison. One of the best remedies for depression or pre-depression is looking at a friend, family member, or church member, and praying for their problems. It could be a child in the hospital, a sick parent, or a loved one that needs salvation. Most of the time, taking your focus off your problems and praying for someone else's will be a tremendous help. 

the horrible blogger award

Yes, I know, what self respectin' blogger does not blog for Christmas or New Year's? 

I'm afraid that I have the same old excuse....I've been busy. Yes, I know, you've heard it before. But let me catch you up on what I've been up to.

First of all, I've been going through and editing the pictures from the wedding I shot. I took around 1,400 pictures, and I edited 339. If you're a photographer who edits their photos, you know how long that takes. I had to have them ready for last Saturday, January 5th, for the bride's reception at our home church. So between that and natural holiday relaxation, plus a ton of reading and my 21st birthday, things have been hectic. 

If you didn't catch that, Friday I turned 21 years old. As a kid, I couldn't even imagine being 21. 18 was hard enough to imagine. Yet, here I am, the age that most people can't wait to get to. And it feels pretty much like any other age. ;) 

Saturday I got to see a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while at the reception. Which honestly, made it kind of hard to keep my mind on snapping photos when I so badly wanted to catch up with them, but I got to do both. 

After the reception, two of the friends I haven't seen in a while and I went to Chic-Fil-A and then Starbucks.

Faith, me, and Ashlie. Yes, they're sisters. 

We talked and talked and giggled and talked some more. It was so great to be with them again. Sunday morning my family and I went to Megan's church and spent the afternoon with them. Then, Sunday night Ashlie came to our church with a couple of friends from college. We had a college and career activity afterwards, and had a blast talking, playing taboo, and then talking some more after everyone left. It was a very good birthday weekend. 

I've been reading the Hunger Games trilogy. It took me a while to decide how I felt about it. I read tons of reviews, but most of them seemed to imply that the series was gory and shallow. It wasn't until my best friend Megan described it to me, that I realized that the series was much deeper than I thought it would be. So I got the first book from the library and started reading. I wasn't impressed at first, and almost put it down, but decided to go ahead and finish it anyway. It got way better from there, and when I finished the book at midnight, I stayed awake for another hour just thinking about it. My mind was racing, thinking of the characters, their motives, and wondering where this fascinating story would go next. I got the second book as soon as I could, and soon finished that one as well. By the time I'd finished it, I'd decided to buy the whole trilogy in hardback books. Waiting for them to come in to read the third book was torture. But now, I have them, and am on page 79. I'll admit, that when I first heard about the Hunger Games, I was very skeptical. A series about children killing children? I couldn't understand everyone's fascination. But now, I understand a little better. The series was written excellently, with a story that grips you, and leaves you panting for the next book. The characters become like old friends, especially by the third book. True, they show children being forced to kill each other to survive, and I don't condone that. But if people don't wake up and smell the roses, that could very well happen to America. We're not that far from a dictatorship, and if they did succeed in taking away our weapons, Panem could truly be closer than we think .The series is an eye opener for Americans on what can happen if we continue to not care. For if we cannot control ourselves, then someone else will. 

So anyways, didn't mean to get on that political tangent. But you might want to give the Hunger Games a chance. I would suggest for the reader to be 15 years old or older, especially if you have a vivid imagination. These books are about survival, so they can become bloody. I found that they weren't too gruesome, but you may disagree. I caught a couple of cuss words in the first book, but I didn't see any in the second book, and I haven't seen any yet in the third one. 

Hopefully soon I'll have some outfit posts to show ya'll. 

Have a great Monday! 

Florida Trip

Hey guys!

Yes, I know it's been almost a week since the wedding in Florida, but I've barely been home since I got back. I cleared some of my photo space, so hopefully I'll be able to share with ya'll some of my pics from my trip of a lifetime. 

I took 200 photos on my personal sd card, and 1,300 bridal and wedding photos. Our little group traveling over there was me, Megan and the bride, Mrs. Charlotte. I can describe these two red heads as my two best friends in the world, even if one is 3 years younger than me and the other 30 years older than me. We're  all picture fanatics so it took us 6 hours to get to our destination instead of 5 hours. We stopped at a rest stop in Mississippi, Alabama, and finally Florida. 

Too much happened in those 5 days to be described, but I'll tell you one thing. One of the highlights of my trip was seeing my first lighthouse on a naval base.

I fell in love with the amazing sight of the regal old lighthouse. Sadly, I didn't get to explore as much as I wanted to because we were racing the sun to get the perfect bridal portraits at sunset on the beach. But I vow to return one day. 

Seriously, a photographer couldn't have asked for better circumstances. A beautiful lighthouse and two story house, stone steps, a cute little boardwalk, gorgeous thick woods all around, the tide coming in, a breathtaking sunset, and a lovely, glowing, soon to be bride. I was in photographer/nature lover heaven. 

The ring on the stalk picture was definitely the hardest to take. The wind kept moving the stalk, and it was so thin my camera didn't want to focus on it. But I believe my efforts were rewarded. 

Above from left to right is: Kathryne (the cake decorator and back up photographer), the bride, Mrs. Charlotte, the personal assistant, Megan, and the photographer, Kristen (me).) 

The wedding was stressful, amazing, and the experience of a lifetime. I fell in love with Florida, comforted by the similarities to Louisiana, and curious and attracted to the differences from my home state. I hope to one day return to the hypnotizingly beautiful beach and get to explore the lighthouse that has captured my heart. 

M.I.A.

I'm really sorry I've been M.I.A. for so long. A few weeks ago I tried to write a post, but blogger said that I had run out of room for pictures! I was so frustrated, that I haven't tried writing since. I'm trying to find out how I can open up some space so I can start posting regularly again. Until then, I can use pictures that have already been used on the blog. The picture above is from Christmas last year.

Anyways, I've been super busy. Tomorrow I'm going stay at my friend's house until Monday when we leave for Florida! Yes! I can't wait to see Florida for my first time! I'm traveling with my best friend and my best adult friend who has been like a second mother to me. In case you haven't read my past posts, I'm one of the photographers at the wedding of the adult friend I'm riding with. We plan on having a fun, sightseeing trip, so we're taking the scenic route, which adds about two hours to our journey. I plan on getting tons of pictures, but I don't know when I'll be able to share them with you, as long as blogger is being stubborn. 

Monday and Tuesday of this week there was a preacher's fellowship at the church we've been helping. The preacher's fellowship is hosted once a month by a different church each month of the year. It's a time where we can fellowship, hear lots of great preaching, and meet new preacher's families in the area. It truly helps to unite the small churches here. We all had a blast. I met a lot of new people and made some new friends, including a young missionary couple which are the same age as me. 

Lately I've been preparing for this trip, doing housework, reading, wrapping presents, and listening to Bing Crosby's Christmas cd. Bing Crosby's voice is just so soothing. :) 

Anyways, I have to finish up my packing and make sure I don't forget anything.

Have a wonderful week! 

P.S. 

Please pray that we have a safe trip there and back! 

transitional fall outfits

Friday I had a really good shopping trip. I found 2 shirts, a skirt, and a book at Goodwill, and 2 skirts and a shirt at Cato. Then yesterday I went back for two pairs of shoes at Payless that I had liked on Friday. 

They were both on sale for $10 each, but with the bogo sale I got both pairs for a total of $15! 

The shoes are cute enough for Wednesday nights and comfortable enough for running errands in. I don't have pictures of all the clothes, so I'll give you a description of each thing.

Goodwill

hot pink button up shirt with 3 quarter sleeves: $4

mint and white pinstriped button up shirt with ruffles on front:$4 

tangerine layered ankle length skirt: $4 

Cato 

bright orange dressy skirt (got a white one just like it): $10

bright dark blue dressy skirt: $10

orange sleeveless shirt: $4 

I love everything I found. Definitely noticing my obsession with orange lately. More and more orange things keep turning up in my closet. 

Here's Sunday evening's outfit. I don't normally wear something different on Sunday evening from the morning, but this was an exception. 

orange skirt & belt~Cato/leopard shirt~hand me down/shoes~Payless/jewelry~Walmart

I was trying to find a top to go with this skirt, which proved harder then I had thought. Finally, I put this leopard sweater with it, but it's so old that it's ridiculously faded and beading up. The blue jean shirt helped cover that, and I think the belt brought the outfit together. 

How would you have styled this skirt? 

Monday's outfit included the skirt I got from Goodwill. 

I really liked the skirt even before I saw the cute flower. 

I wore the outfit without the blue jean shirt around the house, but put it on before we left. I like to wear over shirts a lot.

Oh and last but not least! I got a piano last night! 

It's a wonderful little piano that is nicely tuned, although rather loud in our little trailer. My sweet Dad went straight from work for an hour one way to get it. It was given to us for free, and I'm so thankful for it. 

photoshoots!

The title of this post is what I've been up to. I posted a sneak peak of yesterday's photoshoot on my photography blog.

Due to all the photo op's I have coming up, I doubt I'll be doing much posting on here over the next week. Hopefully, I'll be back in September posting regularly. 

Until then, I'll miss ya'll! 

Today......

Today I am typing in comfy, not necessarily flattering clothes....

drinking my second cup of coffee (this morning) out of my Scooby Doo mug I've had forever...

Thinking about the awesome stuff I learned in my Bible College today (yes, it's Saturday, but I love my college work that much)  and the information I can (almost) grasp in my music theory book.....

Smelling my wonderful new candle burning called "Walk in the Woods" which is something I'd LOVE to be doing right now....

Watching the sky out my window getting ready to weep again like it has almost every day for the past three weeks......

Listening to my favorite instrumental cd.......

Thinking about my non-busy schedule for the day, which is:

1. ironing my skirt for church tomorrow

2. maybe working on some posts for the future using a list of post ideas I found from a while back

3. painting my finger nails a soft mauve color 

4. reading a new interesting book

5. cooking hamburgers for dinner

Usually I dislike non-busy days, but today, I'm thankful for it. I'm ready to slow down, have the time to just think and meditate, and not worry. 

Not worry about tomorrow. 

Not worry about what I have to do next.

Not worry about making a deadline, or a busy schedule. 

Not even worry about using perfect grammar, or complete sentences in this post. 

Before I end this random post, I have something to tell ya'll. I have begun to read my first Jane Austen book. When I got my Kindle, I downloaded "Pride and Prejudice," "Emma," and  "Northanger-Abbey." I've heard so much about them, so I've been curious. But I wasn't sure that they would keep my interest. I am now on chapter 7 of "Pride and Prejudice", and I'm amazed by how interested I am. The characters are alive, and entertaining. The Old English way of speaking is beautiful. And so far, my favorite characters are Mr. Bennett (who seriously cracks me up) and Lizzy. Mr. Darcy is a very interesting character, in the way that there's depth. You don't know all about him the first time you meet him, like Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy is an intriguing mystery. I like when you learn more about a character as the book goes along. I tried watching the movie, but I found it confusing. So I'll let ya'll know what I think when I finish the book. I may even do a book review. 

What's your favorite Jane Austen book? 

I'm back!

(I'm pretty sure I've used that title before, but oh well.)

So, in my last post I said that I'd be taking a week long break. And....it turned into a three week break, which surprisingly, wasn't my fault. 

Want to hear what has happened in the past three weeks? 

Well, I'll tell you anyway. ;D

First, I took the week off, and I'll have some posts coming up on that soon. 

The second week, I got a virus on my computer, trying to download free e-books to my Kindle I just bought. I wasn't able to get rid of it until two days ago, which was Saturday. 

Then, last Monday on the 9th, I went to camp. I've been going to this camp for the past six years, four years as a camper, and two years as a counselor. This year was a ton better then last year, because I didn't feel so clueless, and I think I was more of a help. My job at Camp Liberty is the camp photographer. I LOVE my job! And of course, because I don't have my own group, I'm also the errand girl, which I don't mind. ;) 

Here's our first ever camp picture! 

We had almost 100 kids, not including counselors. 

It was so fun to get to know all the kids, and make new friends. 

Speaking of new friends, a Bible College sends us a couple of guys to help with the camp every year. 

And since they slept in and missed being in this picture, I had to get a pic of them. 

These guys were hard working, hilarious, and talented servants. They sure kept us rolling in laughter. Their girlfriends are very blessed. 

I'll probably have another post about camp, so I'll stop there. 

Saturday, we went doorknocking at the new church we're helping. I got to give a lady the gospel, and I'm praying that she gets saved and comes to church. When we got home, we had to get ready for a wedding. My dad got to perform his first wedding for a couple at our home church that just started coming. I had said that I was pictured out, and wouldn't take any at the wedding...but I couldn't resist. I guess it's in my blood. 

My dad was so nervous, but once he realized that they were both way more nervous then him, he started cracking jokes, and they all got through it. It was sweet, and really funny. Their families said he did a great job. I was so proud of him. :) 

We stayed a little while at the reception, and the bride decided to toss her wedding bouquet. There was only one single lady who was older, and I was trying to keep quiet, but my pastor told me to get up there. ;) 

So.....

I caught the bouquet. 

I asked the bride if she wanted it back, but she told me to keep it. 

If I wasn't being teased before about getting married, I'm sure getting it now. ;D 

And lastly, I got a new scarf (because all my scarves are red, black, or grey). I wore it around my neck to the wedding, but when we got home, I started to play around with it. And discovered that I kinda like the headcovering look. 

I think it's pretty and feminine, but I wouldn't wear it all the time. I believe that when the Bible talks about the head covering on a lady, that it's talking about her hair. However, I don't judge or rebuke any ladies that believe in wearing a head covering. I think that if you want to, then you have every right to wear it. :) 

I'm so glad to be back! I've really missed posting. More posts soon to come! 

P.S.

When I left I had 29 followers. Now I have 33! So welcome to all my new followers!