About today

Here is a list of cool things about today:

• Only 11 days till the Kiawah Half Marathon!
• Exactly one month till Christmas!
• We got our carpet cleaned this morning!
• My last full day of work in my second-to-last full week of work for the year! (get that?)
• My sister comes home today!
• The Office reruns are on tonight!
• Finished Thanksgiving grocery shopping!
  

I mean, it's basically just a regular Tuesday, but I like to find things to celebrate every day.

I know, no pictures. But I do promise to post some this weekend from the Thanksgiving and Carolina-Clemson festivities.

Ru is coming!

This time next week, I'll be shopping. Or maybe done. My best friend Kati (Rudziensky- hence the "Ru") is coming home from Chicago for Thanksgiving, and I'm so excited to spend the weekend with her. After being unable to make the trip last year and missing our annual Black Friday shopping tradition, we are back in action. And Sara is in town this year, so she's coming, too!

For someone who is not a morning person, I can barely contain my excitement to wake up at 4am and head to the mall. And for someone who is not a shopping person, neither can Kati. Sara, well, I'm not sure how she feels. This is her inaugural trip. But I think it is safe to say we are all excited about our early morning chicken biscuits at Chick-fil-a. Maybe twice. We might need a snack by 9:30.

Christmas in cow-print

I've been looking forward to this shoot ever since my coworker Michelle mentioned it this summer. Why? Because her little girls Maddie and Molly are just so cute!!

I met up with Michelle, Robbie and the girls at the Irmo Town Park one afternoon to take some Christmas card pictures. Michelle got the girls coordinating Matilda Jane cow-print jumpers to do something a little different than the typical sweater picture- I love the fun and unique look. I posted a preview image after the session, but here are the rest of my favorites!

I LOVE the afternoon sunshine. How precious are they??







Maddie is a natural- she was rocking the camera!

This is one of my all-time faves- the light is awesome

Molly wasn't so sure about the strange girl clicking in her face, but I got a few smiles out of her

I don't know what I did, but the girls thought it was very funny

The girls were so cute running down the hill to "sneak up" on their daddy at the end of the session

Well, that was more than I usually post, but they are just so cute I couldn't resist! Thanks Michelle- I had fun!

Things have been pretty busy around here- I'm editing several shoots and working on some Christmas cards. (WHAT? Can it possibly be time for Christmas cards?) And can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week?? I cannot wait. Let's hope the chilly weather sticks around so it actually feels like a holiday!

State Cup champs!

So I know I blogged from Greenville, and then I never gave you the final results! Dylan got a great birthday present- his soccer team won their last tournament of the season, the South Carolina State Cup! The boys played some GREAT soccer and won the final match 2-0 against the number one team in their division. 

I am finally starting to feel more comfortable with soccer photography. While still not my strong point, I think these came out better than the last batch!


















Check this out- here's a shot on goal in the finals...

... here's the ball soaring over the keeper's hands...

... and here is the post-goal celebration!




I love this of the boys running to celebrate with their families after the final whistle blew.















Congratulations to Dylan and his boys on the victory! Judging by the endless stream of congratulations and compliments Dylan received from team parents, opposing coaches, and complete strangers, I have a feeling that his super coaching skills had something to do with it.

For now, the team trophy is being proudly displayed on our mantle. No word on how long it will stay there.

Someone's paws are looking a little red

It has happened again.

I received a phone call from Dylan this afternoon while I was at work.

"You won't believe who I just caught red-handed."

Well, Riley doesn't technically have hands, but I knew it was him.

Dylan walked out in the living room, and who did he find snoring away, curled up in a tight little ball AGAIN?!?! Oh yes, it was Mr. Ri Ri, snuggly as can be and sound asleep. In amazement Dylan said, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" Riley woke up all disoriented and confused and kind of fell off the Corda-Roy onto the floor. He gave Dylan this bewildered look like he really didn't seem to think there was any problem whatsoever.

For the love! How long has this been going on?? He isn't even trying to be sneaky- he thinks this is ok!

I've had a few friends say, "Aw, but he's so cute. Is it such a problem?" Really people, really? There are RULES. This is where it starts. Today it's the Corda-Roy... what will it be tomorrow, the kitchen counter? (Cause if so, I will DEFINITELY be posting a picture of that.)

Well excuse me, Your Majesty

I was happily reorganizing my medicine drawer in the hallway tonight when I happened to glance in the living room. Imagine my surprise when this is what I saw:

There was Riley, curled up in a tight little ball fast asleep on the Corda-Roy. This is shocking to me for many reasons:

1. If you know us at all, you will know we are very strictly no-dogs-on-the-furniture kind of people. This includes all furniture, even the ugly hunter green (but exceptionally comfortable) Corda-Roy beanbag chair. 
2. Agility and grace are not his strong points. I know it's not a big step, but I am still surprised he was able to climb on there without falling over.
3. Riley did not seem the least bit concerned when I walked out and stood there staring at him unbelievingly. He just scrunched his eyes tight and went back to sleep. No shame.
4. He had the audacity to GROAN AT ME when I went to take his picture, as if I was disturbing a nap on a beanbag he had purchased with his own money.
5. When His Highness finally decided he'd had enough napping, he lazily stood up and stretched, leaving a suspiciously "Riley-shaped" divot in the Corda-Roy. I am wondering how many naps he has had there in recent days.

I love my dog, but I am a firm believer that dogs are dogs and not people. He has a nice fleece/flannel mattress in his crate that he is welcome to snooze on any time of the day. You don't see me sneaking into HIS bed trying to take a nap.

Anyway, I strategically refluffed the beanbag so that he would have to take a flying leap to land in the middle on top and snuggle down for another siesta. We'll see if he's up to the challenge. I'll let you know.

Quarter century club

Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen? I think so. And today he is 25!

We're in the middle of Dylan coaching a tournament, which means his birthday celebration isn't what it would normally be. There is no sleeping in or cooking a special dinner- our weekend is full of getting up early for soccer games and eating fast food. Since I have no way to bake him a cake in this hotel room, I put a match in a blueberry muffin (thanks Melly!) this morning and sang him a lovely off-key version of "Happy Birthday."

But don't worry- we will be celebrating with family and friends over the next few days, so his birthday really lasts a week this year. In the meantime, I am trying to make everything here as birthday-y as possible. And that is why I am perfectly willing to change hotel rooms three times just to find a room with functional HD television AND no smokey smell. Anything the birthday boy wants.

Ok, off to Arby's for a birthday lunch (I'm just going to add birthday in front of everything we do today), then birthday Game 2. 

Happy birthday Dylan! I love you! 

Viva la Vida

What a busy week! This will be quick cause I am tired, but I wanted to post some pictures from our mini-trip to Atlanta. I surprised Dylan Tuesday night with four Coldplay tickets and took him to ATL as an early birthday surprise. We spent Wednesday hanging out with Jonathan before dinner and the concert. Here are a few pictures I snapped along the way.

Before dinner the we walked around Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta. The trees were GORGEOUS!

Ok, that's all for tonight. We're in Greenville for a soccer tournament- early day tomorrow!!

Check out the awesomeness

The cool thing about having two photo shoots in one weekend is that I get to do two photo shoots in one weekend. The uncool thing about having two photo shoots in one weekend is that I want to edit both sets of photos simultaneously. This was the case this past weekend. It is, in fact, impossible to edit 1030 pictures at the same time, so I am left to edit one session at a time in the order that I took them.  But I just get so excited I can't help myself.

This shoot is number two on the editing list, but as I was uploading the images this one caught my eye and I just had to blog it. How cool are they?!



More where that came from later! For now, I'm working on pictures of two little adorable sisters from a family shoot I did on Thursday. Ok, I can't help myself. Here is one of them as well.



Time to stop blogging and get back to work. Full postings coming soon!