•••One Year Ago...•••

...today, Justen asked me to marry him. :)

When we woke up this morning we couldn't believe it had already been a year! 
Our engagement story isn't overly entertaining...Justen only waited five and a half years to ask me to marry him. Some people were almost shocked that we got engaged so soon in our relationship. ;) 

He popped the question after a nice dinner at Chop's restaurant. I had thought something was up because Justen actually made dinner reservations. When we sat down to dinner he asked if I had brought our Buckhead Life Card...I thought all hopes of us ever getting engaged were quickly dwindling.  Surely Justen wouldn't pay for our engagement dinner with a gift card (which I didn't have on me)...I mean he is pretty cheap, but not that cheap. :)

So I did what any normal broken hearted girl would do. I ordered a green apple martini! And when that one was done I ordered another. :)
Once dinner was done, I had, in my somewhat inebriated state, come to terms with going another day with out being engaged and was already planning on our common law marriage celebration. The water person come over and asked me if we would like refills on our water. Water?? Who needs water? Bring me another green apple martini please. :)
As the water person walked away, I remember thinking that I couldn't figure out if this person was a male or female. Another great epiphany came upon me in my drunken state and I decided to put my Common Law celebration planning on hold awhile as to discuss with Justen if he could determine the gender of the water person. Hmmm...my first encounter with a transvestite. I was intrigued! My night was turning around!

I was so excited that I didn't realize that Justen was down on one knee in front of the table. In fact as he tried to scoot me towards him to pay attention to ask I was still discussing it. I mean I wanted to know...he or she? Finally, some where around the fifth or sixth time of asking me to marry him I finally clued in. My answer..."Are you serious?" His response, "No, I am just down on one knee asking you to marry me and you are worried about water person." My response, "Are you serious?". Justen then proceeds to ignore me, take my answer as a yes and stick the ring on my finger. Albeit, it was the ring finger on the wrong hand, but let's be honest Justen was pretty nervous and was four Crown and Coke's into his night as well. :)

The staff at Chop's was wonderful and brought us over cheesecake and champagne (because we obviously needed a little something to top off our dinner of martini's and Crown) to celebrate. We sat there for awhile and enjoyed the first few hours of engagement thinking of how excited we both were, who we were going to call first to share the news, and finally finished our debate of the water person. 

We left Chop's super excited and so happy. And Justen didn't end up paying with a gift card...I had found the man of my dreams. :) 

Love you husband! Happy Engagement Anniversary!

(Professional photos courtesy of Douglas Green Photography.)

•••The "D" Family Preview•••

Meet the "D" Family...aren't they just the cutest family ever?!? Look at all that fabulous red hair! :) With the birth of their new baby girl they wanted a few pictures done. When they introduced me to their newest addition I was expecting the typical sleeping two week old, but in typical red-headed fashion she was bright eyed and ready to go. :) She was the sweetest baby and was just taking everything in. 



Isn't this sweet? This cradle has been in Mr. D's family for over 100 years!

•••The "S" Family•••

A few weekends ago I did a quick shoot with the "S" family. Mrs. "S" called and wanted some pictures done of her five teenage children before they went to a formal wedding. She explained how hard it was to get them to dress up for pictures so this would be a good excuse. In my mind I was still reeling that she had five teenagers...alone that would be a ton of work without getting them dressed and coordinated. They looked great though and everyone was a great sport. We even had a little fun with it. :)



Gotta love the diva shot. :)

•••Olympics Part Two•••

Gotta love the Internet! If I can't watch the Olympics on TV anymore I can at least re-live certain moments on the Internet. A friend sent me a link to some pictures from the Olympics, and I thought I would share them with you guys. These are definitely worth checking out! There are some amazing pictures, as well as some funny outtakes (warning: some are somewhat graphic).

Click here to view. Enjoy!

•••The "W's" Preview•••

I met the "W" couple last weekend for a shoot in Marietta Square. I hadn't been to Marietta Square in awhile and while I was waiting for Mr. & Mrs. "W", I looked around and realized just how beautiful and fun it is! It was a Sunday morning and everyone was eating breakfast outside little cafe's...and almost everyone had their dog with them as well. So cute!

Not wanting to be left out they brought their dog along too! Meet Bear. He was so sweet and you could tell he definitely liked Marietta Square too! :)

•••Has Anyone Else Felt...•••

...lost?? These last few nights I almost feel lost without the Olympics being on every night. For the last two weeks I have come home every night and from 8p.m. until I fell asleep on the couch, I would watch swimming, diving, table tennis, volleyball, track, gymnastics, and my personal favorite...trampoline (who knew that was even an event?!?). I loved to hear all the competitor's background stories and their struggles to get where they are today. The Olympics provided me with a love story (the German weightlifter who won gold and held his wife's picture up during the medal ceremony because it was her death in a car accident last year that propelled him to his victory), drama (did the Chinese gymnastics team cheat?), suspense (can Michael Phelps win eight gold medals?), and heroism (Dara Torres winning an Olympic medal at the age of 42 almost beating a 24 year with in one one hundredth of a second...a great accomplishment as a woman and a mother who was told she couldn't do it) all wrapped up in one show. Last night just wasn't the same when we were watching news, Justen's latest hunting show (ick!), or The Hills. Oh well, I guess I will have to regroup, get used to going to bed before 2a.m., gear myself up for the newest seasons of Dancing with the Stars and Grey's Anatomy, and begin my countdown for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Toronto. :)

(Photo courtesy of HongKongWong.com)

•••T + S = Forever•••

Haha, doesn't the title just scream middle school notebook? :) I was so excited when some of my good friends, "T" and "S", asked me to do their engagement portraits. They are getting married next fall and wanted to do some shots in Piedmont Park and Centennial Park to depict some of their home town with in their portraits. Between the amazing locations and shooting such a naturally fun couple, I was in photography heaven. These are the kind of shoots that make me realize just how much I love being a photographer. Before I knew it three hours had passed and 1000 shots had been taken. I could have stayed all day long! Here are just a few of my many favorites (warning there are a lot...I just couldn't choose)!

Look at that ring!!! Great job "T"! :)



I mentioned that "T" and "S" were a fun couple, right? Well, they had an awesome idea for the end of the day...to run through the fountains at Centennial! It was so hot outside I was so jealous watching them run through the water. 

•••The "L" Family Preview•••

Last week I did another fun family shoot...the "L" family (I am going to have the whole alphabet covered here soon). :) Their little boy, Mr. D., was the cutest! I definitely have a thing for blonde curls and blue eyes (just ask my husband).
It was super hot out side, and with in three minutes we were all melting. Mr. D. wasn't too happy about it at first, but it was nothing a blanket...
...and a quick snack couldn't fix! :)

•••Introducing Miss "K"•••

Meet Miss "K"! Miss "K" arrived just a few weeks ago, and her mom and dad asked me to take a few pictures. The little girl was adorable...and look at all that hair! :) It took her awhile to get asleep, but her mom and dad knew some things that did just the trick. She was so good she even let me sneak one of my new Hipchicks hats on to try out. So precious!

Here are a few of my early favorites. I will try to share more later of this cute little one. Hope you guys enjoy this sneak peek!

•••The "W" Family Preview•••

Last weekend, I met the "W" family at the Duluth Town Green. They were all dressed and ready to go, but we had a big surprise when we got there - the Margaritaville Fest Concert was was in full force! We made do though and had a blast (as well as got to listen to free music). :)
I was so excited to see that these siblings didn't mind taking pictures together. Such cute brothers!



And they have another on the way! So sweet...