Old friends. Good times.

I often wish that I could somehow capture a moments in time to put in jars for safe keeping. Then I could take out a particular memory and re-live it whenever I like. I wish I could have bottled up this weekend forever. I was so happy when my friend Ashley said she was going to come for a visit! We live about 4 hours apart, so any time we get together is precious. Saturday we decided to head to the beach for the day. It was nice for both of us not to have a schedule or anywhere we had to be...for the whole day!

We had a great time shopping and eating by the beach. It was definitely a perfect day! The breeze was cool and the sun was warm. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have such lovely weather whenever you wanted? Hehe. Just before sunset we went out to the ocean to snap a few photos. I know people got quite a show watching me run back and forth from my tripod after setting self timer! Haha! We were jumping, laughing and just being goofy! I'm sure it was quite entertaining. 

At some point we remembered all the ghetto fabulous photo shoots we did in college! Haha! Neither of us had cameras our first year so we used disposables! Oh the horror! (That was before cameras on phones were any good.) After laughing about that for a while I said, "Well, we still do that now...it's just a little bit more legit!"

Haha. There is always silliness when we get together! If only you knew the things we did in college...

I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day with my friend. The sunset wasn't too shabby either. I couldn't help but take a few photos of the cotton candy clouds. (Just so you know, I hardly did anything to these photos. It was that beautiful!) I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful friend in my life. I remember praying for a friend before I left for college. Little did I know she was the roommate chosen for me. We hit it off immediately. Since then we've grown a lot together and we've been through so much...good and bad. Every time we get together it's like we fall right back were we left off, no matter how long it's been.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the friendships I have. After college life gets busy and people move, so it takes a lot more effort to invest in relationships. It's so worth it though! When you're married it's easy to just have your husband. Jonathan is my best friend, but it's also good to have other godly women to share life with from time to time. Plus, there are just some things that only a girl can really understand! I am so thankful to God for Ashley. Friends like her are a gift.

Road Trip | part 2

While we were in Chattanooga I had the opportunity to go see Arielle! (She's already written about it on her blog, but I had to share about it too!) We've been friends for a little while now, but we hardly see each other because we live so far apart. I had a free day, so we decided to meet up a couple hours away. We planned to meet at this little coffee shop in a small town. When we got there we discovered that they were closed. (Their website was deceiving! Haha!) We ended up driving around for a while, trying to find somewhere to eat. It was pretty funny.

I had so much fun hanging out and talking. At one point we visited a waterfall close to where we were. It was fun walking around and taking in the beauty of the place. I never get to be in the mountains, so I loved every second. There aren't even hills where we live. Everything is so flat! The beach is close though, so I guess that's something!

It's such a blessing to have a friend that I have so much in common with! I'm so thankful for our friendship. I really enjoyed getting to hang out again. This time we took way more pictures! Not everyone thinks it's fun to be outside and take photos for hours. I'm pretty sure we could both do that all day! :)

 Hehe. I love that last jumping picture! I definitely had a great day. Maybe it won't be so long before I see my beautiful friend again.

In fields of cotton...

The other day I had the opportunity to take some photos of my friend Nicole. I have known her since college. We lived in the same apartment complex, lovingly dubbed "the ghetto". We tried to keep it as classy as possible though. Nicole is a very friendly person and easy to get to know. I've always loved her care-free bohemian style. From the get-go I knew this would be a fun shoot! You can see more on the photography blog and facebook page! 

Rural Portraits

I have some new photos up on my photography blog and facebook page. I was able to take some portraits of my lovely friend Cassidy and one of the girls in her youth group. We had such a fun time traipsing around old buildings and some train tracks. We got a few stickers, but it was well worth it! Make sure to go and check them out!

PS: Thank you for all of your congratulations on my new business! I appreciated every single one. You guys are so sweet and I am thankful for all of the support!

Portrait of a lady

The other day I got to snap a few pictures of my 'ole college buddy, Amanda. She needed a few good photos for her music business and I was more than willing to get a little more practice, despite my lack of a nice camera. I really do love the creativity involved in framing a good photograph. I'm no where near good, but I get a thrill from pulling out my little camera. There's just something about creating something isn't there? Creating with your friends is even better.

It was great to catch up on life as we frolicked through the field. (Ok, it was more like carefully trying to avoid stickers.) We actually had a funny experience with my in-laws alarm, braved the sweltering heat and had silly-stupid fun.

So what have you guys been creating this summer?


PS: Thanks for the love about Compassion's Cry. Keep checking back! We've got more stuff you guys to get involved.