Olympics, Photography, Yoga, and Grandpa's Birthday (All rolled into one post!)

Who's in love with the Olympics?! I AM!! I'm watching them every chance I get! If you ever want to come over some night and watch with me, I'll cook for you!! :) When I watch the Olympics, I'm always reminded of the '96 Olympics when Kerri Strug took the U S of A to gold! Man, good times! I was so freaking out when that happened.

Anyway, it's always been a big dream of mine to go to the Olympics...just to watch, you know. :) Now that I have my cameras, I REALLY wish I could go. Just look at some of the cool photos (remember, I did NOT take these):

And also, on the note of photography, you might want to zip over to my photography blog. I posted a few sessions that I'm proud of :)

Next, you might wonder how my yoga class is going since I made such a big to-do about it...it's going GREAT! I adore it while I'm there and miss it when I don't get to go! I've been going three times a week which has been incredible. I can already tell a difference in my overall health and feel-good-ness. If you ever wanna come with me, I can bring guests. ALSO, I just bought a new yoga mat while my mom and I were in San Antonio. Isn't that fun?! I got a little too excited about it :) It's purple with a sweet damask design on it.

Important Side Note: I've always wanted to know the name for this design, because it's so popular, and I found out: it's called damask. I know you've seen it before. Just type "damask" into Google Images, and you'll soon be saying, "Ohhh, THAT'S what that is called!" (Unless of course you already knew it...then you would just be cool).

Finally, my grandpa's birthday was this past weekend! The whole family got together to celebrate, and it was wonderful. Here's a photo of him opening his birthday present from all of us...an Ice Cream Maker. He loved it! My grandparents are so inspiring...they are just as active, spry, God-loving, and sharp as can be...at 80+ years! I want to be like that!

Home!

Hi friends! I just returned from another wonderful weekend in San Antonio...this time with my mom! We had a girl trip, and it was so fun! First of all, we stayed in Boerne, this sweet little town just a few miles out of San Antonio, at this lovely mix between a Bed&Breakfast and a hotel. It was so authentic and WAY better than staying in a hotel. It was almost like staying with a relative in their home. Definitely a nice place to come back to at the end of a long day at Sea World or shopping! Yes, my mom and I went to Sea World! :) But first, have a look at the "Ye Kendall Inn" where we stayed.Some of the old school artwork found in our room...This is a picture of the lady whom our hotel room was named after, Laverne McQuinn (the hotel rooms didn't have numbers, just names).They had a "Texas sized" hot tub! We hung out there after the day at Sea World and it was glorious!Seeing this sign made me very happy :)The first night we ate at Papasitos--I'd never been there before and I give it an A+! The salsa was the best part!! This photo represents us getting our "gangsta" on in SA! We are ridiculous. :)And here we are at Sea World!Here I am petting a Clydesdale at Sea World!! It was GIGANTIC and BEAUTIFUL!We also got Baskin-Robbins ice cream! I haven't been to a Baskin-Robbins in probably something like 10 years!
What a great trip!

Shamu!

Here's a quick video I took of Shamu while we were at Sea World! I seriously marvel at how they train those animals! I can't imagine how amazing it would be to work with a giant whale like that on a daily basis.

See ya!

I'm jettin' out of town for the rest of the week to spend a fun few days with my mom on a girl trip! See ya next week!

One last time around...

Summer is going to be over before I know it! I'm planning on making the most of the "lazy" days that are left by swimming plenty, taking a little road trip, and eating at least three sno-cones (I haven't even had one this summer yet!). Secretly though, I've been really excited about the coming of Autumn! The cooler nights, the crisp air, the fashions, the change in everyone's attitude...I'm in love with it! Autumn also brings me back to my college campus. I'm looking forward to the normalcy that school brings to my schedule and life...but this is going to be the last time I experience a Back-to-College Autumn since I'll be graduating in May. I got a little nostalgic last night realizing that next August, I won't be heading back to the dear old college campus.

But even still, I've been nothing but excited about graduating and moving forward in life, especially since most of my friends graduated a couple months ago, and are moving away, getting jobs, and starting families. I'm so excited about what the future holds! I don't really know what I'll be doing yet, or where I'll be living, but I'm not too worried about it yet. Things will fall into place.

I do know one thing though. Whatever happens, I desire to live with the deep purpose of serving my Father in heaven. (Get ready for a big run-on sentence!) Daily life is good, and I do a lot of things on a daily basis, but I've been realizing, the older I get, that I do things just to get them done...which is good...but I want to get things done with my eyes on the hand of my Father. Watching for Him to move. Listening for Him to speak. Knowing that this world is not my home-- I have a heavenly home which I will soon see! That is what gives even the most mundane, daily tasks deep "purpose." I LOVE that the Lord didn't just put us on the earth to get things done. I love that we have gifts and callings and a joyous reason for living, found ONLY in seeking Him.

Nothing Brings People Together Like A Wedding!

Another one of my dear friends got married-- what a special time I'm living in! :) Hailey and Adam's wedding was last night and I have to say, the word to describe this wedding was precious. It just filled me with so much happiness. They were both so radiant and overwhelmed with the other all night! It was beautiful and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. I've known both Hailey and Adam since Middle School! I'm so thankful for their friendship. They are both the most loyal friends and just have such a spirit of peace and contentment about them. I love it!

Hailey's eyes were just shining all night!
Hanging out with all my married/engaged friends...crazy!!
My favorite thing about their wedding was that it was like a reunion of all my dearest high school friends! I hadn't seen most of these people in years, so it was great! Most people want to forget high school, but I was totally blessed by my friends in HS. We were all in choir together and loved it! :) This is a group picture of all of us...4 years later! I have so many memories with these special people. 

Shhhhh...Secret Preview of My Biz Card!

Okay, I'm so super stoked out of my mind because of this sweet little biz card design that Scott did for me. He KILLED on this design!! I couldn't be a single bit happier with it! I ordered them yesterday and I was going to try really, REALLY hard to wait to show you until I had the actual card...but I can't! So scroll down to the bottom of the post to see a preview!! It's perfect! I just smile every time I see it.

And you may be thinking, "What, no picture on a photographer's business card?" But it's a pretty daunting task to try and choose ONE photo to represent your entire photography career to the general public. So instead, I opted to go with a fresh, fun, and funky design that will hopefully convey my enthusiastic love for life and photography, AND make people stop and stare at it! :) ALSO, this is only the front side. The back (which is also yummy delicious) has all my info artfully stated on it. Cool!


P.S. It may be about to rain right now! I sure hope so! :)

P.S.S. Happy August!