Christmas Shopping

Hi friends! I've been looking for Christmas gifts for my dazzling friends and fam lately, and I just wanted to share a few fun and unique gifts I've found to hopefully help you out as you're shopping! It's almost like the old Top 5 posts (remember those? ha) but...not quite! :)

1. Urban Outfitters was a surprising place where I found tons of cool stuff! I always thought of Urban Outfitters as expensive clothes, but that's not all they are! It seriously may be my one stop shop this year. They have a huge variety of stuff. We are talking not clothing here, but sweeeeet stuff for guys and gals such as: vintage cameras, retro electronics, really fun home accents, jewelry stands, etc. Really great stuff and such affordable prices! I can hardly write enough about how impressed and surprised I was about them! You will be blown away at all the clever stuff :) Go on! Check them out!

2. Although you can't shop online, I was impressed with Pier One's collection of little doo-dads. Again, some fun little vintage toys and such "for the person who has everything." :) 

3. The article in the December issue of InStyle has a GREAT gift guide in it! Buy the mag if you want, or just steal a glance while you're waiting in line. I was inspired by their selection of fun gifts for everyone! 

4. Shop Anthropologie.com for the girls in your life. I'm sure you can't go wrong. I enjoyed their selection of note cards and jewelry, especially their array of "statement" necklaces! 

Well, it's just a little, but I hope it helps!

Happy Holidays

Happy December 1st! It's so exciting to finally be writing "December" down...it just sounds like cold weather and cozy fires! And the holiday season is officially here! Yay!

Thanksgiving was fabulous, as expected. I just LOVE being around my family, and we were all together! I actually stayed home at my parent's house too which was fun :) We had fun just relaxing, eating, watching football, playing with my brother's dog, and decorating the Christmas tree! Yay! 

So, I realize this is a super short post, but I have homework that needs to be done. But, I wanted to share something insignificant! I painted my fingernails today!! Probably the first time ever in my life (except for times I've gotten a french manicure for a wedding or something). Anyway, it's so fun! I cut them short and then painted them this awesome dark, dark, dark shimmery brown color. They are so rockstar-awesome I can hardly stand it! :) Anyway, I was excited. 

Just about a week left of school! :)

Happy December!

Hello November!

Hellooooo friends! Let me see...I haven't blogged since the election and while lots of things have been going on...it seems like I can't remember any of them! :) Ahh, life. 

Well, I made it through my week of teaching 2nd graders and it was awe-some. Very great. Gotta love kiddos! :) School is wrapping up supa-fast and I'm so happy! Can't believe this is it for me and college...well the college campus at least. Let's not forget I'll be student teaching all next semester. I'm excited about it, but totally looking forward to the Christmas break and doing NOTHING (yeah right). :D

I just love this time of year!! (Who doesn't?) It's so great! Meg and I are putting up our Christmas decor right after T-giving. Yea! Remember our cool decorations last year? Check out the blog post!

Photog is rockin! I'm finished with big purchases for now, which is nice, but I'm so happy with all my equipment! I bought the 70-200mm telephoto lens last week and it has rocked my wedding photography world! Kick-tush! :) Today, I finally purchased a nice new blog for my photography schtuff. I'm SO EXCITED! The biggest plus is the extra large photos! Can't wait to get it all set up!

I also shot a wedding last weekend in Ft. Worth (awesome) which marks the beginning of my winter wedding season. I'll be a busy girl in December and January. OH! And! Exciting news! I'll be taking part in a bridal fair in February! First one I've ever done! I cannot even tell you how excited I am! You know me with organization and decoration--I love it, so this will simply be a blast! :) :)

Life's good. God's good.

I wrote something about politics. Cool.

So the election is over. :) The past 2 days I've been trying to be a nice, supportive American, NOT making slanderous comments about Obama or making empty threats to move out of the country. Maybe it's because I've been watching too many movies about buying war bonds in the 50's (?) or something, but I just want to support my country...even though I know there is plenty wrong with it. It's frustrating though that other people haven't wanted to offer the same support to Prez Bush. I know he's made his mistakes, but so has everyone. I suppose the main reason Bush gets the heat for everything is that America is just looking for a scapegoat...someone to blame. We are a society of blame-shifters.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about this article on Fox News. It's not about politics, but it's about character and simply having class. What's more, it was written by a guy who worked with John Kerry on his 2004 presidential campaign. It's short, I promise! Read it!

Okay, so I don't really agree with all of Obama's politics, but I'm going to stay classy nonetheless. 

:)

Update: A Special Election Day Edition!

So it's not an update on the election, but it is an update on election day. :) In case you were wondering, I am...

Wearing: The same thing I wore yesterday. I woke up 14 minutes before I was supposed to be in class today, but I threw on yesterday's outfit and totally made it in time!
Watching: Fox News Election Coverage

Voting For: McCain/Palin. 
Eating: Just finished lunch! Cheeto Puffs are delicious :)

Drinking: Free Starbucks coffee! If you show that you voted, you get a free cup of coffee!
Photoshopping: NOTHING! I've finished all my recent sessions. Now I'm all ready to tackle my 2 sessions this weekend.
Loving: You.
Excited About: Seeing my best friend this weekend!
Laughing at: Myself.
Feeling thankful for: Getting a good grade on my Lesson Plans! And actually making it to class this morning!

Go vote! What an exciting day!

A Brownwood Weekend

Cheers to another great weekend! :) This time, Megan, Scott, and I drove down to Brownwood to visit Matt, Megan's boyfriend, for a day. We had a great time! We explored Matt's house (it's like a fun treehouse), went out to eat, drove all around brownwood, and went to this sweet abandoned hot spring! It was so cool! 

Here are a few photos: (1) Me standing on the old pipe supports that brought the water to the hot springs. I fearlessly jumped up there and then was terrified to get down! I was like a scared cat up a tree. Both boys had to help me and it took forever! (2) Megan getting a little help from Matt hopping the fence to get into the old hot springs. (3) Meg and I are friends! (4) A snapshot of all of us.

Great trip you guys! :)

P.S. Don't forget to vote tomorrow!

So much fun...

I'm so blessed right now to be in the middle of a FABULOUS weekend! So far it has been just so much fun...and with all the school stresses and such recently...well, I needed some fun. :) The rundown is pretty quick and easy: Last night I got together with fellow photographers/friends Erin, Chad, and Tressie and we had a "just for fun" shoot! It was insane! Nighttime, graveyard, awesome models, and lotsa flashes/pocket wizards/umbrellas/equipment! Yep we had a shoot in a graveyard at night. So fun! If there hadn't been alot of us, I probably would have been creeped out! But as it was, we just had a blast and got some killer images! Head to the photog-blog to see some of the photos. My new flash had just come in the mail this week too so it was perfect! What fun!

Next, I left the shoot a little early to head to the opening night of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3! :) :) Yea! I'm not ashamed...it's so peppy and happy I just can't help but love it. I went with my awesome friend Nicole who loves it too, so we just had a blast! I'm pretty sure I sat next to a 10 year old girl who kept telling me how much she loved my scarf and how cute Zac Effron was. It was pretty funny :) After that, Nicole and I went to get coffee at Starbucks which was delicious and fun. I love hanging out with her! Pumpkin Spice Latte all the way :)

By the time we left Starbucks and I was driving home through a bunch of blinking yellow lights, I realized it had been a long time since I had been out so late...fun! It was refreshing to get to stay up late to have fun and not worry about having to wake up for anything in the morning.

This morning, I woke up to my roommate Megan waking me up telling me she had made eggs and biscuits for breakfast. Amazing!! :) :) And today, I've just gotten to do little things I've needed to do (that have NOTHING to do with homework--yay!) and it's just been relaxing and great. What a joy. I am just so thankful beyond anything right now for this weekend of simple fun! Yay!