2012

Goal Review: 2012!

by Lauryn on December 31, 2012 in Business

Its SO GOOD to be back here with all of you! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and has safe and fun plans for tonight! I plan on dancing out all the calories I ate over the past few weeks. You can dance off thousands of calories in one night right? Also! Little side story… I am really hoping Jared kisses me at midnight tonight. Why? Well, because it would be the VERY FIRST TIME in our 6 years together that he kisses me at midnight on NYE. Yeah. He has never kissed me on NYE. The first time we had only been together for about 10 days, and known each other for about 14, so I think he was nervous. And then it became a kind of joke between us and all of our friends. We will see if the joke ends tonight! He very well may never kiss me at midnight!

Since today is the last day of 2012 (!!!!) I thought it would be a good day to share how I did on my goals for the year. Here they are, as written on December 20, 2011, with my notes on how I did:

1. More Wedding Blog Features. I had the absolute privilege to be featured several times this year, and I want to keep adding to that list!

I think I did really well with this!! Unfortunately, it wasn’t consistent all year long, but the last 5 weddings of the year have all been published, or picked up to be, and 5 others from earlier in the year were published, or have been picked up to be published early next year. Score!

2. Equipment. Honestly, this is what I want to have all together: Mark ii (2?), 2 580 Speedlights, 100mm Macro 2.0, 1 Tripod, 2 Light Stands, 3-4 Radio Poppers, 70-200mm 2.0, 50mm 1.2, and a partridge in a pear tree.

This one I am counting as a success as well, even though I dont have everything listed. I have everything I NEED to shoot a wedding well. I got the Mark 2, the 2 Speed Lights, the Macro, the Tripod, 1 Light Stand, a Radio Popper system, and the 70-200mm.

3. Finish decorating/accessorizing office. I still need curtain panels, canvases on the walls, and some other things.

This one is a huge FAIL. I have made no additional progress on my office, or decorating it. All of our time and funds went into finishing the downstairs this year.

4. Implement New Client Welcome packages.

I dont know if I can count this a success because I JUST figured this out for 2013 brides, but at least I did figure it out! If youre one of my brides getting married in 2013, its coming to ya soon!! Get excited!

5. Order a few wedding sample albums. (3-4?)

Oops. Fail again. I havent ordered a single new sample album. I have however designed one, that I WILL order. I will!

6. Implement Off Camera Lighting at receptions.

This one is a huge success for me! OCL is very intimidating, and I am so glad that I have one year of shooting it under my belt. I hope I can continue improving it!

7. Keep updated accounting/start using ShootQ.

I tried ShootQ this year and it didnt jive with me at all. In fact, I really hated it. I was at a loss as what to do, because I really needed to figure out my book keeping. Thankfully Jared offered to try to do it for a while and see how it went. It has worked out so well having him take care of it each month. We are going to tag team a blog post soon about how he does it and how it goes with my workflow!

8. Update Workflow, and really stick to it.

Huge success! My workflow boards are amazing, and I am so thankful I have them for the coming years!

9. Read Fast Track Photographer. I have had this on a list to do for 2 years. Its time to get ‘er done.

Oh gosh, I have not read this. Gah!!! Fail.

10. Create a blogging calendar. Right now I blog week by week. I think having an entire month or two mapped out will really help with my workflow and create some more consistency.

I think I can consider this a success even though it wasn’t consistent. I learned this year that sometimes inspiration just hits me, and I am loaded up with a few blog ideas, and sometimes I need to pull one out of the archives because I am struggling with an idea. Now, when I create a calendar, I leave a a few days open and if I have an idea, I use it then. If I dont, I look back through my archived ideas and see if any fit well.

How did you do this year? Id love to hear!!

Two of my favorite shots from Anna!!

10 comments

Holiday Season!

by Lauryn on December 21, 2012 in Personal

Next week is Christmas friends! Can you believe it? 2012 is almost over, and I am really looking forward to this coming week. We are headed to Tennessee! We are spending the week with Jared’s mom and step-dad. We have never been able to actually spend any of Christmas DAY with them in all the years I have known Jared (6 years this week!!). So, we are really happy about being able to do that this year.

So! I will be taking next week completely off! No blogging, no emails, no Facebook. I will be updating Instagram though, so you can follow along here. I have never been to TN (crossing off another 25 before 25, just a little late) and I hope we have some time to visit Knoxville or Chattanooga. I also have high hopes of convincing everyone to go see Les Mis! Any tips on how to make this happen would be appreciated.

Ill be back here on the blog on New Year’s Day! Lots of fun things are coming up, like my favorite shots of 2012, a goal review, my favorite head shots, new client gifts, our Advent Conspiracy gifts (see last years, here), and a TN review!

I really hope everyone reading has a warm and lovely Christmas and New Years!

…a thrill of hope
the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night,
O night Divine…

2 comments

Ryan & Anna: Portraits!

by Lauryn on December 20, 2012 in Couples/Engagements,Portraits

Anna and I did a little swaparoo for portraits this year! She shot my head shots, and I did some portraits for her and her hubbie for their Christmas card! I really have loved getting to know Anna this past year and I am so grateful for her sweet friendship. She is kind, funny, and generous. I also happen to wish I had her hair. I feel no shame in this envy. Its just so full and pretty! Mine is fine and thin, and I really have to WORK to get it to look full in the littlest way. I also love talking about the Lord with Anna. Her heart for God is inspiring. I love that I can learn from her and that we can share that part of our lives together! I have only met Ryan a few times, but I am certain he is an amazing man. Anna loves him wholeheartedly, so how could he not be? We had a great time walking around the VA Center for Architecture shooting these portraits! Minus the squirrel incident of course…

Enjoy some of my favorites!

Love you guys!!

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From the Kitchen: Drunken Grapes!

by Lauryn on December 18, 2012 in From the Kitchen

Its been a while since I shared something from the kitchen on here, and I thought this was the perfect time to share something. Christmas parties, dinners, New Years eve celebrations, the options are plenty! I found this one on Pinterest via The ShowFood Chef.

So, here we go!

Drunken Grapes with Goat Cheese

You will need:

Grapes. One package was plenty for us!
11 oz Goat Cheese. This made about 50 Grapes. Grab 2 if you need more.
1/2 c Finely Chopped Walnuts or Pecans, or more if you need more than 50 to share.
Toothpicks.
Small Handful of Flour.
750 ml Bourbon.
Cat helper is optional.

Soak Grapes in Bourbon for at least 6 hours.

Finely chop nut of choice.

Lightly dust your palms with flour. This helps the goat cheese not stick to you. Be careful to not use too much because the nuts wont stick to the goat cheese if it has too much flour on it.

Roll goat cheese into small 1 inch balls. The best method I found was just using my fingers to grab a small chunk and rolling it in my palms like you would play dough.

Coat with chopped nuts. You may need to use your fingers to press the nuts into the cheese ball.

You will make a big mess. Dont worry.

When ready to serve, heat goat cheese at 350 degrees for 3 minutes, just to allow the cheese to meld together. Let cool for 1 minute. Skewer grape and goat cheese onto your toothpicks and enjoy!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season these days. What things have you been making lately?

I know our hearts and minds are still heavy with thoughts and prayers for CT. There is nothing for me to say or add to the conversation. Lets keep lifting Newtown and our nation up in prayer to God.

1 comment

Josh & Olivia: Engaged!

by Lauryn on December 11, 2012 in Couples/Engagements

From the moment I met these two, I knew they were going to be some of the kindest people! Both Josh and Olivia are so incredibly friendly and were super fun to photograph. They laugh easily with one another! That is one of my favorite things to photography…laughter. They made it so easy! I cant wait for their wedding next year!! Enjoy some of my favorites!

5 comments

The Squirrel Who Lived.

by Lauryn on December 7, 2012 in Highs & Lows

I am blowing up on the internet this week friends. Portraits with Jared yesterday, and head shots today! GO SEE THEM! Anna is so good at what she does!! I love them all!

Annamarie did my new head shots for me and I could not be more grateful. We did a photo swap of sorts, and yesterday I did their Christmas card portraits! Everything was going super well. Ryan and Anna are really cute and snuggly, and Anna has a hilarious fake laugh. We passed a door we really liked on the side walk, a door in a brick fence type thing so we were right up against it, and I was in the street a little to get the composition I wanted. I told Anna to take a small step back because the sun was hitting her cheek in a strange way. (All of this happened in about 10-15 seconds of time by the way.) Anna steps back and we hear this weird high pitch whine/zapping sound. No sooner do we start to look up, and BAM! a squirrel SLAMS onto the brick sidewalk an inch in front of Anna and Ryan’s feet. Anna screams, I start shouting OH MY GAHHHH! And Ryan throws his hands up looking between the two of us. I see Anna’s eyes start to tear up, and shout at her NO CRYING WE HAVE TO DO PICTURES (which I am positive was very helpful to her). Ryan hugs Anna, and I slowly creep towards the poor squirrel. His lungs were pumping so hard and he slowly, and barely, turned his big eye toward me as I leaned over him. Then he, very slowly again, tried to move his little arms. He had been shocked on the power lines above, and frozen with the shock, slammed into the brick sidewalk, which knocked the wind out of him.

We all had calmed down and went around the block to take some more portraits. A few minutes later I peeked back around and sadly he was still laying there. Then, I saw him hop up. Anna and Ryan had come over at this point, so we were all standing there, waiting and hoping for this squirrel to live. He hopped a few little hops and we almost cheered. Then he started running around and we cheered for him. It was a pretty stressful few minutes to say the least. Thank the Lord that Anna took a step back because he would have hit her on the head full force. So, here we are…Highs and Lows time!

Highs:

Anna taking a small step back.
The squirrel who lived.
My head shots! I love them!

Lows:

The weird weather. Im so tired of the hot and cold, hot and cold. Get it together VA!

9 comments

Portraits!

by Lauryn on December 6, 2012 in Personal

FRIENDS!! We had our pictures made by our dear friend Tori last month and they are on her blog today!! I wont even bother blogging, because I just want you to go look at them. We love them!!

GO SEE!

3 comments

My Ideal Day.

by Lauryn on December 4, 2012 in Personal

Friends, today I want to share with you something that makes me feel very vulnerable: my ideal day. Why is that scary? Well, because its personal, and putting it out there makes me accountable, and goes against my very nature to watch Gilmore Girls all day, comfortably on my couch with a snoozy cat tucked into a crook of my body. But, I finally want to share this with you. I should also tell you that Nancy Ray and Lara Casey need the credit for this exercise in life change.

I had always known about Lara Casey’s inspirational/motivational ways since I started following her a few years ago, but I was too scared to try. To secure on my couch with my cat to make any real change. And so… I didnt. Then more recently I developed a girl crush on Nancy Ray. You know that “I basically like everything you do and wish we were best friends and that we did everything together” kind of thing? Yeah…that. A girl crush. So, Im obsessing over her blog and reading post after post after post well into 2011, and I see her post about her “ideal day.” Now, Ive seen this kind of thing before but I wasnt motivated by it. Something about Nancy’s Ideal Day motivated me. So, I thought about it for a few days, put it off for a few more, watched some more Gilmore Girls and finally decided to write mine down.

7:00 Wake Up

7:15 Read Bible/Drink Coffee/Pray

8:15 Walk (or maybe Run one day)

8:45 Breakfast

9:00 LGP Office Hours

12:00 Lunch/Social Media

12:30 LGP Office Hours

4:00 LGP Emails Last Call

4:30 CLOSE LGP
-Tidy Office
-Toss Trash
-Shut Down
-Close Door

5:00 House Chores

5:30 Cook Dinner

6:00 Dinner

7:00 Free Time

9:00 Bed Time Routine

10:00 Bed

Yeah, you read that right… Bed Time is 10 PM. Ill be the first person to call myself an old lady, but there really is a reason for 10 PM. I need 9-10 hours of sleep a night. If left to my own devices I will go to bed around midnight each night and wake up happily at 10 AM every day of the year. Im not catching up on sleep debt, I literally need those 9-10 hours. So, if I want to get up at 7 I have to go to bed early, old lady style or not. Now, I know not everyday can be like this. Life happens. I get that, but I think that is MOST days were like this, it would be enough for me.

So here’s to life changes. I have not done my ideal day for more than a few days straight, but I do want to keep working on it. Maybe I will finally get it down by the New Year?

Here’s to not wasting time and getting it done! Cheers!

{Image above from Second Shooting with Katelyn in September.}

8 comments

Ten Things.

by Lauryn on December 3, 2012 in Personal

1./2./3./4./5./6./7./8./9./10.

1. Pasta: What else is there to say? It’s delicious.

2. Cheese: Please see above.

3. Rowing: The sister of one of my high school friends rowed at W&M. It sounded so fantastic to me I joined the club my freshman year at VCU. I rowed for one season. I miss it sometimes.

4. Reading the End: I only like true surprises. Like surprise parties. Not the kind that you know SOMETHING is coming but youre not supposed to look. Like presents under the Christmas tree. That is what I call a TEASE, not a surprise. So, I read the end.

5. Motherhood: I’ve dreamed about it for as long as I can remember. Cant wait.

6. Vegan: This was one of the hardest and best things Ive ever done. I was super healthy. Then one day I decided to host a Superbowl party and my friend Joey brought wings. I caved, and was sick for days but I never went back.

7. Pacing: I pace all over the room when I am on the phone. I just cant be still.

8. Celtic Music: Favorite radio show is Thistle Radio playing on NPR. Something about it just makes me happy. It makes me want to dance. It plays on the radio every Sunday on our ride home from Church. I always turn it up and say to Jared, “this is my music.”

9. Love: I dont just mean falling in love, although that is part of it. I mean I believe in Love that came down and redeemed us. Jesus. I believe that because we are loved, we can also love others.

10. Brown Hairs: Yep. I did that. It wasn’t permanent so it quietly faded over several months and I never dyed it again. Most of my friends and all of my family prefer me as a blonde. What do you think? Brunette, or Blonde?

***Also, please excuse my grammatical error on the rowing image. It would take me too much time to go back and redo do it. Sorry!!***

8 comments

Im Feeling Random.

by Lauryn on November 30, 2012 in Highs & Lows

Im feeling random today… Here are some things thats are making me laugh…

This is what happens when a group of professional photographers all get together and try to take a picture. We all left our cameras at home thinking someone else would think to bring one, and my iphone pic gave everyone demon eyes…