{i'm.baaaack}

I know. You've missed me. Don't fret, my pets. After a whirwind week of being in more places than I care to count, we are home. And as much as I wished forever that our home was somewhere else, I know that we are right where we are supposed to be. For now. Meanwhile, the highlight of the week was welcoming my sweet niece into the world. She is just gorgeous and, of course, favors my side of the family. I'm telling you . . . those are some strong genes floating around. Of course, I took some pictures of that precious little girl, but I am already wishing I had taken many more. Alas, other things beckoned my attention, like my own little girls and my hilarious, handsome nephew. Family is fun, but I have to tell you . . . I'm worn out, people.

As if we weren't worn out enough, we decided to drag out all of the Christmas decorations and make a day of it. I'm pretty sure I heard the words, "Don't worry, mommy. It didn't break" at least 30 or 40 times. No joke. Thankfully, we own nothing especially precious and breakable so the girls did a lovely job of decorating the bottom fourth of the tree. It's loaded. Any 6 month old will have a hayday. But Delaney kept saying, "Beautiful" as she decorated the tree so what am I to do? (Don't worry. My A type personality can only handle it for another 24 hours and then, of course, I'll reposition as needed.) We already had one ornament break and, wouldn't you know, it was a Clemson ornament. Ugh. Only a sad, sad reminder that our team broke our hearts yesterday. (Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure we literally have another 20 or so ornaments that shamelessly promote our Clemson Tigers. We displayed them proudly just the same.)

Enjoy my new, sweet niece. I can't wait to see her again.

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{time.to.go}

I feel like I've been run over by a bus. A large one. With a crazy driver. BUT, I have reached the end of the tunnel! All of my sweet, precious families have edited pictures on my website, and I can leave in peace. So I'm leaving. I wish it was on a jet plane, but I'll settle for my newly washed and vacuumed mini van. (I must confess - I'm not sure of the last time that I cleaned my car prior to yesterday. There was a lot of nastiness. I could have fed an army golfish and pretzels based on what I vacuumed out yesterday. Does anyone else live in such filth??) You probably won't hear much from me over the next week, but don't fret. I'll be back. And hopefully I won't feel like a bus run over me anymore. Happy early Turkey Day to all of you turkeys out there.

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{bustin'.it}

Holy Cow. I have had SO many INCREDIBLE families to photograph lately. And SO much editing to do. I mean LOTS. I mean ignore-my-family, ask-Delaney-to-watch-Addy (HA!), stay-up-ungodly-hours work. But I've really loved it. Except I'm tired. If you know me at all, I go to bed around 9. Yes, not a typo. 9 pm. I'm an early bird. I love to get up early. Except when I stay up late. I now understand the meaning of "burning the candle at both ends." It's just not a good idea. But here's the light at the end of the tunnel. The beautiful pictures that come with hours of hard work. And the families who now have treasures that will last a life time. Yeah, it's worth it. (But I'm still tired. Case in point - I just downed the rest of 2 liter of Diet Dr. Pepper in hopes of pepping me up. I didn't even bother to pour it in a glass. Just chugged it. I'm desperate, people. I know it's tacky. I'm still not feeling super peppy.) Enjoy the latest batch.

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{breakin'.the.rules}

I'm a rule follower. Always have been. My dad used to ASK me to get in trouble. He would promise to pick me up if I would just break a rule or get a little crazy. Not gonna happen. I follow the rules. I hate to get in trouble. It's just not in my nature. So, today, when I got into some trouble not once but twice, you can imagine how sad I was. Here's how it went down.

I was at Palmetto Bluff with the sweetest, cutest couple doing some maternity shots (SO fun) when a lady walks out and inquires what I'm doing. I think it's pretty clear, given the large camera around my neck and two precious people smiling at me, but I explain that I'm taking pictures. She has her phone out, calling security. I'm turning red. I'm so upset. I explain that I take pictures out here frequently, and I've never had a problem. She's not convinced. So, I just ask my sweet couple to travel with me to another spot. I'm praying that security doesn't come blaring after me. At our next spot, all goes well until I hear a loud tapping on the window and see a man shaking his finger at me. Oh goodness. Now I'm beyond flustered, as a lady come out and, again, inquires as to what I'm doing. Little did I know that this was HER sidewalk, and I was, apparently, damaging her plants. Ugh. She said that we broke one of her flowers, but I assured her that we did not. Again, we move. Again, I'm awaiting security to come tearing after me and haul me away. They do not. But every time I heard footsteps, I was ready to just melt into a puddle of tears. Not only that, but I had another shoot directly after this one, and I was just so afraid that they would for sure kick me out before I could meet my next appointment. Remember, I'm a rule follower. I'm so flustered that I forget my camera bag and all of a sudden cannot remember how to put on a lens, which I've done thousands of times. I want to go home. I want my mommy. I do not want to get in trouble.

Long story, long, security does pull around, but it doesn't come after me. Shew. So, Palmetto Bluff ladies, I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I hope you'll let me come back anyway. I promise I'll follow the rules. Pinky swear.

Meanwhile, I had the pleasure of photographing this beauty the other day. No rules were broken in the process.

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{makes.me.smile}

I have some great friends that have been like family to us for a long time, and I had the privilege of photographing this most precious family the other day. They were so much fun and willing to try anything, and I had the best time! I had to do five storyboards for them because I was just so in love with some of the images that seemed to match up so perfectly. Thanks, B Family for such a great session. You guys are so cool.

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