Audrey's Blog

Me: The Abridged Version

Angie and I signed up to take an online class with creative goddess Cathy Zielske called Me: The Abridged Version.  It’s based on the book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal called Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.  This was the first week of the workshop so Angie and I decided to block out some time between her recovery naps this afternoon to work on it.  What a great way to start off a long holiday weekend!

The most significant task this week was to come up with 2 words for each letter that were representative of who we are right now.  We had both been brainstorming a little here and there.  Today our goal was to actually narrow down our lists to the 2 words that would become our encyclopedia entries.  I’m stunned that I think we both have actually accomplished our goal!  If you're curious, here’s my list.  It’s not etched in stone yet, but I think it’s 99% there.

Bonus: I even snapped a couple of the accompanying photographs!  Check those out here.

I'm excited to share the finished product as we make our way through the workshop over the next few weeks.  Stay tuned!

Logan's 7 Month Photos

Yup - the little man is 7 months old today.  Each month that passes is a little more unbelievable - both the fact that we actually have a 7 month old baby and the fact that he's such an incredibly good baby!

We did a quick photo shoot yesterday with a Valentine's Day theme.  Believe it or not, I actually got my camera out and snapped a few of my own kiddo.    The results are pretty cute, but I haven't gotten to sort through all of them just yet.  For now I'll just post a wonderful happy baby photo.  Awwww ...

 

His adorable "Lock Up Your Daughters" onesie is courtesy of his Aunt Angie.  I know I'm biased, but ain't it true???  :-)

New Years Baby

My mom had a great idea to strip Logan down and take some photos of him with balloons to celebrate the new year.  Just to prove I still know how to operate my Nikon D100, I pulled it out yesterday and snapped off some adorable shots.  Here’s one to enjoy. 

Happy New Year!

Fridge of Fame

Obviously, its Logan’s first Christmas, and there’s lots to tell about that.  But, one of my favorite Christmas traditions has become the population of our Fridge of Fame.  Being the wanna-be-photographer that I am, my very favorite Christmas cards are photo cards.  We have so many friends far and wide that we don’t get to see on a regular basis – many we haven’t seen since college - so many years the only way I still know what they look like is from their Christmas card. 
There are always a lot of photos on my fridge, and this time of year I have to start rearranging the front of the fridge to display my new collection of photo cards.  As I was adding the 2 new ones that came into today, I started taking note of how the Fridge of Fame is shaping up this year and I noticed a few things:

1. Babies! -  Several of our friends have had babies this year, and they’re precious!  And, we got a sonogram picture of one of friends’ little girl that’s due in April.  How exciting!!!

2. Clients – This is part of the reason I love my job.  If my clients aren’t already good friends, many of them become good friends, and I think it says a lot that we exchange personal Christmas cards.  
3. Friends from days gone by – Like I mentioned before, there are a number of people we went to college with that we haven’t seen since but still stay in touch with.  And, quite possibly the most interesting is one of my very best friends from my freshman year at A&M.  She ended up going home to New Mexico after our freshman year but 14 years later we still stay in touch through the occasional card and letter (not email –interesting, huh?).

Anyway – here’s a shot of our Fridge of Fame.  If you’re not already on here, send me your photo card!  :-)

Fall Photo Shoot 2008

On this beautiful & brisk fall morning, we ventured out with the Keys for our annual fall photo shoot.  Well, almost annual with the exception of last year.  Our fall photo shoots almost always correspond with Halloween & pumpkin patch season.  Last year, we were busy getting ready for and going on our cruise in October, so we had planned to do our annual shoot in November.  By the time November rolled around, I was pregnant and feeling crappy.  So, we missed last year’s shoot.  Bummer …  But, I digress.

This was our first outdoor photo shoot with Logan, and, as with everything else, having him in the mix is a whole new world.  The timing had to be just right - after bottle but before nap which is a pretty narrow window of opportunity when he’s in just the right mood.  Ultimately, we decided to do it after his first bottle.  So, Angie & Jim came over just after 8:00am.  We couldn’t go too far away from the house because travel time would eat into that window.  In the past, we’ve gone to places like the Celina Pumpkin Patch & the Dallas Arboretum.  This fall, we opted to revisit our spring photo shoot location which was in this awesome green space behind my office in Adriatica (McKinney).   We had to be snappy about the whole thing.  On our photo outings, we’ve typically hung out for as long as we felt like shooting.  Okay, truth be told, Angie and I would take photos until the guys decide they’ve had enough of being told what to do and having to smile nonstop about it.  So, the guys probably weren’t disappointed to have a limited duration to the shoot.  :-) 

Putting all of that together, we pulled off a pretty great shoot!  Angie’s amazing with her camera and is a whiz at the post processing.  She’s already worked magic on several of the best photos:

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Huge thanks to both Angie & Jim for their time and patience.  It’s awesome to start incorporating Logan into our family traditions and these annual photo shoots (fall & spring) have always been important to us, and they are even more important now that the little man is here. 

One last note - apparently the whole thing wore both Logan and me out.  We ended up taking an almost 2 hour nap on the couch together.  This is the first time that he’s slept any length of time with either one of us. 

A Day in My Life - October 1, 2008

I knew I wouldn't have the time this week to participate in Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project, but when Stacy Julian issed her challenge to capture October 1st in photos, I couldn't resist giving it a try.  My goal was to document a snapshot of our life as it is at this moment.  My 2nd goal will be to do this every year on October 1st and see how things change.  I dont' think I'll actually get around to putting these in a little scrapbook to carry around with me (as Stacy suggests), but here's the next best thing - an online album to share and refer back to.  Check it out here.  Enjoy!

Congrats to the very-soon-to-be Mrs. Key!

"Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale."

Today, my best girl friend is officially taking on a new title - Mrs. Key aka Jim's Wife!  They are getting married in Kingsland, TX at the lake house of a family friend.  The photo above is one of my favorites we took during our annual spring photo shoot in May.  I was tickled & honored when they choose to use it on their initiations along with the fabulous quote above. 

Anyone doing the math will probably realize that at a week from my due date, I'm obviously not in Kingsland with them.  I have to admit that it was hard when we all realized that the dates of their wedding and Logan's expected arrival were simply incompatible.  But in true Angie-Audrey-always-on-the-same-wavelength fashion, at 7:30 this morning, as I was texting her (not knowing if she was in the middle of something important like hair or makeup), my phone rang, and it was Angie.  I got to hear about the wonderful insanity of 2 families and 23 people coming together to celebrate their big day and about how everything was coming together for the ceremony scheduled for 11am this morning.  Other than a few very normal wedding day nerves (in her case, not about getting married, but worrying about everyone else and that everything would go smoothly), she sounded absolutely radiant.  (Can someone really sound radiant?  Well, she did!) 

If you're interested, Angie & Jim are both trying to keep everyone posted on the progress of their wedding week on their respective blogs. 

Harbinger of Spring

A couple of days ago, I posted about the spring photo shoots that are on my calendar. I was talking about looking for good photo op spots. Yesterday I had an appointment down in Plano and got to drive by Bluebonnet Trail which is of course famous for its proliferation of bluebonnets. I'm not sure that the crop is as good this year as it has been in the past, but I can't wait to get shots of my adorable red-headed, blue-eyed neighbor lying amongst them. But, I digress …

The thing that strikes me is that the bluebonnets blooming in Texas seem like one of the true harbingers of spring. The wildflowers are truly spectacular, but bluebonnets have always been my favorite. So, last year it seemed only appropriate that I plant some bluebonnets around the trees in my front yard since my house is known as the "Texas Star" house in the neighborhood. Luckily, assuming you allow them to fully seed before you pull up the dead plants, you never have to plant seeds again (hence why you're not supposed to pick them on the side of the highway). Under a wonderfully overcast sky this morning, I took a few minutes to venture outside with my trusty point & shoot (Canon PowerShot SD750) and got a couple of pretty great shots.

Happy Spring!

It’s a seriously small world …

… and getting smaller every day, right?

Spring time is here in North Texas and that means it's time for spring photo shoots. This year, I have 3 on the books - (1) with my neighbor, her son, and her mother who will be visiting from the west coast next week, (2) again with my neighbor probably in a couple of weeks, but this time with her hubby & their son, her brother-in-law & sister-in-law and their 2 boys, plus I think we're even getting the grandparents involved, and (3) a couples shoot with Jim & Angie in early May - this will also likely turn in to the infamous "pregnant belly" shoot as well. Anyway, I am on the hunt for new places to take photos. I'm specifically looking here in McKinney to stay a little closer to home (spring shoots usually happen down at the Arboretum or someplace equally far away). So, I did a quick Google search for "where to take pictures mckinney,tx", and started scoping out the results. Low and behold, I ran across a great blog entitled McKinney Daily Photo the author of which happens to be one of my former bosses! I never had any idea he was into photography.

I share this for 2 reasons - (1) it just amused me, and (2) he's got some great stuff on his blog, and it really shows off our community (which is one of his sited reasons for the blog). Check it out, and enjoy!

Jim & Angie’s Engagement Photos

It was a hoot to take a few minutes out of what was an otherwise crazy busy weekend to snap off a few photos for Jim & Angie's engagement portrait. This was my first opportunity to try out the new studio goodies my dear hubby, Chris, got me for Christmas - 2 inexpensive but functional lights - and the couple of pieces of material I picked up to function as backdrops. For a nominal investment (<$100), the results so far have been fairly decent. With a little Photoshop magic from Angie, I'm pretty sure they'll be more than adequate. Here's a link to the entire session - unedited (although I'm hoping Angie will post a few cropped & touched up ones), but here are a few of my favorites:

After we felt like we'd gotten several good ones of Jim & Angie, we did a few solo shots and then some shots for just plain fun …