Wee Baby Sullivan

So my nephew Sullivan is official one year old! We did some very natural one year pictures at their new house. Just letting the kid be a kid!

MMMMM... yogurt and bananas, my favorite!

Not sure what this is all about. Maybe he's showing off his new teeth?

Storytime with Dad...

Sullivan and his best friend Libby

All smiles...

One of Sully's favorite books

Dickey Family

My family is full of little boys! My other nephews are 3 and 6 months old. More casual "at home" portraits... proof that family pictures can also be fun!

Logan sportin' the fauxhawk

How can you say NO to that face???

Playing with Daddy

Rough-housing with Mommy

Family portrait 1.0

Family portrait 2.0

30 days from now...

In 30 short days I'll be here: 

A much deserved beach vacation with my hubby. But before that...

• Two amazing weddings that I have been looking forward to for a LONG time!
• working at the awesome venues of The Filter Building, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Edison's just to name a few
• The summer Dallas Bridal Show
• Two, yes you heard it, TWO Research.Meet.Click events with my girls at The Photography Clique
• my birthday celebration. You can go ahead and start sending flowers now. :)
• and countless hours of editing, shooting, album desiging and blogging! 

Sheesh! I have alot to do before I can leave town... I better get back to work!

My nephew - Logan

My nephew Logan was born in January and I finally got my chance to get him in front of my camera! His pudgy baby cheeks are just the best, but maybe I'm a little biased. Congrats Brooke and Glenn, maybe this one will look a little more like Brooke? Come on, she deserves it!

Today is my anniversary, and I have a confession to make...

I have a Creative Memories scrapbook as my wedding album. I know, I know, it's disgraceful and I am ashamed. However, I know this is a safe place and I feel it's time to come clean. What better day than on my 11 year wedding anniversary to confess my regrets for not hiring a true professional?

I did the best I could with what I had:

Don't get me wrong, the pictures I do have are great, our photographer was a great photographer... but he was a terrible businessman. A scoundrel and a scheister in fact. He tried to skip town and leave us high-and-dry without our album OR the images! With my CIA background (kidding) I was able to track him down and threaten him in no uncertain terms... "I want my negatives, punk, or it's gonna get ugly." So I was delivered exactly that: 30 rolls of negatives. No prints, no proofs, no online posting, no digital files. Honestly, a Creative Memories scrapbook was as good as it got for us.

So I leave you today with a 'silver lining' message: It's not too late for you! Hire a true creative and business professional on your wedding day, spend the money on a great photographer and an amazing album. It's the one indulgence that won't ever leave you with buyers remorse! Trust me...

Sullivan at 3 months! WEE BABY

Warning... if this kid doesn't make you smile it may mean you have no soul! :)

My nephew, Sullivan, is 3 months old and smiled like a champ for his recent session. And smiled, and laughed, and smiled... He did so good and he's just so stinkin' cute! Here he is sporting his super-scary Halloween onesie and his costume.

Scotland!

Most of you know my family and I traveled to Scotland at the end of last year. This trip had been a dream of my family's for some time now. It was a pilgrimage, of sorts, for my Mom who was born there but had not returned since she immigrated as a teenager. I won't bore you with all the family snapshots, but here are a few favs that my husband and I made into a 12 month wall calendar... Yes, it was COLD! I'd love to see it in the summer some time, but it was still just a beautiful as I thought it would be.


On the road to see a 3000 year old burial cairn near Inverness. The Christmas Festival in Edinburgh.

A back alley in Edinburgh. This is my husband JA and my Dad. We were wandering while we waited for our tour of the underground vaults.

This engraved stone sits on the border of England and Scotland. With the 60mph winds, I would swear this felt like the coldest place in all the world...

The cove in Oban. So nice of that seagull to cooperate so I could pull off a picture-perfect shot!

We stayed in a very small town called Port Appin. This was a small public walkway we wandered down one day. Fortunately, it ends right at the local pub. Funny how that works!

Our one trip into England was to see Hadrian's Wall and the ancient Roman forts. This was a view of the wall with some sheep that didn't seem too impressed that they were grazing on thousands of years of human history.

We visited a couple ruined Abbeys. This was the beautiful 1600AD ruins of Dryburgh Abbey.

The quaint town of Inverary. We met one of my Mom's cousins in a pub here. They had not seen each other in 50 years!

My husband had what I would consider to be the best hamburger ever for lunch. The Aberdeen Angus beef they raise here is so tasty (for all you meat-asauruses), nothing we have in the States even comes close...

The ruined Urquart Castle on the Loch Ness. Nope, no Nessie sightings but I'm still a believer!

Another shot of the beautiful town of Oban. Yes boys, home of Oban Whiskey.
The view from our cottage. Can't beat a week of waking up to that every morning...
The view from Sterling Castle just outside of Edinburgh.
Another shot from the top of the mountain as you cross over into England.

Let's get personal...

So I've heard from some blog experts that they want my blog to be more personal. They know I take pretty pictures, but whose the chick behind the lens? So here is my first attempt at making this blog much more regular and more personal...


Did you know my husband and I are adopting?


A dog?


While adopting kids is a very noble and amazing thing, we are so not there yet! baby steps, baby steps. We're starting with the furry baby first!



This is Bailey...



He's a Brittany Spaniel and we are adopting him from the American Brittany Rescue. He is so adorable and the sweetest, lovey dog ever! He was abandoned by his previous owner because he was a bad hunting dog, and the ABR took him in so he didn't have to go to a shelter. They saved his little doggy life, and we are blessed b/c of it!


So here's my political shpeal for a moment... don't buy from breeders and beware of puppy mills. There are so many wonderful dogs out there who just need loving homes. Check your local shelter, or shop online if you can't do the whole shelter thing. Some wonderful animals don't get a chance like Bailey.


If you are set on a purebred, check online for rescues, there are tons. And please, please, please... don't breed your dog just b/c he's cute. There are plenty of pets in this world!!


I'm sure you'll be tortured with more Bailey updates as we get to know each other better!