Going Green!

Hi guys. hope all are well and staying warm on this yucky frigid day! Just a quick post about my studio going green. No I dont mean literally :) I am switching everything to be as Earth friendly as possible. So what that means for you...well really just that all price info will be sent in a PDF format instead of printing. Also, my packaging will be cut down a lil to reduce wasting. If you want to help please return the bags and boxes I deliver your prints in. I can reuse them and that would be awesome or You can reuse them for a gift or something.
It is crazy how much trash our world is going through. I read an article about the amount of water bottles that are filling up the landfills and only like 5% are recycled. That is millions of water bottles a year! So yes we bought a filter and are going to use reusable bottles and try and do our part on that. It does take more work to be GREEN but think about what lil thing you can do to help our Mother Earth that God has trusted us with. Are you taking care of it??

The Best Biscuits in the World!!

Well my mom and I made a road trip to Ky to see my poppaws cancer doc. It wasnt the best news but also not the worst. Please pray for a complete healing for him. He will be having the radiation seed things to hopefully kill all of the cancer cells. He is in great spirits, which is great. It is just sooo hard to watch something like this. I feel way too grown up. Ya know??

Ok so while we were there I insisted my mommaw (yes so southern :) ) make us her biscuits. You know the ones that melt in your mouth and you can just eat 10 with nothing on them. Who needs butter or jelly. These are the best tastin things in the world! NO i am serious. But I did put my poppaws honey on them.........ummm ummm ummmmmmm!! So of course I photographed the whole procedure. These are those simple moments that I want to never forget. I want to always remember her doing this....its soooo easy for her. She just starts pouring all of the ingredients in ~ no measuring or reading just all by heart. I think her heart does go into everything she has ever cooked for us. SHe was also a cook at the local elementary school and let me tell you~ everyone in town came there for lunch. Everything was homemade, no frozen drove in a truck food. Homemade goodness that for a buck fifty was heaven on a school tray! ha

SO here she is...my mommaw and her incredible biscuits!!

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone. I hope everyone has has a wonderful, blessed and rested holiday break. Our house was full of blessings and I pray we honored Jesus on His day as we were supposed to. As some of you know about my poppaw (read the last post)~ well because of him and that pic I am starting a new project.
"The simple moments" is the only name I can come up with. I am so thankful to have the gift of capturing those moments and I want to share them with you. I am lookin for elderly people to photograph doing their 'thing'. I want to come to their home and capture them cooking, quilting, golfing whatever you want to remember them with. I just think everyone should have those moments captured! No posing just real natural portraits. There will be no session fee and you will also receive a 11x14 wall portrait FRee!! All you need to do is send me a email or comment here about your person, how they have touched you and what you want captured. I am not sure how many I can complete at first but I will get to them all eventually! I am soooo excited about this and cant wait to hear your stories. I am thinking I will make a small book with all of the portraits when we are done.

So get typing and Have a wonderful SAFE New Years!!!

Whats important...and a thank you!

As Christmas fast approaches it leads me to think...about things. You know those moments when you must slow down and stare at nothing and Just think. Well tonight I had one of those moments. I was feeling pretty crotchety ( is that a real word?) and trying to clean house well my kids were not helping and i got mad. So then I just kinda ignore them and go about my biz..well then i think...those are your blessings and your missing a moment with them. So i stop and just visit with them. He shows me his "new" beat on his drums and she rambles on about something with her music and phone. So then i feel better and go finish cleaning. Arent those the moments that we are supposed to cherish? My poppaw was just diagnosed with prostate cancer. Any one that knows me knows that my poppaw is my pal. I just cant get enough of him when we are tog. they live in KY and I dont get there enough and their trips are getting less and less. This was quite earth shattering news for me. Arent they going to live forever?? So I pray for God to heal him like only He can. Its way too early to make him an angel and Im just not darn ready to give him up. So then I think some more...are those moments there to make you realize how many things you take for granted and how many things we just look over everyday. Maybe God is telling me something. Wake up..so I will. I will appreciate my family much more this Christmas and I cant wait to get my arms around my poppaw and smell that pine rustic smell of his. To see him in his jeans and white t. To walk to the garden and him point out everything he has done and every animal track. His life is so simple and he does not ignore the lil things. So that leads me to the lil things. After being so sick lately I am still in a funk. Tonight as the love of my life is doing his firefighting gig I sit here thinking about all of hte lil things he has done for me. He has taken care of me like a mad man. He has had to do alot more than I would ever ask of him. He has loved me and supported me and just made me laugh when I needed it. He has a sick sense of humor but it is funny! I feel closer to him bc of the sickness..again a time to make you stop and wonder. He will never read this but honey ~ thank you. I love you more than you will ever know and I thank GOd everyday for bringing you home to me. You are my life and soul.

SO i guess this year we all need to just stop........breath.........and enjoy the lil things and watch as they become the bigger things in life.

I hope some of this made sense to someone. I know im rambling..but I just needed to say it.

can you guess who is in the picture above?? This was taken in Oct. before we knew about the cancer. this is his true essence~ his life at a most simplest moment that Thank God I captured!!

I am back to work....

some of you know I have been battling kidney stones for about 5 months. Well I had another surgery to remove those boogers and I think we are done! I am feeling better already and pray this is it for a while.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me and been patient with their portraits. I should have all phone calls returned in the next few days and orders delivered!
If you have contacted me and have not heard back please call again. I will make it up to you!

Just a reminder the studio will be closing over the holidays, please email me if you want and I will check them some.
I am soooo ready to spend some time with my beautiful children and husband. I love cuddling with them and watching Christmas Vacation for the 100th time! I pray that you all have a blessed Christmas and remember what the season is about, Our Savior!

Thank you all and I look forward to seeing you again soon! I will be having a open house for the new studio so keep in touch!

With all of my love and no kidney stones
mandy

double hugs and kisses

double the lovin and double the fun!! Meet the R twins. They are soooo lovable I wanted to bring them home with me, well at least one! They gave me and mom a great workout trying to get them in sleepytown..but it paid off! They have been born into an amazing family and I am honored to capture them at this young perfect age!!

been a while...

meet the "o" family. They are great friends and clients. They are very blessed with such beautiful land and kids. We had a blast driving around and finding great places for these shots.
Thank you guys for a fun day and your loyalty! I hope you love them as much as I do.