1. Hosted a few couchsurfers for the first time.  This fellow, Angelo, was an Italian passing through KC.  He was kind enough to let me snap a photo of him

2. I worked on my mending skills (which are pretty sub par, unfortunately).  Brian was convinced that these pants of European origin that we found at a secondhand store were meant to wear with the top button unbuttoned.  The pants professed to be his perfect size but were… a little tight.  As walking around with your pants unbuttoned in public is NOT acceptable in my book (unless you’re preggers), I went about creating some extra “room” for Brian in this pair.  In the process I broke 2 sewing machine needles in addition to the machine itself and therefore had to finish it all by hand.  Told you mending is not my forte.

3. We took a few headshots for our nextdoor neighbor, Dwon Littlejohn, who is running for sherriff.  (Jackson County residents, check out his website here!) Who WOULDN’T vote for him?  Not only is he stellar and nice, but his last name is also Littlejohn.

4. Brian has (clearly) been growing his hair out.  A few weeks back, while sporting said caveman hair, we met a pretty inspiring South African dude named Kuzaan.  Interestingly enough, he lives in Estonia, so we’ll be visiting him and his family in a few short weeks’ time.

5. We are those annoying cat owners that think our cats are adorable.  So we’ve been playing with them more since we no longer have Angry Birds on the phones.

6. As I’ve been wanting to do a henna party with ladies for some time, I tried my hand (or in this case, foot) at doing my own henna one night while Brian was hanging out with a friend.  (Word to the wise, the box says it takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to dry.  If you are a newbie, like me, and put way too much on by accident, even if you blowdry your foot for over an HOUR after the first hour, it will still be wet.  So do NOT start your henna at 9:30 at night if you need to be at work the next morning.)

So here’s the substance I promised.

On my birthday I wrote about giving up our iPhones.  It was ridiculously hard, but ridiculously GOOD.  It’s funny, we’ll go to some gathering these days and come home and I’ll realize when we walk in our front door that I haven’t thought about e-mail or facebook for HOURS.  And that, my friends, is indeed a sweet satisfaction.  Last week I even asked Brian to change my facebook password and not tell me the new one.  I still get on, but he has to log me on and my visits are much much shorter.  To not be held captive to this ridiculously fast-pasted, media-centric universe has been a wonderful breath of fresh air.

So that brings me to this blog at hand.  As we’ve stepped away from media lately, it’s given us some new perspectives.  (In fact, last week we started a visual media fast.  No TV. No Hulu.  No Netflix.  No Movies. It’s been AMAZING.)  In the quietness and solitude we have begun working harder at our marriage, at relationships with those around us, at mending things (as you can see above), at hosting strangers, at our spiritual journeys.  And my friends, it has been sweet indeed.

As such, however, we’ve felt less of a pull or compulsion to do the continual blogging that we once tried to maintain.  I still love writing and will do it from time to time, but a vast majority of Avia updates will probably be via our facebook fan page.  (You can find it here.)  Trying to maintain a blog and update the facebook page and keep up with our clients all while actually working is really mentally and physically exhausting.  Many weeks I work from 8:00 in the morning to 6:30 at night Monday through Friday with no real lunch break and STILL have so much left to do in addition to the shoots and weddings we do on Saturday.  So, in light of realizing that we need more real life interactions and less media ones, I’m afraid that this blog will be falling a bit to the wayside.

We’ll be heading out on Monday, April 3^rd, for a three week trip to Eastern Europe.  There we’ll be exploring a few countries and will hopefully post a few pictures here along the way.  On that trip we’ll be doing some serious soul searching.  Those of you that have followed us thus far already know we’re planning to move there by next spring.  If this is your first time reading this, you may be surprised to find that out.  Regardless, we’re pretty darn stoked.

So, dear friends, it’s been fun, but I’m afraid we’ll be here in virtual land quite a bit less.  But we’ll be present in real world quite a bit more.  So give us a call and come hang out when we get back.  We’d love to see you.  For serious.

And, because we love you, here are a myriad of photos we’ve done over the last month in addition to all of the album design I’ve been doing, Whew!  No wonder we have no time to update the blog!:

Love and peace and all things new,

Mallory & Brian (Photos of the kitchen update.  Can you tell we like color?  Click on it to see it bigger if you’re into that kind of thing.)

I’m not a gifts person.  I don’t care if I receive them or not and I’m particularly bad at giving them.  It’s okay though, Mallory isn’t a gift person either.  Gifts is actually our last love language. (Before we go any further, if you haven’t heard of the five love languages, you might want to google them.  Right now.  They are like an instruction manual for relationships.  Or you can check out Mallory’s introductory post on them here from around this time last year).

To be honest, not only am I not a gifts person, I’m not really one for holidays either.  It seems silly to me to pick one day to celebrate something.  (Hold on, don’t throw things at me just yet.  Hear me out.)  If something is important to you, why wouldn’t you show it every day?  Personally, I try to live like every day is Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving  rolled into one.  I even work Halloween into my daily routine (ask Mallory how zombie-fied I am in the mornings).

So that brings me to today.  Today is Valentine’s Day.  I won’t go on a rant about how I think it’s a holiday invented by greeting card companies and chocolatiers who needed another way to boost profits.  I won’t complain that it basically forces men into acts of fiscal affection.  I won’t argue that the number of roses or carats in the diamond is not a way to quantify someone’s love.  What I am going to do is tell men to stop being lazy.  Seriously.  Just stop it.

Call me a rebel, but what you do on Valentine’s Day doesn’t really matter.  Any guy can go to the grocery store and buy some strawberries and chocolate (I know I did, Mallory told me it was non-negotiable).  What matters is what you do for the REST of the 364 days each year (365 this year).  A gift given randomly on another day at any other time says so much more than one given on the day when gifts are supposed to be given.  Try giving your lady a flower in September, and when she asks why, tell her ‘just because you love her’.  See how that works for you.  Seriously, I do it all the time.  Mallory has even written about it numerous times (check out a few here and here). 

But what is the point of giving a gift?  What you are trying to say is “I love you, you are amazing, and I’m so glad we are together.”  Guys, I have some great news!  You don’t have to spend money to say that.  JUST OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SAY IT.  For some reason that I will never fully understand, it seems most of us guys can’t just say those simple words.  I don’t know if it’s a product of a tough-guy upbringing, or some fraternal order of stoicism that plagues everyone with an XY chromosome combo, but we need to get over it.  We are only hurting ourselves.

Let’s face it guys, we can be a little lazy.  I know I tend to take the easy way out 9 times out of 10.  So let me give you a tip.  Do you want to know the simplest, quickest, easiest thing to do to make your significant other happy, and by extension, your life easier and happier?  (Tell me that a decrease in nagging, moping and angry outburst from your wife/girlfriend is not a plus.)

Tell her once EVERY DAY that you love her, that you appreciate her, that she is the most beautiful woman on God’s green Earth, and that you are blessed to be with her. 

That’s 23 words.  I counted it.  23 words is nothing on the effort scale.

If you, the man, are thinking “men don’t say things like that” then to you I say, and I mean no offense, you need to SACK UP and be a real man.  Real men tell their women things that make them feel special.  They help with the dishes.  They surprise their wife with the little things.  They spend time with her and get to know her and ask about her day.  (Mallory and I have made a huge effort these last few years to turn off the television and spend time with one another and it’s been amazing.) 

But let’s be honest, real men also love to do the quick, simple, easy thing that gets maximum results.  And I promise that what I’m telling you to do gets results.  And it’s simple.  And it’s easy.  If you don’t do it, you are either hiding behind the lie that sharing your feelings makes you weak or you are a masochist.  I’m not joking.

Valentine’s Day isn’t a day where we remember that we are supposed to be vulnerable with our partner and say some sappy stuff to make them happy once a year.  That should be our normal routine.  Valentine’s Day is the day when you get your report card on how well you’ve loved your lady for the past year.  If you’ve done your job, she’ll let you know.  If you haven’t, well, then you can go back to buying your way out of the dog house.

To say it in one last ‘guy friendly’ way, relationships are like machines.  You get out what you put in.  If you put in love all year round, you get love back (if you know what I’m saying *wink*).  If you wait for a special day of the year to fire up the ol’ love machine, it’s like trying to start the car after it sat for a year; it’s all gags, sputters, and puffs of black smoke.  (There’s a sad reason why so many people you know have birthdays around early-mid November).

So take care of your relationship machine as well as you take care of the lawnmower.  It only takes a few words every day to keep it in peak operating condition.

So crack open a book together, make your wife a cup o’ joe, and spend time with one another every week.  And for the love of all things manly, tell her you love her and that she’s amazing every day.  Trust me, you’ll see results.

Love and all that mushy stuff,

Brian (So for those of you freaking out that I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, here’s proof I made the chocolate covered strawberries just like Mallory so sweetly demanded today)

Fast forward to the night of the wedding:

I can’t tell you how many people I overheard talking about how good the band was.  At one point Allyn said to me, “Wow, these guys are great!  They aren’t supposed to be playing yet, but they are awesome!”  See, it was dinner time and some light muzak was supposed to be playing.  But Boom was there and man, they just love playing.  So they played some light and smooth grooves all through dinner, just for the love of it.  That’s just Boom.

When they started the party and the floor instantly filled up, I wasn’t surprised.  When everyone and their mother was dancing like the lights were off, I saw it coming.  When Boom transitioned from Billie Jean to Don’t Stop Believin’ in such a unique way it had all the members of the band laughing as they pulled it off, I simply nodded my head.  The party was rocking, and everyone knew why: 1. Because Molly & Allyn are really amazing and cool people with great friends and family who were excited to celebrate their big day and 2. Because Molly & Allyn booked the best wedding reception band there is.  Period.

Need more proof?  Molly and Allyn left about 10:20.  99 times out of a 100, when the bride and groom leave, so do the guests.  Not this time.  With Boom in the building, the guests came back inside and partied until the venue had to call it quits.  If it weren’t for closing time, who knows when people would have left.  Just goes to show you, you just can’t get enough Boom.

So if you are planning a reception in St. Louis or Columbia (or anywhere else, really) and you want it to be a party no one will ever forget,  get Boom, and get blown away.

boomstl.com

Love & Easy Listenin’,

Brian

Being the most amazing husband that ever walked the face of this planet, on his own Brian picked out a handful of secret recipes to cook for us over the next several weeks.  Of course, he wouldn’t tell me what any of the recipes were.

HOWEVER, I did catch a sneak peak of his first secret meal before he had gotten very far.

“Hey!  Where are you going with my pot?!?!?!”

“Hush!  I need a picture of it!”

“What in the world do you need a picture for?”

“To brag on you.”

So that’s how this recipe started, much to my delight.  Check out those colors!  I am proud to say that this ridiculously delicious, hearty, SUPER healthy soup was one of the best I have ever tasted.  No joke.  AND it’s only 241 calories per serving. And it fills you up like nobody’s business.  And it has SQUASH in it.  Nuh uh.

So, if you’re curious, here’s the recipe from Delish.com:

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 leeks (trimmed, thoroughly cleaned & chopped)
• 1 red bell pepper (cored, seeded & chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme (or 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves)
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 lb. turkey cutlets (cut into 1/2 x 2 in strip, or use chicken like we did)
• 2 medium butternut squashes (peeled, seeded & cut into 1 inch cubes)
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• salt & pepper, freshly ground

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat.  Add leeks and pepper; cook, stirring often until the vegetables begin to soften, 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute more.
2. Stir in broth, squash, thyme & cumin; cover & bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low & cook until the vegetables are tender (about 10 minutes).
3. Add turkey & corn; return the broth to a simmer.  Simmer until the turkey is just cooked through, 3-4 minutes.  Add lime juice & crushed red pepper.  Gently warm the soup until heated through.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.

And get ready for a party in your mouth like you’ve never tasted.  Seriously.

Love and butternut squash!

Mallory (& Brian)

Why am I putting “the vibe” in quotations?  Well, folks, for good reason.  Kevin lived with a bunch of guys when he was in college up at Truman State.  One night there were going to be other folks coming to their bachelor pad.  Other folks as in ladies and gentlemen.  Of course someone suggested that Kevin, an attractive single guy, needed an attractive single lady to complement his awesomeness.  As such, Kevin agreed to put out his extra special “vibe” that night to attract just the right special gal.  [Edit: I had to delete what I just wrote as I quickly discovered that trying to describe "the vibe" in adjectives alone not only doesn't do it justice, but gives one the wrong impression rather quickly.  Silly me, I also just realized that since we are, in fact, photographers perhaps it was smarter to actually SHOW you a photo of "the vibe".  DUH.  Now that I am back on earth, we return to our normal blog postery.]  Lucky for us, at their wedding reception Kevin recreated that extra special scene that Jessica walked into when she first spotted him.

If you are a single woman and reading this, I am sure that you are swooning as you stare at this photo.  If you are a single man reading this, I’m sure that you are already practicing this sassy move.  Heck, even if you aren’t single you might as well practice it.  If it worked for Kevin, why wouldn’t it work for you?

But all vibes aside, Jessica and Kevin are a pretty terrific couple.  (Man, I just sounded like my mom.  Did I really just use the word “terrific”?  Sorry, my friends.  Clearly I’m aging at far too rapid of a pace.)  Jessica is a peacemaker.  She loves writing.  And teaching special needs. And figuring out people’s personalities.  (After I met Jessica I dived in to personality research, too.  Ah the magical divining qualities that come to you when you study the MBTI & Enneagram.  See if you can guess what I am on both of those scales!  1/2 off a photoshoot if you get both right!) Kevin is a go getter.  He’s organized.  He practices what he preaches (because if you’re going to tell your patients to live healthy lifestyles you need to, as well).  He is quick-witted.  And they are a perfect balance to one another.  Jessica has gotten Kevin through med school and Kevin has gotten Jessica through the ups and downs of being a teacher.  They have tons of amazing friends and a piece of wall art in their home made out of used coffee filters that I am ridiculously jealous of.  (And, yes, I did take a photo of it so I can recreate one of my own.)  *And* they gave all of their guests little chocolate bars from the Askinosie factory in Springfield and they were DEEEEElicious.

And, really, what else could one ask for?  Enjoy their photos!

For those of you who are curious, their vendors:

• Ceremony Venue: Missouri United Methodist Church
• Reception Venue: Kimball Ballroom
• Flowers: Florassentials
• Cake: Upper Crust Bakery
• Hair: The Marc Salon
• Makeup: Dermistique
• Transportation: Mo-X
• DJ: Bryan Vanderhoof
• Dress Designer: Watters
• Bridesmaids Dresses: Levkoff

Love and great “vibes”, my friends.  Leave Jessica & Kevin some love below!

Mallory (Brian doing his own rendition.  Works every time.)

I received so many birthday wishes on facebook yesterday in addition to a singing wakeup call from my mother and youngest sister and text messages and voicemails.  If you were one of those (and even if you weren’t) thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I feel a little overwhelmed sometimes at the thought of how many folks I have in my life that love and care about me.  So, thank you.

Today’s post, though, is a little different. Okay, well, a lot different.  As I have already announced, yesterday was my birthday.  What I haven’t told you is that it also happened to mark the beginning of what Brian and I hope will be a pretty big paradigm shift in our lives.  What could cause a big shift, you ask?

Well, we’re getting rid of our iphones.  

Yup.  You read it right.  We are selling our iphones.  Here’s the deal.  We lovelovelovelovelovelovelove our iphones.  And that, my friends, is the problem.

For awhile now it has been wearing on my spirit; my iphone and I are tethered at the thumb.  Seriously.

I wake up and reach for my iphone to see if I got any e-mails while I slept. / I go to the washroom and bring the iphone with me.  (Now don’t you play dumb and tell me that’s gross because you know you bring Angry Birds in there with you, too.)  / I check the weather on my app before we leave the house. / Two blocks down the road and I check to see if we’ve had any new e-mails in that 10 seconds. / We get on the highway and instead of talking to Brian I read funny news stories or converse with virtual friends via facebook anywhere I can get 3G. / Lunch with friends?  Two minutes into the conversation and all of us have our phones out texting someone else or responding to e-mails or finding something more interesting in virtual land. / Brian and I get a night off and watch a movie together and we have to stop every 15 minutes while I check on IMDB for an actor I thought I recognized or wiki the plot so I don’t freak out with the suspense. (Yes, I’m a dork, I can’t handle suspense.  We’ll talk about that another day.) / We have a group over and several times I look up a funny person or argument or article we all referenced.  / I attend a family get together and within 20 minutes retreat to another room to check for more e-mails or facebook notifications. / I look for a great place to eat on yelp as we travel home and spend over an hour reading reviews and searching pictures.  / I spend way too much time in games or facebook messaging on the phone when we get home instead of talking with Brian or a friend I want to catch up with. / I work on a project in the house and my iphone is there streaming me something to keep my mind going. / I brush my teeth and check more stuff on my iphone. / I get in bed and play games until I fall asleep and then check that e-mail & facebook one more time. / I set my sleep app to wake me up when I’m at my lightest sleep point in the morning.

Seriously, folks, I am an addict with a capital ADDICT.  This. Is. Not. Okay.  If I were addicted to prescription pain meds you would tell me that I needed to drop the pain pills *today* and then get some help.  But we all know that because this is an iphone we would just say I’m really really really “plugged in.”

Well, my friends, consider this my official notice that I am really, truly unplugging.  Iphone, for sure, but I’ve been slowly working on weaning myself off of the constant humdrum of virtual chatboards and streaming technologies over the last few weeks.  Someone called it “self induced A.D.D.”.  Media had taken over my life and I had grown weary.

So, yesterday, on my birthday of all days, my new cellphone arrived on our front porch.  I would be lying to say that I’m not a little terrified to start this new phase.  This new phone has no games.  No apps.  No web access on 3G. No sleep app or Sudoku or weather checker or AP mobile streamer or Angry Birds or Groupon or Yelp or Craigslist.  It’s just a phone.  You can call me.  I can call you.  That’s pretty much it.  (Though it does have the world’s worst e-mail client that I can use in case of emergencies if I’m connected to wifi.  But it is so terrifingly awful and not user friendly that the interface alone will be a deterrent.)

So here is what I am hoping for:

• I am hoping to reclaim the art of learning about others.  Not for what they can do for me, but because they are simply fantastic human beings that have lives and stories.
• I am hoping that I can go through an entire multi-person lunch gathering with my phone out of sight and out of mind.
• I am hoping that real conversations will take the place of my incessant virtual non-life.
• I am hoping that I can Hulu less and listen for God more.
• I am hoping that I can get used to the sound of silence.
• I am hoping that I can learn to look something up later (or not at all).
• I am hoping that I can check e-mail less and love people more.
• I am hoping that I can learn to hear what I sound like when I think.
• I am hoping that I can talk to my husband on those long car rides to Columbia rather than finding something else to amuse me.
• I am hoping that when I hear stories of child soldiers or little girls being sold into the sex slave industry in faraway (or close) lands that it will affect my heart for longer than 2.5 seconds.
• I am hoping that people and life around me will become more important than my 3G network or Pinterest posts or facebook forums or Angry Birds.

I want to learn to live life again without being tethered to my phone. I hope.  I pray.  I *must* bank on the fact that life will be better.  And fuller.  And richer.

So, happy birthday to me.  I’m unplugging.  As a result, forgive me if it takes me a bit longer to respond to your message.  I’m learning to smell the roses again.  Because roses are much better when you smell them in person with someone you love rather than stare at a virtual version on a tiny screen in a dark room all by yourself.

Today,  I can meekly say that I am no longer an iphone user.  And, for me, that is an accomplishment.  Heck, maybe we can start a movement to live more in the real world than the virtual world.  Heaven knows we need to.

Love and real-life (newly unplugged) hugs,

Mallory

So that’s what’s made me sad about families.  (Don’t take this out of context, I am not sad about families.  Repeat, I LOVE FAMILIES. I ain’t runnin’ for election ya’ll so no reason to slander the good name yet.)  I adore families.  Children make me laugh.  I like chasing them around the room or seeing their new toys or having them make funny faces.  But often when we do family pictures, there just isn’t time for all that.  It’s all about that one image for the Christmas card.  And by the time we’ve wrangled all the kids or gotten everyone to look at the camera, the family is left in a grumpy mood and no time to do much of anything else.  And we leave the family still, mostly, strangers.

So, we made a decision.  We wanted to hang out with families like we hang out with our brides & grooms.  And then it hit me.  Why can’t we?

So, here it is. The big announcement (that a few of you probably even remembered we were going to make!).

We have a new type of family session.

“Day in the Life of, No Cheese, Please” Family Portraits 

I’ll be doing my first one in the next few weeks (cause it’d be a little creepy with two of us doing them).

But.

“What are they?” you ask.

K. Here’s what we envision them to be:

Step 1.  YOU contact US and schedule a date. (From May-October we can only schedule 3 weeks in advance if you wanted to do a Saturday as they are highly limited.  During November-April you can schedule as far in advance as we have open.  YES we travel to other cities for reasonable prices.)

Step 2. Sometime prior, we all hang out at your place for a short snack time/dinner and learn about one another.

Step 3. We brainstorm what you all normally do and come up with a simple and rough plan.  (Wake up, eat breakfast, pick out clothes for the kiddos, take the dog on a walk, visit the library, lunch, nap time,  story time, play time, family dinner, bedtime).

Step 4. I show up.  Just me.  Bright and early.  Carrying my camera & equipment.  No stress involved.  No need to freak out or tug on little Sally’s hair because it’s out of place for the “Cheese please” photograph.  Just your family in all of it’s wonderful, real glory all day.  (Trust us, your in laws will LOVE these photos).  Just like at a wedding, our aim is to catch those little things.  Bed head.  Teeth brushing.  Cereal pouring.  Kitty playing. Meal fixing. Bedtime reading.  Those little things that make family a family and make a parent’s heart (& OURS!) swoon.  And then I go home.  After one full day of a life of your family.

(With, hopefully no “Say cheese!”, please.)

It’ll be awesome.  Just you see.  Overwhelming, stressful 1-2 hour family sessions with screaming children and stressed parents?  Say goodbye.  It’s time for something new and MUCH better.

So thanks to the families that have let us capture them over the years.  We wouldn’t have realized how amazing families were if you hadn’t let us be a part of yours.

“Day in the Life of, No Cheese, Please” sessions start at $450 and include a little book and some pretty rockin’ images for you to peruse.   Yes, friends, we do travel.  Let’s talk it out.

Love & warm fuzzies,

Mallory (& Brian)

Regardless, here is our final 2011 in review post.  And it’s our last 4 engagement sessions.  Enjoy!

Alex & Stephanie’s engagement shoot in Kansas City, MO.  (We had already been throwing around the idea of adding teletubbies to our shoot because they are so scary when we actually FOUND some!)

Lorie & Pete’s engagement shoot at Tower Grove Park in St. Louis.  (Lorie had JUST inherited the gorgeous blanket we used in the shoot.)

Ashley & Ryan’s engagement shoot at Creve Coeur Lake Park in St. Louis.  (Ashley and I had a blast coming up with random ideas on Pinterest for their shoot because what’s an engagement session without a little spunk and pizazz?)

Amber & Derek’s engagement shoot in Russellville.  (We wanted to do a place with both a train car and a junkyard and Russellville was the only place I knew.  We also got FREE coffee out of the deal at a tiny little cafe that has opened up there.  My mom told me later it was because it was a $0.05 coffee day.)

Love & happy 2012!  May all of your resolutions come true.  = )

Mallory (& Brian)

So here’s engagements part 3!  We’ll do the final part on Monday since we will need this weekend to do some more much needed unpacking and cleaning!

Audrey & David’s engagement shoot in historic Hermann.  (Since Audrey is an English teacher and loveloveloveloveLOVES books, we, of course, had to incorporate a few).

Elizabeth & Tony’s engagement session in practically-their-backyard Columbia.  (These two cats met while working at the Gonzaga Bulletin way out west and will get married in California this summer.)

Whitney & Jarred’s engagement session in Linn.  (The pair said their family would be so excited that they finally had some photos together!  Apparently that hasn’t really happened with them since they’ve been dating!)

Sarah & Trever’s engagement session in Kansas City.  (We may or may not have happened upon a car that had just been broken into which may or may not have added a little pep in our step.  Oh, and we found WEST SIDE plastered in graffiti under the overpass across from the people-eating, fire-breathing dragon.)

Love and all things different and stuff,

Mallory (& Brian in a photo taken by the AMAZING Melissa Mccrotty of Russellville Arkansas who will actually be doing the wedding of Whitney & Jarred in a few months when they get married in their hometown in Arkansas!  Melissa and I exchanged ideas for months before our shoot and this was one of my favorite concepts we found.)

Check it.

Kathleen & Michael’s engagement shoot out at her family’s farm in Salisbury (Brian may or may not have tried to sneak multiple kittens into our car when I wasn’t looking – luckily their cries were loud so I caught him).

Molly & Allyn’s engagement shoot in Rocheport where Allyn proposed. (Check those AWESOME guitars!  Molly’s dad had them custom made from the same piece of wood so they’d always have a matching pair.)

Sarah & John Robert’s engagement shoot at the crack of dawn.  (We may all have possibly paused at some point to grab some delicious Upper Crust breakfast before we finished the shoot.)

Sarah & Travis’ engagement shoot in KC.  (Who have promised to be our very first dinner guests here in KC when we get this place clean enough for guests!)

Love & Drama (the good kind!)

Mallory (& Brian)