Personal | The Beauty of Calm & Consistent

Sometimes I have days where I just feel overwhelmed. Not defeated, not hopeless, not even stressed....just, overwhelmed. Usually in part by the amount of things that I need to accomplish for my clients, my business and my life, and in part by the things life throws at me that are completely out of my control.

Sometimes those things are incredibly deep, emotional, and hard to understand. Like the untimely death of a young man, through an accident that no one could predict or prevent. When sadness like this touches my life - even in a distant way, but personally affecting many people that I hold dear -sometimes I don't know how to just go on living and managing all the things on my plate.

But it's when I reach the state of this kind of overwhelming thought and feeling that I'm beyond grateful to be able to look to the One who more than knows what to do with all of the things set before me. All of the things that I'm responsible for, all of the things I feel ill-equipped to handle, and all of the things I can't understand and can't control. It's the reassurance of His all-knowing, all-understanding and all-loving ways that remind me I don't have to try to figure out how to juggle things that overwhelm me. I just need to look to Him, one day at a time, and walk in the grace and peace He freely and overwhelmingly provides to cover over even the most confusing life situations.

Today, I stand in immense gratitude of this grace and peace. And as I was pondering all of this, these photos of Fort Bluff, TN came to mind. The beauty and calmness of nature serve to remind me of how constant, unchanging, and stable God is. And in my life there's often nothing more amazing to me than knowing that God is a consistent, calm, stabilizing force that's the same yesterday, today and forever.

May you all be encouraged to rest in the grace and peace of the Lord, no matter what life is throwing your way today.

Personal | When Friends Come to Visit

My life has been jam-packed with awesomeness, lately. And that awesomeness primarily exists of awesome people. Take, for instance, the fact that currently I'm sitting on my parent's couch in Indiana awaiting my dear friend Lindsey's wedding festivities which will begin in JUST a matter of hours. This weekend actually marks my first ever experience as a bridesmaid. I've been a flower girl and I've been the bride, but never before a bridesmaid. And I can say I'm truly honored and excited to be getting the privilege of standing up alongside such a dear, life-long friend on the most important day of her life. Not to mention it's a fun change to be on the OTHER side of a wedding and seeing it from the perspective of a wedding party member. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like to be photographed in the way that I'm so used to photographing others. :)

But anyway, since the wedding hasn't happened yet, and I don't really have any photos or updates about that, lets step back a few days and talk about LAST weekend. Because it was pretty darn awesome, too. My darling sister Aimee, my spunky cousin Emily & a very witty friend, Will, all descended upon Richmond to visit the Watson household for a few days. Awesomeness and hilarity were bound to ensue, and many, MANY quotable moments were created. I love it that they all found it worth their while to spend the time traveling to Richmond and made US their priority. I tried to remember to snap at least SOME photos in the midst of all the fun...

Emily, me and Will hanging out at the apartment, right before embarking on a game of Monopoly (which Aaron creamed all of us in).

Aaron was the banker with the new fangled "electronic" version.

Aimee trying to make a wise decision....

Me trying to make a wise decision... (this game takes concentration!)

I just love my beautiful cuz!

I told the other 3 to get together for a photo and this is what they did....

I said the gap was a little large and it looked awkward, so this was then the progression...

It cracks me up how Adam just keeps getting closer, and Aimee and Aaron continue to look awkward. Hah.

Aimee and Will. (The man with invaluable comments, advice and opinions about practically any and everything... from the music at Panera, to the discontinuation of scents at Bath & Body Works to cooking, Anderson Cooper and beyond!)

We capped off the wonderful afternoon with some tasty snacks for the evening. Adam was particularly excited about the watermelon.

On Monday, since Will, Aaron and Adam had to go back to work and normal life but Aimee and Emily weren't leaving until Tuesday, we girls decided to live it up and have a relaxing, enjoyable girl day. We started with some quality time at Barnes & Noble, then spent a couple hours soaking up some sun at the pool and topped it off by getting manicures before meeting up with Lydia for coffee. Basically a fantastic Monday, if you ask me. :)

Emily's nails...

Mine... (I wanted something light and pretty for the wedding this weekend)

Aimee's...

Coffee/tea/hang out time!

Self-Portrait group photo (not bad, if I do say so myself)

And friend pictures! Because all too often I fail to get these type.

The crazy travel-buddies.

Photos all around!

After our photo spree, Emily decided that she loved Aimee's new glittery sandals, even though they're about a foot too big for her.

Then I started randomly aiming & shooting without looking. Which actually came out with decent results, and managed to amuse me for a while... ;)

Basically, fabulous times were had by all. It was a perfect weekend and I already can't wait until the next adventures that we all get to have together! But for now, I'm off to do some shopping with my mom before rehearsal tonight! Yay for dear friends, good times and happily-ever-afters. :)