A few minutes before six people started rolling in and we had a very quick ribbon cutting ceremony. The next two hours were crazy busy and I was thrilled to see so many friendly faces there. I still can’t believe how many people came out for the open house, especially since it was the start of the Labor Day weekend. I feel so blessed to have so many great friends and clients and it just makes my heart sing.

I do have a few people I would like to thank personally who really went the extra mile for me this week and took time out of their busy schedules to help me out during this crazy time. My HUGE round of applause goes to: Julie, Nancy, Cristina, Melanie, Stacy, Brian and Jessica. I just cannot say thank you enough for not only your help this week but also your support in my studio venture. I also want to publically say a thank you to my contractor, Jeff White, for the amazing job he did on the building. I will have a whole post about him later this weekend so watch for that. I also need to dedicate a whole post to my husband Chris who without him this studio would have never happened. He put in countless hours on it and his belief in me is more than I ever dreamed. Last of all, I want to thank my Heavenly Father for truly being the one to make this all possible.

Now…on the pictures. My friend Jessica was sweet enough to take pictures on my old, old camera that I still use around the house (all for its little pop up flash). Things were crazy last night and picture taking was not possible for me to do so I am thankful for Jessica stepping up! I will take some new pictures in a few weeks once we get the rail system put up and the office complete.

Last of all, I wanted to announce the winners of the five door prizes. I waited until the open house was over at 8 and then got worried when no one was there to do it until I saw my client Robin and I made a huge sigh of relief and I put her to work. She drew 5 names and one by one we wrote the winning names on each of the bags. All of the bags look the same from the outside so I couldn’t tell you who won what but I wanted to list the names here. If you are a winner, please send me an email or give me a call to see when I will be at the studio next week for you to pick it up. The winners of the door prizes are:
Brent Runyon
Sanford Giemza
Bridgett Fishburn
Kellie Rome
Jennifer Stump

I plan to have another open house in a few weeks just so that people who were out of town could stop by and take a peek and I will make sure it is on a weekday this time. Thanks again to everyone who has supported me in this new path for my business. I am so excited to see the future possibilities.

A Note From Me:Hi everyone! I have been so busy this past week getting ready for the opening that I have been neglecting my poor blog. We have had some construction setbacks but today I officially heard from the guy doing our floors that first thing tomorrow morning we can start moving stuff in. If you don’t hear from me for a few days, that is because I will be holed up at the studio getting things set up. There is a LOT of stuff to hang…anyone have great picture hanging skills, LOL?

I hope to see a bunch of my blog readers at the opening this Friday. I would love to meet you and take you on a mini tour of the new place. Until then!!!

Click on the thumbnails to view the pictures…

We decided on a scenic location and one set of grandparents even got in on the mix for some pictures with the family. The kids were so well behaved…I wish I could get my three to listed as well as their four do! Mom was talking about the fact that with four kids they were running out of room on the walls and so I offered up a suggestion of a storyboard which is a great idea if you wants to get a few shots into one spot on the wall. I also let the kids get their wiggles out and make funny faces at me and Mom said they would love to see those pictures on the blog so I had to include them on here! As I was leaving the session, two of the kids were yelling goodbye to me and then they each told me they loved me. See…another one of those job perks I just adore! I think I will save the ones of mom and dad for them as a surprise

So, for a few hours they posed, smiled, kissed and were totally great sports about everything I suggested them doing. Lauren and David make the CUTEST couple and both were so sweet and easygoing that it made my job a breeze. It was soaking wet out after some evening showers and my shoes and pants were soaked and muddy when we were done but it was so worth it for the great pictures I got. Thanks Lauren and David for a fabulous engagement session and I can’t wait to photograph your wedding this fall!

I have had a lot of people ask about the studio so I thought I would give an update. The progress has been much slower than I would have liked due to many of the joists in the building that needed to be replaced. When the contractors removed the crumbling sub-floor, they found an amazing and thick hardwood floor. But, underneath that was a bunch of crumbling joists that had to be replaced and they had to crawl under the building to do so and that is one tiny space. So, that alone set us back over a week and it pretty much through the budget into another category. I will say the floor is really sturdy now and it feels so solid. I love the floors! The new wall frame has been put up and all of the electrical and vent work is not only done but it passed inspection which is great. Today they are painting the bathroom and kitchen area so the tile can be put in. This replaces the two layers of really old and gross linoleum that used to be there (I actually scraped a bunch of that up myself). We are still hoping for the grand opening to be on Friday September 3rd if everything can get done on time. I love the fact that the new studio will allow so many more options – we can do studio and outdoor pictures all in one session which will give my clients a great variety. I will also be introducing a new baby plan that I have been wanting to implement for ages. This plan will begin when the studio doors open. I have also had some other ideas that clients have presented to me (I love it when y’all share ideas you would like to see) and some specials planned for the fall. More on all that later….

So, on to Friday Faves. I love sharing things that I love or new finds that I enjoy. So, my list for today includes:
1. One Cool Pick By One Cool Chick – this is a blog I found awhile back and the creator showcases fun and cool finds that she runs across. Sometimes the items are really cool and I want them for myself and sometimes they are just humorous and you wonder, that’s cool, but who would buy that?

2. Biscoff Cookies – You may not be familiar with the name of these cookies but you have probably tried them before if you ever took a Delta flight. These are served regularly while in flight and I fell in love with them years ago. These cookies are a cinnamon sugar type crunchy cookie with maybe a hint of ginger in it. YUM! I love them and you used to only be able to purchase them through their catalog but now you can find them in grocery stores such as Publix and Wal-Mart.

3. Urban Tallahassee – As you probably know from reading this blog, we moved here from a population 1+ million and since I miss the shopping, restaurants and stuff to do, we venture down to Tallahassee quite regularly. I always get excited when I see something new pop up here or there but I tend to miss all of the Tallhassee new openings until months later when I accidently pass by it or I hear about it from a friend. Well, that has now changed. I found this website which talks about all of the new things being built and opened in Tallahassee as well as dates and even restaurant reviews. You can read all about the new Publix being built next to the Books-A-Million on Thomasville Rd or the Chipotles opening this fall.

4. Google Calendar – When I switched to a smartphone a few years ago, I did so mainly because I needed a way to see my calendar from my phone and to be able to add things to it (OK, I love getting emails on the phone too). But, the question was what calendar to use. Someone suggested Google Calendar and I must say I love it. I prefer to view my calendar monthly so I can see what is coming up for the following weeks, but you can also view the calendar by the day or week. My favorite part of the calendar is that you can have many calendars on your main calendar and all are color coded. I have the following calendars on mine: personal, photo shoots, business other, kids sports, and kids appointments. I also have access to view and change things on my husband’s calendar. Last of all, I have access to read my parent’s calendar which came in really handy after my Dad had open heart surgery this past spring. You can hide or show each calendar which helps the calendar to not get too clogged up. It also sends me reminders of upcoming appointments and birthdays which is a nice feature. You do not need a phone to view Google calendar. I actually use the calendar much more on my desktop than on my phone. You can also search the calendar for entries or keywords which helps when I am wondering when my son’s next orthodontist appointment is.

That is it for today…thanks for stopping by!

Towards the end of the morning we shot the cover to the program which is made up of all the senior athletes. The senior gets decide where they want the picture taken and it changes every year. First we took one at the concession stand, then some on the steps and finally what I think was the favorite – the new Brookwood truck. What a great start to the new school year! I hope each and every one of you has a fabulous school year.

Note: All Brookwood Athletes will be given additional information on how to purchase the photographs taken on Monday. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. Thanks!

I have a lot of sessions to still share. But, I am working hard trying to finish some photos for Brookwood of their athletes (watch for a preview of a few later tonight). But, as I was editing away I found this you tube clip on another photographer’s blog and I thought it was so cute I wanted to share it with you.

Yes, I am a mini van driving mom (although mine is a lot older than the one shown) and boy does it make life easier with three kids!

We also took a bunch of big brother who just started all day pre-K this month and somehow he seems all grown up. He poses for pictures no with his cheese grin and he still has tons of energy that I would love to funnel to me! This boy will certainly make many hearts flutter one day.

I will leave you with this picture as I thought it was too funny…you’ve got to love brotherly love!

First, the newest family member:

Then comes big brother…age two but almost three and full of energy. You may remember him from the blog last year:

Last is the big sister. She is the sweetest girl and she also happens to be in every one of my middle son’s classes at school. She is great about giving me the scoop on his behavior, LOL! We first did some pictures with her dance outfit and dance poses and then we had to do a few jumping ones….this girl got some serious height!

and the last two of all three…so sweet

Thanks S for a great session!