Bro & Sis

Today's post is....

Dawn and Derek Elam in their portrait session for their Mom's surprise Christmas present! What a cool way to say I love you then by sharing yourself! I wish I could see their Mom's face as she opens the present and see's their faces! How cool! So anyone who see's this... shhh it's a surprise!

I know Dawn from Gardner-Webb university where I went for my freshman year of college. Dawn lived in the same dorm as I did and we both lived in, or near Winston-Salem so it was a great friendship right from the beginning! The summer after our freshman year we both got jobs working at the same restaurant and remained good friends! Over the years we have kind of done our own things, she is now a Senior in college and will be graduating in May! She is such an awesome girl, full of energy and fun. Dawn is an amazing piano player and singer- unfortunately, we couldn't find a piano the day of the shoot- but her talent it amazing!

Derek, is her 13 year old brother who I believe I had met once before but only briefly- so it was a challenge getting him to warm up enough to smile in some of these pics ;) His comments were hysterical as he talked about food and video games just waiting to be done with pictures. Typical teenage boy.

We met at Target then headed on our journey to Old Salem, an awesome historical place where the Moravians first settled after traveling from Germany! The place is full of awesome old buildings, log fences and history- I love it. Here's some favorites from the day!







I love these photos because they are just so natural, the colors, the sun reflection in my lens, their faces etc!





Annnnd this about sums it up.



Thanks for such a fun day guys!! I hope your Mom loves the pictures of you guys! Merry Christmas!!

Blackburn Family Christmas party!

Every year growing up we always got together with the Blackburn side of the family. It was a tradition of sorts, and one that I treasured every year. As the years have gone on and the grandchildren have gotten older and life has gotten busier, and now that both grandparents have passed away, that family tradition isn't as much a tradition. This year was different though. We got together, those that could (some were separated by distance, others by work) to celebrate the Christmas season. As everyone got there anticipation for the good food grew and we got to catch up and laugh with one another. We met on the farm, which once belonged to my great Uncle Richard, my Uncle Tommy and Aunt Texie now own the farm, and it was so great to hear all the noise and life in a house that has been closed up for years. Here's some pictures of the day- but mostly pictures of my cousin C.J. and his wife Sylvia's beautiful children, Sara and Eli.
I love my family and it was so great to get together with them!! To those that couldn't be there- you were missed! Thanks for all the support over the years and being there! Love you all.
Enjoy!


First- cool Christmas blur lol

Some things around the farm, including one awesome chicken!


A little blurry- but i love how excited Callie looks to be picked on by her older cousin Joshua and Joel!


I love how huge his eyes are- he is such a handsome baby!





Lil' miss thing


Sara is such a ball of energy! She was so cute though as she was trying to feed 'gu-ger' (a.k.a Sugar) the horse and the "moo-cows".

Ashelyn Hines

10:30am... I arrived at Abby and Bob's house in Winston to start our trip to Appalachian State University to take pictures of her lovely daughter Ashelyn, (a couple months ago I took pictures of Allie her sister, fyi). I absolutely love this family. I have known them since I was ehh around 12 years old and they are like a second family to me.
So Abby and I started our trip, the hour and a half drive was a blast as we chit-chatted about life and love, the book of Revelations (the tribulation), the Bible etc. It was a great time! When we got to the campus we met Ashelyn and went to eat at Macado's restaurant, a small chain were Bob and Abby had their first date. Then we were off... to some places on campus and then some places off. It was so much fun! To watch Ashelyn pose and laugh in front of my camera lens as I got in her face and made her sit in funny places was great. She was such a good sport and a joy to work with! I totally hope that her laid back, adorable, fun self shines through in these pictures. Ashelyn- you are gorgeous and it's been so great to know you for so long!

Enjoy!!

Us ;)

So it was a gorgeous fall day... a Sunday afternoon and a perfect day for picture taking. Thank gooooodness I was off! So armed with a tripod and my 50mm lens, Joel and I set out into the woods for some picture taking. We did the same thing last year, right before we were engaged- so it was an 'anniversary' of sorts. A year after becoming engaged, 6 months since getting married... it's been a busy year!

Here's a few of the pictures from the day! I'm sort of a fan of us so I had to share! Hope you enjoy!
















leave a comment!
Carrie

Paul and Lily come to visit!

Well these past couple of weeks have been a blast, with Mike and Christina here along with Paul and Lily the days have been nonstop and full of fun. I never had time to take the family on a 'formal' picture shoot but some of the snapshots from the week turned out pretty great. Just thought I'd share a few with you guys! The munchkins are growing so fast- it seems like each time they come their personalities are 10x's more developed and they have grown at least 5 feet (a bit of an exaggeration... yes... but it's true they are growing!). So enjoy a bit of the lives of the Nelsons. They're pretty great.


ahhh I love these Kids.


Lovvvveeee his eyes. My handsome nephew Paul


Beautiful Lily- she is growing up SO fast!


Mommy (Christina) and Lily. Hugs and kisses.


Daddy (Mike) and Paul. I love the natural lighting in this photo. Nothing like living by example either

leave a comment!! I love feedback.

Pic of the day

You may have seen my twitter update about the lady ringing up my groceries and singing a hymn... She was singing "Something happened, and now I know He touched me and made me whole". I had to smile, I said "I wish more people would sing those words" she slowly shook her head and said "Ya know, I don't care what people say or what they think, there's no touch like that, drugs won't touch people can't touch. Only He can."
Crazy how people are trying so hard to remove God's name from every monument, bill, lecture, speech etc, in a country that has "freedom of speech" and "freedom of religion". They can try as hard as they want- but they can never remove Him from our hearts. Guys we are a living representation of Christ, in a world that wants to shut Him out. What we say, what we do, how we act- all falls on Him. I speak for myself when I say that I'm not doing a good job of representing Him. God is love- I need that reminder... especially as this holiday season comes closer- and we're going to see even more attempts to rid Christ in Christmas. He is Good. He is faithful. Love Him, love people.

anyways... on a not so serious note, I was going through some old pics and ran across this picture of my beautiful niece! Just thought I'd show her off.

Allie Hines

Yesterday morning I woke up early got ready and headed off to Elon University to see my best friend, Allie. I've known Allie since 7th grade- and we have been best friends about that long. This girl has stuck with me through everything and I'm not sure what I would do without her. About a week ago Allie contacted me and asked if I would take some headshots of her for her 'resume' for school. Excitedly (yet nervous) I accepted the task and yesterday morning was the day.
I got to her apartment around 9am, praying the sun would peak through the clouds- or that it would hold off rain. (It did- it didn't rain until after we were done and eating lunch in a little cafe on campus. Thanks you Jesus). When I saw Allie she was her normal bubbly self all excited to get photographs- like a little kid waiting to play dress up. She was gorgeous (as always).
She has such a fun spirit, it's hyper, often excited, fun but can also be serious when the time calls for it. She has mellowed me out over the years and the girlishness you may see in me today is alot to her credit. So Thanks Allie for being such a fabulous friend and I hope the pictures show your beauty to the world!
Enjoy!!








(isn't she gorgeous?!)






(I loved these columns!)




(she's so cute)

Okay- so that was alot. Loving those comments- keep 'em up!

Carrie

Birthday weekend

4:15am... my alarm clock goes off. Time for work- I had to be there by 5am, one hour before we open, 5 hours before I would like to be crawling out of bed. This particular morning however was brimmed with excitement as I went about my morning traditions. For one thing it was my weekend off, and the other was that shortly after work, Joel and I would be joining my parents and two younger siblings to go on a 'road trip' to Luray, Virginia- to visit the largest set of caverns on the east coast. So yes, it was going to be an exciting day. My little sister is turning 8 on Wednesday and one of her biggest dreams was to 1) Visit a cave and 2) complete a garden maze- both of which we could do at Luray- so there we went to celebrate her birthday.

We got about 20 miles away from Luray around 10:30pm on Friday. We had decided ahead of time to book a hotel for the evening so we could spend most of the day Saturday visiting the caverns and taking our time.

Saturday morning we headed out early to get to the caverns (early to me- seeing as it was before ten). Our first stop was the Garden maze. Pretty much from the start we split up, Callie, Mom, Joel and I against Dad and Chris. I'm proud to say that we were victorious in finding our way out AND finding the 4 stations set up inside the maze to complete the 'theme'.
After that we went to the caverns, there were a few cars there- but not a very long wait at all (about two hours later when we finally emerged the entire parking lot was full of cars and the line was SO long). When we first entered the cave Callie said "Is this stuff plastic? It doesn't look real at all" I had to reassure her that it was indeed real- the amazing handy work of God. She touched the roof (I held her up- and the ceiling was low) and she said "Oh- yea..... your right!" Let's just say God is amazing. To walk into a room descending steps in the middle of the summer and feel the air get cooler and crisper as you go down- pretty amazing. The air was clear- basically bacteria free (about 98%), you could tell that your breathing changed. People everywhere were looking at the immense rock structures that seem to be held up by nothing but a few columns here and there yet it's so hard to believe that anyone could walk into the caverns and NOT believe in God, sadly though, they do. Everyday people ignore the majesty and magnificent works He is/has created all around us.

Guys- God is real. He is Mighty, Just, Powerful, Eternal, Everlasting, Beautiful, Jealous, Awesome. Don't forget it.

Much later that day we headed home, stopping at a mall along the way to stretch our weary legs (funny isn't it that sitting all day can cause your legs to grow tired). It was an awesome day- God blessed us tremendously and we had a great time together. Heres a few pictures from the day. Enjoy!

Much love,
Carrie


Garden Maze- with a cool fountain in the center



Birthday girl! She was so excited to explore the maze



God is so creative



This one looks like a curtain



A plaque honoring the guy who built in an 'organ' which played tunes by hitting the columns- I love what it says "Mans genius and the hand of God are in perfect harmony"



An awesome tower where music was played throughout the square



My brother- yes he's pretty cool

Meet Ollie

So when we were in Washington we went to thefamous 'canal' which is a tradition of Joel's Mom's side of the family. It's awesome, almost all of the family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents) get together and with their numerous golden retrievers to sit by the water and have fun, talking, laughing and eating together. Each couple seems to have at least one golden retriever if not more, so there ends up being around (but not limiting to) 10 at any given time. These dogs are awesome, they are hiper and so excited to see eachother... it's like watching little kids, jumping up and down and barking rapidly whenever a new dog arrives.
By the end of the day the dogs start getting a little less 'excited' and a little more 'relaxed', one of Joel's aunts had taken them to the water and played fetch with them for at least an hour, she would throw the 'stick' out in the water and the dogs would hurridly jump in and swim to catch it, bring it back and wait until she threw 'their' stick back out in the water again. It was funny to watch.
This is Ollie though- he's quite the dog, and his children have actually been seen in movies. Yep. He's the pappa of Airbud 3's puppies. Cool huh?

Here's another shot of Ollie- (he's kinda pooped.)


Well I have rambled enough at the moment... many more posts and pictures to come
God is GOOD
Carrie