{coolest thing you'll see today}

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

{standing the test of time}

look at these hotties i've got for parents...don't you love the past?? :) i just love my parents, and this is how i thank them. :) hehe...

{27 reasons i love daryl reid}

1. You are really funny even when you aren't trying...

2. You let me tell stories that go on and on and on - most of the time :)...

3. You wonder if you'll get to play music with jerry garcia and bob marley one day...

4. You look really hot in a suit. Or a white undershirt...

5. You would play guitar every second of every day if you could...

6. You are a ridiculously safe driver...

7. You say that whatever I cook is yummy even if its sticky and you aren't sure if its done...

8. You love to read about World War II and tell me the same stories over and over...

9. When times are tough, you are able to stand up and lead us through...

10. You insist that since you were the one to make cube steak first, you must always make it...

11. You are snuggly...

12. You play air drums to every song that comes on the radio. Or on in your head...

13. You make some mean steak night mushrooms :) ...

14. You can't stay mad at me. You try - but it never succeeds...

15. You roll to the middle...

16. You insist on fighting over our future children and pets...just for the fun of it!

17. You have opinions about things that most men never even think about...

18. You always wait for me to tell you something I'm thinking about, instead of prying...

19. You will probably be totally gray headed by thirty...but I think its hot...

20. You would go out of your way to follow a airplane in the sky...

21. You get distracted by the smallest things - and can stay distracted for hours...

22. You could listen to music at the loudest settings possible for hours on end...

23. You take me to get ice cream. Several times a week, if you must...

24. You let me call you ridiculous nicknames in front of whoever I want...

25. You love your family and mine...

26. When you put your mind to something, you always do it well...

27. You are the cream cheese to my bagel...perfect for me...

{imagine that...}

{go spartans!}

while we were out in vegas a couple of weeks ago - i snuck into a cheerleading practice for a local high school there, where the spartan cheerleaders were preparing for an upcoming competition. these girls were crazy good at what they do - and i hope they did well in thier final competition for the year....

{sweet music for spring}

TURN OFF MUSIC PLAYER AT BOTTOM OF BLOG TO LISTEN! :)

{spring is in the air}

.

don't you just love the sweet smell of spring?! its finally here!!

{tea for two}

{humm...}

{life is now...}

{if your name is marissa, don't read this post. a notebook full of it is on its way to you...}

after a wicked weekend of spring cleaning, yard work, and self-analyzing, daryl and i have come to the decision that life is now. i have decided that i need to spring clean my life. i spend at least 90% of my week in worry mode. i have become so overwhelmed with everything that has been going or not going on in our lives. i worry about whether the bills will get paid, if the doors are locked, if we will ever be stable financially. i just worry about everything. and i'm tired of it. i'm tired of being tired. if i keep waiting to do the things i love, i'll never do them! i keep waiting for the obstacles to be over - but they just keep coming. sometimes like a landslide. but i have decided that i am going to be a whole new haley. i am putting aside the worries of the past, and enjoying the moments as they happen. i have spent the first year of my wonderful marriage WORRYING! its shouldn't be this way - so. as of this weekend. i am spring cleaning my life. i will not be consumed with worrying about trivial things that i cannot change. I want to feel the breeze and just breathe it in. i want to take more time for enjoying good music, good food, and the company of friends. i want to sip tea as the sun comes up. plant a garden and for goodness sake keep it alive! turn up the music and dance. roll the windows down and let it mess up my hair. eat organic and not worry about the price. to laugh, to sing at the top of my lungs, and to recognize an opportunity when i see it. i want to concentrate on the things (photography) and the people (daryl) that i truly love. i realize that this is going to be a big step for me to NOT worry since, as my mother likes to remind me, its in my genes. but i'm determined. i need it. i'm starting fresh. gone are the days of trying to please everyone and trying to be perfect. i'm just going to be the best version of myself i know how. and make no apologies. i am going to live life now. because it can't wait.

{las vegas...part two}

so heres the rest of our trip to vegas...

we traveled out to the valley of fire about an hour outside vegas for a a nice day of hiking around and seeing some amazing sites...

these are our friends - elary and nicole - who opened up thier home to us for ten whole days! crazy people! but they are great... an attempt to disobey the sign...in some weird way.

the daring one of the group...if daryl isn't climbing on something he is jumping over it..

he loves to get in there and discover all the history in the rock...he's crazy for it..

pensive...

daryl's shot of nikki and i through the rocks...

nikki's a hobbyist photog herself - very talented :) bet ya didn't know....

and she too jumps over everything...apparently...

these couple are just something artsy i couldn't resist...

nikki's work...
the beauty of these mountains were breathtaking...we had never seen anything like it...it felt like standing in the middle of a painting for most of the trip...incredible.

and finally...photos of the las vegas strip...

{breathe..}

sometimes you just need a reminder...

{the soos}

despite the rainy weather - we found one little bit sun in the clouds to shoot a couple of photos of anthony and renee for their new phonebook ad for their business - Handyman Construction here is augusta. we shot these at their new house that they are building. it made for a beautiful setting to showcase his "handiwork" in the background and their family (complete with pup bailey). these are a few shots they probably won't use for the phonebook but they were my favorites from the day...

{rainy days...}

isn't this little bird beautiful? i love rainy days...

{my favorite things}

so i thought on this cloudy friday i would write a little bit about the things i love. i've seen people do a top ten list of things to check out and i'm hooked - so today - i am sharing my list of favorite things...

1. for those of you who know me - i am a checklist fanatic. seriously. if there is a list to be made - trust me - i've already started checking it off... its the only way i know how to function! the magazine REAL SIMPLE has a great checklist resource on thier website - you can find it at http://search.realsimple.com/results.html?No=0&archive=Checklists&N=36 or just search thier site for checklists. it keeps my life organized and ready for the next step!
2. i have a love affair with vintage cameras...well with vintage anything. our home is filled with vintage art and furniture picked up all over the place from here to there. our mantel is filled with old books and my little camera collection...those jokers are expensive, so we only have few...but we're working on it...

3. i desperately wait every month for the latest issue of domino magazine. it is filled with great tips and ways to decorate on a budget. i just can't stand waiting for the next one to be in my little mailbox!

4. daryl likes to tell everyone that i am his CFO. i wouldn't be able to handle all the bills and keeping up with our spending if i hadn't found a free resource called http://www.mint.com/. this is a fantastic way to keep all your spending and even investments all in one place. if you haven't tried it out - please please do! :) 5. so as some know... i am a blogstalker. seriously. its a problem. i love love love to read other photographers blogs. i am constantly checking to see if people have posted new work or if they have written about thier little families. i'm just sick with loving my followed blogs! there are a few photographers who i am just crazy about thier work and the personality they show through it! i'm just going to share one so that you're not overwhelmed with the 30 or so blogs that i follow! seriously - i told you it was a problem.

betsy king photography - (formerly betsy and john photography).

although i have never met her or commented on her blog, i just love this girl. i love reading about her life - i know it sounds creepy but i do. she has the sweetest personality and it really shows in her work. reading her blog has really showed me to remember the little things in life - health, family, and happiness - and be satisfied with all thats around you. thats pretty deep for a photography blog - but really. i just hope she knows how amazing she is. this is an image i swiped off her blog of her little boy...hope she doesn't mind! isn't he adorable?

check out more over her work @ http://betsyandjohn.net/blog/

6. now. on to something else. i love photo booths. here are a few recent photobooth shots from our vacation to the mountains a while back - i just scanned them in to show ya the excitement! why one is blue and one is black we will never know - but really what do you expect from a curbside photobooth in helen georgia? really. i happen to think they are fantastic. eventually i would like to offer a photobooth option for weddings - wouldn't that be great?
another photography blog i follow is http://www.theimageisfound.com/. they have a great format for what they call the "crazybooth". hopefully one day once we get things off the ground with {h+d} we will be able to have something like that. also if you just wanna see some amazing images - check them out!

7. i love my klean kanteen. daryl swears that it was an impulse buy but i just love it. its so cute. and enviromentally helpful and its not a plastic bottle that will end up in a landfill somewhere! its beautiful. :) get yours today - they even have sippy tops for kids! how cute!? www.kleankanteen.com.

8. wheel of fortune. need i say more. just the sound on the wheel spinning! ahh! :)

9. all things handmade. buying things that someone made by hand is so personal to me. i just care about it! also - for purchasing handmade - www.etsy.com is a fantastic resource for gift ideas and for gifting yourself! :)

10. and last but certainly not least. i love being at home, wasting time, cooking dinner, and taking walks with my amazing husband. we've almost been married a year - isn't that crazy!? well - i hope he knows how great he is. (okay - now that you are gagging with all this love - i'll stop!)

so there you are. my top ten list for today. i could go on and on forever with the things that are special to me and the things i love. but i'll share again at another time the second set of favorites. thanks for reading...