can you smell it?  I must say that after having such a snowy winter, I have had cabin fever!  It seems that most of the sessions I have done have been inside (which is fine), but their is nothing like the natural beauty of the outdoors.  I know it seems I have been MIA on the blog the past few weeks…..just so many exciting things happening and not enough time in the day!  A quick update on everything our way….Chris has been working on finishing our basement along with working on the pasture and fencing in more area for our new cows and donkey!  Those are some huge tasks that I try to help out with as much as I can!  I, on the other hand, only have 3 months left of the pregnancy and have enjoyed every minute of it (well, maybe not the whole gaining weight part….but I have had no cravings, have not been sick, and just a little tired….but nothing to complain about)!  Our little girl’s name will be Abby and we are soooo excited to meet her!  I have had a couple people ask if I will still be doing sessions in May (Due the beginning of June) and July and the answer is YES, YES, YES!!  :)  However, I am not taking any weddings in May or June. 

Somethings to look forward to in the next couple of weeks is a daily blog post for a week on both Weddings and on Newborn sessions! It is soooo important to be educated as a client!!  

As for now, I will leave you with an image that spells out SPRING to me…and makes me think of Easter (which is like a month away)!  Who needs to dye eggs when they are so beautiful and farm fresh! 

This past weekend Chris and I kept hearing about the snow coming. We woke up Saturday morning and could see snow on the tops of the mountains out our window. Chris was like, “let’s go find the snow!” (we only had drizzle at our elevation). Myself being a born and raised Illinois girl, I always tend to stay away from the snow because I have seen my share of blizzards and storms.  However, that morning I was like, “yes, let’s go find the snow!”  Little Bobby (our pup) had never seen the snow before and had a blast!  Chris kept throwing him snowballs to chase and Little Bobby could not understand where the snowballs were doing when they exploded when they hit the ground! I hope everyone got to see snow this past weekend! :) 

Our boy all covered in snow!

I have got to say that after a couple of days of rain, the sun came out and the colors around here are breath taking! Here are some photos at our home I took yesterday of all our fall decorations/beautiful colors!

My Aunt came in from IL for the weekend while Chris was gone Bear Hunting! It rained ALL day Saturday, but the sun came out Sunday and we scurried to the Blue Ridge Parkway to go for a hike.  We chose Graveyard Fields/Upper Falls which was amazing! It is crazy how much color is up at that elevation and the drive was so beautiful! If you are local and have not gone to Graveyard Fields..GO, GO, GO!  Here are a few photos from our day….Happy Fall!!

This evening, as I am working on my orders and edits, I can hear the rain hitting the windows. It has been a cloudy afternoon, but just last night, I captured the moon from the porch as I was attempting to grill! Happy weekend!!

First of all…all of these images are with my little point and shoot camera (it is new, and I am taking it back because it did horrible all weekend). :( 

A group of 3 other couples along with Chris and I road tripped it to the Ocoee River (location of the 1996 olympics) for the weekend!  We had a blast hanging out together in the big Van that we borrowed on the way to the River Friday evening! We had a full day of rafting on Saturday!  Great friends, great food,  and great fun! What else could you ask for?   

I got home this afternoon, and was overwhelmed with life.  What does that mean? Well, I am sure we have all felt it at one time or another. It was kind of like a burst of energy from no where. I smelled the fall air and was reminded how lucky I was to be alive (and in that breath wanted to do everything at the same time)!  That past couple of days have been busy but wonderful. Here is what has been going on outside of work….

Chris is playing on our tractor (I mean working) and getting the pasture ready for our (hope to have soon) cows……

Chris has also been working very hard each evening and weekend on putting the fence up along the pasture. He has spent so many hours and so much hard work into this fence. We are doing it as time/money permits and hope to have the cows after the winter….you see, Chris will be distracted by hunting season soon!

We now own more red gates than I care to admit…haha

I have smelled freshly cut grass for the past 5 days straight thanks to this wonderful candle in my office!

Vera showed up on my doorstep one morning as an unexpected surprise…..

And, I took up sewing…..well not really, but I am going to. I got this dandy sewing machine at the Flea Market and am overly excited to start making some skirts!  I just have to figure out when I am going to find the time…hummm.. am pretty sure Chris rolled his eyes at me when I showed him what I was going to buy!

Autumn Olive Photography now can help you with designing photos and frames on your wall with our new design program! I have got to admit, I partially got this program for myself. You see, I have yet to put ONE HOLE ON A WALL in my house! I know, it is sad!  Part of it is just not knowing how I should design my frames on the wall.  I really just want to “see it” before I “do it”. Ask for more details. Here are some examples of what can be done:

2 Horizontal 8×10 images, 2 vertical 8×10 images, 2 vertical 11×14 images. Minimum wall space needed is 55 inches by 50 inches.

2 vertical 8×10 images and 2 vertical 5×7 images. Minimum wall space needed is 48 inches by 15 inches

This wall includes 2 vertical 16×20 images, 2 vertical 8×10 images, 2 horizontal 5×7 images. A minimum wall space of 40 inches by 30 inches is needed.

Yes, I must say that my job has taken over my life the past couple of weeks. 14 days straight will do that I guess.  I usually stay pretty balanced, and have been blessed with a steady stream of work, phone calls, and emails at all hours of the evening (which I really do love!). However, travel and some marathon sessions have taken their toll on me today. I really didn’t realize it until just a second ago, when I was getting ready to get back to working at the computer and I was going to blog about some new products.  I came back from photographing the new products and entered my office to see the picture below. I started crying. Little Bobby is sitting on my work chair with his bone in his mouth.  He just wants to play, and I keep putting it off because I have put my job before my family the past couple of weeks.  Therefore, there will always be another day to post about the new products. Instead, I am going to go play with Little Bobby until the hubby gets home. I am going to bake some bread. I am going to make a nice dinner. I may even go for a walk.  :) Until tomorrow….

Kristen (great name by the way) is such a great girl! Seriously, she is not only beautiful, but smart and funny!  I mean, what else could you ask for! ?  I have known Kristen for years! She grew up in the Chicago area and her 8th grade year, her family moved to Central Illinois (where I lived).  Our friendship didn’t come until 9th grade.  We met in church.  We both could not find the High School  Sunday school class.  Kristen, you know, the one where our Sunday school teacher brought donuts in every morning but we would never eat because their were way too many calories (or maybe that was just me..haha). Our friendship started in church, and of course grew outside of Church. Even though our lives have taken us in completely different directions (her city, me country), we still have this friendship that is amazingly comfortable and non judgemental.