V-Day

What's the best way to celebrate?  Cupcakes and pizza, of course! :)

Since I have a wedding today, we celebrated last night... cupcakes and pizza!

Skip the flowers and chocolate- a heart-shaped pizza is all I wanted. :)

I hope you all have a good one and celebrate :)

It Gets Better!

We had to go into the "Transportation Office" today to fill out the last of the paperwork for the few place- this time for the actual move.  As if them packing up all our stuff and moving it for us wasn't great enough...

they UNPACK for us *AND* take all the boxes and paper with them!

Holy Cow.

I like the Army now :)

Floor plans

We signed the papers today for the new place- ahh!  Crazy!

We get to actually see inside on the 26th, but until then, we have floor plans... better than nothing, right?!

downstairs

upstairs

So there it is!  I am still in denial that:

1) I am moving... again! 

2) That I don't have to pack a single thing!

I have quite the urge to get boxes and start packing, and it's crazy that I don't have to!

That's all that's going on in the Battles-McKenna household.  Looking forward to getting settled in there March 19th!  In the meantime, Joe has a board for the Army, has to pass his range test, and I have my few weddings- crazy!

We 're Moving!

Our new house as of March 19th!

Sorry that these aren't the greatest quality, but I took them while Joe was driving out my window with my iPhone.  We just found out today that we're going to be moving into Army base housing March 19th!  Ahh!  That's in a MONTH!

The good thing is that the Army comes over on the 19th, packs up everything (NO boxes, NO tape, NO nothing for us!) and then moves it all over to our new place.  I think that is awesome!  I haaaaaated packing and taping up everything when I moved out here, so I am so happy about that!

We don't know too much about the place yet other than that it's three bedrooms, has wood floors, a balcony, and french doors to the yard, and was just finished being built.  So, uhm... yay!  

While I love this condo, walking down two flights of stairs to walk Gordon multiple times a day stinks, carrying groceries and my photo equipment up the stairs stinks, and having that extra bedroom will be heavenly- when we have friends over they don't have to sleep in my office anymore! :)

So, we're excited, but it's also CRAZY that we are moving so soon!

Gettysburg

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous!  We had the windows open this morning while we made brunch (hashbrowns, eggs, and toast! Yum!) and then Joe decided it was too nice of a day to just enjoy through the windows, so we headed up to Gettysburg!

Gettysburg is only about 30 minutes away, but I had never been.  Joe, of course, was dying to go again.  We got the audio car CD, which was really nice because we could just drive around in our car and listen to all the information and get out when we wanted to.

I didn't take many photos, but here they are.

Working Hard!

Joe is soooo mad at me right now. The condo is a mess. There is paper, tape, labels, and scissors all over. I promised him that I would clean it all up soon.... and I will! But I think it's all been worth it because I have a lot of stuff ready for the upcoming wedding season! Isn't it all just so pretty? :)

Wedding Photography

The #1 question everyone keeps asking us is, "who is going to shoot your wedding?!"

While the obvious choice might be my good buddies Jaime or Kim, I decided long ago that my friends are my friends and I want them to have a day to enjoy themselves, and not to work. Of course, I am sure they will have their cameras with them, but they aren't on the clock on June 19th!

When I started to think about it, I decided that I wanted Cristobal and Kathleen Perez of Azul Photography to do it. I met Kathleen several years ago at Maine Photographic Workshops at a week-long wedding workshop. I really clicked with Kathleen and loved her photojournalistic style and her vast knowledge of the craft. Then I found out she wasn't the only photojournalist in the family- her husband Cristobal was also a photographer and a well known and amazing one at that!

We kept in touch over the years through e-mail and whenever they make their way up to DC (they live in Raleigh, NC) we have lunch or dinner. Cristobal and Kathleen helped guide me through the very beginning of my career. They were the ones who encouraged me to join the Wedding Photojournalism Association, which has become a source of great accomplishment for me, and they were the ones who encouraged me to raise my prices significantly, which not only helped me go full-time, but also helped me get more clients (who knew?!), so I am eternally grateful for their guidance and help.

Their photos are so beautiful and real. Many photographer these days are touting their "photojournalist style" when in reality it's all set up and photoshopped. Azul photography doesn't do it- they capture the moments and the beauty that is already there. And that's so important to me. I'm not a model and my wedding will probably not be worthy enough to be seen on the pages of Southern Wedding Magazine, but it will be beautiful and a wonderful time, and that's what I want captured.

When I asked Cristobal and Kathleen if they'd be interested in shooting our wedding, they were so thrilled and excited. I, on the other hand, am so honored that I will have two of the top photojournalists in the nation in attendance. And did I mention how nice and awesome they are?! Yeah. They are amazing.

We signed a contract with them this week, so now it's all official!

Joe and I are truly lucky to have them not only as our photographers, but as friends, too!