With heart...

Wednesday I took a huge cake to my husband's basketball team to celebrate their accomplishements this year and to get them all pumped up for last night's game. I gathered the girls together and told them that typically Shawn does something really nice for me for my birthday, but since my birthday was yesterday (Thursday) he wasn't going to get to do something because I had to share him with all of them. I did tell the girls though that the very best birthday present they could help him give me was a win in the Area semi-finals. We had cake and celebrated my (cough) 30-something birthday a day early.

Last night - I have to hand it to my husband, his coaching staff, and his girls. We played the late game in Edmond last night (and yes, 8:00 p.m. is LATE for me). I have never watched his girls play with more heart, more dedication and more effort. At half time, we were up and I felt good about the game. I yelled and cheered so much, I'm still hoarse today! It was a magical time to watch these girls - many of which I've watched since they were in 7th grade work so hard for a goal that many of them set for themselves back this fall. The girls came back from half time and didn't have a real good 3rd quarter - but they rallied hard none the less. Fourth quarter, we regained our lead and held it up until about the last minute and a half. Then a few bad turn overs, Choctaw got the ball and made some key free throws - sending them point by point ahead as the seconds ticked down. With just point something seconds left on the clock, the final blow was delivered with yet another made set of free throws solidifying the end of our girls' season this year.

It was a heartbreaking loss - made even more so by the fact that I've hardly ever - and I mean EVER - seen my husband get tears in his eyes over a ballgame - but last night he did. As did most of the girls. They all tried so hard and did such an amazing job all year long and last night was no exception. I'm so proud of all the girls!

So to the seniors - Ariella, Jazzy, Alex, Jacqueline and manager Brandi - you've had a great four years of high school basketball. Some of our seniors have all had many phone calls from college recruiters and Shawn and I are so excited at the prospect of continuing to watch them grow as young women and athletes and traveling to whatever college they select to see them play. To all of our other girls - Tiffany, Brittany, Tita, Kierston, Erica, Bridgette, Shayla, Cydni, Znobia, Bridgette H. - we are all so very proud of you!!

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present yesterday than to watch you all play with the heart you did last night! I wish there had been a win at the end of the night - but I'll take heart over a win every single day of the week. I'm so proud of all of you!!

Cool new music....

I stumbled across this gal a month or so ago and love some of her stuff - didn't think much about it again until the DJ I listen to in the mornings got to talking about her today....I was pumped I was 'cool' before he was!! I'm finding myself drifting towards some of this Indy-esque type music lately and am really loving it. I know my husband won't be a fan - too slow and sultry for his taste! But thought I'd share b/c you might like it!

The musicians name "A Fine Frenzy"


Here's a copy of her latest video ....you can also find her on the net @ http://www.afinefrenzy.com/

New stuff

Today - I thought it was about time for a mini face-lift for our blog - especially after I saw we were nearing our 3,000 view JUST THIS YEAR!!
So what's new you ask...
Well, take a look at the picture at the top of the page. Now hit your 'refresh' button for your browser. You'll notice that the picture will change each time you refresh or log into the page. We've also changed around our text and background colors, etc. There are a few more changes in the works - so be watching for them!

So many of our clients know to look at our blog following their session to get a 'sneak preview' of what's to come....we also post a lot of other great info here for our clients and future clients!

There just some things...no photographer can do....

This got me to laughing today...just had to share....(and BTW this is in NO way indicative of ANY of my clients!)

Here's one more....in case anyone wonder's why I don't do children's photography....this can just sum it up soooo well!

Remaining wedding dates...

Our 2008 calender is quickly filling up! If you know of someone getting married and still looking for a photographer - have them give us a call and see if we're open on their date. Even if we're not open on your wedding day, we can still fit you in for engagements and a bridal session!

March
We're leaving most of March open for our 2008 seniors who haven't yet had their senior pictures taken. For our seniors wanting us to do their graduation announcements, the order deadline is March 31 to guarantee they'll arrive in time to mail out. Right now we have the following dates still available:
15, 16, 29, 30

April
We have a couple of our brides looking at a few dates right now for bridal appointments, but nothing has been completely set as of yet. This looks to be one of our 'lighter' months....this is a good month to have your bridals done if you're planning a May/June wedding! We always recommend a test run before your big day w/ hair, make-up, jewelry, etc. to make sure everything fits and works the way you envision it!

May
Available dates are:
4, 10, 25 and 31

June
Available dates are:
1 and 21

July
Available dates are:
12 and 13

August
At this time, we have one wedding booked on the 2nd. This month will get quite hectic in the coming months however - my husband coaches softball at Ike and we travel along with him to many of the games during this month. Please continue to check our calendar for updates as we get confirmation on his schedule!

Graduation Time...

It's quickly approaching that time of year when we get bombarded with graduation announcement orders....here's a few we recently did for a client....Just a note - all of our announcements are completely custom and you can add and change anything you want on them. Select your favorite image(s) from your session and we'll get to work.It's quickly approaching that time of year when we get bombarded with graduation announcement orders....here's a few we recently did for a client....Just a note - all of our announcements are completely custom and you can add and change anything you want on them. Select your favorite image(s) from your session and we'll get to work.

If you plan on having us do your grad announcements - you'll need to get your info to us ASAP - order deadline is March 31!! Also - all announcements come with matching envelopes. Typically our announcements are a 5x7 one-sided style, but we also offer additional sizes and styles.

Damain's Senior Pictures

Sunday afternoon we photographed Damain who is a senior this year. He braved some chilly weather that afternoon and we were able to get some really remarkable shots. Damain is considering a future as an engineeer and we wish him all the luck in the future! Here are just a few of our favorites from our afternoon!

Chris & Deidra's Engagements

Today we had the opportunity to get to know Chris and Deidra who are planning a wedding this June. We talked with them to find out some of their likes and interests, including how Chris proposed and then incorporated all of those elements into their session. Today was a perfect day for pictures! Here are just a few of our most favorites from their day... thanks for sharing your story with us!

The waiting game....

I'm such a little kid when it comes to waiting on new 'toys' - but today is especially bad....I up and decided on Tuesday it was time for a new car. I've always driven Fords and I have to brag so much on Billingsley Ford in Lawton. They've always been AWESOME when it comes to taking care of me during and after a sale. I'm proud to call many of their sales team actual friends!

Sadly this week, I stumbled across a Nissan that I love - took it for a spin the other night and fell in love even more. I started calling around the state - price shopping of course - before I took a big drive to the city. (spent several hours on the phone over the last few days) Low and behold - I discovered Billingsley owns a Nissan dealership in Ardmore. Still being cheap and not wanting to spend the gas money until I had to - I called them, explained to Travis the salesman who was helping me over the phone I had been a long time Billingsley Ford customer. Made a call to sales manager at the Ford place in Lawton who is a terrific guy - and just as a testament to how wonderful this 'family' of dealerships is - he called the Nissan place and told them what type of treatment I was accustomed to and that they should give me all the same courtesies and deals as if I were buying a Billingsley Ford..... and they did.

So here today, I am waiting on a car that I haven't actually seen or driven. I've driven a similar model w/ all the same features - just not THE car. Billingsley Nissan is equally as wonderful as their Ford couterpart and are going the extra mile to even DELIVER the car to me from Ardmore - saving me a drive from Lawton to their place over the weekend or the next few weeks when I have a spare few hours.

Great personal service, a terrific deal that I was able to obtain even without my dad's help, personal delivery to my front door and not even a hagle over a price - you can't ask for anything better! I simply told the salesman my very bottom dollar and that I wouldn't budge from that number - they came in $200 less than my budget - far from what the 'big guys' in OKC could do for me. If you're in the market for a Ford, Hydai, Nissan or any of the other models the Billingsley clan sells - give them a call first.....they'll treat you better that most family members might!

But now I'm counting down the minutes until my new car arrives....should be just any minute now.....I'm so excited!