I am Thankful.

I love this time of year… I love how it encourages us to think beyond ourselves and about what helps, encourages, uplifts, and makes us smile, laugh, and cry. I know that I spend much of my time taking things for granted… so = in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to post a few pics of a few things that I am thankful for… namely, my family and friends. –> It is said that a man is blessed in life if he has one true friend. If this is the case, than I am EXTREMELY blessed by my friends and of course, by my incredible family.

Chelsey and I had the pleasure of traveling up to Virginia this past weekend to visit some family and friends that we hadn’t seen in a while – and it was awesome! Griffin, our nephew, has grown up so much and was so cute… here are a few pics of his craziness!

[Griffin is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen.. and no... I am not partial!]

I am also very thankful for my grandmother, Alice Murawski. [She is the one who knits hats for orphans in India.] Almost two weeks ago, she fell and broke her hip and has been through a lot of pain! Her surgery went well (praise God) and she is doing well in physical therapy. Yesterday, was her birthday!!! And I am so thankful that we were able to celebrate it with her. She turned 87…

I am also thankful for my beautiful mother – who was able to come back from Saudi to help with Grandma – and am happy that we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with her! She lights up a room and brings so much joy and life with her…! I think I know where she gets it:

Let me say one thing about Grandma that I am thankful for: She fears the Lord. If there were ever a Proverbs 31 woman that I would want my wife to imitate – it would be her! Grandma loves the Lord – and meditates on His Word. Even throughout this whole ordeal with braking her hip and being in lots of pain… she still praises the Lord and remains grateful. I know that she is ready to be with Jesus… but we aren’t ready for you to leave Grandma – and we am thankful you are here!!! We love you.

Every Thanksgiving, Chelsey and I spend the day switching between families… eating one meal with this family – and the next with the other family. It is a day full of fun, incredible food, and lots of laughter. Here are a few pics of some of the beautiful people we were with yesterday:[McKenzie, Delaney, Aunt Carla, and Victoria]

[My great friend Peter Carr!]

[Chelsey and her sisters - Caitlin and Halley]

[Carter... one of my favorite people to photograph on Thanksgiving!]

[My other family... the Morris' (with David and Halley Hancock!)]

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Last but not least… I am thankful for my wife. Chelsey is my love, my comfort, and my best friend! I can’t imagine going through life without her right next to me – helping, encouraging, and pushing me to be a better person, to love more, and to fear God. She is awesome – and I am SO thankful for her.

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I had to throw this image in… because it is one of my all-time favorites! Enjoy. [I love jumping on hay bales!!!]

Old Soul

I had the opportunity to walk around downtown Columbus this past weekend to take some pictures of a really good band out of Auburn, AL, called Old Soul. One of my good friends, John Ross, plays bass in the band and we all had a great time walking around taking pictures. They played at Flip Flops (in Columbus) on Saturday night to a packed house and did a great job. I got some good shots at the show and will have to show you more of the whole day some other time. For now, here are two shots that I really liked:

Sisters / Photographers

These two beautiful women are very special to me. One of them is my wife, Chelsey, so of course – she is the MOST important/awesome person in my life and the other is her sister, Caitlin – who is also pretty awesome. Both have been my second photographers and biggest supporters and their skills have grown a LOT with each event! Since they are always behind the camera, I thought I would take advantage of some awesome light at the beach and take some pictures of them! The one in the white shirt is Chelsey (my wife) and the green dress is Caitlin (who left for college today!). Good luck Caitlin… I’m looking forward to you coming back for our Big events!

~POANNA~

As I told you before, the photo-shoot with the guys from POANNA is one of my favorites! I have finally edited all of the pictures that I wanted and couldn’t resist sharing my favorites!

Click on their name [above] and check them out. They are really good!

Poanna [sneak peek]

This week – I went across the River with Poanna for a photo-shoot… and it was awesome! This was probably one of the most fun photo shoots that I have done in a long time! They were just hanging out, playing their instruments, in the middle of the park… and I got to capture it with a camera. I look forward to showing you some more of my favorites from the shoot – but here is a sneak peek = I couldn’t wait to show at lease one picture from the shoot!click on the link (their name) above… check out their music! I love it!

more Dooley!

So… I couldn’t help but post more of my favorite pictures from my photo-shoot with Luke Addison and is best friend = Dooley. These pictures were so much fun to take and I look forward to taking more Addison photos in the future!

Dooley!

Luke Addison and his best friend – Dooley – and I had a great time today at the park taking some pics! The place (Lakebottom) was crowded with people enjoying the beautiful weather and trying to shed off a bit of their winter weight! It was a great afternoon to take some pictures and Dooley did wonderful! He had a ton of energy and was so excited to be in the park – but Luke finally got him to lie down and chill out… and we capitalized on that time. Here’s a few that I loved:

I’ll post some more of my favorites later.

The Jennings 5!

Two Fridays ago – I was able to meet Chris and Nicole Jennings – and their triplets at Flat Rock Park for a family portrait session… and it was soo much fun!  These three children: Sammy, Caroline, and Tommy – are adorable and were so much fun to shoot! I loved how their personalities came out in some of these shots!

This next picture is probably one of my favorites from the whole shoot… it really gives an accurate picture of what was going on throughout the afternoon! It was a blast – and I look forward to doing it again as they get older!

Snow in Columbus, GA = Very sweet!

It was probably about a week and a half ago, on a Saturday afternoon, when my family and I heard sirens warning us of a tornado! We had some eery weather and it seemed like Columbus was experiencing its first deluge. Water poured in from everywhere. It was then, that my brother, sister, and I decided to take the kayak down the creek! Man, was it cold – but man, was it fun!

The very next day – we woke up to snow – falling everywhere! I heard from one news-weather-person that this was the most snow that Columbus has ever experienced!? I don’t know if this is true – but it is definitely the most we have had in a long time! And, of course, it is supposed to get up to 80 today. Georgia weather = ever-unpredictable… Gotta love it! Here are a few pics of the snow:

Poanna at The Loft

Two weeks ago, I got a chance to see the band Poanna play a show at The Loft in downtown Columbus, GA. The show was awesome and the crowd was really into the music! If you haven’t had a chance to hear them play – you need to! Check them out on their myspace page: Poanna 

Luke Smith: Lead SingerTim Maulsby: Lead Guitar, Backup VocalsKendall Walls: Bass Guitar, Backup VocalsJames “Patton”: DrumsMaris Walls: #1 Fan

Seriously, check these guys out –> they are awesome!