laredo [mission trip]

Get ready for a long post. Last week I was in Laredo with the high school youth group from Redeemer Presbyterian Church, where Matthew is the youth director. We joined up with a church from Pennsylvania to help build the sanctuary of Iglesia La Vid and to help with their vacation bible school. It was so tiring. I helped with the vacation bible school every day. In the morning we spent an hour dancing, then we had some craft time, game time, music time, and snack time. We finished vbs off with more dancing! It was one of the best work outs I've had in a long time. For lunch, women from the church prepared meals for us each day and in the afternoon I helped in the sanctuary. I worked to put up sheetrock and supervise some of the youth. I also took pictures...lots and lots of pictures:

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around san antonio [the boot maker]

Yesterday I went to a boot maker's shop to photograph him for the San Antonio book...his shop is filled with years and years of hard work. Remnants of old soles lie in a pile under his work table, old grease and polish on the floor, and so many different kind of tools are all over the place. He is a Spanish speaking resident and fixing shoes and boots has been his only trade. His son, 19, works in the shops at the front desk and translates when he needs to. I was only in the for thirty minutes yesterday and 4 or 5 different customers walked in for help with their shoes or belts. His shop has a very small town feel to it. It's just him, his son, and his wife who work there. It's great to know places like this still exist. I know I've got some shoes that need mending...I'll definitely be heading over there with them.

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kimbell art museum [fort worth]

Last Friday before Brandi and Michael's wedding, Matthew and I went to the Kimbell Art Museum and explored downtown Fort Worth for a bit. As an architecture major and lover of museums, I've always wanted to see the Kimbell...even the bathrooms are great...no I don't have a picture of them.









and one of Matthew...my model:

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Eliza [baby]

On Monday, our neighbors and good friends had a little girl...Miss Elizabeth Jane. She'll go by Eliza. She is the sweetest, most precious baby girl ever. She is going to be so loved and protected by her two older brothers. She comes home today and I know her brothers are so excited to have her home.

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brandi and michael [wedding]

So I wasn't the photographer for Brandi and Michael's wedding in Burleson on Friday, but I of course took my camera along with me. Brandi had some great details at her wedding, and I am sure she did everything herself. She is so talented and crafty...anyways, here is a peek at her wedding and some of the fun things she had going on there. Congratulations Brandi and Michael on your wedding. I am so excited for you and your new life together.

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brandi [bridals]

I shot these for Brandi about a month ago in College Station and Bryan and I am so excited to post these because she got married tonight to her love Michael. I met Brandi in Italy in 2006. She was an architecture major also and roomed with a good friend of mine while we were there. I remember she would spend so much time talking on the phone to Michael. They had just started dating a week before she left. We went on almost all of our trips together. Fall break in Berlin, Prague and Salzburg, wouldn't have been the same without her. We bonded a lot over those three months and the following fall, she moved into my house with her roommate from Italy...Melissa...another architecture major and good friend. She stood by me in my wedding in 2008 and I am so honored that I was able to do her bridals for her. Congratulations Brandi and Michael!

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italy [archives]

This morning opened all of my images from my semester abroad in Italy during the fall of 2006. I am starting to create a 12x12 book combining all of my favorite photographs from those three months and all of my journal entries. I'm really excited about this project, although it will be a long one. To make the process easier, I created an action to re size all my images appropriately, save into a certain folder, and close. I've used actions before, but this was only the second time I created one specifically for my own purposes and I am super excited about the amount of time it is saving, going through over 1600 photographs for me, haha...it's all about efficiency over here.

Anyways, I just wanted to share this one image with you...it might be one of my absolute favorites...well, there are many, but this one represents everything Castiglion Fiorentino was to me. I used to run from the church down into the mountains every morning, blasting my iPod in my ears (it's a wonder I can still hear). Running in Italy is my favorite memory. It was so peaceful, so perfect. We stayed in the old monastary that had been converted to dorms for students studying in Italy. It was to the right of the church. And every morning the bells in the church would ring. It was the most beautiful noise in the world. Castiglion Fiorentino was perfect for me. It's a small community that thrives on the students coming and studying there. All of the community loves the students. We got free pastries, lots of smiles, and some giggles as we struggled through the language. I miss Italy...I'll make it back one day, but for now...the church:

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