Road Rage

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor. ~Prov. 20:3

So I learned this weekend that not all arguments are worth fighting about...and don't get all upset and yell at drivers from your vehicle: they can't hear you, you're hurting yourself more than them. =) haha

But seriously, anger is something that gets you nowhere, and being frustrated doesn't help situations. Little things aren't worth fighting about. This is where that old adage comes in: Pick your Battles! It better be worth it.

Life is too short. Be happy!

AW

Peanut

My cousin Donna, or as I like to call her: Papushka.  Why?  I'm not sure to tell you the truth...it just came out one silly day, and it stuck =) haha.  She is more like a sister to me than a cousin, we've always been close and I love you giiiirl!

She is 7 mo. pregnant with a sweet little girl named Veya.  Or as I call her: Peanut.  So we decided to have a photoshoot in the baby room =)

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Beached Whale

When you are single and young, you don't realize how healthy and physically at your best you are! Until you get married and all of a sudden, you don't have time to go to the gym, or cook healthy. You're comfortable with each other, so you can easily think, eh, he loves me for who I am! Well, I think that I've gotten too comfortable. This isn't your typical "I feel so fat!" whine session. I really, just honestly am feeling like I've lost my self-control. Sure, everyone wants to FEEL like they look beautiful and thin and fit, but it comes to a point when I realize, wow, i can't control what I put in my mouth!

This is my mid-year resolution: to be able to say no to that donut staring me in the face, to say NO to those yummy doritos calling my name. And in all seriousness, just learn to stop eating when my belly is telling me its full! You would think this was an easy concept...but for some reason, when you're sitting at that restaurant, and everything is tasting so good, its almost like your belly ignores your brain when its screaming you're full!!! until you leave there feeling so stuffed you can't breathe! So yea. No more of that.

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Ben's Response

Wow, how do I follow that last blog by Amy??? Guess I'm doing something right! BTW, Amy said all of that because she wants more camera gear...don't let her fool you :) kidding of course!

Well it has definitely been a wonderful year. We are not trying to make this day mushy for anyone reading this however it's difficult to keep in our feelings when we are crazy in love!

Ok, enough of that already! Back on track and a little about our business. We are growing as a team and I can see Red Room Studios busting open next year after we get a few more months of experience under our belt. It's really starting to consume us, we think about photography non-stop. I haven't even played my Xbox 360 because I'm so engrossed with our business! Anyone that knows me must realize by now how serious this has become.

We were busy all weekend with photography however we had a break on Friday to watch a movie with some friends. I really feel a reason to share this...anyone wanting to see The Happening, please save your money. It had the potential however the ending really disappointed me to say the least. It's one of those movies where it ends and you're saying..."it's over...noooooo, it's not over" and then you sit there and wait for something to happen only to see the credits rolling. Oh, and it doesn't help that we had the fortune of sitting in front of a huge lady that had voice emodulation (anyone seen the Will Ferrell skit??). She also felt the need to narrate the entire movie...as if we couldn't see what was going on. That was fun.

BW

A Full Year of Happiness

Today is officially Ben and my one-year anniversary! A whole year ago, on this day, we were gettin hitched! I'm going to get sappy now...but when I was single, I never could have imagined ending up with a man like Ben. He is everything that I always dreamed about. I used to write lists of the attributes I hoped my man would have...he would be: "kind," "honorable," "trustworthy," etc etc...and silly things like "love sports," "love working on cars," "love to go camping," and of course "good-looking". It really amazes me how Ben fits ALL the things that I used to ask God for in my future husband! Even down to the little details that I thought I was just being silly about. God really sees the inner most desires of your heart!

Anyways, it has been a whole year of happiness, and learning experiences. I've learned a lot from my husband. He's taught me to communicate without fear, to not always want to please people (you'll never really be able to), to clean up after myself (haha ok, so I haven't really QUITE learned this one yet....teehee), and many more life lessons =) I could go on and on about him and all that he's done for me...but I'll spare you all the mushy details. Point of all this is that I'm so in love!

And Ben, if you're reading this-- Happy One-Year Anniversary baby! I love you!

AW

"I Shoot People"

Yesterday evening Ben and I had the opportunity to go to a Seminar held by Sallee Photography from Dallas, Texas. They had so much good information and were one of the more down-to-earth and honest photographers that I have seen. I loved it because they reminded me of Ben and I, not only in our relationship, but in our business aspect too. They were so incredibly inspiring! They have so much passion for what they do, and it really pushes me to do what I want to do with our business. Photography to me has never been about the money or the business...it's an art form to me where I can express not only myself, but my subject as well.

I've read a couple of forums where wedding photographers say things like, "Wedding photography is a service and not an art. People hire photogs for the same reason they hire caterers and florists....they're not hiring you for your art, they're hiring you to take good pictures recording their wedding"...that is so not my philosophy. I AM an artist. Why would you want photography (an art form) to be done by people who don't see it as art? What you'll get is mediocre images from a person that doesn't value their work...Real artists put their passion and soul into their pieces of work...and that's why you get incredible images.

Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox. All that to say that the Sallee's are a young, vibrant couple that make some amazing images, and Ben and I learned so much from them in the few hours that they spoke. We hope to be able to implement some new ideas into Red Room Studios and not only make it a better business, but also provide you, our client, a better product and amazing memories!

AW

Annie & Ely

These two girlies are my twin cousins. They graduated this year from High School and I offered to shoot some senior portraits for them...

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Michael & Laura

We took Mike and Laura out to Uptown Park in the Galleria area to have an engagement session...what happened was we ended up having SUCH a good time! We were laughing, joking around, and even ended up spending some time at the local Starbucks cooling off and chatting away. These two are such a lovely couple that are obviously made for each other =)

Here are a few of my favorites from that session:

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This place was seriously gorgeous!

He was so good at making her laugh! That's why they're so perfect for each other...

I'm an Aunt!

Yesterday, Addison Blair Smiley (7lbs 4oz) was brought into the world by my brave sister-in-law Adrienne. She is absolutely adorable! and so tiny! Sadly, I am not able to be there to meet her yet, but I will hopefully get to see her soon!! I am a proud auntie indeed!

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here she is!!!!

Soooo cute! She looks JUST LIKE ME! ;)

My brother, the proud Daddy!
Good job mama! I can't believe how beautiful Adrienne looks right after giving birth!

A new little Smiley in the world!

Miami-Key West-Cozumel

So Ben and I are back from a much needed vacation. We went on a cruise that departed from beautiful Miami and visited Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. What a great trip it was! Dark blue ocean all around us, beautiful skies, just me and my best friend in the whole world hanging out and having a good time together. It was so restful that I'm ready to get back to work! (and by work, I mean photography haha)

Here is a picture of us during a Snuba adventure in Mexico!! yay! (Snuba is in between snorkeling and scuba diving) We went down almost 30 feet! We saw tons of fish, a couple of eels, and we even to got to hold a sea cucumber! It was probably the coolest experience we've had in a long time!

AW