and in case you’d like more reasons, check out their photocart for 885 more! stay tuned for kayla & newton’s beautiful wedding coming to the blog soon!

- matt & i got married!

- a category 5 hurricane slammed our honeymoon destination.

we scrambled around to create a plan b and ended up in the mountains of north carolina in the beautiful vacation home of some friends of ours. our jamaica getaway was rescheduled for two months later. after that we started a business and vacation was a little bit of a foreign idea to us for a while… ;)

fast forward two years. we struggled to do it, but we successfully blocked off three (consecutive) precious summer weekends. we were finally planning a trip together! just matt & me, heading out west to explore a new landscape, relax & rejuvenate! but then, just before we booked airfare, we found the perfect little home for us and welcomed baby stella into our lives. it was SUCH an exciting time for us but before we knew it those three weeks were over and we were still surrounded by boxes and discovering little ‘gifts’ stella was leaving all over the house. love her.

SO THIS WAS THE YEAR! we blocked off three weekends without looking back and booked airfare as soon as we could to cement our plans. june 28th snuck up on us and before we knew it we were sipping coffee in seattle- shortly after we found ourselves surrounded by snow on mount rainier, followed by a rainy day in astoria before walking cannon beach and hitting up portland including an afternoon exploring the columbia river gorge. from there we stopped for fresh veggies in eugene, oregon on our way to crater lake where we breathed deeply before wandering down the coast to petaluma, napa and sonoma. we followed that with a couple days in san francisco before leaving for big sur and landing in orange county to catch up with old friends where we threw on hoodies for an afternoon in laguna beach before finally crashing in san diego for a couple of days and catching a flight home. oh you guys, it was AWESOME! we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes we’ve ever seen, ate some of the very best food we’ve ever had and generally vacated life in georgia for 15 days of exploration! there is no way to recap it in one blog post- it was hard enough to narrow our pictures down to 900! but here are a few of our faves:

ace hotel, seattle, washington:

we were so happy to have some of our favorite people EVER join in for the first week of the trip! erin & sean moved to california last year and we miss them so much. kerry park, seattle, washington:

gas works park, seattle, washington:

mount rainier, ashford, washington

judge if you like but i couldn’t help but be reminded of stephenie meyer’s description of the forests in the pacific northwest- everything covered in green moss and ferns- even tree trunks. i couldn’t help but fall in love with the emerald, foggy landscape as we hiked and wandered all over the area:

goonies, anyone!? cannon beach, oregon:

we stopped to smell an overwhelming number of roses at the international rose test garden, portland, oregon:

crater lake, crescent lake, oregon:

tasting wine and wild plums at bartholomew park winery, sonoma, california:

cave tour and tasting at gundlach bundschu winery, sonoma, california:

thrilled & overwhelmed at baker creek heirloom seed bank in petaluma, california:

golden gate bridge, san francisco, california:

bird rock, monterey, california:

we loved this little cottage! it reminded us of how we always pictured shell cottage in the order of the phoenix, nerdy much?

bixby bridge, big sur, california:

really i could go on for days about the amazing experience it was to see all of this but i’m cutting myself off now. i hope you enjoyed some of the images as much as we enjoyed living them! thanks so much for making it all the way through our trip ramblings- we’ll be back to regular scheduling starting NOW, so watch our for kayla & newton’s photobooth in the near future!

stacey’s wedding day arrived with a blazing sun (that’s a nice way of saying it was a BEAUTIFUL day and HOT AS BLAZES), a brilliant blue sky and lots of cheer as the girls munched on fresh bagels and pastries. friends reruns were playing in the background adding a since of nostalgia to the scene and reminding them all of their fun days in college and stories that would dissolve them all into laughter. the girls pulled a mirror into the living room so they could still be together while they took turns with hair and makeup- they all seemed so close and happy, it was really beautiful to be a part of it all. also, i’m obsessed with stacey’s dress, feast your eyes:

before we knew it, it was time for stacey & zach to have a moment together on the drill field at mississippi state before portraits. a little construction put a kink in stacey’s perfect plan but she rolled with it easily as we picked out a new spot for her to meet her man. they had a few sweet moments outside before taking cover in the air conditioning with their wedding party. luckily, inside was a well-lit blank slate and we made a few images there before jumping back outside for round two!

we left campus and headed downtown, excited to return to some of the spots we loved from the night before! stacey & zach braved the sun and when it was time, their whole wedding party was ready too! we loved the different little vignettes all around downtown starkville; such a diverse enviornment!

just as we finished portraits a few clouds blocked the sun and dropped 11 or 12 raindrops on the church. it seemed surprising after such a sunny day but such is life in the summer in the south. we were all grateful for the slight temperature drop as the guests began to arrive. i love these images of stacey peeking out at her family and friends- she was so excited she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

and then the rain REALLY came down! we stopped to grab this image on the way to the reception site- this was just before we were blinded by big fat drops of warm summer rain (which i happen to really love!). everyone arrived to the reception safe and dry except stacey’s dad & brother who were driving the getaway car…a convertible! but they said if you drive it fast enough you stay a little drier, hahaa!

the rain cleared up in time for some night shots with their awesome car- jump over to their slideshow to see more exit shots with this guy- LOVE!

this guy knows how to party:

***please click here to see stacey & zach’s slideshow***

stacey & zach, thank you so much for getting us out to starkville for your wedding! we loved spending time with you and your friends- we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect way to spend our last weekend before our time off. we wish you guys the very best!

while i spent a lovely morning with the ladies, matt met up with the guys for a hot shave- i love these two he captured as ryan started his day relaxed and pampered (in a manly way!):

rachel has a streak of pure glamor amongst her many other endearing qualities and i love the bold eye makeup she went with on her wedding day! to infuse more color into these images i embraced the mixture of light sources and allowed the cool daylight to accent her hair as the teasing fest began- i am in love with how these came out!

meanwhile, the gents were taking a break to cool off (it was 100 degrees outside!) before getting ready:

rachel & ryan had their first look on the beautiful front steps of their reception site- the old medical college of georgia. the classy southern charm of the venue was perfect for rachel & ryan and a joy to photograph:

before we knew it, the ceremony was upon us!

and then back to the old medical college for the reception! the dancing was awesome and it seemed like everyone there knew every word to the songs! rachel & ryan’s fun, party side came out and they enjoyed their celebration with friends and family. there was so much joy to capture- it was a blast!

***please click here to see rachel & ryan’s slideshow***

rachel & ryan, thank you guys for asking us to be part of your day! we had a great time returning to augusta and capturing the beautiful old south with you in the foreground! you guys rock!

BUT, we want to be in shape! matt has run off and on since his cross country days in high school but me? i’ve never run just for the sake of running. soccer conditioning until i quit mid-high school, running from a store to the car in the rain & the occasional sprint to catch the dog has been the extent of it for me. until 6 weeks ago.

so yes, we decided to give it a shot. mostly because i couldn’t come up with any other form of exercise that was more efficient and i wanted this ‘getting in shape thing’ to take as little time as possible. so, we’re running. our friends tell us that means we’re ‘runners’ now which kinda makes me giggle- who’d have thought!? we’ve been steadily lengthening our runs and we’re finding ourselves filling short work breaks reading about barefoot running, foot strike and looking for races that aren’t on saturdays.

i wish i could get all flowery and talk about the beauty i’ve found in running but that would just not be the case. it almost breaks my spirit every single time we go. ;) BUT, after about 5 minutes back in the air conditioning i feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that kinda makes it worth it. it at least makes me happy enough to forget the drowning humidity of running on a 100 degree day in atlanta- enough that i’ll get out and run again. so, i guess what i’m saying is that we’re trying this. no idea if it will stick with us but so far we’re looking ok. i just wanted to let you know in case we run into you and we’re all gross and sweaty and (in my case) terribly splotchy. it’s because we’re runners, ya’ll- HIGH FIVE!

and since it is HOT out there- a refreshing image for you! [feel free to click on the image to access the larger file and make it your desktop background!]

we first met colleen & don at one of matt’s favorite places in atlanta, taqueria del sol, for a dinner of cross-cultural tacos and lots of talk about house hunting in the city. those two facts alone should give you enough information to know that this was a couple after our own hearts- we knew right away that working with them would be a joy. and thankfully, they decided we were a good fit too! so when the day finally came, we were excited to see them again and ready to create some beautiful images! the naturally stunning grounds of serenbe were all but glittering with sun (forecast? rain.) when we turned onto the lane that saturday morning. we squinted against the flood of yellow sunlight as it blanketed the cool greens and we smiled as every detail of the grounds set the stage for an epic wedding and celebration!

i arrived at the ladies’ cottage just as the florals showed up and ooed and ahhed with everyone else over their delicate colors- the perfect compliment to colleen’s natural elegance. everywhere i looked was a beautiful images waiting to be taken, seriously, look:

as the ceremony drew near, we zipped through fields and forest to arrive just in time to walk down the aisle. i love that matt was in the perfect position to capture this sweet moment between colleen’s parents as they looked over the beautiful scene of their families and closest friends waiting in the clearing for their daughter and her groom. such proud parents:

after colleen & don had an intimate moment to soak in the goodness of their new life together, we began exploring the amazing grounds of serenbe. we could have spent the entire day shooting around the property but there was a party to attend! so we made the most of the time colleen had allotted and loved every second of it! this is where you click over to the slideshow to see MORE!

the reception started with a sweet first dance and continued into a great celebration of dancing, laughing and general fun! the band was full of energy and a few suprises- talking more than one guest into a solo dance on stage! a few of our faves:

***please click here to see colleen & don’s slideshow***

colleen & don, thank you so much for including us in your beautiful wedding day! we really loved capturing you guys together- your happiness together is evident and infectious; we wish you the very best!

so it is with that introduction that i introduce you to a perfectly delightful website called cake & pictures -’an exclusive directory of simply the finest wedding photographers in the world’ where you’ll find a lovely shout out to amy & dan and lil ole altmix photography, thankyouverymuch! so please jump on over to their site to leave them some love and check out the sweetness:

click here to jump over to toni & matt’s wedding feature as well as their amazing details in the reception feature.