This Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for a couple of reasons:)

1. We get to spend time with family! This year we will be at my family’s house (Amy here). My dad, aunt, and uncle all live next door to one another so everyone comes to my aunt’s (Helen) house. We meet in the middle and spend the whole day there.

2. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas all of my cousins and close friends in Patrick (my hometown) have game nights where we play cards for about 4-5 hours every year. Nerts has become the most popular game. I love this time together because we don’t get to have these nights very often.

3. We get to eat a lot of good food:) A little history-My aunt Helen makes the best giblet gravy in the WORLD! Yes in the world. I LOVE it. Well growing up, I only got it on 2 occasions Christmas and Thanksgiving so that’s all I eat on both occasions. I go through the line and fill my plate up with rice, giblet gravy, and turkey. And that’s all I eat! I love it that much:) Now that probably sounds silly to most people but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Kaz thinks I’m crazy because there’s so much food, and I only eat rice and gravy BUT I love eating it and as much as I can!

4. SHOPPING! On my mom’s side of the family we have a tradition of going to Myrtle Beach on black Friday and Saturday. We leave early Friday morning (usually around 4) and make our way to the beach. Shop all day, spend the night, get up and shop more! I love it! Me, my cousin (Chris), aunt (Joyce), and mom go. Over the years we’ve had a lot of interesting moments during our annual trip but it makes for laughs every year…I better not give examples-I might get in trouble:)

BUT really Thanksgiving is about gratitude in our life-What we’re thankful for. Below are a few things that Kaz and I are thankful for this year:

• For a marriage to my best friend, who won’t quit on me and goes through everything with me, the tough, the boring, the old, the new, the nervous, and the exciting times.
• A family I am proud to be part of, with parents who love us and are there any time we need them. And brother/sister-in-law friendship even over thousands of miles.
• God’s provision with not just a job, but a purpose at work and a place to look forward to working daily.
• That God see’s EVERYTHING up front and continues to guide us on his paths, showing us little signs along the way to show us we are on the right trail.
• For the Freedom we enjoy and the Liberty this great country has because of others’ self-less sacrifice for the US.
• The Lord’s plan in our life-For giving me(Amy) the gift of photography and the blessings and joy that it brings to my life.

Below is a picture that my friend Carissa(http://www.carissagraham.com/) made. I asked if I could use it because this is my prayer for our family everyday but especially this Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Cy, Anne, Peter and Emily-We miss you and hope you have a great Thanksgiving! We love you!

Cleaning out...

I don’t know about you, but for me clutter drives me crazy! I can’t stand knowing that I have a closet full of stuff that I’m not using or wearing. Since we’ve been married, Kaz and I haven’t cleaned out any of our stuff except for some clothes here or there. SO we started cleaning out last week and it feels great to throw away! So far I’ve cleaned out our hall closets, master closet, kitchen and bathroom. The last thing is our office and guest closet which unfortunately is the worst:( BUT since I’ve thrown out so much stuff I’ve made tons of room. Now my closets are neat and in order and I’m not embarrassed for anyone to open them. Most of the stuff we’ve thrown out but the clothes and blankets we are giving away. I’m not much for yard sales-I love the idea but hate the thought of getting up at 5 in the morning to set up for people to come and buy our stuff for $.50. I don’t have the patience or the time! So we are in the process of clutter-freeing our life:)


On a side note, I bought these reindeer ears for some Christmas props in some of my baby photography sessions. Well I thought they were too cute and had to try them out on Miley!

starting over...

As you can see from the last post, its been about 3 years....A lot's happened since then:) Kaz and I are going to try and start over with our blogging...Well at least I am. Kaz will probably post every now and then but that's not really his thing.

We've had a great weekend together. We were supposed to go to Greenville over the weekend to visit some friends but I got the flu on Wed, and that changed everything. It actually turned out for the best...I haven't had a weekend home without any photography sessions scheduled in a LONG time. I've gotten so much done and am actually caught up for about 3 days..until the sessions begin again:)

Friday night we went running. A little history-Running used to be mine and Kaz's favorite thing to do with each other. It was time where we could get away, clear our heads, and just enjoy being together and doing something we love. I haven't been able to really run for about a year and a half. I had knee surgery back in February and have tried many times since then to run but have had the worst shin splints. I've tried everything(new shoes, icing, heating, etc)...Finally, I ordered some compression sleves for my legs and so far they are helping. I've been running during lunch everyday at the gym but haven't mustered the courage to run outside yet..until Friday! Well it was amazing! We took Miley with us and I ran 17.5 minutes. Now, I know thats not a lot BUT for me it is. It's been a long time since I've been able to do that and it felt great. The bad part for Kaz is that its really hard for me to run without listening to music, so he has to talk the WHOLE time. When we finished he said I don't know what else to talk about-I've been talking non-stop for 2.5 miles. HaHa! It was great though and felt so good to be able to enjoy that time together again.