Family Photos

Back on July 11th, all of the family converged on Fayetteville for the weekend for a family photo shoot. My friend Lauren Walker showed off her mad skills as a photographer, and below are just a few of my favorites from the day.

The whole crew:


Justin's side of the family:


My side of the family:


Justin and his sisters, Natalia and Kristen:


Me and my brother, Joseph:


Me and my parents:


My parents:


Natalia:


Kristen:


Me:


My dad:


My mom and me:


My brother and dad:


Me and my dad:


Justin and his dad:


Justin's mom and Natalia:


Justin's mom and Kristen:


Everyone, again:


My side of the family + husband:


My favorite part about Lauren's work is that she managed to capture everyone's personality so well in all of these pictures. I'll get to see her Wednesday and she's going to show me the rest of them, including the ones of me and Justin. I can't wait!

We Live Here...Might As Well Check It Out!

Justin and I went to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks this morning. They have free admission from 9-12 every Saturday, so we decided to check it out. I first went there with my parents and brother two weeks ago and ever since then I've been wanting to get some pictures.

The Fairy Garden (see the dragon hiding in the middle?):


The lily pads (which I have decided are the most perfect plants):


Other decorations along the way (I think they were in the Children's Garden):


In the Japanese Garden, there is a plant that resembles a shower head.


It's not labeled, so I did some research online and realized that it's actually a lotus - I'd always heard the name, but had never seen one before. I found the best pictures of one on tanakawho's Flickr Photostream:


In the fruit and vegetable garden, we found squash, tomatoes, and a chicken who appeared to be floating, but was actually on top of the mesh covering of their habitat:


And finally, the three areas of the garden that I thought were the most beautiful:

A Year Later...

So I've decided to join the blogging world...

As of now, for the things I can remember, Justin and I have been married for 1 year and 2 months.

We moved to Fayetteville, AR; I worked at Target for a whopping 9 weeks; changed jobs to work at ABF Freight System, Inc.; welcomed my brother back from Japan; we saved a dog; had to give said dog away;

I learned that snowflakes really DO have shapes;

we survived the ice storm of 2009; Justin completed a year of graduate school;

we moved again to another apartment (hello washer & dryer,) with the help of my amazing parents and brother; painted a hippo;

grilled and watched fireflies;

hiked in 100 degree weather; decided to get a puppy; found out we can't get a puppy; Justin lost 35 pounds; I lost a piddly 10 pounds;

we had a half-birthday party for ourselves;

discovered the joy of cycling; I shot fireworks for the first time; and we watched Casablanca for the first time ever.