Meet Peanut Butter Brown

We got a dog! We were going to wait until after the holidays because we travel so much, but once we found her, we knew. As Chad and I were looking at the Bella Vista Animal Shelter, we saw this door that said, "employees only." Underneath the door, was this little snout. After asking the front desk about this door, we went in and saw her-a purebred Dachshund. When she snuggled with us for about an hour, we knew this was our dog, not because we chose her but she chose us. Her name is Peanut. Her full name is Peaunt Butter Brown. We have had her for about a week and she really is a wonderful dog!

In other news, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. For the first time, I did most of it online. What a difference! I may have just been transformed from a Black Friday shopper to a Cyber Monday one! The final gift I still have to get is the hubbys. His birthday was just a couple of weeks ago, so I feel like I have used all my good ideas already.

As far as the photography business is going, it is doing great! I'm doing an engagement shoot, a family session and a senior session at home over Christmas break! Although I am excited about taking and editing these pictures, I'm more excited that my general portfolio is getting bigger. I will keep you updated!

I hope everyone has a great holiday! Merry Christmas!

Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

For those of you wondering how my photography business is going, great is an understatement. I have done several 'couple' sessions, senior sessions, kid sessions and most recent, a bridal session. I love it! Here are just a few shots that are my favorite.
 Cady

Christen and Andy

 

The next thing on my list is to do a wedding. I am so excited about this adventure in my life. Starting in January, I am taking a photography class at the local community college, just for fun. If anything I will meet some people who have the same interest I do.

Just a few snapshots!

I went home this past week mainly for Nana's birthday but also to do some photo shoots! There is no better place than the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee to have as your background  with the leaves changing. First up was the amazing Sandra Swafford. We meet close to her home in Riceville, TN. The camera loved her, so she made my job easy.

There were so many great ones of Sandra, these are just a few. 

 

Love her laugh!

 

 Next up were the Keylon kids. They had almost had as much fun as I did taking their picture! Meet Seth, Jordan and Elijah.

Seth

Jordan

Elijah

I look forward to doing more shoots!

Almost 1 month!

So I still don't have my 'official' photos from my wedding that's why I haven't posted them, but I'll show you a few pictures that some of my friends took during this blog. The first picture you see to the right is me picking up my dress on my way to the rehearsal dinner. The next picture is a snapshot from the wedding day-this was taken between all the pre-wedding pictures!

On another note, married life is pretty wonderful. It is a change/adjustment to your everyday life. For example, the way you fold your husband's clothes may be different than what he is used to, or the type of food he eats for a snack may be not what you would eat. REGARDLESS, it's just learning to live with another human being that you call your spouse.

I'm not sure this learning process ever ends. Although I may learn what his favorite meal is or when he goes to work out, I may never fully be able to predict his thoughts-which is probably a good thing. I think it keeps things interesting.


In other news, I am starting my own photography company. It's something that I have found a great passion in. I had taken a class in college and really enjoyed it.  As a result, I bought a camera, lens and an additional flash. I feel like this is a great way for me to have an outlet for something that I can easily get passionate about as well as help others capture important memories-or even just show them that they are beautiful.

I'm so excited about this adventure and am looking forward to doing my first six photo shoots this week! I have been taking pictures of nature and this beautiful small town I live in, but people will be a different challenge. Once I take all these pictures and edit them, I will create a facebook page of this "business" and then a website to follow. Here is just one of the pictures I have taken last week.

NUMB

Over the last two weeks, I have spent time with my closest family and friends, gotten married, went on my honeymoon and started a new life with my HUSBAND. There has been so much joy in my life that it all feels numb-or in other words, on cloud nine. I'm so happy that even though I've only done laundry for the past two days, I couldn't be happier.

Now that all the wedding festivities are over and it's just me and Chad, I find myself falling even more in love with him. There are days where I just look at him and know that God designed him specifically for me. The words he uses, the plans he has, and the dreams we share are all desires that perfectly come together-it continues to put me in awe.

When I step back and think about God's love for me, it is incredible. He gave me such an amazing gift-Chad. I mean, God must love me, really. To give me something as precious as my husband, yes I know that God loves me. God shows me His love in almost every way possible, but this is a constant reminder.

I have had a pretty awesome upbringing with an amazing family and the most loyal friends anyone could ask for-but this kind of happiness is indescribable. I am so thankful for all that God has done in my life and all that He is going to do.

***I have much more to talk about concerning wedding activities and will do that in my upcoming blog post. Also, much thanks to Christen Ruff for these great pictures! xoxo

Today is the Day!

 

Today is finally the day. October 6, 2012, the day I have been waiting for, for the past ten months. I can not wait to commit the rest of my days to Chad Jarrett Brown. One of the best parts of this day, besides getting married, is sharing it with all of our family and friends. It has been such an overwhelming experience to see how our community comes together to execute all of our wedding desires. All I can say is thank you.

xoxo

25 days until the BIG day!!!

Today I am flying back to Arkansas but I will only be there a measly 20 days before I fly back to Tennessee to get married. It is a very surreal experience. This event that I have been planning for the past eight months is about to be over; more importantly, I will be a married woman. I can not wait to marry the man of my dreams and would have done it sooner if I could have. Still, it's just an odd feeling. This could be because I have never experienced this before, so I will try an analogy.

Try to remember the feeling of right before you get on the best water ride ever. You have been counting down the days until you get to go the water park, then once you arrive you wait in line (for forever so it seems) and finally IT'S YOUR TURN!!!! In that split second before you race down the ride, you don't ever want this excited feeling to end. You never want the ride to be over. But you can never know the full extent of the ride unless you experience the entire thing; including the end.

So as my wedding day approaches and although I don't want it to be over, I am ready to be married, which consist of ending my wedding day and celebration. I am ready to also experience the aftermath of the wedding. Things like going on the honeymoon, going to other weddings (as a married woman), celebrating Christmas with my spouse, celebrating the good days and being there for the not so good-all of these are things that occur AFTER the "water ride" (or wedding day) ends. My feelings are bittersweet. I don't want a part of this experience to be over, but then again, I am ready to experience life with the person God has chosen for me to be my spouse.

When it comes to wedding showers, apparently my crew knows how to do it! Chad and I had two amazing wedding showers in one packed weekend and we are truly overwhelmed at the love everyone has shown us! Let's start this blog post with how packed the weekend really was.
                                         1) Got in Friday night
2) Dress fitting at 9 am 3) Drive straight to the shower thrown by Chad's folks from 2-4 pm 4) Pack up the cars and have our wedding counseling from 5:30-8 Sunday Morning 5) Get to the wedding shower venue thrown by my family at 9 am 6) Help set up until 2 pm 7) Shower went from 2:30-5 8) Pack it all up and clean up 9) Go check out space for the rehearsal dinner Monday Morning 10) Leave at 8 am
WHEW!!!! I mean it could not have been a more packed weekend!

 This is some of my crew. They were amazing! Paige and David flew in for the weekend to do this. Andy and Christen left Atlanta at 6:30 am that morning to come help set up (and they were life savors). Sandra came and was my right hand man and Nana was the overall supervisor!

Each person contributed so much and it appeared that they were doing something they were good at. For example, David was in control of the lighting and sound, Mom was in control of cleaning some dishes, Peggy was in control of setting up the food, Andy and Christen did a duet for hanging up the curtains and making them look amazing, etc.

Overall, I am just overwhelmed at how much love was shown to Chad and I. Thank you everyone!

I'm so overwhelmed with love

This is, what you could call, a countdown chain. There are 50 links on this chain with each link having a piece of advice/note from someone who cares about me! I begin to use this chain on August 17th-this will be 50 days away from my wedding day! Christen Ruff put this procedure together and had me open it over Skype. Once I opened it and realized what it was-I was overcome with emotion. Having someone love me enough to put this together and use all the resources in her power mean so much to me. Thank you Christen and thank you to everyone who made this possible! I have displayed this in my living room right about the TV-so I see it all day long! I can't wait to start looking and reading each link!

Trip home=wedding plans executed!

Sorry I have not updated in a while, I've been crazy busy with wedding plans. I did want to tell you that I had a wonderful trip home!

For starters I got some time with my parents. We went to Ober Gatlinburg and spent the entire day up there! It had been forever since any of us had been up there! I was home for about a week and a half and it literally flew by!

 Soon after I got back to Tennessee I was lucky enough to have Christen and Sandra help me pick out the bridesmaids jewelry! They were the ideal people to have with you when you need to make a decision!!! I picked it out, but had their "support" in the decision making process-this may be a better way to describe that afternoon! Then after that, they brought their bridesmaid dresses (along with their new jewelery I might add) into the the bridal salon and I had MY FIRST DRESS FITTING!!! Mom and Dad were there as well. It looked and fit perfect!!

That night, Christen and I went to yoga with mom and then after that Paige came in!! The next morning was all business. We accomplished some serious wedding plans.

Here we are at Greeks Bearing Gifts. This group (plus Nana) is the core of everything wedding. They got the showers together, the invitations, napkins, parties, YOU NAME IT and they had something to do with it. This "team" is why wedding planning has not been a burden-they make it so much fun! Thank you, each one!!

My trip home was super busy, but very successful. One of the last things I got to do was record some more music.

For Chad and I's wedding favors, we are putting together a CD of some of our performances. There's going to be about five songs of him playing the piano and five of me singing. For two songs, I took the cd he made for me and sang over him playing! I'm excited to put these together. It will be a great favor that I think reflects us well!

Starting July

Date Nights!

I have been out in Arkansas for just about one month and so far it has been enjoyable! One of the major perks is, Chad and I get to go on dates in person, which is something we didn't get to do for the majority of our relationship. We have already learned so much about each other and I am glad we are getting this time. I feel as though this will help establish our foundation for a marriage. Many couples have told me that this experience will be great-just being alone with the other person and having no one around. It may get lonely but that makes you rely on them more.

Chocolate Cake

Changing the subject, Chad's parents came out to see us. We had a great time and it was nice to spend some time with them. One thing they did that was super sweet was they celebrated my birthday! This was an unexpected surprise and was warmly welcomed. Right after they left, my dad and the Rutland's stopped by to see us along their motorcycle trip! They got in on a Tuesday evening, stayed all day Wednesday and left Thursday morning. While they were here, we also celebrated my birthday : ).

Birthday Dinner!

In the meantime, I have  continued my new hobby of painting. This is my most recent one; I gave it to Mom and Dad and it is already hung up in the house! I do not know where this talent came from, but I am greatly enjoying this unexpected outlet! I would like to look into possibly taking some art lessons just for fun, so we will see. As for now, I guess learning as I go will be sufficient-just like how I learned to sing.

Another painting to add to the collection

I made it to Arkansas!!

After the 12 hour drive, I am finally here! Chad and I got my apartment set up how I wanted it and I feel right at home. Luckily, his house is only three miles away from my place, so that is nice. You know, Arkansas isn't that bad of a place. There's a lot of stuff to do, people are nice, good food and I have a pool! The only thing is, I realize how far away I am from home. One thing that me closer to home is technology. Skype and Facetime have been utilized I would say at least half a dozen times-and now that I have wireless internet at my apartment, I'm sure I'll "see" my family even more often!

Currently, my normal day is as follows: workout, eat lunch with Chad, apply for jobs, go to the pool and paint. PAINT?! Yes I said it-paint. I needed a piece of artwork to go over my bed and I couldn't find one I was happy with, so I made my own.

It's a dandelion that is getting blown in the wind. I painted the word release on it because sometimes when we allow God to use us, we affect more people than we will ever know. Just as the seeds of this flower/weed get spread wherever the wind takes it, so can the extended hands of God.

Take a breath!!

So, I've been home in Tennessee for about two weeks now and only have one week left. Almost everyday has been packed full of something or someone. I'm glad I am getting this time to see everyone and visit with them. On the same note, I am excited about moving closer to Chad and starting that chapter of our lives.
Just wanted to update you of what has been going on in my life:

For starters I got to see and spend time with several 'Sarah's' in my life. Sarah on the left is a friend who lives in Nashville and we got to meet up and have dinner in Cookeville. Sarah on the right is from my church who is one of the coolest people I know and we ran around downtown Chattanooga for the day! Both of these dates were great and I'm glad I got to spend time with both of my friends.

The next set of pictures is kind of random so we will start with the top left one. Sandra was my date to a wedding of a friend from graduate school at Tennessee. If you can't tell, Sandra is actually my height and is wearing high heels! This never-ever happens so I had to document it. In addition, most of the time, Sandra and I do not take good pictures and this just happens to be a decent one. Next to that picture is my friend Jennifer's baby! He is adorable and we had a good time playing and watching Sesame Street together. It was great to catch up with Jennifer-I've known her for a long time and it was just good to see her. Finally-the last picture is of my friend Debbie and her granddaughter (on the right) at her 8th grade graduation. Talk about one proud Nanny-everyone knew who was her granddaughter! LOL.

Anyways, I feel like I have seen a 1,000 folks but it's only been a week or two-so maybe just 100!  Be praying for my big move; for a safe journey, etc. I will keep you posted! xoxo  

Hello Summer!

I have been home for barely over a week and I have been able to get to do all kinds of things. The first of which was to have my friend, and recent graduate, Christen come visit me for five days! We had a lot of fun and I showed her all the great things that Athens has to offer. Of course one of the first things we

did was go to Cracker Barrel. In addition, we went to Dairy Barn, Sno Biz, Country Patch and of course Mexi Wing! We also got some shopping in at T.J. Maxx (which is where my outfit is in the picture is from). 
Another thing we got to experience was going to the drive-in. It had been a couple of years since I had been and wanted to go again while I was in town. We went with the best of the best-Jessica Proffitt. She was no joke when it came to the drive in.  As you can tell from our picture, she had access to a truck along with the makings of a bed. We had couch cushions for the bottom, covered by blankets with pillows all alongside of the truck bed. It was great and comfortable! Although it may look like we were the only people there, we weren't. We just got there early to get the best spot at the drive-in!

 The most recent thing I did was participate in the Moo Run 5K with Mom. We both did better than we expected. I ran a 29:20 and Mom ran a 28:53! She even got first in her division! I really want to do a longer race in the near future, like maybe a 10K? One thing on my bucket-list is to run a half-marathon-but I will have to build up to it.
I am really proud of Mom, she did so well today. Now she wants to work on getting her time lower for the next race.
The rest of the weekend is going to be busy! Tonight I have a wedding to go to of a friend from graduate school. After that, I have a dinner with some friends. Tomorrow after church, I have a bridal shower in Chattanooga and then a dinner in Cookeville. Then Monday, Mom and I are going to Splash Country for a girls day!
WHEW! I'll try and keep you posted! Hope each of you are having a great start to your summer! xoxo 

May 9th, 2012

My first class of the day!

This day is going to be very full. The first thing going on is, I am giving three finals at GMU, grading them and posting their grade online before I leave campus. Not that I can't do this, but it's just a lot going on for one day. It's what I would call-quick turn around! All in all, I have greatly enjoyed my time teaching and would do it again in a heartbeat.  We will see what happens in the future in regards to teaching. Maybe a Ph.D in communications maybe not...lol we will see. I have to find a good program that I would actually want to devote four years of my life to first!

The next thing on the agenda for today is getting ready for my going away party. Paige and David are hosting it tonight at their place. This should be a lot of fun. I need to pick up some cokes and maybe even cups for it. Living with Paige and David have been awesome. They are always there for me and have given me such a great opportunity to be in DC. Having them around, I don't get homesick as much (and I think it's like that for them too) since I have some of 'home' with me! Paige and I have somehow gotten even closer in this time and I am so thankful for her and David.

The last thing on the list is to pack everything I can fit into TC (my car). I am loading up and driving back to Tennessee tomorrow. It shouldn't be too bad, packing wise, because all I have here is my clothes and some books. The first thing I am going to pack is my storage trunk that I have stored all my winter clothes in. Then, I am going to pack my books, bags and anything that you can see outside of my closet. The last thing will be any clothes that can fit.

If it doesn't fit, Mom and Dad will be visiting Paige and David so they can get the rest, but I am up to the challenge of trying to fit it all in my car! Saying goodbye to DC will be sad, because I have enjoyed every moment here, but I am looking forward to the future.

My Master's graduation from UT

In regards to the not-so-distant future, my best friend in the world is graduating with her Master's degree from the University of Georgia on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Christen Ruff is the first and only one in her family to go on and get a master's! I am so proud of her and want to support her in anyway I can! In theory, I want to leave DC tomorrow morning around 7ish, and drive to ATL. This is not completely set in stone because I am going to make that call after the 10 hour drive to Tennessee. I would love to be there so I can celebrate this great day for Christen!

Whew! That is a lot going on, but that is my life at the moment!

Eastern Communication Association

I just went to my first ever Communication Conference. It took place in Boston, Ma and was hosted at the Sonesta Hotel. The reason that I was in attendance was because I was presenting a paper there(this was also a first). It went great. I had such a wonderful time and it inspired me to go again next year!

One of the major influences for me to do this was Gina Bell. She has encouraged me to persuade presenting my papers at conferences, getting my research published and going for a PhD. Although she can only check off one of those things, she has put confidence in me that I can do it. She came to hear me present my paper and was proud. Her feedback was positive. She said, if you teach like that I bet your classroom is awesome. That makes me feel like a rockstar.

Anyways, I had a great time and I hope to continue my research in the future and present it to other scholars! I'm pretty sure I have the research 'bug' now and will most likely do a PhD in my future. I just have to find the right school that fits for me. All I know is that I love to teach and I like to research, so we will see!

Engagement Pictures!

A couple of weeks ago, Chad and I took our "official engagement pictures." My blogger friend (and best friend) Christen Ruff, posted this on her blog, so I thought I needed to do so on mine! This one is one of my favorites!

Needless to say, I am very, very pleased with how these came out. The white lace dress I am wearing is my mom's wedding dress. I didn't tell her that I was using it, so it was a surprise to her. My photographer is Brittany Toomey. For more information on her visit her website at http://brittanytoomeyphotography.com/