A little over two weeks ago, I started having consistent pain in both of my hands.  This has happened before, whenever I’m working a lot (typing, shooting photos, editing photos, etc.) but this time was worse.  I finally got them checked out and I have carpal tunnel.  So crazy — I thought you had to be MUCH older than I am to get carpal tunnel?!

I’m now utilizing wrist splints, cortisone shots and lots of rest for my hands.  Leading up until now, I’ve been skipping out on blogging while I try to save my hands for work.  But, now that the wrist splint is helping so much, I thought I would pop on for a minute to show you a few pictures I’ve taken lately.  For those of you who are new to the blog, I have a small photography business on the side.  Last year, I shot 19 weddings with the help of my trusty assistant.  Most of the weddings are in Tennessee, but some take me all over (I’m coming to West Virginia next!).  The business has been a real blessing in my life, especially back when I was fostering and needed to make extra money to support the kids beyond the small daily stipend I received to help care for them.

So, here’s a peek at what my camera has been up to lately, in no particular order:

1. I took this picture the other day of the chapel where I’m getting married!  Doesn’t it look like something out of England?  I love it!  (Side note: I took this picture with my phone, so forgive the quality!)

If you’d like to see what the chapel I’m getting married at looks like on the inside, go here for a sneak peek.

2. I took this picture on a recent trip to West Tennessee to visit my friends.  This is the daughter of one of my college roommates.  While my friend was busy doing something around the house, I got her daughter dressed up in her Easter dress and went outside to the field of wild clover growing beside their home.

(You can click on the image to see it in full size.)

3. Here’s another picture I took, from early May.   This wedding was the first time I had the chance to do a shoot in a vineyard.  So beautiful!

(Again, you can click on it to enlarge it.)

4. I don’t think I’ve shown you pictures of my cousin’s baby lately; here’s Marisa, my gorgeous cousin, with her son Rylan:

5.  I did a shoot for a college student who needed a graphic to use on promotional materials for a performance she was giving.  I needed to included her flute somehow and, on a back road near the Ocoee River, came up with this.

6. I mentioned a few months ago that a couple I know hired me to coordinate their wedding instead of photograph it (in real life, I work in event planning).  We definitely wanted to get some engagement pictures, though, so we took these one evening in Chattanooga.  They are SO photogenic!

7.  I took this picture in Knoxville one recent weekend.  Fun fact: back in 2000, the mother in this photo and I went on a beach trip together with our high school youth group.  You have to click on the picture to see her son’s facial expression.  I added a vintage feel to the photo, to match the couple’s style.

8. Back in spring, a co-worker of mine contacted me to ask if I would come take pictures of her daughter with her beloved dog.  The vet had let the family know that the dog did not have much longer to live and the mother, with excellent foresight, thought to capture her daughter with her pet before it was too late.

I had the hardest time editing these pictures because I would start crying as I sorted through them.  I know I’ve said this before, but choosing to have pets for the first time ever a few years ago has been one of the most life-altering things I’ve ever done.  No one would have ever considered me an animal fanatic before I got these dogs, but it’s hard to explain how much I’ve learned about how to receive love from the two little furballs that live in my house.

(If you’re a non-pet lover, you can totally roll your eyes.  If I had of read this stuff five years ago, I would be rolling my eyes with you.)

(If you are a pet lover, go watch this video about a blind dog being rescued.  I cry every time I think about it sitting in a pile of trash, completely blind and having no way of finding food or water.)

(Another video that made me cry, but in a different way, is the surveillance video currently available on all major news outlets of two adults putting a one year old child in a washing machine at a laundry mat and the machine beginning a cycle with the child inside.  The child reportedly suffered only minor injuries, but the local law enforcement is claiming that the incident should not be classified as child endangerment or a criminal act.  OH, I BEG TO DIFFER.)

(Foster care brought out the child advocate inside of me.  I saw / heard too much.  Now I can’t shut up when I see a child being abused.)

(Sorry to end on a depressing note.)

(This flashback to my first Christmas with Aviean will make you feel better.)