The Ten Candid Wedding Pictures I Didn’t Know I Needed: Musing

When we got engaged, my Pinterest boards rapidly began to fill with articles titled any version of “The Wedding Pictures you Need” “100 Things to Ask Your Wedding Photographer” and “The Ten Most Expensive Mistakes I Made When Planning My DIY Wedding”. Finding a wedding photographer is something we never really had to check off of our list. We have an amazing extended family member (okay, kind of a surrogate family member!) who has done everything picture related for our family in the past decade. Kim not only does stunning family, newborn, and graduation portraits–she is an absolute knockout at wedding portraiture. Add the fact that she was so incredibly affordable, and we could get copies of whatever we wanted at our own discretion, and trusting Kim to photograph our wedding was an absolute no-brainer. Besides picking our venue, picking our wedding photographer was the easiest choice we had to make.

You can see Kim’s work on her Facebook page. Tell her I sent you, she’s the absolute best!

Looking at times for Kim to be present and how long to book her expert services for was something we debated. I wanted to have all of the formal portraits for my great-great-grandchildren to see, but I also knew I wanted some random shots of people having a really good time at our reception.

Kim took all of the pictures that I “wanted”, and I adore each one of them. The ones that I continue to smile or get glassy eyed looking at, however, are the candid photographs she so expertly shot of our reception and wedding festivities. Here are the ten candid shots that mean way more to me than I ever would have imagined, and why they made this list!

The Love That Split The World by Emily Henry: Review

Sometimes I pick up a book and it just looks so pretty that I buy it on the spot. Sometimes I’m scrolling through Instagram and someone has the prettiest scene surrounding the book, and I just have to buy it to have a piece of that perfection. 8/10 times I’m usually pretty pleased with my irrational way to pick something to read so rapidly. The Love That Split the World was not one of the greater majority. While I did not adore this book, I definitely think it is one that will appeal to a slew of readers.

Natalie Cleary is an adopted daughter of a loving family. She sees “Others” (they are apparitions) that come at night, like Grandmother, or that appear in another world entirely, like Beau. There was just far too much happening in the book for me to be able to enjoy it fully.

Teacher Appreciation Week?: Musing

 

Walking into my much adored English classroom on Monday morning, I was filled with immediate excitement. Upon my desk? Two stacks of ungraded papers waiting for my marking and words of encouragement. I had made the executive decision that they could wait at work, while I spent some time enjoying my family. Three reports needing my observations for my student’s receiving special services. Test results showing the major improvements that my student’s have made in their Independent Reading Level throughout the year.  My favorite tea-stained mug waiting to be cleansed for the next week of  keeping me hydrated after doing five different voices in our class read aloud. Seventeen books returned by frantic students, begging to grab something new to read over the weekend because they had finished their novels during fifth period.

 

I could never begin to count the number of times when I’ve been asked about my profession, when I’ve been given the most ridiculous comments in response.  Here are just a few of my all-time favorites:

 

 

A Letter To My Mom On My Wedding Day: Musing

Yes, that is a tissue in her cleavage. Yes, she cried a little. Yes, she looks so fabulous. Yes, I’m proud she’s my Momma Jil!.

 

The time leading up to any wedding is filled with a myriad of emotions. When I thought about the day of my wedding, I wanted to have a special moment with my parents etched into my being for the remainder of my life. Loving to write like I so enjoy doing, I thought that words would help to convey the love and thanks that I felt for each of them throughout the journey of being their daughter. With it being Mother’s Day, I thought it would be an excellent time to share with you a snapshot of the love letter that I wrote for my Mom.

Mom,

You are my Jil!, my friend, my mother, my prayer partner, my head scratcher, my splinter remover, and my nurturer. Long before I was ever a blip on your radar, you were praying for me and the woman that I would become. You showed me that your love went beyond my short time on earth, and you taught me about everlasting life and faith.