I was editing some photos from our last Switch Concert and realized I shot this photo of some stringed Christmas lights and what do ya know… it’s an “A” for Allen.
Archive for category Photos
GeorgesHats.com is live!
Oct 4
We finally did it! The brainchild of Brian’s is now up and running. Go check it out: George’s Hats. George is so funny and we have so many hilarious photos of him dressed up that we HAD to share it with the world. We hope to maybe one day raise money for charity through this site… we’ll see. Hope you enjoy the daily/weekly updates on George’s Hats. In honor of the site’s launching (and because posts are way better with photos… )
I can hardly believe that we’ve lived in our house for almost two weeks now. I posted a blog entry last week with a cute photo from the little set up the previous owners left us. You can view it here. It was so nice having family and friends help us tape, paint, and clean the first couple of days! What a blessing. Here’s a slide show of some neat photos of some “firsts” in our new home as official home owners. Click here to see the gallery on Flickr.
Head on over to Lauren’s photography blog to see the full post for Gammy’s Gumbo Adventure. Here are some photos to entice you…
Most of the ingredients
Gumbo!
Honeymoon In Antigua
Jun 30
Honeymoon. It doesn’t get much better than that. We put a lot towards our honeymoon with the hopes of a relaxing and somewhat luxurious getaway. We got exactly that! We opted for the all-inclusive Sandals resort in Antigua. We assumed since it was all inclusive that we’d get jipped somewhere. However, this was false! We couldn’t figure out where we were jipped. The service was genuine, the grounds were beautiful (with a variety of places/rooms to stay), and the food. Oh my gosh. The food. Most honeymooners probably desire to sleep in. Not us. We set our alarm to assure we’d make it to the awesome buffet breakfast of fresh (island fresh) fruit, veggies, meats, custom omlettes and pancakes made while you waited, and I could go on forever. We even had a sushi bar (where we befriended the chefs) and they’d whip up delish combo-dishes for us. I (kinda) jokingly mentioned I was craving dessert and the chef literally ran to a different restaurant on the resort grounds IN THE RAIN to fetch me a dessert. The last night we went to the hibachi grill at the same sushi restaurant and our chef/waitresses ended up singing and performing for us (not a part of the job description.) It was probably one of our favorite experiences!
That’s the great thing about an all inclusive- you can eat and drink all you want. We’d eat during any time of the day we desired at whatever restaurants/cafes on the resort’s grounds were open. Then once we were done, we just got up and left. No check to sign for, no tip to configure. It was so nice not having to think about money while on vacation!
We stayed in the newest remodeled part of the resort (Mediterranean) building. It was perfect. We had a cute little balcony with a view of the ocean and the room was very nice and furnished with quality pieces. We also had an in-room bar that was re-supplied each day. (Gosh I’m making this out to sound like we’re alchies. Not so much. It was just nice to have these things at such a convenience.)
Ok… I could write so much about this trip, but since pictures are way more fun to look at, I’ll just list some words that describe the duration of the trip:
- 4 am departure for flight to Antigua morning after our wedding
- Two hour wait at arrivals/ Antiguan airport customs
- New (awesome) luggage
- Hammocks
- Sunshine
- Aqua colored water
- Dread locks
- Pina Coladas
- Sushi Bar
- Breakfast Buffet
- White sands
- His/Her Massage at spa
- Tennis
- Smell of sunscreen
- Pool volleyball
- Lots of games (ping pong, pool, checkers, shuffle board)
- Surprise candle light dinner on the beach
- Afternoon naps
- The cafe on the beach in the sand
- Nighttime BBQ on the beach
- The smell of “ganga” on the beach
Here are some photos that will speak for themselves. The beginning is from our Rehearsal Dinner & my bridal brunch (wedding photos to come later). The rest are from our wonderful time in the land of Antigua (pronounced An-teeh-gah). TO START THE SLIDE SHOW FROM BEGINNING – click on the icon that looks like this |<–
NOTE: Since these were taken with 2 different cameras, they’re a little out of order. (Sorry). The first 3 images are at my Dad’s in Katy after we returned.
Our Honeymoon Sneak Peek
Jun 2
We spent our honeymoon in the beautiful, Antigua. (Lots) more to come soon… whenever I find that free moment to post all the beautiful honeymoon photos. This was my favorite hammock by the beach. I can still hear the water lapping up against the shore and feel the warmth of Brian lying closely next to me in the hammock whenever I gaze at this photo. If only everyday could be like that. So peaceful.
Chicken & black beans
May 30
This is one of my typical dinner dishes. Chicken. Some type of veggies. Jasmin rice cooked Brazilian style. This particular dish features a sauted chicken breast in olive oil and spices, a can of low sodium black beans, sauted bell peppers (red and green) and onion over a bed of jasmin rice sauted with minced garlic. Mmm. Mmm. 20 minutes and you’ve got dinner!
When there’s a sale on fruit, I stock up. We’re big fans of fresh fruit and veggies… which usually means expensive grocery bills. However, I love the summertime, because produce is usually on sale and super reasonable (compared to other seasons.) The other day whole pineapples were on sale, so I grabbed one for an at-home-culinary adventure. I am always humbled and amazed by God’s creation. It’s incredible that such a sweet and juicy edible good time is housed inside such a prickly and mean looking facade. God made this beautiful fruit for our enjoyment and His glory. Now, this pineapple wasn’t quite as delicious and pretty as the ones we saw at the DOLE plantation in Hawaii last summer, but it was pretty pleasing.
Spicy Turkey Sausage
May 27
The other night I made what is now one of our favorite quick and easy (and delicious) recipes for dinner. It’s great for a week night since there are minimal ingredients and it cooks quickly
Spicy Turkey Sausage With Black-Eyed Peas and Spinach or as we call it “bean and weenies.”
The recipe came from one of my (recently) favorite cooking magazines “Sunset.” I’ve cooked probably 50% of all the recipes in their “2010 best recipes” edition so far. I’m usually more a fan of fresh/natural ingredients (not canned), but I gave this one an exception. It calls for turkey sausage (which I originally was disgusted by the idea of buying it.) I actually returned it to the shelf once before purchasing, because I’m skeptical about sausage. I’ll just say that this is my favorite sausage. Ever. Oh gosh, it’s so good. So good that we’ve had it probably once a week (plus left overs) for the past 2 weeks. Anyway, it calls for a can of black eyed peas, a can of diced tomatoes (I used Mexican seasoned), a bag of spinach leaves, garlic and a few other goodies over a bed of jasmin rice. It takes about 20 minutes total before it’s on the table.
Here is a Flickr album of the photos from our fun PHOTO STATION I supplied for our wedding last month.
It consisted of a fun yellow patterned background (specifically selected because it was yellow and my main color was yellow) with a background support system, one Profoto D1 air strobe with umbrella, and lots of fun costumes. I had one of my cameras set up on a tri-pod with a shutter sync chord so that guests could walk up and take their own photos. My wonderful brides maids helped set all of this up while I was getting dressed (for the wedding) and they did a great job. Somehow the air remote (for the strobe) was turned off and wasn’t firing as I had wished, but it worked none the less… the photos are just a little yellow/greenish. I didn’t really edit the photos- just batch brightened them and adjusted the contrast a bit. So, nothing over the top… that’s why they’re still a bit green.
I’m shooting a little baby’s 1 year birthday party this weekend (and it’s going to be awesome). There is apparently a petting zoo involved – so it should be legit. I’m going to bring another fun gray and pale blue patterned backdrop to create a little photo station for the babies and their moms. It should be fun!
Enjoy our wedding photo station photos! You can also view the album over at Flickr.
