a little candor at 3am

(this is a photo I took on a road trip with Jason, and I always say that the sun shining through the clouds is the best depiction of God’s majesty I can imagine)

Oh yet again, I have awoken in the wee hours of the morning unable to turn my mind off. But this morning I am challenged with something more than my anxious anticipation of a camera and computer.

As some may know I have just graduated from college with my degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis in history, and well… as MOST know education jobs in Arizona are few and far between. Well… here lies my challenge… over the last two weeks my sister and I have jumped in head first in redefining about love, our photography business. We are rebranding, redoing the website, recreating a blog, transforming our image to fit the direction in which we are headed. Well having spent the last two weeks intimately planning with my sister and becoming more invested in my love for photography and for about love I realize I am faced with a decision. Do I teach? or do I photograph? Well some of you may be thinking… DO BOTH! Well… while in an ideal world this would be a possibility I am just not sure it is. The first few years of teaching are definitely the toughest and require the most time as you are planning curriculum and juggling the many balls that are being thrown at you. And photography is an art with endless opportunity and therefore the amount of time being committed is really limitless.

This leads me to the deeper challenge… what is God’s will for my life? Jason and I had one of the tough conversations that husbands and wives need to have sometimes about what direction are we headed in? what direction do we want to be headed in? and… how are we going to ensure we are headed in the right direction? Well toward the end of our conversation we begin to make a list of the things we are desiring professionally, personally, relationally and we paused and thought… “why are we only asking what WE want?… isn’t the bottom line that we want what God wants for our lives?”… so as we are embarking upon the beginning of our married life we are also challenged with these decisions with… what is practical? what is our passion and desire? AND what does God want for our lives?

I love to teach. I love interacting with the students and love that EVERY day is something new and different. I love photography. I love that I can use my creative energy as an outlet to create lasting and beautiful memories for people.

So as I woke up at 2am this morning I lay in bed with Charlie (our dog) smack dab between Jason and I, and I begin to pray. And at this point I really am not praying for anything specific, because the truth of the matter is… I don’t want anything other than to be glorifying God with anything and everything I do… so I asked him to lead me and show me the way.

As I am praying this I remembered the Merton Prayer. Jason and I two Christmas’ ago wanted to give meaningful gifts to our friends and family and we decided to print and frame “The Merton Prayer” which was shared at a 3F service at our church. We have had this on our shelf in our living room for two years in hopes that it will remind us of the lives we want to live.

I would like to share this with you.

“MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

– Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude”

This is my prayer. I think this is often the prayer of so many Christians. I think we all want to live a life that glorifies and pleases our God, but how do we know if we are doing this? Is the desire to do so enough? Ah the many challenges of life.

While I know this is perhaps a more serious post, I just know that this is not something I feel alone and I know that as many of my closest friends are entering a professional world with little hope of actually finding a job this might be comforting that perhaps us not finding a job is part of the plan.

I would really really be interested to know what some of you do to ensure that you are staying on track or what you pray when you feel like you are unsure. We are all human and fear and doubt are all natural feelings, but I do know without a shadow of a doubt that if I would let a little more God in, that fear and doubt would subside and perhaps the path would be a little more clear.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

creative energy at 3am…

I can’t control it… I have literally been up since 3 am with my brain just racing! So this week is the beginning of my jumping on full force with my sister in about love, and we are both sooo excited about what this means not only for our relationship and now “our” business but also for the new direction we are so inspired to be headed.

So here is what is RUNNING 100 miles a minute through my mind this lovely morning.

#1- Creating a new creative space. About Love is run entirely out of my sisters home and there is a room in the office some might consider to be an office. Well… part of my jumping in to the business is helping my sister reorganize her working space, because as a mother of two and a self employed business owner that is just not the top priority. SOOO my mission is to help create a space that we are inspired to be creative and work our magic. So here are a few images that are stimulating my little eye… what do you think?

#2- A NEW CAMERA! So as we embark upon this new and exciting adventure with About Love we are needing to make some improvements with our tools. My sister and I both shot with Nikon and just recently my sister has switched to what seems the much brighter side of Canon… and well the product of her photos since has been quite rewarding and well… I WANT IN ON THAT ACTION. I can’t stop thinking about how incredible it will be to have the ability to capture with a camera what I am seeing with my eye. The unfortunate part is that is also costs a pretty penny, but I am on a mission to make it happen, and as soon as I can possibly make it happen. So without further or do… here he is…

#3- My new computer. So for graduation my wonderful husband sweetly purchased me an awesome new dell… but we wont have it for another three weeks!! Yeah… Yeah… Yeah I know patience is a virtue but the thing is… we are waiting to put any of the editing software and business stuff on a computer until we get that one, so now I’m just waiting for what seems like everything. Anyway here is a nice little screen shot of my sassy new computer… don’t you love the killer retro stripes 🙂

Well… I think now that I have at the very least released a little bit of this energy I might attempt to go back to sleep for a few hours. BUT I would love to know if there is anything you are working on that is consuming your creative energy… DO TELL!

I have many more blogs to come, and if I get a camera anytime in the near future you have LOTS of photos to look forward to. yay!

The Wedding Day…

Well… I must apologize for it having been so long since I’ve blogged. Life has been crazy and well when that happens other things have to take priority. But I have much to blog about which should keep me busy for the next couple of weeks.

I thought it would be most appropriate to share the wedding with all of you. I think I’ll start with my top 6 photos (5 was too few so I went with 6) taken of that day. And then over the next week or so I’ll blog about my bridesmaids, all of my wonderful vendors, the special memories, fabulous details, and all the DIY projects I did for the special day. Sound good? Alright well here goes…

My photo choices (in no particular order)…

#1…

My sister Kacey epitomizes what a best friend, sister, and matron of honor should be. I had so much fun planning with her and relying on her to keep me in check. It was so special to have her standing right by my side on the big day and I feel so blessed to have such an incredible women to lead me and show me what it means to be both an incredible wife and (one day far away) mother.

#2…

Everyone meet Mark. Mark is my step dad, and he came into our crazy lives about 14 years ago. And for the last 14 years he has played such an important role in my life and in the women I have become. This was an incredible moment, being able to have him give me away, It was so special for me to be able to honor him and the very special man that he is in my life. I can tell you that as proud as he was to walk me down… I felt just as proud, honored, and loved being able to have him give me away.

#3…

This was right after Jason and I took communion during our ceremony, and this displays the spiritual leader that Jason is in both of our lives. Over the last few months we both have been so stressed between planning the wedding, Jason’s job, my student teaching and all of our other responsibilities and it has been really difficult to find time to be together. But he has been there and supported me even when I went a little bridezilla on him, and has reminded me  where our focus should be and makes sure that I take time to pray and remember what all of this is about. It’s not about how large the dinner plate is or whether or not the color is mustard or just dark yellow, but about us and beginning our lives together as husband and wife.  And I can tell you that it is this and a million other reasons why I know what a blessing spending the rest of my life with him will be. I’m so lucky and SO in love.

#4…

If I had to choose only ONE photo to define my entire day… this would be it. I think this photo captures the majesty of the Icehouse and the incredible energy it created. You can see all of our bridal party who are the most important people in Jason and I’s life. You can see Jason and I and though you may not be able to see this in this photo… I can tell you I have never felt as connected or as in love with Jason and I did in these moments. On top of all that Jason and I are sooo blessed to have had all of the people that have been a part of our lives there to be witnesses of our marriage. And lastly, the chuppah and the representation of God in our lives and now in our marriage is what made all of this sooo incredible. This photo really just says it all, it was an incredible day that we both will forever remember!

#5…

This is Jason reading his vows… and I have to say my expression, and the laughter that was spread throughout our entire ceremony are a true testament to our relationship. We laugh all the time. Laughing is one thing we do very well together, and is what is going to keep our love and marriage fresh for the rest of our lives. I think Jason is particularly funny and his smart butt personality is what has drawn me to him since day one (literally). And I’m not gunna lie when we are together funny and laughing is contagious. Lots of laughter and fun are ahead of us.

#6…

So immediately after the ceremony Jason and I could not get our rings off quick enough to read what we both engraved on the inside. So… you can imagine our surprise when we realized we had both written the same thing. So… what did we engrave you may ask? And the answer is… drum roll please… “bubbly”. So, this may seem strange but I have to tell you that it is this word, “bubbly”, that caused me to fall in love with Jason. On the very first day that Jason and I met, we had been working on the freshman LSP homecoming float, and I decided I wanted to run to the store to grab something to eat… so I asked everyone there if they wanted anything and Jason walked his cute little butt over to my car to tell me what he wanted he leaned in to my window and said… “WoW… this car is bubbly”… and I kid you not it was at that moment that I knew 1. I was in love with him and 2. I was going to marry him. Now keep in mind this was about 5 hours after we met. HA! So yes, I am a little crazy but he knew this because I told him, oh probably 2 months later that I knew when he said “bubbly” I was gunna marry him. So not only was it on our rings but “bubbly” was also our first dance song. It’s sweet little things like this that remind us how perfect we are for each other, and just how in love we really are.

I hope you enjoyed these 6 little photos… I think they are especially special. I promise detail photos and lots of fun blogging will be coming. In fact, I plan to be blogging a whole lot more often. I would love to know which one of these is your favorite or if you were at the wedding what your favorite memory was… 🙂 Thanks for reading… and I promise there is more to come.

(note: photography by Damian Serafine and Promise Tangeman… they are INCREDIBLE)

centerpiece madness…

So over the last two months my mom and I have been scouring antique stores, goodwill, savers, etc. etc. and have found some high quality pieces for the center of our wedding table décor. Also over the last two months ALL of my purchases have been taking over our kitchen table, then it was out kitchen floor, and then it moved to the front closet, and now into the garage. Well Jason decided he would purchase a nice little shed to store it all in and before he moved it out I wanted to capture a few shots and set up a little mock up of what we are going to do.

So in light of that I thought I would share a little bit of the wedding magic I’ve been working on.

We are keeping with the vintage theme with antique cameras and funky cool fans. We have found some serious gems at antique stores all over Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Yuma which will all be adorning the tables come March 27th.

You’ll notice we are sticking with the teal and mustard yellow color which I have grown VERY fond of. Every store I go into I am immediately drawn to anything mustard yellow or dark teal.

Here are a few more little photos… (I have to save some for the thrill of surprise J )

 

 

 The books I have were all bought from this lady on Craig’s List ALL the way in GOODYEAR! It was quite a drive but it was well worth it. When I got home I couldn’t wait to dive in and check the dates of every copywrite and see if I had any first editions. And I didn’t find any first edition photos but the oldest one I have is from 1859! Everyone of the books has such a distinctly old smell and was filled with character, which I find to be delightful. Not to mention all of the very cool hand written notes in them… most of the books belonged to college students which was evident because they were all decked out with fraternity and sorority letters, not to mention the list of military ranks at the front of every book that belonged to military men at the time. I have to say looking at all of the books was an adventure itself and as a lover of history I found it to be very enjoyable. ahh wedding planning is so much fun.

The little cross stitch goodie on the far right says “happiness is being married to your best friend”… isn’t that stinkin’ cute? My mom and I found that on a wedding date at Goodwill in a very strange part of Phoenix. WORTH IT! J

I would love to know what you think. Do you likely? Or not so much? Know of any killer antique or second-hand stores that I should visit? Let me know!

something borrowed…

I know it has been FOREVER… but I promise now that I am about two days away from being done with school I will have much more time to rave about wedding plans and life.

So anyway… Isn’t this hutch amazing?

Well… our wonderfully talented friend Promise Tangeman has created this incredible piece that she is so generously letting us borrow to be perfectly placed in our reception room to hold all of our delicious cupcakes!

As most of you know we are going with a vintage retro feel for our wedding and so we are using antique furniture throughout the cocktail and reception halls… so this little gem fits right in.

Check out what it originally looked like and all the fabulous artsy touches Promise added after she bought it on her blog http://promisetangemanblog.com. I can promise you that once you start reading this post you’ll probably be frequenting her blog at least three maybe ten times a day… she’s incredible!!!

So this is just the beginning of the wedding updates to come… so stay tuned! 🙂

yummy breakfast treat.

Okay so what you see here is a long standing Dancer favorite. It is the infamous “cheese toast” now this may seem a little odd but I am telling you… it is by far the most delicious breakfast created, and that is saying a lot coming from a breakfast lover.

This lovely breakfast meal consists of bread (white or whole wheat, both are good) topped with an even layer of butter and then cheese on top. Now the cheese can be shredded or it can be sliced, cheddar is best. After you have that all layered up pop that baby in the over (no need to preheat) I usually put it in at about 350 degrees. Then keep your eye on it once the top layer starts to bubble it is done-zo.

But wait… you aren’t done yet!

Take those delicious cheesy pieces of bread out and drizzle yummy warm syrup (I prefer Mrs.Buttersworth) all over the top.

and ENJOY!

I understand you are probably thinking that sounds terrible… cheese and syrup?!? But I am telling you as a child all of my friends would resist and resist but as soon as they tried it they too fell in love. The girl in the photos of the last post joked with my mom that she was going to make it for her husband the morning after the wedding. Now that is cute 🙂 But really you HAVE to try it. And if you do… I wanna know what you think.

Bon appetite 🙂

weddings on the brain…

Okay so I recognize that this is not facebook and does not post times of when things are written (at least I don’t think it does) so I am going to explain to you the time and purpose of this particular blog…

So it is 3:30am and I awoke because my mouth is absolutely killing me. For those of you who don’t know I have braces (YES full on metal braces) but not the normal kind… instead I have the really special kind that are on the backside of my teeth (the same ones Miley Cyrus has… ha) and I got them tightened today and I’m in a WHOLE LOT of pain.

This is not what this blog is about but I thought I would provide some background… makes it more interesting. Well when I awoke (in pain) I began thinking about weddings and how cool it is that I get photograph them.

Well… I received a wall post from someone I’ve known for years saying “I had no idea that about love did so many engagement and wedding photos of people I know”… and this got me thinking.

I am so incredibly blessed. How is it that I not only have the most wonderfully talented sister who is able to work her amazing talents behind a camera and produce utter magic, but that same sister for some crazy reason thinks I’m pretty good at it and allows me to join her.

Every weekend I am able to strap on my D200 and begin to capture the single most important moments between two people that is probably one of the most significant days of their lives. Now aside from that being a HUGE responsibility this is probably the biggest honor I can think of. These people are trusting their entire wedding keepsake on the ability of my sister and I to capture their entire love story. that is awesome.

Aside from this… as I am sure I have said on here before… I cry at EVERY wedding. I don’t even know these people and as soon as I get a look at the tears welling up in a fathers eyes the first time he sees his baby girl in her wedding gown… I LOSE IT. Yes, I’m the crazy photographer who barely knows most of these people and I AM CRYING. You can call me crazy… I’m cool with it. But that is really something special.

Weddings compose of these single breathless moments, these moments where two people look at each other and without a single doubt know that they are with the person they love more than anyone on the earth and are willing and excited to commit their entire being to a life together. And I… Taylor Joy… get to call capturing that a JOB!

I have had an incredible opportunity to photograph a few of my friends and I cannot think of a more intimate and incredible way to be a part of their lives. I am able to be there when their mom puts on her gown, when her daddy sees her for the first time, when she giggles as her MOH (maid of honor) puts on her garter, or when her sister looks at her with awe and admiration as if she is the most beautiful person on earth. (I want you all to know I am literally crying as I type this). But I get to be a part of their day in a much more intimate and special way than I ever would as a guest… and that is so stinkin’ awesome.

So what I am getting at is that I love that I get to work with my sister while also being able to photograph and capture beautiful bride’s wedding days in a truly intimate and special way… and for that I feel VERY blessed.

The photo montage at the top is of an engagement session that my sister, my sister-in-law, and I did a couple weeks ago of one of my VERY dear childhood friends. Tamra and I were the best of friends all through middle school and we have some pretty awesome memories… AND I am going to be able to capture the beginning of the best chapter of her life in a couple of weeks. Isn’t she gorgeous? The best part is she is as beautiful on outside as she is on the inside 🙂 which makes taking pictures of her that much more delightful.

So anyway as I type away at 3am I am just thankful to God for the opportunity and blessing of being able to call wedding photography a job.

You guys should check out my sister and I’s photography blog http://itsaboutlove.wordpress.com and her/our website aboutlovestudio.com.

This may be  a shameless plug but my sister also does amazing baby, family, and prego photos… so if you know someone in need send them her way 🙂

indeed, we are engaged

So this weekend my incredibly talented sister took our engagement photos. It’s so awesome having someone in the family who is capable of capturing the greatest and most significant events in our lives. I think it is safe to say that as I look at these photos and even when we were taking them I fell in love with jason all over again.

I think the one thing that has always been a reminder of why I love him so much is his ability to make me laugh. For those of you who know him… he’s pretty stinkin’ funny 🙂

Well… anyways…

Jason and I had a really good time coming up with some unique ideas photo session and found some things that fit the two of us. We incorporated our love of photography with some vintage cameras from jason’s collection, some of our own home decor, and our lovely engagement glasses that one of Jason’s groomsmen gave us as a congratulatory gift.

So here are a few of the shots most of which were taken at our venue , the History Icehouse in dowtown phoenix. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

I WOULD LOOOOVE TO KNOW WHICH ONES ARE YOUR FAVORITE… it might help us choose the ones we want for the invitations!

Aren’t they great? I told you… she’s incredible. Check out more of her work (and some of mine)… at our blog itsaboutlove.wordpress.com and her website aboutlovestudio.com!

Stay tuned for more to come 🙂

a couch fit for a bride…

Okay so… I’m on a new and exciting mission. I am going to be on a search for vintage couches and chairs. I will use the couches in the art gallery (white pillar room) during the cocktail hour for guests to sit on, but more importantly for guests to look at 🙂 . I mean it is just a perfect fit! The loungy music playing while guests sip on some delectable wine peruse around looking at Jason and I’s photography and then if they feel so inclined they can rest their dogs from their  tired sassy stiletto walking. How fabulous does that sound? Now I just have to find them! Savers… Goodwill… and Craigslist here I come!

(here are some pieces that I liked… they are just images from google so they aren’t prospects but this is the look I’m aiming for… you likey?)

A little wedding inspiration…

Well… I know it has been a long time coming… and I still wont be posting a whole lot in this one BUT… here are three inspiration boards that I created on style me pretty’s blog (which is an amazing wedding resource so check it out if you are a bride to be). I thought it might provide insight into my vision. I’ll be honest, however, there is much clarity left to be had with my vision, but slowly the pieces are falling together and it is all beginning to be a little more clear. I WOULD love to hear your thoughts if you have any and if you create an inspiration board of your own either link it or send it to me I would LOVE to see it.

But for now this is all I’ve got. Posts that are soon to come should feature my wonderful bridesmaid’s invites that I handmade… I just have to wait till all of my bridesmaids receive them before I go posting them all over this thing. 

Yay for wedding planning!