Monday Musings, edition four | busy schedules, fun days, + a sweet cat
Happy Monday guys!! The heart of busy season is upon me, and YEESHKA it's real. It was a busy jam-packed week last week, and as I sit here sipping my first cup of coffee this morning - staring at my upcoming schedule for the remainder of October (and remainder of the year, if I'm being honest) I start chugging my coffee a little faster.
>> Regardless of busy schedules, and mounting to-do lists... taking time for the things that matter most are of utmost importance. Something I used to not be so good at. So, with that in mind, the hubs and I had a little impromptu date last Tuesday! He needed another sports coat for his day job, and shopping naturally works up an appetite. So! Off we went! Banana Republic for the win, and Fuddruckers for our hungry bellies! It was a much needed little evening together ;)
>> On Wednesday I had 3 meetings, back to back - all in different locations across MO and KS. Naturally. Ha! I made it to all of them, on time, and all went swimmingly! Some days I really enjoy the hustle of scooting around to multiple meetings, especially when it means meeting such sweet people and excited newly engaged couples!
That day was also the start of something.. The first time I spoke TO my camera for a little Instagram Story... Yep. You read that right. I'm so not a talk-to-the-camera kinda girl, but I decided to try it out. Was it slightly awkward? Yes. Did I record in my own garage to save myself a little bit of embarrassment? TOTALLY. If you saw it, awesome! If you missed it, it's long gone now, and you've missed something amazing, haha.
I think I'm slowly migrating into the whole, Insta-Story life now, and leaving Snapchat behind. I'm still slightly bitter that Instagram copied Snap and thus made my life more complicated. In the future... I'm thinking of using Snapchat for the original intent I had - more random and personal stuff, between friends. Insta-Stories will likely become the outlet for ELP stuff, behind the scenes, and a dash of personal and random thrown in. You're welcome to follow along! I'm sure I'll get more and more comfortable with talking to my camera ;) My Instagram can be found here! And my Snapchat thingy is - @elizabethladean
>> Thursday evening I had this month's shoot with Megan of Chasing Davies. You might be asking yourself, who the heck is Megan of Chasing Davies!? Shame on me for not having yet blogged about this gem of a person! Especially since we've been getting-together once a month for almost a year now!! Megan, is a lifestyle and fashion blogger in Kansas City! Her blog, which can be found here - Chasing Davies, is chock full of her life as a married lady with two cute littles - whom I have yet to meet, but feel like I already know! She blogs about life, motherhood, and her impeccable fashion sense! I've been the lucky photographer for almost a year who gets to photograph her various outfits in which she blogs with! One of these days I'll do a guest-post on my blog, and interview Megan, so you guys can learn more about her!
ALSO... Her and I are in the midst of working on a BIG and EXCITING project involving our favorite city... KANSAS CITY... Mum's the word! It's coming! So stay tuned for that!!
>> On Friday I had the absolute HONOR of photographing Jessica and Chad's engagement session over at The Nelson Atkins Museum! These guys are one of my many 2017 couples, and I can't even tell you how much I adore them! Sometimes I come home after time with my couples in pure awe over how blessed I am with the types of people God puts on my path - and that can't be more true for how I feel about Jessica and Chad! Such sweet, loving and warm individuals! Here's a little sneak peek from their shoot! And as always, more can be found on Facebook! -
>> On Saturday, I got to do the engagement session for another one of my awesome 2017 couples!! AHH! I love engagement sessions! And I also love these guys too! Emily and Jon are two precious people, with infectious personalities that are so bubbly and positive! We hit multiple locations in and around Downtown Kansas City, and I really couldn't get enough of Emily's gorgeous smile! Here's a sneak peek of these sweethearts, and again you guys - more can be found on Facebook!
>> Yesterday, Sunday, Wes and I finally put together our most recent purchase for the house! A cozy fire pit and two Adirondack chairs! Ask me how PUMPED I am for this stuff!? Bring on the cozy nights, relaxing, and the amazing smell of a wood fire!! We may or may not have already had one cozy fire time! ;)
In between the time we put everything together, and the time after dinner that we made our first fire - I drug out ALL the Fall decor from our basement! Andddd I went nuts. I LOVE FALL SO MUCH! It's easily my favorite time of year, and it's also my favorite season in which to decorate for! The house is loaded down with pumpkins, lanterns, faux leaves, tree stumps, sticks and twigs, pumpkin spice candles, and more!
This one photo in the middle below? That lantern AND the pumpkins inside are special you guys! That lantern was one of many that lined the aisle I walked down almost 4-years ago to my Wesley waiting for me. :) :) :) And the pumpkins inside? Some of many that adorned the centers of endless tables that our nearest and dearest were at during our reception! YES! Our 4-year anniversary is coming up on the 20th! :)
>> NOW, a random story! Because what would a Monday Musings post be without at least one random story!?! Since we moved into our home a little over 3 years ago... There has been this superrrrr sweet orange cat who frequently visits us. He's clearly an outdoor cat, but also very clearly has a home, - he's way too chubby to be homeless. Of course, we've also fed him ourselves many times, haha. Anyways! This precious baby comes around every so often, especially when we're outside. More than once we've caught him sitting on our front stoop, back patio or back porch staring in the windows at us - checking to see if we're home of course ;) We absolutely love this cat! He's so sweet!! And, in true B+W (that's us) fashion - we of course gave him a name, because we name all pets we see and meet. Our name for him: SIMBA.
SO, Simba visits often, and in 3+ years, we've never figured out who he actually belongs to. Yesterday, Simba was visiting us yet again, as we we sat outside enjoying the new fire pit and chairs, when our neighbor Laura, from 3 houses down drives by. She slowed to a stop, rolled her window down, and asked if he was bothering us! Bothering!? NO! We told her how much we love him, and his visits, and quickly asked did he belong to her!?? Come to find out - YES, our adopted outdoor cat, Simba, does belong to Laura and her husband... andddd we found out his real name -- Oscar!! haha
Laura got a kick out of how often Simba....err, Oscar, visits us, and she was surprised over just how much we love him! It's fun as crap to me that we now know his real name, and I'm glad his mama knows that we love his visits!
Just look at this sweet baby!!
I think that's about it, you guys! This Monday Musings edition got crazy long! I'm glad you stuck with me through it all! :)
The amount of editing I have to do isn't going to edit itself, so back to that I go, and until next time, friends!! :)