Monday Musings, edition six | it's been twelve Monday's

So yeah, you read that correctly...it's been exactly 12 Monday's since I last blogged a Monday Musings post. Yikes. I should have seen that coming, to be honest.. October got a little chaotic with 4 weddings, 4 engagement sessions, 4 family and/or senior sessions, and 8 meetings. Then November rolled around with almost the exact same chaotic schedule, plus Thanksgiving and travels. Then December and more weddings + shoots...and then I swear I blinked twice and it was Christmas. 

This sixth edition of Monday Musings could easily get out of hand and a little long, so if you stick with me all the way to the end - I owe you a latte. (Haaaa, see what I did there?).

>> On October 30th I celebrated my one year anniversary of full time status with this photography business of mine! Can't even believe it's already been a year! There's a blogpost recapping that first year, if you want to go read that, it can be found here!  

>> In early October I got together with 4 of my old coworker gals for dinner!......... For the first time since I left my day job. Yeah, took me almost an entire year! That's just unacceptable on my part! 

>> One of my dearest friends in the wedding industry packed up and moved to Miami in October. I don't like this story. We got together with her and her husband for one more dinner and Moscow Mules, and it was so bittersweet. Christieeee I miss you dearly :(

>> In the midst of chaos, there was one quick weekend trip to Boonville, MO in early November. My hubby, and my inlaws do a weekend trip, Bed & Breakfast style, every single year, and we always look so forward to that time together. Each year, we flip between who gets to choose the destination, and this year the decision was on us. Google helped me with finding Boonville, and it really didn't disappoint. A awesome as heck (and seemingly haunted, ha!) B&B, combined with a quaint little town of local restaurants, cute shops and antique stores. I'm soooo glad that despite my level of busy, we still made our annual trip happen!

>> In November I did another Bridal Open House with Deer Creek Golf Club - their open houses are easily one of my favorites to do, I always have so much fun! An evening of hanging out with fellow photographer friends, Ginger + Sarah of Creative Event Studio, plus one of my favorite DJ's in Kansas City - Howe Weddings, all combined with the always awesome Deer Creek staff, and an endless line of excited brides with their gorgeous new engagement rings! 

>> Daylight Savings Time ended, and I became seasonably depressed. Who else hates darkness at 5pm!? 

>> On November 11th, I was finally given a nearly perfect clean bill of health! If you're reading this, you're probably thinking, wait what? It's a long story that has only had tiny glimpses shown and spoken about on social media... to sum it up, I can say blood clots are silent, scary and unexpected bumps in life, and you never expect a doctor to say big words to your face like "pulmonary embolism" and "bilateral clot in your lung". I can also say I've never had more love and respect for doctors and nurses than I do after having had an experience like this. And most importantly - praiseeeeeeee the good Lord for the fact that I'm still here!

>> Thanksgiving was kind of a blur of good times, delicious food, great conversation, and endless laughter. Basically it was everything I ever want on Thanksgiving. 

>> In early December, the hubs had a couple days of PTO he needed to use up, so we opted for a staycation and did some fun things in Kansas City. Essentially we acted like tourists in our own city - which by the way, is a GREAT idea. No stress of traveling, but you still see things you've never seen before! 

>> There was a 72-hour window where I had 4 back to back meetings with potential 2017 brides, and at each meeting I had a latte in hand. So basically, I was on a great coffee-high for 72 hours straight and walked away with 4 new awesomeeee brides I get the joy of working with this year! 

>> Now I'm just going to jump straight to Christmas and say that it was completely wonderful. Aside from an always amazing time with the family I couldn't have gotten any luckier to marry into, and dish after dish of food, and board games and belly laughs, and reading, and cozy days.... I got to be a part of something SO awesome. My sister-in-law was proposed to on Christmas morning, and the secret of that (which Wes and I had been holding on to for MONTHS) finally came out, andddd, we as a family worked together with Paul to surprise Kels with an epic proposal full of hysterical crying. Ha. We're all a bunch of saps. The whole lot of us.

Kels had no idea. And lucky me got to return the favor to Kels, of photographing the moment that the love of her life got down on one knee and asked her to be his forever. CUE THE TEARS AGAIN. 

>> That was a quick recap of almost all you guys have missed hearing about in the past 12 weeks! I think now would be good to show some sneak peeks of most of the weddings and shoots I had during that time too!

Ohhh you guys, there are going to be soooo many gorgeous photos coming to the blog over the next few months as I play catch up on blogging! EEEE!! Get excited friends!! For now, enjoy a handful (or fifty) sneak peeks! 
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For this gorgeous couple, you'll be seeing a sneak peek of both their engagement session + wedding day, because both happened during the past 12 weeks! 
 

Jessica + Isaac's wedding day was one of my favorites from October - and this shot below is one of my favorites from the entire year!! Isaac was simply stunned! Oh my heart!! 
 

I absolutely LOVE these two sweet souls right here, and I can't wait for their wedding this October!! 
 

Ohh Samantha, and her stellar eyes!! 
 

Precious + gorgeous Maddy!! This sweet girl is a little sister to one of my 2016 brides, and I simply love this entire family!
 

Brooke + Darren....aka: the couple I want to be bff with. 
 

I could photograph this beautiful + precious little family all day long!
 

Sarah + Jorden again! This time, their wedding day! 
 

Andddd another one of my favorite photos from all of 2016!! 
 

Those guys had a fantastic wedding party!! 
 

A favorite family of mine who you've probably seen a lot of! :) :) :)
 

And finally, my last wedding of 2016 - a couple I adore, and a snowy December day!
 

Complete with a super awesome wedding party who willingly froze in 15 degree weather with minus-wind chills for photos! 
 

There is just something about the moment a bride meets her groom at the altar - these moments are always a favorite of mine, and this shot is easily another of my absolute favorites of my whole career!! 
 

And finally, my precious sister-in-law, during one of the most special moments of her life!! 
 

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What a recap you guys! I hope to get back into bringing you more Monday Musings consistently again, and there will seriously be a massive amount of new blogposts coming soon, so much to catch up on!! :)