Engagement Party// Navid and Sarah

I've known Navid McGee all of my life, or I guess I should say, he's known me all of mine.  He's like the brother I've never had and has been there for every special event of my life.  So when I found out that he was engaged I was thrilled!  His beautiful fiance, Sarah, is fun and sweet and immediately makes everyone like her.  On Saturday we all got to celebrate their engagement, and obviously, I snapped a few pictures to capture the moment.

Black Friday Fun Day

On Black Friday, while everyone was running around trying to get the  most amazing deals for Christmas, Ben and I were enjoying the sun.  It was just too perfect of a day to be standing in line in the mall.  It was too perfect of a day not to capture the glorious sun and the brilliantly colored trees (which, by the way, Texas usually never has)! So, we went outside and starting practicing shooting the light.  We started early so we could capture good lighting during the middle of the day- that didn't work.  So we stayed and kept shooting, and we finally got some pictures we liked!

I still can't get over how absolutely BEAUTIFUL this fall has been! I didn't see these kinds of colors in Maryland where I was supposed to see them last year.  Instead I'm blessed with moving back to a state with family, friends and fall leaves!!

What I'm Thankful for this Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, there are so many things that I am thankful for.  I usually spend blog posts writing paragraphs, but tonight I'll make you a little list to keep your from reading for too long.


By the way, this list is in no particular order...


1. Being home in Dallas this year (no holiday traveling Whoop!!!)

2. Having my loving family and friends so close and being able to see them on a regular basis.

3. My 15 minute drive to the closest mall!! (That may seem silly, but our drive to a good mall was at least an hour in Maryland. Seriously?!?!?!)

4. Being able to save for a house!

5. My husband.

6. My husband's amazing job.

7. Being able to see my best friend on a weekly basis.

8. Making amends and rekindling a friendship :). I will always be grateful to God for this opportunity.

9. Pinterest: for their amazing holiday recipes...yum... and for their cute holiday decoration ideas... and for having a place to look at pretty things.

10. God: for looking after my friends, my family, and me, for giving me strength and always proving that my faith is worth something.

11. Finally moving towards a career path that I can enjoy and finally understanding who I am and what I love in life.

12. My Fightin' Texas Aggies and my ADPi sisters.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Christmas Time is Here at the Kaye House, and I Don't Care Who Knows It!

Every year, at the Kaye House, the Christmas decorations go up the weekend before Thanksgiving so that we can start the Christmas cheer a little early.  I, being the eldest daughter (I'm kidding: that really has nothing to do with this phenomenon), usually take it upon myself to get the garland up on the bannister.  This year, since us Carpenter's are currently storing ourselves (and our junk) at my parents' house, I decided to try putting all of this together myself... hahaha.

 

 

The scene above (along with probably 8 or 9 strands of garland) is something I stared at for about two hours Friday morning, trying to remember which strand went where.  Finally I put the garland up. And after many OCD moments of trying to make them even and accurately spacing them out, I checked Facebook.. just kidding. I checked Pinterest.  Hey! A girl's gotta have recipes in place for dinner at all times, and maybe I was also looking through fashion and photography pictures. :)

 



 

 

And at about 2:50 pm, when Ben got home from work- all I had done is put the ribbon on two sections of garland... but it didn't take me us that long too finish it. Ben stood around and supervised and maybe fluffed some stuff.  And then I had to redo one of our bows being that it was far too smooshed to be of any use.

 

 

 

When my mom got home from work at 4:40 pm, I was just getting the Christmas tree out of the closet under the stairs (nobody lives there...sadly I don't own a Harry Potter).  So my mom and my dad got roped into putting in their own hard labor, aka, my dad fluffing more stuff and my mom vacuuming all the pine needles.  And after setting up 9 sets of garland, three Christmas trees, searching for 5 stocking holders and an angel we never found, this is how the house looked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so that's not the whole house, but it's my favorite set of pictures.  I'm so in love with Christmas!

 

P.S: I did myself the immense favor of beginning my Christmas music binge.  It was lovely. 

 

Goodnight!!!





 



Sarah Ashley Photography

As many of you know, I have a passion for so many different things that sometimes it's hard for me to choose just one to focus on.  This truth has become more and more evident ever since Ben bought me our fantastic DSLR Canon Camera last February.  I have alwasy been obsessed with taking pictures, and I never really noticed it until I moved back to Texas. 

My bedroom at my parents' house is overflowing with pictures, "glamour shots" Julie and I would take of each other and our friends, staged "stylized portraits" of Beanie Babies, "Landscape" shots of the Texas sky.  I'm not going to try and pass these awful, disposable camera, pictures as good photography, but at least they made me realize one thing... that I love photography more than I love a lot of other hobbies in my life. 

Ben and I share this love, and it is one of the many things we do together for fun.  Since we moved back to Texas, our ability to take pictures of friends and family has expanded greatly, and it has been so much fun.  It is such a magical thing to be able to capture the beauty all around us.

So, without anymore hesitation, Ben and I have decided to make this photography dream a reality.  It is now a HUGE part of Sarah Ashley Events (which is called this because I'm too lazy to change the name of my company again, and because Ben will still have his own career so I'm keeping this as mine hehehe.... even if he is doing a lot of the work. Hey! He'll still get credit for his photographs!)

I have already been blessed with the opportunity to photograph my dear family friends, my sister, and soon to come, my amazing ADPi little. OMG! She is just gorgeous. Just you wait and see.

That is all for tonight.  Much Love from Sarah Ashley Events.

Kenzie May// Frisco Square First Birthday

Last year, my childhood best friend had the prettiest little baby ever.  This year, I got to take her first birthday portraits.  Oh my goodness, these pictures are amazingly adorable.  Kenzie is just the sweetest little baby, and her mother, Lindsey, is beautiful too.  It makes me so happy to be able to be a part of Kenzie's life and to share her perfect pictures with you.

 

So stinkin' adorable.  I just want to post all of her pictures! Happy Birthday to Kenzie May on November 30th!!!