I haven't entered a I heart faces challenge in forever and thought it would be fun to jump back on the bandwagon that this great photography forum hosts every week. If you haven't ever been to their website, it is really great to check out (click here to see!). They have great articles on all sorts of photographic topics and the weekly challenges are great ways to see other people's creative work behind the lens. This week's challenge is to enter your best photo face from 2011. I love sifting through the pictures I've taken to see which one really stands out to me because it reminds me of all the precious/fun/sweet faces I've gotten to photograph this past year. The one I chose was actually taken on the LAST day of 2011... from a wedding I shot on New Year's Eve. It is a picture of Grandma Sandy who was the grandmother of the groom and a jewel of a person. I met her in the sanctuary before starting pictures and right away knew she was one of the cutest people I've ever met. Case in point: during the family photos she lifted up the back of her long skirt to show me her pink slip underneath... and to get a picture of that sassiness! Love it. I was walking around to get the ever popular ring shot and looking for inspiration when I ran into her. It hit me that I should get a shot of the rings in her hands. I get so excited when new ideas come to me because you just never know when inspiration and creativity will strike or fall flat! So here is Grandma Sandy, holding the engagement and wedding bands of her grandson and granddaughter-in-law. A celebration of marriage and life and family. As I took the picture she mentioned that her hands weren't in the best shape, but I told her that the wrinkles on her hands were signs of a life well lived. Grandma Sandy told me that those hands had been through a lot, done a lot, and were well used. I believe it. It will be an honor for me to have hands like that in years to come. She also said if her picture ever ends up on a billboard she better get some royalties! All yours, Grandma Sandy! Check out more great faces at www.iheartfaces.com! 
Mr. + Mrs. Livingston//Augusta Wedding
Joe + Kristen = a fun, laid back, and incredibly loving couple... and now husband and wife! Kristen and Joe got married at the Sacred Heart Cultural Center, which is an amazing cathedral turned events facility that looks like it came straight out of Italy. We took most of the pictures before the ceremony so we could capture the beauty of Sacred Heart before the sun went down and have a little time to get some pictures of just Kristen and Joe. They saw each other beforehand, had some time to hug and enjoy seeing each other in the middle of a chaotic day, and then smile and kiss lots for the camera:) It is so sweet to see the chemistry between couples and how we each find our home in another person. You could just tell that seeing Joe was what made all the fuss of wedding details worth it for Kristen, and that they felt a sense of relief in seeing and being with each other. They both were up for anything, so we got pictures on the grounds of the cultural center and also in the middle of the road in downtown Augusta. This was pretty funny... Kristen's dad stopped traffic with orange cones to make sure his daughter and new son-in-law were able to pose and kiss for random street shots! Kristen was even up for sitting on the steps of the church with Joe (she said she didn't mind sitting in the dress because it's not like she's planning on wearing it again!!!! love it:). I am one of those people that wants to suck life dry as much as possible, and for me it means fully using what I've been given. Side note: this is a process for me of learning to "suck life dry," not trying to save it or preserve something that isn't meant to last forever, but I'm learning more what that means everyday. What that means for a wedding day is to not be afraid of messing up a dress (within reason of course!), not saving my energy for a future moment but giving my all to what is before me. I feel like Kristen and Joe lived that out on their wedding day, having fun with pictures, not fretting about something getting on their clothes but living the day fully and enjoying the fleeting moments that would one day only be preserved in pictures. They hugged lots of people and tore up the dance floor, and when they left you could tell they had a really good time. I am thankful for couples like this who have such positive attitudes about even the huge family photos and keep reminding themselves that this day is one that will pass all too quickly, so it should be enjoyed. Thanks Kristen and Joe for having me be a part of your day. You made it a real joy for me:) 
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LOVE this shot of Joe... workin' it on the dance floor!
and to match Joe's awesome dance shot is Kristen at the photo booth... Sassy Bride!!!
some instant film pics to finish it off. You guys are instant fun... for real:)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
I like writing Christmas letters of some sort, but this year I didn't pull off writing/mailing a letter with our card. I hardly pulled off making/sending a card! So I thought instead of sending a letter I would post a virtual Christmas letter here on my blog to give an update on our family. On Christmas Eve we sat at our little kitchen table and toasted our glasses to, as Jared put it, "a year of chaos under God's grace." Chaos under the gracious rule of God in our lives. Christmas Eve had been a somewhat difficult day with Ethan having trouble controlling his anger at his grandparent's house and then totally falling apart when we had to leave Mimi and Grampie's to come home to Athens. The new "normal" in our lives has become lots of noise, toys everywhere, and a weekly "oh, my... the house has completely fallen apart". But slowly we are learning that this isn't all bad. There was a time when I thought a messy home was to be avoided at all costs, but now the mess is sign of life. When we brought Andy home from the hospital in October, our mess seem to grow exponentially. Now we have more clothes to wash, more people to feed, and more voices to be heard. But we also have more smiles than we did a year ago. Andy cried as we sat down to eat dinner on Christmas Eve while Ethan struggled to sit (not stand or walk around) during the meal, so we cheered to a life of chaos under the grace of God. The chaos part is clear when you have little ones, but it's easy to miss the grace part. The grace of God is that we can laugh when things get really crazy (not always, but a lot of the times). God's grace is evident when Ethan says, "mommy, you're the best mommy in the whole world..." (I know that's grace!!!) One particularly crazy day Jared and I were both at the end our short rope and the door bell rang. I wiped my eyes to make sure I didn't look like I was losing it, and opened the door to find 2 friends from church. They dropped by with a Trader Joe's turkey and 2 bottles of wine. They said they just wanted to tell us they were grateful for us. That was God reaching through our door into our chaos and giving us a hug (and a glass of wine:). So as much as we can say that 2011 has been a busy, messy, and sometimes breaking year, it has also been a year full of examples of God showing up in our ordinary lives to gives us strength and joy for the journey. That's the inside reason I picked these pictures for our Christmas card. I picked a picture of our 2 boys sleeping and looking so peaceful because of how it juxtaposes the craziness... and at the end of most days, Jared and I peek in on our sleeping babies and are reminded that they are gift. True blessings even on the smelliest and most chaotic days.
So for a quicker run down of our year, I thought I would mentioned some highlights: Jared becoming an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), photographing weddings with my dad (the ultimate father/daughter date!), giving birth to Andrew Clay Bryant a month early, watching Glee episodes on Hulu (Sue Sylvester is my FAVORITE!), discovering Pinterest (check out my board here), hearing Ethan pray for the first time, holding 2 new baby nephews (baby Asher and Baby Charlie), seeing the birth and becoming godparents to Annalea Tillman, watching close friends get married, a road trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota to see my cousin get married and catching up with a dear friend in Madison. And now for some pictures from 2011...
this is a picture I took at Thanksgiving in Hilton Head visiting Gran + Pop's house, and it's Ethan sharing his M&Ms with his great-great aunt Blanche. I really love this and he really loves his aunt Blanche.
and here is Jared pushing Ethan on the swings in Hilton Head. He is a really good dad.
and Jared and I dressed up like cows for Chickfila cow day. Christmas, Easter, and Cow Day. It might be one of my favorite days because people dress up in funny costumes AND get free food. Halloween with protein.
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for those who you haven't seen Andy's nursery, here's what it looks like!
This is a picture of Ethan from our snow week last January. We had snow much fun being together, playing in the snow with our neighbors and sitting by the fire. Maybe the best week of my life. 
and this is Jared feeding Andy after Annalea's baptism. I really like this picture because it captures an everyday moment in our lives and there something really rich and beautiful about the everyday care of children. And a husband who shares the load with me...
I need to post more pictures, especially of Andy, but I'll have to just blog more in the future to show them. So cheers to 2012, supposedly the year of the Vespa according the Chinese calendar. Maybe I'll wake up on my 30th birthday (this October!!) to find a blue vespa in my garage... a girl can dream:)