My 3rd "Nashversary"

I cannot believe that it has been 3 years since I moved to Spring Hill.  It feels like just yesterday I graduate college and moved out here, and then I blinked and boom... here I am.  This year has been no different than any other in the fact that it has been a kinda crazy year, and I have had to completely trust the Lord.  It has really been a roller coaster of a year, but all the while, the Lord has been there for every step.  Here are some events from this year!

- My dear friend Caleb graduate college and I was able to go out to California and surprise him.  He had NO CLUE I was coming out.

-I was able to take my friend Jessica to her first baseball game ever.

-My life-long friend (literally-we've known each other since birth), Kathy, got married and I was able to celebrate with her.

-I went to Ohio to visit my aunt and uncle for a vacation, where I got to go to amish county and get lots of goods,

I got to go to the Ohio State Fair and see my first pig race, then my aunt and I got to go inside "the shoe" at Ohio State University!  That was pretty cool.

And then the 3 of us went to a military site that was honoring all the fallen soliders from Ohio.

-I competed in my first triathlon ever!  I didn't achieve my goal of sub 2 hours, but I finished in 2:15!

-I had pretty much the best birthday to date.  Olivia and Winter arranged to surprise me and took me to see THE GOONIES in the theater!  If you don't know, The Goonies is one of my favorite movies, so it was extremely neat to see that film on the "silver screen".  And the fact that I was surrounded by friends made it so much better!

-My parents came to visit for Thanksgiving!  It was so much fun to be able to celebrate with them and to show them my life.. in person.. here in Tennessee!

-Precious Iris Belle Pearson was born

-Christmas.  Christmas this year is extra special to me for a couple of reasons.  One is because Jessica came home with me, and we had a blast.  My family embraced her so much and we had a blast!  It was also sweet because it was the last Christmas I spent with my Grampie.

Here he is reading the Christmas story.

It was also Jessica's first time ever seeing the Pacific Ocean... she didn't think it would be cold, but it was!

-Now this next thing is NOT a highlight, but it a huge part of my year.  My grandfather, Eric B. Adney Jr., changed his address to Heaven.  He was 88 years old when he went home to be with Jesus, and it has been difficult to deal with.  However, through it all, the Lord has been my strength.  I've posted the video I made for his celebration service

-I finished the student intern program at New Song, and I started a new job!  I am now working full-time at The Arbors and Willow Springs (assisted living facilities) as the assistant activities director.  I am LOVING my job.  It is tough at times, but soo rewarding!
So there are some videos and picture from my third year in Tennessee!  I'm excited to see what this year holds for me!

5.17.11

I'm grateful for: my city
The Lord has placed me in a strategic place in this city, and I am grateful for it.

Gratefulness...

So I know this was supposed to be posted everyday, and I was supposed to have a picture for each thing, but life has been very busy, with starting a new job and all, that I have been so tired to post.. Even though I have been so tired, as I laid my head down each night, I took time to thank the Lord for my day.  So I thought I would just do an "update" post of one thing I was thankful for each of the past 5 days I haven't posted.  Hopefully this week will be better with pictures!

Day 4- 5.11.11- Spiritual Family.  I LOVE the family the Lord put me in here in Tennessee.
Day 5- 5.12.11- My health.
Day 6- 5.13.11- My apartment.  This is a place that the Lord has given my roommate and me, and I am so grateful to be able to use it for Him and His glory.
Day 7- 5.14.11-  Godly women in my life.

Today- Day 8- 5.15.11- The green trees of Spring.  One of the first things I noticed when I moved here, was the fullness of the trees.  While it is neat and beautiful to see the bare trees during the winter, I LOVE when spring comes because the trees get their leaves back!

Tomorrow is a new day, with a ton to be grateful for!  Look for it!

Day 3: 5.10.11

Day 3: 5.10.11
I'm grateful for: Provision

By definition, provision is: the providing or supplying of something, arrangement or preparation beforehand, as for the doing of something, the meeting of needs, the supplying of means,etc.
I'm grateful for the provision of the Lord.  I'm grateful for the provision of His Word, I'm grateful for the provision of His Spirit, I'm grateful for the provision of a job that He has given me.
  

Day 2: 5.9.11

Day 2- 5.9.11


I'm grateful for: music.  Although I can't play it very well, or sing very well, I will worship the Lord with all I have within me.

30 Day Challenge intro/ Day 1

I'm always looking for ways to be creative, and in this season of transition that I'm in, I have to admit that it has been difficult.  I have wanted to pick up my camera so many times, but I honestly have not felt like I have had time, and that has been frustrating.  The way to counter frustration and pain is gratefulness.  I have so much to be grateful for, all I need to do is slow down and acknowledge it.  Check out this cool video about a lady who is making a documentary about Gratitude (here).  While she did a 365 day project, I feel like that is a little overwhelming for me, but I LOVE the idea... So I am going to do a 30-day project. For the next 30-days I am going to take a picture of something that I am grateful for, or something that represents the gratitude in my heart.  Check back daily and see what the Lord reveals to me over this next 30 days!

Day 1- 5.8.11
I'm grateful for: My Mom- without her, I would not be the woman I am today.  The words of my friend Jonathan represent only a fraction of what is in my heart: "my mother did more than just give me life. She showed me how to live."
Happy Mother's Day mom!

HDR Photography

Happy Thursday to you!  I've been doing some research on a new(ish) type of photography called HDR photography.  HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and basically is a composition of different exposure levels.  Here are a couple of my trial HDR images.

Happy Anniversary

I realized that it has been a while since I posted.  Sorry.  It's been a busy couple of weeks.  Well, I figured that on this 25th day of April, I would make this post a celebratory post.  Happy Anniversary to my dear friend Jamie and her husband Sean.  I had so much fun shooting this wedding 2 years ago, and I can't believe it's been 2 years already!  Thank you Jamie and Sean for letting me be a part of your day!

A New Artistic Venture

I know this is a "photography blog", but I want it to be an inspiration to you.  While I am focusing on photography, I also am going to post many different types of creative ventures... This is a new one for me!

I am not a painter by any means.. however, last October I got an idea to paint a family portrait for some friends as their Christmas gift... 5 months later, I gave it to them.  Now the reason it took me 5 months is because for starters, I had no clue what I was doing; and there were a lot of things that came up which caused me to have to take a break from painting.  But, after 5 long, pain-staking months, it is finished and delivered.  Here are some pictures of my process!

Start with a line drawing....

End up with a finished product...

Hope you like it... and I'm going to "borrow" a phrase from my friend Annie... 

Go do something creative today!

Peters Family

Let me introduce to you the Peters family.  I met the father of this family (Chuck) back in May of 2008 when we both started working for KIDMO.  A few months later, I met Cris (Chuck's wife) and their 2 girls.  Over time, a friendship developed.  

I LOVE adoption stories.  And their's is a great one!!

I remember one night sitting at a local coffee shop with Cris and talking about adoption.  She shared with me the journey that she and Chuck were about to embark on.  At that point in time, there were so many "unknowns" but she told me that night that she felt like they were going to get 2 little boys.  Fast forward a few months, and they are heading to Ethiopia to pick up their new sons!  You can check out their full story here.  So, fast forward another year, and we are doing their family portraits!  This is a beautiful family, and all 4 of their kids are precious!  I'll stop talking now and let the images do all the talking! 

Thank you Chuck and Cris for allowing me to be a part of this process.  I've enjoyed watching and walking with you through it!  You have a BEAUTIFUL family!

ugh...

who is horrible at blogging?  right now the answer is... ME!!!  I am going to post something soon though, promise! ;)

Eric B. Adney Jr.

Well, this week has been a super emotional one, and it doesn't show signs of stopping... On Wednesday, February 9, 2011, my precious grandpa (grampie) went home to be with the Lord.  He went very peacefully in his sleep at home during his morning nap.  This was the way he would have wanted to go.  So I flew out to  San Diego on Thursday night, and will be here until Feb. 25th...
I was so blessed to have 24 years with him.  I was so blessed to be so close with my grandpa, I know there are a lot of people in the world that aren't close with their grandparents, or their grandparents passed away when they were young, but I was soo blessed to have him for so long.  I have so many memories with my grampie, but above all, the thing that I love the most about him is that Grampie was an amazing man of God.  Always seeking the King and the Kingdom.  He was a man of great example and legacy.  No matter where he went, he would always ask someone this question: "Do you have Jesus in your heart?"  He would then go into sharing the gospel with them.  He has been such a forerunner in our family, laying a strong foundation for us to stand on, and not only to stand on, but to build on.

Eric Adney as I know him, in his physical body is no longer with me here, but he is in the presence of his King, Jesus.  He is walking the streets of gold, walker-free!!  Based on the cards, messages and emails we have received, I can only imagine how many jewels he has in his crown because of his obedience to the Lord here on earth.

My heart is broken tonight because I have a void in my life here on earth, but at the same time, I have so much joy and hope because of the faith that grampie had in the Lord, and because of the faith I have in the Lord... because of that faith and belief we both had/have in the Lord, we will see each other again!  That is a promise of the cross!!

I love you Grampie.  You will forever be in my heart and memories.

new things...

Okay... first post of the new year.  I know, lame that it has taken me 18 days to get to it, and I know that you all have probably stopped following me because my last post was Nov. 2010... BUT, I am here to tell you that I am back.  Ready to start posting again! I started this year out in Cali, with family, but flew back to Spring Hill on Jan. 2.  I was home for a week, but then headed out to Orlando for a Children's Pastor's Conference.  It was a great time of connecting with children's pastors from around the nation and getting KIDMO into their hands!  The week however wasn't all work... I did get to play some!  I was blessed with being able to go to Walt Disney World TWICE!!  AND FOR FREE!!!  How amazing is that?!  If you know me, then you know how much I love Disney.  I had an annual pass to Disneyland when I lived in Cali, but I had never been to WDW before.  My first time to Epcot, I went alone, but that is ok.  Then on Saturday morning, my cousins picked me up from the hotel and surprised me with a trip to Disney!!!  We went to Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios.  It was truly an amazing experience, that I will never forget! Below are a few pictures from my adventure there!  

Now, onto some other news....  

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I haven't done any creative work lately.  I follow another photographer's blog, Kate Noelle (click here to check her blog out).  Anyways, she recently posted about how creativity is a muscle and "If you only use it every once in a while, it won’t consistently produce as effectively. However, if you make a point to exercise your creativity on a consistent basis, your capacity for growth and consistency increases exponentially… and continues to grow as you continue to challenge yourself."

This really got me thinking about the ways in which I am using my creative muscle.  And when I got real honest with myself, I haven't been using it much lately.  As one who considers herself a creative, this is unacceptable!  So, I am starting to change that!  I am starting to take on some new personal projects to not only just develop myself as a photographer, but as a creative in general.  Some things that this will include is: painting (i'm working on a super neat project with this, and as soon as I finish it, I will definitely post pictures!!!), video, motion graphics, and graphic design.  I'm so excited to see what comes up!  I'm constantly looking for inspiration for projects!  If you have any ideas, please feel free to shoot them my way!  

Kate and I don't know each other very well, but her site and her work are an inspiration to me, and even though she doesn't know it, she drives me to be a better photographer!  Thanks Kate!

Another person who is ALWAYS pushing me to be better, and do better is my dear friend Annie Hobbs.  She is an amazing illustrator, and I'm blessed to call her friend (You can check out her stuff here).  I have had the honor and blessing of knowing this woman for 6 years now, we have been through so much together, and there isn't a day that goes by that we don't talk...weather it is by text messaging, email, skype, or the phone, we connect every day.  She is my sounding board, and I am hers.. We are ALWAYS bouncing ideas off of each other, or calling to say "CHECK OUT WHAT I JUST DID!!! What do you think?!?!?!?!"  Even though we have different creative specialties, we are able to help sharpen each other's art.  Sometimes conversations look like: "Hey Stacee, what do you think of this...?"

"Well, I think it looks great, but this color looks kinda off, is there something you could tweak?"

or

"I can't quite put my finger on it, but what if you dd a different brush stroke here.. or there?"

and vice versa of course!  

We may not know each other's 'art lingo' (usually it is more me not knowing illustration lingo..hehe), but we do know the language of friendship... sometimes that looks like criticism, but it is criticism done in love!  Criticism done with the vision of bettering each other's craft.  I will welcome that kind of criticism any day!  

Anyways, I just felt like I needed to start this year of blogs with a couple of 'shout-outs' to a couple of people who are my inspiration.  Thanks Annie for all you have done for me, and will continue to do for me.  I am a better artist, and person because I have the joy of being your friend!  There are sooo many fun and meaningful pictures that I would love to share with you, but for the sake of time I won't put them all up here... I felt like this picture of us really represents us as friends and even as a team...united by the Lord and the gift the Lord has given us... CREATIVITY!  Together Annie, we can do anything we put our minds too!

(we really loosened it, i promise ;)

and since this post already has a Disney theme to it, I thought it was appropriate since she is my Disney buddy as well)

Evrist Wedding

On October 23rd, I had the privilege of shooting with Amy Conner (check out her blog here).  We got to photograph Joel and Lauren Evrist's wedding.  It was a beautiful day here in Tennessee and the weather was perfect!  I spent the entire morning with the guys; after doing some formal shots we headed over the the YMCA and did some fun shots!  I'm very excited about how the images turned out.  Here are a few of my favorites from the day!  Thanks Joel and Lauren for getting married, and thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!

 

I love this picture because it shows all ages and stages worshiping God.  Taylor, the flower girl is 6 years old.  When I see kids worshiping with all their heart, my heart melts.  So that is why I put this picture up here. ;)

 

Small Joys

I have some friends that adopted 2 boys from Ethiopia.  They have been home for 7 months now, and their oldest started playing soccer this season.  He is so good!  I think he has scored something like 30 goals this season.  Anyways, I've been meaning to get out to the soccer field more times than I can count, but it never worked out with my schedule... until this past Saturday!!!  I was so excited to go and support this family and love on this boy by supporting his team and game.  I'm sure he probably won't remember me, but that is ok.  I love this family and can't wait to post about their family portrait session (which should happen soon... depending on my foot-that's another post, for another night).  Back to the point of this post.  On Saturday I got the privilege to go watch Tyce play soccer.  I grabbed my sweatshirt and camera, and off I went.  Here are a few shots from his game.  Good job Tyce!!

Olivia's Golden Birthday!

Tonight we celebrated a dear friend.  Here is just a sample of the pictures I took tonight (except I didn't take this picture... Ian Collins did.

Irish Dancing

I had an amazing opportunity today.  I was asked to set up a photobooth for an Irish Feis.  It was amazing!  My amazing friend Kendra came with me and assisted me and we had a blast!  There were so many fun sights and colors!  (And not to mention tons of cute kids!)  Here is  just a preview of some of the shots I took!

 

Meagan Fernandez {Preview}

Ok, I know it has been a long time since I last blogged. There has been a lot going on, and I have neglected my blog. Sorry for all those (or those 2) who follow me... I recently had a photo shoot with a great girl. I will write more about her when I post more pictures, but I wanted to put up a preview of the day!

Outdoor lighting

When I was in California a week ago, I got a job offer to do some shooting for a landscaping company in Franklin. I've never done this type of shoot before, but I felt like I was to take the job. So, I accepted and when I got back into town, I went out a did some shooting.