This weekend marks the end of summer. Maybe not literally for folks like us that have the huge privilege of living in the South but symbolically for sure. The kids have started the new school year. After Labor Day the stores put out Halloween decorations and fall decor. Summer is slowing fading and I want to reel it back in like a fish that’s trying to get away.

I love summer. I love the beach. I love ice cream on hot days. I love sundresses. I love walking barefoot in the grass. I can’t have those things in the winter (and face it, we only have 2 seasons here). I don’t want summer to end. I feel like a child having a temper tantrum.

The images I capture in the warm season is what gets me through the winter. I look back at them and it pulls me through to the other side. So I carry my camera with me wherever I go and snap away at the most random things. Because I know in a few months when it’s 35 degrees and rainy outside I can look back at my images and they will remind me that summer is only a few months away.

This past weekend has been one that my family has anticipated for quite a while. We always do. It’s the weekend of the 13th Annual Antioch Community Center SCHRA Rodeo. Every year, a few weeks after school starts, we get to dress up in our cowboy (and cowgirl) wear and head to the rodeo. Because we live in such a small community, it seems like everyone in our town and the surrounding areas are there. This year was no exception. We saw family and friends and got to meet a few new people. I can’t explain why but this event is one of my favorites of the year. I love all of the different competitions but the barrel racing is what I love the most. Just watching the girls put everything they have into guiding their horses around the barrels and then back through the gate is so exciting. I think that it has something to do with my secret dream to have a horse when I was growing up in Charleston in an apartment. Anyway, this year’s competitions did not disappoint. I actually got really close for the bull riding competition which was kind of scary. The bulls are definitely a lot bigger in person than they look on tv. Thankfully none of the riders were seriously injured this year as were in the past. Our family had a wonderful time and I’m already looking forward to next year.

Here are a few of my favorite images of the night.

I’ve been wanting to share some photos of the new studio for some time. But I really wanted to wait until it was a little farther along in the remodeling. I just couldn’t wait any more! I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to share pictures of the work in process. Then I can take more as it becomes more complete. This has been a dream of mine for a long time and it’s finally coming true. I won’t be using the studio for traditional portraits. I will be doing all of my consultations and sales presentations there along with newborn and boudoir sessions. I still love the fresh, fun images I get with doing children and families on location so that won’t change. I just needed a place to call home (as far as my work is concerned). I can’t wait to share more as the project progresses. The owners live in Atlanta and are “living” there during the remodel. I feel so bad for them because it doesn’t have central AC yet so they are literally roasting with 2 small window units to cool the whole building. Well, hopefully it will only be a couple of more months before it’s finished. Let me know what you think!

This is the view from just inside the front door. It's quite a mess!

This is a view to the right of the front door. It's a pretty big room that I will probably use as a waiting area.

This is the entrance into the main part of the building just after you pass through the front room.

A small storage area in the bathroom. I can see props going here!

A shot of the unfinished bathroom.

Another shot of the unfinished bathroom. I think this room will be finished last. Can you really blame them?

This was taken from the back of the building looking towards the front. If only they would leave me the big screen!

A shot of the kitchen area. They are getting ready to install new cabinets next week.

Yes that is a garage door! That is coming out and french doors are going to be installed along with a couple of floor to ceiling windows on either side.

The stair leading to the second floor.

The second floor...kind of small but lots of potential.

Another shot of the second floor looking in the opposite direction. The stairs are in the middle of the room.

Well, that’s the tour. I hope to be adding some more images as the work is completed. I really can’t wait to get everything decorated and my work hanging on the walls! When it gets closer to completion, I will start planning an Open House so I can invite all of my clients, friends and family over to get a better look. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

Doing a recent pet session with a truly amazing dog got me thinking about the differences between “dog people” and regular people. I never understood how someone could treat their dog like a person…or why they would want to. I’ve learned a lot over the past 4 years about dogs….and myself.

I grew up in Charleston, SC. For most of my childhood, we lived in an apartment which didn’t allow pets. My mom did a great job of hiding kittens so the Apartment Manager wouldn’t find out so I wasn’t always without a pet. However, I never had a dog. You can’t really hide a dog because of the whole pooping outside thing. But I loved my cats (even when they brought dead things up the door) and never thought anything about not being able to have a puppy. So as an adult, I’ve never been a dog person. I love all types of animals but owning a dog has always meant something different to me than “dog people.” I got my kids a dog and it stayed outside. I’d pet it on the head as I walked by but never thought much about it. Then 4 years ago, I moved in with my boyfriend and he is allergic to cats. We had a cat at the time…a beautiful Siamese that my son adored. But she disappeared the day we moved into the new house. I guess she wasn’t keen on the idea of living in a different house. After a year of not having any pets, I started really missing that great feeling when your pet jumps up in your lap and wants nothing from you but to be loved. So I decided to get an inside dog. I figured it can’t be much different than a cat. Boy was I wrong! We decided on an Italian Greyhound. He was gorgeous. He was sleek and could run faster than anything I’d ever seen. He was incredibly sweet. I was his human and all he wanted to do was lay beside me under a blanket. Me and this dog bonded from day one. But this dog was extremely high maintenance. I don’t mean we had to take him to the groomer every other week (he doesn’t have much fur at all). I mean all our lives revolve around this dog. I had never had a dog before. I thought all I had to do was take it out a few times a day and it would be trained. Um that’s not how it worked with this dog. He was stubborn, needy and scared of every freakin’ sound outside. He would literally shake and tremble for 30 minutes if a car drove by.  I had to use puppy pads in the house because he just refused to go to the bathroom outside. Several times I broke down and cried to Daniel about the dog. I couldn’t handle it. I already had 2 children and a man to take care of. Now I had this needy dog. I had to find another home for him or I was going to have a breakdown. He would always talk me out of it. He would say “Heather, you love that dog and he loves you. You can’t get rid of him.” Of course, that would always make me change my mind. Over the next couple of years, I just became accustomed to the extra care I had to put into my dog. That’s not to say that I liked it or didn’t have moments of pure insanity (ask Daniel) but I dealt with it.Daniel was right, I love my dog and he loved me.

Fast forward to the Fall of last year. My Stepfather passed away on November 1st. My family was devastated. He was only 54 years old. My children had lost the only male figure that had been a constant throughout their lives. Daniel was a great father to them but we had only been together 5 years at that point. My daughter wanted a puppy for Christmas. She had never had a pet because I always thought she was too young for the responsibility (I already had a crazy dog to take care of). But I thought if I got her the puppy, she wouldn’t be so sad about her Papa. So, I set out to find her a puppy. Daniel and I both agreed that the smaller the better so we  decided on a Chihuahua. Now, most of these types of dogs are really super ugly and “yippy.” We didn’t want that. I had to find one that was cute and acted more like a big dog. Good luck, right? It took some time but I found her the perfect puppy. I couldn’t wait until Christmas to give it to her so I took her with me to pick it up. It was love at first sight. She fell asleep holding the puppy on the way home. Ok, so now we have a neurotic dog and a new puppy in the house. What was I thinking?! Training the new puppy wasn’t that bad. She was litter box trained when we got her (yes, you can train a dog to go in a litter box!) so we just had to work with her a little to get her going outside. After a few months we decided to get my dog fixed being that he is a boy and the puppy was a girl (you know the birds and the bees stuff). I couldn’t believe the transformation in him. It seemed like overnight, he didn’t have a problem going to the bathroom outside, he didn’t try to crawl down my shirt when new people came over. He started becoming normal! Now I don’t know if it was because he was socializing with another dog and saw what he was supposed to act like or if it was the surgery. But whatever it was, I sure wish I would have done it sooner.

Now our new puppy isn’t quite so much a puppy anymore and my dog will be 4 next month. Life around our house has become pretty normal – or as close to normal as we’re going to get. We love our dogs and couldn’t imagine our lives without them. They are still extremely irritating sometimes especially when they both want to lay on me at the same time or when the have to go outside at 10pm. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I guess that’s why I’m a “dog person.”

My dog, Duke.

Our dog, Georgia (as a puppy).

The Red Cross is holding a Blood Drive at Cedar Creek Baptist Church in Hartsville today from 3pm – 8pm in memory of Josh Howle who passed away on June 17th of this year at the age of 23. Please come out and give blood and save lives.

If you didn’t have the honor of knowing Josh, I’ll tell you a little bit about him. He was a light when he entered a room. He had a smile that would brighten someones darkest day. His laugh was like sunshine. When he gave you a hug, you felt loved. Josh was attending the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine to become a large animal vet. He lived to help animals and people just the same. He was his mama’s baby boy, his father’s right hand man and his brother’s best friend. He was doing things with his life that made everyone around him proud. He was a devoted Christian. He was a goofball and a friend. This is Josh on the right with his Uncle Daniel (my boyfriend). What a pair!

Please come out to Cedar Creek today and gift the gift of life to someone that needs it. I hope to see you out there!

Just wanted to share a couple of images that I took of this beautiful butterfly that likes to hang out in my flower bed. She is so breathtaking that I couldn’t help but try to capture her…well, not literally. We go outside every evening to find her playing in the lantana. God’s work is so incredible!!

Well, today starts week 6 in my battle with this summer cold (or aliens wreaking havoc on my body as I like to say). I finally got an appointment with my doctor today so hopefully I will get some meds to fight this crazy thing off. Being sick in the summer months just really puts a damper on all of the things I love about this time of year. It’s so different than being sick when it’s cold outside. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather not be sick any time of year but summer is the time for getting outside and having fun. When it’s cold, you can snuggle up under a blanket, sip on some soup and know that all you’re missing is freezing your butt off. But now I feel like I’ve wasted half of the summer away. All I’ve wanted to do for the past 3 weeks is sleep. I haven’t had the energy to play with my kids. This sickness has taken all of the life out of me and I’ve had enough. Today is the day that I fight the aliens that have set up camp and I will win!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. I really did not want to get back to reality after the great weekend we had at the beach. I decided before we left that I was going to concentrate on having a great time with Daniel and the kids (well, one kid…Gage decided he would rather work at the farm than come with us to the beach) and not stress about anything. And my plan really did work. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves just kicking back and relaxing. I brought my camera but declared that I wasn’t going to try to get all arty on my family like I usually do and just take the normal snapshots that grace every family’s photo albums. Here are just a few…

Lauren and Lindsay at the Beach

I couldn't help but take this picture.

Lindsay playing in the waves

Watch those waves girls!!

Yummy shrimp!!

Lauren, Lindsay and Grant playing cards after a hard day

Lauren and Lindsay at the water park...the bestest friends

Lindsay playing putt putt. Golf is definitely not her game.

Lindsay coming down a water slide at the water park. I actually got on this one and I screamed the entire way down!

Things around here have been so incredibly crazy that I haven’t had a chance to sit back and post about nothing. And I’m not complaining!! It has been completely wonderful!! So, we have decided to just take off for the weekend and relax a little and Myrtle Beach seemed like the perfect place to do it. Wiggling my toes in the sand is one of my favorite things…watching my beautiful kids build sand castles….watching the sun rise over the water. Boy, it doesn’t get any better than that! I’ll be sure to share some images of our mini-vacation next week. Hope everyone has a wonderful (and safe) weekend!