Happy & Merry

I know I've been a terrible blogger, but things have been so busy lately! I promise you more blogging in the new year!
Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

You can order your own card like ours from RSVP Custom Invitation's Etsy store!

A Very Merry Christmas to You!

I taught in Relief Society today and I told my fellow sisters that I would post a couple videos from the church website. I hope that we can all remember what Christmas is all about.

 If you want to watch more videos go to the Christmas page on the LDS Church website.

We absolutely love Christmas time! We decorate our tree with sentimental items (souvenir pins from our honeymoon, a Bees baseball from our first anniversary). This year we get to spend Christmas with Matt's family! We have so many people to visit while we're there - it's so much fun! 

We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday! We're so looking forward to a little break!

North of something that resembled blogging.

I realized the other day that we haven't had too much to blog about. I'm certain that when we have kids the blog will explode with awesomeness. But, until that happens you all have to deal with just the two of us - which we love (just being the two of us). We're not ready for children at the moment, but hopefully someday you can all check back to see us with little ones of our own.
So, I've decided to let you all know how things have been going with us.
I got a new job in September! I love it - it's an 8-5er. I'm no longer working nights at The Herald Journal - I don't miss the hours, but I do miss the people I worked with and the events I was able to attend!
Matt and I bought a new car the day after Thanksgiving. We went out saying we weren't going to buy, but we did. We fell in love with the car! I'll try to post pics soon.
We got our Christmas tree up last Thursday! I love our quirky, fun tree.
So, not too much to report, but it's been a big four months for us - and we feel more like grown-ups with our new car! With our old car Matt never wanted to drive, now that we have our new one we always fight over who gets to drive :)

Also, I got this idea from our cute friend Casey, so I'm going to try it out. Here's what's coming up on our blog.

Day 01 - A recent photo of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02 - A really good memory.
Day 03 - A picture of you and your craziest friend
Day 04 - A habit that you wish you didn't have
Day 05 - A picture of somewhere you've been to
Day 06 - A picture that shows your true self
Day 07 - A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
Day 10 - A picture of someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 11 - Your celebrity crush
Day 12 - A picture of something you love
Day 13 - A picture of something you hate
Day 14 - Picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 16 - Someone you would want to switch lives w/ for one day and why
Day 17 - Your favorite song
Day 18 - A picture of the cast of your favourite show.
Day 19 - A picture of someone you miss
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
Day 21 - A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22 - A picture that confuses you
Day 23 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
Day 24- A picture of yourself and a family member
Day 25 - Picture of yourself and a family member
Day 26 - A picture of something that means alot to you.
Day 27 - A picture of something your afraid of
Day 28 - A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile
Day 30 - Who are you?

Forget You!

Are you as excited to see Gwenyth on 'Glee' as I am?

PhotoFun

I was home sick today and realized that I haven't blogged for almost a month. I was listening to an online radio station the other day, I don't remember which one because my Pandora account had expired for the month and it forced me to find another music alternative. Anyway, when songs came on the station showed pictures of the artists. These are some of the best I saw during my work day.

 

I especially love the Norman Rockwell-esque 'Glee' photo. There are so many creative ways to pose your subjects. The movement of creative photography is, thankfully, taking us into a more modern look. Anything goes. These are the types of photos that inspire my photography.
We've added 'Iron Chef' to our list of things we love to watch together. Matt gets so into it - it's awesome! I'm almost done editing a wedding in October and I'm loving the pics! Let's hope I get much better before we head up to Wyoming tomorrow. My fingers are crossed.
Have a beautiful weekend :)

Allison's Baby Shower!

We threw a baby shower for our wonderful friend Allison! She is so cute, and is now even cuter with her adorable baby bump! We had so much fun!
This is Allison

This is what her baby shower looked like!!
My awesome sister & I made these (my sister is the awesome one).

We had sack lunches. We had a book themed shower. We had everyone bring their favorite children's book for the baby. Mine is, of course, the amazing, 'Fanny's Dream.' Mom gave her 'Bread & Jam for Francis.'

My fabulous Aunt D'An and cousin Nicci made the DELICIOUS cupcakes!!

Mom took a few people pics - I'll try to get those up soon :)
We love you so much, Allison! We hope you know that!
We are so happy for you and your little family.

Makin' me smile ;)

I promised I'd put this video up for my Relief Society sisters - so here you go! Sorry I couldn't get the internet connection to show it to you on Sunday.

Here's another favorite right now. Taylor Swift's newest! Enjoy and have a wonderful week!

Love, E

I don't usually

Rant. I don't usually rant. But, I have a small one. We were on our way home from taking a couple pics of my sister on Monday and we saw this.

Now, this is a normal sight as we drive down the road. But, it made me wonder, how much did this stretch (about 2 miles) cost the city of Sandy, Utah? I understand that it looks nice, but couldn't we have spent the money to pay a deserving teacher a little more each year? I know that the great people in the Canyons school district don't need the money (scoff), but teachers in other districts (like Jordan, the district the Canyons spat on as they drove by in their Escalades last year) need that money. 

My husband is an educator and couldn't even find a job teaching this last year because of never-ending budget cuts. Schools in Utah, except Canyons, can't afford it. 

So, I see this large cement barrier, with trees and flowers planted in it, as a big waste of money. A huge waste of money - you can make a street look nice without something that, no doubt, will be ripped up in a couple years as the state decides that the road needs to be widened - yet again!

There you have it - my rant for the day. They don't come along very often, but I feel I got my point across. Canyons school district can kiss their pavement and know that one day Kharma will get the best of them. Everyone deserves the right to a fair education and just because you think you're better than those of us that went to a west side school doesn't mean you are. 

The state should also think about the things they spend their money on. They should take the shopaholic view to things and ask themselves, "do I need this." 

The answer is no.

In Retrospect

I've owned my photography business for over a year now. I have my seventh wedding tomorrow and I still get nervous. I feel I've come a long way since my first photo shoot. Case in point...

The first photo is my very first engagement session with Craig and Jessica. The second is one of my most recent engagement sessions with Jared and Kaitlyn.

I can see a definite difference in tone, color and quality. I'm still striving to evolve as a photographer. As soon as I started my business I realized that everyone has a photography business, but the thing you must do to stand out in the crowd is exercise your creativity. You can't be afraid to be different - most of all you have to know who you are and how you want to photograph.

Competition is fierce in this business - but I try not to think about that. As long as I'm working and having fun, I have no worries.

I'm constantly learning, getting inspiration and new ideas. The thing is, I have a hard time putting those traits to good use when I'm in the moment. I need to focus and breath when photographing. Most things I've learned have bee forced - like learning to backup EVERYTHING, and never rely on my computer - it's never reliable in my opinion (but I still love it). Other things I must force  myself to learn - or Matt will keep reminding me until I read the entire camera (flash, computer, etc.) manual. I'm trying. Promise.

I applied for new job this week and getting it will mean I have to photograph around an 8-5 job. So, we'll see what happens. Hopefully I can still get in my photos and give Matt and I a few more benefits while we live in our little apartment. Maybe we can even save up enough to go on a trip soon.

Have a great weekend - mine is starting tomorrow. Wish me luck on Chelsie and Mike's wedding.

E

I love 'Glee.' I miss 'Glee.'

But we got a good taste of it the other night on the Emmys!

Can't wait for Sept. 21!!
Oh, and 'Castle' starts on the 20th!

Moving Right Along

Foot loose and fancy free! We're starting to get things together in our new apartment. Matt and I put up our engagements and one of my bridals in our bedroom. Next to come are shelves in the front room and more pics on the wall. Hopefully we'll get everything done soon, I love it when we can feel more like the place is ours.

We also had a birthday party for our friend Weston! So, here are some pics for you to enjoy!

 

This may look a little weird, but I really tried to make a good-looking cake. I think I tried to frost it too fast after cooling, although I'm pretty sure I let it cool for more than an hour. Anyway, it fell apart while I was frosting. I freaked out and then Matt came to the rescue. He said we should cover it with a bowl and then stick it in the freezer. He thought the the cake would mold to the bowl and then we could frost it. It didn't really work that way, so we just put it in the bowl and frosted the top.

Instead of candles we used a chocolate and peppermint stick from Maddox restaurant. Matt loved that!
I think Weston appreciated it anyway - and it was yummy, if I do say so myself.

Weston

Everyone else who came! Thanks everybody for helping us make this day special for Weston!
And a video of the surprise - there weren't many people there. Matt told him to come at 6, which is when we told everyone to come. He should have told him to come at 6:15 so we had time to get everyone in the set! Oh, well! I love my husband anyway!

We said, "Goodbye," to an amazing lady today!

Faye Rigby was my great-grandfather, Howard's cousin's wife. But to us she was much more than that! She was a woman with an amazing smile, fantastically magnetic personality and a remarkable ability to bring love every where she went. She also always reminded me of my own amazing grandma Margo, who passed away when I was 12. When I was around Faye I always felt my gradma around. She loved everyone!

Matt and I headed out to Wyoming on Friday to watch his brother, Scott, show his last 4H steer at the Sweetwater County Fair (he made $1.85 a pound, which came out to be just over $2100). We then made our way to Idaho for Faye's beautiful funeral. After a total of 588 miles traveled, we are home and ready to sleep for a few days. We love being with family, having adventures and celebrating the lives of our loved ones. 

We will miss Faye, but we know that she is keeping her husband, Max and my grandparents company! Oh, how I would love to hear the conversations they're having right now. Probably about us :) We love you, Faye!

Have a great week everyone! Don't forget to tell everyone how much you love them!

E + M

Wadworth Family Reunion: Post #1

We had such a great time, as always, at our annual Wadsworth Family Reunion! Matt and I arrived Friday - mom and dad usually don't get there until Saturday, mom hates the no-shower-all-weekend thing. Anyway, we love heading up to Idaho to visit our awesome family! 

It's been a tough week and looking at these photos makes things better.

Enjoy!

I laughed so hard when I saw this - my aunt Diane took it with my camera! Love it! Dad always has a good time ranglin' up the herd :)

We have a big raffle! Here are a few of the items we raffled! I won the basket on the right (the one with the amazing elephant made by my sis-in-law Jen and the ABC blocks made by my fabulous sis Allie!).

Al and Marion! Marion painted the painting you just saw in the raffle section!

Four generations of Rigby ladies! Faye, Sharlene, Whitney and her brand new baby Brelee.

And now we look at the AWESOME cupcakes my aunt D'An and cousin Nicci made for our country store!

Grandma & Grandpa Hunt's 50th Anniversary

Back in May we attended Matt's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party in Little America, Wyoming - did you know that the Little America hotel is it's own town in Wymong? Anyway, we had a great time celebrating with them and they asked me to take photos - enjoy!

YES!

I did my first pin-up shoot yesterday! I'm so excited and I'm loving the way they look! I love these new learning experiences! My friend Erin asked me a while back to take some pin-up shots for her to give to her husband - I'm so happy she did! I love these! More to come!

Hair and makeup by my awesome sister, Allie! 

I also got the chance to hang out with the Coffmans.

And Chelsie & Mike

Happy Monday!

I'm All At Sea

Matt and I are moving to a new apartment, still in Logan, and we've been given the go-ahead to move in tomorrow!! Anyway, we also got to paint a wall - any color we wanted! So, today my friends Tien and Tyler (cute, cute couple!) helped me paint the formerly-wood-paneled wall BLUE! I love it! 

Took these with my phone. Tyler was awesome with the paint roller and Tien was the edge cleaner - we had such a blast! Thanks to T+T for all their marvelous help, I think I would have been in overwhelmed tears without you!
Tien said the wall reminded her of a Caribbean beach house! How cool is that - and she would know, she's been everywhere!

Someone is asking, 'What is new?'

Just a little tip of the hat to one of my favorite movies, 'Ratatouille' - I love it!

Anyway, here are a few teaser pics. This is what is new!

Rochelle's graduation pics.

Christa & Matt's wedding.

Zac's missionary portraits.

Stay tuned for more! I also have a busy weekend coming up! So excited!

Train - If It's Love

I don't know if I've ever mentioned how much I love Train, but I have to say that when I heard this song I fell in love! This one clinches it, they are my favorite band - they got pretty close with "Hey, Soul Sister," but this one takes the cake. I was driving down to Christa and Matt's wedding dinner (photos to come) and I heard this one while on the freeway - man, I wanted to hear it over and over again! And they certainly don't disappoint with videos! So, enjoy and have a great week!

Recharging my Batteries

So, you know that I love Kaitlyn and Jared! Working on their engagements has totally been a peaceful experience! These two are truly in love, I'm tearing up just looking at them - they're our friends also, so we have a genuine interest in their happiness. We love them and we hope they will always know that! 

Kaitlyn's bridals and their wedding are coming up! Check back!

By the way, this post is going to be HUGE! I couldn't really narrow it down, so you're seeing pretty much all of them.

Matt and I will be off for our anniversary next Thursday. I'm heading down to Salt Lake on Monday for a doctor appointment, leg waxing and (the most exciting) to see my nephew and sister in law! Graduation shots on Tuesday plus Christa and Matt's dinner. And on Wednesday it's Christa and Matt's wedding. Busy week for me - I have some shopping to do. See ya!