Merry and Bright!

The holiday season is in full swing around here and we are enjoying icy/rainy/somewhat snowy days with hot coffee, episodes of Daniel Tiger, and lots of twinkle lights! I'm also finishing up some final projects and delivering last minute family sessions. The off-season is almost here and you know what that means... lots of blog posts to come! I have a handful of weddings to blog and a ton of portraits from 2013. I am excited to finally share them with you guys! 

In the meantime... I'm working on a little something special for my clients. (The Christmas spirit has bit me.) The week between Christmas and New Years Eve I'll be running a contest (or 2... or 3...) with exciting prizes! I can't wait to launch it. It'll be the first contest like this that I've ever done, so we shall see how it goes!! :)

I have missed you guys! I am almost done with our Christmas gift ordering and shopping, but we're about to start alllll the wrapping. And I have got to finish addressing our cards and get them in the mail. Eeek! (If you want one, shoot me an email to liz@sincerelylizphoto.com with your address and I'll send you one! But you have to promise to send me one, also. :)) We also had a cookie-baking-day with some friends of ours but apparently we scheduled it wayyy too early in the season. Because I've eaten almost all of the cookies myself. Yikes!

What have been your favorite holiday activities this season??

Here's a recent favorite shot from a family session. Many more of this session and others to come in the coming weeks!! 

happy valentine's day! | personal

I know, the day is almost over! But I didn't want to let it pass before wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you had a sweet day full of love and appreciation from the people in your lives. My valentine is actually out of the state right now so we will be celebrating our holiday this coming weekend after he returns home. Even though we said we'd celebrate this weekend, he still had some flowers delivered to me today! Having flowers delivered in a ProFlowers box is becoming a tradition with us. Unfortunately, Tommy has missed every valentine's day, anniversary, and (my) birthday since we got married. (Each time it is because he is required to travel for his job. Stinkin' military ;)) So even though it's always a bummer that he's gone, I am beginning to grow fond of the familiar box that shows up on our front steps on all the special days. I like that it's becoming a little tradition with us. Plus I know he will return home and quickly designate a day to make up for the day he missed. Yeah, he's kind of romantic. And I kind of like it. :)

So anyway... for those of you who are spending tonight alone, you aren't completely alone out there! I'm off to curl up on the couch with the dogs and catch up on some TiVo'd shows. I'm so cool.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

Fall Mini Sessions | Lynchburg Family Portraits

It's that time of year again to start coordinating the Fall Mini Portrait Sessions! I know it seems a little early to be thinking about holiday portraits - but my schedule is filling up quickly so I wanted to get this info out as soon as possible. I did send this info out a week ago to those who are subscribed to my Mailing List and since then I have filled all but three of the sessions. If you are interested in booking a mini session this year, please contact me as soon as possible! As a quick reminder, here are the details:

To book a session please contact me!

remembering | Memorial Day Weekend

Today is Memorial Day. The last day of a 3-day weekend. The day that kicks off the summer season here in the United States. It is a happy, carefree day. But, it is not carefree for everyone. And that thought is exactly what has been on my heart recently.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have caught on that there was a bit of a scare last week regarding Tommy's deployment and his safety. Relief flooded my mind when I heard from him, but sorrow was soon to follow. One of the soldiers in his sister unit in Iraq was tragically killed while on a mission. While this does occasionally happen for units that are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is the first time that it has hit Tommy so close to home. Unfortunately, I have experienced the loss of a friend because of war and I hate that now Tommy has had a similar experience.

I wanted to take today to thank those who have sacrificed. Before this deployment I always thought that the sacrifice was safety. That they were risking their lives to fight for our country. And please do not mistake what I am saying, they absolutely are. But there is so much more that each of our service men and women sacrifice daily than just their safety. They sacrifice time with their babies, anniversary celebrations and long hugs during hard times. They temporarily do without the physical affection of their family and their favorite meals. They give up the comfort of a soft bed, clean sheets, and a comfortable temperature in the room. They deal with the longing of home on a daily basis. I know these are small things... but these things add up. Not to mention that some of them sacrifice their healthy mental state the day that they experience things they thought only happened in hell.

They sacrifice so much. And I was so naive before to think that they simply risked their lives... and when they returned home all was well again.

I say it again - please do not discount the sacrifice of safety. It is huge. It is life. But the sacrifice is so much more.

So today I want to say how much I appreciate our service men and women. I respect your service very much. I am grateful for each and every one of you.

And to our friends... Nick Mason... my cousin Chris Samson... and to the recently deceased MAJ Culver... I thank you. For sacrificing more than your life.

image credit: cwellsphotography