roc the shot

Photography has always been something I wanted to pursue further, even if it was a hobby and not a career. I never intended on having photography as a career, but as a side gig? I could totally be down with that. Getting started and building a portfolio and a name for yourself is the hardest part, it is always the getting started part that is difficult. This is how I feel about working out too.

I did a lot of wedding vendor searches and I came across Rachel Liz Photography. I think I found her on Green Wedding Shoes or through other avenues like clicking too many links and having a million windows open. I am sure anyone planning a wedding can relate to this mess. But back to the real reason for this! I found Rachel Liz Photography and loved her work. It came to my attention that she taught a photography workshop and it was so exciting for me! It had been a long time since I really took my camera out and used it for taking authentic photos.

So I dusted off the ol' camera and signed up for two workshops with Roc the Shot. It is taught by Rachel Liz Photography and Lindsay Stephany Photography. Workshop I is geared towards people who really do not understand their camera, they teach you how to shoot in manual, the ins and outs of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. I think I could have gone without this one but it was great to understand the idea around manual settings. Workshop II is geared towards people who want to make a business out of photography or get into the business. There was only three of us in the class and it was really fun learning about how people create a business around it. We were able to practice shooting a couple. We learned all about posing tips, interacting with clients, and creating your brand/business.

It was awesome.
I learned so much! I got to practice! Now all I need to do it figure out how to use Lightroom. They have a class on that too! Although, I don't think I will be taking that because I am going to sign up for their Styled Shoot. This workshop will be all about wedding photography! They will create a wedding and we'll be able to shoot it to add to portfolios. I am so excited to see how this one will turn out!

What I learned after the workshops?

1. I take too many pictures, I need to be better at taking a few good shots instead of 100 'meh' shots. 2. Manual mode isn't so difficult, but Aperture setting is okay too. Don't use the Shutter setting. 3. Dude should always keep their hand sin their pocket unless his hands on his girl. 4. Rochester is not that far of a drive, yay for day trips. 5. Practice. Practice. Practice. 6. I need to find my style and what I like.

I miss having hobbies and I am excited to see what I can come up with in this hobby.

wedding wednesday: we booked a venue!

HOORAY!

We signed our papers last Thursday and put a deposit on the venue and I could not be more excited. We won't be getting married until Fall 2018 so we still have a long ways away before we decide on many things. Well, I'm pretty sure I have decided on many of those things already but there will be room for adjustments.

I was dead set on eloping and having a small gathering of our closest friends and family. I started planning it out in Rochester, NY and calling small venues. Liam agreed, he was okay with the idea, he just wanted to marry me. One day I was searching on Wedding Wire for venues and I thought there was no way there would be a venue in this area nice enough for us (me). Lo and behold, this beautiful venue I came across. I fell in love. I called right away and talked about the details, I texted Liam and he laughed. I have changed my mind on venues, eloping, weddings almost 4 or 5 times so he is used to it by now. We went to see the barn a week later and now here we are! We have a venue!

The details inside are so perfect. It is an old restored barn with beautiful structures. We will have the ceremony on the property, there are a few places available and I am so excited! There is so much potential, we also plan on building our own farm house table for inside the venue. Maybe not for every table but we will create a mix of farm house and round tables. Yellow Brick Home did a great DIY patio table that we will be using!

Get ready for the wedding DIY to begin! Well, maybe in a few months when it is warmer and we are done with the house renovations.

reading list | 04

This is not the best book to read when you are thinking about booking a cruise. It is probably a terrible idea actually, but I can't take that back now can I?! Other than the nervousness from reading this and my cruise in August, I enjoyed it. It is very similar to The Girl on the Train, a little dark and mysterious and it has you wondering the whole time, whodunit.

I was on a roll with my reading but after this book it has taken me some time to finish the next one. Not due to the book but lack of motivation to read and falling asleep on the couch every night! Anyways, book #4 proved to be a suspenseful one and a very easy read for anyone looking for a good book. As I said earlier, it really is a whodunit type, it keeps you guessing: is she crazy, maybe it happened, no she's crazy, I don't know what to think!?!?! I think this book has the same feedback as The Girl on the Train, some people really enjoyed the quick read and some really didn't care for it. I assume this has the same feedback.

Nonetheless, it was a good book to read for my 30 books and I will make sure not to trust anyone on my cruise in August! haha.

reading list | 03

My reading has slowed down, for no real reason but I did finish this book soon after the second one. Liam had gotten me this book for our one year anniversary because he knows how much I love Gilmore Girls. I love reading these autobiographies, I have read a bunch of them, including Tina Fey, Chip and Joanna Gaines, Mindy Kaling x 2, Lena Dunham, and Amy Poehler and there is still a few more on my list.

Unfortunately, this book was not my favorite. I struggled with it in the beginning and I think she wrote it in the same way she would speak on Gilmore Girls. I thought I would enjoy that, but sadly, I found out that it was not my cup of tea. It felt more like an annoying friend talking to me about a story I had no interest in but because I love the friend, I would listen. When she got into more detail about Gilmore Girls, it was more entertaining because I love the show but it was too step-by-step every season.

It wasn't filled with lessons learned and more fun things as I had hoped.
The reviews on Amazon were great so maybe it's just me that didn't like it and I am the outsider! But for me, it was a quick read and I am glad I did it but, I wouldn't recommend anyone buying it.

surprise surprise

...baby, last night was hands down
one of the best nights
that I've had no doubt..



When I wrote this post, I had no idea what was going through Liam's mind until now. He sat next to me on the couch that night as I was editing pictures and telling him, oh just posting about wedding things from my Pinterest board and how we're going to weddings this year. He never gave a hint to what was going on and when I say that I had no idea, I really had no idea. It made it all the more special.

Thomas Rhett is my favorite country star.
This may surprise some people, before I met Liam I did not listen to country. The closest country I came to was Taylor Swift, who is now pop. I like pop country, deemed "bro-country" by a coworker of mine. Well, for our one year anniversary I bought us VIP tickets to see him a few hours away. I tried to buy the Meet & Greet but they were sold out. VIP still consisted of a Q&A session and a private pre-acoustic concert, um.. yes please!

So that day, we drove to Erie, PA. Three hours west from where we live, listening to Thomas Rhett on Spotify and the Home Team Tour playlist. We dropped off the dog at the hotel (terrible idea to bring her) and went out to grab a bite to eat before the show. We found a great brewery on the way and met a few people who were working the concert that night. It was filled with some good food, good beer, and fun conversation with strangers. We walked over to the venue and waited in line for the VIP doors to open and made more friends in line with a nice Canadian couple and a few other women. I love concerts.

We walked inside, wrote down our Q&A questions on index cards, I was so rushed and nervous of what my question would be, so I wrote: did you take your wife to see the Eiffel Tower and the Northern Lights yet? We grabbed a few beers and waited in line for the acoustic concert. We were so close! I mean not like I can touch you close, but close enough that I thought OMG HE'S RIGHT THERE! He sang a few songs, we enjoyed every minute of it. He pulled 11 random questions and guess what?! ONE WAS MINE! But he misunderstood the meaning of my question and thought I thought the Northern Lights were in Paris- I do know this is not the case! But I was on cloud 9 when he answered mine.. who knew it wasn't the best part.



And then here it was... our song.
It was amazing, he started singing and I started tearing up because I was so happy we were there, sharing this moment together.
I tried to be romantic, lean up against him and snuggle into him on our song, but he kept nudging me away on my lower back. I kept thinking why are you pushing me away??! This is our song! I kept listening, loving every moment and then Liam turned me around, again in my moment I am thinking hey, Thomas Rhett is the other way.

And then it happened.

He got down on one knee.
Then everything around me went so quickly. People started screaming and there he was, down on one knee, asking me (he didn't actually ask) to marry him. I started to cry and cry, I hugged him and I could not believe what was happening. I said yes, of course!
The song finished and everyone around us was so excited.
Thomas Rhett said thanks for stealing my thunder but congratulations! Liam was afraid he was mad, but I think he was happy for us and was teasing us for doing it. My whole world was just smiles. People around us, strangers, sent us video and pictures because they were kind enough to capture that moment for us.


And now we're engaged.
I have a fiancé. I am a fiancé. We are so excited for this next chapter!