tomorrow i might die

Tomorrow, I will participate in my first ever race, The Dirty 30. This isn't just any run, it is a 5K with mud and 15 obstacles. People who claim to love me, convinced me that it would be "easy" and "fun"... Nevermind that I am not wasn't a runner. Or an obstacle doer. Or a mud person. Nevermind that I prefer 4 inch heels to cushy running shoes. Nevermind that in order to "train" for this run, I "became a runner" and started running during the Scorching Hot Summer From Hell of 2011 When Every Single Day Has Been Over 100 Degrees. Nevermind all of that. Because tomorrow, my one and only goal will be to FINISH! Without dying. After that, I can die happy...or proud. Or something.

Wish me luck and say some prayers for me!

Happy weekend!

~abi~

have you ever eaten here?

This place is awesome! It is down by the Wildlife Refuge in Lawton, OK. And it is so worth the drive if you haven't been there!

Seriously, it's very good. And has so much atmosphere. And you can see some bison nearby, so that's fun, too.



{And now, you get a peek into how my mind works. Not that any of you want that insight. But nevertheless... Today, I was struggling with what to blog about... And randomly, on my lunch break, a mortuary caught my eye for some reason. Instantly, my mind went back to the time surrounding the death of my brother. When I got back to the office, I was looking through some of the photos I took on the one year anniversary of his death. My family went to the Wildlife Refuge and spent the day hiking and sitting and talking about Jack. And we ate dinner at Meers. That's when I took the above photo. So that's how this blog post came to be.}

~abi~

my friend k is so beautiful

For months, I have wanted to do a photo shoot of my friend Kristie {better known as K}. And not just any shoot, but I wanted to do a rockstar-ish shoot in her cool apartment over in the Plaza District {my fave area of OKC}. So, i begged her to pose for me. And to let me do her makeup and pick out her outfits. I love it when my friends oblige my ideas and requests.

I am working on editing her photos for her today {my poor friends have to wait patiently while I edit actual jobs first, haha}, and this one jumped out at me. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite from our whole shoot, but I haven't finished them all yet, so we'll see.

This look was definitely more movie star hot than rock star hot, but really "gorgeous" is always my ultimate goal when it comes to portraits, so I'm super happy with this. :)



You're so pretty, K!

~abi~

that's what she wore...staying cool

As I mentioned before, I would like to occasionally start documenting my outfits on my blog. Well, I mean, I've already done that for awhile, but I want it to be more of a series. So, my working-title-in-progress is That's What She Wore.

It has been unbearably hot here in Oklahoma. I've lost track of how many days the temperature has soared over one hundred degrees. Basically, wearing any clothing at all is kind of a pain. But since bathing suits are not acceptable work attire, I am forced to get dressed each day. And try to look like a cool while actually attempting to remain, uh, cool.

I was pretty happy with today's summer outfit...


{I really need to get some contacts, so that I could see clearly while wearing sunglasses.}


{Physicians Formula purple-y eyeliner, to match my purple-y scarf. Yes, I am often that girl who matches her eye makeup to her clothes. Yikes.}


{The ring and earrings were a gift from my mama.}

When you wear a simple outfit like a plain tee with a basic little skirt, the details will make it special. Like the pocket and sleeve cuffs on the tee and the ruffles on the scarf.




{Bracelets were gifted to me by my lovely friend Kelly Beane.}


{American Eagle skirt, thrifted.}



Stripes seem so summery to me.




{Sweet Gap flats, thrifted by my sis Mandi and gifted to me. Score!}

Happy weekend, friends! Have fun. And stay cool. :)

~abi~

go read this, it's funny

Today, you should all go read this post by my favorite sports blogger, Royce Young at DailyThunder.com: "Former Thunderer Desmond Mason is in a Chris Kattan movie"

It's all kinds of awesome.



If you don't know how cool Desmond Mason is, you should look up some stuff about him. Especially if you are from Oklahoma or if you love Oklahoma. Plus, check out how hot his wife is!

~abi~

p.s. On a sort of related note: One of my favorite Thunder play off moments last season was when KD made a sick play and then fived Desmond Mason, who was sitting courtside. Sa-weet.

tuesday toes...pink and yellow

I have always loved all things shiny, shimmery or iridescent. But it seems that since I turned thirty, I just can't get enough glitter in my life. It's almost like I am actually a fifteen year old. Since I know too much glitter on a thirty year old can be, well, tacky {and we all know i like to keep it classy, ha!}, I try to keep most of the glitter on my fingers and toes. And sometimes my eyeliner. Or my earrings. Or maybe my belt. Or my scarf...



~abi~

happy friday, it's summertime!

I really love this photo that I captured of one of the little guests at Beau's birthday party {which I posted about the other day}. I think it captures the essence of summertime really well. And it makes me want to spend my entire weekend in water! :)



Happy Friday, friends!

~abi~

needy? or created this way?

As most people who know me are aware of, my favorite NBA player is James Harden. I like him a lot. It's kind of ridiculous.

He seems like a fun, goofy guy who has great style and a keen interest in music -- why wouldn't I like him? I follow him on Twitter, and just a bit ago he posted this tweet: "You take care of Me and I will take care of Us."

That's it. Just a dozen words. And they stopped me in my tracks for a moment.

Because my heart responded to those words. And it made me a little uncomfortable. I am a thirty year old single girl. I have never been married. I have never had a child. I am independent and I support myself.

So why do those words appeal to me? Why do I unconsciously long to hear a man say such words to me? It makes me feel as if something is wrong with me. Am I weak? Needy? Or, even worse, am I a gold digger? Do I just want a guy to take care of me? I thought I was fine with taking care of myself. ... Wow. Such a simple statement sure stirred up a lot of inner debate.

But apparently, I am not the only one who felt a response to that tweet.



Within fifteen minutes of James posting that, it had been retweeted by ninety people.

So, what's the deal here? Is it only natural for women to desire to be taken care of, and for men to desire to take care of them? I truly believe that is how God created us, but it goes against my self-reliant, independent nature to even admit that. I don't really want to feel like I have the desire to have a guy take care of me. I want to feel like I can do it all, and be just fine, alone.

But the truth is, I don't want to do it all alone.

Not too long ago, I was sort of talking to this boy. I was pointing out my flaws, like how terrible I am at managing my money and being a responsible adult {why do we tend to tear ourselves down like that?}, and he responded by simply saying, "I can fix you." Now, that probably just rolled off his tongue without much thought, but it stuck in my head. I felt the same way about that statement from him as I did about the tweet by James Harden. I mean, shouldn't it bother me if a guy tells me he can "fix" me? Why did that statement seem so very appealing?

Is this just a constant inner turmoil that the modern day woman must deal with: to be independent and successful and yet allow a man to take care of her?

In my heart of hearts, I don't believe it shows weakness or neediness or greediness for a woman to desire and allow a man to take care of her. I truly believe that we can be strong and successful by our own merits and still be feminine enough to be taken of by a guy. It's weird, and I believe it requires a delicate balance.

My dear readers, what's your opinion on this? Please don't yell at me for mine! :) But I would love to know your thoughts.

~abi~

she did it all herself

A couple of weeks ago, I photographed a pretty rad one year old birthday party for a sweet little boy named Beau. His mama is an awesome friend of mine named Abbi. She is super creative {I think it goes with the name ;)} and has a blog that documents her creations here.

Several months ago, Abbi contacted me about booking me to shoot her son's party. When we discussed the price, I suggested we do a trade: some of her amazing mint chocolate cupcakes in exchange for my photography services. When I got the cupcakes from her, I gave half of them to my niece for her birthday {she had tasted the cupcakes before and loved them!} and half to my mom for Mother's Day {she kindly shared them with the family, as moms tend to do}. I love the idea and the reality of trading services/goods as opposed to always dealing in money. I kind of hate money anyway -- and I kind of love it. And I can't live without it. Okay, so anyway, if you have goods or services you could trade for a photo shoot, don't hesitate to ask about doing that instead of paying cash. :)

Now, on to the party! Abbi did a remarkable job creating every single party detail by hand! She is amazing, really! If you are looking for someone to plan a party for you and take care of the details, she's your girl fo' sho!

Here's a glimpse of the awesomeness that was Beau's first birthday party...













The favors for the kids were these fun little items, wrapped up inside a small burlap bag...



Yes, she made all the cupcakes and treats, as well!





And here are some people pictures from the party, too... :)


{the birthday boy and his mama}







I think he was happy when he saw his little cake..! :)





First bite! So precious. Melt my heart.







You can find out more about all the amazing party details and how she did it all, over on Abbi's blog Z As In Zebra.

Abbi~ {and Andrew and Beau and the rest of your whole awesome family}
I thoroughly enjoyed photographing such a fun, detailed, well planned party! Can't wait to hang out with you guys again. Thank you for having me be there.

~abi~

pink stain

You know how you reach a certain point in life where you are grown enough to actually realize it and take it in when you are learning a life lesson? Or is that just me? Maybe I am just hard headed or a slow life-lesson-learner, or a combination of both. But I think I was in my upper twenties before I was able to actually acknowledge a life lesson as I was learning it, instead of in retrospect.

A few years ago, I was interested in this one particular guy. His name was Danny. And he had a little scar above one side of his upper lip that made his lip/mouth seem a bit crooked. And I realized that physical trait was one of my favorite things about his looks. Which in turn made me realize that, at some point along the way, I had come to prefer slight imperfections over seeming total perfection. Even when it came to looks. And in that moment, I was aware that there was a life lesson happening.

This morning, I was reminded of that life lesson as I was driving to work. I was wearing my favorite hat, and I noticed that the inside of the brim was tinted pink. Obviously, this was a result of wearing my awesome hat in a pool as well as in this lovely one hundred plus degree OKC summer weather. You see, pink and red hair plus sweat or water equals pink tints on whatever is pressed against it.

Now, I remember as a teen I had a white hat that I loved {I've always been a hat girl}. I also loved to wear a lot more makeup then than I do now, and the inside of the brim of my white hat would get makeup on it, and it would drive me crazy. I would wash it and scrub it and bleach it in an attempt to restore it t the original sparkly clean white.

This morning, in my car, I thought about that hat and I smiled. I smiled because the pink stain on the inside of my current favorite-hat-ever doesn't bother me at all. In fact, it makes me happy.

It makes me happy because, one, it shows that this is my hat. I mean, who else has pink bangs? {Okay, so I know there are other people with pink bangs. I'm just saying.} And also, because it's proof of how much I love that hat, and how much I've worn it since just getting it in May, and of the good times I've had wearing that hat already.

And then I was reminded of the life lesson I knew that I was learning several years ago, when I realized that I prefer slight imperfections. And obviously I am talking about more than just a scar above a cute boy's lip, or a pink stain on the inside rim of a cool hat. But hey, remember I said I am hard headed and a slow learner; so maybe God just decided to break it down for me in terms that I could understand and truly grasp. Like boys and fashion. That's my language. :)



~abi~

such a fun couple

Last Saturday, I had an absolute blast shooting Mark and Tiuanna's very cool wedding! I was lucky enough to be assisted by my lovely friend Whitney Ray, which only made the day that much more fun. Anyway, I just posted a preview of their photos on my Facebook photography page, so feel free to check them out here.



More to come, soon!

~abi~

narcissism rocks

Happy July, everyone! Oh, what's that? We're already six days into July? Oh well, you know me: always late.

Did you all have an awesome time celebrating Independence Day? I pretty much did. I got to sleep in and lay out - which was admittedly a little bit miserable, considering that I was not laying out by a pool, and it was literally over 100 degrees outside! But the sleeping in part was nice. And I was determined to lay out, since it's summer, y'all, and I had the day off work. So I felt like I should lay out. Anyway, we've covered that. Let's move on...

I also did some shopping {always good for the heart} for some running shoes {also good for the heart, but in a different way}. And I met up with my friend B for some delicious Pink Swirls. {Again, good for the soul, good for the body. Because I only ever put fruit on my fro-yo, for real! :)} Then, I picked up one of my awesome Switch girls, Shakari, and we met up with my friend Aymee and her daughter Micaliah {another of my Switch girls} at the Bethany Freedom Fest. We walked around and ate some carnival food {not so good for the body, but it's okay because it was a thousand degrees out, so I'm sure we sweated off all the calories}. Finally, we met up with my crazy, wonderful family and watched the loud, sparkly fireworks display.

It was a good day.

And because everyone knows that blog posts are better if they include a photo....and because I am apparently a little narcissistic and like to post photos of myself....here's a photo of me on July 3rd, sporting patriotic colors. :)



~abi~