this blog is old news, i've moved on!

My new site is up at www.abiruth.com, and all my posting will now take place over there!!!  Won't you join me?  It's a cool place.  :)

~abi~

the coolest story

Today, my brother Jack, who passed away three years ago, would have turned twenty-nine.  I miss him every single day.  More than anything, I'd love to just have a long talk with him, and feel his arms wrap me up in a big hug.

Just two days ago, the coolest thing happened...

I got a phone call from Joann, the mother in law of my close friend Anna.  Joann and her husband live a few streets over from my parents.  Joann called to tell me that her husband had found a letter addressed to my parents, from my brother, postmarked February 27, 2003.  Over nine years ago!!  I guess their mail slot is in their garage door, and they had found the envelope stuck in the garage door header.  Isn't that crazy??

I feel like our family has experienced a sweet little miracle, just in time for celebrating my brother's birthday!

 

My favorite part is the end. :)

Happy birthday, dear Jack!  Happy birthday to you.

Love,

~abi~ 

troy & megann engagement portraits, downtown okc

I first met Troy several years ago in a LifeGroup {Bible study group} at our mutual friend Anna's house.  Troy has always been the nicest, funniest guy, and I just knew he would make some girl very happy some day.  Well, that girl is the absolutely stunning Megann.  I can still remember meeting Megann, and being completely impressed by her inner and outer beauty!  She started attending our LifeGroup, and it was soon more than obvious that she and Troy made a perfect couple.

I am thrilled with how their engagement portraits turned out, and I am looking forward to shooting their sure-to-be awesome wedding in a few weeks!

Just a side note here for brides: I was super-inspired by Troy and Megann's sweet wedding invitation!  It is so indicative of their style, and definitely helped me choose some locations that I felt were perfect for them.  So, when choosing wedding details, remember to make everything very representative of the two of you as a couple. :)

Troy & Megann~
You guys are such a HOT couple! :)  I absolutely loved doing your engagement session.  Thank you for choosing me as your photographer.  I am so, so happy for both of you!

Love ya!

~abi~

yellow-orange sparkly nails

When I turned thirty, I started painting my nails, and I've never looked back.  Obviously, I sometimes painted my nails before I entered my thirties.  I am a girly-girl after all.  But these days, I feel practically naked without polish on my nails.

Here are what my nails look like today. :)

This is a terrible post about painted nails, because I can't even tell you what the name of this polish is.  I can tell you that I painted my nails at church on Sunday while serving in The Loop with fifth and sixth graders.  And no, I wasn't just chilling in there doing my nails.  We actually have a table of nail stuff set up for the girls who want to paint their nails before or after the message.  :)  Fun times.  I can also tell you that this polish was by OPI, I believe.  And it looks kinda neon orange in the bottle, but translates a bit more yellow on nails.  And I added a layer of cheap-o glitter polish.  Because all good girly-girls know that glitter makes everything better.  Plus, now my nails are pretty much Thunder colors! :)

~abi~

cal is a handsome boy

A couple of weeks ago, I did a quick little session of this handsome boy.  {See his newborn photos here.}  Here's one of my favorites...

Also, just in case that photo didn't bring a smile to your face, here's a scripture to remind you to be filled with joy:

Philippians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!

Let's have an awesome week!  Happy Monday. :)

~abi~

rumblestiltskin

Sometimes at Thunder games, our awesome bison mascot, Rumble, wears stilts.  Last night, my friend B was clever enough to come up with this mind-blowing name for him on his very tall nights:

Rumblestiltskin!!!

That's all I've got for you today, folks. :)

~abi~

my kylie girl

This is Kylie.

I first met Kylie when she came to Switch, the youth program on Wednesday nights at my church.  I lead a small group of girls there, and she was assigned to my group.  I knew right away that we were going to get along well.  I didn't know what a big part of my life she would become. 

You see, after Kylie had been in my group a few months, she changed church campuses.  She left me. ;)  But by that time, we had become pretty close, and we decided we didn't want to lose touch with each other.  We started getting together pretty much every Tuesday night.  And I officially became a mentor for the first time in my life.  I also feel like I gained a for-real little sister.  I would say daughter, but I like to pretend that I'm not that old.  ;)

So, every Tuesday for at least the last year and a half, I've hung out with my Kylie girl.  Until this Tuesday.  You see, this past weekend Kylie moved to another state to live with her dad.  She left me again!  Even though my eyes are getting teary again just writing those words, I am happy for her to have this new chapter in her life right now.  I know it's a good choice for her at this time. 

And just like when we decided to stay in touch before, we're determined to remain close even though the miles separate us now. 

Kylie~
I love you so much.  It's hard to put into words our relationship and what it means to me.  Even though it sounds cliche, you've taught me as much as I've ever taught you.  
I'll miss the in-person hanging out times.  I'll smile whenever I think about the things like talks at Starbucks, trying cool new restaurants, hair appointments, searching for the perfect book bag and other shopping adventures, NOT running into homeless guys on bikes, having you do my nails, delivering jump ropes, and letting you drive the car in order to keep my promises.  But I know we'll have many more great times to come.  
I'm so proud of you.  I miss you.  You better stay in touch with me, dang it! :)

~abi~

mouth injuries

Sometime yesterday afternoon, I bit the inside of my cheek.  Don't you hate when that happens?  Then, last night when I was eating dinner, I kept re-biting it.  You know what I'm talking about...ow!  Today, I brought leftovers for lunch and heated them up in the microwave, then burned my tongue on the first bite.  So now, my mouth is handicapped.  Dang it.

My tongue and mouth "injuries" made me think about a few verses I read in Proverbs 18 yesterday:

7.  The mouths of fools are their ruin;
they trap themselves with their lips.
13.  Spouting off before listening to the facts
is both shameful and foolish.
21.  The tongue can bring death or life;
those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

For someone who loves to talk and struggles sometimes with really being a good listener, these verses were a great reminder.  

Are you a talker or a listener?  Do you ever "spout off before listening to the facts"?  Have you burnt your tongue lately?  :)

~abi~ 

that's what she wore ~ rips and tears and gold sparkles

Long story short:  I got this orange sweater at the thrift store while back.  When I washed it after purchasing it, it came out of the dryer with a hole.  Sad day.  But then I decided to just cut a bunch of holes all over it.  The better to show the sequins on a tank top underneath, right??  Happy day! :)  Also, my gold bracelet here was a gift from my friend Kathleen.  It's really a skinny belt.  The shoes I've had forever and ever.  Seriously.  But let me tell you about the jeans.  I was in another town shooting a wedding and had some time to kill, so I went into a store there {cannot for the life of me remember what store it was at the moment}.  Saw these cute ripped jeans on clearance.  Bought 'em without trying 'em on...they didn't fit.  As in, I couldn't even get them past my hips, at all.  So, I lost some weight and wear them all the time now. :)  In fact, they used to have all these little pearl things on the front of them, and now there's only like three left.  Fun stuff. 

So there's the story of the outfit.  {Sorry it wasn't actually short.}  Here's the pix.....

Hope you all have a happy weekend!  Thunder up and Happy St Patrick's Day! :) 

~abi~

a sneaky sneak peek of sorts

This past Sunday evening, I did a Bridal Portrait session for my lovely friend Whitney.  Obviously, I can't show you any of the pix yet, since her wedding isn't until May.  But, oh my, her dress is gorgeous!  And she looks like a dream in it! :) 

I made a sweet little bouquet for her photo shoot.  Because, you know: sometimes I "do flowers".  Here's a cropped-in pic of just the bouquet.  I feel safe showing you all this, since her wedding day bouquet will be different.  {Fun fact: I gathered those tiny branches and spray painted them silver. :)}

I hope your Thursday is filled with pretty things.  Or pretty people.  Or both. :)

~abi~

p.s.  Do you have any "secret" talents??  Whitney was completely surprised when I first told her I could make bouquets.  I showed her some pix of ones I've made to prove my skills! ;)

photo shoot ~ baby esther

This is lovely little Esther.  These are some of my favorites from her portrait session.  How precious is she?? 

 

Happy Tuesday!  With the gorgeous weather outside and these sweet photos to stare at and a Thunder game to look forward to tonight, my spirits this afternoon are impossibly high!  I hope your day is beautiful as well. :)

~abi~

letter-writing and other things

I just feel like sharing a few random tidbits with you all today.  Please don't get too excited.  Or bored.

~  Within the last week, I have handwritten and mailed no less than six letters/cards to real, live people.  And I put an actual stamp on the envelopes and put them in the mailbox and sent them on their merry way.  I'm not bragging, I'm just happy about it.   {Okay, I'm bragging a little.  I think it's impressive to send real mail!}

~ I need a car.  Like, I really need a car.  A decent one that runs and has air conditioning and can be purchased cheaply.  {Just throwing that out there.}

~ Last Saturday evening, I went to a high school play.  The play was Thoroughly Modern Millie, and it was fantastic!  My friend Forrest was the male lead, and he did an awesome job!  I've said it before and I'll say it again: mark my words, that boy will be famous someday! :)  {Also, I feel inspired to see more live performances, whether high school plays or for real theater shows.  I need to go back to NYC and see another show on Broadway!}

Happy Monday, friends!  Let's have a lovely week.  It's a fresh beginning.

~abi~

p.s.  Have you sent or received any snail mail lately?  Do you have a car you want to sell me?? ;)  Have you seen any good plays lately?  What's your favorite theater show you've ever seen?  Tell me stuff!

more favorites of whitney and chancy

Hello, friends.  I hope you are all enjoying this cold, rainy Thursday here in Oklahoma.  And if the weather is different wherever you are reading this today, well, I hope you are enjoying it, too! 

I wanted to share some more of my favorites from Chancy & Whitney's engagement session.  You see, this wasn't just any session.  These photos were photos I took of one of my dearest friends and her soon-to-be husband.  In just over a month, I will have the privilege of standing next to Whitney as she marries Chancy, while my friend Kelly Beane uses her amazing talent to document their wedding day.  I am beyond happy and excited for Whitney & Chancy!  It has been so good for my heart to watch them fall in love and walk toward becoming one in Christ. 

Now let's look at some more pretty pix from their morning photo shoot at the Wildlife Refuge in Lawton, Oklahoma...

Whitney & Chancy~
I love you both!  I adored spending the morning with you for this session!  I am happy that we were able to get some bison in the background and eat some ice cream. ;)  I pray for so much happiness and so many blessings in your relationship!  Can't wait for your wedding day!

~abi~