{december photo a day :: instagram challenge}

december is here and i'm BEYOND excited!!

i love this month.  

it's full of life, joy, anticipation, celebration, and so much more.

i hope you stop and take the time this month to notice all the little things around you to be ever so grateful for, regardless of your circumstance, and i hope our little photo challenge can help you do that.

erin and i have been SO grateful for all those that have participated in this challenge this year and i can't believe we made it to the last month!!  it's been so fun seeing your world through your instagram lens and i can't wait to see what this month brings!!

{happy.shooting}

aw

{free.christmas.music :: yes please!}

you can't go wrong with Christmas music, especially when it's $free.99!

i highly recommend downloading both of these available right now at noisetrade.com

Over the Rhine :: click here

Fireplace Songs :: click here

you can never go wrong with anything from Over the Rhine and the fireplace songs is a collection of songs from artists such as Ben Rector, JJ Heller, Green River Ordinance, Trent Dabbs, and many more!  your happy ears will thank me for all this goodness!

{happy.christmas.listening}

aw

{inspiration + creating = joy}

i love to create.

i love to be inspired.

i love to make things.

chalkboard paint is my weakness.

i long to have my own little workshop filled with tools (a girl can dream, right?) 

so i can cut, build, paint, draw, design... the list goes on and on.  

remember that dream of making my own furniture??  

it WILL happen one day.

creating brings me joy, so i'm a little excited about a few projects i'm 

dreaming up for the holidays thanks to these pinterest inspirations!

i REALLY want to do a wall in my bedroom like the one shown below.

fingers crossed i can make that happen in the next few months!

{happy.creating}

aw

{new music to make you swoon :: phillip phillips}

helllooo phillip phillips.  

this boy, his guitar, and his breathy, raspy voice make me SWOON.

*sigh*

(ahem... where's my boy and his guitar?)

check out his new album today on itunes!

lots of musical goodness here

{aw}

{november photo 366 :: instagram challenge :: #novphoto366}

::it's november!::

my favorite time of year!  the air is getting colder, the holidays are coming.  i start reflecting on the year that's been and try to squeeze in all the things i want to complete before the new year arrives.  i have so much going on the rest of this year and i most definitely want to capture it.  so grateful i have instagram to do so!!

join me and bringing up burns for this month's {photo::366} 

challenge as we finish up the 11th month of the year!!

{happy shooting}

aw

{october photo 366 :: instagram challenge :: #octphoto366}

hello fall! hello october! hello #octphoto366!!

{happy shooting}

aw

{hopeless wanderer}

as i typed the title of this post i mindlessly typed "hopeful wanderer" instead of the new mumford and sons song title "hopeless wanderer." i think it was my subconscious.  let me explain...

the new mumford & son album "babel" was released today and it just so happens i was at home this morning to meet the time warner cable people.  this morning was a sweet, refreshing time for me.  fall is in the air here in north carolina. the windows and doors in the house were all open while i cleaned and waited.  i juiced, drank coffee, and listened through the new album in it's entirety.  it was glorious.

mumford has blown my mind again and to be blunt i was in DIRE NEED of new music.  new inspiration.  sometimes i feel like my soul connects with music in such an awe inspiring way and this album is just what i needed.  their lyircs never disappoint and one song that stuck out this morning was "hopeless wanderer"...

i've felt like that hopeless wanderer these last few months.  wrestling with my faith, not really knowing where i'm headed or if i'm going in the right direction.  traveling to poverty stricken countries and not understanding the things of this world.  listening to stories of friends lives and hearing choas, love, confusion, joy, hurt, and hope.  fighting my own loneliness and struggling with that unmet desire i have of falling in love. feeling my hope for those desires growing smaller.  that light of hope dimming. feeling called to make courageous decisions and being confident in the direction i was heading.  started walking that path and totally overlooking the unseen road block ahead.  running smack into that road block and coming to screeching halt.  pain.  oh the pain.  begrudgingly turning 180 degrees and making more  hard and painful decisions to go the other direction... all the while clinging to my faith and hope that all is as it should be... with a whole mess of emotions in the midst of it all.  hopeless. to be honest i felt hopeless.  i was a mess. i doubted it all...

then came the gentle and quiet whisper...

"i am with you.  do not fear.  seek me. 

abide in me.  turn to me.  lean on me.  

i love you my child.  i will care for you. 

you have all that you need in me. you lack nothing."

oh the Lord, so sweet.  He is love and of that i have no doubt.  even though days may be rough, they still continue to come and go, and i feel that flame of hope growing again.  the light in the darkness.  there is a new season ahead and i will not let my heart grow cold.  i am begging the Lord to "hold me fast," because how quickly i can become that hopeless wanderer. i am learning as i go to love this sky i wander.  the hard parts of life where God asks me to take one step closer to Him.  i have felt like the "hopeless wanderer" during this season of my life, but i think my soul knows different even when some days i don't feel it.

my soul knows i am truly the hopeful wanderer.

and that is faith.  that is hope.

i'm grateful for a God who is love.

i'm grateful for music inspiration.

i'm grateful for the raw talent that is mumford and sons.

{aw}

{september photo a day :: #septemberphoto366 :: instagram challenge}

we're almost 9 months in folks! that's 244 days guys!!  let's give it our best shot (bad pun intended) this month as we move into the beginning of our fall routine.  look for the beauty in the everyday and make sure you share with your friends on instagram! join me and erin aka @bringingupburns as we start another month towards our 366 goal!!

happy shooting

{aw}

{august photo 366 :: instagram photo a day challenge}

it's august 9th.

i'm late.

here are august's prompts.

 so fun to see all of you already playing!!

happy shooting!!

and don't forget your 

#augustphoto366 tag!

{aw}

{mission of hope haiti :: july-aug 2012 :: gimpy chickens style}

"how beautiful are the feet of 

those who bring good news"

romans 10:15

last week as we walked through haiti with dirty, dirty feet, my sweet friend micah spoke truth to us.  "when i look down at my dirty feet, i can't help but think of romans 10:15." ... and let me tell you our feet were nasty, but i loved it!  i would trade my clean feet any day for walking life in haiti, dirty feet and all!!

i spent the last week leading a small team to haiti, serving and love on the people there through mission of hope.  an organization that is literally empowering haiti to change haiti.  an organziation, following jesus christ, they exist to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in haiti... 

MOH has 5 resolutions in how they plan to accomplish the vision that God has given them.

1. Relational Proclamation: Intentionally modeling Christ’s love through relationships.
2. Evangelistic Saturation: Repeatedly sharing the Gospel message in targeted geographies.
3. Indigenous Mobilization: Strategically developing national leaders to carry the vision to the nation.
4. Holistic Transformation: Continuously pursuing God’s physical, mental, social and spiritual destiny for every man, woman and child.
5. Excellent Implementation: Responsibly utilizing all resources and talents to their fullest potential for God’s glory.

...and i got to experience all of that first hand for the last week and what a blessing it was to be a part of that.  we loved on kiddos in VBS, painted houses in the neighboring villages, cheered on soccer games, worshiped together in english, creole, and sign language (what a sweet glimpse of what heaven will be like!)  we lived in sweet community, camp style, eating meals and playing games with about 215 others for the week.

come saturday, not one of us wanted to leave haiti.  God is doing great things in reaching that nation and no doubt in my mind that He has a pretty stinkin' awesome plan up his sleeve in reaching His people that He loves so much. 

i didn't want to leave.

i didn't want that haitian dirt off my feet.

i wanted to stay and do life in haiti.

maybe one day i'll get the chance...

 until then here are some photos from our amazing week!

sweet friends haley and micah. what a blessing they are to me!

 hanging out in MOH 500 in leveque

  morning coffee+the word

 haiti sunrise

 what's better than loving on babies!!

  what an awesome intern, sweet tiffany, and her fabulous mama karen!

  evening on the MOH campus

 the gimpy chickens spending a day at wahoo bay!  

the 6 of us spent the whole week together. 

 what a gift from above. these girls are amazing on so many levels!!

 oh hello crazy storm.

 the GCs "bonswaaaaaa"ing with our fab intern andrew!

 orevwa haiti...

see you in november!

{aw}

{be kind to yourself}

life has been crazy busy and crazy full,

but even in all the craziness of my life during this season

i have to remind myself of this daily because

i've realized some days i can be not very nice to myself...

because when i look back on all these pictures i realize

life might be really hard some days and i may feel lost

but when i stop and look around, it truly is a beautiful

life i've been blessed with.  i'm so very grateful for this

season of learning to take care of me.

 {aw}

{july photo a day :: instagram challenge}

we've made it half way folks!!

can you believe it?!?  

i don't know about where you are, but it is HOT here in NC.  i think that the weather is trying to welcome in july with a bang!  speaking of welcoming in july... here's july's photo a day challenge!  happy shooting and i know that erin and i have LOVED seeing all of your shots on instagram.  don't forget to tag your photos with #julyphoto366 and make sure you spread the word in social media land.  if you're new here and want to check out our original challenge and why we're doing this, click here.

{happy.shooting}

aw

{angela & matt :: engagement sneak peek}

i have rad friends.

friends who love each other and are getting married!

woop woop!

matt and i went to high school together and angela was a fabulous friend of e's (remember e? yup.  she's rad and getting married TOO!  double woop woop) and we were all so excited when their worlds collided a few years ago and we knew it was something special. it's been so fun to watch their love grow and the adventure they've been on.  i'm so excited for their big day next march and was honored when they asked me to take a few pictures for them.  matt is in the NC air national guard so it was delightful to head out to the base for a few fun shots.  more to come.  enjoy!

 {aw}

{just.breathe}

{consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance}
:: james 1:2-3 ::
sometimes it pays to just stop and breathe.

when life seems to be a little rough, maybe overwhelming, remember this.

 

one thing that yoga teaches me is that your breath is an amazingly powerful tool.  breath can calm us, center us, stretch us.  last saturday i had the joy of taking an in store "boga" class taught by my friend katie of Kadi Fit at our local lululemon and she encouraged us in our breath, that

"sometimes in life, it just takes another breath 

to push us to where we thought we could never go"... 

so take a minute to breathe in life today!  

to remember what a majestic creation you are and remember...

 

{happy.breathing}

aw

(all images via pinterest)

{erin & will :: engagement}

meet erin and will.  

erin has been my best friend since i was 5 so i can definitely say we've experienced a lot of life and a lot of ups and downs together.  i had the honor of shooting, not only her actual engagement at my house last december, but also this recent engagement shoot. 

it's been so fun watching erin and will fall in love over the last few years.  i remember the night i called her to see where she was... she lived with me at the time and it was late so i was just being a good best friend ;) ... and she mentioned she was casually getting a glass of wine at one of our favorite wine bars, dolce vita, with this boy from the mountain khakis' road bike team.  erin works for mountain khakis and the few had recently met through work events.  over the next few months it was obvious that their romance was building and it's been so fun to see them grow together and fall in love.  i'm so grateful for them and so excited of the future ahead for them!!  last night while finishing editing these pictures i couldn't help but get emotional (aka cry like a baby at my desk) at the happiness so apparent on both of their faces.  you guys deserve it!! so without further ado... here's the beautiful erin and her fiance will...

 can't wait to celebrate your marriage next may.  it will be here before we know it!

love you both!!

{aw}