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A Shipping Hazard and a Dog!

What could be more fun than packaging up a bunch of boxes for clients, paying for the shipping online, and putting them at the door to be picked up that morning, only to notice on the way to your engagement session that a dog came by and completely demolished the boxes, chewed up the prints and scattered their shredded remains all over the yard!!!!!  Thank god the wedding books were untouched and i only lost a couple hundred dollars in proofs.  But still!!!

Anyway, Angelle and Sarah, unfortunately it’s your proofs that he ate, so i need to reorder them!!!  It will be a few more days before i can ship, AGAIN!

Featured: FACE Magazine

Pick up your copy of FACE this month to read some great advice fromValerie @ Southern Fete on the 1,2,3’s of Weddings!  It’s packed with some great tips and ideas for planning your wedding, and of course my favorite advice, The FIRST LOOK and why you should consider it, featuring my favorite picture from Stacy and Darrell’s first look on their wedding day!  You can also read this post on the advantages of choosing the FIRST LOOK on your big day!

February 5, 2010 - 11:10 pm

lauren - I just wanted to tell you that I’m so very excited that I picked such a wonderful photographer to do our wedding =)

New Years Resolutions – One month later

I can’t believe how fast January has gone.  Now that one month has passed, i thought i would take the time reflect on those resolutions I made at the beginning of the month, and share how I’m doing.  I doubt I’ll do this every month, but maybe I’ll check back on them again next new years.

Resolution #1 – Blog on time!  Well, what can i say, I haven’t caught up yet so I haven’t been quite on time yet, but I’m slowly getting there.  This one is a work in progress!  I have however made some upgrades to the blog and plan on blogging about more than just recent shoots and Eve.  I’ve already drafted a few new posts and newsletters (yay) and I’m still working on the new website.  In fact, last night I told Dustin that I’ve taken so long trying to build this website that I’ve grown out of it before i even finished it, and now I want to start all over again!  I know!  I’m horrible!  Oh well, it will get done.  I’m thinking about reducing the size of it, it’s far too big!  I took advantage of the fact that i could do ANYTHING I wanted, and as a result, did EVERYTHING I wanted, and it required a site map just to find everything because it was so big, you could get lost in it!!  I think this time around, I’ll keep it on the small side!

Resolution #2Drink more water and quit soda!  I’m happy to say that I have not had even a sip of soda since making that resolution.  I am drinking nothing but water now, and a small glass of milk in the mornings with breakfast.  It’s soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard to only drink water.  Some days I’m so thirsty, but don’t drink anything cause I’m so tired of water.  I hope i get used to it soon.  Dustin’s sodas sound sooooo refreshing when he pours them over ice RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!  He’s just so thoughtful you know.

Resolution #3- Exercise every day!  This one started out so well.  Then 4 days into the month, i hurt myself.  Ironically though, I hurt myself while playing with Eve, not while exercising!  And I hurt myself pretty bad, pushed my hip right out of place and walked around with a bad limp for a while.  I have to go to the chiropractor a few days a week now.  It’s been helping, I no longer limp and feel like a million bucks.  But I’m still not 100% healed and I’m hoping I’ll be able to start exercising again this week though!

Resolution #4 – Eat Healthy for Life!  This has been my favorite one so far.  I’ve been learning how to cook all kinds of new healthy dishes.  I’m enjoying them but Dustin isn’t exactly a lean meat and veggies kind of guy, so i also needed to learn how to make healthy pizza, healthy burgers, and even healthy tacos!  I’m just redoing the way I cook everything.  He still complains sometimes, because he still wants to eat things the old way, but that’s ok.  If he doesn’t want to eat what I cook, he can make himself a sandwich!  Haha!  (Hopefully he’ll come around cause the point was to do this for the rest of my life.)  Even gets to nibble off my plate and i get so excited to see her eat my veggies!  I hope starting her off with good habits will stick.

Resolution #5 – Balance and Organization.  I’ve been working really hard on this one!  You should see the stack of  “how to organize your life” books that i have now.  I’m taking on projects  just one at a time.  This will not be something that will happen overnight, it’s going to take time.  But as I go, i learn new habits and set myself up to keep these new changes forever!   I can already feel the stress just fading away!

Resolution #6 – Sell my house and buy a new one before Christmas.  All I’m saying is, it’s not Christmas yet!  I know the year will fly by, and I have been looking into options to make this process as fast and easy as possible, but it’s last on the list and at the moment I haven’t had much time to spend on it, but I will be getting around to this one very soon!  I want to be in the market this summer when things pick up!

A year ago today, at this very second….

….Eve came into this world, and my life changed forever.

January 28, 2010 - 10:58 pm

Lauren Latiolais - this is adorable!!
When she grows up and has all of these awesome pictures to look back on she will really appreciate her mommy being a very talented photographer.

January 29, 2010 - 12:57 am

Matt - I LOVE IT!!!!! Yummo!!! She’s the cutest……….

A year ago today, at this very second….

…. i was just beginning to go into labor, but still suspected it was just more false labor.  (I experienced so much false labor on and off for weeks and was beginning to think she would never come.)   Desperate for her to come before my doctor’s appointment the following day, I spent the next few hours pacing around telling Eve all the reasons why it was so important that she come out now.  27 very long and very painful hours later, she did!

Spring will come one day…

Eve is getting old enough to enjoy exploring the outdoors.  I can’t wait till the warm weather comes, so we can get a baby pool and watch her splash under the sun for the first time.

January 26, 2010 - 8:27 pm

lauren - She is just adorable, i love looking at her photos and those gorgeous blue eyes could take me away lol!! Love your work Dawn, you always amaze me!!

January 27, 2010 - 12:57 am

Dawn Earles - Thank you so much! She’s quite the handful most of the time, but she has her moments!

January 27, 2010 - 11:20 pm

Matt & Stacy - BEAUTIFUL BLUES…………. <3 LOVE!

January 28, 2010 - 2:56 pm

Julie Ambos - PRECIOUS!!

Sarah’s E-Session

This couple drove all the way from New Orleans for their engagements.  I loved their use of the “one color” method for their first outfit.  (Like the yellow jacket Leslie wore, a few posts back).   See their pics below!

As you may have noticed, I’m trying out a new way of posting photos.  I’ve been blogging so long that i feel my blog always looks so cluttered, this way makes it easier to sift through posts. It keeps everything clean and organized.  It’s not the typical “view everything at once” style that we are used to, but the slideshow goes by pretty quick, and i try to only put 5-7 slides on it.  I would love some feedback, let me know what you think! 

January 26, 2010 - 8:30 pm

lauren - Love these shots! Great work, and i like the slideshow! Amazing as always Dawn!!

January 26, 2010 - 10:27 pm

jenny - found your site through someone else…but can’t remember who:) Love your style and especially the slide show…did you create it on your own? very eye catching!

January 27, 2010 - 12:59 am

Dawn Earles - The slideshow itself is part of the pluin, but i still have to sew images together for each slide.

Stephanie’s E-M-Session

It was an engagement session and maternity session all in one.  They will be having their little one very soon, so I had to squeeze them in for the engagement session before she’s too pregnant to do anything.  Trust me, it’s only been a year for me and i remember being pregnant all too well.  Pregnancy isn’t fun for shorties.  Our babies are the same size as tall ladies but we have less torso space to carry them.  Not fun!  All my tall friends say they loved being pregnant…. hmmmm, well if i had more space to fit my baby, maybe i could have loved it too.  Of course, the arthritis in my spine didn’t help either!  Ok, on with the pictures!  Shot in downtown abbeville, right outside of my studio – view the slideshow below!

Leigh’s Bridals

Leigh is getting married this saturday!  I can’t wait!  It’s going to be fun!  I mean, just look at her, can’t you tell she’s a total ham?  And a simply gorgeous one too!  It was sooooo cold for her bridal session, she wore the cutest socks to keep warm, and of course i just had to shoot those socks.  I mean, socks with a bridal gown?  Of course, she made them look absolutely cool!  She also brought the coolest shoes too!  (Borrowed from the designer!) I’m sure if you ask nicely, she’ll let you know where to get them.  See her images below in the slideshow!

Angelle and Taylor

Angelle just had a baby, but you would never know it!  She looks fantastic!  I loved her choice of outfits!  Their baby is a couple of months younger than mine and she expressed to me how mcuh baby doesn’t sleep, i said to hang in there, Eve only started finally sleeping this month, and i’m like a whole new person now!  A year with no sleep is not easy, but us mama’s find a way to do it, and still do all those other things we do! 

View their images in the slideshow below! 

M O R E   I N F O