• There's something about holidays that require showing an over-the-top amount of affection that have always made me feel slightly rebellious. Like no, I will NOT go purchase an expensive box of chocolates JUST because it's February 14th- stick it in your ear, Hallmark! 💪🏻 Perhaps this is why Matt and I settled on Chinese takeout and a Redbox movie as our Valentine's Day tradition- it's my way of sticking it to the man! ✌🏻 Tonight, you won't find me all dolled up in a Michelin Star restaurant- instead, I'll be curled up on the couch with Matt with takeout from @bigbowlbuzz and whatever movie he's picked out on his way home from the grocery store. It's my favorite ritual of ours! Anyone else have a fun 2/14 tradition? ❤️
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    There's something about holidays that require showing an over-the-top amount of affection that have always made me feel slightly rebellious. Like no, I will NOT go purchase an expensive box of chocolates JUST because it's February 14th- stick it in your ear, Hallmark! 💪🏻 Perhaps this is why Matt and I settled on Chinese takeout and a Redbox movie as our Valentine's Day tradition- it's my way of sticking it to the man! ✌🏻 Tonight, you won't find me all dolled up in a Michelin Star restaurant- instead, I'll be curled up on the couch with Matt with takeout from @bigbowlbuzz and whatever movie he's picked out on his way home from the grocery store. It's my favorite ritual of ours! Anyone else have a fun 2/14 tradition? ❤️
  • I like to have fun during engagement sessions, which sometimes breaks with what my clients might be expecting- wait, you mean this isn't going to be stiff and stuffy? NOPE. I'm going to throw at least one Will Ferrell quote at you, three Parks & Rec references, and you can bet that, at some point, you'll laugh heartily at my expense. And I am totally, 100% ok with that, because it means I get the chance to capture photographs like this one! 💕 Photographers- looking to up your game when it comes to not just engagement sessions, but also lighting, film, weddings, travel, editing, and more? Check out the link in my profile- @thebundleco.co Photography Bundle is on sale now through tomorrow night, featuring 21 (yeah- TWENTY ONE!) courses from some of the industry's top educators like @marymarantz, @nancyray, @juliepaisley, @jenhuangphoto and so many more (including my Engagement Course)! A total of 21 classes worth nearly $4,000... for $98.50. 🙌🏼 No, that's not a typo. Less than a hundred bucks. 💰 Link in profile for the full list of courses and to snag your bundle by tomorrow night! 💪🏻 Wondering if this is too good to be true? Shoot me a DM. I'll be honest- we almost didn't participate in the Photography Bundle, but after hearing from so many of y'all who've jumped on it AND after having a chance to dig into the content myself, I'm so darn glad we did! This is one of the BEST values I've ever come across in my time as a photographer and is such a blessing to any artists out there desiring to grow, but who don't have thousands of dollars in their 2019 education fund! ⏰ Link in profile, and like I said- don't wait on this one. It expires tomorrow night! 👏🏻 #wearethecreativeeconomy #tuesdaystogether #creativepreneur #createcultivate #calledtobecreative #creativeatheart
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    I like to have fun during engagement sessions, which sometimes breaks with what my clients might be expecting- wait, you mean this isn't going to be stiff and stuffy? NOPE. I'm going to throw at least one Will Ferrell quote at you, three Parks & Rec references, and you can bet that, at some point, you'll laugh heartily at my expense. And I am totally, 100% ok with that, because it means I get the chance to capture photographs like this one! 💕 Photographers- looking to up your game when it comes to not just engagement sessions, but also lighting, film, weddings, travel, editing, and more? Check out the link in my profile- @thebundleco.co Photography Bundle is on sale now through tomorrow night, featuring 21 (yeah- TWENTY ONE!) courses from some of the industry's top educators like @marymarantz, @nancyray, @juliepaisley, @jenhuangphoto and so many more (including my Engagement Course)! A total of 21 classes worth nearly $4,000... for $98.50. 🙌🏼 No, that's not a typo. Less than a hundred bucks. 💰 Link in profile for the full list of courses and to snag your bundle by tomorrow night! 💪🏻 Wondering if this is too good to be true? Shoot me a DM. I'll be honest- we almost didn't participate in the Photography Bundle, but after hearing from so many of y'all who've jumped on it AND after having a chance to dig into the content myself, I'm so darn glad we did! This is one of the BEST values I've ever come across in my time as a photographer and is such a blessing to any artists out there desiring to grow, but who don't have thousands of dollars in their 2019 education fund! ⏰ Link in profile, and like I said- don't wait on this one. It expires tomorrow night! 👏🏻 #wearethecreativeeconomy #tuesdaystogether #creativepreneur #createcultivate #calledtobecreative #creativeatheart
  • The moment I knew Matt would never be a photographer: • Babe, can you take a photo of me with the Louvre in the background? I'll pre-focus for you and everything, and just make sure you get my feet in the photo as well. • Two weeks later I get my film back: • MATT! You literally got everything BUT my feet!! How did this happen?! • Oooh I thought you said you WANTED me to cut your feet off... 🤦🏼‍♀️ Here's to working alongside your spouse, cut off feet and everything. Happy Friday, friends!
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    The moment I knew Matt would never be a photographer: • Babe, can you take a photo of me with the Louvre in the background? I'll pre-focus for you and everything, and just make sure you get my feet in the photo as well. • Two weeks later I get my film back: • MATT! You literally got everything BUT my feet!! How did this happen?! • Oooh I thought you said you WANTED me to cut your feet off... 🤦🏼‍♀️ Here's to working alongside your spouse, cut off feet and everything. Happy Friday, friends!
  • The off-season is this weird time when I don't always have 40 hours worth of work to do each week, and I've gotta be honest- it's uncomfortable. And that discomfort is so convicting! One of my FAVORITE takeaways from #creativeatheartround8 was @shaycochrane's mic drop-worthy sentiment: hustle is [often] laziness in disguise. • Maybe I'm the only one, but I struggle with feeling like if I don't spend a FULL eight hours at my desk, that I'm not being productive, and I'm realizing just how much of my worth I put in business-related productivity. • But you know what else is productive? Spending quality time with friends. Or filling up my creative tank by doodling with a calligraphy pen. Or quilting. Or calling it a day at 2pm and going out for a movie date with Matt. Or napping. Or traveling to places that inspire me. • I've shared this vision thousands of times from the stage, in webinars, with our coaching students: we desire to create a business that enables a LIFE we love, *not* a life governed by the business' needs. And yet somehow, I still sometimes find myself in the trap of thinking that work is the only-est, most important thing in my life. • But the fact of the matter is that I have other roles in my life that are equally, and often MORE important: being a wife, a daughter, the need to care for my own body with exercise, helping lead worship at our church, being a good and present friend... and on, and on. • Our work, it matters. It matters a lot. I wouldn't do it if it didn't! Our clients and students mean the world to me. • But I guess what I'm trying to say is that... work is not the ONLY thing that matters. And if we're constantly giving a Yes to work *at the expense of* those other roles in life we wish to fulfill, we're missing out on the very things that make life so rich in the first place.
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    The off-season is this weird time when I don't always have 40 hours worth of work to do each week, and I've gotta be honest- it's uncomfortable. And that discomfort is so convicting! One of my FAVORITE takeaways from #creativeatheartround8 was @shaycochrane's mic drop-worthy sentiment: hustle is [often] laziness in disguise. • Maybe I'm the only one, but I struggle with feeling like if I don't spend a FULL eight hours at my desk, that I'm not being productive, and I'm realizing just how much of my worth I put in business-related productivity. • But you know what else is productive? Spending quality time with friends. Or filling up my creative tank by doodling with a calligraphy pen. Or quilting. Or calling it a day at 2pm and going out for a movie date with Matt. Or napping. Or traveling to places that inspire me. • I've shared this vision thousands of times from the stage, in webinars, with our coaching students: we desire to create a business that enables a LIFE we love, *not* a life governed by the business' needs. And yet somehow, I still sometimes find myself in the trap of thinking that work is the only-est, most important thing in my life. • But the fact of the matter is that I have other roles in my life that are equally, and often MORE important: being a wife, a daughter, the need to care for my own body with exercise, helping lead worship at our church, being a good and present friend... and on, and on. • Our work, it matters. It matters a lot. I wouldn't do it if it didn't! Our clients and students mean the world to me. • But I guess what I'm trying to say is that... work is not the ONLY thing that matters. And if we're constantly giving a Yes to work *at the expense of* those other roles in life we wish to fulfill, we're missing out on the very things that make life so rich in the first place.
  • One of my personal projects this year is to take a new, DIFFERENT self-portrait every month. About January's edition: ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Nothing makes me feel closer to my Granny than wrapping myself in one of her quilts. She was creative and resourceful, both characteristics on full display any time she pulled out a needle and thread. I'm so lucky to have numerous quilts that were made by her, but my favorite is our wedding quilt that she and my mom worked on together (see above- I was audacious enough to ask for a Double Wedding Ring design, aka one of the hardest patterns out there. Classic Abby)! ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Late last February I was sitting with Granny in my grandparents' living room up in the mountains of Virginia, when she looked out the window and said I'd have loved to see snow one more time. It was a sweet but sober moment- we knew she didn't have much longer, that as the cancer grew, her time was coming to a close. ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But then sure enough, they got not one, but TWO big snows on the mountain- it felt like a kiss from heaven, meant just for my Granny! Just a few weeks after the last flakes melted, she went home to be with Jesus. ❄️ Our first snow of the year was just two weeks ago, and for as long as it fell, my thoughts were of her. So I donned my Hunter boots and a warm pair of gloves and took a walk along the trail near our house with my quilt to keep me warm. I just wanted that moment for me, to be out in the snow, to hear the whisper of those falling frozen flakes, to wrap myself in layers of fabric that were lovingly pieced together, painstakingly hand-quilted by her. ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I miss her so much. But there's something about the snow that makes her feel just a little bit closer 💕
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    One of my personal projects this year is to take a new, DIFFERENT self-portrait every month. About January's edition: ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Nothing makes me feel closer to my Granny than wrapping myself in one of her quilts. She was creative and resourceful, both characteristics on full display any time she pulled out a needle and thread. I'm so lucky to have numerous quilts that were made by her, but my favorite is our wedding quilt that she and my mom worked on together (see above- I was audacious enough to ask for a Double Wedding Ring design, aka one of the hardest patterns out there. Classic Abby)! ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Late last February I was sitting with Granny in my grandparents' living room up in the mountains of Virginia, when she looked out the window and said I'd have loved to see snow one more time. It was a sweet but sober moment- we knew she didn't have much longer, that as the cancer grew, her time was coming to a close. ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But then sure enough, they got not one, but TWO big snows on the mountain- it felt like a kiss from heaven, meant just for my Granny! Just a few weeks after the last flakes melted, she went home to be with Jesus. ❄️ Our first snow of the year was just two weeks ago, and for as long as it fell, my thoughts were of her. So I donned my Hunter boots and a warm pair of gloves and took a walk along the trail near our house with my quilt to keep me warm. I just wanted that moment for me, to be out in the snow, to hear the whisper of those falling frozen flakes, to wrap myself in layers of fabric that were lovingly pieced together, painstakingly hand-quilted by her. ❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I miss her so much. But there's something about the snow that makes her feel just a little bit closer 💕
  • Early mornings have me cheesing like Lee when he's got a cup of coffee in hand, and eyes on his bride! 😁 No, but for real- I LOVE being up early. It's just.... GETTING up early that makes it difficult. I blame @tempurpedic for making such incredibly comfortable beds that no reasonable person would want to leave. 🛌 One of my goals this year is to be out of bed by 6:30am Monday-Friday, because I know, I KNOW my best work gets done in the mornings! I'm more efficient, more creative, more on my game in the early mornings. I've set an alarm on my phone for 9pm every night to signal that it's time to head up to bed, and I've got myself one of those amazing Phillips alarm clocks that simulates a sunrise, making wake-ups even gentler and easier! (link in profile for the exact one I use, and a shoutout to @sarahcbradshaw for turning me onto it!) ⏰ Any of y'all have tips for getting yourself up and at 'em early in the morning? Do share with me! ☀️ From our anniversary session in Chartres at @thesignatureatelier! Custom gown by @katherinebignon, film dev. and scanned by @thefindlab, adorable early morning coffee smiles courtesy of Lee & Angela
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    Early mornings have me cheesing like Lee when he's got a cup of coffee in hand, and eyes on his bride! 😁 No, but for real- I LOVE being up early. It's just.... GETTING up early that makes it difficult. I blame @tempurpedic for making such incredibly comfortable beds that no reasonable person would want to leave. 🛌 One of my goals this year is to be out of bed by 6:30am Monday-Friday, because I know, I KNOW my best work gets done in the mornings! I'm more efficient, more creative, more on my game in the early mornings. I've set an alarm on my phone for 9pm every night to signal that it's time to head up to bed, and I've got myself one of those amazing Phillips alarm clocks that simulates a sunrise, making wake-ups even gentler and easier! (link in profile for the exact one I use, and a shoutout to @sarahcbradshaw for turning me onto it!) ⏰ Any of y'all have tips for getting yourself up and at 'em early in the morning? Do share with me! ☀️ From our anniversary session in Chartres at @thesignatureatelier! Custom gown by @katherinebignon, film dev. and scanned by @thefindlab, adorable early morning coffee smiles courtesy of Lee & Angela
  • We had dinner with @moemotivate and her husband last weekend and she put words to something Matt and I have been pondering quite a bit lately- enjoy this time when it's just the two of you. You'll be so happy once your child comes, but you'll also not be able to enjoy the same flexibility you have right now. • So much of the adoption journey so far has felt like the hurry up and wait that I was told we'd experience! And in our desire to be parents and for this wait of almost four years to come to a redemptive end, it's easy to wish away the last few months of just the two of us. ✌🏻 So as we wait (and wait), we're trying to be more intentional about savoring this season of freedom! That means saying yes to things like: board game marathons with friends (I'm talking 12 HOURS of Hogwarts Battle!), snow days spent in quiet contentment, flying to Seattle to see my bestie, adventuring whenever we get the opportunity, and a few days' trip to @getaway next month. All good things, and all good things we will find more difficult once we're parents. • I know without a doubt I'll love being a mom, seeing Matt as a dad. But until then, I'll love it just being him and I! #springmannjourneytobaby • 📷: @anchorandveil 👗: @virginiadaredressco
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    We had dinner with @moemotivate and her husband last weekend and she put words to something Matt and I have been pondering quite a bit lately- enjoy this time when it's just the two of you. You'll be so happy once your child comes, but you'll also not be able to enjoy the same flexibility you have right now. • So much of the adoption journey so far has felt like the hurry up and wait that I was told we'd experience! And in our desire to be parents and for this wait of almost four years to come to a redemptive end, it's easy to wish away the last few months of just the two of us. ✌🏻 So as we wait (and wait), we're trying to be more intentional about savoring this season of freedom! That means saying yes to things like: board game marathons with friends (I'm talking 12 HOURS of Hogwarts Battle!), snow days spent in quiet contentment, flying to Seattle to see my bestie, adventuring whenever we get the opportunity, and a few days' trip to @getaway next month. All good things, and all good things we will find more difficult once we're parents. • I know without a doubt I'll love being a mom, seeing Matt as a dad. But until then, I'll love it just being him and I! #springmannjourneytobaby • 📷: @anchorandveil 👗: @virginiadaredressco
  • This photo has absolutely nothing to do with the caption. But, for the record, that Golden Snitch Butterbeer donut from @sugarshack was DELICIOUS. 🤤 And now for something completely unrelated: The Built To Last summit is TOMORROW! I can hardly wait!! Justin & @marymarantz asked me to speak on a subject close to my heart, the Gentle No, and I am SO excited to hear from all the other speakers they've got lined up! @hopetaylorphotography, @hannahbrencher, @elledanielle (my go-to authority for all things LEGAL!), @myrnapdaramy, @nikimariephoto, @thewhiteboardroom, and @bethchapmanstyling for (as they say), one night [day] only!! 🎙 AND I’ve got an extra goodie to sweeten the deal (see? I managed to tie the donut in after all!) for anyone who signs up using the link in my profile- a 10-step guide for Boundaries In Business! The Boundaries Guide AND an offer for $100 off your seat are both only available for folks who sign up BEFORE tomorrow's summit starts, so hop to it- link in profile, mes amis! #communityovercompetition
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    This photo has absolutely nothing to do with the caption. But, for the record, that Golden Snitch Butterbeer donut from @sugarshack was DELICIOUS. 🤤 And now for something completely unrelated: The Built To Last summit is TOMORROW! I can hardly wait!! Justin & @marymarantz asked me to speak on a subject close to my heart, the Gentle No, and I am SO excited to hear from all the other speakers they've got lined up! @hopetaylorphotography, @hannahbrencher, @elledanielle (my go-to authority for all things LEGAL!), @myrnapdaramy, @nikimariephoto, @thewhiteboardroom, and @bethchapmanstyling for (as they say), one night [day] only!! 🎙 AND I’ve got an extra goodie to sweeten the deal (see? I managed to tie the donut in after all!) for anyone who signs up using the link in my profile- a 10-step guide for Boundaries In Business! The Boundaries Guide AND an offer for $100 off your seat are both only available for folks who sign up BEFORE tomorrow's summit starts, so hop to it- link in profile, mes amis! #communityovercompetition