Ruthie Haun

Recently while in Destin, Florida with the band I had the opportunity to take some of Ruthie Haun and Chris Allen's engagement shots. The only time they were able to take pictures was in the morning, and since I am not used to shooting in the morning, Ruthie and I headed out early one morning (6 am early) to test the light out! Here are some of the shots I took of her... check out the ones she took of me on her blog!!

Michaela in Orlando!

This is my awesome little sister Michaela!! She is always a blast to be around... and a couple of days ago she came to see me in Orlando!! Now most people when their sister comes to visit do normal things... hang out, go eat... show them around town. Not Michaela and I... we decided we needed to do something different. My sister suggested a tattoo or piercing... I vetoed the tattoo idea (so not my thing... no offense to anyone... just not me at all)... so that left a piercing. I have always kinda wanted a nose piercing... I think they can be cute and a little edgy! Michaela was immediately like "nose piercing, oh yeah!" We looked online, asked around and headed to a little shop called The Black Wedding Chapel... such a sweet, comforting name. We drove up and both kinda looked at each other... and in we went! Inside were four heavily tattooed and pierced people... we so didn't belong in that tattoo shop. We told them what we were there for (they turned out to be really friendly) and headed back to the white room. This is where I chickened out... not because I was afraid to pierce my nose..... the cost of piercing my nose ($60) scared me a little more (maybe when I find a place that will do it cheaper!) So we all (my husband Chris, sister's friend Lauren and I) sat and cheered on Michaela as she bravely pierced her nose!

The black dot Josh (the piercing guy) marked to pierce her nose...
Getting a good hold of her nose... I think this might have been the most uncomfortable part!
... and the actual piercing... so brave... barely even a tear!
I don't know why she didn't just leave this in....?
Tada!! The final product!! Michaela you're awesome... thanks so much for coming to see me... and being up for an adventure!!

Destin, Fl.

Our first camp of the summer was in Alabama. Our second camp was in the sweet little beach town of Destin, Florida!! One of my favorite things about being married to Chris and traveling with the band is getting to see and visit new places. I have to say Destin is probably the top of the list when it comes to favorite places we've been. Destin's beach was one of the prettiest beaches I've ever been to! the sand was soft and pure white.... the water clear and the sweetest aqua color! To top it all off the camp was actually on the beach... and we stayed in a condo within walking distance of the beach. Not bad at all!!

Our condo!
Little back porch of our condo!
View from the back porch of our condo.... yes.... the condo was on a golf course.
So of course... Chris quickly became friends with our neighbor, borrowed his clubs and went out to hit a little bit. The whole week he wanted to play the course so bad.






One morning Chris and I got up to watch the sunrise only to find out that the beach faces due south... can't really see much of the sunrise that way. We still had such a good time reading our Bibles and listening to worship music in the peace of the early morning! We even got to see some dolphins as they swam by!

Senior Pictures

A couple of weeks ago I had the awesome opportunity to photograph a group of of girls from my church who are all going to be seniors. All the girls are in a small group together, and their small group leader thought it would be fun to get together and have their senior pictures taken. There were three categories... formal, hobby and casual. I choose to do the casual pictures, and my sweet friends Kelli and Katie took the formal and hobby photos. The girls were awesome!! It was really fun to get to know each of them as we trekked around in the heat. They were all so sweet and were such troopers about being out in the midday heat for about three hours!! I learned a lot taking attempting to photograph seven lovely ladies in the heat of the day (lots of harsh, unflattering light), all at the same location with limited time for each senior! I have to say I learned a lot more about what not to do, then what to do! I didn't get as many shots as I would have liked but the girls were so much fun and made what could have been a long afternoon a blast!!

Aubrey

Amanda
Aubrey and Amanda=Twins!

Jesse

Shannon
Hadley
Erin
Brittany

Ft. Faith, Alabama!!

First camp of the summer with the Chris Allen Band... Ft. Faith, Alabama!! Our first camp this summer was a Jr. High camp with some kids from Huntsville, Alabama. It was located about 30 minutes outside of Montgomery, Alabama, who knew Alabama was so beautiful!!? This sweet little lake was right outside the cabin we stayed in at the camp. It was so cool to wake up everyday surrounded by so much of God's beautiful creation!!

The camp itself went very well. The kids spent a lot of time each day in the word and worshiping!! They came in the first day of camp ready to worship... and each night just got better. The last night of the camp there was so much emotion and joy in the room.... at the end of the worship service everyone just kinda burst into celebration!! It was so neat to watch and see the kids grab ahold of the truths they were being taught and run with them!!

A little behind the scenes... Michael the bass player and Coley our sound guy.... making the guys sound good!!

Love this picture.... we laugh a lot on the road!!

The view outside our cabin.... kinda felt like we were on an island somewhere in the tropics!!

Our cabin for the week... and the boys being... well... the boys!!
Chris relaxing and reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan... such a good book... I recommend it to everyone!!

Long story short... we went to Whataburger one night... and Michael (the bass player) was trying to pay for our food.... and Chris Allen wouldn't have it, jumped out of the van and stood in front of the van in the drive through line to pay. Just another ordinary night with the guys. Later that same night we were also pulled over for a missing headlight on the van (that still isn't fixed)!!

What do the guys do in their free time you might ask...? This picture below is a pretty accurate portrayal of a typical night on the road with the guys! Silly videos, jokes and tons of strange Chris and Cordy faces!!

Last but not least... the blob!! Every camp has one... and we checked out Ft. Faith's late one night. Coley and Michael went down to the blob after all the campers were in bed... and after all the lights in the camp were turned out. Chris and I went down to the lake with them to watch the fun! Not thinking I left my nice flash back in the cabin.... so Chris and I used my nice camera and the flash on my little point and shoot to somehow get the pics below.

The guys before they jumped!

Coley on the blob!

Coley getting some air... this is one of the few pics Chris and I able to time right and synch his flash with my camera!