We made the brochure!

Stephanie Davis, our wedding photographer extraordinaire, has just created her new promotional materials for 2009- and some of our wedding photos made the cover!

Check it out- she chose my two favorite ones! The engagement photo of us is the one I chose for a frame in my office, and the bridal photo is the one we used for my big portrait print.

Speaking of weddings, can you believe we've had 3 engagements in 3 weeks?! Congratulations to Alli, Colette, and Katie , three beautiful brides-to-be! While being three of my dearest friends, these three are very different, so I can't wait to see their unique personalities and unique love stories splashed all over three joyous Saturdays this summer.Three Circus-dwellers and one honorary wait expectantly for the Katie and Ross' limo to roll down 10th Street.The future Mrs. Dr. R. Franklin Pinson. What a mouthful! I always love the first picture I take with a newly engaged BF, because we are both too shell-shockedly happy to achieve the normal "photo smile", so we just grin like idiots and don't care if it squishes up our eyes.

Colette, YOU ARE THE BRIDE! I say this for two reasons: One, Colette and Luke have, like many of our newly-and-nearlywedded friends, dated for three-plus years, and probably would've already been married for some time now if it weren't for pesky things like graduating, finding a job, choosing a city in which to live, and needing an income. Secondly, Colette is a bride's best friend. At my wedding alone, she photographed the rehearsal dinner, made finishing touches to my hair, consulted on the makeup, and was my on-call go-to girl for about every single decor and floral decision. Once she listened to me talk about my wedding for an entire two-hour drive to Waco. She couldn't be more supportive and creatively talented, and now it is her turn! Coco, I will be looking for ways to serve you!Last but now least, our first Christmas as man and wife began with Christmas Eve festivities at my parents' house. A Merry, Married Christmas indeed!

I Can Read

The red poster above hangs in my guest bedroom. I've written about it here before- it's a reprint of a WWII British government propaganda poster, meant to cheer up morale in the face of the looming bombing of London.

This yellow poster makes me laugh every time.

I once wrote this on my mirror in my high school bedroom. A few weeks later I noticed the attribution had been written in by someone else- my brother. I never knew he read Kerouac, or really much at all.

Right, J Thornton?

Dr. Tran quoted Gandhi for us: There is enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed. The problem isn't quantity, it's distribution.

And it was:)

Change your life

Oh Eight

The Media Research Center has released its "Best Quotes of 2008", which are really satirical awards for most ridiculous phrases uttered on national news.

The Runners-Up:

“Could global warming one day force us into space to live?”
— ABC’s Sam Champion teasing an upcoming segment on Good Morning America, February 8

“I’m not that convinced that that’s her baby....The daughter — who we know is fertile because she’s knocked up again, or maybe for the first time...she did like take a five-month leave from high school because she had [uses fingers to indicate quote marks] ‘mononucleosis’ right around the time the baby was being born. And the mother, the so-called, you know, okay, maybe it is the mother, but, you know, she was back to work three days later. You don’t smell something?...It’s not like they’re not willing to lie about everything else.”
— HBO’s Bill Maher on Real Time, September 5, promoting the left-wing conspiracy theory that Sarah Palin’s infant son is actually her daughter Bristol’s baby.

“Media bias largely unseen in U.S. presidential race”
— Headline over November 6 Reuters dispatch claiming no liberal tilt in favor of Barack Obama.

And the BIG WINNER:

Co-anchor Chris Matthews: “I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My — I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often.”
Co-anchor Keith Olbermann: “Steady.”
Matthews: “No, seriously. It’s a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.”
— Exchange during MSNBC’s coverage of the Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. primaries, February 12.



In other news, Ben and I sat down last night to start the first season of Mad Men. We are hooked! What fascinating characters! What moral depravity! What fabulous 60's outfits!

Wishing you....

Just discovered Parish-Hadley, "patrician" interiors extraordinaire.

My dream outdoor eating area. Jungle meets English countryside.

Wishing you a safe, warm, joyful, grateful Christmas.

For my English home, baby-yellow roses in a trophy vase.

Four Secrets and an Unbelievable Photo

First things first: Can you believe there are still places in the world where this happens? And this one is in my beloved Kenya. The above photo is from last March. It shows modern-day Maasai "warriors" engaged in a hillside battle with bows and arrows against a rival tribe following divisive elections in the region. Bows and arrows.

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Secondly, I have four work secrets. It's time they see the light of day.

Work secret #1: Every day I am wearing a secret under my dress pants. Here is a clue:

Yes, folks, the answer is leggings. I ride the freezing train, I wear wide-leg work pants, thus, I don a secret extra layer for warmth.

Work Secret #2: Once a week I venture over to La Madeleine for a petite caesar. I have to walk through two skybridges over downtown to get there. If I am alone in the skybridge, and if I am wearing sassy heels that day, my mind gets imaginative, and I pretend I am...

This week I am strutting to "if you like it then you should've put a ring on it, woa oh oh...".

Work Secret #3: The elevators in our building have mirrored doors. If I am ever alone in an elevator for the looong trip downstairs to the lobby, you better believe I am pretending to be...

On occasion, in addition to Christmas carols and Kelly Clarkson, you may also find me performing Sing moves in the mirrored doors:)

Work Secret #4: There is one activity that is a near-daily requirement for professionalism in the corporate world. My secret: I simply refuse. I have not done this activity one time since the night before I started working last July. Can you guess?

Yep, that's right. I do. not. iron. I find many creative ways to avoid wrinkles, such as hanging shirts in the shower and smoothing them out with my hand while still damp.

Ahhhhh, that's better. Secrets are out in the open.

Joy has come. He is here!

I had to share with you today's Buckner Devotional... I am sure it is my very favorite one so far.

December 22
Luke 2:8-20
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

He is Here! Creation held its breath. Screams tore through the air and tears wet the ground as the baby boy was birthed. The very lungs that would gasp for air on the cross took their first breath - and the very heart that would be pierced began to beat. The Lord Jesus is born.Today tragedy strikes, large and small. Daily struggles meet life-changing news - and we, the creation, groan with frustration. 'Life's not fair' meets 'I feel so alone' and gives rise to, 'I do not know how to handle this.'But that night the baby slept. Wonder filled the air as men came and bowed low. They spoke of angels, and tonight of a savior born.Reverence joined hands with awe, and they fell silent.He has come. He lived, felt, breathed, suffered, loved, wept, hurt with, hurt for, and gave of himself. Thus the handling of life is under-girded with a faith that he knows. He is near. He has made a way, and He is alive. There is hope. Hope for the treatment and healing of our toiling, failings, strivings and our trivial attempts to find life outside of Him.

Joy has come. He is here!

- Mason King

The wedding day lives on.

The long awaited day is here: our WEDDING PHOTOS are in!!
Cake-y fingers

Silly.

I love that we actually danced all night. Don't let anyone tell you you won't dance at your wedding because you'll be too busy meet & greet-ing.

Pi Phi Misses, Pi Phi Kisses, sweetest of them all. Please note Heather & Hayley, who are Pi Phis from A&M and TCU, looking very confused on the far right:)

Me and mom in our living room.

The money shot. I love looking at everyone's faces.

One of them is a real sister, the rest may as well be.

We sing to each other, its fine.

Beautiful, beautiful bridesmaids.

Our city, at night. We stole this shot from the Czimskeys:)

Don't worry, there are more where that came from. As in, 4 THOUSAND more pics, which I will be getting on a disk in the mail shortly.

Stephanie Davis is a genius. Please, book her asap.

Person of the Year

TIME has selected their Person of the Year. No suprise, it's Barack Obama.

Go here to see TIME's Photos of the Year.

Very interesting were the "Runners Up" and "People Who Mattered", the Tier 2 and Tier 3 people. On those lists were Dara Torres, Hillary Clinton, Tina Fey, John McCain, The Somali Pirates, the lady who wrote Twilight and the guy who directed/created the Opening Ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

Veeery interesting. Who is your "Person of the Year"? Can I say Ben, for the fifth year in a row? Who is the person who had the most impact on your world in 2008?

What if you had to pick one day that was your most influential of 2008?

Courtesy of Whitney Stroupe

Our God says, "You shall encounter nothing of which I am not already aware. My mcercy is concealed within every storm cloud. My grace flows beneath every crosscurrent. My wisdom has conceived a solution to every perplexity."

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And courtesy of Annie Hatley: http://www.stumbleupon.com/ . She told me about this at least 18 months ago, and I am still using it regularly. Basically, this website takes you to cool, random sites that other users love.

Demonstration: In my first five "stumbles" today, I was taken to:
1. An article from TheTraveler'sNotebook.com describing how to travel the world for free
2. An awesome recipe for Extreme Cheddar Biscuits, with a nice large photo
3. A live satellite image of the Valley of the Pyramids in Egypt
4. A pretty funny cartoon website drawn by left-handed people only
5. An article from ancientx.com titled "The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts"

Another thing I find a lot of on stumbleupon.com is really cool graphic arts, such as this cool sand game.

Photographs, Part III (A Mega-Installment)

Friends, I am in LIFE Archive overload. Here, the third and final installment of my found treasures:

Westport, Connecticut, 1940's. Drinks with the girls.

Wedding day, 1962.

Walk-up apartments in New York City. Possible the most glamorous apartments in the whole world to me, with Washington, D.C. walk-ups in a close second. If I were a rich girl...

Treasure hunting. Really. Looks like the Mediterranean- North Africa perhaps?

This is from a 50's photo essay on teen behavior in America. I would wear the center girl's entire outfit today!

Same article on teen behavior. MEMO: Teens like sunbathing! Breaking news!

FURTHER BREAKING NEWS: Teens like telephones! I love her adorable little suitcase.

Stark contrast: Starving in India. Note how even the poorest women in India are bangled-up.

Two thoughts: 1) The caption under this 1946 photo was "spicy playsuit". 2) Hey, remember back when normal-weighted, normal-faced, and normal-heighted girls were models?

1947, the Renaissance woman could multi-task. Check out her awesome fridge.

Sandra White slips on the marble floor at the Oscars. This is the same floor I loved in yesterday's photo of Elizabeth Taylor. I love her fur muff- somebody should bring those back, faux of course.

Driver helps rich mommy out of a Rolls Royce, 1960.

Relaxing, reading. With a Coke, duh.

This next photo may alarm you, but look closely. The 1943 woman is displaying her protective bra while the other models factory safety goggles. There had never been a need for women's protective gear before, so these were innovations when the ladies worked the assembly lines.

Natalie Wood getting ready for the Oscars. In the pictures so far, all the ladies wore white to the Oscars- did they all do that?

1945. Women are working, so in addition to "safety bras" seen above, they needed professional dress. The first women's suits were introduced that year.

A group of Broadway dancers modeled for Vogue shoot called "The Little Red Dress". Get it, girls. Alpha Omega was clearly ahead of the game, as Firedances had already been occurring at Baylor for decades.

Lady cops in London.

Kissing in the 70's. This one's kind of steamy!

Grace Kelly and Marlon Brando with their Oscars.

Whew, what a collection!