Lovely Ladies | my first “real” photo shoot

Last Sunday, I was approached by a parent in a desperate situation. His daughter, plus five of her friends, scheduled a photo shoot together but the photographer cancelled. They needed somebody with a camera.

I said yes (because that’s what people who can’t say no do) and agreed to take pictures. I called a friend who’s a professional photographer and she gave me suggestions and encouraged me to have fun. Thanks to another lovely lady, I borrowed her Nikon D5000 (like mine) with a super-duper-fantastic 50mm lens.

Dear Santa, please bring me a 50mm lens. I’ll leave your favorite kind of cookies *AND* cupcakes out Christmas Eve! =)

Here are a few of my favorites from the photo shoot at the Fort Worth Stockyards:

Considering this was my first “real” photo shoot, I’m pleased. I learned valuable lessons and gained a lot of confidence. For one, I must check my camera’s settings more often. There was an incredible shot of the girls’ boots, but my ISO was too high. The sun was bright and the photo was washed-out and overexposed. Bummer.

The best thing for me to do now is practice, practice, PRACTICE!

J, S, A, J, E, and M … you are each beautiful and wonderful. Thank you for inviting me to take your pictures. Let’s do this again – SOON!

My Kinda Party | Jason Aldean & Luke Bryan concert

Go ahead and be jealous.

Saturday night, I was the “adult chaperone” for four young ladies at the Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan concert at Gexa Pavilion in Dallas. It was Jamie’s mother’s 50th birthday and she wanted to celebrate with a quiet dinner at her favorite restaurant instead of a loud-and-rowdy country music concert. Because I’m so eager to please, I happily agreed to take the girls for a night of fun, laughs, and excellent music.

It’s a tough life.

Yes, I am wearing a rhinestone t-shirt that says REAL HOUSEWIFE OF JOHNSON COUNTY and includes cowboy boots too. I am wearing a turtleneck too — it was really cold!!!!

The stars of show: Jason Aldean & Luke Bryan. =)

At one point in the show, a surprise guest came out on stage with Jason Aldean during Luke Bryan’s performance of “Shake It For Me,” along with nearly naked male dancers in tight jeans and cowboy hats.

It’s really tough to be me.

girls + country music + cute cowboys = a typical evening in Texas

and

in Texas, concert-goers dance the Two Step

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT

Proceeds from the concert —$509,125 to be exact — were given to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (the Dallas chapter) from Jason Aldean and his wife, Jessica, in honor of her best friend who lost her battle to breast cancer at the age of 29.

If you are a parent with sons or daughters in need of a mature, responsible, trustworthy chaperone for similar events, contact me. I arrived at Gexa Pavilion with four lovely ladies and I left Gexa Pavilion with four super-duper excited, singing ladies.

We had a lot of fun. =)

{ a few random things }

This week, I’m volunteering in the church office while the staff person is on vacation. So far, I’ve answered a few phone calls and provided three families with meals from the food pantry. By doing this, I’ve had a distraction-free workplace and been able to format the church’s monthly newsletter and work on personal blog posts. Today, I plan to finish worship bulletins, an announcement sheet, and media slides for Sunday morning. Later this evening, I’m leading a contextual Bible study class.

I registered my blog on the Coast To Coast blog directory. I think it’s super-duper-fan-tabulous that bloggers all over the U.S. are registered. Last night, I found a blog from a girl in Evansville, Indiana (close to where I grew up) and several bloggers in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas. What a great idea, thank you Shane at Whispering Sweet Nothings!!!!!

I found an opened bag of Skittles at the bottom of my over-sized L.L. Bean bag. I did the trusty-rusty smell test. Then I ate the colors of the rainbows … in this order: purple (yuck!), green (ewww!), yellow (blah!), orange, and red (YUM-O!).

The quest to fill 20 suitcases for the mission trip to Haiti officially began today. A very generous person ~ I won’t mention their name ~ delivered a box of condoms. That’s very thoughtful. Thank you.

My friend redesigned her blog. She’s hosting a celebratory giveaway. She rocks my socks and I’m tempted to get in the car and drive to Virginia Beach tonight to hug her neck.

I finished reading an e-book on my Kindle late Tuesday night (morning) and at 3:42am (GASP!) I realized I was reading 50 Shades ….book two … for the third time. Oh, Christian Grey.

Husband and I have gone to the gun range twice in two weeks to “shoooooooot summmthin.”
Actually, we’re shooting paper targets. But we act like nerds by using funny voices when talking about guns, ammo, and target practice. It’s a blast.

I’m going to Washington, D.C. next week.

Let me set the scene for you: I’m in my car with the windows down and the radio LOUD. At a red light, I’m singing a Jason Aldean song really LOUD. A truck pulls up beside me with its windows down too. The driver tunes his radio to the same station and cranks the volume up LOUD. I acknowledged our mutual likeness for country music finery with a nod and quickly sped away in my 4-cylinder Camry. Speedy McSpeedy, baby! Wait, was that guy flirting with me? ~OR~ do we both have great taste in music? ~OR~ was he trying to disguise my voice? Things that make you go HMMMMM.

I’m begging Husband for *TWO* Basset Hound puppies … name them Hatfield and McCoy.

This week, I joined a blogging network specifically for Southern Bloggers. HOLLA!

I will begin a blogger’s button swap on July 1. This is exciting stuff for someone who knows NOTHING about the inner-workings of a blog site and has zilch-zero-nada talent in the graphic design department. My button is really simple. BUT it was made using Photoshop. Import a picture ~ add a text box square ~ edit the font ~ VOILA! I know, my skillz are crazy-mad.

I am a comment-holic. I really like when people comment on my Facebook posts, Twitter tweets, blog posts, anything ~ basically ~ where someone else leaves their feedback. I like that. I like the connection. I wish people commented more. I really feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I have comment notifications. How sad am I?!

So, friend, what’s new with you?

Of course, I ask that question in hopes you’ll leave a comment.

Tee. Hee. Hee.

Boom. Boom. Pow. (our visit to the range)

It’s pretty obvious I’m a country girl. I go barefoot more than I wear shoes. I’m not afraid of sweat and hard work. I drink my iced tea sweet and Jason Aldean is my boyfriend, I mean a good singer. I also like shooting firearms. Now, before we get all technical, I haven’t a clue about the names and calibers and fancy-schmancy descriptions. Growing up, I went to the fields with my Dad to bird hunt, played around on the skeet range, and, nowadays, I enjoy shooting high-powered target rifles with him. I couldn’t tell you the name, model, or caliber of any gun I’ve shot … even if my life depended on it. I aim. I fire.

Husband and I have been talking about purchasing a set of hand guns. After lunch (the place with chicken sandwiches and dairy cows in their commercials …. yeah, that one!), we stopped at a range that’s down the road (literally … it’s less than a mile from the house) to check their prices and for me to look at guns. My hands, as hard as this is to believe, are really small. I held a dozen guns before I found one that was comfortable. After talking to the gun shop / range owner, we rented a lane and shot one of the guns in his case. It was a Ruger MarkIII 22. The picture below is close, except the one we shot had a “suppressor” to make the “boom boom pow” quieter.

Now, let me remind you that I have ZERO experience shooting hand guns. I’ve fired one ONCE (about a month ago) and it was nothing to write home about. It was louder than I expected and I wish I had worn ear protection. (Lesson learned and that won’t happen again. Promise.) Anyway, when Husband and I were ready to shoot this Ruger MarkIII, I wore ear muffs AND ear plugs. I’m a double-protection kind of gal, if ya know what I mean. (tee hee hee)

The first few shots with the Ruger were pitiful, to say the least. But I calmed down, relaxed a bit, and my aim improved.

I should also mention that there was a guy in the lane next to us who had a gun that sounded like a Civil War cannon. Every time that thing fired, my insides shook. No exaggerating!!!!

Husband came out of the gates shooting like he was Mister Sniper. This was obviously NOT his first time shooting a hand gun. In fact, he loaded the clip and fired away. Tap! Tap! Tap! and he was done. Good gracious.

We shot a total of 50 rounds (or shots) and, of course, the last 10 were competitive. Husband and I can’t tie our shoe-strings without making an incentive out of it. I loaded the clip with my five shells and concentrated really hard. REALLY hard. My family’s name was on the line here, for goodness sakes!

Before I show you mine, here are Husband’s final five shots at the target:

And now, let the winner of the *Boom-Boom-Pow-Pow Shoot-Out* please stand up:

cue the celebratory music, please

Granted, I was a little all over the place. *HOWEVER* I had two shots inside the smaller white target area.

Husband has already begun the search to purchase our own Rugers AND challenged me to another shoot-out. Bring it on, buddy.

Bring.

It.

On.

Sincerely,

P.S. I’ll be in Waco this week at Annual Conference for the Central Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. I’m the Young Adult Lay Representative from Joshua. I’m excited and will definitely be on social media as much as I can. If you are on Twitter, follow me.
For updates on church business, use the official hashtag #ctcac2012.

my speakers are going boom-boom {what’s playin’ on my stereo}

Ashley (at Steel Magnolias & Sweet Tea) recently posted a list of her current favorite tunes. She inspired me to create my own, which coincidentally, is very similar. We might be sweet-tea-drinking-sisters-from-another-mother because our taste in music and sweet liquid beverages is finer than frog hair.

I love getting in the car, turning on the radio, and cranking the volume up real loud. I really like the windows down and I normally drive faster than all posted signs – ahem, forget those last words.

Husband got in my car yesterday to open the hood and change the oil (he’s the greatest guy ever!) and when he turned the ignition, the radio BLASTED real loud. I thought he was going to have a coronary. I got “the look” as he was turning the volume down.

Here they are ….. in no particular order ….. my current favorite tunes:

• Fly Over States ~ Jason Aldean
• Drink On It ~ Blake Shelton
• Springsteen ~ Eric Church
• Mr. Know-It-All ~ Kelly Clarkson
• Better Than I Used To Be ~ Tim McGraw
• Good Girl ~ Carrie Underwood
• Drunk On You ~ Luke Bryan
• 5-1-5-0 ~ Dierks Bentley
• No Hurry ~ Zac Brown Band
• Rock Star ~ Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw
• Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) ~ Kelly Clarkson
• Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck ~ Kip Moore
• Let The Cowboy Rock ~ Ronnie Dunn

There you have it. My current favorite country tunes and what causes my speakers to go boom-boom and my toes to tap-tap. If anyone wants to take a ride with the windows down, radio loud, and sip sweet tea (or a snow cone …. whatever makes your skirt fly up), you let me know and I will pick you up!!!!!!

While you’re here, enter the *GIVEAWAY* for a set of goodies from Margaret Feinberg. Hurry, contest ends Sunday, June 3.

Enjoy your day, Y’all!!!!!!!

Nicole