Hannah: Anytime

There have been a few times in recent months when I have begun to feel a little bit old. Now, I realize that I'm not old...but I'm not in that "just starting college fresh outta high school" age. Which is kinda sorta where my brain defaults to. So, when I was presented with the chance to shoot three amazing girls for their senior pictures I realized just how many years have passed since I was that "just starting college fresh outta high school" age. I. Felt. Old.

First up was Hannah Mae {okay so I have no idea if that's her middle name but that's what I think of whenever I look over her photos}. She came out with two of her closest friends Ashley, who will be hitting the blog tomorrow, and Laura, who will be up the day after that. Originally I was going to post all three of these marvelous girls together but I wanted to give them their own moment of diva-ness! So here is missy Hannah in all her fabulousness!

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

Shiny New Toys

FedEx is my Santa Claus. Seriously, when that little truck rolls up to a stop in front of my house, I feel like a little kid running down the stairs to the Christmas tree in the wee hours of the morning.

My favorite FedEx man recently delivered a monstrous box to my doorstep. Now, if he hadnt done this so late at night when I was home alone, my mind probably would never have wondered if there was a person hiding away in the box coming to kill me. Ah yes, arent I a rational human being? Anyways, once I got over my fear that someone would pop out of the box and opened it, VIOLA!

Andrew and I have been wanting to play with some serious lighting for awhile. But since we prefer to shoot in the great and beautiful outdoors in natural light, we didnt really see the need to invest in any of these bright and shiny new toys. BUT! We were mistaken! We're having so much fun with this lighting even if it has just been for our own look-at-the-adorable-little-Garland-puppy type use at the moment. Yes, she is our guinea pig and we love her.

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

Home Alone

I'm sure everyone has seen Home Alone. If you havent, I'm just gonna go ahead and say it - you're un-American! But that kid is seriously my hero. Growing up, my dad went out of town alot on TDYs. If you're a military brat like I am, you know that was grown up speak for "dad goes out of town for x amount of time and brings home presents." I hated it when my dad went out of town. Not that I'm dissing my mom but I just didnt feel as safe when my dad was away. Usually, I would have nightmares when we was gone or lay in bed at night listening to the house creak scared out of my mind. Once I could have sworn someone was standing on the other side of my bed. I was terrified to roll over and see for myself - I literally laid there thinking I was going to die. But, like all kids, I had a pretty overactive imagination.

As an adult I still probably have a fairly overactive imagination...but I'm not usually home alone often so I'm generally not given the chance to think that someone is trying to crawl down the chimney or squeeze in through the bathroom window. But when I am, I suddenly wish I had superhuman strength or some insane butt kicking ability to protect myself...and my little dog too! I go to some crazy lengths to ensure that if some crazy person tried to break in, I'd have my Home Alone style defense system ready. Andrew is convinced I just need a really big dog - to which I dont object. But until that big dog {whose name will be Oz} makes his appearance in our home, Kevin is my hero.

Dwell in Possibility....
Cassie

Thanksgiving

I have never baked a pumpkin pie in my life. Like, ever. I love to cook and all but I like to experiment...Ask Andrew, the majority of my cooking is a just-throw-that-in-there-and-see-what-happens kinda deal. And excuse me while I boast that in over two years of marriage, I've only had two really really really bad end results. One being a crock-pot jambalaya that we pretty much could have laid tile with and the other being a seriously undercooked whole chicken that made me want to become a vegetarian for awhile. Baking isnt usually something you can just experiment on. The recipe is kinda important there. So, since I'm hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year, I figured I'd better learn how to make a pumpkin pie.

Isnt it pretty! I seriously just want to eat it now and pretend it never existed when we're short a pie tomorrow.

Before I bid you all farewell until after the holiday {I'll be back and blogging on Monday, November 29th once I'm well rested from all this turkey!} I wanted to share something that we're doing at our house for Thanksgiving and invite you all to consider doing the same.

The NOW Campaign from Heart of the Bride on Vimeo.

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

Mesarchik Family: Anytime

I dont get to meet too many people from Andrew's work. Something about not being able to get on base because I'm a mere civilian or something like that. So, whenever I get to see Andrew interact with people from work, I become all quite and conservative and hit my people watching mode. Why? Because I'm curious! I want to know what Andrew's like at work; I'm curious what happens during those eight hours he's not home every day during the week. So when Andrew told me that a guy he works with wanted to take some family photos, I was all "gold mine!" I'm going to find out so much about you! Imagine my surprise when I was told that he's pretty much the same as always. Curses....why is my husband so darn constant!

Kevin and Cassie {heehee, I love meeting other Cassies!} have the most adorable little girl. Oh, she played shy with me for about half of the shoot. Something about a big black camera in your face seems to do that to the majority of the child population. But I think I won her over in the end...or at least, that's the story I'm sticking to!

Dwell in Possibility...
Cassie

Our Favorite Things: The Truth Project

I've re-written this post three times now. The first draft I wrote about five paragraphs. The second draft, only one. I'm still on the fence wondering if I should have put more of my heart out there in this post but I really want to let God speak rather than myself.

There are times in life when I go through ruts. Okay, so there are a lot of times in life when I go through ruts. Sadly, the ruts are self inflicted and I'm left pondering my guilt and punishing myself for being so well, to put it bluntly, lukewarm. While I would love to say that I wake up every morning and spend an hour in the word with my Father, I would be lying if I tried to say that. Someone once told me that church on Sunday's isnt supposed to be your main "meal". Church on Sunday should be that weekend splurge of going out to eat but that your main every day meals, the ones that keep you nourished, should be in your personal times with the Lord. Admittedly, I've been starving. Excuses pile up and I wind up looking at them in shame. Luckily, our Savior isnt about guilt and shame, pass or fail. He's about the relationship.

The Truth Project has become one of the main tools in my walk with the Lord lately. I've hit a rut of laziness in my walk and these videos and the truth of the Word of God are pulling me through. It's challenging everything about what I believe. It's breaking me down to the very core of my beliefs and verifying that what I believe is TRUTH. If you've never heard of the series, I would strongly suggest you find them on youtube or visit your church office and ask if you can buy them or rent them from your church library. They are some of the toughest, hard hitting, mind altering, preconceived notion shattering videos I've every watched. {Like how many descriptive words I used there?} So, while you may feel like your head is a spinning top after this, Our Favorite Thing? The Truth Project.

Kalyn and DJ: The Wedding

I stood outside the hotel room door and took a few deep breaths. I'm always terrified right before I walk into the bridal room. It's when I first see the bride on her wedding day - it's when the brides closest friends size you up, when you meet the mother of the bride. It's like passing through a fire. At least, thats what I feel in that moment before I knock on the door. Andrew will squeeze my hand, kiss me on the cheek, and knock on the door for me. And just like that, the flames and fears are gone.

It always surprises me when a bride answers the door on her wedding day. But there Kalyn stood, all smiles looking absolutely stunning. I loved the feeling in the room that day. Everything about the atmosphere was focused on Kalyn and DJ and their love and devotion to one another. As Kalyn took a deep breath standing there awaiting the moment she walked arm in arm down the aisle with two of the three closest men in her life, I paused. Here stood a girl surrounded by her very dearest friends and family. She looked absolutely amazing and she was ready to pledge her life to a man she loved.

Dwell in Possibility...

Cassie