A Slight Change of Plans...

Don't you love it when things don't go as planned?

The plan was to be celebrating our anniversary right now in Nashville. Seeing some local sights, going out to eat, staying at the Opryland Hotel... But alas, 1.5 hours into our drive home our car began overheating (which is what it was supposed to be fixed already) and we barely made it to a car place that was actually open before steam began billowing out of our hood as the heat needle (or whatever it's called) was quickly approaching the orange "H." Thanks to my amazing aunt and uncle, we have been rescued and are once again at their house. We are waiting for a full report, which we should get at any hour now... from there we will decide on what to do! *sighs*

Can't complain too much though! We are safe, have a warm bed to stay in, home cooked breakfast by the great Uncle Rich, and are going to a hockey game tonight! It's great that we run our own hours and don't work for an employer so there's not too much stress about being back 8 am Monday morning. Life happens - just have to make the best of it!

When life gives you lemons...

On the Road Again... Back to Nashville

Jenae gets a prize for being the ONLY one to share what she is thankful for (aw, thanks!)... Shame on the rest of you ;o)

Zach and I head home tomorrow. We actually had to drop our car off at the shop while in North Carolina (which is where Zach's thankfulness for mechanics came in) so we are praying our car is ready to go so we can make it back to Nashville with no further problems. Crazy American made cars... ;o)

We have enjoyed our time with family and we will post pictures very soon, but for now, we must get to bed for our drive home and then soon it will be our Special Anniversary Weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Day of Thanks...

Alright peeps! It's Thanksgiving - a day to take a moment and reflect on what we are thankful for (hence the name).

Zach is thankful for:
...Blow up Mattresses
...Car Mechanics
...My hot wife!

Jody is thankful for:
...Air mattresses
...Thanksgiving Day Parades on TV!
...a great job that she loves and is passionate about
...an amazing business partner and best friend (that would be Zach for those who were wondering)

What are you thankful for? Yes you - the one reading this! :)

Our Anniversary!... with Family :)

Thanks for everyone's anniversary congratulation comments! It's always fun reading the notes that you all post.

We got a few cards today from our family today.. :) The above card is from my (Jody's) Grandparents. The inside reads "You two make a pretty good team!" and they wrote "but we already know that." How appropriate for us... I feel so blessed to be with such a great guy who compliments me so well...

Today is not only our anniversary, but it's my Aunt Jody's birthday! Yes, her name is Jody as well. I was named after her! :) After dinner we all sung "Happy Birthday" to Aunt Jody and then "Happy Anniversary" to us... who knew there was an anniversary song that went to the tune of Happy Birthday!

We are having a nice time here in North Carolina. All of my mom's side of the family (minus 2 cousins and one uncle) has gathered for the holidays and it's great to be around family. As the years go by we all keep spreading out more over the US so it's nice to see everyone!

My cousin Sydney loves horses and today we took a couple shots as she exercised a horse she rides almost daily. I grew up loving horses, taking lessons, mucking out stalls for the fun of it (I know, I'm crazy) so it was fun to be around it all again. *sighs*

Enjoy your turkey day everyone!!!

The Best Husband in the Whole World!

Fall always means 3 things to us...

Colorful leaves

Thanksgiving

Our Anniversary!

Three years ago Zach and I got married Thanksgiving weekend and it seemed like a great idea at the time, BUT we always end up spending our anniversary with family! Lol. We love our families... it's just not necessarily the most romantic thing to do on your anniversary :)

Today we head out to spend Thanksgiving with family, and tomorrow we will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary... with Family. No worries - once we get back Zach and I have designated 2 days of celebration time just the two of us!

All that to say, Zach got up this morning for his weekly Tuesday AM men's devotional and he came home with these for me as an early Happy Anniversary!




The yellow stands for friendship and then the tips turn into red for love creating the vibrant colors or red, orange and yellow!



My favorite roses and chocolates! Aw, what a guy...

A Sneak Peek of Ashley & Trevor's Nashville Wedding!

We were hoping for Saturday's wedding that our bride Ashley would bring some of the California sunshine with her, but instead we got some nice and chilly Irish weather! The day was still beautiful with the remains of the fall season still lingering, and we now have another couple who have joined the Married Couples Club. :)

Congratulations!

Enjoy a few quick shots that we pulled out!




All the groomsmen rockin it!


Scarritt Bennett in downtown Nashville, TN makes for some awesome photo ops!

Mud + Stuck Jeep + Two Manly Men = Unstuck Vehicle!

We have this couple friend we were hanging out with the other night at Starbucks and the guy just happened to mention that he was out riding his jeep and got it stuck in a rut on some trails they were on. The rut was so deep that the mud came all the way up underneath the jeep burying the axle and no truck company in the Nashville area would come and tow him out! Zach, being the clean freak that he is, offered to get down and dirty and help dig it out in the morning...







No more truck..



After a wash in the lake...



*sighs*

This weekend we are shooting the wedding of Ashley & Trevor! Ashley hails from California and Trevor is from Ireland! The rehearsal will be our first time meeting Trevor and we are excited!

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Congrats Lee & Elisabeth!!!!!!!!!!!

We feel like we say this about all the couples we work with, but Lee & Elisabeth are truly an amazing and kind couple!! Their families were great to be around as well and we are soooooooo pumped that we were able to get to know them and be there for their wedding!

On Monday on their way to Barbados for their honeymoon we received this text from them, "Once again, u guys are phenomenal!!! Thanks for Everything. Love Lee & Elisabeth." These guys planned so much for their wedding and we are so excited that they are relaxing and enjoying the beach and all else that Barbados has to offer.








































You guys are the best!! Can't wait to see you when you get back!!

A few vendor Shout Outs:

The flowers & reception decor were done by Rhonda with Rhonda Patton Weddings!
The awesome cake was done by Signature Cakes by Vicki.

It Runs in the Family...

Ok, bloggers...

We were kind...

We were generous...

We shared what a great "blessing" it was to have Jody's sister Kelly and her friend stay with us...

BUT as Jody was looking around on Facebook, this is what we came across on Kelly's page!!!!


For those who are a bit unsure what you are looking at... this Is Jess & Kell in OUR living room, standing on our NICE couches, PICKING our noses on the EXPENSIVE canvas we have hanging on our wall! Shame...

Ok, it actually had us both laughing pretty hard... Now I know where Jody definitely gets her craziness from... it runs in the family...

(Speaking of FaceBook - for those of you who have it and aren't friends already, find us (well, Jody) under 'Jody Brouillet Gray')

Mission Accomplished: Studio Warming Party

What a great, busy weekend! So busy that after posting this blog we are taking the day off because we need some non-work time of hanging out! :)

Saturday we had the wedding of Lee & Elisabeth (photos coming!), and yesterday we had our studio warming party!! The 4 hour event started at 2 and it was great to see so many of you! Enjoy a couple photos... we also meant to take a photo of the front of the studio outside, but alas, you will have to do without!





As mentioned we had cute little cupcakes from Cakes By Shara!



Also look at these cute napkins provided by the awesome ladies at Williamson County Weddings and Events! Aren't they fun? I want to frame one or something but Zach won't let me ;o) And a thanks to the sweet Katie Brooks, one of our former brides, who came and brought additional food for us that she made!!



Thanks to all of you who came out - such a variety of people! Good friends, past brides, new brides, blog stalkers, people from when I (Jody) used to have a "real" job ;o), friends from 94 FM The Fish when I interned there 4 or so years ago, awesome wedding coordinators, other wedding vendors, and of course fellow photographer friends. For those who were unable to make it - we missed you!





A special thanks to my sister who was also in town with a friend - both desperately needing a break from college. Thanks for the coffee runs you girls made and all the help! It was nice having some other girls in the house to hang and be girly with! Thanks Cuties!




L to R: Jody, sister Kelly, awesome friend Jessica

Glad we were able to see so many of you yesterday! Enjoy your week!

A Jam-Packed Weekend!

We are soooooooooooooooo excited! Yes, yes, our studio warming party is on Sunday (see earlier blog for more details), but the studio party is not what we are referring to here!

Remember this couple who we blogged on a few months ago??









Well these guys are getting married tomorrow!! !! !!

Lee & Elisabeth are such a kind and fantastic, thoughtful couple and we are really, really looking forward to their wedding! They have been working so hard to make this day great and we cannot wait to document their day and tell their story!! Ahhhhhh! You guys are truly the best and we appreciate you!!!




PS. Oh, and we can't forget to mention that my (Jody) little sister is coming into town this weekend as well! Woo hoo! For those coming Sunday you might just get to meet her... :)