Photo of the Day: Your Moment of Zen

This zen pile of rocks was sitting along the banks of one of the rivers running through the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.  Austin and I stopped to take some photos and discovered a whole group of these little towers.  Very zen, loved it.

Photo of the Day: Mossy Spokes

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I've posted photos taken in Tennessee before, and this one goes with that collection :o)  This was taken on a hike in the Smoky Mountains with Austin on one of our trips down there.  I love moss, always have.  I used to find a patch of it while playing outside somewhere and make up entire worlds that lived within it.  I LOVED this tree and the way the branches were 'spoking' out from the trunk.  The moss, of course, sealed the deal for me!

Photo of the Day: Solid as a Rock (Wall)

Today's photo was taken in Lynchburg, TN at the Jack Daniels Distillery.  Those of you who know my work know I like close ups of random objects... my brother and I used to get these science magazines as kids and my favourite one featured a close up macro photo of something and you had to guess what it was.  I almost never got it right but I thought it was so cool how you could get so close to something that you didn't even recognise it for what it was... life lessons eh?

Anyhow I like stonework and this wall was no exception, I loved the texture of it, and the curve that the fish eye gives to it as well.

Photo of the Day: Coal Play

This photo was taken in Lynchburg, TN at the Jack Daniels Distillery.  We went on a tour a couple of years ago on a Nashville trip.  I took a bunch of photos (shocker, I know) and this was a personal fave.  I've said before that I love a good afternoon sun, and when you give me a heap of coal to shoot in light like that?  Happiness :o)

Photo of the Day: Flight of Light

Austin and I love Gatlinburg, TN.  We usually make it there at least once a year, and this photo was taken downtown along the creek that runs through the town.  My family has a soft spot for blue herons so I was really excited to capture this guy taking off from his perch on a rock in the water.  I particularly love the way the light catches some of the movement in the wings.

Photo of the day

I love finding plants growing out of places that you just wouldn't expect. I shot this at Little Pigeon River in Gatlinburg TN on one of my & Austin's many trips down there. The light was playing off the leaves to make them so bright and cheery, like it could care less that it was having to force it's roots through solid rock in order to find water! I also loved the surface of the rocks that had been worn so smooth by the water over time... provided lovely texture and shadow play.

Photo of the day

So I don't even like Jack, but we took a tour of the Jack Daniels' Distillery in TN last summer. One of the last rooms had this floor to ceiling lit display which was super cool. I liked the way this shot turned out, it's got pretty colours :o) Even if you're not a drinker, I highly recommend the tour, it was fun and our guide was very knowledgeable and very entertaining.

We're Engaged!!!!!

That's right y'all, he asked me to marry him!!!!!!!! It's been just over a week and I'm still grinnin' like a fool...! :o) Since most everyone keeps asking the same questions I'll try and capture some of the essentials here so you can get the whole scoop :o)

WHO: Austin Scott Thorp & Rachel Elizabeth van Rossum
We've been dating for nearly 4 years, I met Austin at a family church camp and we hit it off right away... we hung out a lot and started dating a few months later and we've been pretty inseparable ever since... Austin is a musician who not only won my heart but won me over to country music... a genre I had no tolerance for before I met him... but I love his sound and it's been a real adventure learning to be a part of the music industry!

WHEN & WHERE: Friday 17 April 2009, evening- the Berkley Front (Berkley, MI)

HOW: here's the story kids!
Austin was a part of this great gig that his mandolin player Ben had coordinated. There were several artists performing and this girl was on stage before Austin went on. He and I were just hanging out in the back of the room dancing and sitting at the bar chatting. He was really impressed with the girl on stage and said "She should play at our wedding!" Well, he and I say things like that all the time and it means nothing... so I was like "yeah ok great... just as long as you ask me before you ask her!" Later we were sitting at the bar and he said the same thing, so I responded in the same way. He turned around, looked me right in the eye and said "will you marry me?" ... to which I responded "are you kidding me??" (yes I actually said that!) he said "no, I'm serious" and I said "don't mess with me... you do NOT joke about this...!" ... and so we went back and forth a few times, me being convinced he was not actually proposing to me... it wasn't until he said "well, I don't have a ring..." that I went "Oh my god you're serious!!!! Of course!!! Yes!!!!"

It was amazing... I kept asking him all night "really?? we're engaged??" even the next morning! :o)

We decided to keep it quiet until we could tell our parents at the same time (they love each other and all get along really well) so I manipulated everyone into getting together for dinner. The soonest we could get everyone together was Tuesday night so I was basically flipping out for 4 days waiting to tell my folks... it's amazing I didn't make myself sick! We got everyone to meet in Ferndale at a place called Maria's Front Room (or something like that). It was this amazing little Italian place that couldn't have been more perfect for our announcement. We managed to control ourselves and let our folks catch up a bit before I made Austin spill the beans... I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to eat if we hadn't told them yet, as it turned out I barely ate even afterward! :o) So we're sitting there and Austin says "well there's a reason we wanted everyone to be here together tonight... I asked Rachel to marry me and bought her a ring..." Donna (Austin's mom) started crying and jumped out of her chair to run over and hug him, my mum said "are you kidding?!" and grabbed my hand... and our dads both started grinning. It was awesome. hugs and congratulations and smiles all around and then came the questions and the suggestions and the random giggles and smiles... it was fantastic!

The Ring: Austin and I had gone out ring shopping Monday night and actually ended up walking out of the store with a ring. I had expected it to be a longer process, checking many stores, price shopping a ton, and making sure we had really found the perfect ring... turns out we found it in 40 minutes :o) We bought it at Rogers & Hollands and just had a phenomenal experience. We even had the perfect soundtrack! Every song that came on over the speakers while we were discussing the ring and making our decision was one we both loved... very cool... it was as if the stars had alligned. He bought me an incredibly beautiful ring, and we got it for 60% off so that made it even more amazing!! :o)

The Plans: Since both Austin and I still live at home we've decided to first take a look at our finances and our housing situation before we set a date for the wedding. In all reality I think we'll probably be setting a date within the next couple of months as we start a serious house hunt. Our goal is to make our wedding as stress free as possible... as I like to say: easy breezy beautiful! (I should copyright that, no? lol) We intend to make it as simple and comfortable as we can and just enjoy the whole process. The only 2 things we have absolutely settled on are: 1- we're getting married (I still am not used to hearing that!!!) and 2- my uncle Steve from TN is going to perform the ceremony. Whenever we go down to Nashville we stay with Steve & Cherry and Austin has stayed with them the times I haven't been able to go along. They've known me my whole life, so it was an easy decision for us because he knows both of us very well and has been a pivotal person in our relationship with each other.

New Blog Feature: So from now on, in addition to the Photo of the Day feature on this blog and the occasional non-photo related entry, there will now also be periodic wedding updates :o) That way friends and family can follow along with what's going on. :o)

In Conclusion: OMG I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! :oD YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

New Merchandise!

Yay!! My new note cards came in! I now have 2 lines of note cards for sale online featuring my photography. They come in packs of 10 with a unique photo on each card and are blank on the inside. There are two different series of note cards: Doors & Windows and Bridges. I have Flowers on the way but haven't gotten all of the merchandise in yet. If you want to order them, just add any photo in the album to your cart, then in the shopping cart page select "note cards (10 assorted)" in the product listing. They are $12 per pack (incl. s&h) and make great gifts ;o)

10% of all profits go to feed Detroit's Homeless, and the rest goes into my house fund so I can finally get my own place... so please buy lots and spread the link around so other people buy too! :o) I'm also willing to create customized series for you, so if you see other photos of mine you'd like to have made into note cards just let me know!

And now for today's Photo of the Day...

I took this photo in Gatlinburg, TN on my first trip there with Austin a few years ago. He was so excited to take me because his family had gone there on vacation every year for a week when he was growing up. His grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brother and parents would all trek down there and have a blast. We had an incredible weekend hiking, camping, hanging out in the arcades, and walking all over the town so Austin could show me all of the places he used to go and hang out and eat and play etc. etc. It was really cool to see him in an environment that held so many great memories for him! This heron was hanging out in the river that runs through the town and I just had to take a photo of him to share with my mum... as I was shooting him, he decided to fly away, and I managed to get some great action shots!