Laura. Pick your favs

My friend Laura called me up on Saturday and asked if I would take some head shots of her. She has joined a Christian dating website and needed some current pictures of herself. I was thrilled to be asked! We were suppose to be in Atlanta this past weekend and I was suppose to be taking newborn shots of my newest nephew but Mr. Benton didn't show up until Thursday afternoon so his Aunt Kiss (thats what my niece Kinley calls me) won't be able to get his newborn shots in until the weekend after Labor Day. Anyhoo I digress. So, I was in the mood for a photo shoot this weekend and was glad I could help Laura out.

Sunday after church, Kid City, a photography meet up and a shoot in downtown Raleigh, I headed over to Laura's place. We started out at her apartment and took a few. I then left and went to Crabtree Valley Mall so that I could be my husband's personal stylist because God forbid I give him a picture of what my bridesmaid flowers will look and expect him to come up with a shirt and tie on his own. Oops- I digress again. Then went back to Laura's and we did a few shots at Lake Lynn.

It was an extremely busy day- I worshipped at the best church in Raleigh, loved on some 9 year old girls, learned a lot about black & white photography, helped my husband get an appropriate shirt & tie for KaRobbie's wedding this weekend and even helped a friend out.

So here are the pics. Lets do it like we did when I was in my photography class. I'll number each picture. Leave me a comment and give me your favorite pics. She needs one for her head shot so make sure you tell me what your #1 pic is. And then 2 or 3 other pictures to add to her profile.

1.

From Laura Grimsley

2.
From Laura Grimsley

3.
From Laura Grimsley

4.
From Laura Grimsley

5.
From Laura Grimsley

6.
From Laura Grimsley

7.
From Laura Grimsley

8.
From Laura Grimsley

9.
From Laura Grimsley

10.
From Laura Grimsley

11.
From Laura Grimsley

Alright- get to picking!

P.S. We'll be in western New York for the wedding of Kaleena and Robbie (a.k.a. KaRobbie). Todd & I leave on Friday morning. This will be my 12th time to be a bridesmaid- don't know how this has happened. Wedding is on Saturday. After we marry Kaleena off, we'll be headed to Skaneateles, NY to visit with my old roomie and bestest friend Geraldean. Haven't seen her and her girls in awhile so it will be nice to hang out with them.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!
Candice

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I'm a blog stalker

Ok- I have a confession. I have a new blog that I'm stalking thanks to Pinterest. If you haven't checked Pinterest out please do- it's awesome. Click here

Ok- so my new blog stalk is by a LOCAL hairdresser. Her name is Kate and she is fabulous. She's into hair, cooking, crafts that she sells on Etsy, Do It Yourself things and she loves the Pioneer woman, Ree Drummond. I came across her blog- Its the Small Things last week. I've pretty much been stalking it every day since then. I just love this girl and I'm pretty sure if we met, we'd be BEST friends! I have watched EVERY single tutorial she has and I am in love with her hair. She channels Reese Witherspoon while I channel Carrie Underwood but I've got to say, her hair is GORGEOUS!

She did a tutorial today were she she teasing her hair for what I like to call the 'Texas poof' and my heart almost stopped. I love teased hair. I love poofs! I think she must be from Texas. I'm telling you we are destined to be friends.

Anyhoo- the reason why I share this with you is
1.) Because I love her and I want to share her with the ones I love
2.) She recommended Aquage uplifting foam that you can only be ordered online (believe me I've already checked all the places around here). I'm putting in a order this week and wondered if anybody needs some uplifting foam??? If so, leave a comment or email me at candiceacraig@gmail.com and we'll get you hooked up!

This is my favorite post on her blog where she describes the products that she uses on a daily basis. Click here (And yes I have picked up every single item on the list besides Aquage but thats coming soon!)

Sorry no pics today but there are some coming tomorrow.
Love ya,
Candice

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What a week in TX looks like

I'm warning you in advance: This is a LONG post with LOTS of pictures because we had a LONG week with TONS of stuff to do while we were in Texas.

Last Sunday, Todd & I flew into Dallas, TX. My sister's new in-laws threw them a reception/party as a celebration since they got married alone in the mountains of Arkansas this past December. This is my sister & my brother-in-law Scott. This picture was taken last Thanksgiving and my mom just got the pictures from the photographer who took them. I absolutely love this shot of Nichole & Scott.

From Thanksgiving_Pro

This is my sister & her new in-laws (thanks again to the Thanksgiving pictures). We love the McDonald family. They're kinda crazy like us and they threw a great party with a live swing band and lots of dancing.
From Thanksgiving_Pro

I wish I had better pictures from their party but I was too busy dancing away.
From Collages

On Monday, we said goodbye to Nichole, Scott & the McDonald's and drove 4 hours to College Station, Texas- the home of Texas A&M (the only real school in TX. Sorry BF!). My brother is a senior at A&M this year and I wanted to show Todd around my old stomping grounds. Jonathan & I got to stand in front of the giant size Aggie Ring for a cool photo op.
From Texas_Aug2011

Then it was off to the Alumni Association & a visit to Kyle Field. (Doesn't my husband look thrilled?)
From Texas_Aug2011
From Texas_Aug2011

Then it was to the famous Dixie Chicken for some Shiner Bock beer and a little pool for the guys.
From Collages

From Texas_Aug2011

After a very full day, we drove another 3.5 hours back to the ranch and I think we were home by 11pm that night. whew! Day 2 down.

Day 3 consisted of a little party prep around the ranch for TACO BELL NIGHT. My mom knows Todd loves Taco Bell so she made everything Mexican that she knows how to make. She also invited several of my cousins and it soon became baby central. There were 3 babies born in a matter of 2 months. My cousin Jessica had Evie about 6 months ago.
From Texas_Aug2011

Several weeks later, Evie's cousin, Harper Grace, arrived on the scene.
From Texas_Aug2011

And days later, my cousin Katina gave birth to Sadie Victoria.
From Texas_Aug2011

We also played a little game of cornhole that night. Cornhole is an unknown in TX so Todd & I showed them what we do up "north". Only thing was- my cousins Jeremiah & Jessica ended up showing us how to play.
From Collages

This marks this 2nd time Todd & I have lost at cornhole recently. (Guess we need to put it back in our driveway and practice a bit?) I was sure that we would win so I had a trophy waiting for the "winners". Unfortunately we lost but Todd still got his "Husband of the Year" trophy. (See the last post if you don't understand what this is)
From Texas_Aug2011

Wednesday was boys & girls day. Todd, Rodney & Jonathan woke up at 4am and headed to Louisiana for some gulf coast fishing. They apparently caught a ton of fish but didn't happen to snap one picture of the experience. (sounds fishy!). While they were having their boys time, I was with my mom and her 2 best girlfriends for a girls day of fabric shopping. Yep, you heard me FABRIC shopping! My mom & her friends are quilting now so we drove 2 hours to "fabric heaven" to get material for Todd & I a 5 year wedding anniversary quilt. (Apparently it takes 3 years to make it so she wanted to pick out the fabric now) After all that exciting fabric hunting, we had a fabulous lunch at a seafood restaurant near Kemah, TX. Here's my mom & her crazy sidekicks Aunt Tammy & Paula. Love them!
From Texas_Aug2011

Thursday was the fish fry from the catch the day before. Again, we had people over and my parents fried up some fish, hushpuppies & french fries. But none of that was exciting as the company we had. The huge hit at the party where my friend Amanda's kids. She had a 3 year old daughter, Madilynn AND 16 month old twins- Payton & Hannah.
From Texas_Aug2011

They had a great time playing at our house. But their favorite part was bathtime. My mom put them in her big 'ol bathtub and they had a ball. I hope Amanda doesn't mind that I'm sharing these naked pictures of her children but I think they're SO stinkin cute.

From Texas_Aug2011

From Collages

Friday was my favorite day- lunch at my MawMaw's. I don't have one picture from that lunch. I chose to put my camera away and I just enjoyed the afternoon. My mom cooked Chicken N Dumplings and people stopped by MawMaw's cottage (a.k.a. the barn she now lives in since Hurricane Ike destroyed her hosue) during their lunch breaks. I got to see most of my aunts and several cousins. I loved that time! I love my big ol crazy Cajun family!

And if all that wasn't enough excitement, Friday night we ended the trip with a new baby born. One of Rodney's heifer's gave birth to a little calf. PapPaw called about 8p that night and said that we were about to have a baby. So we hopped in the truck and headed down to the pasture. It was a beautiful Texas night.
From Texas_Aug2011

I have never seen a calf being born so I was excited. We got in the field and had to find the heifer because she had separated herself from the other cows. We waited around until it turned dark but she still hadn't had the baby (even though we could see the calves feet hanging out the mama's backside- I'll spare you those pictures). The heifer was NOT happy we were there so we left and went back to MamMaw & PapPaw's for a drink. 30 minutes later we came back with the truck and a few flashlights to find this- just minutes old.
From Texas_Aug2011

Saturday before we left, we checked on the new calf. She was learning to nurse and looked like she was doing really well. Now, it was time to name her. My mom usually does all the names and so she used Todd & I's cornhole team name- TANDICE. Don't think I have ever had a cow named after me. Actually now that I'm looking at this picture of Tandice sucking her mama's teats I wonder if my mother was trying to say something??????????
From Texas_Aug2011

Exhausted yet??? Well, so are we! A few more pics of the animals on the farm.
A donkey they can't give away. I can't tell if this is Laverne or Shirley. Whoever it is - its about to be gone. My parents are trying to give the donkeys away because hay isn't growing in the pastures b/c of the drought and the donkeys are eating up all the food that is needed for the cattle.
From Texas_Aug2011

Somebody with a drooling problem.
From Texas_Aug2011

A pretty girl.
From Texas_Aug2011

And some T-Bone that will taste yum yum good on my plate very soon.
From Texas_Aug2011

We had a great time! Its always good to be home. This trip was long & exhausting but worth it.

And I leave you with the Levins' ranchers. 4 of my favorite people- Rod, Mom, PapPaw & MamMaw. There truly is NO place like home!
From Texas_Aug2011

P.S. Thats my PapPaw who we just found out has prostate cancer. If you think about, will you lift him up in prayer as he starts his radiation treatments next week?! He's still kicking the ranching life at 84 but he has definitely slowed down. We all kinda like him so want him to be around for a bit longer. Thanks!
Love,
Tandice (the couple, not the calf)

Here's the entire thing if you've got a few minutes-
Texas_Aug2011

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Alison Krauss & Husband of the Year

Hello blog! Man, its been a long time since I've blogged. I apologize to my devoted blog followers- a.k.a. Victoria! Its been even longer since I picked up my camera. July was a completely exhausting month and I'm so glad all the activities,all the stress & all the attacks from Satan are over! I'm ready for the fall to be here- a new season (and much cooler weather).

We have a HUGE praise to share- Todd has kept his job at Cisco! Cisco layed off 6,500 people last week but God was FAITHFUL! God showed us his favor on us and we are forever grateful.

Lots of things have been going on since I've blogged last but I just want to share with you what we did on Thursday night. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm a HUGE country music fan and I love live concerts. I love summer because of all the concerts we can attend. I start in the early spring, get all the schedules and then map out who I'm (we now) are going to see. This year there was somebody special on that list- ALISON KRAUSS & THE UNION STATION. I had seen Alison a few years ago when she was touring with Robert Plant and it was one of the best concerts I had ever been to. An Allison Krauss concert isn't your typical redneck, screaming and hollin' kind of concert. Its more low key. More laid back and you just sit there stunned at how she sing like an absolute angel! To me- its a preview of heaven!

So I thought it was a no brainer when I bought the tickets. I though surely my husband would want to go. Boy, was I wrong! He told me from the very beginning that he wasn't a fan of hers and that he wouldn't mind if I asked other people to go. Weird, but ok. So I asked several of my friends. Even tried to convince my friend Geraldean to come to NC cause she loves Alison too! Nobody could make it. I even called my hairdresser because I remembered she said she liked Alison- nope, had to work. So Todd was stuck. I'd thought he'd just be real sweet like he always is and take one for the team. It took some convincing but he finally agreed to go.

So Wednesday, I'm sitting at my desk and an email comes through from Todd. He asked me if I had seen the front page of WRAL (our news station) this morning. I'm thinking its some big news about the economy. To my shock, I read this. Be sure to read the small caption-

From Alison Krauss

How does this man come up with these things? Husband of the Year? How did he impose his picture and that caption on a WRAL website and make it look real? My answer- I have NO idea. Guess they're kinda slow at Cisco since the layoff huh? I spit water on my scream from laughter and I think I peed my pants a little when I saw it. Note to self: If your husbands emails make you spit & pee on yourself- its a good sign you married the right person or that you're really old.

Anyhoo- here a few pics from the night. They're not that great- I had my iPhone and my point & shoot camera (that I have forgotten how to use). I have to mention that we were SECOND row. Amazing! Thats what you get when you buy the ticket within 30 seconds of them going on sale.

From Alison Krauss
From Alison Krauss
From Alison Krauss
From Alison Krauss
From Alison Krauss
From Alison Krauss

So before the concert, I prepped Todd on what his response would be after the concert. These were the things he was suppose to say-
"You're right Candice, Alison is awesome! Thank you so much for making me go. I'm sorry I resisted"
"You're so wise my sweet loving wife. I will ALWAYS listen to your wise council and not put up a fight"
"You were right. I was wrong. I trust you with all of our concert plans"
"She does sing like an angel. I'm so thankful to you for making me step out of the box, do something different!"

So Friday morning, this was the headline of the WRAL news-
From Alison Krauss

He's hysterical, I know! And he obviously has too much time on his hands.

Here's a little video of my FAVORITE Alison song. If you click on the picture it will take you to the video.
From Alison Krauss

We're headed to TEXAS tomorrow morning for a week. We've got a lots of parties, people to see and lots of cattle/farm work to be done. So there will be pictures to come.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Love,
Candice

P.S. Don't tell Todd but I totally had a trophy made for him "HUSBAND OF THE YEAR". He gets it while we're in TX. He'll love it!

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