101 in 1001: #24 Plant a Garden.

We had visions of our garden before we even knew we would be able to plant one. The sun would be shining as we picked carrots from the soil. I would probably be wearing a super cute sun hat while Rosie ran around chasing butterflies. ...

Let's be real. We planted our garden with much gusto. We were SO excited. Our neighbor offered up this little plot of soil between our houses, and we just knew we would be feasting on green beans and spinach and peppers in no time. Until the bunnies started eating everything, including the one tiny little strawberry we were completely smitten with. Until we realized we hadn't watered the garden for a week. Until I got so busy, I completely forgot we even had a garden (for proof, see picture below of our basil plant in May and then in September).

Yesterday, we discovered our garden again and realized we had some carrots. Except that we forgot to thin the carrots out, so they ranged from hugely short and squat (kind of resembling a sumo wrestler) to the most minuscule, inedible things you've ever seen. You better believe we'll be eating those carrots though.

One day, I want to tend to a garden just like the one at Lucky's. I would love to grow my own wildflowers that I can pick for vases and be completely self sufficient when it comes to summer vegetables. I'm hoping that our neighbor isn't silently cursing us and already making plans to ban us from the garden next season. Because I really would love to try again. :)

101 in 1001: #55 Get a New Car.

I'm going to be completely honest. When my parents bought me my very first car seven years ago, I wasn't very excited about it. It sounds so, so selfish (and it is), but I had my heart set on a Volkswagen Beetle. I wanted that cute, little car so bad and instead I got a Nissan Sentra, which I later dubbed "Nancy."

Turns out, Nancy and I did everything together. In those seven years, I was in college and then I got a job where I commuted two hours back and forth each day. We formed a bit of a bond, and I ended up loving her.

Recently, however, she'd been a bit sick. Rust spots aside, I'd racked up nearly 200,000 miles driving her all over creation and stuff was starting to go wrong, so we knew it was time to replace her. :(

Enter my new Volkswagen Jetta. :) I don't know what my obsession is with Volkswagen but I've always had my heart set on one, and with the amazing gas mileage the diesel Jetta gets it kind of made it a no-brainer (except it wasn't a no-brainer at all; it was the most stressful day of my life. I am the world's worst haggler. Thank goodness Nathan was there to help me).

Now I need a name for my new car! Can you please help me?? She's a girl of course, and I feel like she's a little trendy and edgy. Maybe something with a "J?" Nathan's been calling her "Black Beauty," but I'm still tossing ideas around. Sound off in the comments section below!

101 in 1001: #15 Create our Wedding Album.

Well, a year and a half later we finally have a wedding album! :D Considering it took me this long to get our photos off a disc, I'd say I'm not the model photographer, BUT it definitely taught me first-hand how important albums are. Over the last year and a half, if I wanted to look at our wedding photos I would go to Amanda's blog post or my personal one. How lame is that?? It's a lot more gratifying to hold our soft, leather album in my hands and physically flip through the pages. If you ever come over to my house, I will probably shove this thing in your face because I'm so excited about it.

And some of my favorite spreads inside ...

Our wedding day was a bit of a blur but a little bit comes back each time I flip through the sturdy pages of our album. I'm so thankful to have the day preserved between the soft, gray leather.

101 in 1001: #26 Find My Photography Style.

A couple weeks ago, I was updating my website portfolio and I came to this realization. All my photos went together. They were consistent. They had a similar look and feel. I did a little dance around the room because I knew I had officially found my photography style.

When I wrote "find my photography style" on my 101 in 1001 list, I knew it was a tad ambiguous. I mean, there's just no measurable way to find your style, and I figured if I was lucky then MAYBE I would be happy with where I was at when my 101 list ended.

But over the past few months, I kept hearing myself telling Nathan, "I really like this photographer's work but his style is just so different than mine." Or, "If a bride tells me she wants dramatic lighting, I should send her to this photographer because I'm just not drawn to dramatic lighting." I knew these things all along, of course, but I was finally finding the courage to say out loud, "You know what? My style of photography is not for everyone. And I'm OK with that."

My photography style will continue to evolve as I continue to work in this industry, but the most important thing is to stay true to myself. To know what I like, what I want to create, what types of couples I am drawn to. If I know all of that and am brave enough to say no to the work that just doesn't fit my brand, well, I think I will be on to something.