to you and yours

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Our Christmas card from 2011 with a few extra edits. 

until next time

santa baby {sunday sounds}

because it's that time of the year and in my most humble opinion the best santa baby out there. 

Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

until next time

Necessary Evils.

I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone again.  Always comes and goes way too quickly.  Why can't January and February (and March) go by as quickly?

I have already gone through the post Christmas hangover and slowly starting to look forward to what the new year has to bring.  With that being said, I would like to share with you our adventure to STL for Christmas.

Since I recently decided to quit my job with the airlines, our decision to spend Christmas in STL with my family was made a little late (like 1.5 weeks before Christmas late).  Needless to say the airfare was outrageous so we decided we would drive.  I mean we drove to FL this summer so we figured the 10 hrs 13 min (according to Google) would be a breeze.

Me excited for our 10+ hour road trip to Christmas, family and booze. 

Husband not so sure about NSYNC singing about happy holidays 

Well, as with most travel plans, it didn't work out how we planned.  We had just gotten my car (our chariot for the road trip) from the shop Saturday.  It needed inspected and 100+ wah wah wah done to it so we thought we were being good and responsible road trippers.  Until the obnoxious beeping that had been given us problems returned with it's "STOP car immediately" warning.  Like other times, we just ignored the warning because it seemed to be running smoothly.  It wasn't until we started a slight incline up the hill that poor Passat started to make a sound like we were hurting her.  We pulled over at the first rest stop we saw and parked the car.   As we pulled into the parking lot, Passat was starting to sound pissed.  So husband, pretending to know what he was looking for, lifted up the hood and quickly remembered he didn't know what he was doing called AAA. 

Thank goodness for smart phones and the iPhone's decent picture quality to keep us both entertained while we waited only 45 mins (which in AAA time is record breaking) for our tow to pick us up.  

I kept looking back and thinking "man, some asshole is really riding this guys ass" until I realized I was looking at my poor car that kept looking longly into our new ride sadly from the back.  

Luckily we purchased AAA before we headed down to FL over the summer and luckily we got the second best option which covered us for a free tow up to 100 miles away from the car garage of our choice.  We pulled over in a small town in OH (just 16 miles West of Wheeling, WV) 89.3 miles away from the garage.  Phew!  Anyway, we ended up catching a flight early the next morning thanks to my Dad and his points.  

We, and by we I mean husband, hasn't heard from the garage yet.  We are both hoping this does not mean the end for Passat.  She has been good to me over the past 120,000+ miles and I hope to experience a few more thousand with her before I have to say good-bye.  

Hope you had a nice holiday and drama free travel experience!  

Cheers!

Jacob and Family Christmas 2012

Here's Jacky.  The most adorable 2 year old I know.  Seriously.  So cute!  I met him at his home in Blackhawk to get photos for Christmas cards.  Like I mentioned in this post it was difficult to get a good image shooting a 2 year old with a slow shutter speed but still came away with some pretty good ones!  I have been wanting to photograph kids holding Christmas lights (oh hey Pinterest) but have been too afraid to ask parents if they would let me wrap their kids in lights.  I was thrilled when Mom suggested it!  Photo shoot bucket list - photograph kid in lights: check.

Thanks guys for letting me come into your home to photograph your adorable son!  As always, it was a pleasure.  I'll take any excuse I can get to see y'all and hang out with Jake:)

Amelia Christmas 2012

It's Thursday!!!  You know what that means?  Nothing really.  Just one day closer to the weekend:)

Today I would like to share with y'all some of my favorite photos from a photoshoot a few weeks ago.  Amelia has the perfect little face and amazing blue eyes!  She was seriously a great sport.  I am always amazed by little ones who actually sit long enough to take a photo.  I mean I know how hard that can be for me sometimes.  And please check out her cute little dress.  Doesn't her mom she have the best style?

Speaking of her mom, see that adorable headband ?  Mom MADE it!  Mom and I went to college together and she was always the crafty one.  I always knew she would make a great elementary school teacher and an even better Mom one day.  Impressed like I am?  Check out Mom's Etsy shop here and her Facebook Fan Page here to order your own handmade bows, headbands, diaper covers, etc.  Mom, like Amelia, is seriously one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet.

Without further adieu...

Hope you enjoyed them!  

Hope your week hasn't been too stressful.  Cheers to it almost being the weekend!!!  

I feel it in my toes.

I love Christmas.  Everything about it.  The smells, buying gifts, spending time with family, etc.  However, I refuse to do anything Christmasy until Thanksgiving is officially over.  In fact, I have even have a hard time getting really excited for Christmas until Dec. 1st.  I won't even allow myself to watch Elf or Love Actually until after Thanksgiving (and if you know me at all you can appreciate how hard this is for me).  

So for this Music Monday music themed blog post I would share with you what songs I jam to during the holidays via YouTube. 

1) Justin Bieber ft Boys II Men - Fa La La (Acapella)

2) Olivia Olsen - All I Want For Christmas Is You

3) Billy Mack - Christmas Is All Around 

4) Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone - Baby It's Cold Outside 

5) Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

6) Jars Of Clay - Little Drummer Boy

7) Amy Grant - Grown Up Christmas List

8) Louis Armstrong - Cool Yule

9) Thurl Ravenscroft - You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch 

10) Jody Marshall - Carol of the Bells

I hope my temporary lapse of musical taste has not detered you from reading further music themed posts.  I promise I will get better:)

Hope everyone is having a great December celebrating with your loved ones! 

xoxo,

Alyson

Breathe.

This week has been one of those weeks of being crazy busy but not the good kind of busy.  The kind of week where I barely had time to breathe.  I recently started a PT job with American Eagle Airlines as a Ramp Agent - which I learned is just a fancy name for someone who cleans the planes.  I worked two shifts from 5am-2 or 3 then started my (and what will be my normal schedule) night shift of 630-1 (or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5.  All depending when everything gets done) last night.  Like with every job, starting and trying to remember everything that you have been taught is uber stressful.  I do not want to be that employee who everyone refers to as the "idiot new hire."  Not how I want to be known.  But alas  I am a new hire and will make some mistakes but once I make the mistake I know I will learn quickly how to remedy it.

Anywayyyy, that is why I have been absent from the blogging world all week.  And before you think I am complaining after only working 3 shifts all week I also nanny for two adorably hilarious girls Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  So see, crazy busy.  Now that I have a schedule figured out and know it will work out and have a better idea of what I am going to doing hopefully this week will be less stressful.

Now, to figure out where we are going first...:)

Since today was my first day off, husband and I went down the street and grabbed ourselves our Christmas tree.  I can smell it all the way up the stairs in the man room.  Mmmmmmm lovely!  Since I am not participating in this weeks Scavenger Hunt Sunday:( I will leave you with a few photos of our tree so far:)

Sneak Peek - Jacob

This cutie (even though you can only see his back side) is a re-occurring photography subject for me.  I love being able to spend time with him and his family.  It has been so great to see him grow up over the last 2 years.  He is seriously the sweetest, cutest, funniest 2 year old I know. 

And he was such a sport!  Seriously!!!  Since I was indoors and wanted to really get the ambiance of Christmas in this shoot I had to use my tripod and a really slow shutter speed.  In order for me to get photos of him that weren't blurry I asked him to stay super still for me.  And he did!  Something you really can't say about most 2 year olds.  

Without further adieu,

Isn't Christmas through a child's eyes one of the sweetest things ever?

Sneak Peek - Amelia

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend some time with a dear friend from college, her husband and her adorable little girl, Amelia.  Amelia is 21 months and already talking up a storm!  And she has the sweetest little voice.  She did such a good job listening and posing pretty much anyway we asked her.  Unheard of for most 21 month olds.  

I look forward to sharing more in the next week or two.  Just wait till you see her dress and shoes!  

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday!  

Christmas in STL

I know, I know... it's been more than a month since Christmas but wanted to share our Christmas in St. Louis at my parents before it really did become too late.  For those of you who do not know me well, my parents moved to St. Louis, MO in June of 2006 leaving me behind to fend for myself in the 'burbs of Pittsburgh.  Don't worry, I have since forgiven them.

Last year, Chris and I since decided to spend our first Christmas together in Pittsburgh.  I am very fortunate to have married into such a wonderful family who has welcomed me with open arms from the very beginning.  I am not sure about the rest of you but I look forward to seeing others' Christmas traditions and sharing it with them.  As such, I was very excited to spend Christmas for the first time (in the 5 years we have been together) together in our new home starting our own traditions.  And I loved every minute of it.

Since my parents do not live in the Pittsburgh, we decided from the beginning we would switch off each year between our two families.  Thanksgiving with my parents in STL and Christmas in Pgh then Thanksgiving in Pgh and Christmas in STL.  This year I was just as excited to show Chris what the Brantley Christmas traditions are as I was to see what his family's traditions were the previous year.  I asked him one day "Are you excited for Christmas in STL with my family?"  He responded "Yeah.  What, we'll probably just play cards and drink right?"  And that is what we did, starting our afternoons with Mimosas or Bloody Marys and enjoying dinner with wine all while playing Phase10, Rummy 500 and Mexican Train.

As much as I loved spending Christmas last year with the Cornmans there really is nothing more comforting than being with your parents, your family, and your traditions on Christmas.

My dad, the one hiding behind those wide size 8s, got me my frist DSLR for Christmas in 2009.  I have since upgraded but am forever grateful to him for seeing something in my passion for photography and surprising me with such a great gift.  As you can tell, he does not like to be photographed.  

I have been kinda obsessed with Bokeh Photography.  Okay, okay... not kinda.  I was so excited (yes, excited) to photograph my parents Christmas Tree in Bokeh!  Would have been a lot cooler if the lights on the tree were color.  Oh well.  

Yes, this is me.  Circa 1993/1994.  I know exactly where this photo was taken, ice skating at the Mall of Memphis.  Don't you love my big bow and bangs?  And look at those teeth.  They're still just as big but I think/hope I have grown into them.  I love ornaments with pictures.  Always good for a laugh :)

Melissa picking her nose for the camer

This was taken inside the City Museum.  One of the coolest museums I have ever been to!  If you are ever in the St. Louis area I highly recommend going.  Chris who doesn't like museums fell in the love with this place.  Inside and outside are mazes/tunnel like things to climb through for both adults and children.  Seriously, the coolest place ever!  

Watching the neighborhood

Hi eyes say, "Will you just leave me alone already.  I'm trying to rest here." 

Christmas this year had it's bittersweet moments.  Here is Rudy, my family's Golden Retriever for 12 years.  He hadn't been himself for sometime but appeared to be declining quickly while we were there. When I left I knew it would be the last time I would see him.  He passed away on New Year's Eve.  Even though I expected "the phone" call any moment it didn't make it any easier when it actually came.  As silly as it seems, you just kinda start to think/believe when someone/something has been around for as long as they had been they would be around forever.  I am just so grateful I was able to spend some of his last days with him and was able to capture those photos.  

And this is what Christmas at the Brantleys does to Chris (and apparently Melissa).  

------

And before I forget, here is this week's Photo Dump:

Have a great weekend!

The End. 

Christmas in da 'Burgh. N'at.

One of my fondest memories of childhood during Christmas time was piling in the car with my family in our PJs driving around where ever we lived at the time (Birmingham, Memphis, Mobile) to look at the different Christmas lights.  In fact, I remember one year my dad voted in some kind of competition.  I am not really sure what city we were living in at the time but I do remember him asking me and sisters what our favorites were.  Amazing what memories stick with you, huh?  Anyway, the love of Christmas lights has stuck with me.  I love driving at night and seeing the different light displays (of course some better than others).  It just makes me happy :)

I have been trying to convince Chris for the past five years to drive around with me to look at lights.  And every year he has laughed at me.  Except for this year.  When I told him I wanted to go downtown to see the Christmas lights he said, "okay."  After the initial shock of his answer I asked him what changed his mind - he said, "my heart has grown a few more sizes this year" hehe.  I am not quite sure what it has been about this holiday season but I have felt very home sick and being able to capture a little bit of my childhood with him this year has helped.

Here are a few of the photos I took while I was down there.  We did not spend as much time as I had hoped as it was the first really cold day/night this season and were both not prepared.  Plus, we had to get back to watch Elf and Love Actually (holiday favorites) with good friends Timmy and Martin.

 It has become a tradition to have ice skating open to the public during the holidays for ice skaters to skate around the Christmas tree in Market Square.  Kinda like Rockefeller.  Kinda :)

 I have been dying to try bokeh photography.  This was my result.  Not what I had in mind.  Regardless, I still do like it. 

For this photo I hoped to get something similar to this photo of the Eiffel Tower!  Again, not what I had in mind.  But I still do love the colors.  

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at my photos.  I hope you enjoyed them.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!

Love,
Alyson

Amelia - 1st Christmas

The Sunday before Thanksgiving I spent some time with this sweet little one to photograph photos for Christmas cards.  I just love hanging out with little ones!

Amelia is the daughter of my favorite Westminster couple.  I roomed with her mother, Sara, for half my sophomore year and enjoyed (note the sarcasm) a semester of Neuroscience with her father, Josh (aka Harold).  I knew them both separately before they met and started dating.  I have loved watching their relationship grow over the years.  They are perfect for each other.  From the moment I first met Sara (first day at Westminster in my dorm room in 2001) I knew she would be such a great mother.  If you know her at all, you know she was just born to be a mother.  They both are great parents to Amelia.  You can tell by way Amelia's face lights up when either one of them is the room.

Here are a few of my personal favorites from our shoot:

Love all three of y'all!  See you soon, Sara and Amelia!

Have a great week everyone,

Alyson