Andrea Dozier Dayton Wedding & Lifestyle Photography

Shake it Out by Florence + the Machine off their new album, Ceremonials, is incredibly inspiring to me tonight. It’s the first time I’ve heard it and I’m bewitched by the passion of her voice & the lyrics. Their first album, Lungs, put Damian to sleep since he was a tiny infant. I’ve been nervous the new album wouldn’t be as good, but that is definitely not going to be a problem.

After all my wedding albums are completed & orders are finalized, I’ll post the remaining weddings from 2011. I’m so excited about the people I’ve worked with and the wonderful memories I have from this year… can’t wait to share my experiences with you. It’s hard to believe by the time that happens, my little house will be illuminated with Christmas lights. ♥

I keep starting this post over.

There should be some pretty way to eloquently sum up the fascination of marriage & love, but my allergies have left my mind at a loss for a single polished thought.

This week was full of huge milestones for me.
I turned 28.
I had my 7th wedding anniversary.
This baby blog turned 2.

To quote one of my very first posts, “The kindest thing I ever did to myself was get married the day after my birthday.” The closer I get to thirty older I get, the more I appreciate that the focus isn’t on how many candles are on my cake (or where to find so many), but the years Rocky & I have been so fortunate to share together. The life we’ve built. The boys we’ve created. We were always two old souls & even though we married young, it suited us.

My only regret is that I didn’t realize the last seven years would slip by so quickly.

The last two have been especially brief.

When this blog was created, I was an apron clad wife baking elaborate dinners & decorating pretty cakes in my free time. As I became more fluent in the art of photography, that apron began collecting dust. Perhaps I can work on balancing it all a little better this year, especially for the sake of my dear husband {who has become quite adept at cooking for us}. He is a patient man. He definitely deserves a hot meal every once in a while.

This diary started as a way of sharing my images & stories with my friends & family. When I look back I feel a mixture of pride & sympathy toward my earlier work. I wear my posts like tattoos, that are public for the viewing & judging. I include my pictures and hope they mean something to the people I take them for. This little online journal is home to sweet stories & sometimes very honest confessions. It always waits patiently for me to come back & allows me a canvas to hang my art.

Thanks for being such a very big part of it. ♥

Now it’s time for me to work on my emails. This week has not been my finest hour, thanks for your patience!

*Yes, I love Green Day. “Wake Me Up When September Ends” has particular sentiment since Rocky left for a deployment in September of 08.

**Tonight though, my new favorite song is Willie Nelson’s cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” from the new Chipotle ad.
You can listen to the whole version on Spotify for free!

***My first tattoo was a “safe” one, I’d love to do something classic but more ambitious for the next round. I am in love with the look of painterly tattoos.
You can see all my inspiration on my Pinterest board.