it's the most wonderful time of the year...

December 25, 2016 Arlene Giddings

today could not have been
a better day...
picked up my girl in moncton yesterday
and took her home...
Christmas Eve with carols and
melted popsicles in a glass of sprite
(which is sooooo good by the way)...
family and friends and lots of laughter.

the yearly tradition of
singing "total eclipse of the heart"
at the top of our lungs
in the car.

my mother in law's eagle brand squares.

acknowledging that our kids are getting older
and christmas traditions
will shift a little
but that's ok...we just have to
adapt and overcome...
so this morning we ate breakfast
BEFORE presents
and it was fun to torture them and make them
wait just a little bit longer
to dive into stockings and santa presents...
and yeah...maybe it's not every year
that we have to trek out to the shop
to see where santa left
our girl a living room couch & chair
and a kitchen table and chairs...
and where he left our boy
a transmission
(that's what he wanted...really...weirdest christmas ever)...
but it was so totally worth it.

an hour long nap on the couch.

christmas presents and dinner at my mom and dad's...
an exciting game of minion "pie in the face"...
dart guns and wrestling matches,
tickle fights and so much laughing...
hugs and teasing and telling stories...

coming home to a beautiful wreck of a living room...
tired and full and so content.
pajamas,
after eights,
cold can of diet coke,
my new slippers,
a fuzzy blanket and a movie
for us both to fall asleep to...

today could not have been a better day.

merry merry merry christmas... ♥ ♥ ♥
now bring on 2017!

wordless wednesday

November 16, 2016 Arlene Giddings

endings & beginnings...

October 23, 2016 Arlene Giddings

yesterday, i shot my very last wedding
for a very long time.

it was a bittersweet day for me.

i remember the first wedding i shot...
i charged 60.00 for it because
i was terrified that i
was going to suck.

i drove to the church probably 6 times
before the big day at different times, in different weather
so that i could gauge the light...
as if i could prepare for that.
i knew nothing about shooting a wedding,
i barely knew anything about weddings.

back then, i didn't even have a camera bag.
i had a backpack...and i kept my one extra lens in a winter hat
inside the backpack for protection.
no external flash.
no extra batteries.
just a wing and prayer and a gut full of passion
and fear....a lot of fear.

that was in 2009.
i have shot roughly 100 weddings since then.
i have cried during the father of the bride speeches
(and most recently a mother of the bride almost brought
me to a sobbing cry as she talked about her little girl
always saying she was going to leave home sometime but never did...
until the day, of course,
that she actually did...
and my girl's move was still very fresh),
i have shot in churches and gardens, on beaches and decks,
in apple orchards, on golf courses, in hot sunshine and in rain...
i have said the phrases -
"just one more...well...i lie when i say just one more...it's always at least 3 more"
"get nice & close, like you like each other"
"one, two, three - JUMP...that was a good practice run...now lets do it again"
"perfect! that is perfect!"
countless countless COUNTLESS times...

i love when i feel like a relationship has been built between us,
when i don't just feel like the photographer paid to do a job
at the end of the day, but as a friend.
and i especially love the weddings that connect to a past wedding...
the family with 3 sisters that i was lucky enough to
shoot weddings for...and best friends of theirs...
so many times a couple that i shot for will be in the wedding party
of a new wedding...and seeing them there automatically feels less scary.

because yes, even after 100 weddings
it was still as scary as hell.

it is huge responsibility that i take very seriously...
to capture that once in a lifetime day for a couple.
that's worth a stomach full of butterflies &
checking & double checking that batteries are charged
and the bag is packed and ready to go.

but now...i know that i need a break.
i am sad to let go of this part of my life
but i am also very excited to see what comes next.

a huge thanks again to everyone
that has taken a chance on me
over the years...i can't tell you
what that has meant to me.
i do have a wedding booked for 2020
so it's not goodbye forever...
just a "so long for now".
♥ ♥ ♥

(& you'll still see me posting on the FB page for the next couple of months
as i catch up on my editing!!)

random gratefulness...

October 11, 2016 Arlene Giddings

thanksgiving is over...
but in the spirit of thanksgiving,
here is a very random list of things
that i have recently been
thankful for...

my family and friends
a warm cozy orange house
fall leaves
dirt roads
marshmellow bananas
3 day old chicken fricot
tylenol
youtube yoga videos (especially those specific to calming raging headaches)
hot apple cider
pjs with feet
maple french toast bagels
trips to moncton to see my girl
jasmine thomspon
hazelnut cream candles
secret weddings

tragically hip
a huge flock of geese that flew right towards my window at work
pigs
judge judy
tomato soup with basil

getting lost on dirt roads and finding my way out of trails in the woods

sugar doughnuts
forehead kisses
the song emma wrote

polka dot rain boots
people so sweet and supportive at the bullet journal session i did
watching almost famous again
that campbell knows all the words to tiny dancer
talking to my mom on the phone
bonecrushing hugs
early morning mist in the fields

friday i'm in love... (& where i pause for a short station identification break)

September 30, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i have not been here in a while...
life
has been busy...
hectic...
a little downright crazy
between work and weddings,
editing and driver's licenses and signing forms...
planning for thanksgiving
and birthday parties for an almost 17 year old
grad photos
and answering emails...
life has been
busy.

but fall is here
and with it,
i always feel a renewed sense
of creativity mixed with a strong need for
some very serious
down time...
i'm almost at the end of
my wedding season
(my last wedding season, though that
still seems weird to say)
and the chill in the air
makes me want to curl up with books and movies and new music
hot chocolate
and fuzzy slippers
and hibernate
for a bit.

{winter is my true introvert season
but it starts off gradually in the fall...
there are signs...and symptoms...}

but it's friday and i'm in love with all of these good things -

a beginner's guide to meditation
♥ oh so pretty...i can't stop watching
yoga for my poor aching PMS-y back
i ordered this today from zulilly! :)
♥ i cannot wait to see this!!!!