Emily Dean Photography » Lifestyle & Family Photographer | Based in Birmingham, Alabama

Today is truly a Manic Monday.

With a last minute trip planned to go visit my sister in Jacksonville, FL, I’m literally racing the clock to make sure I get everything cleaned, folded, edited, packaged & out the door before I leave 1st thing in the morning…well, 2nd thing…1st thing is voting!

Don’t forget to vote tomorrow! (That’s about the only political thing you will ever in your life hear me say…ever.)

Anyway, I’m excited for this unexpected trip to Florida.  It’s been my experience that anytime I move my workspace to a new state, I end up getting a ton of stuff done.  I don’t know if it’s just the change of scenery that gets my creative juices flowing, the fact that I get to watch unlimited amounts of reality tv (since I don’t have cable at home) or, most likely, a combination of the two, but either way, it’s good.  Really good & I’m excited.

So, stay tuned this week for some pretty people coming to dress up the blog!

Happy Monday!vPINIMAGEV

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Last May, I shot a wedding for one of my very favorite friends, Heather and her precious husband, Luke.  It will forever be one of my absolute favorite weddings, not only because of the bride & groom, but also because of their venue.

Mathews Manor.

I absolutely loved it there and I adored working withe Debbie and Tammy Mathews.  They made the entire day flow as smooth as silk & the decor was simply gorgeous.  That’s why, when it was time to pick up a pumpkin for Halloween, I was thrilled to find out that they were hosting a Pumpkin Patch!

I went with my friend Micah & her 2 little dolls and we spent the morning painting pumpkins (and their clothes), jumping in bounce houses, hay-riding & pumpkin-patching.  It was a great day & and awesome pumpkin patch!

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Sorority girls tend to get a bad rep.

A lot of people think they’re all mixers, tshirts, frat parties and keg stands.  A lot of people claim they’re just paying for friends.  A lot of people are wrong.

Maybe it’s like that at some schools…in some sororities, but not mine.  There was a lot more to it than that & do you know what I say to those people who think I paid for my friends?  I tell them it was the best investment of my life.  Hands down.  No question because the friendships that I made during those years have proven to be some of the strongest relationships I have.  These girls bless my soul & fill me with endless amounts of love, joy & laughter.

Let’s face it.  Life is hard.  Most of the time, being a grown-up just plain sucks.  Jobs, stress, bills, worry, responsibility…sometimes it’s all just too much.  Sometimes, you just need to let go, relax and feel like a carefree kid again.  Well, nobody does this better than us.

Over the years, we have all made the effort to get together consistently.  Whether it’s a girls’ vacation, girls’ night out or, the most recent, girls’ night in, we try to get together at least once a month and it’s usually perfect timing.  Just when I think I can’t take one more second of stress, we get together & laugh it all away.  Refuel.  Fill each other up with love & laughter.  Serious laughter.  Side-splitting, ab-working laughter.  The kind of laughter that you think about the next day and start laughing all over again.

I love these girls more than words can accurately express.  They build me up.  Encourage and support me.  They make me smile when I need it most & I’m blessed beyond imagination to do life with each of them.

Plus, just look at us.  Don’t we just look fun?!

We are.  Trust me.  We. Are. AMAZING!! (and hilarious)

vPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVThis was around the time the wine kicked in…vPINIMAGEVThere is a story behind this…it’s too long to share, but trust me, it’s a good one!
vPINIMAGEVMy special friend.vPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVI don’t think we know how to take a “regular” picture with each other.vPINIMAGEVJordan has a baby girl coming soon…it’s perfect because we need another blonde for our crew!vPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEVvPINIMAGEV

These next set of pictures sum us up perfectly.  I don’t know why, but I LOVE the one below.  We are all so different, but still have so much fun together.
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Hi, my name is Emma and I’m a procrastinator.

Admitting it is the 1st step on the long road to recovery…and I’m ready to go!

It’s one of my greatest weaknesses and the thing I hate the most.  I know I’m doing it, yet I’m powerless to stop it…until now.

This leads me into this week’s Manic Monday.

I woke up this morning in a panic, remembering all of the things I haven’t done that should’ve been done months ago and feeling guilty & frustrated that I did it again.  I’m the Queen of re-prioritization (i.e. pushing all of those hard, scary things down to the bottom of the list & moving the fun, pretty tasks to the top), but today that all changes.  My #1 goal this week is to conquer procrastination…& my To Do list.

Dunh-Dunh-nuh-nuh!!!

I can already feel the glory…the taste of victory…and am picturing myself standing atop the mountain (ok, my couch), fist raised in triumph as I accept my award and give you all a humble bow.

Just wait…it’s gonna be AWESOME!!!

Happy Monday!

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Time flies…so fast.

Seriously, it seems like just yesterday I couldn’t wait to turn 16 so I could get my driver’s license, grab hold of my independence & never look back.  Well, now that I’m twenty-eleven, I’m looking back and wishing that I knew then what I know now and wishing that it would all just SLOW DOWN!  (The fact that I actually just wrote that makes it official. I’m ancient.)  

Anyway, no one knows this feeling better than a parent.  “They grow so fast,” is something that I hear people say all of the time and it’s true, they do.  We do.  One minute you’re snuggling with your squishy, cuddly newborn & the next minute they’re pushing you away with an eye roll.

That’s why I love what I do.  That’s why it is so important to document your life and the lives of everyone you love.  It passes by so quickly & all that’s left are the memories…the pictures.   (Okay, wow! Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all Susie Sentimental on y’all!)

The point is, I love when my clients ‘get it’ and schedule a session ‘just because.’

Valerie, Jeb & Lilah were going to be out of town when Lilah’s school took their school portraits and Valerie didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to save a few memories from this stage in Lilah’s life.  Sure, we had just had a session 5 months ago, just before her 1st birthday, but as many of you know, the entire world can change in that amount of time & ‘children grow SO FAST!’  So, I was incredibly excited to see all of them again, but especially Miss Lilah.  She’s a beauty for sure & it was fun to see just how much she has grown & changed in 5 short months.

Thank you Valerie & Jeb for letting me continue to be there for your family.  It’s a true honor & the greatest compliment in the world!

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