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Scott, Lauren, Copelyn, Brooks & Holland

What a beautiful day for family photos!

Copelyn, Brooks and Holland simply ran, played and laughed… which is EXACTLY what I always want kids to do during a session!

Thank you, Lauren & Scott, for trusting me to capture your family!

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Fall Sessions!

It’s time for FAMILY PHOTOS! This year, I’m offering 3 fun options!

  • MINI SESSION: Saturday, October 17th @ Sims Park (Suwanee)
    $300
    10am
    10:20am (booked: U)
    10:40am
    11am. (booked: Mary)
    11:20am (booked: JK)
  • MINI SESSION: Saturday, November 14th in downtown Monroe
    $300
    9am
    9:20am

    9:40am (booked: Lee)
    10am (booked: M&M)
    10:20am (booked: J&L R)

  • LIFESTYLE or PERSONALIZED SESSION
    $550
    (call to schedule)



HOW TO CHOOSE WHICH SESSION:
If you’re looking for a quick-and-easy, updated family photo (without a lot of of extras), a MINI SESSION will be perfect for you family!

If you’re like me (LOOOVE photos and don’t do them very often), you will probably enjoy the extra time (and EXTRA PHOTOS!) that a LIFESTYLE/ PERSONALIZED SESSION will provide. This is also a great option if you have a special location or background in mind.



WHAT EACH OPTION RECEIVES:
Each option will receive my full-attention before (outfits!), during (FUN!) and after (photos back quickly)!

Within 2-weeks of our session, you’ll receive a link with your fully-edited, High Resolution Digital Files with a Copyright Release. From this site, you may DOWNLOAD, archive, print and share your images!

MINI SESSIONS receive 10-20 images.
LIFESTYLE/ PERSONALIZED SESSIONS receive 50+ images.



HOW TO SECURE A SPOT BEFORE IT’S GONE:
Venmo: Christy-Martin-37
Paypal: c_martin01@hotmail.com

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Family Beach Trip

Anyone else look forward to one, particular trip EVERY year?!?! That’s exactly how I feel about our family’s summer BEACH TRIP!

My grandparents are so sweet to bless my parents, my family and my sister’s family with a wonderful week by the ocean. Each year is filled with wonderful memories, but I think THIS year might have been my FAVORITE!

Matthew IS NOT A PLANNER ‘loves to be spontaneous’, so it was a big surprise (to all of us) when he called his brother to see if we could make a pit-stop at his house before our vacation actually started!

It was a GREAT start to the week! Their front yard is a gorgeous, empty beach. Oh, and there’s ERNIE too!

My parents rented jet skis again this year. So fun! Most everyone spotted dolphins, so, that in it’s self, makes for an amazing day!


Right before we left for vacation, Matthew told us that someone he knew gave us ALL with Disney tickets! What a GENEROUS gift! Not only did we get a park-hopper, we all had more Fast Passes that we knew what to do with!
We ended up experiencing ALL 4 parks… 21 rides… NO lines and a TON of memories! My sister and I also got to enjoy the very private Club 33! (Hannah and I are NOT fancy, so we felt pretty stinkin’ special!)

We were certainly blessed this year with all the extras, but I know it’s ALL about the relationships and memories made.

We laughed!
We swam!
We ate!

We witnessed my sister almost lose her cool when a complete stranger tried to correct one of our kids on something that was none of her business. We LAUGHED a LOT!

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That ONE Missing Thing

The Fortners have a LOT of wonderful things.

* They’ve grown-up eating and cooking Southern food that would impress any top-notch chef.
* In the words of Hank Williams, they “can catch catfish from dusk ’til dawn” and “skin a buck.” (In other words, they all still have their Man Cards.)
* They all have an abundance of great people-skills, mixed with interesting stories and funny one-liners.
* They’ve been blessed with a strong FAITH and God-given musical talent.

But, with 8 boys in a row, there’s ONE thing the Fortners didn’t have…

Until NOW!

I’m so excited to welcome Claire to our family!

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Travis, Kate & the girls

I received a text from my friend, Kate, asking if I wanted to trade-out family photos.
I was so happy to…
pull my camera back out,
catch-up with her family,
get out of my apartment
and, of course, get new family photos!

Here’s a few from our session together…

Gotta’ grab an extra shot of lil’ Ruthie-Ru, just for fun!

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Strawberry Picking (11.0)

Anyone else love family traditions?!?!

Eleven years ago, my mom planned our first trip to pick strawberries. We all loved it SO much, we continued the tradition each season.

During my time in Arkansas (even though it was kind-of sad), I tried to continue our strawberry-picking tradition. So naturally, with us ALL back together in Georgia now, we KNEW we couldn’t miss an opportunity to make NEW memories!

With many of the other strawberry patches either closed completely or not allowing ‘you pick’ this year (curbside pick-up only), we went to Mitcham Farm in Oxford. The strawberries were beautiful! The animals were a bonus! But the HOT strawberry donuts (deep fried and crispy with a strawberry icing melting on the top), boiled peanuts, watermelons, strawberry ice cream and strawberry slushy made it WORTH the drive!


Favorite Strawberry-Picking Moments:
2011: Just Ross & Rayna
2012: Pregnant with Ruthie
2013: Baby Ruthie
2014: Big girl Ruthie
2017: Keeping the tradition alive in Arkansas!

TIPS:
* Don’t forgot to call or check social media sites before going to any patch. Normally, they only open based on availability (…and may close early).

* If you’re looking for fun PHOTOGRAPHS:
LIGHTING is KEY! Ideally, choose a clear day and go either in the EVENING or MORNING. Make sure the sun is behind the person you’re photographing. (These images have a lot of unnecessary facial shadows because we met at 1pm and the sun was, unfortunately, directly above us.)
… Isles can get crowded with other pickers (which isn’t ideal for photos). Often, I’ll lead my kids to empty areas (even if they are out-of-the-way) where there are no other people (aka: distractions).
…My mom always brings pretty baskets. They supply plastic containers with their logo, but we use wooden (yard sale) baskets until we check out.
… To all the MOTHERS out there, as ALWAYS, GET IN THE PHOTOS!!! Set your automatic timer, ask a stranger or take a selfie. But, your kids will want to remember YOU being there with them!
… Be mindful of clothes. I RARELY say a word about how my kids dress. However, for strawberry picking, I do try to be more mindful about their colors and selections. (This year, for example, Ross spent the night with his cousin and I didn’t realize he had on a logo-shirt. You can see in the first photo, I’m actually using my hand to kind-of ‘hide’ the font where it didn’t take-away from the image.)

* Instead of allowing each child to gather as many as they’d like (and being shocked when it’s time to pay), we always tell the kids to “find 10 perfect strawberries!” Yes, it always turns into WAY more than 10, but with 5 kids, it’s a good place to start (because all those baskets add up quickly)!

Hope this helps! Tag me on FB if your family goes! I LOVE seeing photos!

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Becoming (My thoughts on the book)

BOOK: Becoming
AUTHOR: Michelle Obama

SUMMARY:
You don’t have to share all of Michelle Obama’s political views to enjoy this book. Because, guess what? This book isn’t really political. Although she certainly shares personal stories centered around hate, mistreatment and hurt, the FOCUS of this book is how she used all of her life’s experiences to learn, grow and encourage others.

I’ve never listened to an audiobook before, but I picked-up this audio-book from my library and LOVED hearing Michelle Obama tell her own stories in her own words. On a side-note, there were SOOOOOOO many wonderful quotes to feature; but, because I had to pull-off the side of the road to make notes, I could only list a few.

My favorite things about this book was her honesty and transparency. She talked very openly about struggles in her marriage. She was so transparent about the hurt, fear and resentment that came along with having a traveling (followed by extremely successful) husband.
She also spoke about her fears in motherhood. She talked about boundaries, guilt and feeling like she couldn’t be everything to everyone.
I also LOVED getting a first-hand ‘look’ into the good and bad of politics, media and the White House.

QUICK FACTS:
Faith-based? No
Easy read? Yes!
Age group? Appropriate for teens and up (My kids really enjoyed listening during a 24-hour road-trip)

INFORMATION:
Netflix special (which just covers the book TOUR with a few stories from the book): https://www.netflix.com/title/81122487

QUOTES:

  • “Failure is a feeling long before it’s an actual result.”
  • “I grew up with a disabled dad in a too-small house with not much money in a starting-to-fail neighborhood, and I also grew up surrounded by love and music in a diverse city in a country where an education can take you far. I had nothing or I had everything. It depends on which way you want to tell it.”
  • “I was determined to be someone who told the truth, using my voice to lift up the voiceless when I could, and to not disappear on people in need. I understood that when I showed up somewhere,” 
  • “It hurts to live after someone has died. It just does. It can hurt to walk down a hallway or open the fridge. It hurts to put on a pair of socks, to brush your teeth. Food tastes like nothing. Colors go flat. Music hurts, and so do memories. You look at something you’d otherwise find beautiful–a purple sky at sunset or a playground full of kids–and it only somehow deepens the loss. Grief is so lonely this way.”
  • “I’ve learned that it’s harder to hate up close.” 
  • “I didn’t want them ever to believe that life began when the man of the house arrived home. We didn’t wait for Dad. It was his job now to catch up with us.” 
  • “If I were to start a file on things nobody tells you about until you’re right in the thick of them, I might begin with miscarriages. A miscarriage is lonely, painful, and demoralizing almost on a cellular level. When you have one, you will likely mistake it for a personal failure, which it is not. Or a tragedy, which, regardless of how utterly devastating it feels in the moment, it also is not. What nobody tells you is that miscarriage happens all the time, to more women than you’d ever guess, given the relative silence around it.”
  • “For every door that’s been opened to me, I’ve tried to open my door to others. And here is what I have to say, finally: Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.”
  • “I’ve smiled for photos with people who call my husband horrible names on national television, but still want a framed keepsake for their mantel.” 

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