NIKKI'S ENGAGED!

Let me start off by saying that this has been the HARDEST secret I've ever had to keep. I wanted to tell any one and every one. But I kept it all inside, didn't even share certain details with Miles until the day of (he has a way of giving things away without knowing it). Here's the proposal story, you'll have to ask Nikki for more details.. Robby told Nikki he was flying back to Utah last night and that his flight left at 10:15. She begrudgingly left for the airport at 9 to drop him off. It was all a scheme. His flight leaves Monday. He got a ride back to Miles and my apartment where I had it set up with a picnic in our living room and 50 tea candles scattered everywhere, Martinelli's, cheesecake, and chocolate covered strawberries. He then called her to tell her he left her a surprise present at my apartment and he wanted to be on the phone when she got it because it required some explaining. She started walking over and when she opened the door he was down on one knee with ring in hand. She dropped her phone, her hands went straight to her mouth, and she was balling. She literally did not say a word for a minute and a half. Poor Robby, already nervous had to wait for a response. I was on the balcony snapping secret pictures (hence the blurry, I didn't want to use my new amazing flash to distract from the situation, but Nikki had once told Robby that she wanted pictures of when it happened so he asked me to be sneaky. I, of course, obliged.) The first thing she said was "You made me drive all the way home from the airport alone?" Followed by "So you're not leaving." He then asked if she had an answer, she said "wait what? I forgot the question." Then she said yes. She was so shocked to see him in the living room that she didn't even realize what was happening. After they had their moment, we had a small photoshoot and Miles and I went to Wafflehouse to give them their lovey dovey space. The proposal was beautiful. Her ring is beautiful. They are a beautiful couple. And they're going to have a beautiful wedding on September 4th in the Mount Timpanogo's temple.
The last Greer girl has fallen.

Cadillac Ranch

Last weekend a bunch of us from the office went downtown to Cadillac Ranch. It was a lot of fun. Miles and I spent the night in our own little world. For the next few days after people were telling us about the risque and dirty things they were seeing but I didn't see a single thing! I had Miles blinders on. We were  dancing and using pick up lines on each other trying to pick one another up at the bar. A lot of it was pretty cheesey but some of our lines were pretty good. We laughed a lot because we have both changed a lot in the last 2 years and can't remember what it feels like to be single. We were so grateful to have found each other because at the end of each and every night Miles is the only person I'd ever want to go home with. 

Pinnacle Activities.

One of the first Friday's of the summer Miles and I decided to host a Wii Bowling tournament. We had a bracket all set up, 2 tv's, 2 wii's, and a lot of fun! We also bought prizes for the top 3 bowlers including a batman kite (1st prize) a water gun (2nd prize) and a big bag of snickers (3rd prize). It was a lot of fun to get together and get to know each other better.

A few weeks ago we had a Cinco de Mayo fiesta at our apartment. We had blast. We had mariachi music, mustaches, pina coladas, sombreros, hot tamales, a hot sauce shot contest, pin the mustache on the Mexican, and a pinata. We also had prizes including a stick riding horse, a cactus cocktail glass, a bag of rice, and a sombrero.

Anyone have any ideas for our next gathering? Miles and I are thinking of putting together a big Saturday night camping trip, probably in 2 weeks. We want to ask some of the Branch members if they have some tents we could borrow. One of Miles incentives is a dutch oven so we're hoping he hits his numbers by then. Any other ideas are welcome!

Private or Public?

So we had a bit of a scary incident a week or two ago.. not so much scary as unnerving I suppose. People can be real creeps... anyway, I check my photo blog periodically to see if anyone has left me comments. And for the two weeks after I posted the last wedding pictures I checked it almost daily (I love getting feedback). So I pull up Safari to check it, and I had a new comment! Thrilled, I click on the link and it's a comment from someone by the name of "Henry" with no profile. I read what he had to say.. it was a comment about Miles knocking in a county in Tennessee (which is just so happens he actually was) with Pinnacle and bad talking my husband and his job. I instantly deleted the comment. This man would have had to go through a bit of stalking trouble to find my photo blog. He would have had to find out Miles full name, google'd him, pulled up this blog, found the link to my blog or website, and left a comment. It kind of freaked me out.
Through the advice of all our of parents, Miles and I don't divulge much personal information as to where we live (I say Nashville because that is the area we live in, not the city), and I no longer don't post pictures of our apartments because it just freaks me out people knowing where I live... but because of this incident I am now worried about peeping tom's. I'm trying to decide whether or not to make this blog private again.

Any thoughts, words of wisdom, or advice?

To the Mother's in our Lives:

Miles and I just would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the mom and mommy's to be (soon!) that mean something extra special to us! We love you guys so much and are so grateful for the positive influence you've been in our lives, for the good example of motherhood you've been to me, and for all the love and support you've given us through the years!

And since I'm writing this post, I thought I'd take a little extra space to let my mom know how much she means to me. Heavenly Father knew exactly what He was doing when He sent me to my mom. There is no one else that could have raised me better. There is no one else that could have been a better mom. There is no one else blessed with the patience that she has had with me through the years (although it is rivaled by the patience that Miles has with me). There is no one else that could have endured the teenage cruelty I dished out to her. There is no else that could be prouder of me, no one else who could have cheered for me louder, no one else that could have been a better friend. My mom has been the best mom in the world to me, and I'm so lucky. 

Count Your Blessings

As I'm sure many of you are aware, what seemed to have started out as a heavy rainstorm last weekend here in Nashville, Tennessee quickly escalated in to a record flooding in middle Tennessee destroying roads and property. So far there have been 19 people reported dead and President Obama has declared parts of this beautiful state a major disaster area. The Grand Ole Opry is currently under six feet of water, the streets of downtown are mud caked from the Cumberland River rising 11 feet above it's banks. The overall cost of damages to the city is estimated at $1 billion. 

I feel extremely blessed to say that we were not affected by the storm. Sure, it rained for 3 days and sure we heard the thunder and saw the lightening, but we never lost power, we didn't lose any belongings, we are safe and healthy and because we live on higher ground, our area was not flooded. I didn't even realize how bad things were until I turned on the radio Monday morning. Miles and I said our prayers completely devoting it to our blessings and giving thanks to the Lord for all we've been given. It's truly an incredible experience to realize the abundance that I have. Please keep the people of Nashville in your prayers. Some lost all they had.

before & after

before & after

Bad Mood Blues

Yesterday I was having a serious case of the bad mood blues... I woke up in a bad mood, and everything was irritating me. We went to the skatepark and I was irritated. We took Nixon on a walk, he pooped and I didn't have a doggy bag and I was irritated. I went to the bathroom to get toilet paper to clean it, they were out. I was irritated. I went in the boys bathroom, grabbed toilet paper, cleaned it up, went back to the bathroom to wash my hands and there was no soap. I was irritated. We went home and I went to make Miles lunch and we haven't been grocery shopping in 3 weeks so there was no food. I was irritated. And the worst part is, I knew I was being irrational. I even told Miles that I was sorry I was in such a bad mood and that I was trying to change my mood, but I couldn't get out of my funk. So I gave myself a pedicure, baked some cookies, and I started thinking of the things that without fail always make me happy. Photography. So I called Nikki and we went for a drive with my camera and had an photoshoot in a buttercup field in Hermitage, TN. It was gorgeous! The lighting was perfect, the buttercups were wonderful, there were horses in the field and they were beautiful, it was just perfect. And I had a blast. It totally shook my bad mood blues right out of me.

I love photography. I love everything about it. I love capturing memories for people and for myself. I love finding intimate moments where two people look at each other, vulnerable to one another's love. I love trying to find little secrets that people keep. I love looking through the view finder and seeing something different, something beautiful. I love color and lighting. I love meeting new people and hearing their stories. I love everything about being a photographer. 

So I thought I would share a little bit of my therapy. I took some pictures of Nikki and she took a few of me. Nikki is a fantastic model. She knows how to move, how to pose, and she understands light. For having taken only an Intro to Photo class my sister's got some talent behind the camera as well, does she not? I'm impressed... I've been trying to get her to be my second shooter for awhile, but she's resisting. 

I promise you, I'm not conceited. I just wanted to show a few of the pictures that Nikki took as well. She's not too shabby behind the camera huh?