Briley's Birthday

She was two weeks late. She sat on my pelvis like 8 pounds of bowling ball. I'm pretty sure she thought she owned my body. I craved Waffle House eggs, bacon, potatoes, and grits every single day. I was sick every single day of my pregnancy and the meanest person ever. I gained 40 pounds with her. I had heartburn even when I drank water.They said it was because she would have a lot of hair. She has a head full of hair. She refused to cry when she was born. She only drank goats milk and refused to drink any other milk as a baby.. She slept in my bed (and continues to sneak into my bed) until she was 3. I am thankful for every single year I have with my 6 year old firecracker. Yesterday was her birthday. Happy Birthday Briley H. Diva.

Where Have You Been Ollie Wills?

I have the distinguished honor of getting to work for myself and take photos all the time.  If I had to compare my love, I would say that it is very much like a happy marriage.  There are many more good days then bad days.  But I do have to say that I have an insane amount of gratitude for realizingmy dream and focusing on making my craft better.  Here's some food for the starving artists soul. I welcome criticism. These pictures are from various places I have shot in the last few weeks (yes, I'm insanely behind).

So for the past few weeks, I've been working with a wonderful company Charlotte Fashion Plate on their company rollout, SEO Management and photography.  This is been a dream realized.  I now can focus on my dream and my family.  I feel like I have spent so much of life planning for the start of life which has been.

I am thankful for the family that has supported me throughout this process of who what where when and when and when.  I appreciate those who stood by me and told me, "You are going to be somebody, not that you're not already somebody."  I appreciate my partner sitting with me through many a long nights that he didn't have to.  I appreciate the time he spent watching my children while I sometimes worked for 12 hours straight.

EYE opening.

Gratitude amasses within my soul to the point that it's almost overwhelming.

I thank you all for believing in me.

The Day my Family Eloped

A Holiday

by Ella Wheeler

The Wife
The house is like a garden,
The children are the flowers,
The gardener should come methinks...

The Husband
Impossible! You women do not know
The toil it takes to make a business grow.
I cannot join you until very late,
So hurry home, nor let the dinner wait.

Source: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/a-holiday-by-ella-wheeler-wilcox#ixzz3lkPCVlEa
 

This weekend we eloped; we being the whole entire family of me, Jordan, the kids, and the two fur kids. Our elopement was marked by flip-flops, sandy hair, shaggy sweaters, and two overly excited dogs. The Atlantic Ocean was our music and the menu was salt water and jelly fish.

We secretly ran off to become one again. 

Our family needed to run off. We literally were forgetting to look at each other.

We needed to have a reason to take a break from the social media, tablets, and cellphones (especially me).

Outside of work, we really don't travel as much as I would like us to travel.  (Keywords: as much as I would like us to travel).  If my partner had it his way, we would stay within the confines of our 75 mile radius.  I, on the other hand, am a born rolling stone.  I really MUST have the wind beneath my wings.

This weekend, my dreams were temporarily placated with a trip to the beach. We even brought our fur children with us who got to experience the Atlantic Ocean (and sand, and beach, and wind, and everything else) for the first times in their short little lives.

This was probably one of the shortest most entertaining days I've had in a long time.  There's nothing more comforting and absolutely delicious than the looks on my dogs face when they entered the warm ocean for the first time.

xo

Enjoy

Ollie

Belmont Soda Fountain: Small Town Flavor and Warmth

Tis a family past time of our to venture to the nether regions of the county to go to a small all-American town by the name of Belmont.  In that small little town is a Main Street where there is a park, a coffee shop, a bakery, a general store and the Belmont Soda Fountain. The floors are pristine hardwoods with original hardware unique to the original drugstore that formerly took residence.  The Belmont Soda Fountain is family owned and passes that same atmosphere onto it's local and faithful clientele.  Recently, I had the opportunity to host one of my engagement shoots at this store.  True to nature, they worked with me to accommodate the needs of my client letting us enter the store 30 minutes early and even making an amazing Belmont Soda Fountain Banana Split as a great prop for the experience.

I am sincerely thankful for the work that I do and the opportunity to work with creativity and business that foster creativity.

As many of you know, I am a huge supporter of buy local and support local.  These businesses rely on vendors like us to make them reach far beyond their community.

It's a beautiful thing.

xox Ollie

www.facebook.com/belmontsodafountain

www.belmontsodafountain.com

Living Vicariously: The Travels of June Grayjoy/Prague

“I’m dying to tell someone about my trip!”

— June Grayjoy

I wish I could say that as I  was responsible for all the wonderful travels that grace the pages of Blue Arden photo. Unfortunately, I am not.  However, I am blessed to have friends who travel the world who share their adventures with me and continue to inspire me.  In the next few months, I will be visiting June to catch up on much needed friend time. Until then, she continues to send me appetizing pictures of her musings and misadventures (to entice me to move my ticket date up more).

Who is June?

June is my dearest (xoxo) friend I met while on one of many journeys around the US in my quest to learn everything about everything.  June just so happens to be my artistic kindred spirit who is, too, in search of something great worth learning on this amazing Earth. She just so happens to be my one and only and first travel correspondent for Blue Arden ;)

Why Prague?

Why not?

What is there to see in Prague?

Lots and lots of frothy golden brew, the astronomical face clock (refer below to June pics), the art movement (contemporary art movement worth screaming for), medieval warrens and saints  (actors dressed up as so of course), and much more.  June, went to a symphony, museum, and toured one of the oldest cities in Europe!

This past weekend, June went to the beautiful and historic city of Prague (grrrr..shaking in my boots with jealousy).  Follow her journey through these awesome pictures: