Matt and I just returned from a fun trip to Tennessee where we spent a few days in a chalet in a small town about 45 minutes north of Nashville. The main purpose of the trip was Jessica & Jeff’s engagement shoot in downtown Nashville, and we also made two stops in Atlanta to meet with another couple and also to visit with our friends at Get Married magazine! We used the time at the chalet to spend with our puppies and do some brainstorming. The puppies absolutely LOVED it, and we always enjoy trips where we can bring them along.

Here’s our adorable “little” chalet and a pic of Matt with the puppies in our back yard:

We were greeted by Miss Polly and Peanut and Taz enjoyed her daily visits:

Peanut and Taz felt so adventurous hopping around on the rocks and playing in the stream. Even though we were just in the backyard, they felt like real explorers. It was priceless!

We had wild turkeys in our yard on a few occasions, but unfortunately we didn’t get a picture of them. However, we did get a picture of one of the many butterflies in the yard:

I even held it on my hand! I am surprised I could stay still long enough for Matt to get a photo because it was starting to tickle me!

We’re already talking about returning during the week of Christmas. A quiet holiday in the mountains, cuddled up by a fire with our puppies and drinking mulled cider sounds like the perfect way to spend Christmas and New Year’s! What’s your favorite getaway to relax and unwind?

Hello from Washington, DC! Matt and I are visiting our nation’s capital to celebrate the 4th of July! We’ve had so much fun this week and are beyond excited for tonight’s fireworks display! Matt had a conference at the beginning of the week (where he won an award for engineering!) so we didn’t do much sightseeing until Wednesday. Since then, we’ve done everything that was on our list of things to do and then some!

We took an afternoon walk around the mall and watched the sun set beyond the Washington Monument. Then we walked by the White House on our way back to the hotel. Our big day was Friday, when we did a tour of the Capitol. We got there early, so we spent some time at the Library of Congress before our tour. Our favorite part was Jefferson’s Library. The LOC is definitely an underrated site. There weren’t a lot of crowds so you could spend as much time as you wanted reading the historic documents on display.

We got very lucky when we went to the Capitol because we were able to get on a tour an hour earlier than our scheduled time! After the tour, we grabbed a quick lunch in the Capitol and then headed over to the Supreme Court for another tour. Then we walked down to the National Archives, which had a long line but it moved along pretty fast. You can’t come to DC for the 4th and NOT go see the actual Declaration of Independence! But my favorite part of the day was visiting the Museum of American History. I really loved the First Ladies exhibit and looking at all the gowns from the Inaugural Ball. Michelle Obama’s dress was by far the most elegant of them all!

Saturday we only had one stop – Arlington Cemetery. We spent most of the day there, visiting all the must-see sites like the Eternal Flame at the burial site of the Kennedys, the Tomb of the Unknowns, and Arlington House, but we also visited the Pan Am 103 memorial as well as the memorials for the Challenger and Columbia to pay our respects. We are so glad that we walked because we spent time reading the headstones along the way. It was such a humbling experience, and we’re glad that we didn’t do anything else because Arlington is a place that requires a lot of time.

And now it’s time for the grand finale! I’m even more excited because I found out this week that my favorite singer, Jane Monheit, is singing with the Navy band in a concert at the Washington Monument!!! Too awesome! We wanted to wish all of our friends and family a very happy and safe 4th of July! We hope you are able to spend time with those you love and enjoy the freedoms that so many sacrificed to protect! : )

We had a great time over Memorial Day in New England! The weather was perfect and we had so much shooting in the Northeast:

Wedding at First Baptist Church of Agawam, MA

Wedding at Savin Rock Center in West Haven, CT

Melissa & Alex’s Engagement Photos in Downtown Boston

But we also had fun seeing the Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals at Fenway! We’ve been talking about going to a game at Fenway since I first met Matt. He is a huge Red Sox fan (probably more than any other team in any sport) and he has always told me how incredible Fenway is. We’ve seen the Red Sox play in Tampa and also gone to PNC Park to watch the Pirates, but this was our first time going to watch Matt’s team play at home. I have to say Fenway is a really awesome place. You walk in and it’s like being transcended back in time. I don’t know how it’s possible to feel nostalgic over a place you’ve never been before, but that was the feeling I had as I walked through the corridors along the vendors, smelling the old ball park air filled with hot sausages and grilled onions.

We definitely plan to go back again the next time we’re up that way! It was so much fun, and I even got so giddy as the crowd did the wave and kept it going for several rounds! I don’t think I’ve been anywhere that successfully got the wave going like that! Yeah, I was so geeked over that!

Here are a few pics we snapped at Fenway:

We hope that 2010 has greeted you with hope and happiness! Matt & I just returned from visiting friends and family in the winter wonderland that is Pennsylvania and New York! Most of our trip was spent in Pittsburgh where we visited both sides of my family and also met up with friends to tailgate at Heinz Field before the Steelers game:

This was also Peanut’s first time seeing snow since it was so warm last year during the holidays! Last year we went to PA, NY, and CT and the weather was in the 50’s and 60’s, so we were really hoping for a white Christmas this year! And boy, did we get our wish!! Peanut wasn’t really sure about the snow, but by the end he got used to it! : )

It wasn’t until we headed up to NY (near Rochester) that we really got to see SNOW! Lots and lots of glistening like fluffy diamonds powdery snow! It was so beautiful! Along the way, we stopped to see Dunkirk Lighthouse on Lake Erie. It was closed, but I was able to snap this shot through the gate:

On the drive back to Pittsburgh, we ran into some some bad weather. The highway had been cut off due to an overturned semi, so when we got back on the highway after the detour the roads had not been plowed very well. The only way to really see the road was from the car in front of us, and we could barely even see that:

But we took our time, drove carefully, and eventually did make it back to Pittsburgh safely. I love seeing snow, but I also love coming back to 60 degrees in Florida! I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and is ready for an amazing 2010!