Tiffany Zajas Photography

Baby Zajas: 16 Weeks

2012-01-24T09:01:00.000-06:00

Friends!

Wow, it's so hard to believe that we are 16 weeks along in this pregnancy already! This means we only have about 5 months left until we get to meet our little one...crazy! :)

Last week we went for our 4 month doctor's visit. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, and that completely melts my heart every time. While there we scheduled our next appointment (two weeks from tomorrow!) where we have the big ultrasound and find out if we're having a boy or a girl! To say that I'm excited is quite the understatement.

Here's a current baby bump photo. I'm definitely growing, even though it's gradual! There are some days where I feel more pregnant than other days...not sure if it's psychological or if those are days where baby is having a major growth spurt or something.

I've still had 0 morning sickness since the 13.5 week mark! For that I am so thankful! I know there are some moms-to-be who are sick the entire time...and my heart goes out to you. I am so glad to be over that stage in pregnancy. I have been dealing with some pregnancy migraines, but I'm thankful that they came after my morning sickness so I wasn't having to deal with both at the same time.

Right now Baby Z is around 4.6 inches long (from head to rump), weighs approximately 3.5 ounces, and is about the size of an avocado. Because of the whole avocado thing, I have been craving guacamole like CRAZY the past few days. Thankfully, my sweet husband took me out to get some last night. It was delicious!

Bless that sweet man. He's been so good to us!

Have an amazing week! :)

-Tiffany

Baby Zajas: 14 Weeks

2012-01-10T12:37:00.000-06:00

Hello friends!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and are enjoying the New Year! Jonathan and I had an incredible holiday season. The day after Christmas we flew up to Maine (and Maxo came with us too!) to spend a week and a half with my family. It was such an amazing and refreshing time. So thankful and blessed that we had that time there.

Baby Zajas is doing well! We are now at 14 weeks, which means we have entered our 2nd Trimester! I cannot believe the first trimester is over already...it sure did fly by. I've been feeling great for the past 6 days...woo hoo! Absolutely no morning sickness during all that time, which is such an amazing feeling. I've still been super tired all the time, no matter how much sleep I get, but that's to be expected (and so very worth it). And my doctor says I'll probably get a 2nd wind of energy soon, so I'm looking forward to that!

Here's an updated baby bump photo. Some days I can tell that it's getting bigger, and other days I'm not so sure. It'll be fun to have these photos to look back over and see the gradual change though.

Right now our baby is about 3.4 inches and about the size of a lemon (or the size of my closed fist). That's so crazy to me! It seems like just yesterday baby was the size of a poppyseed. Our next doctor's appointment is next week, and then at our appointment after that we'll find out if our kiddo is a boy or girl (although we have our strong suspicions as to what it is). :)

This pregnancy has made me so incredibly thankful for all the great blessings God has placed in my life. My husband has been so great through all of this, and has taken care of me so well and so sacrificially during the many many days I was sick. I appreciate him so much.

This year is going to be the best yet, I just know it!

Love and blessings,

-Tiffany

Baby Zajas: 12 Weeks

2011-12-23T10:53:00.000-06:00

Hello friends!

Today begins our 12th week with Baby Zajas. It's so hard to believe how fast this first trimester has flown by! We had our 2nd doctor's appointment this week, and everything went so well. We got to see our little one again and hear it's heartbeat for the first time. That is never going to get old. :)

It's crazy to me how much this little one has grown in just a few weeks. It was so cool getting to see the baby kick and move and dance on our ultrasound. Makes me so excited for when I will eventually be able to feel the little kicks and movement.

The baby is not the only one who has grown! Ever since we found out we were having a baby, I was looking forward to the day that I'd start showing a little. Over the past couple of weeks I've finally been able to tell that there's a baby in there. We have lots of close friends and family who live far far away, and many of them have been asking to see some pictures of the growing baby bump. So, we finally got around to taking some pictures (thanks, husband!) to share with you all.

I hope to photograph the progress as we go along, so we'll be able to look back and see the growth.

As Jonathan and I have been preparing for Christmas (YAY!) I can't help but get super excited for next year and the fact that we get to celebrate with our first child. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, and I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to get to share all the joy of the season, the traditions, the gifts, and lots of love with our baby. I am so looking forward to that! :)

I hope you all are having an amazing Christmas week!

Love and Blessings,

-Tiffany

To see other posts about Baby Zajas click here.

We're having a...

2011-12-01T10:05:00.001-06:00

We're having a baby!

We're so excited to finally be able to share the news here. Jonathan and I couldn't be more excited, and we're so looking forward to going on this new adventure together. We can't wait to meet our little blessing of a baby on (or around) July 8th, 2012!

We've had so much fun telling our family and friends via Skype, phone, and some in person the past couple of weeks...and we wanted to announce it to the rest of the world in a creative way of sorts. Last night we announced it to our students at Real Life (our youth group) and were blown away by how excited they were for us (some were even crying with excitement!) It melted my heart. When we got home last night we quickly posted these photos on Facebook to let the rest of our friends know about our news.

Thanks so much to everyone who has already congratulated us! We are beyond excited, and it makes us so happy to have such wonderful people to share in our excitement.

I hope to be a better blogger and post updates on here more often in the months to come, documenting the journey along the way. :)

The pregnancy is going really well so far! I've had lots of days of being really sick, but it's oh-so-worth every moment of it. At our last doctor's appointment we got to see our little baby and it's heartbeat, and that moment was such a surreal one for both of us. I'm not sure when this will all sink in...it still feels like such a dream.

Here's our baby's very first picture that was snapped last week at our appointment. I couldn't believe how you can already make out it's little head and face and little arm and leg nubs. Love this little one so much already!

With lots of love and excitement,

Tiffany + Jonathan :) (+ Baby Zajas!)

Our Angry Birds Trunk or Treat Car!

2011-11-05T10:09:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday our church had it's Fall Festival. It was so much fun! As part of the festivities, we had a Trunk or Treat (if you're unfamiliar with the concept it's where a bunch of people line up their cars and have them decorated with a game and pass out candy for the kiddos).

Jonathan and I decided to dress up our car this year...and then the idea just hit me...we needed to do an Angry Birds car! So that's what we did!

I had a little too much fun sketching and planning this thing out, and I'm so glad that it turned out just the way I envisioned it. I couldn't have done it without husband...he really helped me with the logistics and execution of it all.

For our game, we taped little pigs to smaller blocks and had the kids throw Angry Bird bean bags at them. They got an extra piece of candy for each bird they had leftover. It was a huge hit!

I made the bean bags out of balloons and rice using this tutorial (so, technically they'd be called "rice bags" I guess) and drew the Angry Bird faces on with Sharpie. Super easy and cheap!

Overall, I think it was a success! I loved seeing how excited the kids were about it. Scott Hamilton (yes, the figure skater) even came and brought his boys.

The entire day was so much fun. So many of our students came dressed up with some pretty creative costumes.

We even had a hot air balloon!

It was a beautiful day spent with wonderful friends.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Autumn! I can't believe it's November already. I'm already looking forward to the holiday season. This is the very best time of year. :)

With Love,

- Tiffany

Where's Our Focus?

2011-10-06T11:10:00.001-05:00

A few days ago, my husband read an excerpt of this blog post by Perry Noble to me and it was very challenging (in a good way!) So often our focus in life can be on the wrong things, which is the cause of so many of our problems.

Image by my husband, Jonathan Zajas

Consider these thoughts...

If I focus on my abilities, I will always feel overwhelmed and inadequate…if I focus on WHO God is and WHAT He has done, I will feel confident and secure.

If I focus on what others say about me, I will feel either pride or pain…if I focus on what God says about me, I will feel appreciative and thankful.
If I focus on what the world says about money, I will most likely be broke…if I focus on what God says about money, I will be blessed!
If I focus on what the world says about problems, I will be in a constant state of worry and stress…if I focus on what God says about problems, I will see they are nothing more than opportunities to know and see Him for how great He is.

(Where Is Our Focus? (10 Gut Check Ideas!) by Perry Noble)

These are just a few of the 10 points that he makes, so please click on over to his blog post to read the rest.

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." - Matthew 6:33

When we place God first, and focus on him (and not our problems, other people, the world's opinions, etc.)...then we have absolutely nothing to worry about. He will always take care of everything we need.

So, I encourage you (and myself!) today to evaluate where our focus is. And if our focus is on the wrong things, then let's do something to change that!

With Love,
Tiffany

DIY Autumn Wreath

2011-09-30T13:19:00.001-05:00

Hey there, friends!

I hope you're all having a lovely Friday so far! It's a gorgeous day here in Franklin, TN and I'm excited that it's starting to feeling like fall outside! Autumn is always the beginning of my favorite time of year. It's so cozy and comforting and is the perfect introduction to the Christmas season (which is the most wonderful time of year!)

There's something about this season that makes me both want to make something crafty and to work to create an inviting environment at home. So, last weekend I thought I would combine both of those desires and make an Autumn Wreath for our front door!

I searched the aisles of Target and browsed online for Autumn wreaths to purchase, but I just couldn't find one that I liked. After looking at lots of Autumn craft ideas on Pinterest, I was inspired by these two wreaths to make one of my own!

Here's the finished product...

I didn't take step-by-step photos of the process, but it's pretty easy to do!

This is what you'll need:

Wreath form - I used a large straw wreath form, and left the plastic wrapping on it
Yarn - I used 1.5 skeins of yellow yarn (but my yarn was a little thinner than some, so you might be able to get away with less)
Felt - I used two large sheets of the stiff felt that was next to the not-so-stiff craft felt. (haha, I'm not sure what the technical terms are...maybe you veteran crafters can correct me?)
Hot glue gun
Hot glue sticks
Scissors

Take your yarn, and hot glue the end to the back of your wreath form.
Wrap the yarn around and around and around. (This step can be very time consuming...approx. 2 hours...so I found it helpful to watch something delightful, like Newsies, while I was wrapping away.) Don't worry about being too perfect with this. My perfectionist self was way too precise to start off with, but as I went along I got more lazy and it still looked about the same.
Continue to wrap until your entire wreath form is covered! You may have to cut the yarn and re-glue a new piece, and that's okay! Just make sure to always glue on the back of your wreath form.
Take your stiff sheets of felt and sketch out a leaf. Cut out that leaf, and then use it as a guide to sketch out a bunch more!
Cut out your leaves.
Hot glue your leaves onto your wreath.
Voila! You have yourself a neato Autumn Wreath.
Pat yourself on your back and go hang up your wreath smiling with satisfaction at a job well done!

Here's a glimpse out our doorstep. It looks much more welcoming than when we first moved in, which makes me happy.

Husband bought me those yellow mums yesterday. I love them!

Now all we need are some pumpkins...and a welcome mat! One like this, perhaps? Welcome mats are yet another thing that I have a hard time finding ones that I like. They're either blah, not our style, or too pricey. I may just have to make my own!

If you have any questions at all about making your own wreath, please don't hesitate to ask! And if you make your own, I'd love to see! Feel free to post a link in the comment section.

Have you made any Autumn crafts lately? Please do share.

Happy Autumn Day to you!

-Tiffany

How to Turn Impossible into Possible

2011-09-29T13:01:00.000-05:00

As I was sitting on the couch sipping my coffee this morning, my mind was bombarded with cares and situations that I (foolishly) felt I needed to figure out on my own. Phone calls I needed to make, details to work out, planning to be done...God, I don't know how this is going to work out!

And then God quieted me...and led me to read Hebrews 11.

I grabbed my Bible and quickly flipped the pages. In the moment forgetting what Hebrews 11 was all about, I read the first verse:

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1 NIV

Continuing to read the chapter, tears started streaming down my face as I was reminded of all the seemingly impossible things that God has done, simply because his people had faith that he would do it.

"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 NIV

God wants to do the impossible in our lives, but too often our doubt, worry, and lack of faith get in the way.

"'You don't have enough faith,' Jesus told them. 'I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.'" - Matthew 17:20 NLT

"God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" - Ephesians 3:20 MSG

I know I'm not the only one facing an "impossible" situation. So, what's yours? Remember that God is the ultimate expert of making the impossible, possible. All we need to do is surrender, trust, and have a little faith. :)

With Love,
Tiffany

More thoughts on faith here...

Chattanooga Getaway: part 2

2011-08-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

Earlier I shared with you part 1 of our Chattanooga Getaway for our four year wedding anniversary (that my husband so sweetly surprised me with!)

Here is part two!

On the second day of our time in Chattanooga, we woke up and went back to the Bluff View Art District (seriously, one of our favorites places!) for breakfast at Rembrandt's Coffee House.

We absolutely love this place! They have the best mochas!

And their breakfast sandwiches are AMAZING! Looking at these pictures right now is like torture right now, because I now have a major craving for them. So good!

Every time we're at Rembrandt's, it makes us feel like we're at a little coffee shop in Europe somewhere. It's definitely worth a visit (or two, or three.)

After breakfast, we drove over to Cleveland to pay a visit to our Alma Mater, Lee University! It was so fun getting to play tourist and snap lots of photos of this place we love. We even went to the gift shop and bought t-shirts! hehe

We felt so sentimental walking around the campus. So many of our first memories together took place right there (including the first time we met, and Jonathan's proposal to me :) Not to mention many great memories with friends.

Here's the Student Union, where we spent hours upon hours studying and not studying.

This is the Dixon Center, which was my home away from home. This building houses the campus theatre, and is where most of my major classes were held. The majority of my time at Lee was spent in this building.

The Music Building was Jonathan's home away from home, as he spent most of his time here.

Davis Hall was the dorm I lived in my freshman year.

Here Jonathan is in the approximate spot where Hughes Hall (his first dorm at Lee) used to stand. They tore it down recently to make way for the new Science Building.

Speaking of which...here is the new Science Building! We had a chance to go inside for the first time, and it was very impressive!

We then jumped in our car and drove by Carroll Courts, which is where we lived our first 10 months of marriage. The apartments look kinda ghetto, but we made it cozy and nice...and we made lots of wonderful memories there!

We also drove by the house we lived in our 2nd year of marriage. This was also the home that we brought Maxo home to. (Excuse the foggy/blurry picture...we didn't want to be too creepy to the people currently living there, so I just snapped the photo while we were driving by.) :)

After our little trip down memory lane, we went to downtown Cleveland to Cafe Roma, which is a favorite.

Their chicken salad sandwiches are THE BEST I've ever tasted! Also, their sweet potato fries and dipping sauce are THE BEST I've ever tasted!

Their tomato basil soup is also superb. Mmmmm...so good! If you're ever in Cleveland, you'll want to add this place to your list of restaurants to try. Do it!

Once our bellies were full, we walked around downtown Cleveland some more and popped into another one of our favorite spots to get a drink (it was a little toasty outside!)

Gardner's Market is also a favorite of ours. Their sandwiches are great (as are their muffins...and coffee!), but my absolute favorite thing there is their blackberry lemonade. It's the best lemonade I have ever tasted. No lie.

We walked around some more...and oh, and look! There's the church we got married at!

Back in Chattanooga, the next thing on our agenda was to go to the movies! The Rave is our favorite theater...it's HUGE, and clean, and has very comfy seats (not to mention, they give free refills on their large drinks, which is always a plus in my book.)

We arrived to the theater a little (or a lot) early, so we walked around and had fun looking at all the movie posters.

bahaha! :)

At the end of the day, we crashed back at our hotel and got to watch the sunset over the Tennessee mountains. Another perfect day.

The next morning was time to head back home. But we couldn't leave without going to Rembrandt's again for breakfast!

It was an amazing and much needed couple days away together. Thank you, husband, for this wonderful surprise! I'm excited to celebrate decades of anniversaries with you.

Chattanooga Getaway: part 1

2011-08-29T13:12:00.000-05:00

Hello strangers!

I think it's about time I posted another blog post. So here you go!

A month ago, Jonathan surprised me by planning a getaway for our 4th wedding anniversary (July 28th). He planned everything and made all of the reservations, and all I had to do was pack my bag and get in the car. I was SO excited, to say the least. :)

The two-night getaway he planned was in Chattanooga, TN...a city that is near and dear to our hearts. Having met at Lee University in Cleveland, TN we spent a lot of our dating and newlywed years in Chattanooga. This was a chance for us to relax and revisit all of our favorite places together.

The drive to Chattanooga from Franklin is absolutely beautiful. Even the drive there brought back many memories of our early years together when we'd travel to Murfreesboro and back to visit with Jonathan's family (or to visit each other during school breaks before we were married).

Upon our arrival, the first stop was to our absolute favorite pizza place, Lupi's Pizza (located on Broad Street in downtown Chatt.)

Everything about Lupi's is amazing. The atmosphere, the service, the locally grown ingredients, and of course, the pizza! I hope this will come true soon!

Every time we go to visit, we ask them when they're coming to Nashville. They always tell us it's in their plans to come our way soon.

One of our favorites to order there is ground beef with feta cheese and fresh basil on the side. Delicious!

Our next stop was to check-in and get settled into our hotel. Husband got an amazing deal on a two night stay at The Chattanoogan. It was wonderful!

After getting ready for the evening, we walked around the Bluff View Art District.

We spent our first wedding anniversary in Chattanooga as well, so we thought it'd be fun to try and recreate some photos we took from that day.

2008 - One Year Wedding Anniversary

2011 - Four Year Wedding Anniversary (only I forgot that the '08 photo of husband was taken in front of the brick wall instead of the ivy...oops! But these spots are right next to each other :)

2008 - One Year Wedding Anniversary

2011 - Four Year Wedding Anniversary

Good times!

For dinner, we went to another favorite, Tony's Pasta Shop and Trattoria, located in the Bluff View Art District.

One of my favorite things there is the bread they serve before hand. They bake it with whole garlic cloves right in it. I normally pick out the cloves themselves, but it leaves such a unique garlic taste that most garlic bread seems to lack. And they serve it with olive oil that has fresh parmesan cheese in it! Score!

I normally get the Chicken Tetrazzini, but this time I decided to try something new and go with the Baked Pesto Chicken Ravioli. I was not disappointed! I'm not sure which one is my favorite now, because they are both so good.

Jonathan got the Chicken Parmesan, which he was a huge fan of.

To wrap up our night on the town, we walked around the art district and beyond some more...got some ice cream (at The Icecream Show)...reminisced...and just enjoyed our time together. It was perfect!

Thank you, Jonathan, for such a wonderful anniversary celebration! I am so thankful and blessed to have you as my husband. I love you so much!

Stay tuned for the rest of our Chattanooga adventure...

sneak peek: mallory + chris - married!

2011-05-31T09:49:00.001-05:00

This weekend Jonathan and I traveled to Hopkinsville, Kentucky to shoot Mallory and Chris' wedding. The day was full of so much joy and special moments, I can't wait to share it all with you!

Here's a little sneak peek...

Congrats, Chris and Mallory! Thank you for letting us be a part of your day. We're so excited for you both and the future that God has in store for you together! :)

sneak peek: sara + kevin - married!

2011-05-23T13:38:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we had the pleasure of photographing Sara and Kevin's wedding in Murfreesboro, TN. We were blessed with lots of sunshine and no rain for this outdoor wedding. Sara and Kevin make such a beautiful couple, and we were so excited to get to be a part of this special day in their lives.

Here's a little sneak peek for you...

Congrats, Sara and Kevin! May God richly bless your marriage and your new lives together! :)

Our New Home: a work in progress!

2011-04-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

I am sooooo excited to share this post with you! As I've mentioned, two weeks ago husband and I (and Max!) moved from our home in Nashville to the city of Franklin. We are absolutely loving it so far! This town and community instantly felt like home to us.

When we first got our new position as youth pastors at our church here in Franklin, we knew immediately that we wanted to live in the community that we were ministering to. The only problem was, was that our lease on our home in Nashville didn't come up until August. With the long commute and the gas prices sky rocketing, we really didn't want to wait until then...so we made it a matter of prayer. Then...we were able to negotiate and God provided a way to be released from it! WOO! Prayer answered.

The only thing was, we had to find a new place to live within one month. We looked at tons of apartments and houses and lots of things in between...and everything was either kinda shabby or completely out of our price range. We weren't feeling at peace about anything we looked at. Once we were nearing the halfway mark to when we needed to be out of our Nashville house and we still hadn't found a place, I was beginning to become a little worried and stressed over the matter.

Then, I had a conversation with someone in our church and I asked them to be praying with us to find a home. They then challenged me to write down all the specific things we wanted in a home and pray for those things...and God would work out the price. So, I went home...wrote out my list in my journal of what we would love in a home, and this is what I came up with:

is not an apartment
around the same price of what we are currently paying in rent per month (which everything else we were looking at was at least a couple to a few hundred dollars more than our Nashville rent)
has 2 bedrooms
has at least 1 1/2 baths
dishwasher
in Franklin (as opposed to a town nearby)
nice neighborhood
in good condition (clean, etc.)
oh, and a fireplace would also be nice :)

The...very...next...day...our pastor and his wife took us driving around Franklin to look at places. And we found our townhome...and it fit every single one of the things on my list! Including the fireplace! :)

God is SO good!

So...I am very excited to share with you a glimpse into our blessing of a home! These images are our "before" pictures. You will still see boxes...and you will see unpainted walls...and some rooms that aren't even near being organized or settled into. As we continue to settle in and decorate, I hope to share the process with you. :)

Welcome to the Zajas home! We haven't done anything with the front of our townhome yet...so it's nothing too fancy. We're hoping to get a pot of flowers out there along with a new welcome mat (speaking of which...if you know of any cute or unique ones online, please share a link! I can't find one we like anywhere!)

Here is the entryway. Notice the nice hole in the wall behind the door. That's my favorite part in the whole house! (I kid, I kid) We had a minor leak in the pipes in that wall, and the landlord quickly fixed it...but the wall still needs to be patched up. :)

This is the view of our living room as soon as you walk through the front door. See those boxes over there? Yep, behind them is our fireplace! (I've been sooooo tempted to just stick those boxes in a closet so I don't have to look at them. But, Jonathan quickly reminded me that the saying "out of sight, out of mind" really applies to us when it comes to unpacking...or not unpacking boxes).

My favorite thing about the room so far is our color coded bookshelves. I'll take better photos of them in the after photos...but they're going to work so well with the new vision we have for the room!

Next up, is our little half bath that is right off from the kitchen. We haven't really done anything with it yet, but it serves it's purpose.

Here is our kitchen/dining room!

One thing I really love about our new kitchen is all the extra cabinet and countertop space we have! We had a large kitchen in our last home, but it hardly had any cabinets or countertop space. This has been amazing! AND we have a pantry, which we didn't have before.

Over to the left (in the picture below) you can see the doors to our laundry closet. I love having the washer and dryer so close by! In our last home, the hookups were in the garage...so doing laundry wasn't as convenient (and it was cold in the winter!)

Here is our back patio and little patch of lawn that is attached to our kitchen. Jonathan LOVES that he doesn't have to mow anymore! At our last house, we have a HUGE lawn...and it was quite the annoyance to have to take care of. This suits our needs for right now much better. We haven't really had a chance to spend much time out here yet, so it's still very much a work in progress.

Now time to head upstairs. This is our home office/music room. It is by far the least unpacked of all the rooms in the house. We've barely touched it. The perfectionist in me would love to just leave the pictures from this room out, because it looks kinda junky. But this is a good growing experience for me! haha!

Phew, there. I did it! And it actually felt kind of good to share that. I think we all should be less afraid to be a little transparent and share some of the messy imperfections in our lives. None of us are perfect. :)

Here's our upstairs bathroom. It's separated into two rooms...one, the sink room...and two, the toilet and bath/shower room. This bathroom is connected to the hallway and to our master bedroom which is very convenient!

Here's our bedroom! I took these photos on laundry day...so all of our bedding is off. And also, (I'm just gonna be honest) I took down some new artwork and other decor items so that I could get more dramatic "before" photos. We've actually made more progress in this room than what you see here...but you'll just have to wait to see that. Mwah ha ha!

Well, folks, that is our home! I hope you enjoyed the little tour. I can't wait to finish settling in and to show you some fun "after" photos! :) I will definitely keep you posted!

One of the most commonly asked questions we've received since the move is "How does Max like his new house?" And the answer is...he loves it! It's his favorite home we've lived in by far. I think this is mainly due to the fact that it's mostly all carpeted (which we've never really had before), and he really doesn't like hard wood floors. The move itself was rather stressful for Max (and he was quite annoying for a few days), but he's adjusted and is now back to his happy self.

In this picture all he wanted me to do was stop taking pictures and help him get his bed out of his crate! haha.

If you have read this entire post...CONGRATS! It's a long one! You deserve a treat or something...go get yourself a cookie or cupcake. :)

I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

I'm baaaaack!

2011-04-11T16:13:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

Yes, this is me Tiffany. This is not an illusion, and your mind is not playing tricks on you. I am actually writing a blog post. I kid you not!

Yes, I do realize that it has been...*gulp*...over two months since my last post. (yikes!) But in my defense, we have had a LOT going on what with the new position as youth pastors, us moving to Franklin from Nashville, and just life in general. I do realize everyone has a lot going on though, so it really should be no excuse for me. For shame, Tiffany! For shame!

The truth is, I fell behind in blogging. And then catching up seemed almost impossible...so I kept putting it off...and I kept falling even more behind and got overwhelmed...so the only logical thing to do was try and forget I had a blog altogether, right?

Oy...

Well, I've missed blogging. I've missed documenting our lives and the inspiration that comes from the blogging community. And I've missed you, my handful of readers. :)

So, here I am! I have returned! And I truly hope to not fall off the face of the earth again. That would be sad.

Since it's been so long since my last post, I thought it would only be fair to catch you up by sharing a few phone snapshots (I apologize for the low image quality) from some of the highlights of these past couple months...

Jonathan's sister Julie and her husband had their second baby girl. Natalie Claire! We love our new niece!

I ate my first Gyro (How do YOU pronounce that?), and it was DELICIOUS! The Greek Cafe is now a favorite spot of ours.

I looked at this face a lot. (And he completely stressed over the move...he's a lot better now.)

Celebrated this guy's 26th birthday! WOO HOO!

Said goodbye to our house in Nashville (pictured) and HELLO to Franklin!

I've been experimenting with some new recipes. Like this pasta salad from Pioneer Woman.

Went on little dates with this handsome guy! (Also bought my first Tazo tea lemonade from Starbucks, and it was yummy!

Hung out with our adorable nieces a lot.

Made roasted chicken for the first time. (Seriously, I don't know why I haven't done this before now! It's so easy and delicious!)

My dad and littlest sister came to visit us all the way from Maine! It was soooooo great to see them! :)

And, of course, we've spent lots of time with our amazing Real Life students! (These are only a few of them. This is from our trip to the Fine Arts competition!) This picture makes me happy. Love them all so much!

So, that's just a little of what we've been up to while I've been absent from the blogosphere.

How about you? What's new in your life? Let's catch up! :)

Right now I'm working on a post with images from our new home! We're still unpacking, and it's definitely a work in progress...but I thought it might be nice to show some "before" pics prior to doing lots of decorating and re-organizing. :)

Love and smiles,

Tiffany

faith, trust, and taking the first step.

2011-02-03T12:52:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our first official day as the youth pastors of Full Life. Even now, it seems so surreal that we've been blessed with this amazing opportunity. I am just in awe of how God has directed our life, one step at a time, to bring us to this place. And I know that He'll continue to do just that.

During the past couple of weeks I've been doing a lot of reflecting on the past year and the journey that it's been. I've been reading through my Moleskine notebook and journal filled with all my thoughts, questions, and prayers from the past year. One thing that was pretty consistent throughout the many pages was a question - "God, what is your plan?"

I asked this question numerous times over the last dozen or so months...and it's a question that I've asked a lot throughout my entire life. I'm a planner, and ever since I was a child I've loved knowing what to expect so I could be ready for it.

But life isn't predictable. In fact, it is quite unpredictable.

If there's one thing that God taught me (again) last year, it was to trust him completely with my life and everything in it. Trusting someone doesn't mean questioning what they're thinking or why they're doing something...trust is, as the dictionary puts it, "reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence."

During the times I struggled with doubt and uncertainty I would often turn to husband and say "I don't understand..." He would then gently remind me that "we are not called to understand, we're called to obey."

God doesn't often show us the big picture. If he did show me the big picture, I think I might be terrified and try to run in the opposite direction. His plans and dreams for our lives are always so much bigger and better than any plans we could make for ourselves (Jeremiah 29:11). His dreams are bigger than us and our capabilities and way beyond our comfort zone, so that we learn to lean and rely on him.

He shows us one step at a time, and our job is to be obedient and take that first step...and then the next one...whether it's a big step (like moving to Nashville away from family and friends) or a little one (like getting up at 6am to pray and read the word even when I feel like sleeping for a couple more hours). :)

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." - Martin Luther King, Jr

With Love,
Tiffany

favorite things: pinterest

2011-01-27T11:35:00.000-06:00

Hello friends!

Today I was thinking...it's been a while since I've done a favorite things post, so here I am to remedy that!

One of my new favorite things is a nifty website called Pinterest. I've had an account on Pinterest for several months now, but only just recently started using it more regularly.

You may already be an avid user of this nifty site...but if not, you might be asking, "What is Pinterest?" Well then, I will explain...it's basically a virtual pinboard where you pin images from around the web to collect inspiration for a variety of categories. I have several pinboards (and they just keep multiplying) including fashion, hair, for the home, and quotes. It's really neat to look back and see the things you've pinned to your boards. It's a good way to feel inspired and get a better sense for your personal style.

You can also follow other people's boards to be inspired by the style of others. It's a lot of fun!

One thing I really like and appreciate about Pinterest is that it keeps track of the link and source of where you pinned your image from. For example, if you pin a dress from Anthropologie that you really like...you can later go back and look at that original listing and purchase it at a later date. It's like a visual bookmarking tool.

If you want, you can follow my boards at pinterest.com/tiffanyzajas/

Do you use Pinterest? If yes (or if you go create an account right now), feel free to leave a link to your board in the comments. I'd love to see what things you're pinning! :)

Lots of Love,
-Tiffany

Simplifying and the possibility of moving.

2011-01-25T12:15:00.000-06:00

Now that we have made our big announcement about us going into full-time ministry, I can now share some of the many things that have been twirling around in this brain of mine over the past month or so. (Which honestly is why things have been so quiet around here lately...it's been difficult to think of anything else, but we've had to keep things confidential.) :)

Since our church is in Franklin and we currently reside in Nashville, we would love to live closer to make our daily commute easier. We would also love to live in the town where most of our students are, so we can better be a part of their lives.

(image sources: one, two)

We know we'll eventually move closer, but right now it's just a question of timing and working out all of the logistics and details. I'm not worried about it (although it's in my nature to worry), because I know God will work it all out!

But in the meantime, we've been wanting to take steps that will help make our move easier when that time comes.

Over the past several months we've been feeling the need to simplify, simplify, simplify. And I really wish we had listened to this feeling sooner, because now I see why. :) This month we've been organizing, tossing, donating, and just plain getting rid of things we don't need. We still have a ways to go until our simplification is complete, but boy...it sure does feel refreshing!

I've been reading lots of articles and blog posts online on simplifying and organizing and it's been really helpful. I'll try and share links to those in the coming weeks.

So, tell me...what are your tips and tricks for preparing for a move?

With Love,
Tiffany

P.S. If any of you know of any good rentals (houses, condos, apartments, etc.) in Franklin, TN please do let us know! :)

Exciting News!

2011-01-24T10:10:00.000-06:00

We have some amazing news that we're just dying to share with you guys!

photo by sara renee

Jonathan and I have accepted the position of Associate Pastors for Youth, Music, and Family Ministry at our church, Full Life, in Franklin, TN.

Excited doesn't even begin to describe how we feel about this wonderful opportunity to serve in full-time ministry! God has gradually been tugging our hearts in this direction for quite some time now, and it's just amazing to see how everything has unfolded in His perfect plan and timing.

We absolutely love our church, our Pastor and his family, and the amazing students that we get to lead and love.

Please keep us in your prayers as we enter this time of transition.

Have I mentioned that we're excited? We're SO excited! :)

-Tiffany

P.S. You can see Jonathan's post about it here.

NEW...a new life and a new thing

2011-01-21T12:16:00.000-06:00

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind, but I hope to return to semi-regular blogging soon...

Last Wednesday Jonathan spoke at Full Life's Real Life Student Ministries on the subject of living a NEW life in Christ and allowing Him to do a new work in us.

This part of the message really spoke to me...

Know that God wants to do a NEW thing.
God was reminding His people about all the amazing things He had done for them. How he had provided for them and given them safety, victory in battle, and so many other miraculous things. But then in the middle of reminding them about all his exploits He says this…
Isaiah 43:18-19…
“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?…”
God wants you to know that what He’s done in your life so far is nothing compared to what He’s going to do… and what He’s already started doing. He’s about to do a NEW THING.
It’s time to move forward from what God has done for you in the past, it’s time to press on toward what God is going to do and what He has already started doing.

I never want to limit God to what he's already done in my life. Sure, those things are great...but I want to always be open to and anticipating the great and new things that are yet to come! He has amazing plans that are far greater than anything I could ever imagine.

If you want to see Jonathan's full blog post on his message, you can look at it here.

I hope you all are having an amazing week and are anticipating great and amazing things this new year!

With love,

Tiffany

We've returned from Maine!

2011-01-05T14:06:00.000-06:00

Hello friends!

I hope you all are having an amazing first week of the new year. I cannot believe that it's 2011 already! I definitely feel like this year has gotten off to a great start. It's going to be a great one! I can feel it! :)

For the past week Jonathan and I were in Maine visiting my family there. We had such an amazing time! It was such a blessing getting to go and spend time with them to celebrate a late Christmas and ring in the New Year. There's nothing like spending quality time with the people you love. Makes my heart so happy!

We're now back at home in Nashville, and it feels good to be back. A certain dog is pretty happy we're back too. :)

How is your first week of 2011 going so far?

With love,
Tiffany

(these images are a few that I snapped in my family's backyard while up in the Maineland. I'll be sharing more later.)

Max and his new bed.

2010-12-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

For Christmas we gave Max a new bed. You see, his old bed was his very favorite thing on planet earth...until it was destroyed and was no more. As a temporary fix, we gave him a few blankets that he could curl up on and burrow under. But it really was no replacement for his bed...his one true love.

So, when we unveiled this gift of his (a few days early, I might add...we really couldn't wait to give it to him!)...he was excited, to say the least.

And he spent plenty of time snuggled up and bonding with his new gift.

Chilaxin'

"Okay, really, Mom?"

"Enough pictures already!"

A Tennessee White Christmas

2010-12-29T08:00:00.001-06:00

We couldn't believe it when we woke up on Christmas day and there was snow outside! I've seen snow in Tennessee before...but I've never experienced a white Christmas here!

Who knows when this will happen again, so of course we had to go out and play in it (and take some pictures!)

With love,

Tiffany

Our Christmas Day Celebration

2010-12-28T08:00:00.002-06:00

On Christmas morning we woke up at 7am and were so pleased to see that God had blessed us with a WHITE CHRISTMAS! I never thought that I would ever witness this in Tennessee...but we did. It made my heart happy. :)

When we got up, I still felt like a little kid...all giddy on the inside. I couldn't wait to give Jonathan his gifts! I quickly made some coffee and we were ready to start our Christmas celebrations for the day!

Here are some highlights from our morning...

Santa spud enjoyed his Christmas morning coffee along with us!

Each year we buy a new ornament for our tree that represents that year. This Christmas we chose a camera ornament, because this was my first full year in business. I think the little camera is so cute! :) You can see the ornaments from years past in this post.

All of our Christmas gifts just begging to be opened! Wrapping gifts is probably one of my favorite things about Christmas. We try to be creative with it.

If you've been following my tweets from the past couple weeks, you probably know that Max has been going CRAZY over his stocking for a while now. He has just sat and stared at it for long periods of times. We couldn't let him suffer any longer, so we went ahead and gave him his stocking full of goodies. He was pretty excited!

Husband and I exchanged stockings and then gifts. We try to stretch out the experience as long as possible by watching each other open our gifts one by one. It makes it special. :) Here's a peek at some of the amazing gifts he got me:

Do you see that tape dispenser there? Yeah, I was pretty excited about that! I had spotted it at the store a few weeks ago and commented on how cool it was. And husband remembered! When I opened it and squealed with delight he said, "Only you would get excited about a tape dispenser." haha.

This little guy was in my stocking. bahaha...

I gave Jonathan a Kindle 3 with a nifty carrying case that looks like a book. He was SO surprised and excited about it. :)

After we opened our gifts, it was time for our traditional Christmas breakfast! Cinnamon rolls and Christmas Cokes. (don't judge...we normally don't drink soda for breakfast, but this was a special occasion :) Yummy!

Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, each Christmas Eve we give each other pajamas...and here they are! Gotta do the traditional pose-by-the-Christmas-tree photo!

We spent the rest of the morning relaxing and playing with our "toys". :)

For Christmas dinner, we kept things simple since it was just the two of us...I made a honeyed ham with creamy mashed potatoes and garlic green beans as sides. Mmmm...

The rest of the day was spent playing in the snow (which I'll share tomorrow), going to the movies, playing games at home, and just relaxing and enjoying the day together. It was perfect.

Oh yeah, and we ate Strawberry pie.

What did you do to celebrate on Christmas day?

With love,

Tiffany

Take a look at our Christmas Eve celebration here.

Our Christmas Eve

2010-12-27T11:12:00.000-06:00

I hope all of you had an amazing Christmas with all of your loved ones! We sure did! Jonathan and I spent the weekend at home and celebrated with just the two of us (and Max!) We celebrate with our families each year, but we always try and reserve Christmas day for just us so we can establish our own traditions as a family. We love it!

On Christmas Eve I spent the morning doing some baking and we did some preparations around the house. That night we had our candlelight Christmas Eve service at Full Life (our church.) It was a beautiful service where we remembered the true gift of this season. I loved it.

Then, when we got home, we finished out the evening with some of our Christmas Eve traditions.

The night before Christmas we often make grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. This is a tradition borrowed from my mom's side of the family. When my mom was a little girl, my grandpa (we call him Bampa) would always make dinner for my mom and her sisters while my Nana finished wrapping gifts. Grilled cheese and Campbell's tomato soup are one of the few things that he knows how to cook...so that's what he always made. :)

We've continued this tradition, but have added our own little twist. I make homemade tomato soup (this year using this recipe from Pioneer Woman), and Jonathan always makes the grilled cheese (using yummy cheeses such as colby jack or swiss...and adding a sprinkle of oregano...and sometimes slices of tomato.) It's comfort food at it's finest!

Hehe, I think Jonathan liked it...

After dinner, we opened one gift from each other...pajamas! That's a tradition from my childhood that we chose to keep. I always love getting new PJs every year. :)

We ended the night snuggling up and falling asleep while watching a Christmas movie.

Such a perfect night. I absolutely love making family traditions together.

Tell me, what are your favorite Christmas Eve traditions?

With love,

Tiffany

(Tomorrow I'm going to share a glimpse at our Christmas Day celebration!)

Merry Christmas from the Zajas'!

2010-12-24T10:54:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

This time of year always reminds me of the things in life that are most important. I hope that you and your family can spend some time together, away from the hustle and bustle, to take the time to remember what Christmas is all about.

Merry Christmas! :)

Love,

Jonathan and Tiffany (+ Max!)

my 25th birthday scavenger-hunt-celebration-extravaganza!

2010-12-22T13:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I turned a quarter-of-a-century old! It's really crazy to think of when I look at it like that. Being 25 feels great so far! I'm so excited about this upcoming year!

Celebrating birthdays is no small matter in this household (examples: one, two, and three). Jonathan and I have so much fun getting to celebrate each other's existence. So, I really shouldn't have been surprised when he had something amazing up his sleeve for yesterday.

We started the day like any other weekday by getting up early to get ready for work. Instead, he let me lay in bed a few minutes later while he put on the coffee. We then sat together and chatted over coffee and he gave me my first gift: a nifty case for my phone. I love it.

When he left for the office, I took my time reading my Bible and snuggling with Max. Jonathan kept texting me asking if I had showered and gotten ready yet, and I was confused as to the rush...afterall, I had plenty of time. Finally, at around 9:10am I got ready to get in the shower...and I found this:

I immediately got excited! It was time for a birthday scavenger hunt! Jonathan is quite the pro at putting on wonderful scavenger hunts. It's one of the elements that made his proposal so amazing. :) But that's another story for another time.

I then got ready in record time and ran down to the garage to get in my car (oh, to clarify...Richard is what we named my car, because it used to be owned by Richard Petty...I'm not joking. His signature is on the car manual...haha)

On my steering wheel, I found a package that contained these amazing lenses for my phone camera (a fisheye lens and a combination macro/wide-angle lens.) They are the coolest EVER!

I also found an envelope containing the next clue: "TARGET. Hermitage. Check-in. Tips. You'll want this." (the lenses).

Okay, you might be confused...so let me explain. The "Check-in" and "Tips" portions of the clue are referring to Foursquare. Jonathan and I love to check-in on Foursquare and earn badges and points and see who can beat who out of mayorships. It's a fun game we like to play together. (Still confused? Here's an explanation.)

When I drove to Target and checked into Foursquare, I found this clue hidden in the Foursquare tips:

I was excited to begin my scavenger hunt!

(and no, I wasn't sitting in the passenger seat of my car...I was using my front-facing lens on my phone, so it's all backwards.) :)

So, I rushed inside and completed of all my tasks (using my amazing new lenses the entire time.)

Let's take a moment to pause and reflect on the awesomeness of that fisheye lens. Seriously...so cool that that image came from my phone's camera!

When my mission was complete and I returned to Richard (my car), I checked under my passenger seat and found this:

It read, "VINTAGE. It's cool. So is Southern Thrift and a photo of something vintage." I was off to our favorite thrift store!

When I arrived, I made sure to check-in and found this clue:

So, I went inside and browsed through all the fun vintage items and snapped a photo of something I found interesting.

Back in the car, I discovered the next clue in the glovebox:

Home Sweet Home! When I got there, I checked in to "Tiffany Zajas Photography" and found this tip:

(One year I gave Jonathan a vintage lunchbox for Christmas with some other goodies inside, as a treasure box of sorts.) Inside the lunch box I found a certificate to buy a camera app for my phone that I've been wanting. Happy Birthday to meeeeee! :)

THEN...Jonathan came home early from work to spend the rest of the day with me! Best gift ever! He pulled out the next clue card...then flipped through the photos I took at Target and found the corresponding image to fill in the blank:

Let's pause and reflect on how creative this photo scavenger hunt idea was. Kudos to husband!

Lunch at Merridee's Breadbasket in downtown Franklin, TN! I'd been wanting to try that place out for a while now.

I got the Reuben and Jonathan ordered the BLT. We were both very pleased with our choices. Mmmmm mmmm good! We will definitely return to that place.

Next stop:

Nope, not fishing. haha...ANTIQUE-ing! Vintage shopping is one of my favorite things to do. So, we walked through downtown Franklin and visited the Franklin Antique Mall.

We found some pretty fun things, so I couldn't help but take lots of photos while we were there...

Walking back to our car, I couldn't help but admire how beautiful downtown Franklin is. It reminds me of the quaint towns you see in old-timey movies. Makes my heart happy!

This guy also makes my heart happy...

Next clue:

Okay, if you remember correctly...while at Target, I was supposed to take a picture of something "Wonderful." Well, I looked and looked for a DVD of "It's a Wonderful Life", but couldn't find it anywhere. So, I ended up photographing some twinkle lights, because I think twinkle lights are pretty wonderful.

It turns out that our next stop was to go and see "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Belcourt Theater here in Nashville! I was beyond excited! "It's a Wonderful Life" is one of my favorite Christmas movies...and to actually get to see it in a theater made me so very happy.

We bought a large Coke, settled into our seats, and watched as Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed lit up the screen.

You can't help but walk away from that movie with a tear in your eye and reflecting on the things that are most important in life. Ah, I love it!

If you ever have a chance to go and see a movie at the Belcourt Theater, please do! They show a variety of old and independent films. And it's full of so much history. Definitely a local business worth supporting!

Next stop:

Or so we thought. It turns out that Mafiaoza's was running some kind of special in their bar last night, so it was PACKED. I'm not a huge fan of crowds or the smell of alcohol...so we opted to go to Mellow Mushroom -- another favorite pizza place! :)

We ordered the Muffeletta bread for an appetizer (delicious cheesy bread with olives...YUM!) and it was soooo good! It's not on the menu, so if you ever go make sure and ask if they have it. And then we got the Philosopher's Pie (My fave! Olive Oil and Garlic base pizza with grilled Steak, Portobello Mushrooms, Artichoke Hearts, Kalamata Olives, Provolone, Feta, and Mozzarella Cheese. Seriously...so good!) for our main course. You can tell that Jonathan really loves me because he really despises olives (and I love them!)...and both the appetizer and pizza has lots of olives on them. He's so good to me.

Next clue:

There's a coffee shop here in Nashville called the Frothy Monkey, and Jonathan has been telling me about how amazing it is. So, we went and he introduced me to it. :)

I got the Monkey Mocha and it was delicious! It was a mocha with a banana in it! It might sound strange, but it was soooo good. Seriously. Delish!

Okay, piece of randomness for the day. While we were at the antique store earlier in the day, we found a really creepy santa figurine...and I took a picture of it. Then, when we were at Frothy Monkey we saw Christmas cards that were featuring the very same creepy Santa!

How weird is that?

After contemplating on the weirdness of the creepy Santa. Husband and I sat and sipped on our coffee while chatting about life, the future, Christmas, and how thankful we were for each other. It was perfect.

Husband had a couple other small things planned, but by the time we were finished with our coffee it was 9pm and I was tired (guess it comes with being a-quarter-of-a-century-old! ;)...so we went home and snuggled with Max and reflected on the wonderful day we had together.

It really was the most perfect day ever. I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband who makes me feel so special and who loves me unconditionally. There's no one on earth who I'd rather adventure through life with. :)

Also, I can't end this post without thanking everyone who made me feel so loved yesterday...thank you for the gifts, cards, voicemails, texts, Tweets, Facebook comments, and emails wishing me a happy birthday yesterday. I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

Love,

-Tiffany

When We Clicked

2010-12-14T11:46:00.001-06:00

Last night marked the five year anniversary of when Jonathan and I hung out for the very first time. As I think back to that night, I remember it as the beginning of an epic story...not much unlike when Bilbo Baggins gave Frodo the ring, when Lucy walked through the wardrobe, or when Luke befriended R2D2 and C3PO. It's the first chapter in a story that is filled with many adventures. :)

Five years ago yesterday was the last day of finals my sophomore year at Lee University. That semester was one of the tougher ones for me, especially due to the fact that I had sprained my ankle and there was a death in my family...and because of those things I also had a lot of make-up work to do. When my last final was complete I was one big ball of exhaustion/relief/and excitement that Christmas break had begun.

That night me and my friends were ready to just relax and enjoy our newfound freedom from finals. My friend Kristen started calling the rest of our friends and we began to plan what we were going to do that night. When she called our friend Russell, his roommate picked up his phone and answered it for him...so Kristen invited him to hang out with us as well.

That roommate? That was Jonathan.

*dun, dun, DUN!*

We all met up that night in the lobby of Nora Chambers (a girls dorm at Lee). When Jonathan arrived I said hello (we had met in passing a few days earlier in the Student Union so I knew who he was) and I tried to make him feel welcome since he was new to the group. That night we all went to a coffee shop, hung out a friend's apartment, ate at Steak'n Shake, and then went to the midnight premiere of King Kong at the local cheap theater.

Throughout the night we kept managing to sit next to or across from each other (which I don't think was entirely accidental), so we had many chances to talk. I was immediately attracted to him. His dark hair, those hazel eyes, and his big smile made my heart skip a beat. But what really struck me was his fun personality, his maturity, and his evident love for God and ministry.

At the end of the night we all said our goodbyes and Jonathan and I parted with an awkward hug (I've always been a hugger...he, not so much) and a "Have a great Christmas break!"

When I got home that night, I couldn't stop smiling. Even though it was really late, I was still wide awake...so I logged onto Facebook to try and wind down. And that's when I just so happened to stumble upon Jonathan's profile...so I friend requested him.

The next night I got onto my computer and saw "Friend Request Accepted!" I immediately added Jonathan's AIM screen name to my buddy list, and sure enough...there he was...online. So, what else could I do but IM him? What can I say...I don't like to procrastinate. :)

That instant message conversation was the first of many that took place over that Christmas break. Hardly a day went by that we didn't talk to each other over instant messenger. Our conversations ranged from wisdom teeth removals, movie preferences, our families, God, and our hearts to see people's lives changed through ministry.

One month later (January 14th, 2006) we went on our first date (which you can read about here) and officially started our relationship to seek what God's purpose for us might be in marriage.

Fast forward a year and a half to July 27th, 2007...the night before our wedding day. After our rehearsal dinner, Jonathan and I were sitting in his car amazed at the fact that in less than 24 hours we would be married. We exchanged our wedding gifts that night, and Jonathan gave me this:

This book contains all of our instant message conversations from that fateful Christmas break. I recently read through this book again, and am still so amazed at how God brought our lives together. It's amazing what God can do when we allow Him to write our story.

I love you, Jonathan. I'm so glad you walked into my life that night five years ago (and that you didn't think I was a stalker for friend requesting you on Facebook.) :)

-Tiffany

the mcdaniels // family session!

2010-12-06T14:10:00.001-06:00

Today I'm so excited to share with you the family photos of the McDaniel family. This family is very dear to me...Shelayne is such a great friend of mine, and she and her husband have raised some of the most precious kiddos in the world! To say I love this family is quite the understatement. :)

We had SO much fun on this session! Here, just see for yourself...

Merry Christmas sessions + cards!

2010-11-09T10:17:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again! Time to start thinking about and planning for the Christmas season. I don't know about you, but this is my absolute favorite time of year! I love everything about it! December will be here before we know it, and with it comes shopping for gifts and sending out Christmas cards. So, to help you prepare for the holidays I've created a Christmas mini session and cards special!

Here are the super-fun Christmas card designs that my wonderful husband, Jonathan Zajas, created! Each card is flat and either 5x7 or 5x5 in size (depending on the design) and is printed on beautiful paper. You may select from three paper options: smooth finish, linen texture, and pearl metallic finish.The cards come in sets of 25 and envelopes are included.

Additional cards can be purchased for $25/per set of 25 (plus tax and shipping & handling - if needed).

If you're interested in scheduling a mini session please contact me asap at tiffany@tiffanyzajas.com

Hope you're having an amazing week! :)

-Tiffany

tiffany zajas photography

Nashville, TN

sneak peek: cassie's senior session

2010-11-03T10:54:00.000-05:00

I've been working on Cassie's images from her senior session...and I am having such a hard time narrowing them down! I guess it's a good problem when your clients are so photogenic that they look amazing in every single shot!

This is definitely true of Cassie. She is so beautiful, from the inside out! I can't wait to share more with you about her and her fun senior session we had last week.

But until then...here is a quick little sneak peek to hold you over! :)

tiffany zajas photography

jared // headshot session

2010-11-02T11:43:00.001-05:00

The other weekend, our friend Jared came and visited us in Nashville so I could take some headshots for him. Some of our other friends, Thorne and Laura, came with him so we made an entire day out of it. It was lots of fun!

Jared is a senior Public Relations major at Lee University (our alma mater), and he told me that he wanted some nice headshots so he can start making his online presence more professional as he's nearing graduation. I LOVE this idea! I always say that everyone needs a good professional headshot.

The day was absolutely perfect for us, and I loved the pretty autumn leaves in the background.

Here are just a few from his session...

tiffany zajas photography

Jared, like me, is a Mainer! When I first met him and found out that his hometown is Lincoln, Maine...I got so excited! That's where all of my extended family on my mom's side lives, and he's actually really good friends with my cousins. It's such a small world!

I hope you all are having a terrific week so far! I can't believe that it is already November...this year is flying by so fast!

If you are interested in scheduling a headshot session, feel free to contact me at tiffany@tiffanyzajas.com

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

making amends with mr.weather

2010-10-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

Lately the weather and I haven't been on the best of terms. You see, the past few days that I have had sessions scheduled...it has, without fail, been rained out. Yesterday was one of those days. Not only did it rain...but we had tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms as well! Not exactly conducive to a good photograph taking environment.

I was a little irritated with the weather at that point...

But I was determined to not let it get me down! Since my session had to be rescheduled, I all of the sudden had a couple free hours in my afternoon.

So I decided to make the best of the situation and bake some pumpkin cookies with brown butter frosting.

[photos taken with my android phone!]

Baking is such a perfect rainy day activity! And these cookies turned out to be DELICIOUS! At this time of year, anything with pumpkin in it is a winner in my book.

I also made tomato basil soup and grilled cheese sandwiches...and husband and I read books together on the couch...while drinking hot chocolate! So, by the end of the night I was quite enjoying the rainy day we had. :)

What are your favorite things to do on a rainy day?

Oh the things that make us laugh...

2010-10-26T21:12:00.002-05:00

bahahahaha...I just spent 15 minutes laughing at this JibJab video I just made...

It could just be that I'm pretty tired...or it might be that it's actually very funny. I'll let you decide for yourself.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

It's the small things in life, really. :)

In other news...yes, I'm still alive. I know I have been pretty absent from this blog. I've fallen off the bandwagon, so to speak. But I hope to not be absent for long, and I'll update when I can.

I just wanted to share this silly video with you all. You probably won't laugh quite as hard as I did...but I just couldn't resist sharing.

hahaha...

Hope you're having an amazing week!

Tiffany

sharee // nashville portrait session

2010-10-13T14:31:00.000-05:00

This week I met with Sharee here in Nashville for a quick portrait session. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! The leaves are beginning to change around here, which made for such a pretty backdrop. And there's just something magical about Autumn light. It seems more golden somehow. I love it!

Sharee is so beautiful (just look at that smile!), and made my job so easy. We had so much fun! Here are a few of my favorites from the session...

tiffany zajas photography

I hope you all are having an amazing week so far!

-Tiffany

joy + jeremy // state fair engagement session!

2010-10-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends!I apologize that I've been kinda out of the loop recently. The past couple weeks have been filled with lots of traveling (Gatlinburg, TN and Springfield, MO), as well as recovering from sickness and minor injuries (I was rear-ended and I've had some neck and back problems because of it...nothing serious, just had a stiff neck for a while and now lots of visits to the chiropractor to get things back to where they need to be.) But I've returned and am now ready to get back into the swing of things! :)To start things off, I'm so excited to share this engagement session with you!A couple weeks ago we met up with Joy + Jeremy (Joy is also a photographer!) and did their engagement session at the Tennessee State Fair. I was sooooo excited when Joy suggested having their session there. To me, there's something so sentimental and romantic about fairs. I love it!Here are some of my favorites from their session...

Seriously?! They're just so cute!

Classic Cokes = AWESOME!

Eeeeeee! Just looking at these images makes me giddy, because it reminds me of how much fun we had! I absolutely love it when couples choose a fun location or activity for their engagement session. It makes it so easy to capture their love and excitement for their relationship when they're just having a blast being with each other.

Joy + Jeremy...thank you for letting us photograph this exciting time for you! Your love for each other is so evident. :)

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

amazing stop motion video!

2010-09-21T10:28:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

I hope you all had an amazing weekend! My weekend was mostly spent in bed and on the couch resting and recovering from being sick. But all that downtime has paid off and I'm now feeling soooo much better! :)

Lately I have been fascinated with stop motion videos. A couple of weeks ago, I shared the stop motion Amazon Kindle commercials that I'm so in love with right now. And today I want to share this amazing post-it note stop motion video:

hehe, I love it! I think part of my fascination has to do with the fact that my dad used to make stop motion videos all the time. On many of our home videos you'll find short stop motion segments of our toys moving around and interacting with each other their own, us kids appearing and disappearing out of thin air, and even a Happy Birthday sign drawing itself. He was always so creative when it came to our home videos.

Hope you're having an amazing day!!!

-Tiffany

have a happy weekend!

2010-09-17T15:12:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

I hope you're having an absolutely amazing Friday and that your weekend continues to be just as amazing (if not more so). I don't have any big plans for this weekend, except for trying to rest and get over this sickness that I've acquired over the past couple days.

Being sick isn't very fun. Actually, it's quite boring. But whenever I'm feeling under-the-weather I try to find joy in the simple things.

A couple things I've been enjoying the past couple days while sick are...

Orange Creamsicles. Husband brought some of these home for me the other night, and they have been great for soothing my super sore throat. Mmmm...I love Orange Creamsicles. They remind me of kindergarten.

Gilmore Girls. Ah, I love and miss this show. I've been watching a few Gilmore Girls re-runs over the past couple days. I can't get over the wittiness of the dialogue between those two. Jonathan says it's exhausting...but I love it!

What are some simple things that bring you joy while you're sick?

Have an amazing weekend!

-Tiffany

favorite things: blogs

2010-09-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

I love blogs. And the blogs that I really love are the ones when I read them I feel inspired and the urge to be more creative. I don't always have the time to read them every day, but when I do have a chance there I have a few go-to blogs that are my absolute favorites.

And now I'm going to share a few of them with you! :) Aren't you excited?!

A Beautiful Mess

A Beautiful Mess is written by the super-multi-talented Elsie Flannigan. Her blog is one of the most creative things I have ever discovered. She's a designer, entrepreneur, artist, craft guru, etc. Her posts are filled to the brim with so much crafty eye candy it makes me drool.

images property of A Beautiful Mess

Rockstar Diaries

Rockstar Diaries chronicles of the life of Naomi (a.k.a. Taza), her husband, and their bulldog Kingsley. When I first stumbled upon this blog I fell in love with the fun optimism that was in each post. Naomi shares photographs and stories of all their fun daily adventures, and you can't help but feel like you know them personally after reading a few pages (and I like to imagine that Kinglsey and Max would be the best of friends if they met in real life).

images by Leo Patrone

The Pioneer Woman

I'm sure most of you have heard of The Pioneer Woman. But in the chance that you haven't, I simply must share this one with you. The Pioneer Woman is the mother of all blogs (in my personal opinion). Ree Drummond is a blogging legend...she started her blog by just sharing stories from her life on the ranch with her husband and kiddos. Now, her blog has turned into quite the phenomenon. As a result, she has now published her own cookbook (her recipes are AMAZING!), has written her love story which she is turning into a book, and already has movie deal which is rumored to be starring Reese Witherspoon!

I could spend hours scouring the many pages of her blog. She shares everything from daily confessions, recipes, photography tips, homeschooling resources, and more!

images property of The Pioneer Woman

Promise Tangeman

Promise Tangeman is a designer, crafter, artist, and photographer. Her blog is another one that is just full of beautiful inspiration. I love all of her designs and her DIY and 5 Things I Love posts are some of my favorites. She's so talented in everything she does and her sweet spirit is really evident in all of her posts.

images property of Promise Tangeman

So, there you have it--some of my all-time favorite blogs! I hope you go and check each of them out and leave feeling inspired.

What are your favorite blogs? Feel free to leave links to them in the comments below. I love discovering new fun blogs to visit!

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

our vacation (part 2): key west

2010-09-15T08:20:00.000-05:00

Our vacation recap continues! Yesterday I shared all about the cruise and the fun that we had on the ship. And today is all about our first port: Key West, FL!

When we first ported in Key West, I wasn't extremely excited about it...because we've been to Florida on numerous occasions. But once we got on shore and started exploring, I absolutely LOVED it! Key West has this charming feel of an old beach town. There were tons of shops, piers, and beaches to explore...and we couldn't get enough of it! We walked around for hours and hours just taking in the sites.

When we first got off the boat, it was extremely humid. So when I pulled out my camera, the photos turned out like this (because the lens was all fogged up). haha!

When you're on vacation, you absolutely must act like a tourist. It's a requirement, really. So of course we had to stop at these head cut-out things and get some pictures.

While exploring, we came across this cute little beach house. I told Jonathan that when we get rich and famous we should buy this beach house as our winter home (and of course we'd get a house in Maine as a summer home...it would only be right). I mean, c'mon...isn't this house adorable! Look at those teal shutters! And the double decker porch! *sigh*

Look at this little lizard! He's so cute!

He was pretty excited to see us as well.

We were thankful that we could almost always see the tail of our ship. It helped us not get lost. :)

After walking through the streets of Key West, we then spent some time at the beach. It was so pretty and calm. There was hardly anyone there!

Right next to the beach was this beautiful wooded area. Doesn't it look like something out of a fairy tale? I think it would be an amazing location for an engagement or bridal session...or for a wedding!

I'm convinced I have the greatest husband ever. He even carries my big teal bag for me when my shoulder gets tired. :)

Farewell, Key West! You are beautiful.

Looking at these pictures makes me want to go back! It was such a good day.

Next I'll be telling you all about our stop at the Bahamas!

Hope you're all having an amazing day! :)

-Tiffany

sneak peek: joy + jeremy's state fair engagement session

2010-09-14T12:26:00.001-05:00

Last night husband and I had the amazing opportunity to go and photograph Joy and Jeremy's engagement session at the Tennessee State Fair. This engagement session was F-U-N! We all had such a blast, and the night was full of laughter, smiles, and lots of playing.

I have many more images of this gorgeous couple to share...but for now, here's a little sneak peek for you...

I mean, seriously?! And Joy told me that they weren't very photogenic. Psh! Hogwash! (Who really says "hogwash" anyways? I just typed it, and it felt right...so I'm gonna go with it.)

Thank you Joy and Jeremy for allowing us to capture this fun night! :)

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

our vacation: CRUISE!

2010-09-14T08:30:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned last week, our vacation was absolutely amazing! I took lots of pictures and now have them ready to show you! Since there's lots to tell and many photos to share, I'm going to split this up into three posts this week: Cruise, Key West, and Bahamas.

(Disclaimer: I only pulled out my dSLR a couple times during vacation, so many of these photos were taken with my trusty point-and-shoot. Sometimes I find that when I lug around my "real camera" on vacation taking photos seems more like work than fun. And that's where the point-and-shoot comes in handy! :)

Our vacation started out by making the drive to Jacksonville, Florida where our ship was embarking from. Road trips are always fun...especially when shared by a certain Jonathan Zajas. He makes even long drives enjoyable. We passed the time by singing every childhood song we could remember, looking for crocodiles and armadillos beside the road (we only saw one...and it was sadly dead), and drinking McDonald's iced coffee.

When we arrived at our port, we were amazed by how big the boat was! This was our very first cruise (we used Carnival cruise line), so we didn't really know what to expect.

Once we went through the long process of checking in, we were very excited to be on the boat at last!

See? Don't our faces just scream excitement? (Jonathan's face, quite literally screaming.)

The first night, it was soooooo windy on the top deck. I really thought I was going to be blown away.

This was our stateroom on the ship. It may look tiny, but it was actually quite perfectly comfortable and cozy. And it was ALWAYS clean. I felt like every time we left our room, we'd come back and the bed would be re-made and everything straightened up. The staff on the ship did nothing but excellence in all that they did.

The view from our window. It was so amazing to wake up to this every morning. We even saw dolphins outside our window once!

One of our favorite things about the cruise was the complimentary room service. This cruise was all-inclusive, so we didn't have to pay for any food! We'd place our order for what we wanted for breakfast outside our door each night...and we'd wake up to hot coffee, pastries, and fruit brought to our door. Perfection!

Most days on the ship were spent like this. We would lay out on the deck facing the ocean, read our books, sip on an endless supply of soda, nap, and just relax.

At night we would freshen up and go eat in the dining hall. You could order as many things on the menu as you wanted, and Jonathan and I got to try things that we normally wouldn't...I tried veal for the first time and Jonathan had his first lobster. Everything was yummy!

After dinner we would walk around the decks of the ship and watch the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful.

When we returned to our room each night, the room would be all clean again and our bed would be turned down...and a little towel creature would be perched at the foot of it. I loved being surprised by which animal they would come up with next! All in all we had a walrus, polar bear, crab, elephant, and scorpion. The elephant was my favorite. :)

They would also place a schedule for the next day and some chocolate mints on our bed each night. They always had so many fun activities going on each day. We only went to a few, but we did get to see the world's fastest juggler! No photos or videos were allowed, or else I totally would have shared it with you guys. He was pretty amazing.

Have I mentioned that the complimentary room service was one of our favorite things? Because it was. Oh yes it was. We would often order hot chocolate and cheesecake for a late night snack. So bad...but oh so good.

We would highly recommend a cruise to anyone who wants a stress-free vacation. It was so nice to have everything all paid for up front and to just be able to go and relax...and not worry about where we were going to go that day, or how much we would spend on dinner. It was perfect.

Next I'll share all about our adventures at each of the ports. First stop: Key West!

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

weekend recap: pancakes, walks, and apple cider.

2010-09-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

I hope you all had an amazing weekend! Here's a little recap of what we did this weekend...

On Friday we went for a little lunch date to one of our favorite Nashville spots: the Pancake Pantry. Mmmmm...delicious! For some reason I really crave pancakes on rainy days. I don't know what it is exactly...they're just so comforting. Jonathan got the buttermilk pancakes with eggs and sausage and I got my favorite: the Sugar and Spice pancakes with cinnamon syrup (YUM!)

We went through almost an entire gallon of apple cider. This is the official taste of fall (well, that and Starbuck's pumpkin spice lattes).

I bought some pumpkin spice candles to scatter around the house so it smells like fall in every room. Here's the baby candle on my desk.

Max watched as Jonathan mowed the lawn on Saturday.

Since the weather was absolutely perfect, we went for a nice walk on the greenway. Max was pretty excited about it. The Nashville greenway is only a couple minutes drive from our home, so we try to take advantage of it when we can.

Ah, I love this view of the Cumberland River from the greenway bridge. Love it!

How was your weekend? What did you do?

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

recap: walk through a wedding workshop

2010-09-10T08:30:00.004-05:00

Last month I mentioned that Jonathan and I were the bride and groom for Justin & Mary's Walk Through a Wedding Workshop. It was such a fun, amazing, happy experience! If you'd like to check it out, Justin & Mary have posted a recap of the entire workshop explaining how they pulled it all together. If you ever have a chance to attend one of their workshops...DO IT! :) (To all my New England photographer friends, they're hosting another Walk Through a Wedding Workshop in Massachusetts on October 7th. You should go!)

When I turned my computer back on after vacation I was so pleased to see that Justin & Mary's Nashville workshop was featured in Style Me Pretty. Style Me Pretty is the mother of all wedding inspiration blogs. It's been a dream of mine to be featured in it one day...and now we have been...as models! :)

all images by Justin & Mary

You can see more of this feature by going to Style Me Pretty.

Our amazing videographer friends Eugene + Heather of 2Duce2 were there documenting all the behind-the-scenes goodness of the day. Here's the video they put together for it:

It was so fun getting to be a part of this day along with our friends Zach + Jody Gray and Sara Renee who were our wonderful bridal party!

We also got to meet so many wonderful photographers at the workshop from Nashville and beyond.

Here are some who have also featured the workshop on their blog:

Elizabeth Scott Photography

Allison Laura Photography

Michelle Stone Photography

(if you were at the workshop and I didn't list your blog post on the day, please let me know in the comments and I'll add it!) :)

Despite the extreme Tennessee summer heat, it was an amazing day! Justin & Mary and their amazing assistant Julia did a great job pulling everything together. And it's been so much fun seeing everyone's images from the day. Everyone did an amazing job!

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

P.S. If you have never seen Cedarwood (the venue that the workshop took place at), you simply must! It was beyond perfection. I would love to photograph a wedding there one day.

Location: Cedarwood Nashville, TN / Photography: Justin and Mary Marantz / Bride’s Dress: Target andThe Bride Room / Paper Suite: Invitations Ink, Manasquan, NJ / Make up: Renee Fisher Head Table Flowers & Buffet dinner: Chase Rivers / Floral Accents: Karen Wright / Videographer: Eugene & Heather / Models (all fellow photographers!): Tiffany & Jonathan Zajas / Zach & Jody Gray / Sara Renee

we have returned from vacation!

2010-09-09T10:03:00.000-05:00

We're back!

Vacation was amazing. There are not enough words to describe how wonderfully relaxing it was. I literally didn't touch a phone or computer for over a week...and it was good. Sometimes it's just nice to completely unplug from technology and the responsibilities of the day to day. It was a much needed break.

I have more photos and stories to share with you all from our trip, but that will all have to wait until next week. For right now, I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things...like checking email, doing laundry, making our bed, and cooking our own meals.

I hope you all had an amazing Labor Day weekend! I'm so excited that it's now September and that fall is in the air. Makes my heart sing with joy!

Lots of smiles,
-Tiffany

fall fever.

2010-09-02T09:48:00.003-05:00

I can't contain my excitement any longer...I am soooooo looking forward to fall! Autumn is definitely one of my favorite seasons! I'm hoping that by the time we get home from vacation the Tennessee air will feel a little more like fall.

There are so many things I love about it...

Sweaters
Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks
Colorful leaves
Evening walks in the crisp fall air
Curling up and reading a good book
Mums
Bonfires + marshmallows
Pumpkin spice candles
Pumpkin cupcakes, bread, pies, lattes, YUM!
Fall festivals
Pumpkin picking! Oooh, and apple picking too!
The smell of the air (okay, call me weird...but fall has a different smell to it...I love it!)
Stocking the freezer with lots of homemade soups (chili, tomato basil, cauliflower, potato...)
Making caramel apples
Boots and cardigans!
Max's hot dog costume
Thanksgiving! (I'll get to see my family then!)

What are you looking forward to this fall? I'd love to hear!

Lots of smiles,

Tiffany

vacation is for reading.

2010-09-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

When we were packing for our vacation, Jonathan and I kept saying, "Man, it would be nice to have a Kindle." As much as I absolutely love real books, having an eReader would be so convenient. Husband and I both picked out about 8 books each that we initially wanted to bring on vacation...but alas, we had to narrow it down some because packing 16 books is just not practical. Actually, it's just plain ridiculous.

The thought of being able to fit our entire library onto one little device is quite tempting. We would never have to leave a book behind ever again!

As an added plus, Amazon's commercials are some of the most creative I've seen yet. These commercials actually make me feel like I would be more creative if I owned one. That means their advertising department did their job exceedingly well, if you ask me!

Check them out...

Do you own a Kindle or other kind of eReader? If so, how do you like it? If not, then is it something you'd ever consider getting?

Lots of smiles,

Tiffany

happy 11th birthday moriah!

2010-08-30T07:52:00.002-05:00

Today is my littlest sister's birthday. She's 11. I can't believe it. Every time I see her I tell her she's growing up way too fast and that she needs to slow down...so far she hasn't really taken my advice.

Happy Birthday, Moriah! I am so happy that God blessed me with you as my littlest sister. It's such a joy to see how you're growing up into such a beautiful (inside and out) girl of God. Your smiles, laughter, and quirky fun personality can brighten up a room. I'm so proud of you! You are so loved!

we've lived in Nashville for one year!

2010-08-29T13:00:00.001-05:00

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of our big move to Nashville. Wow...this year sure has flown by fast! In many ways, I still feel so new to the area. There are so many places we have yet to explore and discover, we have rooms in our house that we have yet to paint, I have yet to really fall in love with country music, and I still rely on my GPS way too much to know how to get around the city (although I am learning! I'm making progress!) But at the same time, this place feels like home. Whenever I see a photograph of the Nashville skyline I can't help but sigh and say "Aw, that's our city. That's our home."

I'm so thankful for the year we've had here. For the wonderful people we've met who have become our dear friends. A year ago, I never would've guessed that I'd grow to love this place and these people as much as I do.

Thanks for being so welcoming to us, Nashville! We're so happy to call you our home. :)

-Tiffany

and we're off like a herd of turtles!

2010-08-27T08:50:00.000-05:00

And...we're off! Like a herd of turtles! (Have you ever heard that expression? One of my childhood best friend's mom used to say that all the time...and it makes me smile!)

We are officially on vacation! Jonathan and I are going to be completely unplugging from technology for several days, and I must say...I'm pretty excited about it! You might see a couple of Twitter updates leading up to our departure. But other than that...nothing, zilch, nada.

I'm really looking forward to completely unplugging, relaxing, and getting refreshed with my best friend. It's very much needed and couldn't come at a more perfect time.

I've scheduled a couple blog posts so that it won't be completely quiet around here. I don't want you to get to lornsome while I'm away. :)

I'll see you when we return!

-Tiffany

let your gentleness be evident.

2010-08-26T09:27:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have one of those mornings when you just wake up in a bad mood? On the wrong side of the bed, per se. If you are shaking your head "No" then you are in denial, my friend. Worse than Cleopatra, who apparently is the queen of it.

Well, this morning was one of those mornings for me. I don't know if it was because of bad dreams I had while I was sleeping, something I ate last night, grinding my teeth, or what. But I just woke up this morning feeling down, discouraged, doubtful, and all around not-so-good. Let's just say, my gentleness wasn't being very evident.

When I have moments like this, often the last thing I want to do is run to God with it. I think to myself, "Ick, I don't want him to see me like this. Let me pull myself together and then I'll pray about it." Haha, who am I kidding? It makes me laugh that sometimes I still think that I can hide things from God. HILARIOUS.

photo credit

Finally, I got over my selfish pride and went to God in prayer. And when I did, he put Philippians 4:4-7 on my heart. When I read it, my discouragement and doubt evaporated and was replaced with complete encouragement and joy. And then I felt led to share it with you. So here goes...

Philippians 4:4-7 [words in brackets are my own thoughts]

Rejoice [to be joyful + glad] in the Lord always. [even when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed] I will say it again: Rejoice! [this must be very important if he had to say it again]

Let your gentleness be evident to all. [to all = even the people who are hard to be gentle to, or who are not gentle in return] The Lord is near. [near enough to reach out and touch, even when we're in a bad mood or think he's not looking, he's there.]

Do not be anxious [concerned, disturbed, apprehensive, fearful, uneasy, worried] about anything, but in everything [EVERYTHING], by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving [the complete opposite of complaining], present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding [is more excellent than we could ever imagine], will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

beth andrews // headshot session nashville, tn

2010-08-25T12:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my good friend Beth came over for a quick headshot session. Beth is the type of person who is so uplifting to be around and after our session together I was left feeling so encouraged. She has the type of beauty that shines from the inside out, and it's always my goal to capture that.

Beth is a Life Stewardship Coach and an Arbonne Independent Consultant. She is such a hard worker, and it really shows in everything she does. I'm so blessed to call her a friend!

Here are a couple of Beth's images from yesterday in color and b&w:

If you're in need of a new headshot...now's the time to do it! In case you missed it last week, I'll let you know again that I'm currently running a headshot special. You can find more information here. Email me at tiffany@tiffanyzajas.com to schedule your session!

Lots of smiles,

Tiffany

favorite things: moleskine notebooks + sharpie pens.

2010-08-25T08:10:00.000-05:00

From a very young age I have had a love for stationery, paper goods, and writing utensils. As much as I love my Google Calendar, Gmail, and the many technologies we have today...there's nothing like writing something down with a good ole pen and paper.

When I was in high school, I would sometimes take notes in class and then copy them over by hand in a nice notebook when I got home. Yes, maybe I was a little OCD...or, perhaps it was just a unique method of retaining information. We may never know.

Over the years I have tried many different journals, notebooks, and a variety of pens. And after some time I have come to discover my absolute favorites that I now cannot live without.

And I'm now going to share them with you.

Moleskine Notebooks - Husband introduced me to these notebooks when we first got married, and I've never looked back since! I love everything about these notebooks. The paper, the simple black cover, the bookmark, the accordion folder in the back to stash receipts, post-its, and ticket stubs. My favorites are the Large Ruled Notebook and the Large Squared Notebook. I also have the 12-month Weekly Planner that I'm quite fond of as well. It doesn't matter what size or type you get...you really can't go wrong with Moleskine. Trust me. You'll love them!

Sharpie Pens - I have been a fan of Sharpie markers for quite some time now. I'm pretty sure I own one in every color! But it wasn't until last year that I discovered the amazingness that is Sharpie Pens. They are advertised to not bleed through paper...and by george, it's true! I really love the fine point felt tip and the consistent flow of ink. Love them.

Combined, Moleskine Notebooks and Sharpie Pens are quite the dynamic duo.

What about you? Do you have a favorite type of notebook, stationery, or writing utensil? Or do you prefer to go digital all the way? Please do share in the comments below! I love hearing your thoughts. :)

Happy writing,

Tiffany

for photographers: photovision = a great resource!

2010-08-24T08:48:00.001-05:00

No matter how experienced (or inexperienced) you are at something...it's always important to have a mindset of continual learning. As a photographer, this is very important! I never ever want to get to the point where I say "Eh, I know all that I need to know I can just sit back and relax now." Haha...nope. Not gonna happen.

About a month ago I subscribed to Photovision, which is an amazing resource for photographers who never want to stop learning. Every other month Photovision sends you a 2-hour DVD that is full of interviews, behind-the-scenes, and tutorial videos of some of the top portrait and wedding photographers in the nation.

For me, it's been really neat to see how other photographers do things. It makes me reevaluate my own systems and methods and see how I can better improve in photography and in serving my clients.

Right now Photovision is running a special where you can receive all of this years videos (including the ones that were already sent out this year) for only $39 (it's usually $149!) if you use the code PVFAN

This is such a great deal that I just couldn't let it pass without letting you all know about it!

In addition to the great photographers listed in the image above, starting this month our good friends Zach and Jody Gray of Gray Photography are also being featured in Photovision. You definitely won't want to miss out on seeing their awesome faces! (On one of the upcoming DVDs Photovision even shadowed them during an entire wedding!)

So, to take advantage of this amazing deal:
1. Go to Photovision
2. Use the code PVFAN to get it for $39
and
3. Never stop learning!

Lots of smiles,
Tiffany

family visits + the county fair.

2010-08-23T08:33:00.001-05:00

Two weekends ago my wonderful family came in town to visit us here in Nashville. It's always so great to see them! It's like a big slumber party...air mattresses and sleeping bags everywhere. We stay up playing games, eating snacks, watching silly videos on YouTube, and just spending quality time together. I love family!

During this visit we spent a day at the Wilson County Fair. Even though it was HOT outside, we had a blast! We've been to a few fairs in the area including the Tennessee State Fair and the Williamson County Fair...and this one was our favorite so far.

I didn't want to lug around my big dSLR camera all day, so the following pictures are courtesy of my Canon Powershot (which is a great point-and-shoot if you're looking for one! I love it!)

We had fun in the petting zoo. Look at us holding those chickens. We look like farmers, right?

This cow was so precious and kept rubbing her nose up on our hands. I wanted to take her home with me.

Just a few moments before we arrived, this baby chick hatched from its egg! We saw him standing up for the first time and all. It was adorable. I wanted to take it home.

The pigs were adorable, but kinda stinky. So I didn't really want to bring them home with me. But the fluffy bunny on the right was a completely different story. Jonathan had to pry me away from the bunny cages. It was dangerous.

Hahaha...the chicken on the bottom right was cracking me up. He looked like he was wearing pajamas.

Family portrait in front of the giant rooster!

There was a live bluegrass band there, which helped set a fun atmosphere for the fair. I loved it!

Why is it that almost every food they serve at the fair is on a stick? It boggles my mind.

The ferris wheel is my absolute favorite fair ride! They're nostalgic and romantic.

American Gothic. Somehow I think the proportions of the heads and bodies are somewhat off...hahaha.

This was Moriah's first funnel cake experience. It was definitely a moment worth capturing.

This horse was making ice cream!

We had such an amazing day!

All in all, it was kind of a bittersweet visit. This past week my family moved from Tennessee back up to Maine to go back to pastor the church I grew up in. I am so excited for them and this new chapter in their life...but it is definitely sad to see them go.

But this just means we'll be vacationing up in Maine more often, and that is definitely a huge plus! :)

extreme makeover: blog edition

2010-08-19T14:51:00.003-05:00

In case you haven't noticed already, the blog has received a lil' makeover...and I'm pretty excited about it! We've changed the title from "jonathan & tiffany" to "tiffany zajas photography", because, well, let's face it...Jonathan never posted on here. (He has started his own tumblr blog that he occasionally posts to if you want to check it out!)

The blog is now fresher, cleaner, brighter...and a much better environment for a plethora of photographs. Yippee! All of the content will stay the same. I'll be posting a mixture of personal and photography posts...and any other fun things I feel like sharing with you all. Just like the header says, it's all about...life, love, photography, and lots of smiling along the way. :)

And now...because everyone loves a good before + after...

BEFORE

AFTER

I hope you love the new look of the blog as much as I do. I have to admit, it's making me pretty giddy right now.

Thank you, husband, for giving my blog a makeover! :) You rock!

Lots of smiles,

-Tiffany

headshot session special!

2010-08-19T08:39:00.001-05:00

Whether you're a real estate agent, a professor, an actor, model, musician, a pastor, or a number of other professions...it's always a great idea to have a good professional headshot of yourself. The photo that you use to represent yourself says a lot about you and your professionalism--so make sure you do it right!

Even as a photographer it's important for me to have an image that accurately represents me and my business. I've had clients tell me that they knew they wanted to book me after seeing how happy I looked in the picture on my website. That's the kind of response you want!

When you schedule a headshot session with me, I'll make you feel at ease and relaxed so your true personality is reflected in your photo. If you have a large group or office where several people need new headshots, I can even come directly to your workplace to take them. (If it's in the Nashville area)

I edit the best 2-3 images from your headshot session to make sure they look the best that they can be. You will then receive the high and low resolution image files (for print and for web!) of those headshots. And, voila! You're good to go!

To schedule your session (or if you have any questions) just email me at tiffany@tiffanyzajas.com

Also, ask about a business card design special that this qualifies you for!

Lots of smiles,

Tiffany

autumn // bridal session nashville, tn

2010-08-18T08:36:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago I had the chance to take Autumn's bridal portraits before she moved to Texas to marry the love of her life. Autumn is just one of those people who has a stunningly beautiful presence about her. It was such a joy to get to photograph these for her!

tiffany zajas photography

Congratulations, Autumn + David! I'm so happy for you both, and I wish you all the joy in the world.

-Tiffany

Rusty Phillips // senior portraits

2010-08-12T08:16:00.000-05:00

Last month during my visit to Maine I got to photograph my cousin Rusty's senior portraits. This was really weird for me, because I used to babysit Rusty every week when we lived in Maine. Now, he's a senior in high school, can drive a car, and towers over me. Time flies so fast!

It was a real blessing getting to do this session. Rusty's dad, my Uncle Rick, was a photographer and he shot my senior portraits back in the day. It was really neat getting to return the favor in memory of him.

We had so much fun during this session! I miss my cousins (and rest of the fam) already.

Here are a few of my favorites...

tiffany zajas photography

sneak peek: justin & mary's walk through a wedding workshop

2010-08-11T08:54:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Jonathan and I had the chance to be the bride and groom for Justin & Mary's Walk Through a Wedding workshop here in Nashville. When Mary first contacted me about doing this, I was so excited! There's nothing like having the chance to dress up and pretend like you're getting married to the love of your life all over again. :)

We had such an amazing time yesterday getting to know so many wonderful photographers and vendors from all over. The wedding turned out absolutely beautiful! Justin, Mary, and their super talented assistant Julia did such a great job pulling everything together.

I'm so excited to see all of the images that everyone took from the day! Until then, here's a little sneak peek that Justin & Mary posted this morning.

images by Justin & Mary Marantz

If you ever have the chance to go to one of Justin & Mary's workshops...DO IT! This is the second workshop I attended by them, and I have learned so much. They are both such inspiring and encouraging people and are definitely a joy to be around!

our anniversary celebration.

2010-07-30T08:37:00.005-05:00

On Wednesday Jonathan and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. We both took off from work so we could spend the entire day together! Jonathan had the whole day planned out with surprises for me...I love surprises! :)

After a lazy morning at home, we started our outing by having brunch at the famous Loveless Cafe. This was our first time going to Loveless even though we've been wanting to go for quite some time now...and it definitely didn't disappoint! Loveless has been around since 1951 and is tucked away in a rural part of Nashville. It's known for it's quaint rustic charm and for their homemade biscuits, preserves, and ham!

It was soooooo good! We've now added it to our list of Nashville favorites.

After brunch we walked around and did some shopping in Hillsboro Village and The Gulch.

Next stop: downtown for some dessert at Mike's Ice Cream on Broadway. This is another spot that we've been wanting to try out for quite some time now...and we finally did! It was a pretty tasty, refreshing treat on a hot summer day.

Once we finished our ice cream we walked up and down Broadway checking out some of the fun (somewhat touristy) shops there. Our absolute favorite was Hatch Show Print. They make all of these beautiful hatch show print posters using antique wood and metal typefaces. It was really cool to see!

Sometimes it's really fun to explore your own city like a tourist...complete with a camera strapped around your neck and cheesy smiles and poses for fun pictures. :)

After walking around for quite some time, we were pretty exhausted...so we went home and rested for a while. (definitely a plus to living 5 minutes from downtown!)

I don't have anymore pictures from the day...but after we were rested we headed back out for a delicious dinner at P.F.Changs, spent some time browsing Border's (we LOVE book stores!), and competed in a healthy competitive game of Mario Kart Wii. :)

It really was a perfect day together.

Thanks everyone for all of the happy anniversary wishes! It was very happy indeed!

celebrating 3 years of marriage.

2010-07-28T07:28:00.001-05:00

Three years ago today Jonathan and I committed our lives to each other in marriage.

And what a wonderful three years it has been! On the day that I married him, I couldn't have imagined being more in love than I was at that moment...but each and every day that we've shared since then my love for him has deepened and grown more than I ever could have ever imagined.

I am so blessed to have him as my husband. So blessed and so very thankful.

There's nothing like getting to share life with my best friend. Being with him makes even the most mundane things exciting and fun!

Happy Anniversary, husband! Thank you for being the wonderful, strong, caring man that you are. I could never ask for more. I am so thankful for the three years of marriage we've shared so far...and I look forward to the many more to come!

Love,

Tiffany

photographs by Sara Renee

britney cashman // nashville artist shoot

2010-07-23T08:32:00.003-05:00

I've been meaning to post these images for a while...

The other month I had the great opportunity to photograph my dear friend Britney Cashman. Britney is a very talented singer/musician/songwriter and she just recently recorded her first album, so when she contacted me to photograph images for her album cover, I was thrilled!

The day of our session was very stormy and rainy. We sat in our car for at least 15 minutes just praying that we would get a break in the storm. Britney and her husband Jonathan were moving to Florida the upcoming weekend, so there was no way we could reschedule.

And then...the torrential rain stopped! And I thanked God a bajillion times that night.

Here are a few of my favorites from her session...

tiffany zajas photography

Nashville, TN

Britney, thanks for such a fun session! You are loved and very missed here in Nashville. :)

Trip to Maine!

2010-07-15T11:05:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to go up to Maine to visit with my family and friends there. I drove up with my family, we stopped to see my grandparents in West Virginia, and then went all the way to Lincoln, Maine to visit my grandparents and extended family there. It was SO great to see everyone!

After spending a few days in Lincoln, I went down to Portland (where I was born and raised) for a quick visit. I got to see my best friend Christin and her husband Jonathan. I hadn't seen them since our wedding (she was my matron of honor)!

We went to the coast, walked around on the beach, ate at all my favorite Portland restaurants. It was so perfect.

Christin and Jonathan are expecting their first baby! I'm SO excited for them. Christin is the cutest pregnant woman ever!

It had been about 4 years since the last time I was in Maine...and I'm so glad I got to go! Summer is my very favorite season there. The sun was shining, the air was crisp. The only thing that would have made this trip more perfect is if husband could have come with me. :) Next trip, I hope to be able to visit with more friends in Portland that I didn't get to see this time around. Hopefully it won't be too long until our next visit.

I hope you all are having a great week!

Love,

-Tiffany

pyatt family // nashville, tn family portrait session

2010-07-06T15:08:00.006-05:00

Recently I had the chance to photograph the Pyatt family - Julie (Jonathan's sister), Kenny, and Kate! I can't get over how much our niece Kate has grown! I try to take pictures of her whenever we see them...because I know that she's only going to grow up faster and faster. To see just how much she's grown up already, you can look at her newborn pictures, 3 months, 8 months, 1 year...and here she is with her family at 14 months!

tiffany zajas photography

Oh, isn't she the cutest?! Ah, I love her to pieces! So glad I got to take these family portraits for them. :)

Looking through my recent blog posts I realized that almost all I've been blogging about lately has been work related. I really need to work on getting some more personal posts up here! I'm going to try to get better at this.

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July and are thoroughly enjoying this summer!

Love,

Tiffany

brie // headshots!

2010-06-24T09:22:00.003-05:00

The other week Brie contacted me asking if I could take some headshots for her to use for her upcoming acting auditions. Of course I was more than excited to do them for her! Two things that I absolutely love: acting and photography. So it's always fun when I can combine those two loves. :)

Here are a few of my favorites from her session...

tiffany zajas photography

Isn't she gorgeous? I love how her blue eyes just pop! Beautiful.

I know that with her sweet and beautiful personality and smile to match, she'll go far in whatever she pursues.

lindsay + david // married!

2010-06-22T13:19:00.005-05:00

I am so excited to show you this wedding! Lindsay and David's wedding was such a fun celebration. The entire bridal party and both of their families were so nice and made us feel like guests. The joy in the room was so apparent...everyone was so happy to celebrate this marriage.

To start things off, here's a little video with highlights from their day:

Both the ceremony and reception took place at Rolling Hills Community Church which is located at The Warehouse in Franklin, TN. It was such a neat, modern building! I absolutely loved all the brightly colored walls and fun furniture...it made for some fun detail shots. :)

The flowers by Bianca Oeser of Simply Chic Creations & Events were absolutely stunning! I loved the simplicity of having all white flowers. It was very classy and elegant.

Lindsay and David chose to do a First Look and see each other before the wedding. I absolutely LOVE when brides and grooms choose to do this, because it is such a special moment between just the two of them (and me and Jonathan hiding in the shadows.) It also allows us to have plenty of time to make sure we get all the special photographs they want.

On the day of their wedding it was raining and storming pretty consistently...but just as we were getting ready to do their formal shots, the clouds parted and the rain ceased! I almost broke out into the Hallelujah Chorus! I believe the change in weather was an extra little wedding gift from God to them. :)

Do you see those two gorgeous photos below? My super-awesome husband/second-shooter Jonathan captured those. I'll say it once, and I'll say it again...I absolutely LOVE having him with me to shoot weddings. It's always fun to see how we can be shooting the same subject at the same time and get completely different images. Makes me giddy!

David's dad, Pastor Rich, was the minister for the ceremony. Whenever the pastor is a family member, it always adds an extra touch of special emotion to the service. I love it!

After the ceremony, we snuck back outside to snap a few more shots of just the two of them. The lighting was so golden and perfect.

The hall where the ceremony and reception both took place was lit beautiful by Nashville Event Lighting. They hung dozens of paper lanterns and hundreds of twinkly lights all over the place. It created such a beautiful and romantic atmosphere!

Congratulations, Lindsay and David! You two are such a sweet couple...we are so excited for you and the new life you are starting together! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day. :)

tiffany zajas photography

nashville, tn

visits with friends and family!

2010-06-18T09:51:00.003-05:00

Eeeep...you can call me blog slacker. Go ahead, say it...because it's true. haha. I've been a blog slacker lately.

This month has seriously FLOWN by already! I can't believe we're already nearing the end of June. We've had lots of fun things going on this month...lots of photo sessions...lots of grilling out...lots of friends and family coming to visit us.

Here's a little of what we've been up to this month...

On Memorial Day weekend (which I guess technically was last month, but oh well) our very good friends Thorne and Laura (who just recently got married!) came and visited us. We had an amazing time hanging out with them, taking them to some of our favorite Nashville spots (which always seem to center around food...) such as The Pancake Pantry, Baja Burrito, and Sweet CeCe's. And, of course, on Memorial Day we had ourselves a little cookout.

Mmmmm....I'm pretty sure grilling out is one of my absolute favorite things about summer!

The next weekend, my wonderful friend Bree came and visited me for a couple days! Ah, it was so great having her here. We talked for hours over coffee, went shopping, watched a chick flick, and made cheese dip. It was the perfect girly weekend.

And then last weekend my family came to Nashville! It was so great having them here (everyone got to come except for Miranda...she had to work, and we missed her.) It was an amazing visit. One exciting thing that we did was go to the Nashville Zoo! I'll share more on that later, because this post is nearing novel length as it is.

June has been an amazing month and I'm so thankful we've had the chance to spend so much time with people we love.

How has your month been so far? Doesn't summertime just seem like the perfect time to visit with friends and family? I love it!

thankful for him.

2010-06-03T09:14:00.003-05:00

husband, thank you...

for taking me on dates.

for refilling our drink so I don't miss any of the movie.

for letting me eat the last sour gummy worm.

for surprising me by doing the dishes.

for being so incredibly enjoyable to look at.

for calming me down when I'm stressed.

for bringing me a glass of water when I'm already in bed.

for your hugs.

for laughing at my corny attempts at a joke.

for being a great leader.

for choosing me to share your life with.

I'm so incredibly thankful for you.

Love,

Tiffany

nick class of 2010 // nashville senior portraits

2010-06-01T11:16:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to do the senior portraits for our pastor's son, Nick. We had such a fun time during this session!

One reason this session was so great was because I brought along my secret weapon (this reminds me of Fievel's An American Tale where the mice say "Wewease the secwet weapon." Anyone with me? Anyone?) Anyways, my secret weapon just so happens to be my husband ...because he has this incredible ability to make people laugh. And this weapon worked like a charm during Nick's session. Anytime I wanted a laughing smile I would just say to Nick, "Look at Jonathan!" and he would just start cracking up. It worked like magic, I tell you!

Here are some of my favorite images from Nick's session...

Nick plays soccer, so we took advantage of that and grabbed some action shots.

I bet you'll never guess why Nick is laughing in the bottom right image...yep, that's right...the secwet weapon!

BAM! Blue eyes!

Nick is also a talented musician!

I just had to include this last shot as yet another example of how much fun we had. Yep...we even played hide and go seek! It's all about the experience, people. :)

tiffany zajas photography

P.S. Class of 2011! It's time to book your session for this summer + fall! Even though graduation is next year, it's not too early to schedule your senior portrait session. Contact me at tiffany@tiffanyzajas.com

lindsay + david // wedding sneak peek

2010-05-25T12:28:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick peek at Lindsay + David's wedding we shot the other weekend. This wedding was such a joyful one. It was such a blessing to get to be with them and document it.

Congratulations, Lindsay + David! We're so very happy for you both. :)

tiffany zajas photography

friday finds: letterpress kit, cupcakes, and zebra finches.

2010-05-21T09:29:00.004-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it's Friday already! This week went by extremely fast. I hope you all had a wonderful week and have an even better weekend!

Here are some fun finds that I came across this week...

How cool would it be to have your own letterpress right in your home?! I would love love love to make my own pretty letterpress stationery using this amazing at-home letterpress kit from Lifestyle Crafts. How cool is that?!

image via Lifestyle Crafts

I have a crush on baking cupcakes. I have never been a huge cake fan (except for ice cream cake!) but when I baked my first batch of cupcakes from scratch, I have never looked back. So, when I recently came across The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, I automatically put it on my wishlist!

Don't you think that these screen printed city prints are absolutely gorgeous? They're so colorful and well designed. The Heads of State is still expanding their store, so I'm crossing my fingers that they'll create one for Nashville!

image via The Heads of State

I chuckled pretty hard when husband showed me this inspirational poster from Think Geek.

image via Think Geek

And last, but certainly not least...here's a video of zebra finches playing instruments.

(haha...okay, maybe you didn't find that as amusing as I did...but I used to own a few zebra finches...and I think they're so cute!)

Have you come across any fun finds this week? If so, feel free to include the link in the comments below!

Happy weekend, friends!

an evening bonfire.

2010-05-20T10:17:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago husband and I made a fire in our backyard and just sat out there and talked the evening away. It really was quite perfect. I don't know what it is about sitting in front of a fire, but it's very relaxing and mesmerizing to me.

While enjoying our cozy fire, we realized that this was the first time that Max had ever been around open flames...we realized this at just the right moment too, because he got a little too close for comfort.

We spent the evening talking about our day, our future together, and our silly dog. The only thing missing from this perfect evening was marshmallows. Next time, there will be marshmallows. :)

------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news, my day off yesterday was quite a success! Thanks to those of you who shared via the comments here, Twitter, and Facebook your ways of creating balance in your lives when it comes to work and personal life.

I spent yesterday catching up on Glee, reading my favorite blogs, baking Jumbo Coffee-Cake muffins, doing some laundry, and going to see Robin Hood in the theater with husband. It was a great, much needed break...and I'm so glad I did it!

With love,

Tiffany