When We Clicked

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!

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!

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

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

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

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...

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