Pond or Pergola?

My husband and I have an agreement that each year we will do one major project in our backyard.  Last year it was a new shed to free up some space in the garage.  This year it was going to be a pond that my husband was going to build himself with fresh water plants, fish, etc.  So away we go to the local Lowe's Store to look at purchasing our pond.  As my husband is determining how many landscaping bricks to buy I detered over to the patio sets to take a seat and relax (not that I really needed to relax)!

Ahhh, the comfort of a plush cushion in a beautiful grass green color underneath a Pergola set.  Mmmmm, I thought, this would look really nice in our yard.  So my husband approaches and says, "wow that is nice."  As he proceeds to sit down we both look at each other and say, "do we want this or the pond?"

Well, this was our decision and we are absolutely loving it!  Next years project is adding on to our patio for the Pergola set, oh yeah and the pond!

Pepper Life

Sitting on my patio and thinking about my blog post and I realized I haven't shared an update on my garden (or should I say my garden pots). I'm surprising myself that I actually haven't killed these little guys yet! So far I have about 9 peppers growing and I actually have two green beans!! So I guess I may have a bit of a green thumb after all.

So I pulled out the Ipad and decided to check out Instagram in the process.  Here is the final result:

Summer Lilly

How many of you thought I was talking about Summer Lilies???  Actually, these are the names of my two friends daughters.  One of them was visiting from Florida and we all spent an afternoon together floating in the pool, cocktails and some good laughs.  I couldn't help myself and had to capture this precious moment of Summer and Lilly enjoying some quality cousin time.  Two adorable and beautiful little girls!

New Business Name

I have been debating for some time to change my business name from Virg's Photography to Virginia Gronley Photography and I finally made the leap.  I feel that it is more catchy, formal and it just feels right (it should it's my name).  I also had a new logo made and I LOVE it!  Thank you to CIP and Designs for the great logo work.

So now onto changing my website, blog, invoices, etc to my new business name so please be patient as I'm making the transition.

Nostalgic Photography

How funny is it when your step-daughter tells you that she wants a polaroid camera to play around with and she is only 18.  I didn't even know that she knew what a Polaroid camera was!  I then remembered having boxes in the basement with two polaroids in them and my husband told me they used to be theirs when they were younger.  Of course I had to dig through some boxes to pull them out for her.

It's going to be interesting to see what Melanie comes up with when she purchases some 600 film for this Polaroid, that is if they still carry it in the stores!

My Salvation Army Find!

I am always on the look out for photo props at a reasonable price.  One of my favorite ways is to search the local Salvation Army or second hand stores.  I have been wanting an old chest or I guess you could call it an old locker, I'm not really sure.   Anyways, as my girlfriend and I looked around I really didn't see anything that caught my eye.  I then decided before leaving to check over by the baby area and there before my eye is the old chest that I've been wanting!  As I approached this wonderful find I thought to myself "oh this is going to be too much."  Normally, these run between $40-$50 from what I have seen.  As I got closer I could see the price tag and it was $19.99!!  Woo hoo I thought and as I opened it it has a beautiful inside as well.  There was one latch missing so I thought I'd ask if they would come down in the price.  I ended up walking out the door with it for $10.

The Little Man

Last night Jeremy, Tiff and Aidan spent the night and we enjoyed a fun night at my aunt and uncle's farmhouse.  Today I wanted to get some photos of Aidan in high key.  He was a little stinker and did not want to be my model.  We had to get out some fun things for him to enjoy and finally I was able to take a few shots.  Just another reason why I need to get a candy jar for my studio for these type of moments, you'd be amazed at what Smartie Candies will do for a toddler!