I am SO thrilled to share with you the next chapter of the life of this business!

Here’s where I have been spending most of my time these past few weeks:

a working vacation to visit my favorite cousins:

a beautiful maternity session in the snow:

another family was blessed with a happy, healthy precious baby boy:

another soldier deployed:

another set of beautiful newlyweds:

a precious father/daughter dance with 100% voluntary poses for these photos
(I just can’t get over how much these girls love their daddy’s!!)

and more to come on the new website on Monday!

Well I am so glad to know that I am not alone in my love of stationary! But honestly, who doesn’t love pretty things, right? Again, this was another popular giveaway and I realllly wish I had 100 of these gift sets to give to you ALL. But, alas, that’s just not how it is. I’d like to extend a big congrats to one of the entrants, though…

Congratulations Nikki!

Please email me at info AT loveandlaughterphotography DOT com with your address and I’ll ship this off to you ASAP!

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Come back MONDAY for the big REVEAL! New look, new website, new everything!

(Oh, yes, and that other big giveaway announcement. :))

I wish I had ten of these to give out, because some of you REALLY expressed your STRONG desire to win this one. I hate that only one person gets it! But, she’s super sweet, so perhaps she will share? (No pressure, haha!)

Congrats are in order for…

Congrats Ena!

Please email me and let’s arrange a way for you to get your hands on this prize!

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If you didn’t win, no worries! You still have two more chances to win in one of these giveaways!

Enter the stationary giveaway here, and come back on Monday for the grand prize giveaway announcement!

(And the announcement of the NEW LOOK!)

(Okay. whew. Deep breath after all those exclamations. Hah.)

I shouldn’t be surprised. With modern day technology, why WOULDN’T I think that I would be able to communicate with my deployed husband on a daily basis? However, for some reason, I prepared myself for the worst. I prepared myself for sporadic emails only. Maybe one or two phone calls the whole year - with spotted reception and unexpected disconnections. He probably wouldn’t even have time or a desire to write me real letters - because who wants to sit down and dream of home when that’s the last place they are allowed to go and the only place they want to be? So, of course I prepared myself for the worst. Imagine my joy when we were given a briefing about the base where these guys would be located at out in the middle of “the sandbox” - and it included internet access available in every room - AND internet / coffee cafes! Wow have the times changed! And for that I am grateful, of course.

However, there truly is no replacement for a handwritten letter. I am blessed to report that my husband apparently feels the same way. (Okay, this is the guy who finds the Civil War romantic.) Since he’s been gone (and I say gone - but he’s still stateside with cell phone access at this point) I have received two handwritten love letters. Real love letters! Maybe he’ll write me enough that I can make my own little book for us from my 365 photos and his letters. We’ll see.

I love real mail. I don’t know a person who doesn’t like to receive handwritten goodies through snail mail. So, this week I am grateful that our modern day society hasn’t put the post office out of business yet and that we can still write real notes and letters to each other. It’s the little things in life, you know?

When is the last time you sat down and wrote a real note and put a real stamp on it? I encourage you to take some time out of your day and do so. It’ll put a little kick in your step, I promise!

Have I told you all how much I love stationary? How about paper? I am pretty sure I’ve mentioned my love for paper here. I have been known to pick up brochures for completely random products/services that I have ZERO interest in simply because the brochure is pretty. Oh, yes. In addition, I have been collecting stationary for YEARS now and I have boxes full of beautiful cards and papers to use “some day.” In fact, I had to swear off purchasing anymore stationary for myself until I started actually running out of what I currently own. I buy the pretty things and then can’t bring myself to use them because I want to save them for special occassions. Ridiculous, I know.

But! Who says I can’t buy stationary for you?! That is exactly what I am going to do!

This week’s contest winner will receive a lovely stationary set that includes:

• A $25 gift certificate to the sweet unfolding etsy shop to purchase your own set of personalized stationary + envelopes
• “On a Personal Note: a guide to writing notes with style ” by Angela Ensminger & Keeley Chace
• Genuine Nepalese paper and matching envelopes
• An adorable In Touch Clutch from the awesome downstairs Designs etsy shop, complete with
  • one book of Forever stamps
  • a fountain pen (with an extra ink cartridge)
  • one thank you postcard
  • one adorable card + envelope

Yay! I’m so excited to give this gift set! (It’s actually pretty tough not keeping it all to myself, I’m not gonna lie.) To enter this week’s giveaway simply tell me what some of YOUR favorite things are. Do you collect anything? Do you spend way too much money on something special that you love? Share, share!

You can also gain other entries simply by sharing this contest in your RSS Reader, on Google Buzz, Facebook, Twitter, or blog about it on your blog. For every time you share about the contest, come back and leave an additional comment on this entry letting me know! Each comment counts as one entry.

You have until midnight of Friday, February 26th to enter as many times as you would like. Have fun and good luck!

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Come back NEXT Monday, March 1st for the unveiling of the BRAND new website and blog!
(AND the Grand Prize Giveaway that you are not going to want to miss!)

Okay the spa kit giveaway was SO FUN! Turns out, ya’ll are big fans of the spa!! Who knew?

The winner is………………..

Congrats Adriana!!!

Please email me at info AT loveandlaughterphotography DOT com with your address and I’ll get this in the mail for you today!

I love to travel. If you know me in real life, you should at least know that about me. On any given day of the week I’m more than likely on the road, headed somewhere around this beautiful state of Virginia. All of my wedding packages actually include travel anywhere within the state because I enjoy being on the road so much. Of course, what I enjoy the most is the people I am able to visit when I reach my destination(s). It is always a wonderful time visiting with friends and family I haven’t seen in a while.

While I am a big road-trip kinda gal, the truth is, my heart belongs in the air. I don’t get to fly too, too often for work or play, but when I do, I LOVE it. There’s just something about walking through the airport alone with my luggage and laptop ready to power on as soon as I am settled. I feel so grown up, so independent. I am not afraid to sit alone at a local restaurant, let alone one in an airport. I love doing my own thing, whether that’s airport shopping, dining, or catching up on some work in my portable office. Not to mention airplane food. Okay, so it’s not the most delicious. But, come on! It’s SURE to be an adventure no matter where you are flying! Especially if you are on international flights. There’s nothing quite like it.

So, I love flying. And this week I am grateful for the opportunity I have to fly around the country (the world!) both for work and play. Traveling through airports is just as much fun as the things I can do in the town I am on my way to visit!

(Don’t forget, I’ll be announcing the winner of last week’s giveaway this Wednesday!)

Inspired by my trip to FL last month, I wanted to give the gift of a pleasant travel experience to one lucky blog reader this week. While I truly cannot gaurantee a pleasant travel experience for anyone, I am happy to help contribute to one as much as possible.

This week’s prize is a lovely travel kit that I secretly want to keep all for myself. Here’s what is included:

• A carry-on travel bag complete with a quart-sized baggy with airline standard bottles for an easy weekend getaway luggage set.
• One travel neck pillow.
• One travel eye shade.
• Two “Pocket Posh Puzzle” books. These are the most adorable little puzzle books sure to keep you entertained on a long flight.
• One $15 iTunes gift card so you can load your ipod with new tunes for your trip.
• One $25 Barnes & Noble gift card so you can buy a new novel for your trip if the puzzle books aren’t quite up your alley.

What fun!! I am excited to give this set away to a lucky blog reader! To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment with your answer to this question: If you could travel anywhere in the world for a week vacation, where would you go? Why?

You can also gain other entries simply by sharing this contest in your RSS Reader, Google Buzz, on Facebook, Twitter, or blog about it on your blog. For every time you share about the contest, come back and leave an additional comment on this entry letting me know! Each comment counts as one entry.

You have until midnight of Tuesday, February 23rd to enter as many times as you would like. Have fun and good luck!

I can’t wait to read your responses! I am LOVING getting to know my blog readers through these contests!