Sweet Child Of Mine

I'm off work today and I couldn't be more appreciate of that! Seriously. After next Wednesday, I'll be off for seven days. Holy crap am I excited!! I'm in need of a good break.

Today I've done things I wanted to do at my own pace. Exercise, laundry, photos, etc. Looking forward to a date tonight. ;) Ahem, I want to see Les Mis...

Anyway.

Deavin brought these home on Tuesday. I love how vibrantly colored they are. And, of course, gerber daisies are my favorite.

Molly & Baxter - such sweet friends.

"He's got eyes of the bluest skies, as if they thought of rain..."

Briggs's spot when Mom is working from home.

"Whoa, whoa, sweet child of mine."

Have a blessed day.

Ladies' Night (and the feeling's right)

Kelli, Whitney, Elizabeth and I went out this past Saturday to Don Pepe's. I'm trying to get better at actually taking photos with people instead of just objects and other people.

Kelli and I did some pre-get together shopping for Elizabeth's lingerie shower that we're pretty excited about. Things should come together nicely and I'm hoping Elizabeth is super embarrassed by our lingerie plans. :) What are friends for?

Kelli and Whitney

Elizabeth and me 

We took a trip to Claire's with intentions of sewing some "wild" oats and getting our ears pierced again. Kelli wants second holes in her ears. I'm wanting my tragus pierced, which is definitely not a Claire's-friendly piercing. We looked at their prices and they pretty pricey. Therefore, no second hole for Kelli yet.

Whitney, a striking resemblance of her husband.

A Day In The Life: Cottingham Cats

It's obviously no secret that here at the Cottingham residence, we love our cats. I'm an animal freak in general, while Deavin has a love for felines in particular. As you should know by now, we have two highly entertaining yet useless cats, Ava and Wilford. Ava is a calico cat nearing two-years-old and Wilford is a one and a half-year-old flame point Himalayan.

Today I decided to photo document what a typical day in their lives looks like, because what else do I have to do with my day? ;)

If you don't find Ava laying on top of one of our couch cushions, you can probably find her on the kitchen table looking out of the dining room window. Such a spy.

In a picture dictionary, Wilford is the photo example under "lazy." He's pretty and all, but so lazy. He is also a body contortionist, as demonstrated above.

An example of Ava enjoying me taking photos of her. She prances and rolls around whenever the camera is out.

So lazy he wouldn't even look me in the eye!

It's going to be hilarious when I add a dog to the family and their little worlds are turned upside down!

All photos property of Bethany Cottingham Photography©

Bethany Cottingham Photography

I've updated (a little) my photography blog recently. Hopefully I'm going to be updating it a lot more this year. I'm always looking for photo opportunities, even if it's simply to capture some every day activities. ;) Each day I'm learning something new, whether it be some new function on my camera/lens or exploring the seemingly ever-expanding Photoshop (it's ridiculously exciting to learn something new there). 

Here's the link to my photography blog, once again:

http://www.bethanycottinghamphotography.blogspot.com

I'm already scheming for my next addition to my photography arsenal: an SB-700 speedlight for those dark, indoor events that just look better with an off-camera flash. I'm really not a fan of flash in general. Natural light is just so much more beautiful in photos, but sometimes there's not just enough light or perhaps too much harsh, strangely colored light for a good photo. And don't even get me started on built-in flash - awful.

BCS National Championship 2012

Monday, January 7th was the 2012 BCS National Championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame. Ryan joined Deavin and me at my parents' house to watch the game with my mom. Dad and Daniel were actually in Miami for the game. According to Facebook, they seemed to be having a great time. Alabama annihilated Notre Dame 42-14, thus making Alabama the national championship winners for three out of the past four years (2009, 2011, and now 2012). The word "dynasty" sure is being thrown around quite often about these guys. RTR!

We had a good time watching the game, eating pizza and wings, and skyping family in Tampa.

A terribly jealous Briggs. He wanted to enjoy the warm Miami weather too.

I posted this photo to Facebook prior to the game with the caption: "Look at me. Look me right in the eye. Roll Tide."

They had their game faces on and watched the tide roll...until bedtime. By half time, these two and my mom were already snoring. 

New Year's Eve

We ended 2012 with some of our favorite people - Elizabeth, Ben, Matt, Kelli, Whitney, and Michael. We all met up at Chuy's (our tradition, it seems) for dinner. Ben and Elizabeth had youth group plans and Matt and Kelli had plans to join his parents, so we went to Yogurt Mountain and Zoolight Safari with Whitney and Michael. Such an exciting group of people. :)

Ryndi & Steven's Wedding

After work on Friday, December 28th, Deavin, Chelle, and I headed for Memphis, TN for Ryndi (Deavin's cousin) and Steven's wedding. We were pretty exhausted by the time we arrived at the hotel in Millington. Saturday morning we ate breakfast with Memaw and Pepaw at the hotel then headed over to the church. We had a great time over the wedding weekend, especially at their reception. Sunday we went to Deavin's uncle Randy's church, then ate lunch with some of his family before exploring downtown Memphis (gross) and heading to Chelle's house in Huntsville.

Deavin getting ready for the wedding. 

Pepaw, Ryndi, and Memaw

Uncle Randy and Deavin

One of the centerpieces at the reception.

Everybody loved this part. Pepaw broke up the father-daughter dance for a moment with his granddaughter.

Deavin and his mom

Father-daughter dance

It should be framed.

The groom and groomsmen entertained everyone with their own rendition of "Gangnam Style."

A beautiful view of the Tombigbee River going towards Huntsville.