the best present ever!

i love my cousin, lindsey.

my day was officially made when i came home from my run/walk with my sister to find a package on my porch. it made a very curious noise.. and when i opened it, this is what i found....

now, it was actually my cousins idea to have a gold themed party. sadly she will be missing that party because she will be moving from new orleans to austin (which is actually way exciting for her!!). buuuut, to keep with the spirit, she overnighted me actual, gold, mardi gras beads for my ash wednesday birthday.. how perfect :c) and to complete the package, it came with a gold birthday card (in spanish b/c apparently americans don't like gold birthdays)

i do!

'ash'ley wednesday

happy 'ash'ley wednesday!

that's right... i'm claiming today as mine.

the first reason is because it truly is ash wednesday, a day recognized by catholics as being the first day of lent. and having grown up catholic, this day has always marked the beginning of my fast from whatever i deem as wonderful that year. this year i will be giving up delicious chocolate and some exciting blogging (but don't you worry now.. i will continue to be writing my own, i just won't be checking out other people's blog's).

the second reason is that it is my birthday today! but above and beyond that, it is my 25th birthday on the 25th day of february! so this day is truly a once in a lifetime day, and i'm claiming it :c). but even when you have your own day, life must go on. i do have clinicals tonight, but i decided to let everyone out at 7 instead of 10 so i can go have dinner with my fabulous hubby (ahh, the power of a teacher :c). then this weekend i am celebrating with a 'golden' birthday party (turning the age of the date of your birthday is referred to as your 'golden birthday'). so i will definalty post pictures of that event. but for now, here's some oldies..

here's me and my dad :c)

doesn't this swing look super exciting!

and this is about how my hair look right now..

mmm.. don't stand between a girl and her ribs!

this continues to be my motto.. i win!

i love this pic of me, my mom, and little sis!

home with my hubby :c)

yay for ray!!

he is now an MBA grad, and i am so super proud of him (and stoked to be done with tuition :c)! but although this is his first week done with grad school, tomorrow he begins obedience school. that's right, ray's taking honey to school! so here's to another 2 months~

but since there's no interesting pics to go with this.. i'll go ahead and post isaac wade's newborn session. this was photographed in the russell residence, and i enjoyed getting to spend some time with this awesome couple!

love the expressions here!

sweet love :c) isaac wade

he's warning you, don't mess with the isaac!

and i have fallen in love with white dogs thanks to polo, j. star's dog

love it!

his expression here is too cute..

this was moments before a freak out..
and although placing isaac on the guitar didn't work, we got some really neat guitar case pics ;c)

that was close!

whew, that was close.

i am super pumped about my bridal shoot yesterday and was about to blog a few of my favorite edits, when i realized that the internet is accessible to all... especially her curious fiance. dang! so your going to have to wait until after their wedding next month to see these.

but in other exciting news, yesterday i placed my first order into my professional lab! so hopefully next week i will have these sweet pics in my very own hands.

this will be a gift to tim and abbraand this will hopefully look great over our mantle!

allright, i'm off to tulsa for an engagement shoot!

from newborns to antiques

yesterday i was blessed to experience both the old and the new :c)

i began my day in guthrie at a photo shoot for ~2 week old isaac russell, the first son of mindy and ryland. here's a sneak peak at the session.

then i went antique shopping with some friends in guthrie and found these stunning antique chairs, exactly what i was looking for for my office!then back to the new.. i meet (well not really, b/c i had already met him, but i introduced myself because for some reason, i'm really bad at remembering people. dang short term memory!)... our new roommate. yep! ray and i are opening our spare bedroom up to a guy form ray's men's life group, he'll be moving in on monday and we are excited!

(sorry, no pic here, a camera in your face is not the most welcoming.. although his fiance is a photog, and he was able to talk some camera talk..yay!)

then for the most 'new' event of the day.. the birth of mai green! micah and xuan are now proud parents of this healthy, beautifil little girl (who actually made her appearance at about 1:10 am this morning...stubborn girl :c)

and back to the old, here's ray at the hospital feeling very old (but still lookin' oh-so handsome ;c) after staying up past our bedtime... yep, 2 a.m. is now past our bedtime on a friday night. honey, i don't think we're in college anymore.

i hope you all have a wonderful weekend. i'll be shooting some bridals later today!

meet reggie miller

this is probably not who you were expecting to see.. but this adorable little bundle of fur now belongs to my sister's boyfriend, matt. he is a 6 week old boxer, and totally into biting! i'll post more pics of his first visit (honey is currently at my legs whining because they are gone..), but for now, it's off to clinicals :c(

but i do get a :c) for running ~6.4 miles today!

sharin' the love

valentines day.. all about the love.

i was blessed today to be able to take part in a mission that focused on our love for our neighbors. as i told you, a tornado hit a couple miles away from where i live and did some major damage. so life church threw together a last minute v-day mission to help cleanup the neighborhood. this is the second time i've helped after a tornado's hit, the first was last summer in greensburg, ks (thankfully this wasn't as bad). in the neighborhood where we were at, there was mainly a lot of downed trees, and roof tiles. some houses were hit, while others stand intact. such is the nature of a tornado..

cheryl and i were there representing plg and captured some great images. after shooting for a bit, i had to warm up my hand by donning some work gloves and digging into the debris!

chainsaws were a necessity of the day

there were missing roofs..
missing fences..
and missing buildings.

here's a shot of a ladder that was deposited in this man's shed

but it was great to see the amount of people who showed up to serve!

even the kids were there to serve!

teamwork was key.

with many hands working..

.. we saw great progress!

here's cheryl, always with a smile :c)
all in a day's work

now, to finish up my v-day, i'll be shooting a wedding later tonight!

have a great day!

much love ~ashley o.

happy early birthday for me!

last night i came home from clinicals to the same old routine.

kiss the husband, pet the dog, check my email, then off to bed.

when ray asked me to bring my new 40D to show him what i've learned today, i didn't think much about it. i went to grab my bag from the dark office, but something didn't feel right. in an instant i knew what it was, and ran to my sweet hubby and gave him a big kiss! he bought a shoot sac designed by jessica claire for my birthday, and suprised me early with it so i can use it for this weekends wedding! how thoughtful! he also included some little gadgets i have been wanting, and was very secretive about the whole thing. he is so supportive of my photography, and continues to give me the ongoing courage and confidence that i need. here's my new sac!

here's the first shot out of my new camera.. my hunky hubby

and here's honey sleeping through all the excitment..

my new 40D

my new 40D came in last night! now i feel like i have a big girl camera (and i don't have to waste money renting or borrowing an extra body for my weddings). how sweet!

safe for now

welcome to oklahoma.

in my last post i described what a beautiful weekend it was, with spring like weather,

so mother nature completed our spring weather with the visit of a tornado last night.

i was working in the hospital yesterday when the tornado sirens sounded, but thankfully it didn't get close to us. it did come close to my home, destroying houses about a couple miles away. but thankfully everyone i know is okay. now i'm ready for winter again~

here's some pictures that my friend, rick, from plg took. scary stuff.

ryland russell

what a beautiful weekend!

great weather- check. off of work-check. time with hubby-check.

i enjoyed a 'normal' homeowners saturday at home, which means i cleaned the garage, went for a run, watched a OU play, and had a night out with some great friends. it was fabulous!

but before all that started, i got to go to shoot Ryland Russell as he led worship for a youth convention in south okc. i've known ryland since college, and was able to shoot some maternity pictures for him and his wife last fall (and to update- beautiful, healthy isaac was born earlier this week!). i took my photo life bud, rick, along to help me get some 'action' shots of ryland playing. we had a blast, here's some of my shots..

check out that praise!

ryland can belt it!
i just liked this angle

and this shot, this is money.

that is my friend rick in action on the jumbo screen.. i didn't even see him till i got the pictures home.. love it!

gotta love a guy who can sing and play

the youth rushed the stage as soon as ryland stepped on

the lights added a lot of fun!

great show ryland! thanks for inviting us!