Alli McWhinney Photography

For those of you who don’t know…I am a Hurricane.  After attending the University of Miami, and playing soccer there, I hold a special place in my heart for Miami Athletics, especially football.  Tonight my canes will be taking on the Badgers from Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl…and I fully expect a canes victory.  If not, I am going to have to hear it from my co-workers who all either went to Wisconsin or just want to support the Big Ten Conference.  Ugh, annoying I know.  So I really need my team to pull it out tonight…because really, it’s all about the “U”!

“Christmas is a time of joy,

A time for love and cheer,

A time for making memories,

To last throughout the year”

I have noticed a trend lately with holiday parties.  An awesome trend that includes partying for a good cause.  Similar to what was done at the Santa Pub Crawl, I have attended two parties with requests for donations in lieu of a hostess gift or bringing food or beverages.  At both events, partygoers either brought an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots, or canned food to be donated to the local food bank.  Both were great successes and it is awesome that people are thinking of the needs of others during this holiday season.  Hopefully this trend will catch on not only during the holidays but all throughout the year!

My friend called me and was crying.  “What is going on?” I asked?  She could barely say the words through the tears. “AF’s father died.”  What?!  I couldn’t believe this.  He wasn’t sick, he wasn’t old, people don’t just die.  I sat in shock, got off the phone and continued to just sit there.  It wasn’t until my own father came home that I broke down into a hysterical fit of tears.   I felt so sad for my friend and her family.  She is a daddy’s girl, and so am I.

The funeral was sad, but beautiful in the same way.  All of the people that loved and respected AF’s father were there to show their support and to celebrate his life.  People shared their memories of him and I noticed a trend.  Everyone spoke of what an amazing, fun, and loving person he was.  It made me remember my favorite memory with AF’s father.

We all had dinner and were on our way out to the car.   We piled in and then something happened, I can’t quite remember what, but I remember thinking, “Oh no, he is going to be mad.”  As I waited for AF’s father to get mad, he opened the car door, cranked up the music, got out, and started dancing!  Dancing in the driveway!  I was shocked and couldn’t believe what I was seeing…so what did we do?  We all go out and joined him dancing in the moonlight, smiling, laughing, shaking our tailfeather.  To AF’s father, thank you for giving me a best friend and for showing us that whatever life throws at you, it is always a good idea to just shake your tailfeather!

AF, I love you, and I know that Daddy will always be looking down on you, smiling and dancing in the heavens to celebrate what a beautiful person you have become!

A lot of photographers will blog and answer questions they get asked most frequently.  My blog is just one week old and I would like to post answers to the questions I have been asked frequently this week.

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Q:  Who is going to read your blog?

A:   Well, my mom is going to read it, and my brother for sure, he uses google reader, and maybe some friends if they remember and are bored at work.

Q:  You do photography?

A:  Yes, I have dabbled in it for years, now I am taking it to the next level!

Q:  Did you take that picture?

A:  Yes, I do not steal.  If my name is on the picture, then I took it baby! (or maybe someone else took it with my camera and my settings- Using the transitive property = my picture) hahaha.

All kidding aside, so far this has been amazingly fun and challenging.  I can’t thank the people that support me enough…especially my blog readers!

Christmas and Disney!  And when you put them together, it is pure magic!

So, when I got engaged I just could not wait to start planning!  I mean just think of it, venues, flowers, dresses, rings…how exciting!  The list goes on and on.  I mean how hard could this wedding planning thing really be?  Well, I have had my ups and downs and here are some of them…so far!

WOEs:

1.  Guest List:  UGH! Everyone told me that the guest list is the worst part and yes, I totally agree!

2.  The Details:  The saying “the devil is in the details” is so true!  Oh well 6 months and counting…still plenty of time, right?

WOWs:

1.  My dress!  Ahh the amazing feeling of putting on the gown you will walk down the aisle in and knowing it is “the one”!

2.  Cake tasting:  Yummy!  All those flavors of cake, filling and frosting.  Sugar high here I come!

3.  My fiance:  Being lucky enough to find the man of your dreams is nothing to sneeze at.

And here is where it all will go down…