michael + heather = engaged!

Michael and Heather are some of my very good friends and have been dating for about 3 years now. Michael (or Murry, as we like to call him) is the keyboard/programmer for my husband's band - so we all get to see a lot of each other. Keeping this proposal a secret was a little tough, but so much fun!

Murry decided to propose to Heather while her family was down from Kansas City. We typically do a cookout with all of our friends on Sunday evenings, so to have a "Labor Day" cookout was no surprise. There were a few twists, though. Murry purchased a Bingo game (one of Heather's favorites), and we made our own cards (with this very cool site). We printed Heather's on yellow (her favorite color) and was sure to include the number 27 on it (their dating anniversary). I insisted we all play Bingo after dinner, and made Murry the caller. Shanna passed out the cards, making sure Heather got the right one. 

So we totally rigged the Bingo game- but Heather won an awesome prize! All in all, I think she was pretty shocked! Here are a few images:

Murry looking a little nervous:

Murry calls the game while Heather (in the foreground) has absolutely NO idea...

Shanna won the first game. Can you guess what her awesome prize was?

Heather gets a BINGO!

Love this.

Gorgeous canary diamond on a gorgeous lady!

Shawn made a fun video of the evening and I would recommend watching it if you have a second!

Congratulations you guys!!!

young folks • peter, bjorn and john

This song has been stuck in my head for a while now, and when I looked it up, I was pleasantly surprised by the quirky little music video. Enjoy!

today in scottie-world...

We went from filthy...

To fabulous.

Switchfoot with A Road Less Traveled • Amarillo, TX

We found out on Monday. The RV had been in the shop and would not be ready to go by the time we needed to leave. Suddenly we needed to get 14 people and a LOT of equipment to Amarillo, Texas, and we weren't sure how that was going to happen. 

Thankfully, some awesome people in our church volunteered their trucks and SUV's, and we made it! Our little caravan was quite the change from Harvey the RV, but it was so wonderful to have such support (and some extra drivers!).

The show went well. It was hot- hence the umbrellas- but enduring the heat was well worth it for the show we got to see! Here are a few that caught my eye in the 10 minutes I've looked at the images I shot. 

My sister, Layne- who's headed back to A&M for another school year!

ARLT

This is not an incredible image, but it was the first time they shot off some custom built confetti cannons which turned out to be super cool.

Switchfoot time!

supermarket sweep • week 2

***For those of you who are wondering if I'm ever going to post some pictures, the answer is YES! I am downloading my cards from this weekend as I type. Meanwhile, you can read about my grocery adventures.***

This is an update to this post, where I shared about my new mission to shop smarter (and with a smaller budget). 

So, I've decided to call myself a "couponista". That's right. I feel pretty good about my grocery shopping this week.

Here's a picture of everything I got:

Yes. That's a lot of food- which makes sense that I spent $85.40- $25.40 over my weekly budget. 

Before you gasp and shun me, let's talk about long-term. Frozen chicken breast was on sale 2 bags for $7. That's at least enough chicken to last us for 6 dinners. Also, United is having a "Meal Deal"- we purchased 2 lb. of lean ground beef for $8.91 and received tortillas, refried beans, shredded cheese, taco seasoning and sour cream FREE. That "Meal Deal" will feed us at least twice- making it about $2.22 per meal. We also found a 3/$5 deal on whole wheat pasta (I'm a big fan of whole wheat).

One of the other great deals I got today was at Walgreen's. Kellogg's cereal was 2/$5, so we got two (fiber-filled!) boxes. I also had a manufacturer's coupon for $1.50 off of two Kellogg's cereals, which made one of them basically free. Then, we added paper towels, my favorite hairspray, some green tea and a pack of gum (all of which were on our list, sans the gum) to make the total $25.96. I also had a $5 off of a $25 purchase coupon to make our total 21.00. To add to that, the purchase of the cereals got us a $2 coupon for the next time we go to Walgreen's. If you think about it, we actually got two boxes of cereal for $1.50.

So, with coupons and store specials, I saved $30.26 and made $2.00 for my next trip to Walgreen's. 

If any of you are interested in the meals I am making, let me know- I didn't want to bore you too much!

*A tip I learned this week: If you know you are going to buy a particular brand, google it and see if you can't find a coupon! This worked for me twice this week. 

"The key to change...is to let go of fear." - Roseanne Cash

You may have noticed a few changes around here (you RSS readers will not, as it affects my site design). It's official- I've changed my business name!

Bye bye to Studio Blue...helllllooooo Lissa Anglin Photography!

Truth is, most of you were typing in "Lissa", "Anglin", "Photography", or a combination of those three words to get here anyway. When faced with a tough decision to change my name or not, I went for it.

It's.....a little scary. Because I know it's not the only change I'll be making...even though it is the biggest change. If you don't mind me sharing my heart here a bit, I'll fill you in on what I've been thinking about.

••••••••••

I do have fear. A lot of it. It completely hinders me- makes me compare myself to others, tells me that I'm just not good enough, and forces me into a semi-pathetic depression. I HATE fear. I've been doing my best to laugh in it's face.

I know that God has big plans for this little business of mine- purposes that I can't even dream up. There are days when I wonder how in the world I get to have such a wonderful job. The people I get to hang out with and photograph consistently amaze me with their stories and attitudes and love for each other. 

I'm thankful for the people that take the time to read my thoughts and comment on my images- it means so much more than you know! 

There are more changes coming- mostly not-so-obvious ones, but I plan on making Lissa Anglin Photography exactly what God wants it to be, even though I may not know what that is just yet. :) I want to facilitate a place here where stories are told and loves are cherished, and I hope that you'll join with me! 

Sidenote: I'll be shooting a fun wedding this weekend, so stay tuned for those images!

published!

A while back, Teresa Young, the editor of "Footprints", Wayland Baptist University's alumni magazine, contacted me about an article on my business! I was so excited to be included as part of the issue.

I've never done an interview of this type before, so it was a little funny reading my thoughts back to myself! However, Teresa did a fabulous job taking my half-sentences and streamlining them into a complete article. 

If you're not a Wayland Alumni, but would still like to read the article, you can view a scanned pdf HERE. It's not the best quality, so the images are not represented well (I JUST figured out how to operate my scanner), but you can still read it. 

Thanks so much Teresa, and to all of my WBU friends who have congratulated me!

knoxville

It was a very short trip. Too short. But I'm glad I got to go - and it was totally worth waking up at 4:15 a.m. to catch a flight.

Shanna and I took a little trip to Knoxville, TN while the band was up there recording their new EP. (Which, by the way, is still blowing my mind...it sounds incredible and I can't wait till it releases!)

We had an awesome time- which was made even awesomer (my blog - my words :) because I got to see my cousin and his family that I haven't seen in years. Not only did they feed us and loan us a car, but they let all the boys stay in their home for a week- only having met Shawn once, before we were even engaged. That's love! 

Here are the girls (3 girls, just like my family):

I love these kinds of images!

Shawn and I with the girls:

The girls, especially the two oldest, look a lot like I did when I was little! These may not be the best representations, but they're what I had on hand. Here's me around age 6! (Thanks for the awesome outfits, Mom)

my own supermarket sweep

Remember this show? My sisters and I used to watch it all the time. 

Today, I did my own little version. 

Shawn are beginning what we call our new "Dave Ramsey" budget, and I am so excited about it! This was my first chance to go grocery shopping with my limited budget. In order to attack our goals with the most force, we decided that my weekly grocery limit was $60.00. 

To add to my challenge, we are also concerned with eating healthy. Both Shawn and I are wanting to lose some weight and develop better eating habits, so fresh, high quality food is important. 

I love to do my research and am not afraid of coupon clipping, so with a LOT of help from faithfulprovisions.com, I was able to find the best deals at the local grocery stores this week. 

In the end, I did visit two different stores, but to quote my father, "I always have more time than money".

My total came to $59.32! Here's a look at all I took home: 

These items, along with a few things I already had in the pantry, will feed us these meals this week:

• Beef Brisket with wedge salads (I actually bought enough to freeze some and make it again in a couple of weeks- the marinade was 2 for 5.00, and the brisket was at 1.99/lb.)

• Broccoli stuffed chicken with summer squash and zucchini

• Tilapia fillets with rice

• Spinach leaf salad with grilled chicken, pecans, hard boiled eggs and light ranch (loading up on the proteins!)

• Chicken quesadillas with tomato, onion, and avocado (no cheese here)

My coupons saved me $8.40, which was a huge help!

Here are a couple of websites that have really inspired me in this effort:

daveramsey.com        faithfulprovisions.com      $5.00 dinners

where has my husband been?

For those of you who have approximately 5 minutes of your time to waste, I thought I'd share this video from A Road Less Traveled. This is what happens when you send a bunch of boys (ahem, men) to a middle school camp for a week.