Wedding Photo Shoot

Ursula got some pictures from our photoshoot posted. You can see them by following this link to her website:

Ursula Page Photography Blog » Ashley + Joseph: 2 Years Later [Thomasville, GA Wedding Photographer]

I thought they turned out great. Granted I could have majorly used a tan, my hair done, and a few less lbs. but all in all, they look great!

We had so much fun doing it and Ursula and all the photographers that were there for the shoot were so wonderful and friendly. If you want to take a look at some of our Christmas card photos that Ursula took back in October, follow this link:

Ursula Page Photography Blog » The Best Reason for Pictures [Thomasville, GA Portrait Photographer]

So if you are in the Thomasville area, and need some fabulous pictures, contact Ursula!!

Exploring Where No Woman Has Gone Before....The Man Cave

This is my gorgeous hubby, Joseph.

He is like most men and needs an escape at the end of the day. He works hard and doesn't get much down time. That is why we converted the guest bedroom into this:

On any given afternoon/evening this is where you will find Joseph. He has a laptop desk at the couch where he can do his work and watch his American Loggers show in peace from me. When he isn't working, he is back there playing his PS3 NCAA 2010 Football game. (of course he is the head coach for none other than UGA and takes it quite seriously. He even has a manly Vera Bradley notebook to keep his stats in!) He has a large 42 inch flat screen, surround sound, and even an extra TV for when he is either watching a game or playing a game, he can have another game going behind him on the extra tv. Men and their toys! It might be a bit much, but he deserves what little space he can have to get away to!

Yesterday, we traveled down to my parents and we got to go to my father's man cave. His "campground" down at the creek.

 

It is new and improved since the last time I posted pictures. He now has......running water!!

   

Joseph, Jack, and I sat down with daddy while he cooked us some lunch.

The boys anxiously awaited for him to finish cooking.

Finally it was time to eat and go back home to enjoy the yummy steaks.

 

After lunch, we took the puppies outside for them to enjoy getting to run around without having to be on a tie out. They really had a blast. They ran and ran and ran. And played and played and played.

That last picture looks pretty intense, but they were just playing around and I just happend to get a good action shot.

Brutus did his part to make sure to drive Jack crazy after we left. Jack will be busy for days trying to reclaim his "territory".

All in all, we had a wonderful day. I'm sure that each man has their own special place that they escape to from us girls. Whether it be inside or out!

What's in a Name?

Ever wonder why our dogs have the names they do? I like to know the method to the madness, so here goes the down low on the name game.

Here is my first baby, Oscar Paige Purvis Bryan.

He was born on December 10, 2001. (He shares his birthday with his favorite Uncle, my brother Brad) I'm sure you can guess where his name came from. Oscar Meyer! He was my first weenie dog, and I didn't even name him. My cousin, Gary Wayne actually gave him his name. I brought him home and couldn't decide on a name. GW always called him Oscar and I refused to let him be named something so obvious. But like most things, you say it enough, and it was his name. Now, where does Paige come from? Well, Paige is my middle name. And if you have (or know) a dachshund, you probably know that when they go outside, they are unaware of anything around them that they don't want to be aware of. Like me calling for Oscar to come inside. When I still lived at home with Oscar, and my dad would let him out, he would always yell for Oscar and call him Oscar Paige. I guess because he was so hard headed! So now whenever he is being bad, I call him Oscar Paige.

Now the other babies. Here is Oscar Junior:

He got his name from......none other than Oscar himself. Before we ever picked up the new puppies, I could tell that he just had that "Oscar" quality all from a photograph that the breeder sent to us. Then when he arrived, I knew that Brock was not his name, like we intended, but Junior or JR as he is called. All because he and Oscar are truly kindred spirits, as Ann-with-an-"e" of Green Gables would say.

They both like to eat and they both love to sleep. They even look alike and act just alike.

Now on to Brutus.

He is the outcast of the group. He doesn't really care to sleep ALL day. (he is still a dachshund and can nap with the best of them) He is the guard dog, the alpha male, the crazy one of the bunch. But how did he get his name? It is actually from a movie that I forced Joseph to watch. It is the greatest Disney movie ever produced.

Image from imdb.com, courtesy of Disney

The Ugly Dachshund is the movie. It came out in 1966. For those who haven't seen it, it is about a married couple who have one dachshund. It goes through her giving birth to her baby dachshunds and the Great Dane who is snuck in by the husband. The Great Dane's name is Brutus. That is where Brutus gets his name because Joseph fell in love with the name. (for some trivia, the Great Dane that played Brutus was also the star in Swiss Family Robinson as one of the Great Danes.)

So there is the down low on how our Dapper Dachshunds got their names!

As Rachel Would Say...Yum-O

Last night I was feeling kinda blah, so I decided to make Joseph a little treat. I try to make him something special at least once a week. Last week it was banana bread to take to work. This week I decided to make him something with ice cream, since I haven't bought any ice cream or popsicles in ages. Bring on the Turtle Cake!! I'm sure that this recipe has several names, but that's just what I call it! You will need: Ice cream sandwiches, cool whip (or make your own, I was too lazy yesterday!), caramel sauce, pecans, and hot fudge sauce. That's it. Easy, peasy. 

Begin by placing a layer of sandwiches on the bottom of your dish. Cover the sandwiches liberally with caramel sauce. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Then cover with whip cream. Layer another level of sandwiches. Cover with fudge sauce. (I couldn't find any other than the Magic Shell stuff, so I had to omit that step). Cover with whip cream. Decorate with remaining caramel and fudge sauce. Sprinkle with pecans. Wah-Lah, a very easy and tasty dessert!!

I have to issue a warning about this dessert, though. It is very, very yummy and very hard to stop eating!! And like anything that we eat around here, this is what we deal with:

The babies were hoping that Daddy would have an accident and drop some ice cream on the floor. The hopefullness is written all over their faces!!

Just Shoot Me!

Well, the camera has arrived, and of course I have no idea how to use the thing. I guess I will have to get to reading the 200+ page manual. Super fun. But I did get it out and play with it just a little bit today. My new lens just got here, so I will put that one on and play around with it. But here are a few pictures that I took today!

Oscar

Brutus

JR

Hydrangea Sprout

Blueberry Bush

Blueberry Bush reverse focus

Miss Pinkie

Granted, these aren't the best pictures, but I thought I did pretty good for operating a camera with so many buttons and things to learn about. So hopefully I can practice up and take some really great photos! Happy shooting, ya'll!

Thoughts from the Dapper Dachshund

Hey everyone. It's me, Oscar. My mom said that I could start posting a few thoughts that I have. As you can see, I got a new toy today. I was really, really excited when mom let me get it out of the shopping bag. I love to do that! What I don't like is when mom tries to take my new toy away. I can't believe that she fusses at me for doing what I am supposed to do. Seek and destroy that annoying squeaker thing. I make it my mission to find and remove that and any stuffing from the toy. And I must say that I am pretty good at it. I already ate the body off this dangerous frog in about two minutes with my razor sharp teeth. GRRR! That frog didn't want to mess with me. Now I am guarding it with my life by laying on top of it while I dictate my thoughts to mom to write down for me. She is sooo annoying. How dare she try to take my toy away!

Anyways, I guess that today has been a decent day. If only those stupid puppies would leave me alone. They wake me up at the crack of dawn. Don't they know that I sleep until at least 10:30 and get up when I am ready to? I don't need both of those mutts jumping on me and chewing on my ear first thing and sticking their whole muzzle in my mouth when I yawn.  I feel bad about having to growl at them, but I am what I am....a grumpy old man. They should respect their elders. But revenge is mine! They got locked up while mom went to check on Aunt Nicole at the hospital, so I got plenty of couch/sleep time ALL to myself. I walked by their gate just to taunt them. I even give them my best Hannibal Lector impression. "Don't get to close to the glass, Clarise" it's pretty hilarious! But at the end of the day, I guess I do like them just a little. Especially that little Oscar Junior. He is a lot like me. He likes to snuggle with me under the blanket, so I guess I can tolerate him.

Uh-oh...gotta run. I hear someone outside. Got to get back to my guarding duties!!

It was that UPS guy. Man do I hate him!! I gave him a few of my best barks and he ran away. Ok, now I am exhausted. Gotta go rest for a few hours!


Oscar

Picture Perfect

In a few days I will have a new "hobby" of sorts. I finally broke down and bought a new camera. I wanted to get one at Christmas, but Joseph and I decided to wait until we had a better reason to get one. (aka kids) But sometimes decisions can be changed! I guess I got the jolt to finally buy it after being surrounded by 15+ cameras this past Sunday. My friend, Ursula Page, (http://www.ursulapagephotography.com/) who took some photographs of us with our three dogs this past October contacted me and asked if me and Joseph would be willing to be the models for a get-together of local photographers. We were the bride and groom couple, so it was fun having a reason to put my dress back on and get dressed up. Joseph wasn't as thrilled, but he loves me and thankfully would do just about anything for me (and he did!). Hopefully I will have some pictures soon to show from the shoot.

Anyways, back to the camera. I am super excited about it. I have always hated taking pictures with my point and shoot digital camera, because let's face it, they just don't take the kind of photos that I like to see. So I purchased this:

Nikon D90 Camera

I have been eyeing this camera for months now. I also purchased this while I was at it:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF lens

There are some more lenses that I want, but those will have to wait, since they are a bit more expensive. But I figured that this lens would get me started and I can get some practice in before I go all out lens-crazy!!

So now that I will have a new toy, maybe it will motivate me to blog a little bit more often, since I will have some beautiful photos to share!! Happy shooting!