Alyse French Photography | Houston-Based Wedding and Lifestyle Photographer

So often does New Year’s Eve come and go without taking some real time to reflect. At least I know this to be true for me.. Because you see, although I’m a chronic over-analyzer at heart, I so easily overwhelm myself with the minutia of life that I forget to step back. To breathe. And to see the bigger picture God has painted right before my eyes if only I’d be still. But not this year.. 2010 was way too special for that. And so, I remember…

Graduating. And leaving the second home that was and forever will be Syracuse University. Class of 2010, represent!

Getting married. To the man who makes me laugh harder than anyone can. Even myself. And I laugh at myself a LOT. ;)

Moving to Houston. A city that has stolen my heart with its miles upon miles of strip malls, 70-degree winters, and genuinely kind people.

Going full-time. And growing my business more than we ever thought possible in such a short stretch. We are blessed to know God as Our provider.

And meeting Sully. Our precious baby boy who already gives me reason to fear I’ll be dressing him up in cute little argyle sweaters on a daily basis.

May your New Year be full of puppy wrinkles, lots and lots of cuddling, and taking time to remember…

After taking two Sundays off from blogging (due to spending the holidays with family), I feel kind of out of blogging-sorts. Tidbit Tuesday #55 is my attempt to fix that. And boy, is there a lot to say! :)

He calls it the Dylan-touch. I can spend days online looking for a kazoo to match my new favorite outfit. But he can find it in within minutes. Case in point? For the past four days I’ve been scouring the Interwebs for a quality Houston bulldog breeder with available male puppies that are young enough and cute enough and Sully enough. And Dylan? He found THE puppy within an hour of searching. We’ve spoken with the breeder and will meet our little one for the first time this Friday. We bring him home on the 9th, a big fur ball of white and brown wrinkles, with a little spot right over his right eye. MELT ME, good LAWD.

This year, during the Morrissey family Christmas Christmas gift swap, I won my OWN gift. It was carefully purchased with my neck, hair and ears in mind. (AKA a scarf, hair barrettes, and earrings.) Some would call that schemery. I would call that, super clever and awesome. ;)

My sister Lorae cooked us up a traditional Ukrainian dinner last night. Complete with kapusta-stuffed varenyky with real smetana, kotleta made with pork and chicken, vinaigrette salad, kapusta salad, Ukrainian black bread, and yabluchnyk for dessert. I knew there was a reason I skipped lunch yesterday. I ate a TON. And the best part is that there is a crazy amount of leftovers!! MMM.

The other day, my brother and I began recounting our skewed perceptions of life during childhood. For instance, I once thought that every time I put Peter Pan in the VHS player, Mary Martin was putting on yet another individual performance just for me. From inside of the TV. Yeah.. :) Cam used to think that when Darth Maul was light-sabered in half, Ray Park really had to die for the part. Man, he sure did good for just one take! ;) Do share your own silly things!

I have noticed something quite paradoxical about myself this past week. I SO rarely take pictures of my own life. Weird, right? I am therefore resolving to take pictures of real life this next year. (Which shouldn’t be too hard with our little Sully coming!) I’m almost tempted to begin a 365 photo-a-day project (using a different blog address). Hmm.. Thoughts?

Song of the Week: Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. So charming and hippie-like. Plus, it’s Dylan’s default song, so you know it’s great. :) He sings it to me every chance he gets, especially when he gets Home from work. Check it out!

Oh! We have a question for you guys! And please don’t be shy! If you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’d end up as January’s 1 For Me // 1 For You winner, what would you most want to win? We’re looking for some fresh ideas to start 2011 off right! We don’t necessarily have to own the product beforehand, but hey, I’m all about new, fun things that we can snag, one for me and one for you. ;)

I leave you with the ferocity of Mabyn Ludke, our wedding photographer and sweet friend, who asked me to shoot some headshots for her brand new website coming soon! More photos to come on Thursday!

Happy Tuesday!!