One year ago I shot some of my favorite images of Audrey… her in her little pink tutu.  A year later, I wanted a couple more tutu and pearl shots, especially with my awesome new background.  I “puffy heart” this set up SO much!

Don’t you just LOVE those headbands and hair pieces?!?!  I can never get enough of them.  They are Banner Boutique, and you can find their HUGE selection HERE ON ETSY.  You may just see a sweet someone who graces their pages of high quality stuff.

Now, let’s chat for a second.  I have roughly 860 Facebook Fans on My Photography Facebook Page.  I’m just dying to have 1000 fans!  To help you encourage your local friends to fan my page, I’ve come up with a Contest Giveaway, to sweeten the deal!

The Winner of this Giveaway will receive… drumroll please…

$100 Gift Certificate from Andrea Burns Photography.  Good towards a sitting or products.

$50 Gift Certificate to Banner Boutique’s store.  For whatever little pretty thing catches your eye.

$25 Gift Certificate to Lisa Leonard’s Jewelry store.  For a pretty around your neck, or even your Christmas Tree.

That’s a pretty darn good giveaway for just spreading the word about Andrea Burns Photography!  Now, how can you enter the giveaway?  On the Facebook page there is a “Suggest Page To Friends” link on the left side.  I’d really perfer you only suggest the page to local friends and family, and by local I mean within an hour’s radius of Washington DC (it doesn’t do me too much good if your grandma’s neighbor in Texas is a fan  ;) .    Once you’ve suggested the page to your friends, you can come and comment on THIS BLOG POST.

Once I get those 1000 fans, I’ll take a drawing for the lucky winner!

Happy day!  Go Forth and Suggest!

Doesn’t this family just make you melt?

Miss L is such a pretty girl and look at those big brown eyes!

I am loving the last bits of color in the trees and the unseasonable warmth we’ve been getting the last couple weeks.  I’m trying to take advantage of it before its gets brrrrr chilly!  Thanks M Family, you guys are so great!!

The second of my line of red-heads came to see a couple weeks back… and was he ever-so-charming!  Mr. K had already turned one… and like many this age was a little hesitant of me at first….

but then I got to see and capture some of his sweet smiles…..

and then he just thought I was hysterical!  LOVE this one!

And I couldn’t leave today without sharing their beautiful family photo… Thanks so much K family!

A snaggletoothed-boy in this house, just lost his third tooth… and my-oh-my is it funny to hear his light lisp, and man-oh-man, does it make him look endearingly goofy and OLD.

Hannah is a senior this year… she is a star athlete in her school, and a fashion icon.  Not only does she inspire others in what to wear, she designs some of her things too!  Hannah is a lovely girl, inside and out, and I love her sensitive spirit.  And it doesn’t hurt with how beautiful she is!!!

I was giddy with excitement when I found out Miss O was a red-headed beauty. I just adore the red tresses!  I have a sister with red hair, who inherited it from a great-grandmother… needless to say I always wished one of my own babies would have had red hair.  I haven’t shot too many lucky enough to be blessed with the color, but wouldn’t you know that Miss O was the first in three clients back-to-back featuring the hue?  Lucky Me!!

The M family was from Ellicott City, and I had a really fun time shooting all of them.  Thanks M family!

I rejoice, because I am done.

Sunday, October 31, I ran my first full marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon.

The Friday before I picked up my race-packet and proceeded to carb load.  All week long I’d think about the race and get a belly full of nerves.  The night before I slept terribly… it was like Christmas Eve, and I tend to sleep terribly the night before anything big or exciting.  I woke up at 5 am to eat my oatmeal and coffee, and hop on the Metro.

I underestimated the long metro ride, and the fact that they had the start line a mile away from where we got out.  It was 7:45 by the time I got there, and I had to wait in a long porta potty line, and missed the start.  This meant I was not lined up in the runners equivalent to my pace.

There was a sea of slow runners and walkers to work through for the first several miles. I was pushing out 9 minute miles the first several miles, so that meant I already knew that I was not going to be qualifying for Boston today.   It was like a fartlek: run slow behind a group then speed up the moment a window opens.  I spent a lot of valuable energy dodging and weaving through people going slower than me.

Mile 13 found me wondering if I was even going to clear 4 hours (my ultimate goal) and waiting in a long line of women to use the bathroom.  Surprisingly, I was battling a severe case of nerves for the first 18 miles.  It would just rise and billow, and I couldn’t seem to control my nerves.  I think that my expectations of an awesome race were so high, and I’d dreamt of this moment for 18 months… I just couldn’t shake them.

Finally at mile 18, I came up on my family… Nate, my mom, and the 3 kids had come to cheer and support me.

moments before I had just run into an old friend, and we both smiled as we ran past.

My smile is hiding that my hips were hurting, I had a pulled groin muscle, and my ankles and arches were feeling really sore.  I had already been to the orthopedist about my hips, and it turns out my hips are pointier than normal and rub on my ITBand.

Then I approached 20 miles.  Physically, I was in a lot of pain.  Psychologically I was thinking, “I will Never Do this again.”  I couldn’t fathom that I still had 6 miles to go… another hour of feeling like one long labor contraction.

The last 2 miles I was basically moving at a shuffle.  I did stop to walk a few times, and starting to run again was always excruciating… Mile 25 I was walking when a man ran past and yelled, “you can do it!  Finish strong!”  and that was all I needed.  I ran the last bit.. and the MCM is cruel that they have one final last steep hill going UP into the finish.  The MCM motto is “Earned, Never Given.” and they mean it.

My Garmin time was 4:19:57.  My official chip time was 4:29:19.

Things I’ve learned:

Get there EARLY and line up aggressively.

Don’t stop to use the bathroom.

Don’t cheat on your training.  (I skipped or shortened a few runs.)

Cross train… get other muscles involved.

Get a GPS Garmin, the foot pod ones are worthless.

Race MORE races… toe the line a few times so that my nerves aren’t out of control.

Will I do a full marathon again?  Up until late Monday night, the answer was No Way Jose.  That. Was. Brutal.  The last couple days?  I’m disappointed I didn’t get my sub-four hours I worked hard for, and should have had.  I wonder if I changed my things learned list, and maybe sought out a smaller, less crowded marathon I could get that time I desperately wanted.

Overall, I’m a little disappointed over my time.  I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.  But I’m incredibly proud of my accomplishment, and now only have something I can improve on and build on.  I do think that ultimately half-marathons are more my distance.

This wee lil’ punkin’ came to visit me at the studio a couple weeks ago. Baby G was just a tiny 13 days old here, and still so sleepy and curly.  I loved this little guy!  So cute!

Now let me tell you… Dad was a college football player, and really wanted to incorporate some football into G’s photos….

I’m personally not really a fan of the sport, but I still think these are super cute!  And now one of dad and son…. who by the way I may be hiring to come help me pose newborns, b/c he rocked helping me, lol.

Thank you E family!  I can NOT wait to watch G grow!

One of the reasons I just adore my job (is it really a job? I’m still debating that passion…) is that I get to see some of  “my babies” get older. I photographed William in his newborn sweetness a year ago. And look at this little man who is before us now!

He is justthe delight of his family… and he was the highlight of my day!  What a charmer!  See you next time William!