Hooters Mud Volleyball

A couple summers ago, my sister in law asked me to take pictures during the Mud Volley Tournament they have each year in our area.  The match I photographed was against the ladies at the Tilted Kilt.  It was an awesome game to watch.  While these girls essentially make money off of their looks, they had no problems getting dirty and trying their hardest to represent their store.  

I have hundreds of pictures from this match, which was not an easy feat, as I had to be shin deep in mud to not have people blocking my view.  Here are some of my favorites:

Sometimes, it's disappointing when you don't get the clearest photo, but you just have to take away the story it tells and learn from your mistakes, and know that you can't control everything.

A Bride

Here is the gorgeous bride from the wedding my husband and I attended a couple months ago.  When we married, she was 9, and that was the first time I met her (and most of my husband's family.)  At the time, we were living about 3 hours away from them and it was a guessing game each Thanksgiving trying to figure out which cousin was which.  In my defense, he has a lot of cousins.  They hit their growth spurts sporadically like most and trying to keep them straight by height or how old they looked just didn't work.

She is the youngest, and it has been amazing to see the woman she has become.  I remember moments from her teen years, like wanting to be old enough to try out for American Idol and that I can't even recall seeing her at her graduation open house (those are really for your parents anyway.)

Today, she's a woman who is open and fun, enjoys the bingo hall, and can connect with my son in a way that should probably make me feel incompetent, but rather makes me so happy to see him engage with someone who really gets him.

It's not always easy to find someone who is as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside, but she definitely makes the list.