Happy Halloween!

I meant to put this up last night and schedule it for this morning, but alas! I had an exam today and I wasn't up for doing much of anything else minus sleeping and sitting in the bath, trying to make myself believe I didn't actually have a test. Side note: I always take baths the night before an exam, it just helps calm me and keep me stress-free, for the most part at least.

Back to what this post is really about. Last weekend, Curtis and I went to a little costume Halloween party, and this is what we wore! I was determined to NOT spend much money, yet still wear a "legit" costume. Since I don't have sewing skills, anything in that realm was out of the question, but I saw an idea on Pinterest for robbers and I ran with it. Turns out, we looked like the robbers off of the Sims, so that's what I told everyone we were. Way more creative, amirite? It was fun, and it's the first time Curtis and I have gotten dressed for Halloween together.. EVER. What? I know. We've always been wicked (pun intended) busy around this time of year our entire seven years of togetherness. So here we are, a couple o' robbers from the Sims. And no, we didn't manage to steal anything that night, tehe.

Me - Beanie: Wal-Mart // Top: Thrifted // Jeans: Gap // Gloves: Wal-Mart // Flats: Old // Tote: DIY (Hobby Lobby)

Curt - Beanie: Wal-Mart // Shirt: Wal-Mart ($3!) // Jeans: Wrangler // Shoes: Nike (baseball days)  // Tote: DIY (HobLob)

So basically, I spent $3 at Hobby Lobby buying the tote bags and the masks on our heads (they looked ridiculous, so we didn't really wear them), $2 on the two pairs of gloves, $2 for the two beanies, and $3 for Curt's shirt because he didn't own a black/white striped shirt already. Ten bucks for two costumes, I'd call that a success! As for tonight, I don't think we'll be doing much except passing out candy to any little trick-or-treaters, but I always love Halloween.. mainly because it means Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner! :)

Thought I'd throw these in here for good fun, I was mainly messing around with the camera and lighting, but hey, at least I decorated the house a little bit! What have you guys done for Halloween? Or do you have any weekend plans? 

Complementary Colors

This past week in my photography class we had to do a project over colors; I was under the impression that it was about complementary colors, but apparently I didn't have to go that far in-depth. I automatically new what colors I wanted to use -- blue and orange. They're my absolute favorite complementary colors. I've probably mentioned it to Curtis half-a-hundred times. So, when we got assigned the assignment, I automatically knew which colors I was going to choose. I saw this dress in Old Navy a few months ago and wanted it really badly, but I decided to it wasn't worth $35 (cheapo here, remember?). Well, I had seen the dress on a number of people and realized I did in fact want it rather badly, and I went to Old Navy to see if it might still be in the store (aka, clearance section). It wasn't, I searched eBay, but people on there sell stuff for ridiculous prices.. why would I buy it for $25 and then pay you $12 for shipping? I mean, really? So, I gave up on finding it. Then.. I walked into the Waco Plato's Closet a few weeks ago, and BAM, there it was in all of it's orange glory, in my size, for $6. That's my story for the day. Patience and thrifting people, it works.

 Dress: Old Navy (thrifted) | Shirt: TJ Maxx | Sandals: DV by Dolce Vita | Purse: Big Buddha Oh, and if you were wondering why the heck I was talking about complementary colors and my photography class, here's the picture I took for my class. I took off my rings so it wouldn't be as apparent that it was me in the photo. I've been having so much fun with all of these assignments, and every week I can't wait to get the next! This week is all about portraiture, so I'm pretty stoked!

The start of something great..

Helloooo my lovelies. I've been real busy this past week with school, but also, I started a business. What? Yeah, you heard me! I decided to create my very own photography business, which is something I have been super duper passionate about for the past three-ish years. I feel comfortable enough with my camera and editing skills to actually jump in feet first, plus, I've been writing up a business plan in my Small Business Management class and I feel like I can make this work. Now, it definitely won't be a full-time thing for a few years, and I know that. But, I'm trusting God on this one. It's been tugging on my heart strings for so, so long, and I feel like He's put me in the right place. I have been struggling for so long with "what I want to be when I grow up." Probably for the better part of six or seven years, and I think I've finally figured it out. It just feels right. So, if you could all be awesome and do me the favor of liking my brand new Facebook page and checking out my new website/blog (which will soon have a new domain name!). I am so thankful for all of you guys' support all the time, and I know this time it won't be any different! Thanks for being such amazing readers.. okay, friends. I pretty much just call you guys my friends anyway! tehe 

I'll probably post on here every time I have a new post up over there, and there's a new link over on the sidebar for my other page. 

I kind of can't contain my excitement right now! :D

KRISTINA ROSS PHOTOGRAPHY FACEBOOK PAGE 

KRISTINA ROSS PHOTOGRAPHY WEBPAGE  

Beagles in Black & White

For my photo assignment this week in my photography class, we had to take photos and then convert them to black and white. Now, I only had to turn in one photo, and then write why I took it, why I used the subjects I did, what kind of lighting was used, all the settings for my camera, etc, etc. I even had to name it! I used the very first photo for my submission and named it, "A Quest." One of my favorite things about beagles is their history, I love their hunting dog background, and I'd like to think Skywalker would be very good at chasing down foxes or rabbits. Muggles, not so much, she's not very athletic, ha. But, I felt the first photo displayed their inner "beagle" with Sky sniffing the ground and Muggles on the look-out. 

I actually love all of these photos in color, too, and I'm definitely framing a few. Life with beagles isn't always easy (obsession with food, the braying that the neighbors despise, always trying to find a way to the other side of the fence), but its so, so worth it. They're the sweetest dogs, and they are always happy to see you. Their unconditional love is much appreciated on the days when I'm feeling down about things in life. Plus, their good subjects to shoot! 

Pumpkin Patch

Curtis and I went over to a little pumpkin patch about a block away from our house yesterday. I've been wanting to go to this dang pumpkin patch for a good three years now, and I was so glad to have finally gotten to go. I just never went before because I knew if I left it at my own apartment, I would hardly ever see it.. and if I left it at Curt's, it wouldn't be "mine." So, after waiting for a million years, I finally got my pumpkins! I have big plans for 'em (okay, maybe not..), but taking pictures was fun. Curtis wasn't too excited about me taking a picture of him with the pumpkin, but I actually love how it turned out. OH! and that gourd, its AWESOME, right? It looked like a dragon when we first saw it, so I had to get a picture. We left with one medium sized pumpkin, a small one, and two tiny ones, which I'll share with you guys once I figure out what I'm gonna do to them. Does anyone have any cool ideas they've run across? 

Unintended

I honestly had no intentions of taking these photos when I set out on my journey to find the bridge pictured below. In fact, I was on the hunt for a good spot to take some "motion blur" photos for my photography class, and the plan was to find this awesome old bridge because: one, I thought at least one train would go across it (I do live in College STATION for cryin' out loud); two, a train moves.. and I thought it would make a cool shot; and three, I've always wanted to take photos of this bridge. Welp, no train came by while I stood there for 45 minutes wandering around, trying not to get bit by something (mosquitoes mainly + some scary unknown thing in the brush), and I just ended up snapping pictures of the sunset and myself instead.

Top: Gap | Shorts: Express (old) | Shoes: Converse

Hopefully, by the time everyone is reading this, I will have found a train to take pictures of.. But, you do get to see my elephant shirt! It's so fun, and I never thought I'd be buying a button-up with an animal printed all over it, but I did. The day I wore this, a girl actually came up behind me and said, "are those elephants all over your shirt?!" to which I nervously replied, "yes?". Apparently she loves elephants and was going to go buy one for herself right after class, ha! It was kinda creepy, but a compliment all the same. 

The location for all of these photos is slightly outside of Bryan, and every time I go out there.. it feels like what Texas A&M would've felt like 60 or 70 years ago. Lots of country, farms, ranches, and even cotton fields! I don't think I've ever noticed the cotton fields before, but I really wanted to stop and take pictures.. I just didn't know if that would be considered trespassing or not, so I just kept driving. Even though Texas makes me super angry with all of its crazy hot weather, I do love driving around here out in the open. You can see for miles and miles, and you never know what you might come upon. 

life lately

making: photographs, way too many of them, but I love it. I'd love nothing more than for all of you to come visit me and be models. But seriously.
cooking: Whatever sounds good, breakfast tacos seem to be high on my list lately.
drinking: pumpkin spice lattes and HEB diet root beers
reading: too many textbooks..
wanting: flannels, scarves, crisp fall air, and.. new running shoes
wasting: too much precious study time. procrastination comes easy for me.

wishing: for more courage to follow my dreams.

enjoying: tv show after tv show; Breaking Bad, New Girl, Parks & Rec, Broadchurch, etc.

loving: being married, it makes everything better. 

marveling: all of the gorgeous fall sunsets we've been getting lately. 

wearing: anything comfortable, note last two outfit posts.

needing: more beagle snuggles in the morning. 
thinking: about photography almost every spare second I get, and some that aren't so spare.
feeling: a bit overwhelmed.
bookmarking: camera lenses, shoes (of course), and ideas for shots.
giggling: in a life with Curtis, there's never a lack of giggling..
listening: to Mumford and Sons live tracks. Obsessed, y'all. 

How's everyone else doing lately? 
ps. that's pretty much my favorite photo of Muggles that I've ever taken, and there have been many. 

Thankful

Today, I'm thankful for a husband that lets me practice my photography skills on him. Seriously, he got dressed for this, stayed patient with me while I proceeded to freak out about finding a place to take pictures (Plan A was cancelled by rain, Plan B by a random festival of Mexicans -- no seriously, not to mention the tons of random people out taking pictures), and he made a pretty cute model, too. I loves you, boo. 

There is no fear in love; for perfect love casts out fear.. 1 John 4:18

A Weekend to Remember

Well, if you follow me on any of my social media outlets (or have read my recent posts), you'll know that this past weekend was the Texas A&M vs. Alabama football game here in College Station. You'll also know that I'm way too in love with football to even shut up about it for longer than five minutes. We may not have won the football game, but boy, did I have a fun weekend!

It started off with Curt's parents coming down to celebrate his birthday on Friday. We went "tent sale" shopping for some new Aggie gear, ate out at a local BBQ restaurant, opened presents, and had delicious homemade chocolate cake. We then made our way over to Midnight Yell (click the link if you wanna know more about my school's awesome tradition), where we stood outside Kyle Field.. trying to figure out why on earth we couldn't get into the stadium, with about 4000 other people, mind you. We finally made it in, only to realize that 40,000 other people had somehow beat us inside. Basically, 45,000-50,000 Aggies showed up for this, something I have honestly never ever seen at Midnight Yell. It was crazy, the air was so electric, we were all so pumped up for the biggest game in A&M history. Gosh, I love this school. 



The next morning, we woke up and headed over to campus to check out College Gameday, hosted by ESPN. We were all pretty exhausted from the night before, but ready to have some fun! We saw some famous Aggies, Gene Stallings and RC Slocum, who Curt's dad and uncle about fainted over when we realized who we were all standing near. It was pretty hilarious. Our backs even made national television! Hah. It was a cool experience, although, Gameday hasn't brought us any luck, so if they could just not come next year.. that'd be great, lol. Just joking!


We went back home to eat lunch and pick up the rest of the crew before the game began, and I decided to leave my camera at home. I knew I'd be jumping around and yelling at the top of my lungs while surrounded by a billion other people, so I didn't want to worry about my camera getting trampled. But, I still took pictures with my iPhone, of course. The game itself was absolutely crazy. The emotion in the stadium when our team came out of the tunnel was off the charts, and even though it was hot, we yelled our hearts out. During this play, everyone went absolutely positively BERZERK. You can actually hear it in the video. I mean, Curtis literally threw me in the air! Even though we lost, our team fought to the bitter, bitter end, and it was one heck of a ride. My absolute favorite game at Kyle Field ever, and there have been some really good ones. 

All-in-all, it was a fantastic weekend. Wish we coulda won, but we came dang close! I love my Ags, and am so incredibly proud to be a Fightin' Texas Aggie. It all went by in a blur, but that just makes me appreciate the moments even more. Not everyone gets to experience these things, and I'm so blessed to be apart of such an amazing university here at A&M. Hope you guys enjoyed my little football rant.. Have an awesome Monday!