Monday Inspiration.

Hey all! I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but I know down here in South Carolina we are getting a lot of rain. I had curly hair when I left for class this morning...now, not so much. But, today is the beginning of the last week of classes for this semester!!! (YAYYY!!!!) This week is looking like it is going to be absolutely insane for me. And trying to get motivated to get work done on a cold, rainy day is quite hard. So I don't know if you're struggling with your Monday, but I thought I would share a few inspirational quotes I found on Pinterest. 

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I hope your Monday is amazing....even though it is Monday. 

PS-Follow me on Pinterest here!

Just a Few Sneak Peeks!

I am enjoying being home in New England for Thanksgiving break, even though I am not a huge fan of all this cold weather. :P While I've been home I had a few sessions that I want to share with you all! So here are a few sneak peeks from a fun family session and a sweet engagement session.

I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Have a great rest of your weekend! 

Maryann :: Just for Fun

This semester I am taking a photography class! Each week we have a different assignment due, and last week we had to do outdoor portraits. I asked Maryann if she would be my model and she was willing to help. Maryann is my boyfriend's youngest sister and she is so much fun! It is never a dull moment with this girl! She is so great and we always have a lot of fun when we're together! And, she is just gorgeous! So, here are a few pictures from our little photo shoot!

A lot of laughing happens when we're together.

Happy Saturday!!! :)

Thankful Thursday :: Week 1

Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope you all have had a great start to November! Last week I wrote a post about my 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge. Each day, for the month of November, I am posting a picture on my instagram of something I'm thankful for, and I'm using the hashtag #ecp30daysofthankfulness. I encourage you to join me, even if you didn't start on Nov. 1, I love looking to see what y'all are thankful for too! (yes, the south is rubbing off on me) So here is my first week of thankfulness via instagram. (and until I can figure out a good collage to get these in, I'm doing them individually...if anyone has any suggestions for good collage websites, let me know!)

November 1: Thankful for Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate on a cold rainy day :)

 November 2: Thankful for technology that allowed me to watch the celebrations in Boston even though I'm in SC :)

 November 3: I'm so thankful that we do get the beautiful fall colors here in SC!!! Even if they don't come until late October/early November :P

November 4: Thankful that I am healthy enough to be back at school 

November 5: I'm thankful that I go to school in such a beautiful area of the country!

November 6: I'm so thankful for phone calls with my family!!! Thankful that I got to talk to my mom a lot on this particular day!

November 7: I am thankful for my job. I absolutely LOVE being a wedding photographer! I am convinced I have the best job :)

So there's my first week of my 30 Days of Thankfulness! What are you particularly thankful for?

**Don't forget to join me on instagram and use the hashtag #ecp30daysofthankfulness

30 Days of Thankfulness

Happy Friday everyone! Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like October flew by?! I can't believe today is November! Well, with November comes cold days, holiday excitement, Christmas drinks at Starbucks (YAY!!!) and Thanksgiving. And as we all know, Thanksgiving emphasizes being thankful. And this year, I've decided to do a "challenge" of sorts. I am going to do "30 Days of Thankfulness" and my plan is that everyday I am going to post on my instagram something I am thankful for. I am going to use the hashtag #ecp30daysofthankfulness (Elizabeth Charlene Photography 30 Days of Thankfulness...I'm sure you could figure that out but I just thought I would clarify) and I encourage you to join me! :) Every Thursday I am going to do a blog post with the theme "Thankful Thursday" where I will share all my instagram posts from #ecp30daysofthankfulness. I encourage you to post something on instagram every day that you are thankful for with the hashtag #ecp30daysofthankfulness. I am looking forward to see what you all post!

God has really blessed me so much and I know I am not thankful enough for what I do have, so I'm excited to go through this month focusing on thankfulness.

And since blog posts without a picture are boring (duh) here's a picture of coffee. Since I love coffee. :)

Happy Friday! I hope y'all have an awesome weekend!

James & Heidi | Married! [sneak peek]

I cannot wait to share more from James & Heidi's beautiful NH wedding!

Home.

I'm going home, going home,

tell the world I'm going HOME!

Ahhhhh I'm so excited! All through college I have never been able to go home for a weekend during a semester. I would watch my friends and roommates who lived in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia go home on the weekends. But with home for me being about 1,000 miles away, there was no way I was just going to drive home for the weekend, and airline tickets are not always the cheapest thing on planet earth. But, this is all about to change. I am flying home TONIGHT because I am shooting James & Heidi's wedding on Saturday! To say I'm excited would be an understatement! I'm also super excited about being home during this beautiful time of year. I cannot wait to see all the different color leaves! (I sound like such a tourist now...) 

So I may be a little slow on answering emails and messages, but I will do my best to keep up with everything!

Yes, I have a glitter luggage tag from J.Crew...and I LOVE it. :)

Just pray.

Things have been quite crazy recently. I'm leaving tomorrow night to head home to shoot James & Heidi's wedding this weekend, and on top of packing and everything that comes along with it, I had a lot of other things I needed to get done, and I started worrying about things that were out of my control. This afternoon I was able to spend some time with my boyfriend and I was telling him about how I was nervous and worrying about this certain situation. He reminded me that it was out of my control and I needed to just pray about it. Just pray. Something I had completely forgotten to do. I was relying on myself, and trying to trust in myself and I was failing miserably. I don't know what's going to happen, but God does. And for that reason I need to just pray and trust in Him.

So often, in the busyness of life we forget to just stop and pray. Trying to rely on ourselves will get us no where in this life. But if we just trust in God, and do what He commands us to do, He will give us the grace and strength to make it through anything He brings on our path.

Now, I'm not saying that "I have arrived" so-to-speak in the area of prayer. I still have so much growing to do! I am telling myself this too! I know how it's so easy to just go through the day without even thinking to pray except for when we eat. But I encourage you to join me in making a conscious effort to pray more. God can do amazing things through prayer! 

So I encourage you, no matter what's going on in your own life, to just stop and pray.

Happy October!

Ok, where is the year going?! How is it already October?! Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the fact that it's October! Growing up in New England I got to experience some amazing falls! The leaves would change colors and when they covered our lawn we would make huge leaf piles and then jump in them. We would go apple picking, and mom would bake apple pies, apple crisp...I love fall! Living down south, fall is a little different. For instance, today is October 3rd and most of the leaves are still green and it is currently 82 degrees...definitely a little different from what I grew up with! (for the record...I love living in the south!) Thankfully, where I am in the south, we still get a little taste of fall...it just takes a little bit to show up. :P 

But with October, comes Pumpkin Spice Lattes!!! Now, if you know me well at all, you know I LOVE my coffee...especially my Starbucks! I love it when the seasonal drinks come out at Starbucks for fall and winter! Today I decided to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte...it just tastes like fall! And I know some of you out there hate PSL (pumpkin spice lattes) and I know everyone Instagram's their PSL...(ok ok, I tend to fill my instagram with coffee pictures) but I was working on a project for my photography class and I decided to use my PSL as my subject for this particular assignment.

I may not necessarily use these exact pictures for my assignment, but I just like how they came out. :)

Do you love the seasonal drinks at Starbucks? Leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite drink is!

James and Heidi | Engaged

Right before I left NH to come back down to school, I had the privilege of taking James and Heidi's engagement pictures! Heidi and James are such a sweet couple and they definitely made my job easy! I've known Heidi for a while and I just met James this summer, and they go perfectly together! I cannot wait to shoot their wedding next month!