Monday Minute || Lynchburg, Wedding Photographer

Another gloomy Monday morning around here.  Another suuuuuper busy weekend, but oh my goodness so productive- and it ended with such a fun engagement session! But this weather today is making me just want to go back to sleep! 

Saturday & Sunday were spent working on the house again. Most of our energy was spent working outside- we refinished our deck, replaced all the railings, and painted everything. It looks SO different now that the old red is gone! Special thanks to our friends that watched Emmie all day on Saturday! It was so refreshing to get hours of work done without a single interruption! 

Sunday, I had the best time getting to know Craig & Carrie at their engagement session. I am SO excited for their wedding coming up at The Wintergreen Resort! We headed out to an amazing property in the mountains, called Dodd Cabin and pretty much laughed the entire time together! 

I can't wait to share more from this amazing engagement session!! Now, off to get more work done before I cave and end up taking a nap! Happy Monday! 

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Ashley Eiban is a wedding and portrait photographerbased in Central Virginia. Serving Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Farmville, Richmond, Roanoke, and surrounding areas. Currently booking a limited number of weddings and portrait sessions for 2017.  Available for travel world-wide.  

Ashley is passionate about capturing moments as they authentically happen to ensure a successful session that gives you time to enjoy each other and savor the wedding day moments.  Contact me today for additional information! 

Turn off the notifications || A working at home series

Y'all. I don't know if you're anything like me, but working from home is FULL of distractions. Between the laundry basket I have to step over to get to my office, to the pile of breakfast dishes in the sink, it's so hard to turn that all off in my brain and just sit down and work.  One of the best things I did to avoid those distractions are having set office hours and being super strict about them.  But, even when I'm in the office and working, it's so easy to get distracted by other things! 

One of the most productive things I did was turn off all notifications on my computer for my office hours.  Between iMessage, facebook, and messenger, and emails, and instagram, I could be distracted for seriously hours- and not actually get anything done. 

When I get a notification pop up in the corner of my screen, even if I try to to ignore it, is on my mind until I check it. My brain sees that notification as something important and urgent and demands my attention until I check it. Getting notifications that someone commented on a facebook photo is not worth wasting my work hours away for.  

This is not me complaining about social media, or trying to brag that I get sooo many notifications or anything.  I love social media- especially considering I'm here working by myself- I need that social outlet! But, more importantly, I need to get my work done! These notifications cannot rule my life.  

So, I just want to encourage you to take a few minutes and turn off the notifications for the things that distract you without you even knowing it! It will make such a huge difference! 

Sneak Peeks || Spring in Lynchburg

I know, I know... it's Wednesday and I'm just now getting to my weekend update. That's how you know it's been a fun & full weekend spilling into week! We've been working hard on the house updates- we've laid gravel, done some landscaping, tiled the bathroom floor, painted all the trim and ceilings... so much work and I basically never want to paint anything else ever again! ;)  But in between all these house projects, I was able to step away for some amazing photoshoots! It's engagement photo season- and I love it! 

I photographed Lance's proposal to Meaghan last year around this time, and am so thrilled to be doing their wedding at Tresca on 8th in downtown Lynchburg later this year! They brought their sweet, fluffy puppy for their engagement session this time! Oh my goodness, Mac is seriously the cutest thing ever!! 

I also got to meet up with Mike & Haley in downtown Lynchburg for their engagement session! This adorable couple is so sweet and getting married at The Trivium estate so soon! It was so fun exploring and of course taking advantage of the gorgeous cherry blossoms! 

I can't wait to share more from these sessions & from our house updates! 

Weekend Update

Y'all, I am loving these off-season weekends! I think in the midst of crazy season, I forgot how 'normal' people do weekends. Being able to have slow mornings, drink coffee in bed, and eat breakfast together as a family before running errands, or getting on with our day is always such a treat for us! Don't get me wrong, I do absolutely love wedding season, but there's something so refreshing and rejuvenating about these slower weekends, even if they are filled up with house projects! We are working hard to finish up the last of the house projects and will hopefully be listing our house here shortly! 

While I do really, really hate the cold, I am fully embracing the slower days, where I am getting used to shorter office hours, and getting caught up on those extra projects I always mean to get done, but don't take priority. I absolutely love crossing these things off my to-do list! Let's be real, I love crossing anything of my to-do list! ;) 

Some iPhone photos to overview the weekend: 

Emerson loved celebrating St. Patricks Day (mostly at school, cuz even with the best of intentions, I don't do these fun and extra things very well).  She picked out her own outfit and rocked her feathered head band. 

As always, follow along our crazy journey through Instagram Stories! 

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Ashley Eiban is a wedding and portrait photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Farmville, Richmond, Roanoke, and surrounding areas. Currently booking a limited number of weddings and portrait sessions for 2017.  Available for travel world-wide.  

Ashley is Mom to 5 year old, Emerson and is passionate about balancing Motherhood and your chasing your dreams and providing for your family.   Contact me today for additional information! 

Motherhood Moments: The little things are what matters

Today's post is something that I really struggle with, and the more Moms I talk to, the more I find out that I'm not alone. It seems in this day and age where we are bombarded with everyone's 'best of' moments through social media, I feel the constant need to be THE best Mom ever.  You know, to constantly be doing fun things, making everything a teaching moment, and for her to always be having fun.  Let's be real here- this isn't possible. If we were sitting and chatting over some wine and you were telling me you were struggling with these things, I would tell you the very same thing. You're going to make yourself crazy.  

We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, and this is especially true in Motherhood. I have a friend that looooooves baking, and almost every day makes something healthy and fun with her kids.  I see her doing that and instantly feel guilty... do slice and bake cookies count as a baking project with her, cuz that's about the extent of baking I'm capable of... and even then, there's a good chance they're going to be burnt.  I have another friend that is so good at getting down on the floor and playing with her kids. She sits there and plays doctor, or barbies with her kids. I've tried doing this too, (yall, it's so boring!!!). I'm no good at it!!  Basically, I want to be able to take Em on family trips and bake, and play, and do all the fun things, all the time, every single day. 

Being a working Mom (yes, especially Moms that are  working at home!!) means that I have to prioritize my time, that I can't always be there, available and ready to play and do the most amazing things all the time.  I start to feel so guilty because I'm not giving her my undivided attention some days.

Can we be honest here for a second- kids don't need our complete attention all the time. They need to learn how to play on their own, use their imaginations, and not rely on us so much all the time. I need to be okay with not always being in "Mom mode."  

I was talking this out with someone the other day and she made such a great point.  There are some seasons where we will spend so much time together- in the summer, we will go to the pool multiple times a week, we will get ice cream, and go on adventures, and that is all so great and so fun. But there are also seasons where I need to get work done, and that's okay too. As long as I'm being purposeful about spending some quality time with my family, that's okay.  All Emmie needs is a little one-on-one time with me for it to make her day. I don't need to have this 'all or nothing' mentality.  If I can spend 15-20 minutes creating with play dough with her, that little block of time is the quality time that she needs for the day. But, those 15 minutes need to be completely focused on her. Put the phone away, turn off the email notifications, and sit and talk and play with her. It's the little moments, where we can be fully present that are going to make the biggest difference.  

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Ashley Eiban is a wedding and portrait photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Farmville, Richmond, Roanoke, and surrounding areas. Currently booking a limited number of weddings and portrait sessions for 2017.  Available for travel world-wide.  

Ashley is Mom to 5 year old, Emerson and is passionate about balancing Motherhood and your chasing your dreams and providing for your family.   Contact me today for additional information!