Friday, January 31, 2014

Flashback Instagram Friday l Personal l The FIRST of this series

This is the first of this series, but I have decided to share a little more into the life of me. I am a huge fan of Instagram, and most of my life in iphone pictures is shared instagram way more than Facebook. Each week I would love to update everyone a little as to what I have been up to in pictures from Instagram. (I hope y'all like it) You can follow me: @crystalreyns


Since buying my first house, I have had a struggle on how to decorate and hang pictures on the wall. For my living room I knew I wanted something on this very large wall. As Pinterest became HUGE in that year of me buying my home, I saw this picture of a tree, and it was one of my first pins on my 'for the home' board. As I do not have a lot of 'family' (just my brother and papa), which I have discussed briefly previously, a lot of my clients have become very close to my heart and my family. This was hand drawn and hand painted by Crysty, my college roommate, and Erin, her best friend. It is still in the process of getting pictures on it, but it definitely ties my living room together and helps it feel more like home.

So Monday before the snow, did you see any people in shorts and think, wow they didn't get the memo it was below freezing? Yeah, clearly I didn't either, and it was VERY painful to walk a little over a mile in the blistering windy frigid air, but I sucked it up like a champ. I had to #winterfail this one on Instagram.

Last year I posted on how I changed my lifestyle to be a little more healthy. I did this for many reasons, but mainly to be a better me. I lost about 35-40 lbs last year, and lets be honest we all gain that dang 'holiday weight.' With getting back on track of clean eating and exercise, and now adding weights thanks to Miss Brooke, I am pre Holiday and Birthday weight. I like to share what I make for the day, and help motivate people so they know it is not as hard as it may seem, it just takes will power and lack of temptations. Here I have pictured a Kale green smoothie, which I tend to make for breakfast every day. They REALLY ARE NOT as bad as they look, trust me. For snacks this day I had vanilla greek yogurt, fresh blueberries, and gluten free oats which I get from Trader Joes. And a nice bag of pistachios which last me about 2 weeks, and helps with cravings during the day.

I was so excited to finally take my truck off road, YES I am country, I am from the country, and I like dirty trucks. Now my truck is my baby, but knowing I had off road hazard coverage on my new tires, it was time to test those babies out. :) I wanted her to get a little more covered in mud, but I must say she did really good in the woods. Now, some would say I needed to 'clean' her, because it made me look redneck........ So with the help of Adam, she got a bath on Monday :) 

Meet Max, Skeatti and Meatball's new friend. Meatball 'likes' him a lot, and we sometimes have to separate them even though they are all fixed. 


The Kissing Booth is now in the studio, and in the process of being decorated. The little sister couldn't wait to get a picture with it though......How super cute are they......proves the kissing booth just isn't for the kiddos :)


Who doesn't love pizza? I know I love pizza, and I have been craving it for days. So instead of going and getting a pizza from big cheese or Joe's place, I opted to make a healthier style pizza. This is a light flat bread (90cal) with basil pesto, fresh spinach leaves, tomatoes, and skim ricotta cheese. Baked for about 30 minutes on 350, and it was AMAZE-BALLS!!!! 


Ok, I share A LOT of what I eat on instagram......GREEN SMOOTHIE!!! Don't knock it til you try it! This actually has helped me be more energized during the morning. I like trying new recipes, if you have any please share. This one is 1/2 cup of unsweeted vanilla almond milk (I stopped drinking real milk last year), 10-12 ice cubes, 1/2 cup of water, large handful of kale, a few blueberries, half a banana, a whole apple (de-seeded), and 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Boudoir Minis l Va Women's Photographer

A boudoir can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To me it means allowing a woman to see how beautiful she really is, and helping her gain self confidence. This year I had the pleasure of giving away a half off boudoir mini, which then turned into 35 entries that made me cry my eyes out, and I couldn't choose just one. I wanted to help ALL the ladies, but I narrowed it down to 5.

I will not share 100% why they all were choosen, but as women we are subjected to society that tells us we should be a size 0-2 and be very toned. Essentially we are not all like that. As women we bear children, and our bodies pay the toll, in turn we become very self conscious to be semi naked, and we pick our selves apart. I hope to STOP this maddness, and let every woman be proud of who they are, of the struggles they have been through to get to where they are. You earned those stretch marks. You earned the laugh lines, it means you had a lot to smile about in life..........

LEARN TO LOVE YOUR SELF IN EVERY FORM!!!!


 We are all beautiful!

 We are all sexy!

 We should all be PROUD!

 We should all feel confidence in our own skin!








Sharpe Family l Glen Allen, Va Family Photographer

I have known this family for quite some time as Crysty was my college roommate at Virginia Tech. It was so great to start my New Year out with seeing this whole family together.

It wasn't exactly freezing, but it wasn't summer either as we met at Crump Park in Glen Allen, Va. I must say in the shade with was quite a few degrees cooler than where we all parked. This was a gift for Crysty's mom, Tina, as I can understand it is hard getting the whole family together as we all get older and our lives get busy.

The whole Sharpe Clan


 Tina with her kiddos, and grandbabies
 Grandma and grand-babies

 Tina and ALL her kids.


 Siblings and their families




 Daddy's girl


Robert and Kiely










LOVE this one!!!


 Crysty and Eli