the miller wedding | latrobe, pa

i could easily come to tears every time i sit down and edit these photographs of my brother johnny and my sister-in-law meghan's wedding. what a beautiful, fun time that entire weekend was! i truly hope you get to taste the beauty of their ceremony, as well as the fun and entertaining reception! enjoy...

movie night

tonight i had a movie night, and it was so lovely. will is still on night shift, so i wanted to make
the absolute best of this christmas eve eve! i painted my nails, made myself tea, and curled
up on the couch to watch the holiday. i just finished boohoo-ing my eyes out at one of the best
christmas movies ever. if you haven't seen it, you must this christmas! just a suggestion :).

have a wonderful holiday!

Christmas Tour of Homes | 2008

Welcome! This year I am in fact participating in Boomama's famous 2008 Christmas Tour of Homes. Relax, get a cup of hot chocolate, and feel cozy in my home tour!



Welcome to the beautiful mountains of Boone, NC!
(our apartment is the door on the bottom)

here, have some cookies...

The Saturday Evening Post Christmas Book is one of my favorite Christmas Story Collections. Every year (starting this year!) it will be our tradition to read the most wonderful description of Christmas I have ever heard - the introduction of the book by Henry Van Dyke.


um, we don't have a fireplace :). we're newlyweds so our space is limited!


my beautiful willow tree nativity!
my favorite decorative piece

*drumroll please*

dddddrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

our tree!


thanks for stopping by!
my favorite Christmas recipe | Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
1/4 c. softened butter
1/2-3/4 bag white chocolate chips (whatever you like)

Grease and flour one loaf pan; sometimes you may be able to get two pans full depending on the size of your pan.

Mix wet ingredients 1st, add dry ingredients. Bake 350 for about 45 minutes....depends on your oven.....enjoy with family and friends....



Blessings to you this holiday season!

i am second

what an amazing website.
check it out here

toomies and the parkway

earlier this fall my old roommates and i went out to the parkway to take some pictures, and i had forgotten about those pictures until recently! elizabeth, who was my co-photographer for the portrait party, would hold the reflector while i took pictures, then we would switch. samantha crowder was our model, and we all enjoy taking pictures together. usually because it's not hard to make each other laugh.. a lot... and that always makes for good photos.

you may be wondering what "toomies" are.... well, let's just say a typo turned into a nickname that we'll never let go of. rooming with those girls are some of my fondest memories of college!

Final Portfolio

Well, my days in Katherine Harper Hall at Appalachian State University are finally over. I spent so many hours in that building mixing chemicals for the dark room, being the lab assistant, editing projects in photoshop, critiquing other photographs as well as my own, studying photo history, etc. etc. etc. It was such a wonderful experience and I have learned so much.

I finally narrowed down all my images and decided to go strictly with Wedding Photography for my Portfolio. Not many students in my department want to photograph weddings, so it was a very unique gallery. Welcome to Nancy Ray Photography's gallery in Katherine Harper Hall!



my photographer's statement (click to enlarge):



Thanks to everyone who gave their input on this blog, in emails, and even on their own blogs. I definitely used the suggestions to help me decide!