Next on my list of awesome women is Dr. Theresa Hamilton! Once again, all these great women are leaving us at Calhoun! Theresa has been our Vice President and Dean of Instruction for many years and she has recently retired. However, she’s going to keep on working, but in Mississippi, as the Vice President of another community college. Congratulations to her! But, we will miss her tremendously! She has been at Calhoun for many years and has done many great things. I wanted to take this opportunity to tell her how she has influenced me in so many positive ways. I would always see her when I was working out at the college and she’s so approachable and easy to talk to. I appreciate that about her. She is also a wonderful wife and devoted mother, which I’ve come to know through personal conversations with her. She’s also a fellow travel buff and I love to get advice on my trips from her. These pictures are from a reception held in her honor at Calhoun. Jack Barham (Calhoun instructor) read a poem in her honor, and as you can see, the entire college personnel came out to wish her well. Jackie Gooch (in the yellow) has been her secretary/right-hand woman for many years, and I’m sure she will miss her the most! Thank you Theresa, for the great advice you’ve given me over the years and for the fun times we’ve had together. I will truly miss you!

Next on my list of wonderful women is Jane Houston. It seems like lately there are so many great women that I work with who are leaving/retiring from Calhoun. This is great for them, but bad for us! Jane has just retired and she’s going to become a full-time grandmother. Congratulations to Jane for getting to do what she loves! Recently, we had a little get-together at the beautiful home of Dena Stephenson (in the picture with Jane) to tell her goodbye and these are pictures from that gathering. We had a great time! I have known Jane since I began working at Calhoun over 14 years ago now. She and I always like to catch up when we get together because we don’t see each other that much at work. I always enjoy our chats. We have a lot in common in that we are both single women making it on our own. She’s done very well and she’s been a great example for me. She is someone I can relate to regarding a lot of the issues we deal with as single women. Thanks Jane for being such a good friend. I hope you love your retirement, but I’m counting on us remaining friends and staying in touch!

This weekend I got to shoot pictures of the new Mr. & Mrs. Justin Roberts! It was a beautiful ceremony and I can tell they are going to be such a happy couple. It was so nice meeting their family and friends and sharing in their happiness. Congratulations guys and thanks for letting me be a part of your big day! Here are a few of my favorite images.

This weekend, we surprised my Granny with an 88th birthday party! We really got her. We had them recognize her at church Sunday night and then had dinner and a huge cake! Many of the people she loves were there to wish her happy birthday. I'm so thankful she's still in my life. She's such a blessing to us, as well as to her church. They all love her so much too. It was a great tribute to her Godly life. I think she had a great time.

Next on my list of amazing women is Nancy White. Nancy is so joyful and appreciative of all the little things in life. I love it when she tells me about a good movie, or a fun trip she went on, etc. She tells it with such joy and appreciation, that it makes me want to see what she’s seen and experience what she did. I’ve been working with her for over 14 years now and we always have fun reminiscing about old times and places we’d like to go and things we’d like to do. But now she’s going to be a grandmother and I’m sure that will keep her home more. She’s crazy about babies, so I know this grandchild will be spoiled rotten. I’ve never seen someone who loved babies more. Congratulations Nancy on your soon to be “grandmotherhood!” I know you will be a great one! And thank you for bringing such joy to my life as I’ve gotten to know you over these many years.

Last weekend, I got to meet little Preston Carroll! He's only a few weeks old. I got to photograph him while he was still in mommy's belly too! He was such a sweet baby! I even got "initiated" by him a little, ha ha! Here are a few of my favorites from our visit.