It's my Birthday || Celebrate with me!

Hooray! It's my birthday & I'm so excited to allow my amazing clients in to celebrate with me! Read through for information about my month-long birthday discount!! 

It sounds so cliche, but this past year has been such a whirlwind! My first year in my 30's was so awesome, and turning 30 last year was a lot easier than I was expecting! I feel like I've learned so much over the last year- specifically about setting boundaries, guarding my family time, and truly loving people. I did a lot of traveling this last year- from Denver, Albuquerque, Outer Banks, Pensacola, Milwaukee, and learned from all of that to set limits for myself.  I've learned to have set work hours means I get more things done, and spend less time working. 

I'm so thankful for each and every one of my brides and couples that allow me to follow my dreams and make it my reality.  My couples are such a blessing to my life & I am just so honored that I have their trust! For my sweet friends & family that help watch Emmie, encourage me, and make me take breaks when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Having community in Lynchburg truly has made the biggest difference for me! And of course, to Michael & Emmie, I don't even know how to say thank you enough for fighting for me, encouraging me when life gets hard, and pushing me to always follow my dreams and work for my business. I know that it's not always easy when I'm gone for multiple weekends and evenings in a row, when I've got meetings and a never-ending to-do list. You don't complain, instead you love me and my business.  I'm so so so thankful!! 

So, cheers to turning 31 & loving this stage!! 

To celebrate my birthday, I am SO excited to be offering $50.00 off all full portrait sessions, for an hour or longer sessions! I LOVE mixing up my wedding seasons with families, seniors, and head shots! I'm going to be offering this discount for the entire month of April 2017! You can find out more information about my portrait sessions here! Email me today at ashley@ashleyeiban.com to book your session today! 

*Discount does not apply for mini-sessions, events, or weddings* 

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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! 

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! 

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! 

Travels || Catching up and Enjoying HOME!

Typically, January & February in Virginia are my slowest months, but this year has been a totally different story! The month started with traveling home from Christmas break in Virginia Beach to flying to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for Jason & Lindsay's wedding. It sure was cold, but their wedding was so much fun, and I got to visit with family that live out in New Mexcio!  

While we were out there, we visited the domes, which have different natural environments set up, so we got to see the dessert and the rain forest while we were out there! So much fun, plus it was so nice and warm in there! My heart was so happy! ;) 

Then came a trip to Fort Walton Beach, Florida for Charlie's 1st birthday and Rachel's promotion. This was such an honor- I first met Dave & Rachel at their engagement session a few years ago, and since then, I've photographed their wedding, pregnancy, and family photos. But even better, formed an amazing friendship with them both. Spending a few days celebrating with them was so special! And, anytime I get to spend at the beach, even if it's chilly, is so refreshing and encouraging for me!

So, I'm home now, so thrilled to be with my family, even though I was welcomed home to take care of two with the flu, and then I caught a bug myself. If that isn't a reason for Spring to hurry up, I don't know what is! 

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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!