Zach and I worked out for a total of 3 minutes, and we were sore for the next 4 days…
Yes, read it again…
You read it right…
No joke. :)
Are we that wimpy? Are we THAT out of shape? Heck no! We just had a good kick-booty workout. Yes, even in 3 minutes.
If you have tried everything to lose weight, or try and stay fit and nothing seems to be working and it’s hard to find that time every day to lose weight, then Burst Training might be for you (actually it’s for everyone, even kids, but this might be even more appealing to you).
Burst training is highly effective in burning fat (and keeping it off) and retaining lean muscle.
There is the myth out there that in order to have a good, healthy workout you have to be active for a certain period of time (e.g. half hour a day – or whatever). This isn’t necessarily true. What’s important is the quality of the workout – not the quantity.
Think of a cross country runners body that you see on the Olympics for example. They tend to be more thin and trim compared to track sprinter’s body (more muscle tone) – the sprinter’s workouts are based on the burst idea – work out for shorter spurts but with great intensity.
Under the encouragement from our friends, Nathan & Jenni Oates, Zach and I signed up to take their Burst Training that they lead, here in the Nashville area. You sign up, do sessions with them and then the coolest thing is THEY EQUIP YOU TO DO IT ON YOUR OWN, so you aren’t bound to paying a trainer or going somewhere every time you want to work out.
What are the hangups sometimes to working out? 1. Costs too much (gym membership, trainer, etc) 2. Have to actually GO somewhere to work out (gym, track, etc) 3. TIME!
Burst Training takes care of all of those worries, and you can do it on your own, in your own home!
To read more detailed information on how this workout works, visit Nathan & Jenni’s Burst Training Blog Post. This method of working out has changed their lives.
Nathan is a certified personal trainer and is holding more Burst small-group training sessions. See the below flyer for info!
Today we are away speaking at Doing Social Media RIGHT, so we thought we would share with you another event we are a part of this week that you should come out to!
The ever-so-cool Cannery Ballroom in good ‘ol Nashville, TN is having an open house THIS Wednesday and YOU are invited!!
For more information and to RSVP for this event, Click Here.
One of the BEST things we love about our jobs is the couples who we meet and become friends with.
Take Chris & Holly for example… we met them over a year ago and waited with Holly as she waited for Chris to come back to the states after serving overseas, were SO excited when he was coming home safe & sound, have immensely enjoyed and participated in Chris’ movie quotes & jokes, and hip-hopped right along with Holly singing “Wild Thing” by Tone Loc (ok, Zach was doing the hip-hopping… Jody, not so much ;). On their wedding day I think we were one of the most thrilled people to be at the wedding and celebrating their marriage! Ah, you two are the best :)
Anyway, this rad couple invited us to their rehearsal hang out at the Nashville Sounds’ Stadium. Even though we were invited as friends and not photographers we couldn’t resist bringing one of our cameras and snapping a few pictures :)
The trophy husband decked out to the nines!
Getting to know some of the bridesmaids! Aw yeah! Zach, blog-stalker-turned-friend, Elaina (he he), new friend Katie & Jody
Playin’ some ball…
And for the kicker – Making faces in our ice cream and posing with it… scary, we know.. but yet, too funny… we all were laughing so hard!
Um, by the way… this last photo is a GREAT example of how NOT to use a 16-35mm… unless you want someone to look like they have a man-jaw, which is exactly what Zach was going for… *sighs* ha ha.
The Doing Social Media RIGHT seminar is being held THIS Monday and 10 more spots have been opened for a discounted rate!
So some of you you may be thinking, “I’m familiar with Twitter, Facebook and all those other elements. I don’t need to come.” Believe us – you do! We think that WE are fairly savy, but every time we talk with online guru Christine (point speaker for the event) we realize how much more we have to learn. We challenge you to suck it up and admit you may not know everything there is to know, and come out :o)
Email Courtney Hammons @ courtney@amagicalaffair.com with the promo code: ZachJodyMedia and she will give you the discounted rate and instructions on registering.
For more info on this event you can read our previous blog post!
Zach & I will be guest speaking at this event specifically talking about blogging & website marketing and you won’t want to miss it! Christine Boulton from Think Like A Bride, is the featured speaker and we all have a lot to learn from her! Date & Times: Monday, June 29th, 9:00am-5:00pm Origianl Cost: $55 Location: Embassy Suites Nashville Airport (10 Century Blvd, Nashville, TN 37214)
Hope to see you all there! We live in such changing times and the success to your business staying alive is the ability to adapt...
This month we have the privileged of once again being published in Nashville’s coolest women’s magazine – Her Nashville. The above image is from one of our Nashville weddings and this shot was taken at the Marriott West End, in Nashville, TN.
I’m telling you, that magazine is addicting! We love the look of it, the newer slick pages they have, and get this folks – the ads are so non-boring looking that I (Jody) actually look over them instead of avoid them like the plague! They have great articles and writers, and it’s just an enjoyable magazine all around.
Elaina WinterCongratulations on yet another wonderful accomplishment, Zach and Jody! You guys deserve every accolade you receive! The website looks great, by the way! Take care!
We wanted to share with you all a sneak peek of a wedding we did in Nashville, TN this past weekend for Chris & Holly. Their wedding was beautiful and went so smoothly (thanks to Kimberly, Joyce, and the rest of the staff at Riverwood Mansion). It was such a great wedding to be a part of. Chris & Holly are such a fun & amazing couple to be around!!
Love the cool wedding shoes on the star studded background!
Chris is a Navy Helicopter pilot.
We loved Holly’s pearl necklace and great wedding dress!
Holly had some gorgeous wedding flowers too!
Wedding bubbles are the way to go!
Ok, that’s it for now! To see a few more images from their wedding you can become our friend on Facebook and peruse through our albums.
If you would like to be notified once all of Chris & Holly’s images are available for viewing, click HERE to sign the virtual guest book and you will also receive a gift certificate toward the purchase of images!
Below are a few of the amazing vendors who were a part of making this day! Their work and the venue will be showcased more on the full post of Chris & Holly!: - The Enchanted Floristdid the flowers for this wedding, and they were stellar as always
- Riverwood Mansion is where the ceremony & reception all took place (the women there are amazing!!!) - Videographer – Allen Media Productions (Sarah is so pleasant to be around and work with!)
- Cake – French Confections
- Caterer – A Catered Affair
- Ceremony Musician – Russell Davis
- DJ – Chris Faulk
Chris & Holly we hope that your honeymoon is a blast and we can’t wait to now visit up in your neck of the woods :)
Zach & JodyThanks you two! You are the best and we can't wait to hang out with you guys and have dinner in your neck of the woods!!
Holly and ChrisZach and Jody- You guys are super awesome! Thanks for spending time with us and turning out some amazing photos! We had such a good time, and we're glad that you guys were there to capture it for us, I'm thinking of making sculptures of you entirely out of wisconsin butter in your likeness, God bless the Midwest! You guys are amazing!
Chris and Holly (your models for that night)
FeuzaLoe the Bubble shot and the one of the groom, men in uniform wins everytime! and the little star carpet on that first one is so neat! ...
Wednesday night we hung out with friends/past clients/future clients/artists/business women (yes, they are all of those to us), Alexis & Laura and their significant others! Alexis is married to Abdul (whose wedding we shot this past year!), and Laura is to be wed to Jim later this year!! We decided to have a triple date and head off to the Franklin Family Entertainment Center for Mini Bowling (aka Midget Bowling)!!
If you remember, we last posted on this form of bowling late January when we went with friends Amy & Brendon (click HERE for more pics and video of that adventure).
This was a whole new adventure and everyone brought out their best at the 10th frame which you will see in the short awesomely professional video below. We opted out of putting background music in, and you will see why. Make sure your volume is up :)
Fun times had by all! Maybe we’ll do another competition and the winner(s) will get to go mini-bowling with us and see our MAD SKILLZ in the flesh!!!!
Lovin’ your comments! Still have 2 weeks to go for the Starbucks Gift Card Give-a-way!!
WilCoWedFannnntastic! Next time Brendon and I will join in and school you ALL!! :)
amdphotoThat's HILARIOUS!!! I didn't even know there was such a thing as Mini Bowling! Looks like fun. I'm just used to the regular kind. ha ha LOL
jeffandashahh yes. chimpmunks and darth vader. always hilarious. too fun - ash
adornmentsThanks for the awesome night guys! We died laughing watching your video (had to watch it over and over!) Let us know when you want a re-match!
Wow! This is our 200th blog post! Lots of writing, lots of pictures, lots of visits (just reached 30,000 new hits!), lots of views (almost 50,000 – whew!), lots o’ lovin’ from all of you awesome commenters (though some of you can maybe do better ;o), and it’s been so much fun sharing our lives with you all over the last year!
There are so many of you out there who we have met in person who come to our blog and we’re so glad that we’ve been providing a fun and informative place for you to hang out while you are stuck in front of your computers :) It’s been great having the chance to meet some of you self named “blog stalkers” and getting to know some of you a bit!
So, in honor of this 200th post, we are doing something really special! We want all of you who have been avid readers, those who come by on occasion, and those who are brand new to our blog to leave us a comment (tell us about yourself and why you keep coming back!) AND sign up for our rockin’ newsletter HERE (which will have insider behind-the-scenes tips & tricks as well as much, much more).If you do both of these things you will be entered into a drawing and we will send the lucky blog reader a $25 gift card to Starbucks (one of our favorite places to go)! Why?Because we just want to give back the love a little bit, but in the most delicious way possible. Yummy!!
Seriously, leave a comment because we love finding out who you all are and for those who have blogs or a website, we really enjoy following the links and reading about you and your life!
We will announce the drawing winner on our 1 year blog anniversary – July 1st, so you all have two weeks to comment on this post & sign up toour newsletter!
Enjoy the look of this blog while it lasts because we have a little something special up our sleeves that you will all see very soon… He, he, he (that is our sinister, evil laugh).
ashleysbrideguide.comcongrats on the new blog! i love it!!!!!!!! especially the pics of you guys:) great job.
Marianne CI keep reading your blog for two reasons: one, as a graphic designer, I totally appreciate a photographer (or two!) who take such amazing pictures WITHOUT relying on digital editing! You two have "the eye", so to speak. It's refreshing!
And two, I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that my guy will in the very near future ask me the question I'm so anxious to hear so we can finally commit to a date and give you a call! I've browsed much and seen lots of good photography, but nothing quite holds a candle to what you two are able to capture. Can't wait! Hold a day open for me! lol
~Marianne
AnonymousTell you about myself: I gave birth to you (Jody) and have adored you from day 1.
Why do I keep coming back to your blog?... duh! To keep tabs on what you and your hubby are up to! Bragging rights as well!
-Mom
FeuzaTrying to be a Blog stalker- and live stalker j/k hihi, found you guys almost two months ago and was impressed with the photography, with the workshops as well as overall branding. I was so honored that we got a chance to meet at the Cool Springs Starbucks for Coffee and lots of awesome advice. You are a blessing, congrats on the posts, anniversary and new blog coming! XOXO
Zach GrayYou guys are all awesome!! Keep those comments coming and you are going to be soooo happy you did!
Mark- Thanks so much and we are glad that we met you guys!! We love hanging with you and need to do it more often!!
Mark McCoyTwo - Double Oh!!!!! and counting! I wish I could check your blog more often because ya'll ROCK da Cashbah!!! No other photographer TRULY cares about helping other photogs more than ya'll. I'm praying that God will hook ya'll up in ways your little minds haven't even begun to imagine, and I can't wait to hear all about it! Thanks for being REAL friends. holla at cho boy!
Rachael Kozma CarrilloHi guys, I love hearing what you are up to and seeing your beautiful photos. Even though neither of us are in MI, hearing from you brings back MI memories!!! Keep up your awesome work. I'm so glad God is using you both in such a fun way.
Katie BrooksYou guys are so awesome!! Since I loved everything you guys did for me at my wedding I love to see all the amazing work yall continue to do! Hope to see you both soon!!
Cody Emberton200 is definitely a celebration but Id bet my 401k on yall having 2000 one day haha! I always come by and check your blog out bc yall are just full of life and excitement. Your pictures are amazing in everyway.
Rebekah MarshallI'm the one who directs each newly-engaged friend to contact you because you take such amazing pictures. :) I was so impressed with the engagement, rehearsal, and wedding photos of Lee and Elisabeth (not to mention the uber-fabulous moment that you captured Ashlyn leaning on a wooden church pew carved with a cross- creating a vision of a child in deep spirtual thought - that I decided to keep up with the latest and greatest things you are doing. BTW- That picture hangs in our entry way for all to see.
-Rebekah Marshall
KevinHey guys, your work is awesome and inspiring...keep it up! Still plan on getting together with you guys some day. Kevin Autry
KristinaUm... you already know me (well at least Jody does!) and I do love me some Starbucks. You guys rock and I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve.
Zach GrayYou guys are all soooo sweet!! Thank you thank you thank you! Keep em coming because someone is going to go into a Starbucks coma at the end of this!! :)
-Zach Gray
KristenHi all! I am an aspiring Nashville photographer who is also "preparing wayyyyyy in advance" for the day that someone "pops the question" to me. Knowing that I'll be on a very tight budget for a wedding, one of the most important things to me is having some amazing photos of the big day. So...I'm already looking around for who I will ask to be my photographers, and that's how I found your website. Your work is amazing! And now I not only follow your blog as a someday-bride-to-be, but also as a photographer that would like to learn as much as possible from people who know what they're doing. And you all are definitely those people! I really hope to someday meet you all, and have you be the photographers at my wedding! Take care!
HeatherLove your work and are so glad to call you guys long distance friends (even if we properly haven't met you yet, Zach)! You both offer us a lot of inspiration and keep us motivated with our own photography business. Thanks for taking so much time to connect with other photogs! :) Heather Autry
DebI absolutely love your talent with your pictures. If you all are still in business when I get married (no idea when... not even dating yet.) you all are hired!!
MD LaidlawOh man...you KNOW I love the Grays...you KNOW I love the Gray's Photography Blog...and OF COURSE you KNOW I love me some Starbucks!!
Count me in for this give away!
KristenHey! I'm a photographer looking to get into weddings and I always learn something new from your posts... and hopefully y'all will do more Workshops this fall so I can come this time! THANKS! -Kristen Steele :)
MelissaFI love coming to your blog to get a laugh, see some awesome pics and get ideas. After having met you both in person at one of your workshops, it makes reading your blog even more interesting. After attending your workshop and learning SO much, I got the guts to go full speed ahead and open my own business, officially. Thank you!
Dawn BI am VERY new photography, but my dream is to one day be able to become a full-fledged photographer! I love your blog! Your photos are spectacular, and I love getting to learn about photography through your site, and you guys seem like such awesome people! OH, I live in Smyrna, Tenn. so we're pretty close!
Casey FiglewiczI love your blog. And I love your off camera lighting!!
Zach & JodyAmy, not sure why you're having trouble with the links... others are able to access them... do you have pop ups blocked maybe?
amdphotoI'm a blog stalker because I think you guys are Wonderful photographers and I feel like we have so much in common. I love reading your posts and seeing your awesome pictures. We met at TWESA little over a month ago, and I think you guys are like a breath of fresh air. I Love Starbucks Coffee as well! But, more importantly, I love God and I think it's great that you guys are so open about your love for God as well. I would love to take one of your workshops sometime, because I always feel like there is more to learn. You can follow my blog and website at: www.amdphoto.com. Thanks for reading! Keep up the GR8 work.
Maguilicutty200! Congrats! you're certainly becoming the king and queen of social networking! but you would think after 200 posts you would know how to do links! hehe. the newletter links aren't connecting... FYI
As soon as I heard about you, I knew I needed you to be the photographers at my wedding, and I'm so glad you were!! The pictures are incredible, and I can't wait to see what else you show in the years to come.
Sarah ElizabethI'm super excited about your giveaway. I just moved to Nashville and we're planning a wedding for next summer. You're one of the first photographers I found and I drool over every single one of your pictures. Also- your blog posts are hilarious and keep me entertained. Keep up the good work!
(I love this shot Jody took of the wedding invitations!)
Two weekends ago we shot the wedding of Autumn & Jeremy at Belle Meade Plantation!! The weather was gorgeous and Autumn was such a relaxed and beautiful bride!
The guys did not want to wear their tuxedo jackets because of the heat.
That is the second boutonniere for Jeremy because he killed the first one!
The ladies wore some cool brown bridesmaids dresses.
Love this shot of the Father walking the bride down the isle.
CONGRATS you two!!!!!!! Hope you have had a blast on your cruise!!!!!
Such a fun exit from the wedding at Belle Meade Plantation!
If you would like to be notified once Autumn & Jeremy’s images are available for viewing, click HERE to sign the virtual guest book and you will also receive a gift certificate toward the purchase of images!
We are 2 weeks away from the Doing Social Media RIGHT conference brought to you by A Magical Affair! For more info you can read our previous blog post on the event!
Zach & I will be guest speaking at this event and you won’t want to miss it! Christine Boulton from Think Like A Bride, is the featured speaker and we all have a lot to learn from her! Admission: $55 Location: Embassy Suites Nashville Airport (10 Century Blvd, Nashville, TN 37214)
miss you guys!
m