Happy Thanksgiving!

Since next week is Christmas, I figured I should do my Thanksgiving post :)

Actually, this "Thanksgiving post" is motivated by how grateful I am for my family. And I never feel that more then when I am away from them. The last two days I have been home all alone (pleaseplease, grab a tissue. It's such a sob story). My mom left with all my brothers for VegasBaby! My 17-year-old brother Tim and his basketball team have a holiday tournament in Las Vegas, and since my mom is fabulous, she packed up and went to cheer.

So, in the mornings my dad leaves for work and my three sisters depart for school.

And I am left alone to work and sometimes dance to Bruises.

I miss having people around :( I miss them all a lot and I want to see them so bad. I was strictly warned about posting pictures, but I don't care. Family, I love you and miss you and am so, so grateful for you - and this is just the way I say that :)
I'd like to start this post with some Holiday Cute.

Every single year my mom makes us pre-dinner snacks, and we turn on the parade. We allllways have potato chips & dip, shrimp & cocktail sauce and crackers & cheese. Dude set up a little table for her, and made signs - ya know, to alert us when the snack table was "open." When we were finished he put up a "closed" sign. I've run out of ways to say how I love him :D

I want them to come home :(

Aaaaah. The glorious dinner feast of food. Aaaaah.

Another cute Dude moment: When I opened my eyes from praying, this is what I saw:

This isn't all my food, but after this my camera was in danger of getting snacked on, so I had to set it down. I guarantee you every bite was magnificent though. MmmMMmmmm.

I'll end with a sweet Shannon moment. She had been saving this "Thanksgiving Poem" she wrote at school for days. She was so excited to read it to us at dinner - and she also shared with us all the things she was thankful for - all on her own initiative!

What a cute button :D

Come home soon family!!!!!

Shanda and Sonny

I can't stand how awesome my job is.

Yesterday, Shanda, Sonny, his daughter Angelina and I braved the ferocious cold and headed to the lovely little town of Annapolis for an engagement/family shoot.

Ladies and gentleman, it was tremendously cold. And windy. Good thing they had their love to keep them warm? ;D I only had my mismatched gloves and knock-off Uggs.

I was so impressed, proud and excited that they were able to take off their "my face is being eaten by an ice monster" faces, and be so sweet and photogenic! Shanda, you looked fabulous!

Little Angelina had a harder time with the cold, but she was so well-behaved! She has an amazing relationship with her dad, and Shanda too (It's adorable because she calls Shanda "Panda." "Panda, I am really cold. And a little bit hungry. Can we be done, Panda?")

Hoooooit!

I for some reason love this one:


Shanda wore THE awesome red scarf! It looks killer in all the pictures, and was so fun to play with!

Ok, this one toootally reminds me of a Kay Jewelers Commercial, or something. Pretty romantic :D

I think this is my favorite shot from the day - and I didn't even mean to take it.
It captures them so well - the decor around them is colorful and simple. They are happy and teasing each other with playful banter and a light-hearted slap. And Shanda is holding Sonny's jacket.
I loved how she would do that. All throughout the shoot I noticed that she loved to cling onto his coat - when they were walking, when the were kissing, when they were laughing, when they were freezing.
I thought it was quite precious :D

They adore their red Mini! And each other! That means that this picture is adorable!

I think our blood almost froze inside of us at this point, but the boats sure were lovely!

And one last shot: This is where they had their very first kiss way back.
(ps. See her hand grabbing his coat? Told ya :D )

I had a blast with you guys and can't wait for your rocking, vintage wedding in a few weeks!
Enjoy the slideshow :D

Single Guys

So, being a wedding photographer, I love it when I hear about new couples and eeeeespecially new engagements :D

I do know, however, that guys can get nervous about commitment, serious relationships and even just talking to girls. Or at least that's what I've heard.

So, I found something to help! A new book by 9-year-old Alec Greven, called "How To Talk To Girls." I'm sure if all of you single guys out there read this, weddings will have tripled by next year ;D

If you would like to laugh for about 4 minutes, watch this interview: Border's Interview with Alec Greven. I have a lot of favorite parts, but two in particular.

"I wanted to write this book becaauuuuse boys have a lot of trouble with crushes."

and

"Like, if she's walking past you, you can say 'Hey! Did you see that episode of ___?' And you can say that. Or if you are brave enough, you can walk up to her and say 'Hi!'"

Happy Friday everyone!

4 things.

Sooooo, in October the dear and darling Jamie Delaine tagged me in a "4 things" post. I never got around to doing it, but I always wanted to! Both my shoots this weekened were rained out, so I have no new shoots to post. That means.... I get to do the "4 things" questionnaire!

Four (4) things I did today…
1- Scraped my windshield of all the frost/ice-ness. It took a long time this morning. It was soo cooolld.

2- Read Isaiah 42 :D Loved this part:
"Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 'I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you.'"

3- Ate some pretzels! Yummy!

4- Drove some little humans to school (ps. I am so glad I don't have to go to school.)

Four (4) things on my to do list…
1- Run (cause I'm doing a 10k in two weeks. yikes!) & Shower

2- Deliver a whoooole bunch of finished jobs! Yay! (The images are on the new DVD's I got from Disc Makers. Woohoo!!)

3- Start finishing a wedding (I don't think that makes sense... haha)
4- Meet with a friend for lunch -- three cheers for soup at Panera, Taylor and warm :D


Four (4) of my guiltiest pleasures…
1- Dance parties in my room :D Especially with The Littles, but its fun by myself too.
2- Blog-hopping! (You start at one blog, then through comments and links make your way around a whole bunch of new blogs!) It's fun because I actually get to call it work! (It is!)
3- This one is a little weirder, but I love thinking about names. I guess technically its a baby name addiction, but I love hearing cool names and doodling names and mixing and matching names! Not even names that I like, necessarily, but just sound cool! For example, a family in my church named their son Johnny Danger. How cool is that? Or Reagan West. That's just a cool name

4- Doing photobooth pictures at the mall. It's hard to resist :D



Four (4) random facts about me…
1- I have been raised to not be a picky eater. Doesn't mean I like everything, but I can eat almost anything - no matter how much I hate it. The ONE thing I just cannoooot do is deviled eggs. Uggghgross. I sat in front of seafood casserole for 4 hours, and eventually ate it. Creamed spinach was on my plate for two days - and I finally obeyed. Deviled eggs? After 3 meals, I rubbed some mustard on my teeth (so when mom checked my breath would smell like it) and put it in my pocket under my school uniform, and threw it away before class (so mom couldn't find it at home.) I was NOT going to eat the deviled eggs.

2- I have fainted three times this past year (I'm a mess when it comes to needles. That's why I don't use novacaine when I have cavities drilled. I can't handle needles.)

3- I have a very, very hard time sitting still. It's not that I'm bored all the time! I just need to move around. A lot. haha Poor passengers who have to ride next to me on airplanes....
4- The very first country song I ever learned was "Three Wooden Crosses" by Randy Travis, and it's still one of my favorites.


Four (4) people that I want to tag to pass this onto to hear more about...
1- Lydia Jane (because she's a bff and one of the best photographers around. and needs to blog)
2- Peter Bang (because he is awwwesome)
3- Megan Beth (because I am so excited to get to know her better and is thrilled we met!)
4- Armin Defiesta (because he is the networking King and would love something like this... I think!)

The Marini's and Company

One of my favoritefavorite country artists is George Strait. He has a song that's about a man on the day his daughter is born, and the little things he sees throughout the day that point him to God. The chorus of "I Saw God Today" has a part that says this:"His fingerprints are everywhereI'd just slow down to stop and stareOpened my eyes and man I swearI saw God today."

Thanks to this little boy, I would like to say "I saw God today." Gabe Marini has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) and though he is two years old, he can't do hardly anything a "normal" two year old would be able to.
Let me back up just a bit. I recieved an e-mail from Gabe's momma, Rachel, a few weeks ago. She came across my blog about a year ago and has been a silent follower :D However, she introduced herself, hoping to do a shoot with her extended family. You see, her in-laws are medical missionaries in Africa and they were in town for just a bit. They don't have many opportunities to get pictures of them all together. Of course I was thrilled to have the chance to shoot them!

Rachel seemed ever-so-sweet in her emails and I looked at her blog and got to know her a little better. But oh my, I was no expecting to be so touched by this family. I think I was in a bit of a "spiritual shellshock" when I met them in person. Gabe was hooked up to about four machines with chords and lights and lots of "beeps." Rachel greeted me with a huge, beautiful, glowing smile. She is so beautiful. I definitely saw God through her smile. Children were running all around, it was too cold for Gabe outside and his monitors were low on battery, yet she was so peaceful and warm. She loves her family, oh she loves them.

She loves Gabe so much. He can't tell her "thank you" right now. Someday, though. Someday in the glorious paradise that Jesus has prepared, she will get to hear Gabe thank her. All the years, tears, sleepless nights and exhausting days will be over! She will be rewarded! Her work will have been so worth it when her baby boy is in a new, perfect body and he is enjoying heaven! What a marvelous thought!

Rachel, well done! I don't think you know how much you have affected me. I re-wrote this post so many times trying to make it right, and words just keep failing me. I so respect you and so want to be like you. I hope that as I grow older people will leave meeting me, the way I felt meeting you. You are such a light to a watching world! And so is your son, husband and beautiful little girls :D

Also, to the Grandma and Grandpa :D THANK you for what you are doing in Africa. I'm honestly speechless. I know that I don't have the character do what you do. I pray you feel the Lord's pleasure!
One last picture - this is Rachel's brother-in-law and family :D Aren't they super cute?!?!

Thank you thank you thank you for welcoming me into your home and for helping me love my Savior more! You all are so wonderful!

The Glab Family

Let's take a walk down Sentiment Lane, shall we?
In the summer of 2004, I was given my first SLR. A cute little Minolta with basic settings and two lenses. I didn't really know anything about the equipment, but I knew I would need it for my first wedding ever (I second shot). It arrived and I couldn't even stand how excited I was. I needed to shoot! I needed to practice! Goodness, I had never done this before!

My best friend, Corinne, and her family were our neighbors at the time. They kindly let me shoot them (and now looking back, I realize it was my very first shoot ever :D ). One roll of black and white. One roll of color. Developed in an hour at Walmart. Wa-la!
It was pretty stinking fun :D

Roughly 5 years later, I was able to shoot them again! We had so much fun talking & laughing, remembering the good ol' days, tracking down their crazy dog and getting some sweet shots.

Mrs. Glab also asked for some pictures of her and her man - since they hadn't had any taken since their wedding day!

I also did senior pictures for Corinne (gah! Senior! gooodness!)

Corinne and I were quite the pair back in the day. We played together all the time. We planned surprise birthday parties for each other, organized neighborhood dances & shows, fought and cried during games of Monopoly and laughed waaay too hard when we picked the "Ricky's underwear" card in the American girl doll game. On Saturday mornings I would wake up early and go watch her swim meets.
We did a lemonade stand once. We "raised money" to get a coat for a lady we knew who didn't have one (Mrs. Glab ended up giving us one of her old coats. Apparently $10 in change doesn't go very far in the coat world.) We pranked Mrs. Glab and told her we had gotten Corinne's ears pierced (that prank brought to you by sticky rhinestones and bubble-gum toothpaste.) We had sleepovers, built forts, went sledding, decorated our rooms and all in all had a blast as little buddies :D
I am SO grateful for all the memories Corinne! And congratulations on making it to senior year! Woohoo! You are such a beautiful, joyful friend :)

Ok, slideshow time! It's a long one. Be ye warned :D

Melrose Family

The Melrose's are long time family friends and I was just so excited when the opportunity a[mel]rose (haha get it?) for me to shoot them!

I loved this one of Abby :) So lovely!

Erin, the oldest daughter, wanted me to do a few of her and her husband, too! Erin is the biggest photography-blog-stalk eeeever ;) I love it because I'll talk about some picture I like and she will pipe right in "Oh! Wasn't that on Jasmine's blog last month?"

My dad is Erin's boss at I company I worked at last summer. I didn't last very long haha But there were many days that the only reason I got through was because Erin was sending me "The Office" quotes or wedding pictures she liked or because we were scrouging for food together ;) She is so much fun and has wanted to do a shoot for a while now! So glad we got to!





Weeeee!

Here is the slideshow, with the song they requested: Green Eyes!

Nights.

This post started with a crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich on soft potato bread, sitting in a little baggy.

It got thrown away before I could get a picture, but for some reason after I saw that sandwich, I got all sentimental.

You see, back when I was a little girl in elementary school, I never had a sandwich like that. Soft, sweet, and very processed. Yumm-a! My sandwiches were two big crusts hugging whole peanuts smeared in thick jelly. At least that's how it tasted too me. Hard, crunchy and whole-grain.

I saw a half of my youngest sister's sandwich sitting on the counter when we were getting ready for dinner the other night. "Whaaat? Since when do we get sandwiches like this?!? There is no way I would have ever had a sandwich like this when I was little. Ever." Lauren, the youngest of us seven kids, just giggled in a naughty kind of way. My mom just kept on cooking dinner and said "Oh I know" with a kidding-around-sarcastic-woe-is-Kristen-tone.

I forgot about the sandwich, and a few minutes later we were eating dinner. I was so overwhelmed with how fast life is going by. It wasn't like anything particularly special was going on, but I don't know. I was quite touched. I know that within a few years our dear ol' family is going to be going many different directions. Between siblings going to college, and marriages and moves, it won't be just us for many more years. I don't want to forget what it's like to be at home with everyone. Just us.

I went a little physco and started taking pictures of our night. Just so I won't forget. I love the dirty door that leads to the garage, which leads to the driveway where the basketball hoop is. Right next to the "tree-house" and slide, thats in front of our homemade wiffle-ball field. There are chalk drawings, shoes, bikes, trash, overgrown grass and many memories out there on the other side of that door!

In the same room as the door, is the pantry. We eat a lot a lot a lot of food. Both my parents are excellent cooks, and all of us kids like to make food.
I do love how food brings people together and I love all of our times eating at home - and the hysterical dinner conversations. I love the times when we go out to eat and the huge scene we make. Poor restaurant staff :( haha
I love the times when I would go grocery shopping with my parents (my father is a coupon dictator!), and now I love when I take the kids grocery shopping. Especially when I send them to find something and they come back with something a little different ("I know it's not vanilla ice cream, but the Chocolate Explosion ice cream was on sale for $2 off.)

On this particular night, Kevin and Dude had to clear out a shelf and put up a sign to let people know that those Gushers and Fruit-by-the-foot's were theirs. If you don't hide or claim your food, it will dissapear with out a trace.
Actually, it will dissapear and the wrapper will be on the floor of the living room or under a seat cushion. So a little bit of a trace.
But I loved that little sign with all my heart and don't want to forget it!

Another part of our night that I loved was all that happened in the family room. It's very common to find children sleeping at any time. In any place. I love Lauren's little snowflake pants and flowered shirt that completely clash.

And I love how her face looks much more like a baby when she's asleep, especially her mouth. She is getting waaay too old.

Speaking of old, Mr. Bear is one of the few animals our entire family likes. We are not pet people (Katie had a guinea pig once. It died a very soapy death thanks to a good-natured gesture from a younger brother) or even stuffed animal people. But we all love Mr. Bear.

I think we love him so much cause he always has our back (he.he. I went there hahaa)
For real though, Mr. Bear is the coveted seat in the house, especially during TV time.

He's been through a lot :D


Oh! Another happy of the night! We got our first boxes of clementines! It's officially almost winter (officially :D) when we start getting clemetines. My family inhales those things. We go through whole boxes in hours (our record is two boxes in less then 24 hours. woot!)

Our kitchen area starts to smell like citrus and you can find orange peels all over. Usually Dude collects them and throws them away :) He's a good kid.

A little later Ladybug had found a comfier position. I just want to squeeze that little girl. I love her soooo much!

Around 8:30 it was real bedtime - the Ladies and I went upstairs to their un-made bed.

They smelled like too much shampoo, bubble-gum toothpaste and oranges. Their hair was still wet and Shannon was stumbling along her book, trying to read to Lauren. Someday she'll read prefectly fine, but for now I love that when she comes to "froggy" it sounds like "fa-er-aw-g-g-yu"

These Ladies are the best of friends and laugh and laugh and laugh together.



Oh that's just lovely, Shannon. Lovely :D

Lauren was not quite ready to sleep - after all, she had just spent half an hour sleeping on the couch. When it was finally time to turn out the lights, she tried to "fake sleep" on me.
Ha.
I could see right through her.
I was a master fake sleeper (at least she didn't try to fake snore. She knows better then I did. No one falls for a fake snore). But then she couldn't keep a straight face anymore. I love it :D


I burst out laughing and so did they. It was a while before they fell asleep, but worth it.

I never, ever, ever want to forget these nights at home. And now, I am going to make a potato bread pb&j sandwich and I probably won't eat the crust, thank you very much.

Nyah and Ryder

"now i'm trying to lose this attachment
my addiction to your smile"
-- brian birdwell

Jess and Neil had their baby boy, Ryder, two weeks ago! Of course we must have pictures :D

I love this one:

But it wasn't super easy to get ;D

Jess loves his "denim blue" eyes. We're all hoping they stay that color!

Aww.guh. How can you not just want to kisssss that?

I think looks like a little gerbil in this one haha


Nyah was exceptionally eager to have her picture taken! Fine by me! Isn't she just beautiful?

What an angel, right? ;)


And a few outside:

Jess this outfit - I do too! How cute?

I love this kid hahaha


Congratulations! Enjoy the show!

Shaina and Brandon

"Kiss me in sweet slow motionLet's let everything slideYou've got me floatingYou've got me flying high"-- faith hill

I love how I get to meet new people. It's one of the best parts of my job. How did I meet Shaina? Well, my friend's friend's mom's prayer partner's daughter is Shaina. Did you follow that? I know I didn't haha

I actually didn't get to meet Shaina until the wedding day, but I feel like I have known her, her family and friends for much longer. Everyone made me feel so welcome and I got to hear a dozen different versions of how Shaina and Brandon fell in love.

They have one amazing story, that's for sure. They met at culinary school (and believe you me, I have been thinking of "chef puns" all weekend. "Looked what they cooked up." "She was sizzling." "What a ham!"). Anyways, they met and Shaina was just horrified at this annoying boy at school. She told her family all about how much he annoyed her. But he saw something different in her. Different then any other girl. He was intrigued and he wasn't going to go down without a fight. He just had to get to know her better.


In an effort to be kind, Shaina invited Brandon to church. Excited to do anything with her, he went. Slowly as their friendship grew, and Brandon learned more and more about her, he realized her faith and love for God set her apart. Eventually, he gave his life to the Lord at Shaina's church.

Through her example and character, Brandon was changed. Now, he is a godly man who is leading his new wife! But before that goodness happens, we must back up.

Here is Shaina's dress. How old Hollywood glamorous. right? I loved it!

She pulled off the look flawlessly.

wOw.

Even when she walked it looked amazing!

I love this one of the girls!

And I musn't leave the boys out - here's my favorite of them:

Before we get to the ceremony, I have to show you these cute little cards that guests received when they arrived! They are Shaina and Brandon's favorites! I love personal touches like that!

Wedding time! Brandon definitley wins the best "seeing his bride" face. How precious!!

He seriously couldn't stop looking at her...

Rings! Yahhoo!

Be sure to check the slideshow for more ceremony pictures... but here is the new couple!


I love this one a lot



This was my favorite part of the entire day, and it's honestly moments like these that make me adore my job. After the wedding, and after we did some picture of the bride and groom, they were waiting in the lobby to greet guests. All of a sudden, Shaina burst into loud tears and just hugged Brandon. A big, tight, happy hug.

He pulled her into the corner of the room and talked to her, and kissed her. He made her laugh and smile and then they hugged and kissed some more! It was such a real moment. Unscripted and just genuine emotion!

And some dances pictures (no flash needed! woohoo! Always a plus!)


Watching Shaina twirl in her dress made me... want to wear her dress and twirl too. It so pretty!!

Good night! And congratulations!

Here is the show :D

Oh boy.

I'm a little behind in posting, but you should actually be really proud of me, because I am getting SO much work done! I am not sure where this week went.
I'm about two seconds from walking out the door, as I am headed to Richmond for a wedding. It's going to be a beautiful day :D

Here are a few sneak peaks for my fabulous clients who wait so patiently to get some blog-love :D

Tiffany and Ralph are getting married next Memorial Day. Isn't she stunning?

They love to laugh!

Aw :D They are just a beautiful, well-behaved, wonderful family!


I had a blast just walking around and playing with these guys!


Aaaaand, this little guy was from Halloween... I want to grow up to be as cool as him :)


With that, I wish you happy weekend!

My favoritefavoritefavorite:

I like this girl Sarah a whole lot. She has become such a wonderful friend over the past year or so. She was down here actually doing a favor for me.

We had to do a little shoot with my bestie, Lydia, before she went home. Beth also came down, but left before this shoot happened. Try to insert her face in a few pictures if you can ;D

Sarah Corncake Barlow, thank you for helping me get around my hometown, for laughing really hard all the time and for being allergic to pizza ;D
Love ya!

And the ferosh Lydia Jane. I'm keeping her on a very tight leash, so boys, back off!

Ahem. Here is my favorite one of me. I am such a three-year-old.

Being awesome? Why yes, thank you very much.

And no shoot is complete without the face game! Here we have a number of different faces, including: eating sour skittles, getting all green lights on your way home, creepy faces, being a mouse for Halloween and a few that I am not going to share ;D

You really should watch the slideshow. There is one really funny segment where Lydia jumps. It's so worth it haha

Mike and Fay!

"every little thing that you do,
i'm so in love with you"
-- lonestar

This weekend was the wedding of Michael and Fayleen - what a wonderful day! I'm a little crunched for time this morning, so hopefully I will get the slideshow up a bit later. Here are a few of my favorites!
And special, special thank you to Beth, my dear friend from Chicago, who shot with me!
...
She is fabulously beautiful.

And I don't think there was a single thing about her dress I didn't like... It was stunning!




I couldn't pick between these two:


Taking a look...


SO gorgeous!

She should be on the cover of something. For.real.

Walking to the sweet Hummer limo!

I adore long veils!!!


We couldn't have asked for better weather, or more beautiful trees!




A few ceremony pictures:



Yay! They did it! All their friends were thrilled for them :D

What a good lookin' group :D

Aw :D The happy couple!

I love the mood in this one!





Congratulations, guys! I am so happy for you, and so glad to be a part of your big day!

Why?

Last week I did a complete "fall-clean," if you will, of my room. I had a lot that needed to be gone through - thrown away, filed away, put away. The things in my world needed homes. I always start big projects with a !bang! And get more done in the first hour then I do the rest of the day :)

I think it's because after the first initial go through you, or at least I, start to look at things. I found my basketball shoes from senior year and it was like an instant whirlpool (with the jets on) in my mind. Such good memories.

I found a lanyard from a conference I went to in February. I'm not quite sure how long I actually sat there remembering the times of worship, and powerful points in messages - but it wasn't brief.

I snapped back to my room, only to come across a yearbook. You just HAVE to look through that when you see it!

I found some dried rose petals that I cannot for the life of me remember where they came from! And I hate that! I usually remember everything and I have no idea why I have these petals! That just bugged me.

I found my favorite pink journal that I thought I had lost for good. It is filled to the brim with memories. I bought it right before my first trip to Mexico when I was 15 and, being the terrible journal-er I am, I used it until I was about 18. That journal is so me. Sermon notes, party lists, baby names, prayers, song lyrics, funny stories, dramatic "troubles", squiggles, random ideas, letters, food stains, schedules, inside jokes and almost anything else you can imagine. Well, finding that didn't lend itself helpful in finishing my room.

After a few more hours of determined, undeterred work I stumbled upon my 10th grade math notebook. Chills. Chills I tell you poured down my body. Disgusted, sickening chills. I loathed that notebook. I tried to buy a cute one to help make math lovelier. It was light, bright blue with a little pink underlay and a star cut-out in the corner. It didn't deserve to be a math notebook. It should have been a notebook for princess's to do calligraphy in.

I flipped through the pages and pages of lessons I had done. The re-do's I always had to do. The long confusing problems, that seem like a foreign language to me. Some days I really tried and gave it my all. That was good of me. The pages are neat and orderly and my handwriting was borderline cute. Those days were few and far between, and mostly in September.

The majority of my friends were either good at math or brilliant at math. By good, I mean they were taking Calculus before they had their permit. By brilliant, I mean they were correcting the SAT prep book (and that is a very true story). 

Even the ones who "struggled" didn't seem to struggle like I did. I think I spent 90% of my school-life doing math. All the other subjects combined took about 10% of the total time. (Hey now brown cow, was I just doing math in a blog post? Look at me!)

But seriously, math was so, so, so hard for me. I remember laying in bed some nights, dreading that I had to wake up in the morning and do math. The classes were hard, but leaving class was worse. Then you actually had work to do. Math made me cry. Math loomed. Math was like joy-sucking, fun-ruining leach in my life. I was miserable when I had to do math.

And if you think I am at all exaggerating, talk to my poor mother who had to deal with me. Once she called my dad home from work to help gather me up. It was sooo bad.

Where am I going with this? Well, nestled in between those ridiculously hard equations, I found these:

There are more, but I am a terrible artist, so these make the point. Even way back then, weddings were on my mind. Sometimes I forget how long I have been wanting to do this job I do. Sometimes I forget that I did have to plug through math - with blood, sweat and tears.
It's really easy for me to forget that I am doing my dream job, and that years ago I would tell myself "Someday math will be over. Someday this will be finished. And maybe you will get to do weddings!"

It's amazing to me! How did this happen?? Am I too young to be reminiscing about the ol' days? Because I am.
I am in awe of the fact that I really, really get to be a wedding photographer, who rarely has to do math. I get to travel, I get to meet new people! I get to edit, and go on shoots! I get to be with brides! Hellooo!!! Brides!

I can't believe it.

And shame on me for not being more grateful. It truly is the kindness of the Lord. Business and work, and thoroughly enjoying it, is such a gift!

He knows the desires of my heart, He knows the plans He has for me, He has given me specific weaknesses and strengths. He knows me inside and out. And He is so good.

How can I praise Him enough?

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Who laid it's cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?...
Who shut in the sea with doors and said
'This is how far you shall come, and no further'...
Can you send for lightning that it may come to you and say
'Here we are'...
Can you adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor?..."
The response:
"I know that You can do all things,
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Therefore I have uttered things that I do not understand,
things too wonderful for me."

{job: parts of 38-42}

It is too wonderful for me - that that God specifically cares for and loves His children is beyond me.

Math is also beyond me, so I guess I am a simple girl. But that's ok, because my God is a great God!

....

Adam and Pami

"I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you"
-- lifehouse

It was an unforgettable weekend. Perfect, 80 degree weather. Wonderful food. Brilliant music! Much laughter and pure joy. Tears of elation, as well as tears of "I'm going to miss you."

Pami of Juarez married Adam of Maryland. And their story is so emotional - the long-distance relationship, the idea of leaving all she's ever known and moving to Maryland, falling hard for each other, saying good-bye to her home and literally moving on in life with her husband. It was a whirlwind! But wedding day was just outstanding. It was such a celebration, truly declaring "Look, come and see what God has done!"


Pami and her 13-year-old sister, Lynda, are very close. Surprisingly close in this day and age. Lynda adores Pami. They have an incredible bond! Lynda was just enamored as Pami put on her wedding gown, in the bedroom these two have shared for years :D So special!

I just love this picture. Hahah it makes me smile :) Pami was brushing her teeth and I don't know why I find it so awesome!

Another sweet moment in the day was when Pami put her veil on. Oh, the room was silenced and time seemed to evaporate. Wow. You could almost physically feel their emotions.

She is breath-taking, head-turning, room-stopping-inly beautiful!

It was complete FUN to photograph her.

I love the look of this one - it could almost be her great-grandma or something!

Oh boy, so pretty....

This one is one of my all-time favorites!


I love that God decided to make light gorgeous. And girls. It's such a great combination!

This was the amazing light we had as Pami walked into the church. You couldn't handpick better light!

There are more ceremony pictures in the slideshow, but I just adore this one. Can you be any happier?

Oh. Hold on... look at this post-kiss-face :D I guess you can be happier ;D

I love a good, vintage black and white!

Now, the sun had long gone down when it was time for their pictures, so I had to get creative!



Aw :)

They are great, aren't they? Oh so great!

Mmmm, vury vury romantic ;D



Ok, and onto the dance floor! Let me tell you, receptions in Mexico are off the hook! Not only is the dancing incredible, everyone knows how to do it - well!

The reception venue was like the garden of a palace in Spain. It was jaw-dropping!

Awww - the daddy/daughter dance!

The mariachi band was fabulous!!!!

First Adam and Pami were spectators....

.... but then they had to get up and dance :)


Here is the show! Congratulations Adam and Pami! Have an amazing honeymoon!!!
And special thanks to Ana for shooting with me! Love you ;D

ps. I had to include this shot from the rehearsal dinner, where they taught all the "gringo's" how to salsa. It was soooo funny! And I even got to learn!

Mexico!

So, I think I am thrilled about where I am right now :D It's sunny and warm :D
I am here in Mexico for Adam and Pami's wedding... I'll be back home next week. Right now I am sipping lemonade, answering emails, listening to some lovely live guitar and enjoying a nice breze, bright blue sky and SUNshine!




I will definitely be posting teasers... it's going to be so beautiful :D
Ope, we are off to the rehearsal now! Wish my sleepy self luck!

Josh and Colleen!

"Yeah, and my head starts spinning
Every time that you are near me
Oh, I love you like I never
...like I never loved before"
-- alan jackson

Josh and Colleen, oh boy how I have been looking forward to your wedding! October 18th couldn't have come fast enough! Blog viewers might remember them from their awesome-bomb engagement shoot, or may have seen them on my website.

There was definitely a "click" with these two when we first met. Maybe it's because the first thing we did was eat lunch - I'm all about food. Or maybe because they loved country music - especially the song "Sweet Home Alabama." Or maybe the it how hard he made her laugh. Or maybe their devoted hearts for their Savior. Probably a healthy mix of all of that. But, let's get to wedding day...

Look who put her big girl shoes on and tried some ring shots!

Colleen is seriously the cutest little thing on earth!


On a more serious note, Colleen's father died about 2 years ago, and I think any big event is bittersweet when someone you love isn't there with you. Colleen's father would have been so proud of her! And, Josh, her dad would have adored you -- thank you for loving his daughter so amazingly! Colleen's bouquet was wrapped in three of his old (clean) handkerchiefs. It was very sweet :D

Happily, Colleen is the youngest of five, boasting four older brothers. Her brothers were amazing all day. They ran errands, carried things, put on jewelry and more. They are awesome guys who seriously, seriously love their little sister.

Uh-oh... watch out Josh.... ;D

Okee. Time for some pictures of the ladies!

Aren't the colors great? The flowers came from Wegman's - the morning of the wedding. Did I mention I love Colleen?

Everything was out in the country. Holy smokes, it was gorgeous!



Hi beautiful!


Isn't she gorgeous?

Not the best picture of all time, but Colleen was rocking out to country music, with her little polka dot flip-flops on the way to the ceremony. I love Colleen :D

I snuck upstairs to check out the sanctuary, and when I cam back down, I walked into this scene. Props for their creativity!

This is Colleen right here: beautiful and joyful. That's her.

Alright. This is where things start to get emotional. All the girls were waiting in the stairwell. The music started to play, all the guests were seated and we were moments away from starting.

Colleen was standing by herself at the bottom of the stairs. As excited, happy, in-love, emotional, antsy and thrilled as could be. My eyes welled up with tears, I was SO happy for her.

By the time she was leaving the stairwell, she had me falling apart. Tears were streaming down my face. Streaming. Josh makes her so happy and she loves him so much. I was blown away!

I had to get out of there cause I could see through my viewfinder anymore. I had to get away from her, or I was going to keep crying!

Ha. Well, the front of the aisle wasn't much better. Josh was biting his lips, hardly breathing - I think I could hear his heart pounding - and everyone could see the tears of joy in his eyes :D

Here comes his bride! His beautiful, beautiful bride!

aw :D I can't stand it!


The ceremony was filled with much laughter and joy, of course.

A little look for her man....

And wa-la! They are married! I loved this "almost kiss."

Yayyayayaa!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Miller!

Moving right along... here is Josh being a goof....

The lovely bridal party

Cute little Colleen...

... with all the boys. This was seriously so funny. Laughter was ringing! I loved it!

Magazine cover, please? Sheesh!




mmmmmmMUAh!

I like them :D


And one last one, cause I just can't blog anymore!

Enjoy the slideshow - and Josh & Colleen... Enjoy Florida!!! Stay in the sun an extra 10 minutes for me! I'm so jealous!

Coach Kristen Leigh

"i hope you had the time of your life"
-- greenday

Depending on how well you know me, or how long you have followed my blog, you will know that I love sports. At eight years old I joined my first soccer team, but only because my friend, Danielle, was playing. I loved it and for 13 seasons after, my life was filled with practices, games, tournaments, banners, wins, losses, successes, failures and everything in-between.

Last year I took my place as coach - my new role in sports. I assisted "the-little-team-that-could" who were outscored 47-2 in the season (you may remember them from here and here). No, they weren't the best soccer players around, but oh my, did they try hard, and play with character. I was so proud to be their coach. I loved the girls, I loved watching them play, I loved talking with them and I loved coaching.

Therefore, may I present Kristen Leigh, head coach, and her marvelous assistant, Lydia Jane (former starter for the Varsity Lady Cougars ;D)!

Three afternoons a week, you will find me on a field with these 21 beautiful, wonderful girls!

Don't be fooled by the smiles and pretty colors and "Dumb-blonde-joke" girl they have as a coach. This season hasn't been just peaches and cream. Oh no. When it comes to sports, I am quite tough. Many a tear have been shed at a "Kristen" practice. These girls have been worked hard. Very, very hard. But isn't it all about fun?!? Answer me this: is it fun to be gasping in the middle of a game, as your opponent sprints past you and scores? Nope.

{pc: lydia)
And that is why we are the most in-shape, most aggressive, most hard-working team in the league! Right Girls!!! ;) In all seriousness, the girls on this team are such hard-workers. And I think their 5-3 record is proof of that. As well as out-scoring our opponents 23-21.
But our goal as a team isn't a nice record. 1 Corinthians 9 spells it out nicely:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly."

After a full season of "purposeful" rather then "aimless" running, we are headed into play-offs. After two weeks of practices, I knew I wanted to surprise the girls with a "fun, easy" practice. They warmed up (in our really awesome warm-up, I must add), we had a little pep talk, and they began to scrimmage. Little did they know that we had bag's of McDonald's and an afternoon of fun waiting for them :) heheh

During the scrimmage I fake got mad at them for not being "mentally tough." Which was hard since they were actually playing great. I frustratedly sent them all off the field to do sprints. Then they had to do the infamous "plank" drill for a whole minute. I told them to close their eyes and count down from 60. Any girl who opened their eyes, stopped counting or dropped their belly would run. They, in their middle-school energy, started screaming and pupping each other up. As they counted, Lyd and I ran around tossing nuggets and hamburgers in front of them. It was so much fun hahah

{pc: lydia)
I was getting such a kick out of it. When they got to "...two... one... zero..." they all opened their eyes. It was an awkward two seconds as they tried to figure out what was going on, but then it kinda clicked and they were SO cute and excited. Lydia took those pictures, so I'll let her blog about that more ;D

Let the fun times roll!

I love them so, so, so, so much.

And I love laughing with them so, so, so, so much.


I love getting to know them all. Younger kids are hYsTeRiCaL! And so unique! Seriously, each girl is radically different then the other! I love it :D

I think the inside of me is still in middle-school. Because I so relate to this. Hahah

LOVE this one:

Hello Anne!


Aw! Oh cuuute. Cutecute.

Sheeshlouise, why are they all so gorgeous? Good luck with that all 21 of you dads!



A quick, quiet moment of peace.

Girls, I am so proud of and SO excited for the big game on Monday! You are ready and I hope you go out there and have a ball!

Thank you for being the very best ever :D I.love.yous.

And here's the slideshow!
(with a few pictures from the assistant couch ;)

ps. Natalie and Katie - we missed you today :(

pps. Mr. Buchanan, please don't have me fired for feeding them fast food. ;)

If you want a Christmas Portrait!

What I wanted.

Hi :)

The last few weeks I have wanted to blog a lot. There have been many shoots, many little stories, many updates. For example, I wanted to let everyone know about sweet Elaini who doesn't know me, but saw her brother's engagement pictures and then spent a number of hours reading my blog. At the wedding, she gave me such a sweet and meaningful card (and a jar of pickles! which I am almost done with...). And I wanted to post about the signed Colbie Caillat & Jason Reeves CD that Hannah and Rob gave me, just to bless me. I was so, so blessed. I have wanted to blog about Jenny, my new friend and second shooter extraordinaire, who also gave me a jar of pickles (extra awesome pickles at that. sooo yummy!)
I have wanted to post about my soccer team. About the day my mom sent the boys out for a hair-cut and Mikey came back with a mohawk.

I've wanted to post Allie's senior pictures.

And Rebecca's senior pictures.

And Liz's senior pictures.

The whole Boisvert family was going to be blogged about by now (ps. huge congrats to Steve [third on the right] who just proposed to his girlfriend! So happy for you!)

The lovely Hollandsworth's also should have a post.

Oh poor Chavia. Her shoot was weeks ago.

As was the Duberstein's shoot....

I was going to do a little 20th birthday tribute to Lydia (ps. 20??? when on earth did my friends become 20. I was so not ready for this.)

I got a manicure and it lasted practically forever. It was like 86 in manicure years.

hehehhhahahHHAHha thanks to Peter for pointing this out at a past wedding. "Pick-up Line." I am such a middle-schooler sometimes.
"Are your legs tired, because you've been running through my mind all day long. "



..The Triathlon..

I have alsooo wanted to post about the triathlon that I was training for. And have completed, as of yesterday morning :D Since I am still so excited about that, I am going to actually now blog about triathlon weekend. Most of these pictures are credited to Lydia Jane, with an assortment of iPhone goodness thanks to Becca & Dre.

It all started back in July. Andree (my small group leader at church) had been inviting our group to come swim with him. David (who we all call D-sav) and I ended up being swim regulars. I had been wanting to do a race of some kind for a while and one night came across The Richmond Sprint Triathlon. I am quite spontaneous and make quick decisions, so I signed up on the spot.

I am not sure how, but Dre and Dsav decided to do it with me. I guess Dre's wife Becca worked her wife-magic on getting Dre to do it. And Dsav is basically always up for anything at anytime, so he joined to team. We had a few months to prepare for our 400 meter swim, 12.4 mile bike and 3.1 mile run.

But somehow on Saturday afternoon when we arrived for our "Rookie Triathlete" meeting, we couldn't have felt more unprepared. We were horrified. We pulled up after our 2 hour drive, with our mountain bikes, generic, unbranded clothes and bellies full from McDonalds.
I don't think Barbie, Mr. Ironman or the pile of walking muscles we saw in the parking lot were particularly impressed. And we got scared.
Dsav announced he had been hit with a wave of nervous. We tried to nonchalantly swagger into the poolside meeting (which was hysterical. You'll have to check Dsav's blog later on for stories about that). I was trying to walk as athletic as possible. And it all fell apart when we saw the 50 meter pool "WHOA! That's SO big! Wow! Look at that!" We were pointing and "ooo-ing" like tourists at the Eiffel Tower.

We made it through the meeting, and were happy to find out that we weren't the only ones wearing clothes from Target's sale rack or with fat cells. There were 200 other "rookie" racers (granted, some were 6-years-old [really], but who cares). Next stop was to get our race packet. Obviously Dsav and I had never been in a bike shop before. We were amazed at the gadgets and gear. And all of it wasn't helping my confidence. All we kept saying was "What are we doing here?" We received our bib numbers, were told our start times, bought energy gel (more on that later) and also got purple swim caps! Wootwoot!

While waiting for our ride, we sat outside having ab contests (just in case anyone cool was watching. We wanted them to be totally unimpressed.) The rest of the day was spent eating carbs, checking into the hotel, seeing the sights of Richmond, laughing really really hard, trying on our clothes and scouting the course.
That was one of the most nerve-wracking things for me. I didn't want to get lost. I was sure I was going to end up getting disqualified from the race thanks to my sense of direction. Praise God I was ok. But, to our dismay, we found out that the middle of the bike route was basically a two-mile hill.
More spaghetti please?

After all the adventures, we went to bed as early as we could, since we had to be awake at 6:00 am.

That whole morning was kind of a joke.
Dre was all gruff and focused.
Dsav was just blinky and wobbly.
I was a mess and it took me 19 minutes to get dressed and brush my teeth. Apparently I was giggly and excited. I can't even remember.

Then it was show time. As we were walking, Dsav said "Kristen is like a piece of glee being sandwiched by bread of doom." hahah It was the oddest feeling ever. Nerves, excitement, freaking-out, laughing, wanting to throw-up, being cold, getting lost, forgetting a water bottle (I would, right?) and then SO ready to just do it. All of the above.
I think I started feeling much better after I was dressed, marked (I LOVED the body marks. In fact, I haven't washed them off yet) and the race had begun. Since the swim portion was in a pool, we were seeded by swim time. Dre is the fastest swimmer, and went about 30 minutes before me. So me and Dsav hung out, prayed and flexed. We eventually found our mini-fan-club, Becs and Lydia, and they photographed us :D

I am not really a fan of my face in a swim-cap, but whatever. I love Lydia and love that she came, despite being busy and having school, she was our little groupie and made the trip extra fun. I loved when she would spot me and scream and yell and run around and wave her sign in the air. I just loved it :D Thanks Lydia.

After Dsav started, I had ten-ish minutes left to myself. I felt like I should stretch, so I wandered over to some other people who were stretching. I waved my arms around for a bit, twisted my back, touched my toes. Awesome. All done. Then I went over to wait. Wait for 8:58 am and forty five seconds. And at exactly that time, I dove in. I think I had some adrenaline rush, cause I let the pool with more energy then when I got in.

Off to "T-1" where I got my bike equipment, and started the next leg. It was definitely the hardest part for me. By faaar. I couldn't wait to get off an run. I almost skipped off my bike I was so glad to be done. The hill stunk, the cold air stunk, the dozens of people wizzing by me stunk. But Dsav and I actually rode the whole thing together and that was awesome. SO glad he stayed with me!

Happily, the run went much better then the bike and before I knew it, it was over! And what an unreal, happy feeling. It was SOOOO fun. Sososososo fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, I am looking for some to sign up for in the spring. I just loved it.

But I don't think I could do it without Dre and D-sav, too. So you guys better do it again in the spring with me! Both of these guys are awesome friends and have made this whole triathlon experience so much better. They make me laugh, they worked so hard, they pushed us all and, again, are just absolutely hysterical. I am SO proud of you guys and am SO glad that you did it. Wasn't it so fun? Like ohmygoodness?

And Becca? You're the best. Thanks for getting Dre to do it, for being Team Mom and making sure everything went smoothly and for being the best, supportive wife ever :D You are too sweet :D I love being with you!
And Daddy and the ladies! I don't really have pictures of you, but THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for coming! I almost cried I was so happy when I was coming down that hill and saw your car! And the little heads popping out the window waving. It meant so much that you came and cheered me and (and made me sprint at the end ;D)
I love you!

Phew. Long enough post? Did it make up for the last week? I hope? haha