Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone...

I hope everyone has a great day filled with lots of scary costumes, Lady Gaga's, and some that just make you laugh...

Todd and I got dressed up last night for a Halloween Party last night that we were having here at our house. We decorated the house to be really scary and eery, only a few low lights, lots of candles, a few strobe lights, lots of fake spider webs, 'Pyscho' playing on the projector, scary music... it was a huge hit. A few kids came and were actually a bit scared... YES!!!... that was our goal, (Haha!) and of course lots of people in hilarious costumes. I'm not sure I will ever wear mine again, but you can see that Todd and I were suppose to be "NERDS", I think I'm a bit more dorky than nerdy, but oh well. It was a nice combination of dressing up, but not too much as Todd requested. Haha!



(It was so dark, my camera had trouble finding a focus... but you get the feel of our costumes... haha!)

Enjoy all those little costumes coming door-to-door tonight....

Happy Halloween!!!!

Brian & Sarah :: Wedding

So... a lot has been going on this last couple weeks, some good, some bad! But all in all, I'm FINALLY able to get caught up, for real this time.

I had a 7 day stretch of 2 weddings and 6 portrait sessions, and all the editing for those has really been keeping me busy, along with taking care of 2 dogs, one in which has learned to jump our fence and I end up having to chase her down at least once a day. We have had some problems with this and, unfortunately, it has turned into a safety issue for her and are in the process of finding her a new home. I'm so bummed it did not work out, but how were we suppose to know she would learn to do that, especially when she ends up sprinting right towards the road? Did I mention that she is so fast she actually chased down a squirrel and killed it last week. I freaked out! I did not know what to do, so I asked my neighbor to go shovel it out of our back yard. I was not going to touch that thing. Ewww.... luckily no one was bit! Then, Monday I chased her a quarter of a mile down almost to the end of our road, and I didn't think I was going to catch her. It has been quite the experience. But she is an awesome dog besides the jumping. We just need to find her a home with a little bit taller fence. She is the sweetest thing ever, so if you know anyone who is looking for an awesome dog with a taller fence, let me know.

But more importantly, the awesome couple for today.... Brian and Sarah!

Brian and Sarah were married on one of the windiest days this year! The wind came out of no where... it sure was interesting, considering they were married under a beautiful white tent, looking out over the hills of Bloomfield (I'm not really sure what it looked out to, but that sounds right and was beautiful, so that will do!) It was blowing quite heavily that when Sarah started down the aisle with her dad, her veil got all tangled around him and the tent sure did shake a lot, but it stood tall and the day was perfect!

Brian and Sarah opted to see each other before the wedding and do all their photos then. It was so sweet and one of my favorites consider how excited they were! We had some fun getting their photos done before the wedding and had some awesome spots to do them at! Sarah had all kinds of ideas and was so well organized... I LOVED IT! She was such a great bride and Brian was an awesome groom, he just went with the flow, and together they were one of the funnest, sweetest, and cutest couples! Todd and I had so much fun with them!!!!

Congratulations you two... we are so happy for you both!


Here are some of my favorites and a slideshow from their day...

Venue: Forest Lake Country Club
Video: Forever Cherished Productions
Flowers: Mary Torriglia
Cake: Home Bakery
Cupcakes: Cupcake Station
Band: Bob Jensen

Sarah was absolutely stunning...



And this room was bridal heaven...





and ALL of her girls were amazing!!!



Brian was very handsome as well...



His guys were extremely fun and they had such a hard time keep a straight face... haha!



What a gorgeous bridal party...



Ummm... Adorable!!!



And the wind was nice for a few reasons... one being this photo...



So cute!!!



They look amazing together...



LOVE this one... rrrarrr...



And one of my favorites... it was so nice outside we had to jump out for a few!



Check out more in their slideshow...

Wedding Chicks... "Say What?"

"I'm soooo excited... that I just can't hide it... I'm about to lose control and I think I like it...."

Who else just sang along with that??? Ha!

I think there are many reasons to sing it with me... the trees are gorgeous out, the weather is almost perfect outside today, there is football on tomorrow... that Todd can watch due to our Sunday wedding this weekend... along with a recent wedding of ours being PUBLISHED on their website!!! HOLLER!!!

Does everyone remember the lovely Nathan & Alexa from this summer? The fancy people over at Wedding Chicks loved their wedding so much that they decided to feature it on their website. I was thrilled to pieces, if that's even possible!

Check out their wedding and feel free to share the love on their site as well as here...




And a HUGE thank you to all the vendors that helped make this wedding beautiful, Chase Adams with all the cupcakes and beautiful cake, Patti York with all the beautiful flowers, and Mike Staff with great entertainment, as well as Nathan & Alexa... You guys are Awww-some!!!!

Happy Friday!!!

Jake, Leah, Indy & Anna Jones, plus 11 8-week old puppies :: Portrait

When I meet people and they find out I'm a photographer, random questions sometimes come up.

Conversations can sometimes sound like this

"So, what has been the craziest thing you've taken photos of?"

I usually tell them about the time I took photos for Berkley's Marching Band, but I was actually on the field during homecoming and walking around in their formation, or I guess I was pretty out of formation to get some 'in action' photos for them, or the time I was asked to take photos of the cable guy's wife... lucky for me that never happened. I'm not really sure what "KIND" of photos he really wanted. Pheww... haha!

But I recently took photos that I would gladly share a new story with, about the time I took photos of a family with 2 dogs and 11 puppies!!!!

WOW!

I'm sure most people know, or have at least heard, what puppies are like: balls of energy, crazy, clumsy, very little hearing, lots of distractions, innocent, yet mischievous, gets into EVERYTHING, but simply the cutest things you have EVER seen! Well try thinking to yourself what ONE is like and add 10 to the mix. A bit overwhelming? Yeah, I agree! But Jake & Leah wanted to get some photos done with the whole clan before they left to their new homes in the next couple of days. I was so excited for this shoot... like seriously, out of my mind, crazy excited! You guys all know I love dogs and puppies are so stinkin' cute, ESPECIALLY when they are not yours because you can send them home with their owners. Haha! I had so much fun and what an experience! LOVED IT!

(I have to put some of the funny ones in as well to show you all the true nature of the shoot!)

Seriously... it was a bit chaotic... Haha!



Much better...



Soooooo cute...



I wish I could say this was all skill, but I admit it was all luck that this shot is perfect...



A HUGE Thank You to Julie & Jade for helping calm the chaos... you guys rocked!



Happy Fall...



And that's a wrap... back in the box they go... adorable! I love you puppies!

Garry & Jen :: Wedding

I had been looking forward to this wedding all year long!

The couple was awesome back at our engagement session. We totally hit it off, we had great conversation, lots of laughs, we even had a friend in common and didn't realize it, which was really quite funny, and they were total rockstars in front of the camera!

Now came their wedding... and they did not disappoint! They had excitement, personality, laughter, smiles, energy, all of what makes for great photos... I LOVE them!!!

Garry & Jen were in such great spirits and so excited to see each other. We planned to do a first look over at their reception site to calm some nerves and get some great pre-ceremony shots. Their first look was the sweetest thing ever... she rode up on a golf cart and Garry was there waiting for her with the biggest smile I've ever seen. Adorable!!! We had such a fun time taking photos and invading the super busy golf course!

After the "pre" photos, we headed over to Ward Church for the beautiful ceremony. It was so sweet and they even had a super fun bubble exit. I love those and exits in general. We then headed back to the reception site for the rest of the evening. It was absolutely an incredible evening. Lots of love and support filled that place, and it was shown all throughout. I loved all the pink planned into her day! It was just gorgeous!

Congratulations you guys! We had so much fun and are looking forward to getting together soon... ;)

Here are some of my favorites and a slideshow from their day...

Venue: Meadowbrook Country Club
Video: Days to Remember Media
Flowers: TBA
Cake: TBA
DJ: DJ Chris Clark

Jen... you are SOOO BEAUTIFUL!







P.S. I love your dog... (of course I would post this... haha!)



Such a great and beautiful bunch of girls...



Garry, sooo very handsome...



Plus his guys were super fun...



The cutest first look!!! LOVED IT!!!





They are so GQ...



And fun...



And romantic...



Check out more in their slideshow... LOVE IT!

More Distractions...

Really... who needs organization? Who needs a clean house? Who needs time for myself?

I mean come on... it has been crazy enough, why not pile on more crazy to our life, right?

EXACTLY!

So there is a story to go along with the intro...

If you remember earlier this year, we decide to start fostering dogs. I LOVED it and Maddox LOVED it! Todd was iffy, but he wasn't home as much as I was, so he didn't get a chance to bond with them as much as I did. So that was back in January, and now it's October. I've been really wanting to either foster again or just go ahead and get another dog. I was pushing for the "getting another dog" option, but it's been tricky trying to persuade him. I've planted a few seeds and now that our house is coming in order, it would be the ideal time.

So just last week Todd emailed me some dogs on Petfinder. We found Maddox on there, and have had EXCELLENT luck on him. Plus, it's the way to go when it comes to dogs because you are potentially helping them out of terrible situations, which is the case of my story. So back to the email Todd sent. He sent me a few dogs that he thought would be good with Maddox. He didn't believe me that I said I was going to call about some, so later that day I actually narrowed it down to one. I fell in love with her. She seemed PERFECT for us and for Maddox! When Todd got home, I talked him into it and we made plans to get a home visit first. They had to make sure we had a fence, etc... so Monday was the day. The lady came with the most precious dog you've ever met. She is a 2 year old mix of all sorts of dogs, but mainly a shepherd mix. She was a stray that was brought into the pound and had only one more day for someone to pick her up before she was killed. They think she was tied up so tight that it caused her hair around her neck to be really bare and it looks as though something got stuck around her leg because she has a really big scare around her right back leg. They think she also just had a litter of puppies, but was spayed after being taken in. She LOVES kids and is extremely gentle with them. She is the sweetest most loving dog, who loves to cuddle and be right next to you at all times!

When the lady came on Monday, she brought the precious dog with her and we instantly fell in love. Plus, her and Maddox got along really well, which was the most important thing. So all in all, we decided to KEEP HER!!! I was SOOOO excited! We love her and she is the greatest! Maddox is a bit jealous that there is another dog here that is getting attention, but he's still our baby as well. We now just have another one to add to our humble abode.

Meet Roma... (they were calling her Ramona, but we changed it up a bit)



Isn't she the cutest!!!