My #9

Woof Woof Woof...

Yes you guessed it right, my #9 thing I am thankful for this year is my dog. If you are thinking that it is really lame to be thankful for something like that, think again! All you dog lovers out there can attest to being thankful for your four legged hair ball! My buddy Maddox is the BEST and I have to add WEIRDEST dog out there! He loves me unconditionally, even when I neglect him most of the day because I'm working or when I pretend he's my wild bull at a rodeo and I'm trying to stay on his back as long as possible, (he always wins!) or when I'm upset about something and he automatically knows something is wrong, he gets really concerned and starts whining along with me and sets his head on my shoulder. He has instincts like no other and I really believe animals are like your children. I have this never ending love for him and cannot imagine my life without his sweet face... Mwwaaa...

Chicago was AWESOME!

Chicago... Chicago... boy was it great!

I haven't been over that way in a while and it was just as I had remembered. Lots of people, lots of cars, lots of traffic, but lots of fun! I had an amazing engagement session, the couple was so sweet and so fun, they made my experience this time one to remember! Ha! (Katie, you know exactly what I'm talking about!)

I thought in honor of Thanksgiving coming just next week, I wanted to do a top 10 countdown of things I'm thankful for this year (in no particular order). Please feel free add what you are thankful for as well!

NUMBER 10: I'm thankful for amazing clients to work with! I've had such great experiences this year working with many beautiful couples and also those beautiful babies. It has been an amazing year of new friendships, that I will cherish so dearly! I have to say that it is really hard to relate to people when they say they really dislike the people they work with, and I'm so glad that I can beat those odds and not have that in common. It's a great feeling and one that I should be thankful for each day!

(Stay tuned for #9 tomorrow)

Here are a few of those clients that are going to be coming this week...

Kelly & David



Ryan & Alexa



Miss Mya



Katie & Steve

Windy City Here I Come...

Chicago is such a sweet city! I absolutely LOVE it... the mass amounts of people, the lights, the shopping, the adventures... all around a good time! Ok... not the weahter so much and you all know how I feel about being cold!

But I'm on my way to shoot a couple sessions over there this weekend and I'm so excited to be getting a different view and enjoy the scenes that city has to offer!

In honor of going to Chicago, I leave you with the sites I will be seeing and looking forward to showing you a sweet couple to go along with the sweet city!



Happy Weekend!!!

Jason & Julie :: Engagements

Indiana we reunite...

For those of you who know me, know I'm from the lovely state of Indiana. Standing tall and proud to be a Hoosier, yes sir! I actually kind of miss those days when I lived there. Yes, it has a lot of corn and it's so flat and boring to drive through. But it's home, and it will always be home to me. When you're out of college and move away, you dream of re-living moments in the past and hope that those memories never fade away.

Well I re-lived some of those moments with Jason & Julie. They both go to college in Indiana, and believe it or not, they went to Taylor University... our rival school. How funny! Good ol' Ivan Ho's and Upland's community garage sales... woo hooo! Jason & Julie know what I'm talking about, and anyone else who lived in that area. Love it!!!

Well anyways... I just have to say that Jason & Julie are hilarious together! Jason knows exactly what to do to make Julie start cracking up and smile, he's got these very exuberant facial expressions which makes anyone laugh. I can only imagine what their wedding is going to be like... all I know is that it's going to be extremely fun and so full of smiles. I am so excited and looking forward to May!

Congratulations you guys... you both rocked this session and the pictures just prove how much you are in love and so happy together!

Such a beautiful couple and a beautiful day...



Ha... one of many faces...



I love these next two..



Something about this photo makes me in love with it... it's as though he is so happy even despite the camera right in his face! Ha!



Bear hug huh?!



So romantic...



Good ol' laughs, makes you smile...



Now look at those colors... mmm... so great!



Love this...



Soooo in love...

Baby Jack (John) :: 4 weeks old

Some babies are born with very little hair, like almost bald and it makes you feel bad they don't have anything to keep their little head warm. Some babies, like my niece, are born with maybe a little hair here and there and turns into a really odd hair-do (she looked like she had a horse shoe around her little head... funny and cute at the same time!). And then there are babies that have so much hair you could probably braid it!

Jack was one of those babies with a TON of hair. I loved it and that is the first thing I said to them... "look at all that hair!" It was stinking straight up too, which made it even cuter! Baby Jack was born just a few weeks ago, but he's still pretty tiny. I do have to say, that out of all the baby shoots that I have done, his was one of the fastest EVER! He was so cooperative, no crying, no fussing, just a happy baby! I wonder if him being so good is because his dad is the pastor at our church... hmmm... he's got the in with the Big Guy upstairs... Lucky!!! Let's hope that applies to us when that time comes as well... Haha!

Congratulations Andrew & Lauren! He's one adorable baby boy and I can't wait to watch him grow and grow!!!


Look at him... all into the camera...



Dozing in & out of sleep... I wish I was able to lay around all day... what a rough life those babies live...



Ha... I think he was dreaming of eating because he kept trying to suck on something... haha!



He loved tummy time...





Look at those arm wrinkles and that facial expression... A-Dorable!!!



Baby feet are the cutest, aren't they??



Hilarious... both mom & dad started cracking up when they saw this... how fun!



Those little body parts that will soon be much bigger... so sweet!

Garry & Jen :: Engagments

We bonded early on... and I LOVE bonding with people. I say the word "love" a lot, but I REALLY LOVE connecting with people, especially couples, hence my profession of being a wedding photographer, but I love connecting, and laughing, and joking, and even talking about people we might know in common, which for me is hard to come by since I'm not from this area, but what a SMALL world we live in.

Garry & Jen and I hit it off instantly. When planning our session back a couple months ago, I knew it would be beautiful being October. But the closer it got to the day we had scheduled, I was getting a bit nervous because it has been a super cold month. Jen and I chatted about the session and decided to switch days, I mentioned that it was good because I just don't do well in the cold. After I said that I was thinking to myself... "Oh no, I hope she didn't think I don't like to take photos, I just hate being cold." But she responded in laughter and said she hated being cold as well, and it's a good thing we switched days because it was SOOOO nice the day we did it. I mean it was warm and one of the last warm days of our short-lived fall.

Both Garry & Jen are so stinkin' sweet and are so fun together... I can totally see why they love each other. I had some great laughs with both of them, and it was just awesome connecting with another couple, and another reason to be excited for next year!

Thanks guys for the awesome session... one of my all time favorites!


When Jen showed up in these I knew we were going to have a great time!



A sweet moment...



Oh my gosh... they couldn't be any cuter!





I love those moments before and after a sweet kiss... this was one of those moments...



The colors were PERFECT... and they were also PERFECT!



These next two are my FAV's...





Love it!



Oh wow... a hidden gem...



They can really strut their stuff...



Haha... they know how to make each other laugh... what a sweet couple!

Second time this year is NOT a charm...

I know I know... it's been almost a week since my last post. I do have a good reason for that, although, I'm not too happy about it.. and the more I think about it, my face is getting red with the heat of frustration building inside my head, kind of like in the cartoons when steam then comes out of the ears. Yep... that's me right now as I write this...

My recent record that was broken this summer has yet again failed me. Yes, I got sick AGAIN! What is going on with this world! This time it was bad and in my lungs, yuk! I even have the scares to prove it... ok, well not really, but I think I coughed so hard they now have scratches from hitting all the other organs inside my body. I just know that if I have to drink anymore dayquil or nyquil I will throw up. Come on people... that stuff tastes so gross... couldn't you make something that at least is easy to go down the throat? Can't you tell the frustration building? Ha! Well enough is enough... on a good note, I'm feeling better and am able to talk without having a coughing fit in the middle or sounding like I literally have a frog in my throat.


And a photo to make you laugh because being sick is NO fun and laughing IS!

I came across this photo after I made Todd go outside and take a couple photos of us with a tripod, and although it's not in focus that well... it made me laugh because he's just like a kid, being stubborn about getting kisses from his mom. Ha!



Happy November!