chris & sarah tie the knot

On November 3, 2012 I had the privilege of photographing Chris and Sarah's wedding! They had a small and beautiful backyard wedding, surrounded by their closest friends and family. They spent many months preparing for this wedding, hand making most of the decorations. There was some awesome 80's music playing in the backyard while I was taking photos of the decorations, so I knew this was going to be a fun wedding!

Chris and Sarah made a beautiful bride and groom! I am so grateful for them giving me this opportunity to shoot a wedding for the first time. I had a blast! And I am very excited about how the photos turned out ... but I think it had more to do with their love, than my skills!
 
Crongrats again to Chris and Sarah and I pray that God blesses you and your family for many years to come! 

crystal and brian

I had the honor of shooting this lovely couple a few months ago. All though they are not yet engaged, they are madly in love with each other and it was very obvious when I was shooting them. I've known Crystal for a few years now, and I have never seen her so happy as she is with brian. They are truly a precious couple - a little goofy, a little dorky - but those things are what make their relationship awesome and theirs!

carter is ONE!

On August 9, 2011 I gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy I have ever laid eyes on. He was [well still is] perfect in every way - actually as I type this he is playing around, climbing on and off the couch and the dog and it's 12midnight. - He has been the biggest blessing in my life.

Before I was pregnant I did not want kids. I love them, but thought kids were not for me. I'm the oldest of 10 grandkids, and I have 2 younger brothers who are 10 and 13. So kids were just not something I wanted. Well out of the blue I got pregnant. At first I was upset. Then I began to embrace it, and realized that all though having a child will challenge me in ways I've never been challenged, it truly is a blessing and an honor to be a parent.

Now that my son is 1 year old I look back and think about all that he has taught me; forgiveness, LOVE, patience, tolerance, kindness, determination, strength, problem solving, the list goes on... Carter has never ceased to amaze me, from being so observant from day 1, to holding his head up on his own, to his first smile, and then his first giggle, to sitting up on his own to crawling, to walking at 7 months [yes 7 months!]. Now he knows how to say dog, cow, duck, ball, Ma and Da and knows who we are. He knows what a dog, cow, lion, dino, and lamb say. Lately he has been super attached to this BIG counting book I bought  him about farm animals. He loves looking at all of the animals and telling me what they say. He absolutely LOVES dogs and if he sees one on TV, in public, or in a book he freaks out and says [well more like yells], "DOG! DOG! DOG! Arf! Woof! Arf! Arf!" He is just down right presh on so many levels!

I love this little guy more and more with each day I get to know him. He is truly a beautiful blessing to me and my fiance. We can't believe he's going to be a big, stinky teenager one day - but for now we'll most defiantly enjoy him being 1!

These pictures were taken on his birthday, August 9th. His birthday party was "Little Man" themed, decorated with bowties, ties, and mustaches.

melissa's maternity shoot

About a month ago, I had the pleasure of shooting Melissa, who was 36 weeks pregnant at the time of the shoot. She is a beautiful mother glowing from the inside out. I had a great time doing her maternity shoot and felt like I could really relate to her on so many levels, what with me being a new-ish mother myself. Pregnancy is absolutely beautiful, and I got so excited to watch little Callie wiggle around in Melissa's belly while the shoot was going on.
This was my first maternity photoshoot, and I had a blast capturing the beauty of God's greatest creation. Being a woman and a mother is an awesome honor, and I was excited to be able to capture that beauty in this maternity shoot.