They met in Peru on a Mission Trip. Christin decided to go on the trip out of the blue. She heard her roommate talking about it, said “Hey, that sounds like fun!” and jumped on board.

When she got there she met Randy, who happened to be in her group and happened to live only a short drive from her in the States.

They talked, hit it off, she borrowed his video camera when he left a few days before her and she returned it when she got back home. A few texts turned into a few phone calls, which turned into a few dates, which turned into a wonderful relationship. They fell in love. 

One year later they went back to Peru, this time together. (Christin as a nurse offering medical aid to those in need, I might add!) And that is where Randy proposed. In Peru, exactly one year after meeting, and Christin said “yes”!

I was thrilled to hang out with them one afternoon and capture their engagement pictures… Christin and Randy, Thank you

Love this one!

They share a love for coffee… so of course we had to include a coffee shop!

(they also changed clothes at the coffee shop, so we snapped a few more before moving on)

This shot just feels glamorous to me… I love everthing about it!

(Warning: Random post here…but hey, it’s Miscellaneous Monday!)

I have had a blister in my mouth all week. You know, the kind that hurts really bad… I rubbed salt on it a few times, that normally does the trick. But this one has stuck around. I swished with Peroxide, and lets just say I am not a fan of the bubble-up-grow-in-your-mouth-feeling that gives…But, it does seem to be getting better now!

While driving down the road over the weekend I realized Mothers Day is getting close. So I informed my husband that I would love to have a nice point and shoot camera for my purse…I blogged about wanting one awhile back, but still have not purchased one. And I feel like I am missing out on little moments that I would like to capture. I don’t expect to get the camera, but, I didn’t think it hurt to mention it either

Other things I am dreaming of lately….

• A Shootsac (been wanting this for a looong time now..sigh..one day!)
• A swing set for my girls…especially now that we are outside a lot. And, they both LOVE to swing!  
• This Salt Scrub..I absolutely love this stuff and have been out for awhile now. (I love scrubs, and this one just smells SO good….but I am open to suggestions, so if you have a fav, please do share with me!)
• Getting all of my laundry folded. I normally don’t get so far behind, but I have been up to my ears editing lately and as a result my clean laundry has come out of the dryer and into a basket. And stayed there. I am kinda tired of running to the laundry room every time I need a towel, a certain shirt, etc.
• Getting my in-box cleaned out. I have a habit of seeing something that I want to read/watch/make/try, etc. online and emailing it to myself. Then it sits in my inbox and crowds it up even more. Any suggestions for this little problem? I have created a couple of folders (such as “Recipes” that I put all the recipes I think I’d like to try in) and I signed up for Pinterest awhile back. And while I am sure it will help organize my online likes and things I want to remember, I haven’t taken the time to figure it out. And honestly, the few times I have messed with it I was confused on how it worked! (If you are on Pinterest, please help me out folks!)

What are you dreaming of these days?

Since posts are better with pictures, here is a shot of my girlies

Happy Monday!

These guys showed up with shorts, T-shirts, balls and gloves…. Their Mom said she wanted to capture them as they are, doing what they love. And so we did, and I love it!

Meet Porter and Carter, two very cute brothers

There was a lot of ‘brotherly love’ if ya know what I mean…the kinds that included jumping on each other at any given minute. Trying to see who could get the other one down on the ground!

This next one is a favorite from our day, I love everything about it :)

Haha! Love this!

Thank you guys for a fun shoot! I loved it and laughed almost the whole time!

I mowed our entire yard by myself last week! This is a big deal for me, embarrassing as it may be, I had never done it before.

As a kid, I never really got the chance because my Mom absolutely loves to mow, so she always did it. And as a married adult I hadn’t done it (till now) because Stu enjoys it and used to work at a golf course, back in his college days, where he practiced striping and his golf swing

Now, don’t get the wrong idea here, our yard looks nothing like a golf course! Far from it in fact. But, the two times I ‘practiced’ mowing (in the backyard of course!) I felt like he was watching and thinking “ohhhh no!” Even though he’d give me the thumbs up each time I dared to loosen my grip on the bars and give my white knuckles a break and steal a glance at him. (we have one of those zero-turn mowers, and that is what makes this a bit challenging to me)

Anyway, I jumped on the mower last week while he was at work. I mowed the front yard, the back yard, the side yard, and anything in between. And I was sad to be done after an hour and a half! I loved it. (aside from the sneezing and other allergy-related problems, even though I took Clairton) And while I still had white knuckles part of the time, I felt more relaxed and confident the more I did. So, while I don’t see a lawncare business in my future, I do think I will be mowing my own yard now!

I stepped out of my comfort zone for something else this weekend too. I photographed a wedding! Yes, I.photographed.a.wedding. Eeeeiiiiii! This is not the first wedding I have shot. But it is the first in a while. I normally shy away for several reasons. But every now and then I find myself doing one.

I was a little nervous. But not too bad till I woke up the day of the wedding to bad weather that only got worse. As in lots of rain, high winds and even a tornado! But, thankfully it cleared up (except for the wind) in time for the wedding. And I’ll show you a little peek at what I got….

As you can see, Katie made a beautiful bride and Kemp a handsome groom… and, I think we rocked that sun flare!! I’ll be posting a full post soon….

Happy Monday!

We did this shoot around a pond, and it was quite an adventure! First, Tylan (my adorable subject that day) decided to sling his ‘Taggie’ into the pond. No warning. One second he is happily sitting on a large stone wall beside the pond, the next second he is slinging it over the edge!  The Momma came out in me and I was over that wall and down there getting that Taggie in about 0.2 secconds. Because this Momma knows we can’t lose a Taggie!

After that we almost lost a phone in the pond, it just fell out a pocket and came apart in a few different pieces, somehow all landing on the bridge that crosses the pond instead of going through the cracks of the bridge. At that point we just laughed and said “What is going on here?!”

Okay, enough about our water-related adventures! Lets get to the pictures now

Yes… his eyes are really that blue! I do not do any enhancing/re-touching on the eyes at all.

Helloooo cuteness!

One thing I love about capturing kids is their many expressions…

There is just something about this next one… I love it!

Blowing kisses…

First thing in the morning, especially if it is early – and even more especially if it is wintertime, I stand in front of the sink with the cold water running and sike myself into splashing it on my face. I dread it because I am sleepy and just got out of my warm bed, and I know it is going to be freezing cold and take my breath away. But, after that first splash, oh it feels good! Suddenly the ‘sleepiness’ is gone and I am feeling fresh and awake and basically ready to face the day – without sleepy eyes.

It’s a must. I just have to do it!

Which brings me to my Miscellaneous Monday shots; I also feel that I just have to have pictures of my kids, at a young age, eating spaghetti. It seems like that is a classic kid picture. You know, spaghetti all over the face, the hands, etc.   Well, while eating spaghetti a couple of weeks ago I realized I had not yet gotten that shot of Bristol. So of course I grabbed my camera and fixed that

Happy Monday!

Pure sweetness in the form of a newborn….

Meet Stratton Monroe:

Baby feet…so sweet!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

My new gift certificates came in

I have never advertised gift certificates here on the blog, but I figured since my new ones are here - hot of the press - I should snap a picture and let you all know that they are available!

Pssst- Mothers Day is coming up soon, May 8th, and Momma’s love pictures! Just sayin’….

Questions about gift certificates? Email me!

Okay, it is Sunday night, I am exhausted, I have a shoot first thing in the morning, and I don’t have a clue what I am going to blog about.

I think I might have bloggers block. Is there such a thing? I think so!

So, in light of all that, I am blogging some random-ness… and it’s gonna be short and sweet

Jammied girls sitting on a diaper box, because you know, sitting on a diaper box is serious fun!

Reading books – in another pair of jammies…

Playing on Kennedy’s bed – this time without jammies

Quote I love: “She believed she could, so she did.” -Anonymous

How is that for some Monday inspiration??

Okay, signing off now….have a wonderful Monday!

So, I am officially done blogging my pre-Christmas shoots   Yeah, yeah, I know, it is nearly April, ’bout time I wrapped those up!

I did this shoot for these two sisters back in January. These two cuties belong to my cousin Joanna, and her hubs Andy. We mostly focused on Maci, but wanted to get a couple of the two together, and ended up grabbing some of Kourtnie by herself too…

First up, Maci:

Kennedy had to have her picture taken with Kourtnie… messy hair, rain boots and all    And the look on her face? So funny!

Love. Love. Love.

Opps, there is Kennedy jumping in again!

I am sure she is saying “I love you this much!” in the next picture