We arrived at her house before the sun rose. The ground was frosty and the stars were shining. We climbed the steps to her bedroom. Fannie Lynn and her sister talked quietly as they finished hair and did final make-up touch ups. Little brother, all shiny in his suit, stood shyly outside the bedroom door, watching and grinning. When it was time for  Lavern to arrive, he found her before she even could come down the stairs. Beaming smiles, exuberant hugs, and excited laughter followed…setting the tone for the day.

I always walk away from a wedding blessed by some aspect of the day. This time it was the close family, heartfelt stories, tight hugs, tears of happiness, and genuine laughter. Oh, and the amazing peanut butter pie I was sent home with.

Thanks to Colleen from Capture This Photography for working with me!

Lavern and Fannie Lynn, thank-you for including us in your day. I am quite certain you have many, many good years ahead.

I will let their  slide show and photos tell their story….

Happy birthday to my little “big boy”! Six today. Somebody tell me how that happened, please.

A green crocodile cake has been his requested “next birthday cake” ever since his last birthday. So I will be serving a green crocodile cake, complete with marshmallow eyes and malted milk ball nostrils….to little boy friends. Happy Friday to you to. Smile!

To say that the business has been a learning process for me is a huge understatement. I knew nothing. Nothing. So I am learning. And learning. And I think the dots are starting to connect and I am starting to understand what works and what doesn’t work. More precisely, what works for me. Branding, networking, marketing, outsourcing…all snazzy terms terms that meant nothing to me, but now they suck me in…it intrigues me. So something I have noticed as I have worked with others is the value of connecting and relationships. I am always drawn to warmth, personality, and genuineness. Aren’t we all.

When Christine contacted me regarding head shots, I asked her to take a look at my website to better understand my style. I was a bit concerned I could not offer what she was looking for. But in her words, “Boring head shots are the problem.” She wanted her billboards/business cards/ads to portray genuineness and personality…a real smile in a good location.

Thanks to Jolyn from In His Image Photography for helping out. Christine was a pleasure to work with! Let me share a few.

You know how some coats are warm, but they just don’t let you move? Others are comfy, but don’t do the job when the snow is flying. There always is the baggy, brown coat with the blue plaid hood that I have had for years and years….yeah, it  ummm…looks like it belongs in the ‘woman’ section at Sears…a few years ago. And then I found it…buried on the clearance rack at Target. It’s soft, black, and long. Soft as in it reminds me of a blanket. Black as in it goes with anything. Long as in I can wear it over sweats if I really want to and you might not notice…perfect for “I don’t feel like dressing up days”. It’s warm and basic, but classic. So it feels perfect and easy and I wear it all the time.

So it is with sisters.

My sisters are companions. As easy to be with as my soft, black coat. We cry together, laugh together, shop together, wear each other’s clothing, and stick together through thick and thin.

This is my little sister. She is well, not so little anymore. I keep reminding her…take life slow, you are only seventeen. I want to keep her safe, protect her from hurt. To somehow make life all smooth. But that’s not my job, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. So I will stick with her through thick and thin. Take her shopping. Let her borrow my boots. Cry with her. Laugh at things we “get” because we grew up together. And tell her to reach for the stars.

Meet my little sister, Amber. I love her to pieces.

What do you think? We wanted a scarf…so this rolled up shirt kinda works?

She picked out this spot. The light was getting really low, but I love the colors and craziness.

Been wanting to shoot in a laundromat for a long time…think I will go back and play with it some more.

One of my favorites…love the soft light.

Happy weekend to you!

Quiet. That is, until you get to know him and his dry sense of humor.

He loves all sports, but football takes the lead and is his passion.

Just hanging with family and friends is cool.

Looking forward to attending college for architectural engineering.

You can’t help but like him and wanna be his friend too. Meet Darren.

So I don’t know if all kids do this…

Collect everything. Everything! On any given moment Adler will be carrying a number of random “treasures”. It varies from day to day. Today it happens to be a brightly colored unsharpened pencil, a tiny super ball, an old cell phone, and a pack of gum. Today these objects are his treasures and they go with him wherever he goes. To bed at nap time. Outside in the coat pocket. In the car as we run errands. When it is time to stash and “hide” treasures…guess where they all go? In his bed…he sleeps in the top bunk. Either under his pillow or jammed between the wall and the mattress. And so his treasures collect. And collect. If something turns up missing…this is where we look. And then we remove colored papers, plastic dinosaurs, toy guns, lollipops, his favorite soccer t-shirt, and whatever else was deemed as “treasure”.

So he does his little boy things. Smile!

Happy weekend!

I think her coat is quite perfect.

It was a gift from Grandma, I believe. It was not a planned part of the outfits, but turned out to be some of the fave shots.

Allie and Sophie are best sisters.

The whole family and one of their selected “bestest” shots.

Passionate. Outgoing. Ambitious. Spontaneous. Go with the flow. Oh, and engaged.

Meet Josh and Melissa.

She says “His laugh makes me smile. An unexpected visit from Josh makes my heart skips a beat. And I love how positive he is.”

Busy careers, hectic lifestyles, and they love that there is never a dull moment. Looking forward to forever.

These photos were taken before the cold temps hit on Melissa’s family’s beautiful horse farm.

It was Melissa’s suggestion to use the blue tractor and I loved the idea.

‘Tis Monday…bring it on! Have a super Monday.

Just because I have been thinking…

So what is happiness? It can come in many forms…right? Dark chocolate cake, for sure. A “just for you” smile from your man. An chatty phone call from an old friend. But ya know, we can laugh and smile and enjoy our cake too, but not be happy, right? Does happiness lie in accomplishing? How about the “good life”? Or everybody liking me?

Could it be true, honest to goodness happiness lies in peace? Peace with who I am. Peace with where I am in life. Peace with waiting and resting. Understanding that life will never be perfect. There will always be somebody better. Something that should be done…most likely fingerprints on the front door and a closet that needs organized. There will always be somebody that doesn’t approve. The overwhelming “problem”. The unknown in the future. The what if’s.

January is the month of goals, plans and dreams. And I love this and I will…’cause I love planning and dreaming and goals. But for right now, I am learning that the most important goal I can have is to trust. Complete trust. A soft, gentle and yielding trust. And I am only learning, but I am thinking this is real peace and long term happiness.

Okay, and because their pretty smiles make me happy, meet my nieces…Megan and Taryn.

Happy weekend to you. Smile!

From the first click of the camera, it was clear these two were going to be fun and so easy to photograph. Quite obviously they were happy.

Happy to be alive. Happy to be together. Happy to be out in the cold and share hot cocoa afterward.

Which is why the photos….”To remember how happy we are in this stage of our marriage.”

Seven years together….

He loves to make her laugh…it makes him smile. He loves her big, brown eyes.

She says, “I love to hear him laugh…and all the silly looks he gives to me, it make me giggle! He has a huge heart, a deep compassion, and a patience for people. I love him all the more for it.”

Being together is all that really matters. It might be riding bike, hiking, snowboarding, skiing, and helping others learn about God.

To sum it up, ” We are each other’s home, no matter where we may be.”

Meet this handsome couple, Anthony and Dena…

Love this shot…

Laughter is perfection…

These photos were taken in early December just as one of our first snows were starting to fall. Yeah, it was cold…but Dena and Anthony were there to make the most of it and didn’t let the temps stop them.

Dena and Anthony…thank-you for the privilege. Many, many more!