A few days ago, I returned from a Education Conference in Chicago and have hit the ground running since I got back. I had the wonderful privilege of shooting a sweet wedding, had a family shoot, have another family shoot tomorrow and then I leave to see family one last time before school starts! Whew! It’s been busy, but so blessed. While I am working, I wanted to share a few images with you!

First off! Here is a couple of images from my trip to Chicago. I absolutely fell in love with this city and all that it had to offer. I loved learning the history and meeting people, it was such a wonderful trip. I learned so much that I am excited to use when school starts!

These are the sweet ladies I got to go with!

I loved capturing the lives around the city, these boys were so cute!

Here is the famous “Bean” that is in Millennium Park. The light was perfect and I could have stayed here all night if they would have let me!

Here is a family shoot that I am working on – it was by far the largest family I’ve ever gotten to take pictures of! It was so much fun!

I am so excited to share Tania’s bridals with you! This beauty got married yesterday and I cannot wait to show you how beautiful she looked in her vintage inspired gown!

And of course, I had to sneak a few in from her and James’ wedding

I had a shoot today with a friend of mine from high school, Ashley Carthel and her little family! These two kids are too cute!

As I continue to learn about photography, websites, blogging, and simply just living – I want to thank you for believing in me and my heart for people.

Rheagan and her mom Claire have been some of my most favorite customers over the last few years.  I shot Rheagan’s Senior pictures when she graduated and now have had the pleasure of getting to be a part of her wedding.  When we took pictures then – Rheagan made it clear to me that she wanted something different, something that not everyone does.  The result was a super cute girl in a prom dress, a show calf, and one girly photographer that was quite uncomfortable It was awesome.

Rheagan and Chase’s wedding was no different.  Rheagan was still adorable, she was still in a beautiful dress and I was still uncomfortable (not as much, but when walking through a pen of cow poo, there will always be a small level of discomfort…)

I love the way that excitement was oozing out of all of those involved.  I love the way that their families came together to celebrate.  Most of all, I love the way that Chase and Rheagan love.

Rheagan and Chase decided to split their day up a little differently, which was awesome! They had their wedding at noon and had their reception at six that evening. It was a nice change and fit them perfectly. So here is the start of their day with the sweet ceremony.

We had a first look with Scott, Rheagan’s dad, and it was beyond precious.

The reception was held in the Buchanan’s backyard and it was so perfect. Southern Elegance coordinated and decorated the event and it was beautiful.

Even the kids had something to do here! They loved that slip and slide.

We moved on to taking more pics of Rheagan and Chase at sunset…swoon…

(PS – Sorry for the varying sizes…still trying to understand the ins and outs of this blog! Thanks for understanding )

Today was just one of those days, one of those irrationally emotional days.  It started with an emotional breakdown after stepping on the scale (it’s lucky it didn’t get thrown down the stairs…because really, we all know I’m  not to blame) and Ryan waking up to stroke my hair and tell me how beautiful he thinks I am for an hour, all while watching Cathy Lee and Hoda with me.  As if that wasn’t enough, fast forward to dinner.  While I’m running around like a crazy person trying to make Spinach and Chicken Flautas and trying to bake home made bread, roasted zucchini and black beans.

Before I tell you what happened next, let me tell you about me and chicken.  When Ryan and I were first dating, I tried to make Paula Deen’s Chicken and Dumplings…if you will look at the recipe, you will see that it calls for house seasoning.  Well I thought that the WHOLE recipe for house seasoning went in the soup (which is 1cup of salt 1/4 cup of pepper and 1/4 cup of garlic powder).  You can image what that tasted like….bad…really bad.  Ryan ate it anyway and told me it was delicious. Since we’ve been married, I’ve tried to cook chicken numerous times and failed.

Back to Spinach Chicken Flautas.  My friend Rose kept telling me how delicious and easy they were.  I thought, surely I could handle this!  Everything was going perfectly and I proudly threw the flautas in the oven.  As we sat down to eat, I quickly remembered.  I didn’t season the chicken.  At all.

So what’s the logical thing to do?  Have yet my second emotional breakdown.  And my sweet Ryan just laughs and eats three of my disgustingly flavorless flautas.  It reminded me how great it is to be married to someone that can laugh at the things I can’t.  For that and so many other things, I’m so grateful for this man.   So as crappy as today was, I’m thankful that it made me remember how lucky I am to have him.

Aaaaannnnd I just went to take my bread out of the oven and it was flat………….. I think it’s time for bed.

With the Netflix screen staring at me to push play on yet another Scrubs Episode (the remote us too far away and I’m buried under computers, pillows, blankets, and such), my adorable sleeping husband on the couch, and the clock continuing to remind me how grumpy I’m going to be tomorrow, I know that I need to stop working, but something in me tells me I can’t.

Ryan and I had a busy and exciting weekend.  We shot family pictures, a wedding,and bridals.  It is weekends like these that remind me of why I love taking pictures.  Selfishly, I get to always remember the wonderful people I’ve met, and other people get to keep these memories alive forever.  I often forget how much that means until I’m flipping through the images at 1 am and find myself smiling despite my grumpy/sleepy state.

Enjoy these from Rhegan and Chase’s Wedding!  I’ll be back soon with more!

A few days ago, I happen to run across this.  As I looked through, my heart was warmed and tears filled my eyes.  You can say I’m a cry baby, but I dare you to look through those images and not smile or at least give an “awwww”.  Triple dog dare you… ( actually, I always hated that game – just do me a favor and look at them, okay?)  My point is – those pictures are powerful.  They are an embodiment of hope in a what often seems like hopeless world.  There really are very few things that can do that, for me.  The young man that I am about to tell you about is one of those things.

His name is Aaron Chavez.  Ryan and I are good friends with him and his parents, Wally and Rose Ann.  I am amazed at the support that his parents offer him and how awesome they are at laughing at each other

Aaron has a heart of gold and the ambition of a 29 year old with an “all the things I want to to by the time I’m thirty” list.  He is so passionate and wears his heart on his sleeve.  I admire him so much for working so hard to do what he loves at such a young age.  He’s only 16 and has written 20+ songs of his own.  How awesome is that?  He has just released his first single on iTunes, called Anthem of Love.  I want nothing more than for you to show a little love and go buy this song.  It is a song about the death of Christ, interspersed with pleas that could be interpreted as coming from those watching as Christ trudged up Golgotha or from our current world in desperate need of salvation.

He, Ryan, and Tim Barnes played in Lubbock for their 4th on Broadway parade and it was awesome!  Enjoy and go buy Anthem of Love!  Tell your friends!