This post is going to be a little rambling. For those of you who come to the blog to see the pictures, and not to read the posts, sorry. I’m including a few photos just for you

I have been working a lot lately. I have so many weddings and photo shoots to edit that sometimes it feels like my whole life is editing, punctuated by brief and exciting little nuggets of fun time where I am out shooting. It’s easy during the busy times of year to get a little overwhelmed with all the “work” that we have to do and forget why we’re even doing it. Sometimes it just takes a step back and another look at the images to really see what it’s about.

As I was going through a stack of images from my sister’s wedding (sorry Allison, I know you’re going to kill me for posting these “scrunchy face photos” but I love them) I found these ones. She had just gotten her wedding gift from her soon to be husband delivered to the getting ready room. Her reaction to opening and reading the card was a rush of emotion. Pure and raw. Love, excitement, butterflies…. I remember it so well from my own wedding day.

He had made her this AMAZING jewelry box from scratch in his own wood shop and had been slaving away at it for months in secret. Inside were a pair of beautiful earrings for her to wear on their big day, and what I can only assume by her reaction was the world’s best handwritten card.

I love that I was there, not only to experience that moment, but to be able to capture it and save it and share it with her. I am a very visual person and I know that my sister is too. And my hope is that whenever she sees those images, or ones of her intense happiness, anticipation, beauty and radiance on that day, that a little bit of that day will come rushing back to her.

Our memories are shaped and perfected by reminders that we have of the experiences. Some of the most powerful reminders we have are photographs. I feel truly blessed that I am able to provide those memories for my clients. How amazing is it be be able to give someone that perfect reminder of one of the best times in their lives?! I’m blessed not only to capture weddings, but so many of life’s most amazing moments. Love between a couple, a family, a new baby. I know I’m on a kind of a sentimental kick right now but I am feeling overwhelmed with the feeling of LOVE. Capturing, spreading, and sharing love. A few of my favorite moments of love from the last few months…

I can very clearly recall a conversation I had with Ben, long before we had kids, before we got married, and before I was a photographer. We were sitting on a grassy hill and watching a family play. The kids were running up the hill and rolling down, squealing with glee. The parents were playing with their kids and one of them was snapping pictures. I remember thinking aloud to Ben that someday, when we had kids, I wanted to be able to take good pictures of them. I’m surprised he didn’t run screaming from that hill but instead we sat and talked about photography, about life, about the importance of memories. From that day on I made it my mission to learn to use my camera to its fullest potential. I became completely immersed in learning everything there was to learn about photography. I was excited and passionate and LOVED taking pictures. I knew I had found my calling.

Some days when I’ve put in long hours at the computer I forget that passion, that first love of capturing life. But all I have to do is look at my screen, at the smiling faces of my children and those of my dear friends, to know that I’ve succeeded in attaining that goal I set back on the hill that day. I do take good pictures of my kids. No, I take great pictures of my kids. And I’m very proud of myself for it. One of my new favorites, the babies with their grandma.

I love what I do

Watching children grow is such an amazing treat. It’s hard to imagine that my little babies are already almost a year old. Where on earth have the last 10 months gone?! A few pictures from this morning of my 10 month old “babies”… looking less like babies and more like toddlers every day. It’s unbelievable!

Happy 10 months guys!

Joanna and Jade are sisters. And they have something pretty fantastic in common. They are both expecting little bundles of joy (their first!) this year. How cool would it be to be pregnant at the same time as your sister?! I think it would be pretty fantastic! I had the great pleasure of attending their baby shower to document the occasion. And what an occasion it was! There were gorgeous details -

FOUR gorgeous pregnant women -

And three lovely sisters -

I just couldn’t bring myself to decide which photos to post from their shower so instead I made a slideshow. Hope you enjoy!

Joanna and Jade CONGRATULATIONS! You are about to embark on a wonderful and amazing journey and I know you’ll be fantastic mothers. You have such a great support system in your family and friends, you’re going to be superstars

If you haven’t already guessed I have a bit of a weakness for twins (being the mom of twins myself) so I was beyond thrilled to get to take some 6 month portraits for little baby girl H and her brother little baby boy H. I can’t believe the eyes on little miss H, they really are amazing! Lots of unbelievable cuteness will be coming your way soon… here’s a sneak peek

Sarah and Eli are ridiculously cute. And don’t worry… I warned them ahead of time that I was somewhat addicted to the word cute, and since they ARE so cute that it might get overused with reference to them

We met up in old Carlsbad for their engagement session and had such a blast wandering around to a couple of random spots I had scoped out. These two are so much fun and it was Sarah’s birthday which made it extra fun! These two are a pretty adventurous couple… I was treated to tales of all of the dangerous situations Eli had gotten them into.. including getting chased by a bear! With a past like that the engagement session must have been a breeze in comparison They were totally up for anything and smiling the entire time which is just so… dare I say? Cute! With a couple as photogenic as this one I was bound to come out with heaps of favorites, but I managed to whittle it down to a reasonable number. Here goes.. my favorite shots of Sarah and Eli… enjoy!

I told you they were cute… come on! Look at these two

One of their favorite couples activities is bike riding so Eli managed to talk a local bike shop owner into letting us get a few quick shots on his tandem bike… fun!

One of my favorites

Sarah and Eli I had such a great time with you at your engagement session! I absolutely cannot wait for the wedding!