beautiful girls, old barns + boots :)

What could be better than getting to shoot three extraordinarly beautiful girls in perfect forty degree sunny weather in the mid-west?  Not a whole lot I'm thinking if you like taking pictures...and these girls were super easy to shoot. 

I'm not a believer in witches + warlocks, etc.  But the three of these girls reminded me of three beautiful witches...each with a unique look, each with a unique attitude.  The crispness of the leaves and the creapiness of the abandoned barn added to the mystery of the shoot too, I think.

Thank you SO much ashley for making this happen!  It was a perfect note to end on for my weekend!

eric + jessie - save the date!

With their wedding invitation soon to be released I thought I'd post their save the dates!  I'm super excited to shoot their wedding in january!  Love them!

sneak peek - three beauties

here's a sneak peek of ashley, tamara + tiffany!

diva's, beauty queen's + hilarious ham's :)

this is for any of you that have older sisters...and those older sisters have really cool friends...the kind of friends that let you stay in their sleeping bags at an only big girl sleepover...only you will understand why I loved this shoot so much! 

nicole was that cool older sister's friend to me growing up...so I loved getting to photograph her and her amazing family!  obviously she is going to have a beautiful family b/c of how stunning she is...her little girls are rays of sunshine...grace being the hilarious diva and maddie being the quieter beauty of a girl.  nicole's husband drew gets the "coolest" award of the weekend...who else drives three hours to meet up with a photographer he's never even heard of...yes, I said THREE HOURS!  and their son caleb was such a personable, total "ham" of a kid...seriously funny with millions of faces he loved to pull out throughout the shoot...this family seriously made me laugh a ton and simply capped off the day with a huge smile...

thanks drew + nicole!

seriously beautiful girls...LOVED their headbands - butterflies and flowers!

this boy is simply hilarious! :)

this was my favorite of the three kids! :)

is it wrong to be jealous of a little girls dimples...cause I am...too sweet of a girl. :)

I love that she gave me a huge hug before I left!  loved taking your pictures grace!

old friends :)

I loved spending the early afternoon this weekend with some old friends that I grew up with.  The Wolf's will be forever knit with my past.  And it will always be a funny thing, I think, to re-hang out with the people you knew when you were kids.  Most of my mid-grow up years included these three guys.  Whether it was racing at awana's (oh yes, I was in awana's), playing the track games on the original Nintendo, playing kickball on our corner, watching Steeler's games at their house for Thanksgiving dessert, or singing KamaChamelion on the bus ride back from the dunes and playing bloody knuckles on the bus...these three guys were a loud + fun part of it!  And Patti was my first discipleship leader and will always hold a special place in my heart...a lot of good conversation with this lady!

So you can imagine me smiling as I'm taking pictures of these boys who are now men with such b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. families.  And their wives...seriously knock-outs!  I think they have a competition amoung themselves for the most creative names of their kids too...it's: kytn, addie, avery, tyucker, taeden + maccallum (mac).  I probably just butchered the spelling of their names!  But it was super enjoyable to see them again...thanks for the afternoon - you guys rocked the 40 degree weather!

love these guys!

they all scored super model wives...seriously!

mac (brandon's littlest) seriously cracked me up with how much he smiled!  the boy out shown everyone that afternoon - including the adults who have had more practice at it!  serious sunshine! :)

the eyes!  the tie!  too cute! :)

wayne's oldest boy...he was the most understated of the day - he did amazing with barely any coaching...love this boy - he made me miss my own - this age is the cutest...not babies anymore and definite all boy!

wayne + heidi's youngest...he's gonna be a heartbreaker some day...effortless. :)

illusive peace.

there are some days when God simply smiles at his kids.  my day was today.  I had two really fun photoshoots in forty degree weather late morning/early afternoon which went well.  it was good to see old friends and do what I love to do.  but then I just started driving past the things that I love from my past and ended up where I was born.  the building is not the same anymore and it's not even a hospital anymore, but they have a walking/woods area that I ventured into...it was an incredibly peaceful place that I truly believe was a present to me from my Father.  I could hear water trickling in a creek and wind blowing throught the trees, the colors of the leaves refreshed my eyes, I smelled wet leaves and heard them crunch at the same time as I walked, the sun warmed my back while the temperature made my nose and hair chilly...and I was alone.  Alone with just me and God.  that has not happened in a long time. 

peace.

my dad and I and matt and I talked about seeking this, and God simply reminded me today that it is Him.  slowly down and listening/hearing/smelling Him.  and now I sit in a beautiful, hole in the wall coffee shop (no I don't drink coffee, I just like them) and smile at remembering today.  my God loves me, and I love Him.  today was my present from Him...why He chooses to love me the way He does is something I will never understand...but today I smile and am thankful for His perfect presents.

one of the last bee's, I'm thinking, in 40 degree weather...

summer, red + the alpha goat

this was quite possible one of my most favorite shoots so far...probably because I don't think I've laughed this hard at a shoot...Summer wanted a countryish feel to her high school graduation shoot and we were lucky to find this "vintage-in the middle of nowhere" location fit with goat, ducks + Red - this giant horse that thought he was a dog! :)  At one point the alpha-goat let us know he was boss - causing me to laugh pretty uncontrollably at Tracy K.- Summer's make-up artist for the day, a seriously funny, cool, unique chick!  And then you'll see in another one of the pictures that Red decided to make his "debut" into photography and he simply would NOT go away...Summer rolled with it and it ended up being a fabulous afternoon!  Thank you Summer for letting me hang with you for the afternoon - I can't wait to see what God has next for you!

soon-to-be sister-in-law festivities :)

My friend, Ronda, and I hosted a student ministries shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law Lindsey and good friend Danielle a couple of weeks ago.  It was a beautiful night for sitting on the patio with candles everywhere and fun conversation about their futures!  I'm super excited for both of them and can't wait for the weddings!

summer sneak peek

no, not summer the season...summer the soon to be graduate!  Seriously one of the most fun shoots I've had in a long time!  Thanks summer and I'll post more soon!

design for my "redesign" friend...

I LOVE facebook...I am a 100% believer in it for reconnecting with old friends.  People you wouldn't normally talk to and then suddenly...BAM - instant reconnect...love it! 

I designed these business cards + marketing piece for an old friends up and coming business venture...she's super business smart and I can't wait to see how far she goes with this...if you live CO you need to check her out!

my favorite pic for her business card...

e-marketing piece...

the little people

I LOVED getting to shoot some preschool school pictures a couple weeks ago.  I used to teach at KDC and they asked me to come back and do their fall pictures.  The kids were super amazing and it reminded me why I liked teaching back in the day...Here's a few of my favorites from the shoots...and no, that is not the real class picture...it was just for fun - but probably a little more realistic ;)

my baby is seven.

I love it when my kids have birthday parties.  I makes me feel like a kid too...I love it all!  invitations, balloons, presents, cake, games...I love it!  Here are the invitations I designed for her party...she specifically asked for "light purple" and something not too babyish...gotta love her. :)

mason. :)

These are from the shoot with my friend Mason.  He's a high school senior who is seriously full of life and super fun to be with!  I loved getting to spend the afternoon with him especially because he shares my love of the BEP's...which FINALLY played at the end of his session!  Thanks Mason!