Meet Amannda....

In real estate, the buzz statement is "location, location, location".....

And so it should be in photography!!!

I'm tellin' ya. I've never been to a more beautiful setting than the one I was at for Amannda's senior portrait session last night.

O.M.G....seriously.

It was the home of her great-uncle and wow was it a sight to behold. I was so overwhelmed when I first got there that I had no clue where to even begin! I usually stake out my locations but because this was a private home set far off the road I was totally unprepared.

It worked out, though. :0)

I'm pretty sure wherever we would have gone, Amannda would have been beautiful. This girl is so stinkin' pretty! She made the location and the location made her.

Meet Amannda....(and for the record, I had a HARD time picking out my favs!)....

And huggin' a tree for her grandpa... :0)

Thanks for making my job so easy, Amannda!!!

My baby...Round one

I attended my 20 year high school class reunion last weekend. I feel like I'm still young, but boy have I changed....and boy how my oldest friends in the world have changed too! Funny how time flies when you're havin' fun....

This post is pretty bitter sweet for me. I've been out of high school for 20 years while my oldest babe is headed into her last year of high school. She has no clue. Life will flash before her eyes and before anyone knows it she will be attending her 20th reunion! Ugh.

When we got back from Cedar Falls, Alli and I went out for round one of her senior portrait session. Lucky her....her mom's a photog so she can go out as many times as she wants! And....if we have as much luck as we did this time out, we will in no way, shape or form be able to decide what to print! My goodness, she is beautiful.

In color....

In black & white....


One of my favs of the day....


Wait....I love this one....

Oh, my...black & white is even better....

Serious pose.... :0)

Just plain cute....

Bein' silly....

Honestly, my favorite shot of the day....

Or wait....this one is my favorite of the day! Ugh!

So, as you can see, round one was a success. Looking forward to capturing every other idea and location and outfit we have!! Don't care what you say, my baby is GORGEOUS!!! She really needs to stop growing up. :0(

Jamey & Matt

There are photo shoots and there are photo shoots. Some you love to do, some you do because its money. Some you know the people and some you don't. I love photography. I do. But I love it more when it's not a job.

Every once in a while I get one of those photo shoots that every photographer dreams about. The kind where my subject is happy, easy to shoot and a natural model. Even better....I get a couple that is so in love with each other that the end goal is to merely capture them as they are together. Easier said than done, but last night was a dream.

Meet Jamey and Matt. I mentioned them in a earlier post when I booked their wedding (I was sooo excited I could piddle, remember!?). Last night was their engagement session. We toured downtown Des Moines and captured them then headed to the Capitol grounds for more.

My main goal last night was to capture them the way others see them. We all think of ourselves in a different way than others see us. It's sad, really. We'd have a much happier world if we believed about ourselves what other people believe!

Anyway, back to Jamey and Matt. I think I succeeded in my goal. Here are two people who are too cute for words and love each other with something more than just their hearts. They love each other with their souls. Cheesy, I know, but you will see what I mean.

And my new favorite picture....of ALL TIME.

So thank you, Jamey and Matt. For letting me into your world for just a small time. If you keep laughing, keep looking at each other the way you do now, you will have a very successful, happy marriage. I know it.

Counting down the days until October 16th! Woot Woot!

"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." ~ Ruth 1:16-17 (MY wedding vows....forever etched in my heart and may they forever be etched in yours...)

REMINDERS....

I love them. Little reminders that pop up to remind you of things you need to do or things that make you smile, etc. I'm a sticky note kind of person. They are everywhere on my desk. To remind me of the upcoming orthodontist appointment for Taylor or this deadline or that deadline or even to send this or that to whoever. You get my point.

REMINDERS.

They are everywhere from God, too, if you just take a look. His reminders to us of who He is and what He has created. Ever watched the way the water rolls over rocks in a small stream? Or the way the inside of a flower has so many details that you would never see if you didn't really look closely? Or the way the leaves on a tree move in the wind....each one slightly different, but the same? And my favorite, the way the sun shines through the clouds. I like to imagine the rays as slides from heaven to be ridden by the angels during play time. Every time I see these rays of sunlight I can't help but smile. They instantly remind me that God is here.

This picture I took in the far corner of my back yard. He was reminding me AGAIN that He has it all under control and to relax and enjoy the ride.

Thank you for the reminder, God. You are just too cool.

Giving it to God, one moment at a time....

I so long for the days when life was "easy". No one to check with, no one to run things past, no one to worry about. Even as I write that sentence I know in my heart it is not really what I want. I don't want to be alone or have no one to worry about, care about, love on. I want all of those things.

I just wish it didn't have to be so hard sometimes.

I've been all around the blog world over my lunch hour today and have seen one message loud and clear. God is pushing me to let go of my fear....STILL.

I just wish it didn't have to be so hard sometimes.

Being a parent is hard. Marriage is hard. It's in the little things of doing both of those things that I find my greatest joy. And....it's in the little things of doing both of those things that I find my greatest fear.

Letting go.

I have an unrealistic fear (which translates as LACK OF FAITH) of losing the people that I love most in the world. Thoughts of impending doom every time someone leaves my sight. It's quite ridiculous, really, and very exhausting.

I have a crazy need to keep everyone close, within my sight and protect them unreasonably. I know that that is how our children grow and learn and become productive adults. I know they have to experience the sting of making a bad choice or the pain of consequences not fully understood at the time of decision making.

But I know what I know.

I've been there, done that. I have regrets that eat me up sometimes and I don't want our girls to be older wishing they knew then what they know now.

There are some big decisions facing two of our girls today. One will let me in to "help", the other will not. Both need to do this on their own, but it's almost too painful to watch. Being on the brink of adulthood is exciting and the anticipation of making all your "own" decisions and starting your life is so fun.

Being an adult is also not all it's cracked up to be.

So I know what God is pushing me to do. To let go of the things that are not mine to control and RELAX. He's asking me, again, to let Him handle the path while I just be there if questions are asked. He's asking me to pray for each of them....for their hearts, for their minds, for the people who influence them and for their desire to seek Him first.

I just wish it didn't have to be so hard.

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:7-10