I heart valentine's day

Valentine's day has always been one of my favorite holidays... I was the dorky girl in 2nd grade that really planned out her Valentine "goodie sack"...you know, the white one you decorated with pink & purple hearts and placed in front of the room for all your classmates to fill. To me it was almost like Christmas, but with arts & crafts and way more candy. I've also always loved Valentine's Day because since I was a kid, my mom would buy us all kinds of goodies and chocolate to overdose on. As the years pass and I find more people in my life to I love, the holiday continues to get better.... Now I've got my mom, Ryan and even his sweet mom who sent me goodies. Oh, and now I'm a mother, to my one-eyed chocolate lab of course, so that makes the day more special as well. Luckily Emma only require an extra belly rub and a treat or two... Basically Valentine's Day is the perfect time to reflect on how blessed we all are to have such special relationships in our lives. This year Jessica Weinheimer, a new friend who's husband is in Ryan's medical school class, wanted to celebrate her Valentine's day with a family photo shoot. We met in January for our session so that she could send out a special "Valentine's Day" card to all their loved ones. I was thrilled with this idea in lieu of Christmas cards, as it was a throw back to my coveted 2nd grade Valentine's day tradition (just more grown up now). The Wheinheimers have the sweetest baby boy with the bluest eyes you've ever seen. I loved spending time with them and look forward to hanging out in the future!

So...happy (belated) Valentine's Day, from the Weinheimers, and from me!

Enjoy.

Life's a flash, capture accordingly.

Santa Fe

I was sick for an entire month, starting three days after Christmas, all the way into late January. I have since learned that if your husband comes to you on Christmas day and says, "I feel sick", and you say, "Oh come on, suck it up, it's Christmas", your health may face a rapid decline due to karma. Ryan got better after three days, right about the time I first showed symptoms of the dreaded flu.... I worked (aka, painted a custom furniture piece in a cold, windy & very dusty garage) through what I thought was the worst of it, and then told Ryan how I was pretty certain my pain tolerance was better than his.... 4 days later I was in the fetal position begging for hot tea and Robitussin. It was miserable and I was wrong.... In the meantime, my brother, his girlfriend Allison, Ryan & I had all planned a fun New Year's trip to Santa Fe. I felt sicker than a dog, and was pretty selfish to go, considering Sage and Allison would be subject to my germs in a petri-dish of a car for the 5 hour drive. However, I know my brother, and if I had backed out it would have been used as ammunition in future battles. So I packed a months worth of medicine and tissues and we headed to Santa Fe, NM. I'm SO glad we did! Everything from the drive there, to the extra night we decided to stay was full of fun and complete nonsense. The four of us seriously had the best time ever. I was experimenting with my camera's video capabilities while we were there and stayed up last night making a little amateur video of the trips recaps, just for fun. Go check it out if you get a chance. Happy 2011!!

Click to watch our Santa Fe New Year 2011!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWLgFxjUfGc

And of course, here are a few random candids from the trip!

Enjoy

Life's a flash, capture accordingly.

Vacationers

Call it fast friends or call it fate, but my family fell in love with the Miller family on our last Cruise to the Bahamas. We met randomly at lunch one afternoon when my brother, husband and I all found ourselves hungry for the Royal Caribbean lunch buffet at the same time as everyone else on the ship.... with no luck finding a table of our own, we were invited to sit with a sweet couple (hibachi style) at their table thinking, "ok we will make this quick and painless, let's just eat and run"... An hour later we discovered we were fellow Texans and that we had much more in common than we thought. They invited us to watch the water show from their private suite that evening, and in true Thames family style, we didn't decline. The rest was history, and I mean that.... the cruise was a blur from then on! We were sad for the trip to end, but they invited us to join them in Las Vegas for Kim's 40th birthday the following October... and once again, the Thames family didn't pass up a good time and we graciously accepted.

Vegas came and went as fast & furious as the cruise, and it just confirmed our friendship even more. I know for most of you this sounds very Dateline meets eHarmony, but if you knew this family (and ours) you would know that it was just a perfect act of fate and new friendships.

Mark is the CEO of an amazing company, Miller & Associates , and dreams up the kind of stuff you see in the movies.... he's basically a genius and Kevin James all rolled into one. On the cruise we were discussing his business and what programs they use and Auto CAD came up! (to those of you that don't know, this is the program that I spent 2 years of my college career learning- it's a very love/hate relationship, but it's the program I use for my design drafting). Mark's company of course uses the program to design things like you'd see in Avatar or CSI where as I make kitchens look real pretty.

Kim is a major work out girl and health guru. She is the author of a fabulous new blog: http://kimsfitandfab40s.wordpress.com/ check it out and show her some love.

After the cruise, Mark & Kim called to hire me to design their new kitchen in Dallas! It has been such a fun project, partly because it gives me an excuse to go to Dallas and see Kim, and also because they have amazing taste and I'm getting to think outside the box! The project is in the works, and I will of course be sharing it with everyone once construction roles around. As for now I'm posting pictures from our last visit before Christmas. Kim asked me to take some fun pictures of her family, as well as some senior shots of their daughter, Angela. Enjoy!

Life's a flash, capture accordingly

Beauty & Brains

One of my best friend's, Nikki, built a new house and moved in a few months back... With a new house comes new neighbors, which let's face it, is often a crap-shoot. Luckily though, Nikki was placed  on a street across from a sweet little blonde named Amy, who seriously has to be the coolest neighbor ever. The girls hit it off instantly and turned borrowing eggs from your neighbor a thing of the past... they share more fun things like wine & dinner :) Amy is a dermatology resident here at Texas Tech and get in line people, she's got quite a following already! Nikki and I call her first when we need skin remedies & beauty treatments!! Amy is not only obviously brilliant but she is beautiful too (and domestic! she even made hot apple cider for our second location in the cold!). I've had fun getting to pop in on her & Nikki on occasion and wishing I was their neighbor as well... mainly because they cook and drink together :)

Amy  called to set up a Christmas gift of family pictures for her mom & dad. She arranged the whole thing and I was totally flattered to be a part! I had met her parents briefly one time before but this time I actually got to know them and her little sister. This family seriously fell straight off of a GAP ad. I mean all beautiful, all energetic, all classic, all fun. I had a blast with them. Thanks for thinking of me Amy!!

Meet the Wolthoff family:

Life's a flash, capture accordingly.

Bailey Ladies

I met Dwayna when I underwent an elaborate hunt to find a hair dresser that could do my hair for our wedding. Seeing as how I had never been happy with an up-do since 8th grade (including 9th-12th grade homecomings AND proms.. I mean having a small head is tricky...) this was quite a task. A mutual friend referred Dwayna and said she was great.... So it was on.... I would test her with my bridal portrait and see how it went....well she MORE than thrilled me with what she came up with!! I was SO pleased at the way she made my hair look- it was classic and simple and went right along with the theme of our wedding. I fell in love with Dwayna and have been going to her ever since. She is an amazing person and I always learn a little something from her during our 3 hour appointments once every 2 months :) Oh! One more thing, she sells Arbonne and it's amazing, hit her up if you need some!

Dwayna's masterpiece! Photo by Kristin Bednarz

I was very flattered when Dwayna called me for two projects, a graphic design job and a portrait session with her and her daughter Sarah. We had SUCH a blast at the Funky Door where we started our shoot. We ended up out in the country on my parents land for some wintery outdoor field shots. These pictures were to be a surprise for their family for Christmas so I figure now it's safe to blog! Meet Dwayna & Sarah, beautiful mother & daughter!!

Here's a quick look at the graphic I designed for her

life's a flash, capture accordingly.

Gage Family Pictures

Since I can remember these two sisters have been SUCH a hoot. I cheered with both of them through high school...I couldn't help but have flash backs of the fun they brought to the cheerleading squad when I was with them a couple of weeks ago for our shoot. Whitney contacted me a while back to take pictures of her sister & husband for her mom's Christmas present this year. We searched for dates and could finally squeeze a session in around Thanksgiving. Don't worry, I already asked the two if I could blog the pics before Christmas and they seemed quite certain that their mom wouldn't see the post... So if anyone knows Mrs. Gage, keep it on the DL! She knows we took pictures for her Christmas surprise, she just doesn't know how super cute her kids look in them! We had so much fun the day of our shoot, groups like this are always pretty entertaining- I just love sibling dynamics. Makes me feel right at home :) Mika brought her boyfriend along for a couple of shots as well. I'm so happy with how they turned out and think they will make a very Merry Christmas present for their sweet mama! Enjoy! Life's a flash, captures accordingly.

The Bayouth Bunch

I'm obsessed with the Bayouth family- I just am.... and I can say this without being creepy because they are some of our very good family friends- I like to think MINE in particular! When I transferred back to TTU Debbie would called me to babysit her adorable kids. Sometimes babysitting was just to get the extra cash I needed for the next weekend's itinerary .... however, with the Bayouths it wasn't ever about the money. I enjoyed spending time with those kids and still miss them like crazy now that I'm old & married and babysitting doesn't constitute as my full time job! Luckily, Charlie is one of my dad's partners at work so we conveniently still get to see them from time to time, especially during football season! When I was babysitting for Debbie I found myself looking up to her. She's one of those people you feel like you've known forever. She's beautiful, confident, an amazing mom, wife, athlete.....she really has it all together! She also married her husband, Charlie while he was in the midst of medical school (just like Ryan and I) and has been SUCH an amazing mentor as to what I should expect during my "life as a med-school wife". I really am so grateful for her words of wisdom and her sweet friendship.

Now on to the kids.... Jacob, Joseph, Katie & Lauren (or LuLu as we call her)- The most perfect sibling dynamic since the Brady Bunch.... They are all very smart, well behaved, & active kids that have great futures ahead of them. The two youngest were actually flower girls in our wedding! I remember vividly babysitting all of them one day and watching them play in the back yard.... each one had a buddy (with there being 4 of them you know) and they all watched out for each other and got along so well! I went home and told Ryan we needed to have 4 kids so that no one would be left out... verdict is still out on that decision :)

I was thrilled when Debbie called me for some pictures of the kids. We made a day of it doing all 4 kids in the morning, breaking for a fabulous lunch at Chili's (thank you Debbie!), and doing a "mom & me" session with Debbie & her youngest in the afternoon. They are such a beautiful family, and better yet- just really great people.

Meet the Bayouths!

Life's a flash, capture accordingly

Stewart Family Session

A couple weeks ago I got to photograph one of my very best friends Nikki & her entire family!! You may remember her from these fun images (where she played the part of an urban hippy transitions into breakfast at Tiffany's!) Nikki and I were just playing for fun that day, but her sweet mom hired me recently to take their family pictures. Nikki and I were cheerleaders together back in high school and lived together our last 2 years of college. We have had the funniest memories along the way- I won't get in to any of those today...(you can thank me later Nikki!) She is one of my only best friends remaining in Lubbock- all you other ones MOVED off and left us...boo! Nikki and I manage to stir up trouble on our own though. This past weekend Nikki & Chris sat with our family at the football game and had a blast- didn't we Nik :)

Nikki's mom Patti & step-dad Brent are salt of the earth kind of people. They drove me back from Dallas after a wedding not too long ago, and I don't think we stopped talking the entire way! Patti has Nikki (her husband Chris) & her son Chase while Brent has Steven (and now his sweet wife Vanessa). Brent owns All State Fence & Supply so call him up if you ever need a heavy duty fence- he's the best!

We started our shoot down town and then ended up out in the country at my parents pecan orchard right as the leaves were changing & the sun was setting. I absolutely love this time of year and think we got some great images of a truly great family. Oh and a big thanks to my mom for hanging with us this day. It's always nice to have a second eye with a big family session. Love you mom :)

Meet the Stewart Family!

Life's a flash, capture accordingly.

"Mom & Me" session

I LOVE MY MOM!! I'm sure all you reading this love your mama's too. That's why I've decided to post about the fun "mom & me" sessions I've been doing lately. I've done a couple of these in the past and have a few more booked for the next couple weeks. With all our mom's do for us it is a fun gift to give them something sweet for Christmas, birthdays, or MOTHER's DAY!! I sat in awe over Thanksgiving doing little side jobs in the kitchen as my mom mastered about 12 side dishes and a delicious turkey ALL on her own!! NOT to mention the incredible Thanksgiving breakfast she cooked for the fist half of our family the morning before. Our family was a little discombobulated this year for turkey day, but my mom didn't let that get in the way of making sure everyone she loved had a Thanksgiving meal. To top it off, after our big family meal, she froze portions to take to HER parents in Houston the next day, and then made more pies when she got there! Now that's a super mom if I've ever seen one. Enough of my fabulous mama and on to the next. My sweet friend Taylor and I both grew up in Lubbock. I have her dad to thank for my super straight teeth (well they would be straighter if I had worn my retainer like he suggested!)- he was my orthodontist! Taylor and I used to hang out during KKG chapter meetings when I transferred back to Tech. I just loved her because while I was doodling she was listening and would share any info I missed. In the meantime Taylor had the most ADORABLE little girl Maddi. She is the most incredible mom and has tackled going to nursing school while raising a baby. She is about to graduate this December and will be a full fledged nurse!! She called me up to take some fun "mom & me" pics of the two of them to share with her family & friends. I was so thrilled and we had a blast during our shoot. Hope you enjoy!

Life's a flash, capture accordingly.