Alexandra's Winter Wonderland Shoot

I have known Alex since she was 12 years old. She is 16 now, and she is a beautiful young woman inside and out. Its been awesome getting to watch her grow up from an adorable little girl to a confident, intelligent teenager. Alex is like my 4th little sister since I spent so much time at her family's house during my internship at our church. When we hung out the other day we decided to brave the cold and do a shoot since it was so amazingly sunny and pretty. I think she could be a model. What do you think?

Here's a few of my favorites.

Trash the Dress

It's been a while!

Well I have been thinking about something that is so cool. Its called a "trash the dress" session. Basically what it means is that, after you've gotten married, it really doesn't matter how long after, you get all dressed up in your fabulous dress that you will probably never have an occasion to wear again, and you do a photo-shoot without worrying whether or not you are getting your wedding dress dirty. Trapsing through a field of wild-flowers, a romantic and old looking forest, you wade into the sparkling waters of Lake Michigan, lay sexily along the sandy North-Shore beaches of Chicago... whatever setting you want!

The whole point is to get fabulous photographs that you will love forever, and that are different and full of fashion-flare! Now I know... the idea of ruining that beautiful dress that you spent so much money on is a little bit overwhelming. I got married about six and a half months ago myself, so I can relate. I LOVE my dress! But really... are we ever going to get to wear them again? And if you aren't planning on selling them... why not get one last fabulous Hurah out of them!?

So... the moral of this story is... would you be interested in trashing your dress? It doesn't matter if you've already gotten married and used another photographer, or if you have just gotten engaged and your wedding is a year away... think about it ladies! Let me know if you're interested! =)

I did it!

Ok, to preface what I am about to write, I do enjoy cooking but approach it with a certain amount of trepidation. Nick and I are almost never home for dinner at the same time, so I rarely feel like cooking an elaborate dinner for myself. It just isn't worth it to me. Too many dishes to clean later. lol

BUT tonight... oh tonight, Nick and I had the Beerys over for dinner. Todd is the pastor at IHOP Chicago, and Julieann is his lovely wife. Nick and I have a special relationship with them. During the internship when Nick and I met, their home was our second home. In fact, I basically lived there for half of each and every week of our internship because the drive was so long for me. And Nick did actually live there for a couple of weeks in between apartments. At any rate, we had them over for dinner, and I wanted to cook something special for them. After all, they have fed Nick and I a bajillion times.

So I cooked steaks! I have never cooked steaks! I was nervous. I wanted everything to be perfect.

I made cheesey scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and steak with a mushroom-red-wine sauce. My heart pitter-pattered within me as I sauteed, baked, and steamed my way through dinner preparation. The first bite would be the moment of truth.

*drumroll please!*

It was PERFECT!!!!!!!

Yay!!! My first real fancy-ish dinner was a total success!

I just had to celebrate and say, if anyone really needs some dinner, let me know. I'll cook for you! lol.

Pretty soon I'll be giving Rachel Ray a run for her money!

Wedding Availability

If you are a future bride reading this post, CONGRATS!!! Planning a wedding is tons of fun... you finally get to put those girl-hood dreams in motion and marry your prince charming! ok- I'm a cheesy hopeless romantic, I know. I've come to terms with this fact, but it's not all bad... it shapes the way I take photographs. I love LOVE.

At any rate, happy planning, and I hope you'll consider letting me be a part of your big day! Enjoy each moment... they go by too quickly.

Who REALLY made Mike Huckabee? I vote for Conan O'Brian....

My Husband and I love Mike Huckabee. Mike, if you happen to stumble across my blog, it's not just Chuck that loves Huck! lol.
But seriously, there are some absolutely HILARIOUS videos floating around about which late-night talk show host "created" Huckabee. Jon Steward, Stephen Colbert, or Conan O'Brian all claim to have made Huck who he is. And they are duking it out to prove it. You HAVE to watch this video. It's amazingly funny.

Go Huckabee!!!!

Our Anniversary

My husband, Nick, and I have been married six months today! I can't believe how quickly it has gone by... I feel like we just got married. Now I know that to most people six months is not a long time, and I would agree. I'm certainly not going to pass up a reason to have a little celebration with my hubby though! I think that six months is a milestone for newlyweds.


These past months have been the best of my life, and I can't even imagine being without Nick. He is such an amazing husband, and I am more in love with him today than I was the day we got married. To all of you out there who have just gotten engaged and are in the planning stages, you have a ton of amazing moments to look forward to! Marriage is amazing, and sharing each moment with your best friend is almost surreal. If God has blessed you with your other half, then you are one of the luckiest people on earth! I know that I am!

I love you Nick! Happy anniversary. =)

WPPI video

So- any fellow photographers who may read this- if you embed this video in your blog or website, you get free admission to WPPI 2009. Which I think is pretty grand. So, enjoy this video all of you out in blog-land!

Happy Birthdays!

ok, so some very important people in my life have had or are about to have their birthdays. My younger sister, Ricki, just had her birthday on January 28th. I meant to post a happy birthday for her... but time seemed slip by me. So happy belated birthday to Ricki!



Also, tomorrow is my best friend's birthday. She will be 22! Getting old, Lisa! Lisa has been my best friend for years now, and I don't know what I would do without her. She is the sweetest, most selfless woman I know, and she always goes above and beyond for the people that she loves. For example, not only was she my matron of honor and did everything a great matron does, but she also spent tons of time the week before our wedding making amazing looking favor cookies. (lisa is a baker, and she hand-paints sugar cookies. They are beautiful works of art, so they were one of our favors. Everyone LOVED them.)

At any rate, Happy birthday Mrs. Keiler. You are amazing, and I hope every aspect of your birthday is as wonderful as you are!