Hopes, Dreams and Wishes: 2010

I sit here tonight with my amazing caprese salad (my fave!), a great glass of wine and the sound of the breeze rustling the tree leaves outside my bedroom window. I paused my ridiculously loud tv so that I can really think about what I am about to write. I feel like I have so much to say and fear of boring all of you out there in the internet world with my thousands of thoughts! :) But alas, I will write what I am thinking and feeling anyway. 

This year, 2009, has been one to remember. I started this year off so unsure of what was to come. I quit my fantastic job, moved back from Italy and didn't know where I was supposed to go and what it was I was meant to do. I just knew that working in a cubicle, indoors with a boss screaming at me to hit my quota, was NOT it.  I sat and thought about this for quite a few months. I decided that I would sit back and just allow myself to be taken down the road that I was meant to be on. Let God show me where to go. And once I realized I was no longer in control, it was as if a whole new world opened up to me. 

If you know me, you probably know that I am a free spirit. I love change, I am happy, I laugh ridiculously loud, and all I have ever wanted to do is find something I love and to have a job that allowed me to help people.  It has been this deep seeded need for me to be able to do something good for the world since I can remember. Honestly, I have nearly joined the Peace Corp maybe 3 times the past few years ha ha! Anyway, I now have that. A least my own version. I have been given this amazing opportunity to work with people, make them feel good and capture a little piece of their soul for them to keep forever. It is a job where I can volunteer my time and rad skills (kidding) and give back to people. I make my own schedule and hopefully within the next few years, will be able to go to Africa like I have always dreamed and help with whatever I can.  I can not even express how happy this makes me inside. It is as if a little part of my soul has been missing all my life, and I finally found it. I can now breathe.

I can not believe how fast my business has grown and how incredible the people in my life have been. I love my friends and family more then they will probably ever know, and know that I am so blessed to have everyone's support. 

I hope I haven't bored you with all of this, but I thought sharing a piece of me and where I have been would give you a better feeling of who I am. I have some fantastic weddings this next year and if it goes as planned, will book many more! I look forward to all of the beautiful surprises in store for me. You never know what's around the corner, and this is never truer then starting a new year! So..... here are my Hopes, Dreams and Wishes for 2010:

Hopes: I hope that you all stay open to what is to come. Every passing minute is a second chance, and a moment to change. May we all change ourselves for the better this new year.

Dreams:May we dream bigger then we have ever dreamt before. The world is ours, this is our one life, lets not sit around wishing and wanting. Let's do. 

Wishes: I wish for us all to breathe. Sometimes circumstances or situations cause us to stress out and worry. Sometimes I find myself not really "breathing". I wish for us all to take time out this year to get away from everything in our lives that cause us to stress, and just take a deep breathe, then start all over again. 

I will be in Lake Tahoe ringing in the new year with friends so I won't be updating my blog until I return! So Happy New Year everyone! See you in 2010!!!

Here is a sneak peak for what is to come!

Baby It's Cold Outside.....

I opened my eyes more quickly then I had all the 364 days prior.  I bolted out of bed and ran into my brothers shared room and in one long breath yelled "Merry Christmas we have to wake mom and dad hurry up come on come on come on!!" gasp. As we raced through the dark little hallway to our parent's bedroom, my heart skipped at the mere thought of what we could have under the tree? A bike? Roller skates? That giant barbie head with long hair that I could braid and style? Who knew. The possibilities were endless. 

As we waited impatiently yet silently in the hall, waiting for mom and dad to yell when we could come out, we looked into each others eyes with more joy then ever at what was to come. The rest of the day we played Christmas music, played with our new toys and took random naps in piles of torn up gift wrap.  I never knew just how lucky we were to have these memories. These are the moments that I will never forget.

Now, as I am older, Christmas might not be quite the same as it used to be, but it is just as great. Just different. Now the day means so much more. It is a time when all of us kids, now older with our own lives, can get together and feel like we are young again. All under mom and Dad's roof for that day, playing Christmas music, opening presents, playing with our new "toys", and taking random naps. Only this time, we know just how lucky we are.

Merry Christmas everyone and because I can't leave this post without a picture.. here is a picture of my three brothers and Dad being hilarious from our family Ugly Christmas Sweater Party! And also Sir Archibald Kramer Andrews in the true Christmas Spirit! 

Angel on Earth - Conner Alvarado

I can't say enough how much I love my job! And having this sweet sweet one year old Conner as my subject is just such an incredible treat! This little boy looks quite honestly like a little cherub sent from the Heavens and is here for us to simply ooh and ahh over! Which believe me you will be. I have grown very close to this family in the past 6 months or so, as I have been able to document their family portraits, little Conners 1 year photos, and also recently his 1 year Winter Wonderland themed birthday. Which was sooo incredibly adorable! So here are some pictures from his 1 year shoot. And I can not say enough just how scrumptious this guys is. He has the sweetest disposition and his eyes are UH-MAZING! Have a fantastic day everyone and here are some pictures from our shoot! I will have pictures up from the birthday party soon!

Take 5!!!!!

I often ask my clients to go that "extra mile" for the shot. I like to be creative, spontaneous and in the moment with my couples and in pretty much all aspects of my life. Seriously. Last year I was driving around, running some errands, and thought about how much I loved Italy when I went backpacking through Europe the year before.  By the end of the day I decided I would move to Italy for a short period. By the end of the month I quit an amazing job where I made fantastic money as a sales rep (although I despised being confined to a desk), found an apartment in Rome on craigslist, and moved all by myself. Just because I wanted to figure some major life changes out and needed to do that in a space where I could really think and be creative. Umm, and I couldn't just do this in my apartment? Well, turned out to be the best thing I ever did, because now I am doing what I absolutely love. 

Okay, sorry for the derail. Anyway, while on a Trash the Dress shoot that I recently did, I was asking my client to go that "extra mile" and lay in the shallow water and hold onto her husbands leg. It looked so dramatic, romantic and pretty. Well, sometimes the unexpected happens, like a 3 foot wave crashing up on the bride! ha ha! My bride was terrific about it and laughed hysterically before going right back into pose! Seriously, she is so gorgeous that even when she is being crashed on by an unexpected wave she looks brilliant! I thought that these pictures were just too hilarious not to share! So I hope these pictures make you smile and to remember to dust yourself off and try again! These are the moments that life is made of. :)

Julian & Chantee - Engagement

My mom always told me to choose someone who brings you up, not down. Someone who brings out the absolute best in you. These words were never truer then they are for this couple. They are kind to each other, warm, romantic and confident. Julian and Chantee are such a meant to be couple. Everything about them screams, meant for each other. But during our shoot, in the midst of the running around, the traffic, and trying to chase the light, one thing really stood out to me.

Their "in between". I have heard this phrase used by my favorite wedding photographer Jasmine Star before. But I can genuinely say this was the first time I really caught what it meant. Throughout the shoot, when I am actually quiet for half a second, I would hear Julian and Chantee mumbling things to each other. Right before they would kiss, or right after he would say something sweet or make her laugh. It was such a strong connection and it was then that I decided to shoot more of their in between, when they weren't really noticing me snapping away. 

I am so excited to shoot this wedding in September of next year. I am so honored to be a part of their big day and to be able to tell their story with my images. Julian and Chantee, thank you for being so amazing! Can't wait for the wedding!

The Best Wedding Entrance Ever.

Before you hit play on the video below.. scroll to the very bottom of my blog and pause the music! Then come back up and hit play! I have shared this before with friends and I love it so much I just had to post it on my blog for you all to see! Seriously... it just makes me smile, laugh and then at the end when the bride comes down I will admit I get teary eyed! You can't help but dance a little in your chair! Enjoy friends!

If You're A Bird...I'm A Bird...

When love is not madness, it is not love - Pedro Calderon De La Barca

This quote makes me melt in a way I don't know how to explain. I love this quote. I love it because it is so true. Love and everything about love to me is madness. Madness in the best possible way. Not the crazy, jealousy, out of your mind madness. That is left to the high school years we have most experienced. But the soul searching, heart wrenching, grow old together, inspiring kind of madness. The if you're a bird, I'm a bird kind of madness. (If you don't know that saying, stop reading this immediately, grab your keys and rent The Notebook right away)

Basically, I love, love. I know that my "madness" is there somewhere looking for me too, but until then, I will enjoy other people's "madness", and here are some pictures for you to enjoy from some of my favorite couples this past year!

The Tide Is High and I'm Movin On...

So it happened. I knew that someday it was bound. That every shoot couldn't possibly go so smoothly. That I couldn't be the only one without some crazy story. Well, now I have it! I had a beach shoot that day, so I decided to get there a little early and check out the beach, the lighting, etc. As I pull into Swami's Beach in Encinitas, Ca...I see a crowd of people pointing down to the beach and oohing and ahhing. My mind instantly went into a race. What happened? As I get out of my car and jog over, I see something so terrible it made me want to cry. No, not a terrible crime scene. Even worse. NO BEACH!!! Ummm what?? Apparently the full moon decided to go extra crazy and pull the tide in so high that there was not an ounce of dry sand anywhere. Go figure, I had this family with 2 twin boys, a toddler, the parents AND two German Shepards who wanted to shoot on the beach. Yeah, I was basically helpless.

So as the Jordan gang pulled up in their car I had to stop them from unloading and we all drove down the coast a little ways to try and find a beach not completely submerged! After lot's of walking,  searching and me freaking out in my head, we found a spot! Thanks to Burl, Annie's husband, we found the one spot that was open! I felt relief like I can't remember! So, thank you so much Jordan family for being so amazing, calm and collective and for being so sweet! You made me realize that sometimes things may not go as planned, but when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!

Have a fantastic holiday and can't wait till our next session! Where I am sure it will be a much easier time. :)

Gavin. Enough Said.

So every once in a while we all come across someone who makes you just instantly feel good. Someone who makes you smile and forget about the stress of your day. For me, that person happened to be a little boy named Gavin. I cant tell his parents Katharine and Hans enough how sweet their little boy is! Today I was in need of a smile and something to help me forget the 10 million things that I have to get done by Christmas, so I thought that taking a moment to write this would help. And guess what? It did! I hope his sweet little face makes you all smile as well!

This first picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. He saw an ant and was frightened so his Dad was taking care of it for him! Can we say "awwww?!" :)