Sunday Love Stories

When I look back into the archives of my life, all of my memories can be turned into little love stories.  Sometimes they are pieces of the puzzle that make up mine and Sam's relationship.  Other times they are the stories of best friends and complete strangers making a little impact on my life. Whosever story they may come from, I've realized that I never want to forget the details that have helped me fall in love with love.  From the moments where tears floated down my cheek to those days where we laughed until we couldn't breathe... I want to remember it all.
I believe that everyone's story is beautiful, and I hope that by telling some of mine it will inspire you to share yours.  While I love telling a story with a photograph, I also want to share a piece of myself with words. And so begins a series called Sunday Love Stories.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

It was three years ago but I remember that day like it was yesterday. You had just gotten out of the relationship that forced us into acquaintanceship and somehow I had become your person to lean on. I didn't know how I had gotten that job, or even when I applied for it, but looking back now it feels like it was fate.

A bunch of us were celebrating your birthday with a bonfire on the beach. It was slightly awkward with the crowd that had gathered, and we managed to separate ourselves as we fell into mercilessly flirting with each other. At the time I would have denied it left and right, but I was flirting like I've never flirted before. Everyone there could see it. Everyone knew we were on the track towards becoming a couple; we were the only ones that had no idea. The night ended with your mom asking who "the blonde girl with the camera" was... and when she tells the story now she'll say you blushed.

April 2009

That was the day we became best friends. Not the kind of best friends that secretly wanted to be a couple all along, we simply became each others' favorite person. I would do everything in my power to coincidentally drive to school at the same time as you so that we could walk to our first class together. My flip phone became an extension of my hand when we were apart, as it wouldn't surprise me to receive a text from you minutes after the last bell of the day rang. I even changed your name to "Samantha" in my phone so my parents would stop bothering me about texting a boy.


Three years have flown by and I'm still falling for you more and more every day. I am so thankful for that bonfire on the beach, and for every day afterwards that has brought us to this point. You are the greatest boyfriend I could have ever dreamed of, and more importantly you are still the best friend I've ever known.

Happy Birthday, baby. I love you!

Truett Clayton • Newborn

Remember Kaelan and Matt's maternity shoot a few weeks ago? On Monday April 16th, their family grew a little bigger. Baby Truett was born and, as Kaelan says, "he's simply scrumptious!" As much as I loved having him as a model, the 5 minutes at the end of the shoot where I had the chance to hold him made my DAY. I even offered to take him home with me.

Matt had the biggest smile on his face the entire time. :) 

So tiny and precious!

Meet Otto, the proud big sister.

Kaelan and Matt- thank you, thank you, thank you for allowing me to share in your newest adventure! Good luck with your move to San Antonio and be ready for me to visit when you have your next little "shady!"

Blogging and... Passengering

Why yes I DID just make up a word. I was going to call this post blogging and driving, but I didn't want anyone worrying too much about my safety;)

Sam and I dragged our tired selfs out of bed this morning and were on the road by 5:12 this morning. We're heading home for 48 hours, and then making the 8 hour drive back to Arizona. Sounds crazy right? It is. But also so worth it. We love to come home and clear our minds for a couple days among loved ones and oh-so-wonderfully warm weather.

This trip is a little different. Tomorrow I am shooting my first newborn session with an adorable baby named Truett. Even though I'm nervous about it, I'm also so excited to try something that's out of my element! Then tomorrow evening were having a birthday party for (ready for this?): my mom, my boyfriend Sam, my "second dad" AND one of my grandmas boyfriends. Yes, I said ONE of them. Have I mentioned my entire family is crazy?

Well, thats all for now. I hope you'll check back in a few days when I share Truett's pictures :) Happy Friday!

Specializing in a Special Specialization

Yesterday Sam and I were talking a lot about my business. The ups and downs. The marketing. The clientele. Mostly, we talked about where I wanted this whole photography thing to go. In the past month and a half I've fallen in love with this industry. Whether its meeting a complete stranger who trusts me to capture a memory for them, or just taking pictures of a friend while reminding them how beautiful they are. I love being behind my camera and the emotion is brings.

The point to all this is that talking with him made me realize even more that I want to specialize my business. As much as I love meeting people from all walks of life, what I really want is to be a wedding photographer. I love couples, I love the emotion between them, I love to see a girl feel confident and beautiful, and I LOVE WEDDINGS. I feel like I could see myself doing this forever, and I've never been able to emotionally commit to anything like that before other than my guy.

Almost as if the universe is agreeing with me, a few minutes ago I received my first message through my website.  I saw the words "New Client Inquiry" and lost my breath for a moment. Thanks, universe. I hear you loud and clear.

And because a post is always better with a picture, heres a little peek of two lovely ladies I got to photograph this past weekend.

Sierra and Morgan • Engaged

"Sometimes when you know, you just know"

She'll never forget the moment when he asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. The second time, the one where she said yes, but I guess you could say the first was just as special even if she did think he was kidding.

Sierra and Morgan came from two different worlds. Call it fate, destiny or just darn good luck, but something drew these two towards the little town of Flagstaff, Arizona. It almost seemed inevitable for them to end up together. In true Sierra style, her response to Morgan's "do you want to go out?" was an innocent, "Where?" From that moment on, they became inseparable.

Thank you two for allowing me into your world to capture such an exciting time in your lives!

This shoot was so much fun for two reasons: 

this couple is totally in love and we were cracking up the entire time!

Sam came along on this shoot as my second shooter. So while I was capturing this shot...

He caught this one! Oh how I love working as a team :)