Tiffany and Jay :: Mid-Spring Snow and the Little Mermaid

I had the opportunity to shoot such a fun wedding at the beginning of April in my hometown of Kansas City, Mo. It was quite nostalgic for me because I also go to spend time with the 'rents and my brother, in addition to seeing tons of people I know at the wedding. It was seriously such a fun wedding, full of laughter and not an ounce of stress. Seriously. I took so many photos, there no way I could fit all my favs in one post. Check out my Facebook page for more photos ;).

The last time I saw Tiffany, she was twelve.

Yeah, she's grown up a little :).


Tiffany is my good friend Charity's little sister and they were such a fun family to be around on that cold Saturday in Kansas City.




And it so warmed my heart to see that the bridal party enjoyed a morning snack from Hy-Vee, the grocery store that I worked at all through high school.


Beautiful flowers


Ya know, you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes. Tiffany's shoes... so indicative of her laid-back and fun personality


And Charity's shoes... totally fabulous, just like her :)




Tiffany and Jay chose to see each other before the wedding so they would have more time for photos... which i LOVE! The had a private moment together in the church as they saw each other for the first time


We had grand plans of heading to Unity Village for photos of the couple, but Kansas City had a snow storm. Yeah, go figure! But the church had BEAUTIFUL windows that let in some gorgeous light, so it all turned out great! AND, Tiffany and Jay had already scheduled a Day-After session with me for late June for some more relaxed portraits of them in their wedding gear, so you'll definitely be seeing some outdoor photos of them later this summer.


Jay was so taken with his bride he just had to grab a pic of her with his cell phone :).




And this might possibly be the wedding with the cutest kids ever. See what I mean?






The lovely ladies


and handsome gents


I love this photo of Tiffany's dad. I can only imagine the emotions he must have been feeling as he watched that cute little flower girl just moment before he gave his own little girl away.


Tiffany had songs from the Little Mermaid AND High School Musical in her wedding. Um, yeah. I liked that a lot :).


Married!


3 ways you can tell you're at the wedding of a youth pastor:

GI Joe delivers the groom's cake


Adult youth workers rap a personalized song about the bride and groom


A trio of high schoolers surprise the newlyweds with a rousing version of "My girl," in three part harmony mind you.


Some reception details


Tiffany and Jay, thank you so much for letting me share in your joy. I can't wait to see you all again in June!

Marvelous Monday #9 :: Something Big

Prepare yourself. This is big.

One of the reasons that Monday is so miserable for me is because I just am too dang busy for my own good. I work full time as a graphic designer and photographer at MBU. I work work everyday until at least midnight (most times later) editing wedding and portrait sessions. I take my lunch breaks to answer the flood of emails I receive everyday. I work Saturday shooting weddings and Sundays shooting portrait session. I host a Bible study at my apartment. I volunteer at church. Oh yeah... and I live in a boys dorm, which fills in all the extra free time I may have :). So when Monday morning rolls around, I'm usually whining about having to get up because I can't remember the last day I had to just do laundry or even just work out.

Well, that's going to change.

On Friday, I did something big. And I mean REALLY big.

I quit my job at MBU.

After a lot of prayer and careful consideration, it was pretty to clear to both Jon and I that I can't do it all and remain sane anymore, especially with the hugely busy wedding season that is already in full-force. So I told my vice president that as of July 1, I would be resigning my position at the University. Such a tough thing to do, but I know it's the right thing.

So it's official now. And I'm so pumped about devoting all of my energy to my photography business. I have some ideas in the works that, up until now, I just didn't have time to implement... so get excited :). And I definitely could not have made such a big jump if it had not been for all of my wonderful clients, to whom I am eternally grateful for believing in me and trusting me to capture your memories. Words really can't express how excited I am to be following my dreams.

So even though I'm so tired right now that I could just curl up under my desk and sleep till noon, this Monday sure is marvelous :).

Terrific Tuesday #8 :: Time for some new Tunes

Ok, so I know I missed my Marvelous Monday post yesterday... but Stella has been keeping us busy. Who knew she'd get up several times during the night and cry and need to go outside... I'm totally exhausted. So here's a terrific Tuesday post :)

I am pretty much addicted to iTunes. I have it running non-stop on my computer, even when I'm not in the room -- if you don't believe me, you can ask my slightly-annoyed co-workers :). I usually fall in love with a song or album or TV show and watch or listen to it over and over and over again until i start to hate it. Then I just buy more. It's a beautiful thing.

I've been going through kind of a dry spell lately, though, and I've gotten a little bored with my music. That is, until random visitors in my office started suggesting music for me (I wonder if my slightly-annoyed co-workers had anything to do with that...) In the last few weeks I've added some pretty rad tunes to my library, and just in case any of you are going through a good music drought, here are some songs I've recently downloaded to bring me out of my musical monotony. After all, next to a caffeinated beverage, what better way to start off your week than with some good new music?

Marie Digby - you know, she sings the cool version of Umbrella
and her CD is only $6.99 on iTunes!

Jon McLaughlin
You may recognize him from his cameo in Enchanted. His CD was recommended by Adam and John
He is one AH-mazing piano man, which I dig.

Ghetto Superstar Pras Michel
I can't get this song out of my head!!

Brooke Wagonner
(download her EP for FREE at her website)















Lost: the Constant
LOVE love love this episode. I've watched it WAY too many times.


If you have some music recommendations, do share! And have yourself a Terrific Tuesday.

Happy birthday to my man

What has two thumbs and has a birthday today?
This guy.


So today is my man's birthday. Meet Stella, Jon's early birthday surprise.


More pics to come. Believe it :).

Amy :: Class of '08

Ah, another early spring shoot. Beautimous.


Amy met up with us at Bee Tree Park for her senior photos on a beautifully sunny day.




I think she totally looks like Kate Winslet here.






My fav. Amy is the woman. She hiked across this perilous hill in heels. Yep, she's the woman :).

Baby Gabriella

Oh my cuteness.


Just a little while ago, I shot maternity photos for Jackie and Michael and now, adorable Gabriella is here! I visited Gabriella's house for a session just a little while ago to catch her interacting with her parents in her natural environment. Jackie had me come over just as Gabriella was waking up, which is when she is the happiest.


She's not used to seeing bearded men first thing when she wakes up, so my trusty assistant startled her for a bit


but she was all smiles just seconds later :)




Seriously, could Gabriella get any cuter?!










She is one stylin baby. I'm lovin the pink beanie.




kinda makes me want one...