Congratulations....

To Lauren & Blaise - our newest wedding couple for 2008. The two of them will be getting married in Duncan on August 9 (my little brother's birthday). We're so excited to be able to share this day with them and we know we'll have a wonderful time!!

JC & Deedee

This past weekend, my little brother JC and his wife Deedee ran in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. Deedee was kind enough to send me this picture last night of the two of them after they completed their race.

I was so proud of them - JC called me Sunday afternoon once they'd finished and said that he'd ran 10.7 miles and Deedee and ran 6.2 miles. JC mentioned that it was such an exhillerating experience because he could watch people running with pictures of loved ones they lost in the Murrah bombing in 1995.

I remember exactly where I was at 9a.m on April 19, 1995 - I was in my dorm room at OSU and I felt the blast. I was oblivous to what had happened until my friend Nancy called me and raced to my room to watch coverage on my TV.

Deedee said in her email last night that the two of them didn't train much this year for the marathon and they both fully expected to walk more than they ran, but it was the sheer power of people cheering them on that really kept their momentum going.

"I didn't suddenly became a great runner on Sunday, it was just harder to quit running when people are cheering you on and you know the person next to you is running as hard as they can. I think it is the same in our walk with God; when we have people walking with us and encouraging us, it makes trials and temptations a little easier to get through." - a quote from my sister in law, Deedee.

I'm so proud of both of them for being part of something so monumental. This is the second year they've participated in the marathon. I love them both very much!!

Alex's Senior Session

This evening we shot Alex's senior pictures. I've known Alex since she was in junior high - she's one of my husband's basketball players and will go on to play college basketball next school year.

She said for her session she wanted something fun and edgy - something contemporary and very modern. We went to a couple of different locations to achieve some very different looks.

Here are just a few teasers from this evenings session - even battling high winds - we had to be creative and stay on certain sides of buildings!

Good luck this year Alex and glad Kallie was able to entertain you this evening!!

Cherise's Senior session

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Cherise - a senior at Duncan. Everyone should be as vivacious as she is. After graduation her plans include going to UCO where she'll become a singing accountant - okay, not really, but she will major in accounting and music.

She was brave and was willing to try a few things out of the ordinary. She said she knew she wanted something different from her senior pictures - something that was unique to her. Her biggest thing was as soon as we met up, she told me she hated having pictures taken of her - 2 hours later, we were laughing and giggling about typical girl stuff and she was having fun and all about taking pictures. I think we certainly accomplished getting outside of the box and being creative.

I promised her we'd have a good time and well, I'd just happen to have a camera with me. She had a little faith in me and here are some of my favorite images we captured.

Jerramy's Senior Session

Yesterday amongst some threatening rain drops - we shot Jerramy's senior pictures. Jerramy will graduate in 2009 where he plans on going back to Ohio to go to college. We had some fun shots and there's a lot more to come with some special effects that he had in mind, but these are just a few we finished early for him to look at today.

And what a nice guy - he even invited his older brother along for the session and the two of them grabbed some pictures together. It was nice meeting both of them and we'll post the extra special pictures as soon as we're finished with them.

Kallie's ears....

Kallie has been after us, her parents, for a while now about getting her ears pierced. We've sort of been putting it off thinking it was a phase or something and she'd change her mind. We had orginially told her she had to be 6, but in the last month or so, she's REALLY been talking hard about it.

One day last month, we were all in the mall together so Shawn and I took her to 'check things out', we explained it was like getting a quick shot in her ears, and yes, it would hurt for a little bit, but she'd have to be a big girl and doctor her ears on her own.....otherwise her ears would get 'sick'. We let her look at the earrings she could choose from, she found a pair fo pink sparkly daisies that she loved. We thought she was going to go through with it that day, but quickly changed her mind.

I came home Tuesday night and this was ALL she could talk about. Shawn and I knew this must be something that had been a point of discussion among her little group of friends at school. We told her we'd think about it and talk about it later. We've had a ton of things going on lately and knew it just wasn't the right time.

However - yesterday morning, she was more convinced than ever that today was THE day....I told her we'd talk about it when school was out and I picked her up. I had no more walked into the door at her school when one of her teachers told me that ALL Kallie had talked about all day was that 'my mommy's picking me up today and taking me to get my ears pierced'. Miss Robin said that there had been nothing else on this child's mind but getting those ears pierced.

Of course, I had talked to Shawn several times over the phone during the day about this and he was on the fence - mainly because he didn't want her to grow up too fast. But we got in the car, she was so excited - you'd thought she'd won the lottery or something.

I kept telling her she could change her mind and I wouldn't be mad at all and if she was scared, we didn't have to do this.....she was adament. However, when we started to walk into the mall, I could see some fear in her eyes and her little chin quivered. If I told her 10 times she didn't have to do this, I bet I told her at least 40 while I filled out the paper work. We talked about it would hurt for a second and if she didn't want to do it, she certainly didn't have to. She put on a fearful grin and said she wanted it done. Okay....but, her only rule was that mom couldn't take pictures during it....had to save it for afterwards - 5 minutes later - my daughter's a 'big kid' with pierced ears. She made an excited phone call to her Neenee to tell her all about it. She was afraid to talk to her daddy because she thought he'd be mad. She knew her grandma would be upset and didn't even want to disuss telling her.

But even still this morning - she was beaming light a bright spotlight with excitment to show her friends at school. I was very proud of her. There were only a few tears.....briefly. I was very impressed.

20 Things About Me....

Okay, there's this little email floating around and it keeps getting forwarded to me...I hate forwarding emails like this so, I'll just post it here and everyone can read it so if any of my 'ah hem' friends were thinking of sending this to me AGAIN...here are your answers.....

20 Things You Might Not Know About Me...

1. I am not a night owl. I never have been - not even in college. In fact, since we've had our daughter, my regular bedtime is around 8:30 p.m. - usually nothing gets done from me after this time unless I'm just super busy. I don't answer the phones, emails or really anything but head to bed after this time. Even my parents know that they don't call our house after 9 p.m. unless it's an emergency. Now I don't have a problem calling you at 5:45 a.m. because I AM a morning person!

2. I collect wines. I do drink wine on a few occassions, but really about 4 times a year. Shawn and I don't buy a lot of t-shirts when we go visit a new place, but love to buy local wines - especially the ones in a neat bottle. We never drink them, but they're cool to have.

3. I love Italian food. Pastas, sauces, garlic I'm all about that. That has to be my favorite type of food to eat. I can't handle spicey foods though - anything with lots of peppers or chili in it will send my stomach into a tailspin.

4. My daughter is my best friend. Yes, I know that means that my best friend is nearly 5, but I love being around her. She makes me laugh and sometimes want to pull my hair out, but it's a relationship I truly treasure - I'm crossing my fingers that we'll feel the same way about each other in 10 years!

5. I'm adopted. Actually, my brother and I both are. I get the best kick out of when people say that my mom and I look alike - I certainly know we ACT alike!!

6. I have to have multiple creative outlets. That's why I love photography because every client presents a new way to be creative, new, fresh and different. However, because I know somedays I'm ADHD, I have to try new creative things all the time like painting pottery, jewlery making, gardening, cooking, etc.

7. I am a GREAT multitaskter - I don't think I really know how to just do one thing at a time. I really don't - right now, I have a picture file open to work on, my blog, anwering emails and fielding phone calls - and that's really a light work load for me! Shawn makes fun of me all the time because I can't even sit and watch TV without doing something else. I have to fold laundry, work on the computer or SOMETHING to feel I'm being productive with my time. Mom always told me "Smart people don't get bored" and I rarely do!

8. My daughter is named after my best friend - Sue Ann. She meant the world to me from the time we were about 1 until she died just exactly 1 week before my 26th birthday. We were so close, some people thought we were sisters (even though I was a brunette and she was a red head). I still cry when I think about her and it's been 6 years ago. I also visit her grave at least once a month and tell Kallie stories about her all the time.

9. I believe that things in my world should be just, fair and equal.

10. I hate to clean house. REALLY hate to clean house. Frankly, my excuse is that I don't have time to clean house because I have so many other things going on in my life, that it's not really a priority.

11. I am the most UN-graceful person you'll ever meet. If there is a way for me to hurt myself, I'll do it. I'm really surprised at this point in life, I've never had to have stitches or had a broken bone! I've knocked myself out opening a kitchen cabinet door, shut my nose in my car door and there's a whole raft of other embarassing moments I won't name....

12. During college, I think I can honestly count 5 times I went out to a bar or a party. (See #1). However, I DID make several late night trips to a bar to pick up friends who needed rides home because, well, they didn't need to be on the road and I'm a good friend.

13. I love email! I remember being in college and (yes, this will really make me sound old) getting the internet in my apartment. An old high school ex-boyfriend helped me to set up my new computer and modem and I thought he'd broken it when I heard this weird sound. He laughed and had to explain it was the modem 'talking' to the internet. Oh....okay. (on a similar side note, I also remember when I got call waiting - that same year in college - and I had to call the phone company to find out why the phone kept 'beeping' at me while I was talking to someone).

14. I love to travel. I've been just about everywhere in the US - slept in the St. Louis airport once (fun - not), lived in DC for a brief time, Mexico and Jamaica (where Shawn and I got married). Still on my 'to visit' list is - Italy, Ireland, Spain and England.

15. I'm cheap (that's why my 'to visit' list is so short). I don't usually buy a lot of things for me - clothes, shoes, etc. except for when I NEED something and even then, well, I'm cheap. I get that from my dad. He's SUPER cheap sometimes! I have no problem spending money on other people, but when it comes to me, my 'me' purchases are few and far between.

16. In my lifetime, I've held several jobs - I raised a truck garden in high school (over a couple of acres of tomatoes actually - thus why I don't eat them - except in sauces), professional motivational speaker, gift shop employee, graphic designer, customer service person, newspaper editor, national magazine editor, photographer, reporter, radio DJ, home health representative and was also for a brief time, a pre-need planner for a funeral home.

17. I consider myself to be a very patient person. It takes a lot to get me mad, but I do have a temper once I've reached that boiling point. I don't let a lot of things bother me nearly as much as they used to. I figure life is way too short to worry about things that are either out of my control or frankly don't matter that much in the whole grand scheme of things in life.

18. I don't scare easily. The only thing that can really get me is snakes. Petrified of snakes! But bugs, mice, whatever, they don't bother me. They may startle me because I wasn't expecting them, but I figure I'm usually bigger so why should I be afraid.

19. I love learning new things. Right now my newest project is learning how to texture a wall. I've been saying I was going to remodel our guest bathroom for over 6 years now - never have. Finally, I just sucked it up and decided. Now's the time. Stripped the wallpaper from HE** off the walls, sanded, prepped, painted, and now texturing. I actually did stay up late past my bedtime last night to work on this because I was so excited that it was turning out so well. My work has had to be pieced together over a several day time period because of other things I've had going on, but I'm very excited to finish!! (and get the mess out of my hall way).

20. I love small towns. I grew up in a small town and went to school with all of the same people. I love going home now - especially to the church I grew up in - and seeing everyone. My old preacher is now retired, but still is there and every time I see him, I feel like I'm 5 again. After church, he would hunt down Sue Ann and me and stand us both together side by side and he'd get me on one face cheek and her on the other and give us a good natured pinch. He'll still do that too! We cry every time we see each other now because I usually have my daughter with me and I'll introduce her to him every time as 'Kallie Suanne'. We cry and smile.

BONUS:
21. I cry easily too! (had to write that as I sit here and wrote #20 and started tearing up).

Ashley & Steve's Engagement session

They met a few years ago while working with each other at a local video rental store. They were friends, but life and new jobs took them in different directions. Then one night, Ashley saw Steve's profile on an internet networking site and decided she'd make contact with her old friend. Well, from that inital contact - they started dating long distance. Steve was working and living in OKC, she was still in Lawton. They commuted back and forth until they realized this was the real deal.

Steve moved back to Lawton and quickly found a job where he could be closer to his beautiful love. One thing led to another and now they'll be getting married in August.

We shot their engagements over the weekend - battling 40+ mph winds. Here are a few of my favorites. My personal favorites - the ones where they really let lose and had some childish fun playing in the water! They had me rolling!

Cacey & Matt

Who knew that while in 7th grade, you'd meet your soul mate? Well, Cacey did. The couple I had the honor to photograph today were probably one of my most favorite all-time couples. Their sugary-sweet love and affection for each other is overwhelming.

Matt is one of America's finest and will be leaving this week for Iraq. We decided to do a simple photo shoot that could capture their love of each other on camera and so that both would have a little something current to look at while miles separate them. They've been married for about a year and as a wife - I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be a newlywed or a veteran married woman and be separeated for such a long time.

Cacey & Matt - I had a blast this afternoon and loved getting to know you better. It was truly and honor! Matt - I certainly wish you the very best of luck and may God see you home to your beautiful wife and you're family back up north very soon. I will certainly keep you and your fellow soldiers in my prayers. God speed.

Here are just a few of my favorites from today....

Congratulations....

We wanted to say congratulations to our newest couple - Kyle and Erin. They will be getting married this December and they chose our studio to share their big day with them!

They are just the sweetest couple and we can't wait to see what all they have in store for all of their guests for their post-holiday wedding.

Congratulations once again and we look forward to sharing your big day with you!

James' Senior Pictures

Yesterday, I had the extra special pleasure of photographing James' senior pictures. James, a senior at Elgin, brought along his dad's Harley and we incorporated it into some of the pix - this first one is a personal favorite.



After graduation - James plans on working for a local auto body shop - he'll be the one you need to call when you get into some fender benders and the like!! He's a wiz at cars and well, anything with wheels for that matter. He might not talk your leg off, he's the tall quite type, but you can tell those wheel's inside his head are always running and watching!!



Congratulations on making it to the end of your senior year!! I'm super proud of you! (Oh, did I mention that Jame's just happens to be a third cousin of mine....and his mom Jana is one of the nicest ladie's you'll ever meet!) Have fun at prom this weekend and enjoy these last few weeks. I know you've worked really hard to get to this point!

I absolutely LOVE this first picture!! The blues are all so rich!

I actually got an ALMOST smile here...and trust me - I worked SUPER hard to get even this much of a smile. (He's not a big smiler - but I tried hard to coax at least a small one out of him).

Dena & Aaron

Their's is a love story for the ages...they met in high school and were high school sweethearts. And as life sometimes go, high school sweethearts break up and go their separate ways...only to have their hearts lead them back together again - even several year's later. Their love is now stronger than it was years ago - they have a special understanding of each other that comes with maturity and time. You can see Aaron's very protective, loving nature when he hold's Dena close and looks into her eyes. Dena seemed to melt inside his embraces so much that it could just make your heart melt!

Aaron and Dena will be married in May - an outdoor wedding at her mother's home. They're already working together on blending their new family together and making the transition an easy one for Dena's three children.

You can just see the love in their eyes and as a photographer - there's nothing you love more than being able to let a couple just be themselves - be romantic, relaxed and happy in each others arms. They make a job as a photographer easy.

We look forward to photographing your wedding next month! Here are just a few favorites from yesterday's session.