I do love a giveaway!

So I am posting a link of a site that is having a great giveaway today. A Uno Dvd by Lauren Clark. I am also then entered in a giveaway for the Love Affair workshop that I would love to go to.

“Check out http://www.loveaffairworkshop.com! They’re giving away prizes & a seat to their workshop on the blog this week! Go enter to win!”

I was going to die if it didn't stop raining.....

I thought it was going to rain and I was going to miss this.... I thought the blooms would be gone, I thought this couple might not be able to meet with me again for a while and I wanted to take their picture. I have wanted to use this hat for a while and thought that she was the perfect candidate.

These two are absolutely stunning to me. They are funny, sweet and they were so fun to be in here with! I have been eyeing this place for a while. Daniel and I went on a little location hunt and ran across and I absolutely knew it would be perfect. Daniel has caught the fever for finding the right place we find it definitely a challenge. We have been thrown out of places, stared at, laughed at but none of that never really matters. I just love to take pictures.

Since I have not been studying photography for long. Some things are still such a challenge for me. The right light the best angles and positions. One thing stays the same for me that I really cherish the time that I get to spend with each person that I come out with. I never knew that it would become one of the best part of the picture.

These pictures I am going to use for my website which I will hopefully have up in a while. Just waiting on a logo. I never wanted to have a business but now that it is here I want it to be the best that it can be. I hope they love the pictures as much as I do.

What a beautiful day.....

I love this girl. Rachel is unique and beautiful and fun to be around. She has her own style and a beauty that definitely shines through her eyes. I loved taking her senior pictures. I love that she showed up to my house and was so excited because she said "besides wedding pictures this is one of the biggest picture days of your life!" A girl after my own heart.

Yes...I took Rachel to a laundromat. Got a few stares and had to wait a couple of times for a certain person to get his laundry out of the washer into the dryer. I mean I am standing there with a camera Rachel is on top of the washers and he just stands there like are you taking pictures?

This was the longest I have ever taken pictures before. We were out for almost four hours and my hand was cramping and we are freezing but I loved every minute of it.

This is probably an over load of pictures but I just wanted Rachel to be able to see the ones that I loved so far! I really did not know she had it in her. She had a head tilt and a look in her eyes that was unexpected to me and I think she took beautiful photographs.

Look at those eyes! My friend Joella helps me with makeup and I think she does such a wonderful job at keeping the girls looking really naturally but really making their features stand out. Thank you Joella for being there for me and being excited for the girls to get their pictures taken. It really makes them feel special.

Oh what a struggle this week has been. I hope that this week I can put it all behind me and start fresh. That is the nice thing about struggles they don't seem as bad with a little time. I hope that is true for this one as well.

I can't imagine a different life....

I wake up in the morning sometimes already tired from the things that I have to do that day! I wish it would slow down sometimes but then I feel restless during the times that are slow. This past weekend did nothing for my slowing down part. We jumped in the car on Saturday drove 7 hours to my sister-in-laws house in Iowa. Erik (my brother in law) is leaving for Iraq soon and they wanted family pictures. This little ones face lights up the room and his voice is music to my ears.

We also wanted to see our family so we jumped in the car and left. We had a wonderful time and the kids had the mostest fun. I fell in love with those beautiful children and wanted to take some home with me. Not all because there are seven. These are just a few of the ones that I have started to go through.

I also love my camera. I love that I have it. I love that it has become a part of me. I rarely leave home without it because I am afraid that I might miss something. I lug around that big camera because I want to--- not because I have to like a purse or your keys but because it makes me feel real in some way.

I would do this again. I would drive 14 hours stay 22 and leave again just to feel like you mean something. Just to feel real. To have connections, to have family. Jaden by the way did not bode so well on this trip. I zone out on car rides and tend to let the kids do what ever they want to keep the noise levels down. My mistake because from the amount of throw up Jaden ate quite the stash.

I don't believe I ever want to pose a family again. That is my statement here and now. I like the feel of laughing and smiling and things out of focus and playing peekaboo. I grabbed a lot of these while the kids were climbing up their slide in the back yard. So much more genuine so much more relaxing and the pictures to me mean so much more.

Lots going on this week. So I will be updating this blog more for myself to document my life. It might not always have pictures. Probably will....just saying I am going to write it down more and mean it.

Our Wonderful vacation......

So kinda last minute (because that is how we like to do everything) we decided to go and rent a house in Kentucky and stay at the lake with the kids. I have never had such an amazing time. Yes there was the screaming and the occasional "don't touch me!" But for the most part everyone seemed to really love being there together!

I will have to say a couple of things about the man I married. He hates to fish. The boys love to fish. He has often said "I am not the right father for these boys." It makes me so sad because of the amount of love these boys are in with their dad. He would get up every morning and spend hours fishing with all the boys. He didn't know what bait to use or where to tell them to cast their lines but he was there. He dragged them all through the mud (which he hates almost as much as fishing) to find just the right quiet spot to catch the best fish. They caught fish. One really big fish so he is king to them.

He loves my finish product. Sometimes he does not understand how my mind works but he knows in the end it will turn out. He trusts me. He supports me. He has "turned me into somebody loved." I love this picture of him, because he is loved by me. Oh we hate each other a lot of the times and tell each other things that we don't like about each other but at the end of the day this is how I fall.

We were in the middle of no where and there was not a lot of things to take pictures of so I tried desperately to work on the light and getting the details in a shot. Not blowing out the sky or framing a picture correctly. It takes so much practice to learn how to use your camera. I cannot get enough of the sun flare. I had to switch back to my 50 mm lens to get really good ones.

The next couple of months are turning out to be exciting. My mind is twirling over the senior shoots I get to do in the next couple of weeks. I think I love those the best. They are always so excited to get pictures taken. They are willing to try different things.