Archive for July, 2010

So this last month has been the busiest month I’ve ever had in my life.  July is by far my busiest month work wise, but added on top of it was a whole bunch of craziness. Thankfully God is good and we’ve managed to stay sane throughout all of it!

Let me jump right in and explain all the busy-ness (yes new word. Dictionary of Jenica).

My dad met the woman of his dreams. (WHOOP WHOOP). Dad got engaged, offered to sell us his house (which is HUGE compared to the tiny house we owned). So, we thought, “yes, this would be wonderful, but how on earth will we sell our house in this market?!!” So we mulled over the idea and started our ideas for putting it up on the market. Not a week later, a friend of ours was looking for homes and I teased her about us selling ours. She responded “I’m totally interested, tell me about it.” So I wrote her a huge message about our house and told her how much we were wanting for it. She writes back and says it sounds PERFECT and could we send pictures of it to her. Ok, I guess. I tried not to get my hopes up about it, but took pics and emailed them to her. She writes back and says that they’d like to make an appointment to see it. So we cleaned up the house and got it ready to show them. They come see it and fell in love and decided that they wanted to buy it. At this point I was like, “Okay God, apparently this is all part of your plan and if it’s up to you, it will work out.”

Fast forward a week.

At the same time we signed loan papers with my friend and her hubby, we signed papers with my dad to buy his house. All is good and we move forward. We started cleaning up/painting/renovating my dad’s house.

Fast forward two weeks;

Got all walls painted, carpets and flooring put in, and helped dad move out all of his stuff. We worked day/night on our project since we were closing in 30 days.  I cleaned/painted/renovated by day and edited by night. I did weddings/sessions in between and was tired. REALLY tired.

Two days ago we started moving into the new place and we’re almost done unpacking. After 12 moves in 10 years we’re moving pros. 😉

One day ago my dog decided to kill a raccoon that invaded the backyard. $417 and 12 stitches later, she’s just fine. Not a moving expense I had planned on, but at this point ya gotta roll with the punches if ya know what I mean.

My dad is getting married on September 25th (and yes, I’m photographing the wedding, so you will see pics!!). He’s staying with us until he ties the knot. My kids are SUPER excited to be living in “grandpa’s house” and I’m sooooo happy to be able to have people over and not feel cramped. Today we had the family birthday party for my daughter and it was so nice to have everyone over and have plenty of entertaining space!!

So while the timing has been interesting moving mid-July with five weddings and countless sessions, but it’s all worked out.

Right now I’m working hard editing all the beautiful wedding photos from the last few weeks and I’ll start posting all the previews as quickly as I can. I’ve somehow by the grace of God managed to stay on top of my normal work throughout this crazy time.

I would like to publicly thank my good friends Rhonda and Lindsay. They have helped out more than I can even explain. They’ve cared for my kids, helped me move, and Lindsay has been my right hand girl with the house stuff!!!  She helped me rip out carpet, make dump runs, and without her (and Rhonda) there’s no way we would have gotten this much done this quickly. They’ve been there with me when I’ve had my meltdowns, laughed with me and cried with me.

I’d also like to thank my dad for his AWESOME work remodeling the kitchen and making sure this house was finished for us. He has been so incredibly generous and I’m a lucky gal to have a daddy like him. I’m so incredibly excited for him to start his new life with his soon to be wife. They are a perfect pair and it’s just been incredible to see him this happy.

I’m blessed beyond words.

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my dorky self at a wedding.

(Taken by Leya)

oh my goodness, I do this every year, but every time my baby girl has a birthday I get all weepy and amazed at how old she is!!!

Derrick and I had Keely when we were young and we traveled the world with her. She’s the one that introduced us to parenthood. She’s incredibly smart, beautiful and one of the funniest kids I’ve ever met in my life. She reads constantly (there’s never a moment when she doesn’t have a book in her hand) and she’s just plain cool.

I love you SOOOOOOO much Keely.

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

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I love this one, but as a mama it makes me want to lock her up till she’s thirty!!!

k5this is the goofy girl I know!!!


Katie and Dillon married at the Red Barn in Chehalis, Washington. A venue I’d never been to before, but hope to go to again. It was absolutely perfect and provided a fantastic backdrop for photos.

We did their “first look” photos at the Library in downtown Chehalis. It too was GORGEOUS and I could have spent hours just photographing them there.

I’m gonna be honest and say that this blog post has taken me quite awhile to finish. For starters, this couple is absolutely stunning,  they had a GORGEOUS wedding where I took WAY too many images, and to top it off  they are head over heels in love and every time they got together sparks started flying!!!

I seriously could  post five more blog posts about this wedding, but I must get back to editing my other weddings.

Thank you Katie and Dillon for having me be a part of your day. Also a special thanks to Jan (Katie’s mom) for coordinating everything with me. You were awesome!!!

Also, very special thanks to Leya who was my second shooter. She rocks my socks off and is such a blast to work with.

Without further ramblings, here’s the photos!!!

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Two incredibly gorgeous people!

(okay katie, when you and Dillon decide to have kids, please hire me.

seriously.

They will be so cute it’s not even funny!!)

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I love the “first look” before the ceremony. It’s such a beautiful/private time for the bride and groom to see each other before they are wed!

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pure awesomeness.

I’m a dork, sorry.

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I would say this is my favorite


sbblog1LOVE the details!

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totally rad shot by Leya who ROCKS the wide angle

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and yes, I do take “normal” bridal portraits, but those are so boring. These are WAY more fun!!!

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Katie’s father passed away when she was little, so after the ceremony they played the song “The little Red Balloon”

Then they released red balloons with messages on them to her dad.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, including my own.

It was incredible.

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I had soooooo many babies come visit me the last couple of weeks that I just HAVE to show them all off.

Here’s some of my favorites….

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I just love these little girls. they are so incredibly adorable!!!

sb9seriously, can’t resist that one on the right, can ya??

PERFECT!!!

blog10yup, I knew you’d love these ones!!!

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oh and THIS little guy is just perfection. He gave me so many looks, smiles, and frowns.

6 month old babies are my absolute favorite age.

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can’t resist this one either. SOOOO cute.

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I guess I get this look a lot from the baby crowd. Maybe it’s the animal sounds I make, I dunno…

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I love every single thing about this one.

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HUGE canvas on my wall.

Seriously, I hate to admit, but one of my favorite baby/dog pics of ALL TIME.

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Okay mr. N, that hat is perfect. You must share where you got it.

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AHHHHHHHH

these babies are killing me with their cuteness.

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this little guy got this airplane from his grandpa.

I am in love with this photo and that cute plane!!!

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such a little stud!

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I love baby and mama pics. Maybe it’s because I wish I were in more photos of me and my kids.

I will change that soon, I promise.

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that perfect little face!!

This little guy was a chunk a monka and cute and squishy!!! His mama said he probably wouldn’t sleep, but I proved her otherwise and got a few shots of him sleeping.

Thanks for having me do his first photos. As always it was my pleasure. 😀

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I never grow tired of this pose. LOVE that little chubby baby!!

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how cute and bright eyed is he??!!!

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um probably by far my favorite

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Oh how I love this shot!!