Home Sweet Home

I'm finally home after a looong trip (check out my Twitter to see what I mean). I will try and get to everyone's emails today, but please understand if I don't. I'll definitely be back in full force tomorrow after I'm physically caught up. Traveling can be sooooo exhausting!!!

Chicago-bound!

So I'm less than 7 hours away from my trip to Chicago. I'm so excited to be there with three of my best friends, not to mention that I will be meeting THE David Jay while I'm there! He's visiting 8 cities in the U.S. to preview the new Show-it Sites and Chicago is one of the stops! It's seredipidous that we'll both be there... I love it when things like that happen! Anyway... if I can post while I'm there, I will. I'm also planning to check my email daily. However, please understand if I cannot get back with you until my return.

I hope everyone has a fabulous week!!!

Chicago

In exactly one week, I will be in the Windy City for a Children's Ministries conference. For those who don't know, in addition to being a photographer, I am also on the Children's Ministries Team at my church, Trinity United Methodist. The conference is being held at Willow Creek, a GI-NORMOUS church located just outside of Chicago. I'm going with three of my best friends, who also work in children's ministries at Trinity and Celebration UMC. We'll be there for fours days, and are sooo excited about the trip. The only downside is being away from Brayden and Shawn. Although I've gone on trips without Shawn, this will be the first real trip away from my Brady Bug. I've only left him for one night before... how will this feel? At least I'll be with some of my closest friends, who are also leaving their children at home, and we can be there to support each other. Note... some of us may need more support than others, but we'll support each other none the less!

If you have any tips for my trip, leave me a comment! I've been there before, but it's been over 10 years. Gosh... that just made me feel old. :(

Wall Art?

So I walk into the dining room and this is what I see. Brayden, my 3-year old, has strategically placed the broom on the edge of the trim so it's balanced and hanging. Seriously... he did this all by himself! That's just crazy!

Beautiful Bianca

Most of the sessions I do are of babies, children or families. But I did something totally different this past Saturday and photographed a teenager... and aspiring model. Oh my gosh... I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we had. Bianca is a natural. I didn't need to direct her at all because she totally "got" what she needed to do. A slight turn of the head. A serious look to a smile. She was FABULOUS and I wish her the BEST of luck on her journey!

My New Norwegian Friends

The same day I did Svein and Heather's session, I photographed his cousin, Grete and her family. Svein is from Norway and his parents, cousin and her family are all in town visiting. Grete hadn't had her children's photographs taken since they were 6 months old, so she was very excited to join us in Tioga for a little shoot of their own! We didn't let language get in the way at all. Before the session I wasn't sure how it would play out--me not knowing any Norwegian word but "farmor" (if that's even spelled correctly). But it was great! They were fabulous and let their personalities shine. My favorite shots were the ones of the kids because they had such unique style and characteristics--Benedicte's streaked hair and her skirt. I probably told her how much I loved that skirt like 20 times! In addition to having a lot of fun, they are just so sweet. I hope they'll come back to visit just so we can hang out again. :)



Grete, Olav, Preben and Benedicte