Sweet Baby Pics!

I so enjoyed photographing this beautiful family at their home on Saturday. When they called and told me they wanted me to take pictures of their baby girl, I was thrilled. I love babies, and photographing these tiny humans during their earliest days and weeks is such a joy.

I had been contemplating buying a black background, and when this family told me that they wanted the pictures to have an artsy/dramatic quality to them, I knew it was time to spring for this fun purchase! I bought a collapsible/expandable 5'x6' backdrop (black on one side and white on the other) that folds into itself and is easy to transport and setup, so taking it with me to this family's house was no problem at all, and I am so pleased with the results!

Their baby was a star performer!

I can't tell you how satisfying it is to be learning and growing in a craft/artform that I have desired to learn for such a long time! My business is taking off, and I'm so happy!

Getting Family Photos for the Christmas Cards!

This family has become friends of ours through our church. They hired me to take pictures of their kids for their family Christmas card. The kids were so loving toward one another, and I loved seeing that!

We shot at a local pond and at the park/playground across the street.

New friends are a real blessing when you move to a new place, and we're thankful to know this family!

This is how people described me as a child, and how I saw myself:

As a child, I was full of laughter. I always had the giggles.

My best friend's mother was a very serious woman who was forever telling her kids to "run along" so she could get on with her business. When I would go over to their house to play, my giggles would so irritate her mom! (My friend once admitted that to me when I asked her why her mom didn't seem to like me.) I never understood how a child's laughter could be so off-putting to an adult.

Laughter is still something I cherish at 35 years old. When Uncle Albert sang "I Love to Laugh" in Mary Poppins I knew he might have looked like a fool, but deep down? He got it!

I knew that you just might be "the one" when...

We were taking a walk one afternoon or evening and Brian told me that he wanted to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas together. I so appreciated his openness and forthrightness about it. I knew he was serious about me. It was during those relationship-defining conversations (along with the way he treasured and treated me) that I began to feel more and more secure in the relationship, and believed it was one that would last a lifetime.

Part of Brian's seminary program included a three-week silence and solitude retreat. (He's monk-ish that way!) We were seriously dating, but weren't engaged yet, and I began to grow a little anxious that all that time alone in a cabin would somehow cause him to change his mind about me. Thankfully, he sensed my anxiety, and it was during another late-afternoon walk (actually, it might have been the same one as above) that Brian told me that he thought I was "the one". He just wanted me to know before he left, so I wouldn't be worried. I told him that I thought he was "the one", too.

It was such a sweet and exciting time in life. All those years of waiting for God to bring us a marriage partner, and suddenly we realize that we've met that person, and a new life together is stretching out before us--a life together.

Some things we did on our early dates were...

First Date: Dinner at Chandra and Ice Cream in Pasadena.

Second Date: Brian picked me up at the air port after being in Texas for a visit. He drove me back to Studio City, where I was living at the time, and we had coffee and deep conversation. I remember being surprised at how open I was with him about my life. I was diggin' him!

Third Date: A four course dinner at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant. We were sitting in this romantic little corner booth, and at one point in the evening he turned his whole body toward me (sort of shifting his attention to me completely), and I could tell that he was diggin' me, too!

Fourth Date: We heard one of Brian's seminary professors speak at his church. I met several of Brian's friends that night. Brian later told me that he was soooooo nervous because so many important people in his life were in that room--his friends, fellow seminary students, his mentor, etc. I guess I made a good impression!

Fifth Date: Brian told me that he wanted to spend the whole day together, so he picked me up in the morning, and took me to the Getty Center. We had lunch there at the lovely restaurant. I remember my meal (lamb!) because it was so good, and Brian was giving me flirty eyes across the table. After lunch, we strolled through the beautiful gardens and he reached out and held my hand for the first time. It was fuuuuuuuuuuun! Can you say "butterflies"?! We had dinner that evening at Houston's (grilled artichokes!) and saw a romantic comedy (Failure to Launch). Needless to say, it was a good day!

Starshine Photography: Maternity Pictures

I had so much fun photographing my friend Jennifer and her adorable pregnant belly!

Jennifer is one of my new friends here in Houston. Redheads unite! I'm so thankful for her friendship and sense of fun!

This is how I remember the first time we met...

Brian and I met on eHarmony, so our initial conversations were over e-mail. Soon, we talked on the phone. Not long after that we had our first date--dinner at a Thai restaurant called "Chandra" in Pasadena, CA. Brian was seated at the table when I arrived and stood up to greet me. My first thought was, "He's tall!", and I liked that. Dinner conversation was easy and light-hearted. I knew he could be my good friend, but didn't know yet if we would become more. Brian asked me out for a second date at the end of the first. I said yes!