Kylie + Issac are in love.

Kylie and Issac are high school sweethearts and within a nano second of meeting them I knew that I was meant to photograph their wedding day. Kylie has romantic blue eyes, her laughter flows freely and at any given moment she can catch Issac looking at her and her entire face lights up. Issac has a personality that radiates through the spiky hair style he struts. He can make Kylie laugh just by winking at her! Together they laugh with each other, at each other and at themselves!

Romantical eyes.....

lovin' the mood here.a perfect kiss!

You guys are adorable and I enjoyed the story of how Kylie spit bread on your face! That had me laughing long after you guys left our shoot together...... and again now! (You have my drool story to share if you want to!! HA!) I am looking forward to your wedding day! <3

the fotobug.... is now a shoe?!

A couple of weeks ago I got a message from one of my customers, Trang, who has become a dear friend to me. She is known as my 'floating bride'. She had asked me what size shoes I wore. I was so busy working that I just wrote her back and didn't really inquire as to why she wanted to know. Well, three weeks later she handed me a box with the most beautiful shoes inside! She told me it was a thank you gift for everything I have done for her. For her???? I strongly feel like it's the other way around! I am so busy working, working, working that I forget to eat. I often get calls and messages from Trang asking me if I have eaten yet. Most of the time I haven't even considered making time for myself to eat. But, Trang does. She takes care of me. She knows that I can drink a fresh coconut at any hour of any day and she knows that I can put peanut butter sauce on anything and love it. (My mouth is watering just at the mere thought!) She knows how much I need to eat because I am an avid runner and I need the extra energy. Trang is a great listener and a wonderful human being. And knowing that she cares about me means so much to me!

Check out my new fotobugs!

Running in pink shoes makes me go faster.... I just know it! You better watch out Lincoln... and Steve... and everyone else in my running group that is faster than me!

Trang, I love you pretty lady! xox

Thank you.... for just being you. <3

Opal is gonna graduate!

Now that Opal is getting ready to graduate I can't help but think of the time we were playing in my bedroom with our freshly painted fingernails. She was 6 years old and we started playing with my tape recorder, which I often used to record myself singing to. (I can't believe I just admitted that!) As I pressed record and placed the recorder up to Opals mouth, her impromptu song flowed from her lips, 'Hey pretty lady don't you ever stop just go, go, go.... hey hey pretty lady don't you ever stop just go, go, go....... you can't be stopped.' (I will have to find the tape for you one day so you can hear it for yourself!)

Opal was a miracle angel from the moment she arrived on earth. She was born premature and I remember my mom describing baby Opal as the tiniest baby she had ever seen. My mom told me that Opal's head was no bigger than a small tangerine and that her hands were as tiny as a porcelain doll and even smaller were her itsy bitsy fingernails, like a delicate speck of paint. I remember mom searching through my Cabbage Patch Dolls clothing just so Opal could be properly dressed until she left the hospital. Opal's mother, Lucyann, was born with her own challenges. Lucyann was born with muscular dystrophy and at only the age of one and a half she developed rheumatic fever. Opal has closely watched her mother go through two open heart surgeries and countless trips to the ER. Something a child should never have to see her own mother go through.... the constant worry of her own mother's life always on Opal's mind. When Opal was ten years old, I remember her asking me how old she had to be to get a job so she could help her mom 'get money'. It was what she most looked forward to doing. Most ten years old girls look forward to rollerskating and slumber parties and wanting cute hair ties. Opal looked forward to helping her family survive. And she did just that.

She has a perfect laugh.

When I saw this stop sign laying on the ground... it made me think of her song and I got goosebumps all over.
Lovin' the hair!
Stunning lady.
I love love LOVE this image of Opal. She is beautiful inside and out!
My sweet cousin Opal, you were born as an angel and placed straight into 'the real world' for a reason. Together you and your mom are true survivors and I am bursting with pride and feel so privileged to say that you are my family.Congratulations on your graduation!
Hey hey there world, there is a pretty lady named Opal and she can't be stopped...

.....just go, go, go..

.....you can't be stopped.