My perfect Christmas

“So, you ready to go home?” … I’m thinking to myself, what! I thought it was happening tonight?!?! But on the outside- I’m cool as a cucumber. “Sure.” We started walking to the car, but I was quickly diverted in another direction.

This is the night I got engaged. I thought I knew everything. I thought I knew every move he was going to make – but the whole, ‘are you ready to go home’ really threw me for a loop. This is what’s wonderful about Caleb; he knows I’m ornery so he plays along with it!

As we walked around Rhema I could tell he was trying to find a place where there were not a lot of people around. I finally saw a place, looked over at him and said, ‘I know where we’re going’ and started walking towards it. Again. ORNERY!

As we walked up to the spot Caleb pulled a letter out of his pocket and told me he had something for me to read. Upon looking up from the oober sweet letter he lowered himself onto one knee and said those words every girl dreams of while spinning around in circles in her bedroom growing up. It was perfect. Nothing showy- nothing extravagant – just the most important part of it all. ‘Will you marry me?’ …it’s enough.

We are so excited and of course bombarded with a zillion questions that we can’t answer. ‘Have you set a date?’ .. umm.. TBD… ‘What kind of dress do you want?’.. TBD… ‘Where are you getting married?’… sorry to be repetitive but, TBD.

For now, pure excitement. We have opened a new chapter in our lives, one we cannot wait to share with everyone. The Lord is so good!

Christmas Miracles

Every year we sit back and reflect on our achievements from the past year. We lean back in our chairs, cross our arms and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. What have we really achieved though? I mean, don’t get me wrong, we’ve all done some pretty fantastic things, but isn’t there still so much more to be done?

My best friend became an aunt last night… to a beautiful little Ethiopian boy named Silas. In my eyes, this is one of the most beautiful achievements. The new parents of this little gift followed through with a plan God had for them and have now blessed so many people around them. Silas has been blessed with not only two awesomely loving parents, but also a family the size of Texas to love on him! No, seriously, you should see the amount of stockings hung at the grandparent’s house. It’s enough to make anyone jealous.

I have been excited for this young couple since my best friend leaked the news to me a few months back. I’ve known about the struggle and heartache they had endured throughout the adoption process, but to see it all come full-circle, well, it nearly sent drippy little tears down my face. This has all been so special ,but it wasn’t until this morning when I saw the pictures of baby Silas being carried through customs to be embraced by his new family all adorned in white t-shirts that said ‘Welcome Home Silas’ that I fully understood the joy they were all feeling. It was then I realized what Sarah and Jonathan had done. Realized how with this one decision they have changed and blessed this little boy’s life forever.

So, yeah, we’ve all done some pretty awesome things this year. Maybe you’ve conquered your fear of skydiving or made your very first batch of chocolate chip cookies, but man, isn’t there so much more to be done?

Magical Christmas Elves

We would wait for hours for those sneaky little elves to make their way from the North Pole to leave bits of candy in our tree decorations.  We were diligent about it too.  We schemed about how we would stake out in corners and eventually catch the little guys, but man were they fast!   My brother and I could not figure it out!  We would turn our heads for one second and, BAM!, the candy would appear, nice and cold, yet tucked neatly in our Christmas ornaments.  Puzzled, we walked away, not understanding how we missed them again!

This one particular time I turned to my grandpa and questioned why the hershey's were so cold.  He looked down into my inquiring little blue eyes and said, "Well, sweetie, those elves come from way up north at the North Pole where it is very cold."  Good call grandpa.  He was a very wise man you see. 

I remember bending my little knees and leaning forward towards him all-the-while my grandpa mimmicking my action as I sneakishly whispered closely to his face, "We'll catch them next time grandpa, won't we!"  Indeed little one, he replied, Indeed.

You see, it took my brother and I a few years to figure out this fun little game that was being played on us, but alas - one cold night in December we were at my grandparents for dinner and I opened the freezer door to get ice out and.. what was in the door you ask? Huh, my question exactly.  I turned to my grandma and asked why they had Christmas colored Hershey's kisses frozen just like the elves brought?  My grandma replied ever so nonchelantly, well, your grandpa likes frozen hershey's. 

It was in this moment I figured out there were no magical little Christmas elves.  That they didn't venture miles through the land of 'swirly,twirly gumdrops' in hopes of finding their dads.  It was then I realized my grandpa had been the magical Christmas elf all along.

It is memories like these that make me love Christmas time.  They allow me to venture back in time to my best childhood memories and re-live special times I had with  my grandpa.

My grandpa is no longer with us, but because of the magical Christmas elves I will never forget him.  Every year I  put up my Christmas tree and hang my magical ornament on it in hopes that my elf will make his way through the land of 'swirly, twirly gumdrops' to bring me a christmas colored hershey's kiss.

Tick-Tock

It never happened fast enough.  They kept saying, it will come around again next year.  But no.  I wanted it to stay today, in this moment, forever.  The warmth of those around you.  The unconditional love I always felt.  I feared the end of it all.    But then, the infamous scream, " SANTA'S COMING!!!"  Ok, so maybe we didn't scream that exact phrase, but we all know what runs through the mind of a six year old on Christmas Eve.  " SANTA'S COMING!!"  Sorry, couldn't resist.

These are the times we get to swoon over the love our family's give one another.  And yes, I did fear the end of Christmas Eve.  See, my family always celebrates on this particular night.  We sit around until the wee hours of the morning exchanging gifts with one another, then scurry off to bed in time for the big man in the red jacket to scale down the chimney.

And folks, the time is nearing.  Christmas time.  I, for one, cannot wait.  You see, I am a Christmas girl.  Born two weeks before Christmas (and yes, I will expect you all to remember that) I think I have earned my right to bask thoroughly in everything that screams Christmas Time!  Ornaments, little bells that jingle, extremely tacky Christmas sweaters (I have one that will take the cake!), big, beautiful glittery bows, Christmas carols, gifts stacked upon gifts, Christmas candy, glistening lights, and let's not forget the infamous tradition of driving around looking at how everyone else decorated for the Holiday.  I simply love this time of year.  There is something about this month in particular that brings out a special side in everyone.  One I wish we could keep around all year long. 

A lot has changed since I feared Christmas Eve ending.  I have welcomed many new editions into my family and no longer fear reaching the last package in my stack of gifts because I've learned as you get older life moves faster.  It moves faster than a blink of an eye and before I know it Christmas Eve will peak it's beautiful head out again!

And since everything's a little more interesting with pictures, here is one from my day after Thanksgiving session.  Two adorably-beautiful cousins!

ADDENDUM

I AM thankful
I LOVE the warm feeling of the sun in the springtime
I FEAR to never be good enough
I AM CRAZY about making others feel special
I WANT chocolate EVERY day
I HATE inconsiderate people
I ALWAYS CRY during worship songs at church
I THINK working out is a fad, but I've given into the fad
I AM SCARED of life changing
I HATE that my best friends all live in different states!- good vacations though
I LOVE sleeping under HEAVY blankets & loath the moment my alarm makes me get out
I MISS the times during childhood when I thought a nickle made me rich
I THINK I am spoken to through song lyrics
I HAVE the best brother you've ever seen- my friends have adopted him- and I'm OK with that
I NEED to eat more vegetables, but that's not fun
I AM not always tactful
I LOVE dancing in the car.  And that thoroughly embarasses Caleb
I HEART blog comments!

Door Number One

Go right or go left? Neither path seems clear, so I stay straight. There is no way to know when things will change, but they do. Abruptly. Life is no longer clear. I grasp for anything that feels familiar, but nothing is anymore. My life has been changed before my very eyes. At first I hate it, I loathe the fact that I no longer am in control. But slowly grace and forgiveness seem to work their way into the mix.

It seems as though curve balls are just an ornament in life. Without them we continue stumbling on the path we have chosen. Without them new doors are never allowed to make their way open. We are afraid of the splinter filled doors. We are afraid of the sounds the old creaky hinges will make. We just assume keep them nailed shut for fear of what lies behind each one.


It’s been almost a year. “We’ve decided to downsize our company.” The most dreadful words I could have imagined at that stage in life. A fairly ‘fresh’ graduate of Oklahoma State and the most recent member of the Unemployment Club. Blessing. Not exactly the word I would have used to describe my situation.


Almost one year later. Blessing: the kind that makes your heart jump out before you. Door number one: blessing. I was so afraid of what hid behind each one I could not bare the thought of letting go of my ‘comfortableness.’ Yes, my fear of the unknown still makes me want to grasp for the things that feel familiar, but I now know that whatever it is that hides behind each door will always turn out to be some sort of a blessing.


I have told many of you about my ‘door number one.’ But for those unaware, it consists of the thousands of images I poor myself over, the noise my camera makes every time I click the shutter, the story each one of my pictures tell – both to you as well the stories engraved in each frame, stories only I know. I am blessed. Blessed by my door number one.

Oklahoma City Photograhy Session- Family

I find it impossible to say that God doesn't have a sense of humor; after all, I think He made little boys just to keep moms on their toes!

I ran around Oklahoma City with these two Saturday morning and loved every second of it. We were under a bit of a time constraint considering Oklahoma State played at 2:30, but with the time I was given, I think we ended up with some great shots.

These two boys are, well…, ALL BOY! Jacob is the oldest and, like most children, thrives off of being outside on open ground and allowed to just RUN! Andrew, on the other hand, is at his prime doing whatever Jacob does. That, and doing the opposite of what you want him to do. Typical two year old.

Oh, and did I mention their mom, Courtney, makes some stellar cookies! I think if I spent more time around her I’d weigh 80 pounds more than I do right now. She is amazingly talented with the cookie icing. No seriously. I have trouble spreading the stuff right and she makes the most amazing designs you’ve seen. God-given talent. That’s what I call it.
All-around, this family is amazing.  They love one another with their souls... just another reason to make me love them more.
 

A story behind each image

I know I always say this, but it's so true: I love the people I photograph. I love walking around taking pictures of people all-the-while finding out what makes them happy, what the best things in their life seem to be, and where they want their lives to go. That's one of the things that makes each one of these pictures special to me- I know the stories behind each one.

Rebekah is another senior who has so much before her. She has plans to go to TU with the option of pursuing a physical therapy degree at the University of Oklahoma ( I'll have to learn to forgive her on choice of OU, Go Pokes!) R and I spent the afternoon scouring downtown Tulsa for some fun locations and then decided to join the rest of the Tulsa photographers at Woodward Park. Now, when I say 'the rest of the Tulsa photographers' I'm serious... no exaggeration in this statement. We strategically shot around these other groups of people and finished up with what follows...

Here is my beautiful new friend, Rebekah.

Little Miss Riley

I love this child. Riley is one of those 'hide behind their momma's skirt at first then ten minutes later run around the room because they're not shy anymore' kind of girls. She was a little bit on the hesitant side at first, but after the first few minutes, she fell in love with what we were doing. She had lots of questions about 'why do you have that shiney thing?' and then ' well, why does it have two colors on it'. But the coolest part was teaching her how to find the light in the reflector then using her as my sidekick while I photographed other people! Once she got the hang of it, Riley would go 'Oops, the light is over there'... then she'd move the reflector and pop the light right where I needed it. I'm not sure, but I think she has a future ahead of her. Here is a gorgeous five-year-old named Riley.

Duncan

Janessa Gray

There are so many things I could write about this girl, she's just that wonderful. She is the oldest of four with the latest edition born less than a month ago. Her family consists of some of the sweetest, most genuine people I've ever come across: there the type of people that make you feel like one of their own from the moment you meet. And she has a spirit about her that just makes you excited about life. This girl is the whole package. Janessa and I were in for quite a surprising treat during her session. We were 'serenaded' at one location by a very tone deaf family performing 'today's hits' charaoke style at a park. This allowed for quite a few laughs on everyone's part. We then were greated with wild horse back riding in the middle of a park - no joke. At this point I looked over at Janessa and said, " Only in Oklahoma." I had such a blast with this girl! We ran all over town, laughed the whole way through her session, jumped in some FREEZING water and wound up with some pretty incredible images. Here is my beautiful new friend, Janessa.

Daisy Baby

I cannot say enough good things about this young woman. I use to babysit her when she was younger, but little Kimberly has grown into a poised young lady.

I was so excited to get back to my computer and see what we captured on our evening out: WoW was I astonished! I normally make myself pick my top 5 favorites to post to my blog, but when I ran through her files I ended up with 25! No Joke!

This girl is so full life, energy, aspirations, beauty, grace... well, I could go on forever. She is truly a one-of-a-kind gal.

We got together for a few hours the other night and had way too much fun! I even learned a little about my shooting style: that being I evidently get in some pretty strange positions in trying to capture 'that one awesome shot'. Nonetheless, we got some AMAZING shots for Kimberly's Senior Year.

Kim, I hope your senior year is equally as much fun as mine was. You are so special and have so much ahead of you. I just can't help but get excited for you!

Here is a glimpse into my beautiful friend, Kimberly Gray.

Rep Cards

How fun are these?!? These are the new Press Printed Rep cards you receive with your order. I design them with some of my favotire images from your session, and for each card I get back from a new booking you will receive $25 print credit! Now, that's what I call a deal!

Seniors are so fun to shoot. They are so full of life and ambition... it just makes me excited about life. These guys have so many aspirations as to what life has in store for them, so curious as to where their paths will lead them and let's not forget to mention all the wonderful people they still have to meet ( I think that was my favorite part).

Sam is a Senior at BHS. He plays baseball for the Bruins, but another one of his true passions is racing. He has grown up around the race track and spends his weekends either playing ball, racing or working on his race car with his dad.

Here are a few of my favorites from my time with Sam.

" Housekeeping"

Gracious. Loving. Considerate. Spunky. Loyal. Grateful.

Danielle & Juan have one of those stories you just love to hear. They've known each other for, well, a while. Juan told me he had to ask Danielle out somewhere over ten times before she finally surprised him by saying 'OK'. They are the kind of people that love from deep in their gut and just can't help the fact that it spills out on those they touch.

Mother Nature tried to play a little trick on us for this shoot, but don't worry, we won that game. There was quite a bit of rain the morning of their engagement session--- enough to send a sense of panic through all of us--- but the clouds blew off and left us with such a gorgeous night!

My favorite part of this whole night? Well, oh wait- I can't share that yet... You'll have to wait and see. Let's just say it involves an awesomely Orange Boxter Porsche and the cutest old man driving it: well equipped with his Cowboy hat and ORANGE boots. Only in the South!