Being Great & Oklahoma Sunsets

I want to love until my heart explodes.



I want to be great.


I want my work appreciated for what it is rather than a price tag.


Oh, and I want my nephew to not be scared of Halloween. He’s 2 and he’s deathly afraid. Poor guy.

This is why I love Oklahoma.  You can't get sunsets like this anywhere else.

Today

I sit here as the Hubs watches the Dallas Cowboys.  Lame-O.

I got some new gear last week that I'm super pumped to share!  My bag is now riding a little heavier with my two new lenses.  Let's face it.  I sat on my couch in silence waiting to hear the roar of the UPS truck come down my street.  Then the doorbell rang and it was all over!  I almost hugged the UPS lady I was so excited.

In other news my weekend consisted of OSU homecoming which suffered a not-so-fun loss to Nebraska.  Stinkin Huskers!  On the bright side though I got to spend some much needed quality time with my best friend.  I haven't seen her since the wedding a few months ago, so it was so nice to get to sit with she and her hubby at an old college favorite, Red Rock Bakery.  Yumm-O!

I promise I took lots of pictures of the infamous Homecoming House Decorations that I'll post soon.  Stay tuned!

Friday Night Lights

This weekend is the weekend we wait for all year... If you're an Oklahoma State person that is.  It's Homecoming!!!  I know what you're thinking.  Lame-O!  And that's fine.  If you've never been to our homecoming you have absolutely no idea what you're missing.  OSU is known for having the largest homecoming celebration in the nation, and we're darn proud of it!  As a part of the Greek community you spend hours pushing tiny pieces of tissue paper through chicken wire to create what we like to call, House Decs.  They are ginormous. Complete with moving parts, sound and the most visually appealing pieces of art you'd ever see.  Thursday night the greek community will pull an all-nighter in order to finish the last screens that need to be pomped and also for the guys to start hanging the screens on the decs outside.  See, there are lots of rules associated with the house dec competitions.  There is a certain time frame set as to when you can actually start the pomping process... this was back in August... then you can't actually start hanging screens outside until 5:00 the night of the all-nighter which is always the Thursday night before walk-arounds.  As a Greek, you hate Homecoming, but you love it at the same time.

So, Friday night is when all the fun starts.  I have participated in homecoming since I was a Freshman at OSU, and now it's just fun to go back and see the tradition carried on.  The streets around the Greek houses will shut down around 4:00 Friday afternoon and the streets will begin to flood with people.  You think I'm kidding?  I'm not.  You have to push your way through the people there are so many of them!  Concession stands start filling the streets and bands set up along Greek Row - all in the spirit of OSU Homecoming.  It's HUGE internet.  I kid you not.

And now it's our tradition that my best friends and I come together for Homecoming every year.  It doesn't matter where life has taken us, we travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma to celebrate together and love on one another.  This year we've got friends coming from Texas and two from Kansas, so I'm filled to the brim with excitement to see these girls!  It's gonna be a fun one!

Once Homecoming has come and gone I'll post again and give you a glimpse into just how amazingly huge our Homecoming Celebration truly is!

And in the nature of homecoming comes fall.  Here are a few shots from around our house these days.  I love, love love decorating for holidays and obviously fall and Christmas rank up there pretty high!!!  I'm just loving my mandle decor this year.

Tuesday Morning Pick-Me-Up

This lady is amazing. Kari Jobe. Simply amazing. I remember when I found her a few years ago while digging through the music portion of MySpace. I found her around Christmas time and have been a huge fan ever since. So much so that I had my mothers walk down to one song of hers at my wedding and my bridesmaids come down to another. Now everytime I hear either of these songs it immediately takes me back to the moment I was standing in the back of the church waiting for my entrance music to start. Take a moment to listen to her. Hopefully you're as blown away as I was. She sings with such passion and praise for the Lord.

The Importance of Strangers: Tulsa Wedding Photographer

I had kind of a strange thing happen to me Friday night.  Caleb and I went to the mall where I decided to try on some super cute boots at Bakers.  The worker went to the back to retrieve my size and came back with my boots, simply in the wrong color because they were out of the black in my size.  I though, no big deal, I'll try them on for size and can order the black if I really like them - which I did!  So Caleb and I are thinking, Great!  Shoe's bought, now we can go on our merry way.  Nope.  Out from the back comes the manager holding several boxes of boots in my size.  You see, she's has a thing for shoes (who doesn't ladies!) and she told me because I am tall she really wanted to see these boots on me.  So I obliged, well, because I love shoes too!  and I didn't want to let her down.... Pair 1, cute.  Pair 2, cute.  Pair 3... let's just say I tried putting the boot on and ended up taking it off immediately because I thought I was three and had put the shoe on the wrong foot.  Nope, I was right... it was just THAT uncomfortable!  Again, I'm thinking we're done.  Nope, she comes out with more boots.  OK, I oblige again... and again... and again.  So, then I'm thinking we're done.  I put my shoes back on, stand up, grab my purse and this is where it gets funny.  She sits down in a chair in front of us and says, "You know, I just feel really blessed."  I thought to myself, huh, I guess we're not done.  So I slowly sit back down and listen to her.

It wasn't what she said necessarily that hit me, but it was more of the fact that she felt as though she could share with me.  That's what hit me and it made me feel a little bad.  See, I had been in Bakers earlier that week looking at the same boots and the sales girls tried talking to me like all sales people do.  "Oh, your purse is so cute!"  ... "Thanks"... and I kept shopping as if to say, don't bother me. So Friday night I'm thinking, what if this girl is the same one that complimented my purse a few days ago.  What if I had blown her off and yet now she's sitting here telling me how blessed she feels.

It taught me something , Internet.  You never know what others are going through, so give everyone a minute and make them feel as though they have your whole attention.  After all, whatever you're doing can wait a single minute.  Nothing is that important.

So as I bought my boots and walked out of the store, she was on to helping a new customer and I waved goodbye to her as though I had just made a new friend.  She put an unexpected joyful smile on my face that night, and taught me a lesson in the mean time.  I bet she didn't even know it.

Now, on to the exciting part.  I was feeling a little domestic during the Oklahoma State game, so I made these little gems... and yes, they are black and orange.  Leave me along, I was in the spirit of the game!  Go Pokes!  Sorry Raiders. (Please excuse the iPhone picture...)

Enjoy your Monday!  It's Fall and it's beautiful.... go sit outside today!

Honeymoon

I'm horrible.  It's been 3 months since the honeymoon and I've yet to post anything about it.  So sorry.


It was the best vacation I've been on - ever.  We decided to wait a day to fly out so we could catch up on sleep and do some last minute packing.  Let me tell you what - I would highly recommend this!  I didn't have to worry about packing before the wedding which was a huge stress relief.  We got up, did a little last-minute laundry, packed and had a leisurely day.  The next day, Monday, we got up and caught our flight out of Oklahoma at 8:30 and were in Mexico by 1:00.


Now, if you know my husband at all, you know he's a planner.  He doesn't make abrupt decisions.... about anything!  He takes his time, researches every possible option about sixteen times, thinks about it for about five months, researches a little bit more and then is forced by yours-truly to make a decision.  The funny thing?  When I make him decide he acts as if he hasn't had enough time and in that Kerbo voice sighs a great big "I don't know..."  The bright side to his OCD decision making is that once a decision is made I know it's gonna be a good one.  Me on the other hand?  I'll jump at the first pretty thing I see.  I think I said "Oh, I wanna go there!" to about twenty-five different resorts.  But who can blame a girl?  Give me a beach, sun and a pallapa and I'm set!


We honeymoon'd down to the Riviera Maya in Mexico and stayed at the most beautiful resort, The Iberostar Grand Paraiso.  The people were so nice, and our butler Victor?  He was my new best friend, but thanks sir... I'll unpack my own suitcase.  


We flew out on Monday then back on Sunday afternoon and had a whole lotta fun in between it all!  There was snorkeling, lots of laying under that Mexican sun, too much food, Diet Cokes on the beach and lemon dusted peanuts every day.  Ever had these?  They're amazing!


So, go on vacation!!  Take a look at a few of our pictures and if you can't dream about another resort, let me know - I'd be happy to give Victor a shout and let him know you're heading his way!

Look at my cute little Scuba Steve!

Enjoy your Thursday!

Do What You Want: Tulsa Photographer

When you're little you just instinctively know what you want to be when you grow up. Me? I wanted to be a checker at a grocery store because you got to play with a cash register all day. Seriously. Who wouldn't want to do that? My brother and I use to play 'grocery store' in my grandma's kitchen. She had a wooden box my grandpa made that held tissues. This was our cash register. We would remove the box if Kleenex and place toy money neatly down into the box. I was usually the cashier and Scott would grab random things out of our grandma's kitchen to buy from me.


Now, Scott. He was going to be a professional athlete. Every time my mother would buy him a new pair of tennis shoes he would immediately head to our backyard and see how fast he could run in them. This never got old, internet. He would call my mother and I outside and have us time his sprints across our large backyard. The dog thought this was great fun too. She thoroughly enjoyed his eight-year-old windsprints across the backyard.

You see. We had great ambitions as kids. A grocery store checker and a professional athlete. My parents were Oh, so proud.

Somewhere along the path of growing up things change though. The world tells us that our dreams of becoming professional athletes are 'unrealistic' and that we should make sure and come up with a back-up plan... just in case. And we believe them. We believe the world when it tells us we can't do something or be somebody. We believe them.

We get the High School diploma. We get a degree in something that souned interesting at one time or another. Then we move on and take the next step the world is telling us to take to be successful. We get some sort of corporate desk job... if you're lucky it does not involve sitting behind a desk all day.

So, I took that path. After all, the world was telling me I was on track and going to be successful. It's not that easy. Job's don't just appear. They're not handed to you on silver platters no matter how high your G.P.A. is or the fact that you were president in 17 clubs in highschool and college.

Fast forward about a year and a half. I had the corporate job. I was content. But God had other plans for me. She walked into my office at 7:15 on a Tuesday morning and dropped a bomb. " I'm so sorry, but we're re-organizing the company and we have to cut your position." Numb. That was me. I tried oh, so hard to hold the tears back but wet, drippy tears began to relentlessly make their way from my eyes. I had been laid off. It wasn't until that night when I laid on my couch in a ball still crying from the events that had taken place that day that I realized something. I can't cry over this. I prayed for this. I asked God not even two days ago to remove anything from my life that He didn't want there. And there I was. Jobless. It made me excited because I knew He had something awesome for me, I just didn't know what it was yet.

A few months later I went on a trip to Minnesotta where God revealed to me the direction I was going to take. I had always loved photography in the sense that I could spend hours looking at pictures, organizing them and making photo albums. But really? Make a profession out of it?

I got back home and I remember having the conversation with my parents of my new venture. Much to my surprise they were both on board. My mother has been my number one encourager and now I sit here almost 3 years later to the date, telling my story of how the world can be wrong sometimes. It can tell you the path you have to take or you can take your own path and be successful at what really make YOU happy.

So what makes you happy? If you could do anything without the world telling you no, what would it be? Would you still sit behind that desk at work?

Here are a few of the I took while on my trip to Minnesotta. We took the day and visited Itaska State Park which was beautiful!  All I had was a small HP Point & Shoot, but I still cherish these shots because of what was revealed to me on that trip. I have a few of these framed in my living room as a constant reminder.

Broken Hearts & Little Soldiers

My heart broke last night.  Like split straight down the middle, break.  I guess I've just lived in a pretty bubble my whole life.  But last night my bubble got a pin-hole in it and burst.  I had a world revealed to me that we all know is there, but until you stop you don't realize how real it is.  I'm talking about babies.  Through this blogging world I've been introduced to several women who's babies have 'broken hearts'.  Literally.  These little guys come out fighting and have no choice but to fight to the end.  Some fight and regain strength, while others fight equally as hard and don't quite make it.

So today I'm broken.  I'm broken and praying for all these little guys and their amazingly strong families.

To read the stories of these little soldiers click on the links below.  They will change your world.



Cohen's Story , Brayden's Journey , Team Ewan , Cora's Story

Both Feet On-Board + Senior Session: Tulsa Photographer

So, I'm learning things about myself.  Those things you always thought were just 'normal', but truly... they're not.  And maybe it's not really an abnormal thing.  You see, I think all women are like this.  A subject is brought up and we jump on-board with both feet planted.  It doesn't matter if this subject is real, fictional, or could potentially change how our whole life is played out.. just maybe.  We take to this subject as if it is our whole existance.

Sunday evening Caleb asked if I wanted to go on a little drive with him.  He had found a beautiful side-road and he wanted me to see it too.  We jumped in our pretty little car and started driving.  Up and down twisty roads.  - Now, let's be real, we live in Oklahoma... it's pretty flat and narrow so when I say twisty roads I mean there may have been a bend here and there.  Nothing that will really make your stomach meet your throat. - So we're driving.  I spot a few new locations that will make perfect shooting spots - camera shooting.  not gun shooting people. - After awhile Caleb starts talking about buying land.  And that's when I jumped on-board with both feet planted.  I start dreaming about how it would all look, where I would park my shiny new red car, where I would place the patio furniture and just how much fun Macie dog would have running through all that country.  Then he said it.  "I bet there are a lot of coyotes out here".  What!  I turned to him.  I don't want to live with coyotes!  "Dear, coyotes don't hurt/eat people.  They just like animals - you know, small dogs and things of that nature." 

Now, Internet.  My dog is by no means small.  She is a healthy, beautiful 70 pounds.  I couldn't believe he'd said it.  "They like small dogs!"  I looked over at Caleb as if my whole life had just changed.  "Macie is not going to be eaten by coyotes!  I can't have my dog live out there.  She's got to start coming inside, now!" 

Then he stopped me.  Babe, we don't even live in the country.  We live in the city.  Macie's fine.  She's happy.  There aren't coyotes.  I promise.  I sat back in my seat and jumped back to reality.  Oh yeah... we live in the city.  There are no coyotes.  Macie is fine.... I thought to myself.

So that's how it happens.  You bring an idea up and we just automatically think it's real.  We jump whole heartedly into the subject as if it's life or death.  But that's just how we do things.  We're passionate people.  We're constantly learning, and if it means we imagine patio furniture on our unbought houses and how our puppies will love running on a new patch of earth, so be it.  It makes us happy.

And because posts are just better with pictures, here are a few sets from a Senior session I did recently.

To view a slideshow of Alex's Sernior Session click HERE.