Jaden turned 4

This is Kalah and Jaden. Every year my cousin Kalah takes birthday pictures of her son Jaden. This year I had the privelege of doing them and we had fun in the hot Texas weather. I kept having to wipe sweat off of my face from chasing Jaden around. He is a sweet little boy and you never know what words will come out of his mouth. He is so smart and adorable and loves the movie "Cars." I could tell you all about that movie and I haven't even seen it.

Alaena

I had so much fun with Alaena. We started picking out outfits at 12noon. And we took a while doing that. Then we went to the foothills of the Sandia Mountain and took some pics for about an hour or more. She was a good sport too. I brought along a dress my mom had worn when she was in her twenties. And Alaena wasn't so sure about it. But when she put it on she didn't think it was so bad. Can you tell which outifit it is? The beautiful red and white poppy dress. I love those pictures b/c they remind me of the "Anthropologie" magazines. Then we went downtown to the top of the parking garage and then to another location we went to for her brother. All in all we ended it around 7:30-8pm. It was a long day but so worth it. I enjoyed every minute of it. I have so many favorites that I was having a hard time posting only a few. I am so glad we were both leaders at the youth camp back in June. If neither of us would've done it we would never know each other. I love making best friends. We clicked from the very beginning. Alaena is an all around cool girl. She is a volleyball coach for a college in Tx, she is a salsa dancer, very athletic, used to be a gymnist, has a great personality, and has become one of my greatest friends.

Whats going on...

So I am busy getting my template finished and trying to figure out how to word my biography. I get more and more excited as I get closer to being finished with my website. I am learning a bit of the website language with HTML and FTP stuff. But don't ask me to explain it to you. I can only go as far as teaching myself and I'm not sure I am doing that correctly. Also, I am saving up for a new lens (70-200mm IS). We had a garage sale and sold a bunch of stuff and the money we earned is going towards camera equipment. My goal is to save up for each piece of equipment. The one thing I don't want to do is go crazy and buy a bunch of stuff and then have to pay it off later. Although I do have a list and its getting longer, but thats the fun part- wishing for it. And one day my list will have check marks by each item.
I leave soon to go to the lake for a "Fine Family Reunion" (Fine is my grandma's family name) with my dads side of the family. We go every summer in July to Lake Buchanan in Tx. It is an hour outside of Fredricksburg,TX. Last year my mom, Ben and I took a day off from the lake and went to Fredricksburg. I love that town. It is old, but kept up and has a great deal of character. The old buildings are still there with knew businesses and they even have a Five and Dime store. My favorite was the ice cream shop that looked like a saloon with red leather bar stool tops and an awesome selection of crazy hats and crazy sunglasses. (Like the sunglasses on the movie "Manequin" that Hollywood would wear.) We put a few on and took some pictures. Or maybe I should say I did. My mom and Ben both just watched and took the pictures of me. So I am excited about the trip but sad because Ben won't be coming. He is studying for the BAR and will be taking it July25-26 and then we move July27. I will be gone from July13-July24. And then come back and leave again. Our dogs however will be attending the lake trip. Chevy,our lab-border collie mix, which we call her a collidor, loves the lake. We even have a life jacket for her incase she gets a little exhausted. And her mom Callie, my younger brothers dog will be there too and they love to swim together and chase tennis balls. The little dog, Bailey just loves to explore and love on people-she is there to socialize. My grandma went to this lake with her family when she was younger. So this is a near and dear trip to all of us. My older brother is coming in from California to go on the trip and I haven't seen him in almost a year. So I'm looking forward to it. And if you've read this far, thanks- I appreciate it!
When I get back, we will only be in Albq for a few more days and then we head off to our new adventure. I can't wait for us to finally be settled in our new home in Clovis. We have finished almost all the painting and majority of our things are moved in already. I painted one of the walls in our dining room purple. I've never done that color before and I really like it . The lower half of the kitchen is red. And it is so fun! I'll make sure to take some pictures to share.

Also just to let you know- don't be afraid to leave comments on the blog. I love to read and see what people have to say. Have a blessed day!

Matt and Meg had their baby

Do you remember my maternity couple back in May? Well they had a baby girl. Her name is Kate and she is a sweet little bitty baby. If you look closely, you will see that she is smiling in the picture with her parents. She is only a week and a few days old in these pictures. Matt and Meg are great parents already. They just love that little girl and Meg has so many outfits for her to wear and said she loves dressing her up. And of course we couldn't forget their dog Buddy. He's pretty cute too.

My business cards

I have got 95% of my business cards done. I need to change a few of the images and make sure my website works and that my new number is correct. The top image is the front of the card and the bottom image is the back. I wanted to share these with you because I am so pumped of how they turned out.

Ryan Chilson

Before I became a portrait photographer I had always enjoyed photographing signs. I still love taking pictures of signs but instead of them being by themselves, I've decided to add people to them, like the garage shots of Ryan. Ryan and I were co-leaders at a youth camp. He is a DJ and needed some photos for promotional stuff. We worked in his turn table for a few shots and some of his other DJ gear. He made it easy on me because I didn't have to tell him what to do or not to do. That is what I love about the style of photography I want to achieve-showing the subjects true identity with me not having to say a word. His sister Alaena came along too and helped out. She is my new friend I met through our church. It was fun to have her there. We searched for sceneries downtown in Albq and found some awesome places. We also went to the Petroleum Club and took some shots in the lobby. We met Ed the security guard in the parking garage, which was one of my favorite places and I love the green trim windows from the beginning of the shoot. Ryan is a rock climber too so he just jumped up on the ledge and I took pictures. I'll add his link as soon as I get it. These are a few favorites.

100 and counting

So I was checking out my blog and noticed that over 100 times my site has been looked at. I was super excited to see Russia on there! What up D. Thanks all for stopping in to check out my stuff. My next goal is set at 500. So when that day comes, I'll let you know. Help me out and lets get to it soon! Tell two friends.