Rockin' the bangs, on the way to Pilot Point

Paige + John (the wedding)

What a great weekend! I spent it in Tulsa watching these two get hitched! How fun! I went to school with Paige and John and we reconnected on facebook and when they reconnected, they RECONNECTED in a big way! They got married! How awesome for them and how awesome for me because I got to go "back to school" and visit with my BF's. (more on that later)

The wedding was held at another high school buddy, Bill's house and him and Amy were awesome hosts! Their yard was perfect and everyone had such a great time!

Enjoy the sneak peek!

I love this site!

This is PHOTOBOMB!

I will warn you now, that some of the photos contain nudity, yes NUDITY, but many of them are just plain funny. What is is, is a site that let's people submit their snapshots that they find in their camera after their even or vacation or whatever and they find people in their backgrounds ruining or bombing their shot. Thus, photobomb, the title. It's just hilarious and I had to share, but please understand, some of the shots are gross, yes gross.

But then again, some, like the photo above, are just plain fun.

Enjoy!

You know it's summer...

You know it's summer, when you see this in the viewfinder! LOL I LOVE IT!

Bridgette and Marcus were in town for golf and reunion fun, so I invited them over to swim on Saturday. Of course when I saw the little fishes his the water, I had to go grab the camera. Too cute! We should make this happen every trip Bridgette. And Cindy, not sure if you are a blog reader, but bring Dalton and Kate any time you want! I loved seeing them again!

Here's Brynn chillin' on the sun deck.

This is my goddaughter, Ashlyn. She is a total water dog!

They had all drowned, of course, so I documented it.

Before the drowning.

I lined them up to jump one at a time and told them to surprise me. This is Ashlyn just thinking about what she can do. I lOVE IT! That's also her cute adorable little fishy bottom at the first of this post!

Surprise! She can dive!

This is Megan givin me the Canon Ball! I had my camera wrapped in a towel and would tuck under after I snapped. But I did get a few water spots on the lens.

Miss Kate of course, managed to look at the camera while jumping. Can you say, America's Next Top Model? LOL

Go Dalton!

Love this one! Brynn has grown up so much! She loves Taylor Swift and she played DJ that day with her iPod hooked up to the Bose system. David and Davida got it for me for Christmas 2 years ago and I'm using it on my patio. It totally ROCKS!

Goggles are great, but man are they tough on the makeup.

This was my favorite photo of the day, I think. A smile on Miss Kate! And all this gear just SCREAMS AQUA GIRL! LOL

Me and Miss Bridgette and I'm so braving putting this on here without my bangs having been done! YIPES! They look much better when fixed.

Great times!

Check this out

The wonderful Julia Woods is coming to Lubbock! Woo hoo! I can't wait! I've been to conventions, seminars, one on one's through my years of learning this craft and I love immersing my self in the craft and talking with other photographers and just being around all that creative energy! It just ROCKS!

But to have a mom give a lecture from her point of view as a mom, as a wife, as a lover of photography, it gives a new perspective that I can so relate to. We juggle so much in our lives and we are always struggling with the guilt from pulling and pushing ourselves too thin. I can respect what Mrs. Woods will say with even more heart and soul because she has 4 boys at home that call her Mom. And she deals with much of the same day to day struggles that I do running my business and enjoying my girls.

So, if you are a photographer wanna-be or "already are", please take the time to grow your craft, your spirit, but most of all your business.

CLICK HERE for more details.

Hope to see you there!

Emily + Hayden (the wedding)

Emily and Hayden got married Saturday! And I cried. Yep. I did fine through the ceremony, even though looking at her dad would cause my throat to develop this huge burning lump, I held it together. BUT at the reception? When Christopher (her brother) sang a song that him and Emily wrote, while she danced with her dad? I lost it! Totally lost it and my eyes burned and blurred and I kept the camera close to my face and shot away.

What a wedding! Lots of surprises! Lots of fun and such great memories! I love Slaton weddings because 9 times out of 10, my family is there as well. So it was great to see them hit the dance floor and shake their groove thangs!

Of course there's more on their gallery. CLICK HERE

The groom was texting the maid of honor. Too funny! He was nervous! Just wait until Emily breaks into song during the ceremony. He has no idea!

The most adorable baby on the planet! Mr. Calahan

Emily in her BEFORE state of mind.

The beautiful gown. Yes, it got dirty during her bridals. I'm asked that all the time. But look at it now? Fabulous.

Do you know Cori Weaver? You should!!!! She rocks! She did makeup and left her RSVP on the counter. LOL

A quick hug from mom before heading to the church.

They opted to see each other FIRST before the ceremony. Definitely a Kodack Moment. LOL

So, we had plenty of time to take fun portraits of the couple and their friends. :)

These two, too much fun!

Loving the light in the balcony!

This was so hard on Dad. So so hard. The man's eyes were so blood shot I swear he looked like he had been crying all day! But in reality he was fighting them back all he could.

After they were pronounced man and wife, Emily sang a song as a surprise for Hayden. He loved it, of course, but wasn't exactly thrilled with it being in front of everyone! He told me after, he wasn't sure what to do with his hands. LOL

Dad looking pretty intense during the song.

This is the wedding coordinator, Jan Brush. How fun was she?

Beautiful couple!

Great cake from Slaton Bakery.

My favorite guests of the night. Anyone you recognize?

I LOVE first dances!

This girl can sing! Don Caldwell played the music and many of the stars from the Cactus serenaded the guests and couple. Great music! But I must say, nothing compares to the chills Sheena gave during her "I'll Always Love You." This girl can WAIL better than Whitney Houston herself! FANTASTIC!!!!

Great moment caught of mom and dad watching the first dance.

Bubble exit!

The limo was over an hour late, so yipee! More mushy camera time!

Thanks you two! Have a blast in Cabo and drink a few sandy drinks for me. :)

Emily + Hayden (the rehearsal)

I just got back from Emily and Hayden's rehearsal and had the BEST food! You'll see the name of the cooker in a photo below, but I seriously could have ate myself sick! The wedding is tomorrow and I love photographing Slaton weddings. Many familiar faces and just a wonderful family feeling. Probably because I'm from there, now. LOL

On to the sneak peek!

Hayden has such a great smile.

First Baptist in Slaton has recently undergone some major renovation and I LOVE the new look! The color really brings out the stained glass and just cleans up the place. Very modern feel too.

Here's our adorable flower girl for tomorrow. Talk about spunk. You can read it in her eyes.

Mom and Dad sharing a laugh before walking down. Kathy, the bride's mom shared with me that she hasn't cried yet. She always cries and she keeps expecting to really have a tear jerking moment. It will probably happen tomorrow when her daughter and husband walk down that aisle. I sure hope so! Makes for good photos. :)

A fun moment between Emily and her stand-in.

You always have good times with Brother Steve around.

Cooper is the groom's nephew and I bet we dance together tomorrow. Doesn't he just look like a dancer?

Okay, so now macro close ups of the injury yet, but Hayden sliced his finger open, his RING finger earlier this week and all the guys showed up in splints to show their support. I'll try and stomach the shot for tomorrow, afterall, it's a part of the day.

This was Emily's mom and aunt's car growing up and it's in great condition!

Christopher got a new ride! WOW! Very nice, very pretty, and yes, he put 100 miles on it the first day. LOL

This is what making memories is all about!

I look forward to hanging out with these girls tomorrow! Come back Sunday for more lovely images from Slaton!

Sergio + Rebecca (the engagement)

I felt the click from the second we sat down for coffee. I loved the energy this couple gave off, let alone the style. So, when we got together to photograph their engagement session, it was like a breath of fresh air all over again!

I had so much fun, laughing and just watching these two together. Sergio is patient and so kind with Rebecca and he puts up with her HOT GIRL image like no bodies business! He loves her with his soul and eyes and I love to watch them together.

Rebecca is a BEAST in front of the camera! The girl can work it like none other! I LOVE that!

Thanks you two, for the energy and love you gave and for the great idea to shoot in the sunflowers. :) I can't wait for the wedding!

marathon editing

Just posted Twyla + Patrick's FULL WEDDING GALLERY!

CLICK HERE

I've been working like crazy to post all the amazing weddings I've been working on! More to follow!

Kirsten + Ben

Leslie + Keith

Heather + Ryan

test

The Houchin Boys

I only have time for a quick shout out to see some FAB pictures of the Houchin Boys! I know Emily reads my blog and she's excited to see if I got anything.

CLICK HERE

to view the album on facebook.

In the mean time...

this will have to do.

Happy 4th July! (on Tuesday)

Yep. Late again! But worth it all the same! We are slowly,

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l

o

w

l

y

moving into the new house. It was supposed to be everything by July 4th, but it didn't happen thanks to a softball tournament in Dallas. I'll post those later, but for now, Happy 4th of July!!!!

We had a great time at the Ranger game!

Got some peanuts?

Summer's 13!!!

I can't believe my baby is a teenager!! YIPES! If I could, I would have 2 more. But only if God could make them boys and I could see how Julie lives 1/2 her day. LOL I always thought I would have more babies. I'm sad I didn't, but I'm so blessed to have what I have!

Summer Zoe turned 13 over the weekend. But somehow, she's been 13 all year. Pushing the way younger siblings can to grow up way to quickly. My heart hurts that soon, in just a few short years, my babies will be gone! Don't get me wrong, I will love all the available time that will suddenly appear each day. But it will be so sad too. To not have them around to do all the fun things that daughter's and moms do.

I love my girls.

And I love how Summer still blushes when we sing her Happy Birthday! LOVE THAT!

We went to Olive Garden to celebrate her day with a family dinner. Went low key this year. She's beautiful.

Marci + Steven (the engagement)

I love the Brosch family. You may remember Kat and Kyle? Anyway, way back in the day, when I was known as Miss Waits at St. Joseph School, I met the Brosch family. They were one of the first families I met in Slaton and I quickly fell in love with them. Just wonderful people with wonderful hearts.

This is Steven on the right and he met Marci and now they are engaged and getting married! YEAH! YEAH for me because this means a BIG West Texas wedding at my home church in Slaton, St. Joseph.

And an even better "yeah" for me, is I adore Marci. She's beautiful, funny and has such a great wit about her, plus we both are not "fu fu" girls! We love the pretty but not the fuss. So we clicked from the get-go and I was happy that they chose me to photograph their celebration. So, so happy!

In all the craziness of June, I forgot to blog their engagement session. So, here's some blog love, Marci and Steven.

I can't wait for the big day!

my new view

Way to go Emily!

Emily Alexander just blogger her sneak peek from the weekend. Go and have a look and give her some blog love! :)

CLICK HERE

I snagged the image above from her site. I LOVE IT!