We now have.....

SLIDESHOWS!!!

...Another Showit feature I love. For my first slideshow I used my favorite images from Maggie and Danny's maternity session. Check it out here and enjoy.

Thanks to Adam for this awesome birthday present!!!

Baby Bump: Maggie+Danny+Jack

I could have taken Maggie and Danny's photos all day, even in the freezing cold. We walked around forest park, gabbing and laghing the entire way. Maggie told me about what it was like to grow up with Erin (one of my dearest friends, sorority sisters, old room mate, and a bridesmaid in my wedding). She told me about her recent trip to Hogwarts, which I am super jealous of. We laughed about Danny's obsession with Michigan state, and the fact that I thought they were a football team.

Maggie's teaches 4th grade, and I'm certain she makes a class full of students excited to learn with her with her bubbly personality and contagious laugh. Jack is going to be one lucky guy, with two parents who love him dearly.

Maggie, you and your baby bump are GORGEOUS!

Love this one!

And my favorite from the day thanks to Danielle.

Maggie and Danny, thank you for putting up with what probably seemed like a 3 mile hike. I was simply trying to get Jack to make his big debut...so much for that labor inducing theory.

I had so much fun with you two and I can not wait for Jack to get here! See you both very soon!

And thanks again to Danielle for working alongside me!

Check back soon....

For more of this adorable baby bump.

Have a happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Danielle

Today is my little sister's 21st birthday. I'm so confused as to when she reached an age older than 12.There was a long period of time where she remained the baby in my mind. She was the little girl doing somersaults during her floor routine in gymnastics. The little sister that Malorie and I picked on for being the youngest. The little sister who was never going to be old enough for boys, make up, or high heels.

And then she grew up. Somewhere along the line she went from being the baby sister to the high school graduate, with the boyfriend, the make up, and the high heels. Today she turns 21, and that little blonde haired 12 year old is gone.

Oh, and have I mentioned she is engaged? This July she will say I Do to her elementary school sweetheart! Seriously, they were in like 6th grade....and in some districts, that's still considered elementary school.

This photo was taken in an attempt to teach Danielle about back lighting. Kelly did a much better job explaining it to me back in April, but hopefully I made some sort of sense.

To my sister, second shooter, and bride to be. This has been a big year. I love you and hope you have a very Happy 21st Birthday!

Poor Guinto and Dyster

We are the worst pet parents ever. When it comes to hair cuts...we like to procrastinate. We wait until poor Guinto's hair covers his eyes and he can no longer see. We hold off until Dyster's little beard gets "bed head" when he sits up after waking from his doggy nap. All of the waiting is partly due to our busy schedules, partly due to laziness, and largely because the only person we trust to groom our pups is an hour and a half away.

About a year after we bought Guinto and Dyster we got this bright idea that we were going to attempt to groom them ourselves. We went out and bought what we thought were fancy special dog clippers. We ran them around to tire them out. We gave them each a bath. We dried and brushed them carefully so they were clean and ready to go.

In our tiny bathroom, I attempted to hold Dyster still as Adam started cutting away. About 3 hours, one fight, and a half shaved dog later, we gave up. There are people who go to school to do this job. And from then on, we vowed to leave it up to Adam's cousin Stephanie, who happens to own her own business doing this very thing we failed so miserably at. We drop the dogs off at Studio K9, get our errands done, and pick them up. No trying to hold the dogs still. No hair all over our bathroom. No sad puppies. And no fighting.

It's that time again.

The Fruit of the Spirit is not a Banana

Last year my friend Jim e-mailed me to see if I would be interested doing a project for the youth group he leads at North County Community Church. I was to take and design a picture for a postcard that would promote the upcoming youth group series. It has since then turned into a pretty regular thing, and I absolutely love it. I thoroughly enjoy wedding and portrait photography, but there is something about these projects that forces me to think outside of the normal realm of picture taking. It challenges me to take a theme and be as creative as possible with the limitations set by specific passages or lesson in the Bible.

This one has turned out to be my favore thus far, probably because this series is surrounded by one of my favorite Bible passages.
Galatians 5:22-23
" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

It is such an encouraging verse that clearly depicts attributes we should strive to achieve in our daily lives.

Oh that the title? That's part of a song from the days of youth group. It never failes to get stuck in my head each time I hear "fruit of the spirit." And if you know the song....it's now stuck in your head.

Side note: I took this picture in our backyard. When we moved into our house the previous owners gave us some paperwork on our trees....they are insured. We own insured trees. We are so grown up.

Have a very happy Monday!