under the belt

Yup. I've got my 1st wedding under the belt. Not going to lie, I was a little nervous when I first started shooting, but having such a fun and laid back couple made the day roll along.

Look at this beautiful couple!


Check out sweet Ryan--the little guy was just having so much fun with his hat!


Love is simple and pure.

One month down...

One more to go! Yep, just one more month until I get to see my boy! God has really blessed us with timing our quick visits--exactly 2 months apart so far! Over labor day weekend I will make a quick trip to OKC to stay with my lovely sister and her family, borrow their car and make the quick 2-hour trip down to Sheppard to pick up Sean. Then we travel back to OKC for the long weekend--really who would want to stay in Wichita Falls when you have the huge metropolis of OKC just 2 hours away?

In the mean time, I've been keeping busy!! Let me count the ways:

1. 2 trips to Glacier National Park! The first trip was with my friend Meagan. We camped out at Apgar Village and met up with some people from Helena for a rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Flathead. Then I took a trip to Glacier with my good friend Joleen where we camped out at St. Mary's and saw a black bear and her cub grazing along the road; We also saw many mountain goats on the trail.
2. Building bikes! I have finished my 1st bike and it is good! I try to ride it to work regularly in the afternoons. I am also working on a bike for my mom. I just can't get the rear derailleur to adjust correctly. But it is almost finished! Yeah!
3. The garden is busting out of the seams! HOLY COW I didn't know hops, spaghetti squash, zucchini and lettuce could literally take over a garden! I've also got tons of tomatoes that are not ripe yet. I just need a week or 2 of solid 85+ degrees and sun and I think I will have enough for tomato sauce! It has been a weird weather summer here in MT--right now it is 68 degrees and cloudy. Not optimal for gardening!
4. I am training for a 5k this coming Sunday; I tried to sign up for the Harvest Thunder triathlon but it was already full, so a nice 5k it is!
5. Jam time! My parents buzzed up to the Flathead area and picked almost 70lbs of cherries last week! I currently have made cherry syrup (I will have to reheat the syrup and try to make it gel up correctly) cherry raspberry jam, blueberry peach jam, and blueberry apricot jam. My neighbor down the street has blueberry plants in his greenhouse that bloom multiple times a year and had a surplus of them this year; he knocked on my door and offered me as many as I wanted. What a nice guy!
6. Photos Photos Photos! I have been blessed with 2 more family sessions in the past few weeks. And August 20th I shoot my first wedding! YEAH! I also have at least 3 families from church scheduled for fall/christmas time pictures! WOO!
7. I got attacked by a bunny rabbit. I know you are laughing right now, but a bunny rabbit really did try to kill me. About 2 weeks ago, around midnight, I heard this thumping every once in a while and assumed it was my dog dream running and kicking the bed in his sleep. Once Kaine joined me on my bed, I realized the noise was coming from outside my egress window. There was a baby bunny running laps around the window well. I went outside, in a thunder and rain storm mind you, to try and catch it. I would have waited until morning, but every time it thumped the window, the dogs would wake up and growl. So there I was, down in the window well cornering the bunny and almost had it in my hands then the unthinkable happened. It attacked! It ran up my arm and all I could see was it's teeth; I had a flash back to a movie I had seen when I was little where the rabbits grew to the size of cars and ran through a town killing everyone. Needless to say, I screamed like a little girl and jumped out of the window well as fast as I could. I ended up getting a bucket from the garage and dropped it on top of the little bunny and was able to scoop it out and release it. I think next time I will just drop Kaine dog down the hole and let him work his magic!
8. Sean and I are starting a new endeavor together--Life Group Co-Leaders. This year, Sean and I were asked to co-lead a small group every other Sunday with some good friends of ours. I know it is our goal, once Sean is back in Great Falls, to work more with the church. It hadn't crossed my mind to try and start this journey without him, but God surprised us with his perfect timing. I can't wait for our first meeting in September!
9. Work, oh work...some days I think it will be the death of me. Other days, it is quite enjoyable! My current job is about 10 months AHEAD of schedule. Yes, I said AHEAD! For a construction company that is GOOD!! For me that means this job will be over sooner than we planed for. There are always other jobs with my company I could move to, and it's possible for them to get one more contract here, but you never know! I am a little nervous to see what God has planned for me in the future, but for the time being, I am not going to worry about it and just try to go with the flow!
Alright...that is about it for now. Keep us in your prayers as you all are in mine! God bless!

He did it!!!

It was a rough 8 weeks, but he survived! YEAH! He worked hard, lost 20+ lbs and even managed to graduate with honors! He is now in Wichita Falls at Sheppard AFB studying and learning his job. And the best part is, I don't have to sit around waiting for a phone call--I can call him almost any time I want! These next 5 months should be a breeze!

Here are some pictures from my trip down to San Antonio!

Look how serious they all are!


Just received his Honor Graduate Coin.


The 1st time we got to see each other.



Love my Airman!

The day has come...

almost. Tuesday will be the day I head down to see the hubby! YEAH!! I can't wait!
Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words! It has been a long 2 months, but it will be worth all the hard work, letter writing, and 5 phone calls just to see the skinny little hubby in Texas! I'll update you all on the trip when I get back on the 4th of July!
God bless!

Baby week ♥

It's Baby Week at I ♥ Faces, and I was recently blessed with my first baby session just 2 weeks ago. Yeah! Here is sweet baby Coen and his beautiful mama! 2 month old babies should not have such intense eyes!!



As Always, Head over to I ♥ Faces and check out all the other beautiful babies!

Keeping busy...

It's been a little over a month since I've seen the boy. And Saturday is our 2nd Anniversary! YEAH! I am a little bummed that we aren't together to celebrate it, but I will keep with our tradition and go out for sushi at our favorite little Suki Cafe. It is only 20 more days until I make the trip down to San Antonio to see him! And I am so excited I want to leave right now!! But I can't. So in the mean time, I will be keeping BUSY!!
I've been able to be behind my camera every single week since Sean has left. I've mostly been taking pictures of the garden and our trees so I can show Sean how everything has changed while he has been gone. But my favorite thing is that I've had 2 photo shoots!! Both were so much fun and both entirely different from each other. My first session was with the beautiful Benton family of 9--yes, I said 9! It is the most people I've ever shot at once and was a little challenging keeping 7 kid's attention, but it was a success!


My second session was with my good friends, the Nate and Alyssa Bosch who are just starting their family! Look at little Coen's eyes! They were so intense the whole session!


I've also been out kayaking, fishing, hiking, biking, helping friends move, and entertaining family up from Arkansas. I've got plans to go rafting on the Middle Fork of the Flathead next week with my friend Meagan, and I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party 2 weeks from now. On top of all that, I'm busy at work, running a few times a week, pulling weeds and watering the garden, and keeping up with the house chores! Man do I miss having Sean around to split the chores with!
So needless to say,I've been busy busy busy! And these next 20 days are going to fly by as I have many things planed to keep me occupied.
My biggest project has been a bike build. Sean and I found an old Raleigh M-30 frame in a dumpster the day before he left, and I have been occupying myself fixing it up and researching what parts I need to put on it to get it up and running. I am waiting on a few more parts to come in, and I will blog about the build once it's finished.
As always, keep Sean and I in your prayers as we are so far apart from each other and only have 20 more days left!!
God bless!

Half way there!

Sean's made it half-way through Basic! Yeah! Only 30 more days until I get to see him and I can't wait! WOO!!
So keep us in your prayers that all things go as planned for him to graduate on time and that this month quickly passes us by! June 30th can't come quick enough!