Beep! Beep! Beep! That’s the first sound I hear every morning. And it’s probably my least favorite sound in the entire world. I think I could throw my alarm clock across the room and not feel guilty about it. That is, until the next morning, when I would end up sleeping through the entire day.

This morning when I woke up, the clock seemed extra loud. BEEP!BEEP!BEEP! I unwillingly peeled out from underneath my warm, snuggly covers and walked across the room to turn it off. (Yep, I put it across the room, otherwise I’d be too lazy to get up and I’d just keep hitting the snooze.) You know how I mentioned those days when you just want to curl back up in bed and never get out? Today was one of those days for me. Bad hair day, 37 whopping degrees outside, a very early morning history class… You get the point. And it just got crazier from there, including T-Mobile phone service going out worldwide, which totally made me feel stranded. Slightly pathetic, I know, considering I hardly make phone calls and basically the only person I text is Jake. It’s a really weird feeling, though, not being able to send random texts or make a quick call to say hello. I felt very disconnected. (Thankfully T-Mobile is providing service again after several hours of slight torture.) When I finally made it back to my room at the end of this hectic day, I was expecting the delicious, homey smell of Mulled Cider. (We’re not allowed to actually burn candles at my school, but we can have candle warmers, and I had put my Mulled Cider candle on to welcome me in from a rough day.) Unfortunately, it smelled more like rotten apples than cider. Figures.

But there was one other welcome committee waiting for me! Meet Pumpkin and Ice. Pumpkin is mine and Ice is my roommate Sara’s. These little guys have made it for almost a month, which is pretty good considering the last time Sara and I bought fish they didn’t last more than a week. Although they can’t exactly cuddle in bed (I miss my dog, can you tell?), they are always there, swimming peacefully in their medium jar sized world. Tonight was no different. They were there, waiting patiently for me to feed them their disgusting smelling flakes for dinner. So I guess today wasn’t that terrible. The day I come back and they are both floating at the top of the bowl, that will be a bad day. (Sorry, that was kind of sick humor.) For now, I’ll just take it one day at a time, like the fish. Tomorrow is a new day. And I’m ready. Bring it on!

My little Pumpkin

Sara named Ice after a character from Arrested Development (greatest show ever!)

They love those flakes. It becomes a feeding frenzy.

Sorry Ice, Pumpkin is just more photogenic.

Now I’m off to bed. Those warm, snuggly covers are calling to me!

So, I’m making a change. I am going to blog more. No excuses. I might not have an engagement session, or a wedding, or an awesome portrait shoot to post about, but I have the simple, everyday joys in life. My fears, my dreams, my failures, and my triumphs.  I hope that you, whoever you are (THANK you for taking the time to read my blog!), will be able to enjoy it. Hopefully I won’t make a complete fool out of myself. But, if I do, I’m ok with that. Because my blog is for me, too. I am about to graduate from college. I am about to marry the man of my dreams. I am about to dive headfirst into life. I am about to embark on a journey that will affect the rest of my existence on this earth. And I don’t want to forget one little bit of it. I’m so grateful for all the experiences I’ve had so far, and I cannot wait to experience all the new things God has in store  for me. So, that being said, I solemnly swear to be a better blogger. Please feel free to check back often. I promise I will make things more interesting from now on :)

I’ll end this post with a few pictures I took for my product class. After all, pictures make every post so much better, even if they are totally unrelated!

It started out a normal evening. I was sitting at my desk attempting homework, listening to Pandora, considering going to the gym, and eating a granola bar.  (Yes, I multi-task). I’ve been really homesick the past few days, which in turn causes me to turn on my auto pilot and go through my days slightly lifeless. That’s when Jer Nelsen (a totally awesome photographer and friend who graduated from IWU last year) called. He was looking for someone to assist him with an engagement shoot. I saw my chance to avoid homework, and I jumped on it.

Turns out, this was exactly what I needed. The fresh, crisp fall air, the leaves giving exquisite pops of color to an otherwise dreary sky, a couple deep in love, and my camera. I had become so wrapped up in school and pushing myself and counting down the days till Thanksgiving break that I had lost sight of why I’m doing all of this. (And by this I mean school). It is tough right now – really tough. In the end, though, it will be worth it, because I will be a better photographer, and a better person, for doing it. I had lost sight of that, but tonight I remembered. I remembered how much I adore capturing absolute love between two people. I am captivated by the beauty of it. And I can’t wait for the years to come when I will get to experience and share and celebrate that love constantly. Makes me giddy! So without further a-do, here are a few of my favorites from the shoot that helped me remember.

(Thank you again, Jer, for letting me tag along. It might not seem like a big deal to you, but it was a big deal to me, and I truly appreciate it.)

Last week in my Product Photography class we were given an assignment that really made me excited. The goal was to create an image that would suffice for an album cover of a band or musician. I had the privilege of shooting Jeffrey Stuttler, an amazing guitarist and vocalist from my school. Jeff is one of those people that all photographers love; he was extremely easy to photograph and willing to do anything I asked him for a shot. We only turned in one shot for the final project, but I’m really pleased with how a lot of them turned out. I pushed myself on some of the edits. I’m trying hard to go out of the box a little, and do things other than just my standard touch up. Thanks again Jeff, you’re a stud!

This might be my favorite shot of the day…

And finally, here is what I turned in for the project. Hope this looks cover artist to you!

This is probably one of the most fun and upbeat weddings I have ever been to! Cindy and Bill were hilarious and so great to work with. The beautiful ceremony took place outside at the Park Meadows Country Club, followed by an awesome evening of food and dancing inside. I took SO many pictures it ended up being really hard deciding which pictures to give them! Needless to say, it ended up being a LOT… haha. Here are some of my favorite shots from their wedding! (Warning: This post is very long. I am extremely indecisive, and the amount of pictures in this post proves it…)

I could have posted a lot more but for your sake I’ll stop here haha. Let me know what you think!

I apologize for not having posted in quite a while. Summer has really gotten away from me. Which means back to school soon. Yikes. One more year! Anyways. Here’s a shoot I did for my good friend Melissa and her husband Trevor. I’ve known Melissa since high school so I was super excited when she told me she wanted some new pictures for her house. We went on up to Main Street and played around. Let me know what you think! (My favorite is at the very last one…)

Ok I’ve been trying to expand my ways of editing, so here are a few experiments.

Annnnd my favorite:

Earlier this week, David Terry was kind enough to invite me to an event in Provo hosted by East Bay Studios. Basically, what it was, was bunch of photographers getting together with a bunch of people who wanted to model. The photographers get to take pictures, the models get to have pictures, and everyone is happy lol. It was an excellent experience for me, and I’m so glad I was able to go! Here are my personal favorite shots of the night… 

I just want to say thanks to David again… I wouldn’t have come if he hadn’t invited me and I wouldn’t have been able to get some of these last shots without him helping get the lighting set up!! Thanks so much again Mr. Terry!!!!

Meet Brayden, Jessie, and Chase! These beautiful children are the kids I nanny. Yep, I get to play with them all week! Don’t be jealous :) They are so much fun! Jessie is 8, she is such a great helper, and we especially love to do puzzles. Brayden and Chase are twins, 4 1/2 years old. They are quite the balls of energy! (Freeze tag is the name of the game! lol) Never a dull moment with them. I’ve been meaning to take some pictures of them for quite a while, and when I finally got my new lens (50mm 1.4), I figured that was a pretty good excuse. Kids are fun so fun to photograph, always moving, smiling, making funny faces… A challenge but rewarding! Enjoy some of my favorite pictures from a day with the kids! 

Balloon! 

Chase intently watching the movie haha. 

Beautiful Jessica. 

Haha I love this picture. Brayden is such a character! 

Turtle time! 

on a hot summer day, there’s nothing better than some popsicles to cool off! 

I just love these guys. To see the rest of their photos from the day, click on over to here!

I had never been to the International Peace Gardens, so I was very eager to see what they would be like. I assisted the ever talented Scott on this shoot, and had a great time. It was sunny for the first bit, but got pretty windy and gray by the end. Fortunately, the rain hit (and hit hard!) just as we were getting into our cars…

Last semester in my Photo Lighting class, we had an assignment to do a low key shoot. When I think low key, I think high fashion. In order to make my ideas a reality, my awesome cousin Alyssa got all dressed up and modeled some of her Coach purses. She did an amazing job! Plus, we had a ton of fun. Yeah, don’t be fooled by her serious faces, we were laughing almost the entire time… haha.