Monthly Archives: July 2009

{A Party for Princesses}

So I’m sort of one of those people that when I get an idea in my head, well I make it happen no matter how busy I am.  The girls decided this year they wanted to have a carnival for their birthday party.   We are fortunate they will still have one birthday party together, so while it is one HUGE (I mean seriously huge) party, it’s just one party.  And really, doing a carnival is awesome.  While it was tons of work, it was really fun and I truly hope everyone that came had a blast.  Here’s just a sample of what we did, if you want to see the rest, it’s on Facebook (so you have to friend me)!
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{Baby S} Little Ones – Duke Gardens

I had such a really nice time with Baby S and her mommy and daddy late last week at Duke Gardens.  The weather was just perfect that morning for our session.  She is the cutest little baby and so content.  She’s surrounded by incredibly loving, doting, happy parents, she’s very very lucky.
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{Whitney + Aaron} Wedding Slideshow – Raleigh Wedding

Just finished up Whitney + Aaron’s beautiful slideshow, please enjoy!
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{Kristen + John} Wedding Slideshow – Brier Creek Country Club, Raleigh

Just finished Kristen + John’s slideshow from their beautiful wedding and wanted to share it.  Please enjoy!
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{Today is the day I got married}

Yes, thirteen (yeah really 13) years ago today, July 6, 1996 I married my amazing husband Steve.  We were married at Stanford’s church on Stanford University’s campus.  We actually celebrated being together 16 years on 4th of July this past Saturday (and for those that are counting that does make us very old).  We met in college, pretty much hit it off right away and the rest, as they say, is history.  He graduated undergrad, I still had a year left so we planned our wedding my senior year in college while I was in school in the mid-west, he was on the west coast and our families were on the east coast.  What I find more amusing was this was before “the internet” (I say that with mild amusement) so we actually couldn’t look at things on-line.  He used to snail mail me information about our wedding – seriously!

We were just talking about our wedding tonight and while we remember certain elements we have really no memory at all of the planning process (I guess that should bring great relief to all couple’s who may read this) or the week before.  See, we almost called our wedding off about 1-2 days before the wedding.  We were really young, we had stressful things going on in our lives – things were hectic.  But we surged on, got married and had, well and interesting honeymoon (that’s for another time).

I will tell you, he is truly my best friend.  Sure I have several very close friends who know a lot about me, very guarded information that is not shared with others.  But from the bottom of my heart, he is the only person that knows everything.  He is truly my soulmate and the only person I want to be with.  Of course we’ve had ups and downs – we’ve been together longer than most marriages last.  But we take the good with the bad (and the bad can seem so very very hard at times).

Two perfect examples of the very good – our girls.  I realize I never blogged Sydney’s birthday (oops)!  She turned 3 just over two weeks ago.  She is such a spitfire it drives us crazy.  She is so amazing she has this whit that actually scares me at times because really, she just turned 3 and she’s pretty much had it since she could talk.  She’s so very pretty, I love how she’s changing and evolving every day.  She just radiates this warmth and happiness when she runs through the house singing at the top of her little lungs.

And then there is my Madison.  She’s about to turn, wow 5 at the end of the month.  It’s always hard for me when she reaches these huge milestones in her life.  In part because of course she’s the oldest but also because it was such a huge struggle to even have her.  We were so close to going down the “not having children” path when we finally got pregnant with Madi and then her pregnancy was stressful (I still think needlessly in retrospect but at the time stressful).  So every day she’s such an incredible treasure to me.  She’s so bright, she’s becoming so athletic, she’s SUCH a chatterbox (although maybe that’s all girls at this age) and she’s the most caring, compassionate, loving soul you’ll ever meet.  She has kindness and love that you don’t see very often (and certainly something her sister doesn’t have). 

So yes, today I got married….to the most amazing man in the world.  He’s given me so much that I live & love & laugh for.  He gives me so much to look forward to.  I love planning my future and knowing he’s in it.

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{Whitney + Aaron} Wedding – Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh

On June 20, I was very fortunate to be a part of Whitney + Aaron’s beautiful wedding in Raleigh.  Their wedding has been planned for a very long time and I’ve seen so much of it, it was wonderful to see it all come together.  Everything was held at the beautiful (I mean really beautiful), Forest Hills Baptist Church in Raleigh.
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{Laura + Mike} Kiss Me – La Grande Maison

I think Laura & Mike and I were all meant to meet in January at the bridal show.  It was late in the afternoon the 2nd day, everything was hurried – I quickly gave them a complimentary engagement or bridal as they seemed like a sweet couple and couldn’t find the other photographer they were looking for (and I had never heard of them (still haven’t)).  Fast forward 5 1/2 months, they called me, we chatted, they came in to the studio – I shot their engagement session and I’m now documenting their wedding in just over 3 weeks at the beautiful La Grande Maison .  I am really looking forward to their wedding.
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{Sweet Baby V} Baby Session

She’s such a doll and Mercedes and German are incredibly blessed to have this adorable baby girl in their lives.   I was fortunate enough to sneak in their baby session right before they moved away.  And while she wasn’t having the best day, she really is absolutely adorable.mg1-copy

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