Recently | An engagement session

I have a million things that I would love to tell you guys about right now. I also have a few posts that I've been working on since being home from the Influence conference that are currently in draft. As much as I would love to pour my heart out to you guys and tell you all about my trip, I'm still majorly processing. I've written stuff down, but honestly when it comes to posting it, I don't even know where to begin! I'll just say that there are some posts coming! I'm not sure when, but they are coming. They wont necessarily be all about my trip or even what was taught, but a lot of what I took away from it and the ways that it has changed my heart and my life. 

For now I'll leave you with this sneak peek from an engagement session I just did with my niece and her fiancé! I did pictures for them right after they got engaged last September (you can see those here) and we got together for another session this last weekend. I'm not a professional, but it is really fun working on my skills with these willing subjects!

Enjoy the rest of your week! I'll be back soon :)

Coping with stress

Sometimes I allow stress to get the better of me. Which is just silly and a big waste of time. When I am stressed I don't get anything accomplished, I just focus on how daunting everything is. It feels like I'm running in a marathon, but instead of moving forward I'm just running in place. Or worse, sometimes it feels like I'm running backwards.

Today I've been focusing on using my time wisely and getting organized. Everything feels less stressful when I am organized. All my important deadlines need to be written down, things need to be in their rightful homes, clutter needs to vanish. Something about writing things down and putting things away brings such a huge release of tension for me.

I still feel stressed, but I feel the intensity of it ebbing away little by little.

Baby times 2

I have about 6 billion picture from the baby shower on Sunday. Ok, maybe just 900. These are just a few of the ones I liked the best. Taking pictures at parties is definitely a learning curve for me. So many of them came out just a tiny bit blurry. Eek. Practice makes perfect I suppose.

Oldie

This is another re-run post. This is my niece (yes I said niece, not cousin) Jazmin and her fiance Jordan. These are some quick engagement pictures I took for them last year. We are planning to do another photo session (or two) before their big day in May.

I've had to post some re-runs from my old blog this week because I'm working hard right now trying to get everything ready to open my etsy shop on Monday. I'll be selling my very first line of day planners and will be adding stuff to my shop as I go. I'm really excited to be taking this next step!  I can't wait to share more later!

How to be more photogenic

For those of you coming over from Nicole's blog, thanks for stopping by! I'm excited to see you here in my neck of the woods.

For everyone else, I am guest posting over at The Tape Diaries today all about how to be a little more photogenic. I've learned a lot about this ever since I started taking pictures for fashion posts. Looking good is not an easy task, let me tell you! It takes hard work. So, if you are tired of always being annoyed because your pictures don't turn out quite the way you have pictured them, head on over to Nicole's blog and where I am sharing a few of my secrets!

Last camping trip

Last weekend I went camping with my in-laws and their church and had a really great time! I always love our vacations together. They are very relaxing, and there is usually a lot of laughing involved also.

I know there are no pictures of people. I'm pretty bad at remembering to take pictures of people. 

When I am camping I especially feel like people don't want a camera in there un-showered-camp-face.

I spent lots of time in and around the water.

Listening to Alex and his sister having morning practice sessions for a little worship night we had on Saturday.

Hanging out with animals.

Feeding chips to chipmunks (and getting right up in their face to take some pictures).

Hanging out by the fire on some of the most gorgeous evenings I have ever seen in Oregon.

Why doesn't vacation last forever?

Break time.

Ahhh, I have finished all of the homework for one of my classes.

One down.

Three to go.

I have one week left of homework assignments galore and then I'm home free.

Needless to say I'm going to be taking a break from blogging until I am finished with school.

I love you guys, but I need to cut out some extra stress, and I will be the first to admit that blogging is last on my list of priorities.

Real life first, blog life second. 

{I have to remind myself of that from time to time}.

Now that's all cleared up, I'm gonna give my brain a little break from the chaos and catch up on the bachelorette.

See ya ladies in a week {or so}!

Photography project

So I'm working on a project for my photography class and I was hoping for some input from others out there. Also, I can cheat and work on this blog post while still technically doing homework! :)

We have to do a presentation and have a collection of photos that represent a specific theme, but each photo needs to speak for itself.
I've decided my theme is going to be life in its simplicity. I'm using black and whites as a technique to help emphasize the simplicity part.

Paying bills

doing homework

cooking

relaxing

What do you think? Good idea, or boring idea? These are just a few quick shots I took. I'm going to take more to play around with the idea some.

Any suggestions are much appreciated!