What More Could I Ask For? ~ Las Colinas Child and Family Photographer

Gorgeous family, beautiful location, and the best behaved toddler I've ever seen. He honestly did just about anything I asked.

This was one of my mini sessions at Las Colinas and I loved everything about it. I had a great time with these guys.

Oh, and don't you just LOVE her hair?

We're having our family pictures taken tomorrow and I'm super excited! I have the outfits all laid out. Hopefully all goes well and I have some cute pictures to post next week!

Things I Love

• Green Smoothies. Good for me, but more importantly, just plain GOOD!

• Sore muscles after my workout. Jillian Michaels is totally kicking my trash...in a good way.

• A desperately needed haircut.

• Looking forward to dinner at Costa Vida. I'm SO excited, and a little upset that I didn't know there was one in Texas until last week!

• Fall! It's always been my favorite season. Cooler weather, sweaters, college football, the list goes on and on.

Mmm, doesn't it look so good? If you haven't tried green smoothies, you should. I just kind of throw in whatever I have and whatever sounds good. This one has:

Small can of madarin oranges

About a cup of water

A couple handfuls of spinach

1 Ripe banana

Frozen peaches

Frozen mangoes

Milled flax seed

Another thing you can use that is really good is red cabbage, just make sure you blend it really good with the liquid before adding anything else so that the texture isn't weird.

My 2 year old loves these smoothies too and it's a great way to get him to eat some veggies. I just love how pretty they are :)

Holiday Mini Sessions

I'm a little late posting this but for those of you that were interested, here is all the information about the holiday mini sessions.

Itty Bitty ~ Vally Ranch Newborn Photographer

I absolutely LOVE newborn sessions. They take a lot longer than most sessions, but they are just so precious. This little guy was only 6 days old, and seemed SO tiny to me. I can't believe that my 2 1/2 month old was ever this small, especially considering the fact that he now weighs double what this cutie weighed.

This little guy was 9 days late and they still had to work pretty hard to get him here. But once things got started he came pretty quickly and his mom said she had such and easy delivery and recovery! I don't know many women who can say they had an easy recovery at 6 days postpartum.

He, his mom, and his brother moved to Utah on Saturday, and his dad is leaving for a Columbia, South America on Wednesday! So they were really glad when he decided to finally make his grand entrace.

Here are a few images. We got so many good images that I'm still trying to narrow them all down. But honestly, how could you not get great images with such an adorable baby?

The List

Today is one of those days. You know those days. The days where the "To Do" list grows exponentially and despite my best efforts, minimal check marks are added to the little boxes next to each item.

I had planned on posting all the details about my Holiday Mini Sessions today, but somewhere between a crying baby, a screaming toddler, being spit on and spit up on those plans went out the window. So that will have to wait until tomorrow...or Monday.

Luckily tomorrow is a fresh start with a new list.



And yes, I draw little boxes next to each item on my list just so I can check them off. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something.

Blog. Check.

Beauty

I've never really been the outdoors type. I'm definitely more of an inside girl. I prefer shopping to hiking and resorts to camp grounds. However, one thing about the great outdoors that I absolutely love is the beauty that can be found.

I remember going on family vacations to Bryce, Zions and Yellowstone National Parks and marveling at the beauty all around. I dreamed that one day I would travel around capturing breathtaking scenes like Ansel Adams. While I'm definitely no Ansel Adams, and my focus in photography has shifted just a bit, I still enjoy all the beauty nature has to offer.

I no longer live near the stunning red arches and hoodoos of Zions and Bryce, or the gorgeous hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone. (I promise I didn't make the word hoodoo up, that's really what they're called...I had to look it up). I now live in a very suburban area. There's not much in the way of large open areas that are undeveloped.

But I've found that I can find beauty in the most unlikely places. All I have to do is slow down and be more observant. Whether it's a prickly pink weed in the field next to my apartment or the way the light hits the overgrown grass at the edge of the parking lot, there is beauty where ever we go.

An old friend from high school recently mentioned "The More You Know" TV campaign on his blog. You know the ones. With the shooting star, the catchy jingle you can't get out of your head and a celebrity with a message to share. He posted what his message would be if he were to do one of those commercials and it got me thinking what mine might be.

I think I would have to go with this: "Beauty can be found in the most unexpected places. Take a minute, slow down and see the beauty that is around you. You might be surprised by what you find."

Here's a little of the beauty that I see.

Booking Update ~ Dallas Texas Child and Family Photographer

I'm back from my "maternity leave" and am gearing up to start into the busy family picture season. I am currently booking through the end of the year. I will not, however, be taking any sessions in Texas in December. If you're in Utah and are interested in setting something up while I'm visiting, let me know and we can try and work something out. I cannot guarantee pictures will be ready for Christmas cards for any sessions held after November 13th, so if you are intersted in sending out Christmas cards please make sure that your session is scheduled before that date. I'm also considering scheduling some mini sessions that would include printed Christmas cards and 3-5 images on a CD. If I have enough interest I will put together some details, so let me know if you're interested in something like that.