| Alyssa + Corey | Engaged! |

I’m so excited to show off Alyssa and Corey’s engagement session today! This week’s blog post is a bit late due to us taking a little family vacation time for the fourth but it’s worth the wait because these two are just adorable and so sweet. I was lucky enough to meet Alyssa a year or so ago and was thrilled when she called me to tell me she was engaged and to setup a time to bring Corey by to chat about having me as a part of her wedding day.

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Choosing a wedding photographer can be overwhelming (just like choosing every other piece of your wedding day!) because it’s such a big event and your photographer is not only there with you all day (like right there, so you better like them) but they are also creating the images you have left from the day once everything else is over. So though Alyssa had worked with me before I encouraged her to explore the others she’d heard about too just to make sure I was the perfect fit for their day and we were both SO excited when she came up to my booth at the Decatur Bridal Expo to tell me to pull out the contract they were ready! Of course, I’m thrilled to be a part of their day and honored that, after doing some looking, they chose me and SJP. Now it’s game-on to make their wedding day and images as perfect as possible.

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I was really excited when she told me they wanted to personalize their engagement session a bit by bringing along Corey’s stunning el camino and to add a little of their personality with a campfire feel (and luckily our fire pit fit in my car!).

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Be sure to stay tuned for a look at their big day this fall. <3

| A Year … | We Miss You Momma |

It’s time for our weekly blog post and today I sat down to post and just couldn’t shy away from what was on my heart. It’s a bit (or a LOT) deeper and personal than things often are here on the blog but who knows, maybe somewhere someone else is struggling with keeping on after a loss and they’ll find these words. And maybe not, maybe they’re just for me but here they are. And we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programing with pretty people next week. <3

 

A year.. without you here. 365 sunrises and sets. A million toddler milestones. Birthdays. Holidays. So many good things and bad days. All with no phone calls to/from you. And today, calls from family and a carefully treaded ‘how are you this morning’ from my husband and tears feeling nearly always just below the surface. But while today is not a day I want to commemorate it seems one that I won’t be able to ignore. It’s here. It will pass.

I’m not sure the ‘right’ way to feel today. If I’m ‘supposed to’ want to visit your grave or buy a rose or ‘pour one out’ because today is not your day… today is not the day I want to remember or celebrate. Today is the day I want to forget. Today is the day I learned of real loss and real pain of which I knew nothing about before this day. Today is the day I broke. And I don’t want to remember today. So today I’ll be busy. I’ll be in meetings and with clients and focused on them. On creating, not remembering. On moving forward. Not forgetting you, never. But not remembering this part of you.

This week we’ll go to our hometown’s downtown Fourth of July festivities. We’ll get corn dogs and blooming onions and root beer and lemonade. We’ll walk the streets and remember you, remembering what you loved and the great times we had laughing on those same streets stuffed so full of junk food we’d have to carry our funnel cake home for later (not skip it for sure). We’ll get a bag of kettle corn. We’ll watch the fireworks. We’ll love and laugh and be a family and you’ll be there. You’re always here. I don’t ever doubt that and this is why I’m not drawn to your grave… you’re not there.

I’m not sure how we’ve made it a year without you while not making it a day without thinking of you. Actually I do know how, we’ve made it because you made me this person, this mom. We’ve made it because God gave me Brooklyn before he took you home. Because my purpose in her and to be even 1/2 the mom you were keeps me going and keeps me smiling. Because of you I live better, am better, than I ever could have been without you. Because of you we love, we laugh, we eat, we enjoy, we live. Because of you my daughter will know love so fierce it can overcome and outlast any pain. And I pray, so hard, that she’ll not know this pain like I do but even if she does she’ll survive because your/our love is stronger.

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| Thank You & I’m Sorry | Life Happenings |

| Senior Model Volunteer Event – Take ONE | PawPrints Ministries Decatur, IL Comfort Dogs |

Last week we had the first ever SJP senior model service day! If you have been following our 2018 senior models on facebook and instagram you know this year, more than ever, we are making senior year about more than just portraits… it’s about creating experiences! While some of these are fun and just for us (like the new pop-up sessions which just recently included carnival lights and rides and super melty ice cream and a few fireworks), I wanted to also make sure that some of these experiences were about others. So, one day last week we scheduled some time to give back to a fabulous local organization Paw Prints Ministries.

You might remember them from the recent headshots I did for a few of the pups on the team. I was so happy that Jennifer (a past client of mine) was excited to partner with us and let us come in to lend a hand. While we’d hoped to have more hands to lend, those of you with teenagers know summer schedules can fill up quite quickly and between camps, summer jobs and illness our full lineup of models was quickly reduced to Jaiden and I! We may have been a small ‘group’ but we sure were mighty and stuffed over a box load of cancer care packages and tragedy gift bags.

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Payton and Enzo were there to lend a hand too!

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Payton’s clearly supervising here!

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Check out all the goodies packaged into these care bags.

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If you follow me on snapchat you got a lot of behind the scenes looks at what we were up to that day including some fun videos of us attempting a group photo with the pups!

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After our time at headquarters we headed over the the Decatur Conference Center for a training session. It was so fun to see a few dogs at different stages of training. To see what they struggled with and what they were able to pick up and learn in even just one session. Check out Enzo fighting the distractions (even of a favorite toy) and staying put on his table.

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And this happy guy was working so hard and learning so quick to ignore all us distractions in the room and follow his owner’s lead.

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Jaiden got in there to attempt to distract them too, this awesome guy didn’t move once!

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Pawprints provides cancer care packages to those going through the often tough cancer treatments and include items like chapstick, hand sanitizer, lotion, tissues, candy, socks, scarves, hats, etc. They also provide small care packages with a prayer, tissues, candy and chapstick when they attend gatherings where there may have been a disaster or life loss. These are small offerings provided to bring comfort along with the presence of their dogs.

Last year when I spent much of the year in the hospitals and long-term care facilities with my mother there was one particular hospital which had a beagle comfort dog free-roaming the halls/rooms at least a dozen times I was there and in places like these, especially long-term care hospitals where there’s not much hope of your visit being short or even pleasant, this pup brought a smile to so many faces and a lightness to the air felt by both staff, patients and families like myself. Since that experience, I’ve had a special place in my heart for these dogs and I’m so glad that our first service project could be with them!

You can learn more  about PawPrints Ministries HERE and you can contribute to these cancer care kits by dropping off items to the PawPrints Ministries office at 226 W Eldorado in Decatur and you can learn more about what the kids can contain HERE. To continue our support of this organization we’ll be adding a cancer care kit box to the studio where clients can bring donations to add to these kits!

| Jessica | Central A & M Senior Portraits |

I’m super excited to share Jessica’s senior session and album with you today! This gal had a heck of a senior year and with a car accident putting her in cast/boot and such for much of her senior year our summer session turned into a spring session instead. I got to meet and photograph Jessica first as part of our senior model Emily’s best friend session day and was thrilled when she called me to schedule her full session.

We may have had to wait a little longer than planned but I think it was worth the wait!

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| Amanda + James Wrigley Wedding Album | Decatur IL Wedding Photography |

I’m so excited to show off Amanda & James’ lovely wedding with you all today. I met Amanda and her momma at the Decatur Bridal Expo this year and they are both the sweetest people that I was so excited when they decided to book Amanda’s wedding there on the spot.

And these guys planned a beautiful wedding day! Often brides approach me with a bit of concern if they don’t want the whole shebang, sun up to sundown coverage of their wedding day. But I actually love the change of pace when I get to customize our wedding coverage to cover just what a couple loves most. Amanda knew she wanted the important portraits on her day with all the people most important to her and James but didn’t want to be on camera all day long. So we did just that… we scheduled just a few hours of coverage to create these portraits, capture their ceremony and spend a bit of time with her and James solo. And our timing was perfect… just as it started to rain we were finished and done and they were off to relax and party the night away.

Below is the final product from their special day and she’ll be picking up her album to show and share in person very very soon!

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Ceremony: Crosspointe Community Church

Portraits: Scovill Park