I cannot believe that an entire year has passed since Dave and I were married -- and I made sure to take the day off!  We started out the morning cleaning out the fridge -- yes, for real -- but then we went to the Royals game!  It was a gorgeous day, even if the Royals didn't give us a win... :)  Since it was a special occassion we hit Cold Stone for some birthday cake ice cream, before picking out some steaks at the grocery store.  We opened some wine, grilled on the back deck with our books, and ate the saved-slice of wedding cake (which was still good!).  Then of COURSE I made Dave sit through our DVD's of wedding pictures.  Complete with rehearsal dinner, wedding day, and honeymoon...too cheesy yet?

We have several of our wedding pictures printed and framed in the house, since Lauren Clark did a fabulous job (see our posts at the links on her name).  I love you Dave, and cannot wait to celebrate many more years together!

 

This past weekend was a rare one -- I actually was able to attend a wedding as a guest!  Dave and I's niece Jamie was married to Ryan, and I got to show up approximately 12 minutes prior to the ceremony.  It was definitely surreal and a lot of fun!  Then Sunday I helped host a baby shower at my home for one of my greatest friends Jennifer.  That means a complete weekend with no shoots, and time with family and friends.  WOW!  I was a normal person!  :)  Of course I took some pictures of Calvin at the shower -- and this week I will be posting the Twin Boys and Sarah & Jamie's wedding!  Stay tuned, since I am back to shooting a lot this week!

I hated our front yard landscaping since the day we moved in -- no color, big ugly bushes that didn't grow right, a random island in the middle of the front, and just basically hard on the eyes.  When one of my past brides let me know that her and her husband had started a landscaping business (Cross Country Landscape), I KNEW that I wanted to call them.  I could NOT BE HAPPIER!  And being the photographer that I am, of course I documented the stages of incredible progress!  (It has been so rainy -- notice only ONE shot is from a sunny day!)

If you want to see closer images, or just need something new for your yard contact Shannon at

SHANNON AT CROSSCOUNTRYLANDSCAPE DOT NET! 

I know that there are a lot of sessions due on the blog, but when I woke up this morning with a fever and body aches (like you wouldn't believe) I knew that it was going to be a day of rest.  I have been sleeping all day, and have yet to take a bite of anything to eat!  I am out of town for the weekend, so I will have your sessions up next week.  Thanks to my clients who were so understanding and rescheduled today!

1.  Shoot Heather & Tim's AMAZING wedding on Friday...CHECK!

2.  Enjoy time with family and friends and try not to work on Saturday/Sunday...CHECK!

I have a few more shoots to post from last week, the wedding from Friday, and lots more shoots coming up THIS week.  But in the meantime, I am out having a relaxing weekend, and doing some fun-shooting around the neighborhood...hope you all are enjoying this amazing weather!

I am shooting a wedding tomorrow (Friday) but I hope to post a picture soon!

The CF walk is THIS SATURDAY, which means it is your final chance to donate to Dave & I's team!
The highest donation will receive a FREE session with me -- baby/family/just because -- it is worth it!!

...to Arkansas!  My husband and I planned to take a road trip tomorrow (and with my schedule, we planned this about 10 months ago), and a couple weeks ago decided to try Eureka Springs for the weekend.  We booked a bed and breakfast, and we are leaving the electronics at home!  I think we will both have some major withdrawals!!  Anyways, we are packing our bikes just in case the cold-weather decides to go away...below is a picture of me on my brand new Diamondback bike!  My birthday was back in August, but I didn't have time to go and PICK one until last month -- WOW!  Don't I look happy?!?!  And YES I wear a  helmet on rides...this was just a maiden voyage on the bike in our driveway!  Anyways, some relaxation and vacation is just what I need...

We already have some referrals for great Indian Food, and other nice restaurants while we are there -- but I am always up for some sushi!  All images on this post were taken with my little Canon point-and-shoot...

I literally just got home after a 14 hour car ride, and decided I had to blog this evening about the great little vacation in Wolf Creek/Pagosa Springs, CO.  Last Wednesday 8 of us from KC started the all-day drive out West, so that we could be on the mountain for day 1 on Thursday.  We arrived to THIS AMAZING HOME and couldn't believe how great it was.  If you are headed out that way, you really should consider staying here if you have a large group!  The morning conditions were a bit icy, but after some sunshine it softened the snow a bit and we were able to do some great skiing/boarding.  That night 4 more friends from CO joined us and we had two more days of good times.  It was warm, and we enjoyed the natural Hot Springs too -- which were amazing and fun on the tired muscles... :)  Day 2 we even hiked this amazing area called Knife Ridge, which was SO SCARY, but worth it.  I didn't get down that portion on my board very "pretty" but I made it down!