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Well, things may look a little different here….because I finally decided to pimp my blog! 

Well, I actually just wanted to make it a bit more professional.  So I have a new look and a new attitude to go with it!  I plan on being a bit more disciplined in getting recent shoots posted and I plan on including more personal tidbits and photos as well. 

So, to kick off the new look, I will feature a great senior I photographed this fall – Missy!

Missy’s mom contacted me in the summer and, after a bit of back and forth, she decided that she wanted to try to incorporate some gorgeous fall folliage into the session.  So we scheduled the session for mid-October.  It is always a bit iffy as to what the weather will be like around here in October.  We could have 70 and sunny skies, or a few inches of snow.  You just never know. 

We were lucky though.  After a week of cold rainy weather, our shoot day ended up being picture perfect! 

I met Missy and her family at her home.  She lives tucked away in the woods and the scenery was just perfect.  We walked around the house, we hiked through the woods, we stopped by the pig pen, we even went across the street to a soybean field!  And we got some beautiful photos!!!

 

Thank you all so much!!!

For the last 10 years, my husband and I have cut down our own Christmas tree at the same tree farm. The first time we went was the year 2000. We found this farm out in the middle of almost nowhere. It had beautiful trees, at an amazing price (they recently raised them to $20 from $15) and the drive out there is always nice.

On our original trip out in 2000, we were married about a year, no kids, renting a house, building a new one, and I was working at a job I was extremely unhappy at.

I will never forget the feeling as we drove out to the tree farm. It was a nice winter day, I was excited for our little day trip, excited about our new home that would be finished soon, but the stress and misery at my job just hung over my head and made it almost impossible to enjoy our outing. As much as I tried to tell myself not to think about my problem, it was still the only thing I could think about.

About 1 week later, things at this job came to a head. I came home just sick and in tears and told my husband I just can’t go back. I have never EVER quit on the spot, but this circumstance was different. I asked my husband “can we live on less than half our current salary?” His response “we’ll make it work. We will be fine.” And we did and we are.

It was probably the absolute hardest thing I have ever done. But it was also the best decision I ever made. About one month later we found out we were expecting our first child. We soon moved into our new home and never looked back.

This year, on our tenth trip to the tree farm, we climbed around the hills of the farm with 2 of our 3 little girls (our little special needs sweetie stays home). Things have changed a lot since our initial trip.

Every single year, this tree signifies just how much my life has changed. With 3 kids, a cozy home in the country, being able to stay home as my little ones grow up so quickly – and now enjoying a wonderful new career in photography – I just couldn’t be happier.

We hope to continue our annual trek to the tree farm for as many years as possible. We love the day, we absolutely love our tree and we love the memories we create for our little ones.

I hope you all have a wonderful and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!