maternity session at Secor Metropark!

It was such a gorgeous day and we were also able to get some sunset shots in!

 Enjoy your last few weeks as a family of three guys,

can't wait to meet your baby girl!

xOxO

 studio, as my family and I are excited to seek some new endeavors.

Having a downtown studio space had been a dream + always an

honor to capture your special memories. 

I am out of the officially out of the studio as of now

but still offering on-location sessions and in-home sessions.

Forever grateful to have amazing clients+ friends, old and new.

Here are some of my favorites from this cozy Christmas Eve session.

Boy moms absolutely have a special place in my heart

and here is Brook and her precious Adrain + Avery.

xOxO

to connect with so many beautiful people at similar

or various walks of life. Some being friends, old and new.

I have known Alicia and Isaiah for at least 10 years.

I also remember Alicia being one of my very first clients back when I first

started dabbling into photography, so it’s so fun seeing things come full circle

and truly honored to be apart of their big day, this upcoming May 2021.

Even with dealing with the unknown of getting married next year,

I promise to be there every step of the way and capture all the beauty in all of it.

Their session took place in mid October at the peak of fall.

We started at Goll's Woods and ended up at Harrison Lake.

My friend Jenny came along to practice some video clips, 

and my other friend, Claudia, came along to assist,

and we all just had a blast. I still have openings for 2021

weddings if you or someone you know may be looking for

a photographer this upcoming year. <3

xOxO

One day in late August, I received a text from my

little brother Benicio: "Do you want to try to get my senior

pictures done sometime very soon?" Me: A not-so-gentle gasp of thick air and flashes of memories. 

From the time my Mom told us we would be getting a little brother, to me obsessing over him as a baby + toddler.

I may be embarrassing him right now, but it's fine. Anyway, my brother has been getting things done for

his senior year + his final soccer season! Benicio, can't wait to see where you will go.

Oh, I also, tried out my new outdoor lighting system for some regular + sunset shots!

Fun times.. with my not-so-little baby brother.

xOxO

Dawn also brought her husband along to get some shots in them.

I love all of these. We had a hard time choosing!

xOxO

Hopefully I can back-blog some past sessions from this past year

and keep up with new ones now that my kids

are going back to school. (For who knows how long.)

Something new I have been wanting to be able to offer is

 giving moms the option of me going to them

in the comfort + convenience of their home for newborn portraits.

Like I told little miss Adella's mom, Keely,

"no, your house doesn't have to be super tidy or Pinterest ready." 

(Even though hers was Pinterest ready because she is a professional set designer!;) )

This is the first few weeks of life with a newborn after all.

Anyways, look at tiny, sweet, + perfect

 five pound Adella and her two amazing parents!

xOxO

(With their two sons, they remind me of my own little family.)

 So glad they chose me as their photographer!

Little Dominic turned four in March (thanks covid) + we also

 updated their family portraits at one of my favorite

summer/fall locations. 

xOxO

(We photographed his session back in early June after the

stay-at-home order lifted for Covid.)

Senior sessions are one of my favorites to photograph.

I love capturing personalities + individual styles. 

Here is greg and some of his favorite things.

xOxO

fill my heart so literally could not narrow down the faves.

so blessed to be able to document the

lives of beautiful people and their connections

cousins <3

the whole crew!

sisters <3

grandparents <3

xOxO

At 37 weeks, her baby girl can be born any day now.

So glad we were able to document these memories.

Amanda had a special request for sunset shots and sunflowers!

What a perfect location to pair with gorgeous lighting

and a breath-taking momma-to-be. 

It was also so fun picking our own fresh flowers to take home with us.

It was hard to pick, but here are some from her gallery.

xOxO

We definitely forgot the mosquito spray for her session, whoops.

Although, it ended up being worth it, even after we were full on attacked by those things.

We got too many great shots and more importantly great laughs

with Faith and her mom, Misty at a few Toledo locations we chose!

Here are a few of their favorites..

xOxO

Her: "My family had a cookout the other day,

and I literally couldn't breathe." 

😂😂

We had such a great time with these!

Brook sent me a picture and asked what I thought

about a Calvin Klein maternity shoot.

So we stuck with the simple gray tones (and minimal white). 

Of course I'm always open to your ideas/inspiration!

32 weeks never looked so good.






  
  

these are some from the bunch.

xOxO

for props for their one year session! (or two, three, ect!)

I absolutely LOVED her cake smash and milk bath photos!

This little girl is such a joy. :)

xOxO

Jobe. We were done in 20-30 minute span

and I still had a hard time narrowing them down!

Ps: Jackie has photos in every season so she can switch out

her canvases through out the year. LOL

I'm down with it! ;)

xOxO

1 & 1/2 year portraits with spring minis

and we also got a sibling shot as well!

Below pictured is Amelia cheesin' hard, 

playing with some leaves + flowers,

rocking her signature pose (sticking her tongue out),

and most of all cheesin' hard with her big bro's. <3

xOxO

fifteen days old in the studio.

Her momma liked the natural / boho style theme which is also what I love!

It took us a little awhile to get little Miss Brynlee comfortable 

and her parents said this was the longest they thought

she had stayed awake during at this time of the day lol -but it was worth it.

When your passionate about something, that's what its all about;

You are willing to put up with all the little details and extra steps it takes

just to get the end result.

xOxO

Mia is just too cute for words.

Her mom asked if she could bring her dog and I said of course!

I'm loving all of these.

xOxO

And we just have to include all of these raw expressions

(including pre-warm-up captures) for keepsake purposes. ;)

This is three and I loved seeing all of the expressions.

From the stubborn crying, to getting her to crack her first smile,

to then warming up & joyfully running around in the studio with her Paw Patrol pups!

I have been photographing this sweet girl since

she was 9 months and like they always say;

MOMMA'S, THEY GROW TOO DANG FAST.

Stubborn cry.

First smile!

Cheesin!

Love, love!

Oh, to be three again!

xOxO

and these colors are magic!

I love documenting families, especially in the years

when your little ones are growing way too quickly.

Aren't you glad that photographs never grow up?

xOxO

This session contained of family portraits + the golden hour + bold fall colors!

Which are three things I love in the span of a 25 minute session!

Ps: Now is a great time to start thinking about your summer + fall family sessions!

Contact me, lets get a date locked in. <3

xOxO

Her one year session featured her plum tutu,

lots of sunflowers, fall leaves, and glittery pumpkins.

Also, I'm so glad her mom wanted to do cake smash and milk bath photos!

xOxO

Even with the stormy morning,

the cloud overcast made for gorgeous wedding portraits!

From the love and laughter that was shared,

to the vintage couch on top of the hill,

to all the friends and family that came to celebrate this

dynamic union! Plus, they also had a coffee + smoothie stand

and a super fun photo booth! 

Here is "The first look"

Some of their bridal portraits..



  





The ceremony..

(When Keely went from being aunt of one to 41 & counting lol..)

The reception

xOxO

featured her big brown eyes with the sweetest little face, cactus love,

milk bath splashes, her momma's new pretty tea set, and a whole lot of pink!

Don't let the precious moments get away.

Contact me to book your child's session today.

xOxO

on the river on the Maumee in Grand Rapids, Oh after they caught dinner together!

Lots of fun, laughter, and memories as captured in portraits below!

Not pictures is one the boys, Tyler, running across the trees on the river

and trying not to fall in!

Silhouette love

xOxO

She would of let me take photos of her all day.

She is so sweet.

of sweetness and sass and were so fun in the studio.

Maci, who just turned four had just woke up from a nap and we were able

 to bring out her smile with a little warming up to me and a little candy bribing. ;)

Bristol, who is eleven months just smiled the entire time

and stayed ready for the camera!

These are a few favs from their session.

xOxO

was born at thirty-six weeks.

She's 5 pounds + 12 ounces of pure perfection

and already deeply loved.

xOxO

Tomorrow, they'll be a little older than they were today.

This day is a gift. Breathe & notice. Smell & touch them.

Study their faces, little feet, & pay attention

- Enjoy today. It will be gone before you know it."

How perfect is my nephew?

Coming soon to Onelife Photography Studio:

-Sitter Milestone Sessions:

Which are perfect for those wanting to capture their babies between 6-12 months. 

Must be able to sit up unassisted but not yet quick enough to run away from the camera. (7 months is recommended.)

-One Year Old Cake Smash Sessions!

Meet one of my best friends, Claudia. We have been friends since we were about 13.

 We talked more in depth about her experience of coming  from

Bolivia to the US in the fifth grade, to citizenship, and her area of work.

From Bolivia to The US:

"I was 10 years old when my parents decided to move us here. I don't remember much, it's been 18 years,

and I still haven't been back. I've always told myself that I would go back to visit and I still haven't. 

So much has changed and the busyness of life has gotten in the way, but it's something now, especially as being a citizen,

I'm free to go and come back and I don't have to worry. When I was a permanent resident I always heard that I would have to be back

within a certain amount of time. I think with the Trump Administration, I was hesitant to do many things because of the fear of the unknown.

If they are separating immigrant families now, then what would stop them from separating mine, 

and me from my husband and US- born children? What's going to stop them from saying, 

'Oh, now we are going to go after permanent residents and we are going to take that way?'

Of course I never got into any kind of trouble, but it was still a fear I had 

--not knowing if I could be ripped apart from my kids who are 5 and 1.

So that's what really pushed me to going for citizenship."

The Process:

"After 3 years of being married to a US citizen, I could apply for citizenship and I never did it."

I asked her why. She says, "I could of done it in 2013, but I think because we moved so many times

due to the military life and I was comfortable being a permanent resident with my green card,

being that it was good for 10 years. I did regret it when voting time came and I really started to think about it then.

When I became the most interested is when Trump started doing deportations a lot more.

I think within his first two months of holding office he started doing mass deportations and separating families.

It didn't put me in panic mode, but it just instilled a little bit of fear,

so I just said, 'Okay I have to do it', now that I live in Ohio permanently for school  

and my address isn't going to change for awhile. The application fee was $725 I believe; I could be wrong. 

I applied in August of 2017, and I think by October they told me to get my fingerprints done for my background check.

I got an immediate response in November for the official interview, which meant that I had to study

the 100 civic questions of the US government.

They told me that they were going to ask me 10 questions and I had to get at least 6 of them right,

 answer the writing portion in English correctly, and you also have to speak in English.

If you're a over a certain age then you don't have to take that portion, which is what stops a lot of people

because they think that their English isn't good enough. What the citizenship gave me is, now I can vote,

serve in a grand jury, and have the same rights everyone else has.

...I just can't become the President." She laughs.

The Fifth Grade:

"It was kind of scary because I came here in the middle of 5th grade and I didn't know the language.

 I was kind of thrown into it and culture shocked. Everything was so different. 

I had to learn English with flash cards. I would sit in the back of the room while all of the other students

went through normal social studies and normal math, and read simple cards with simple english words that had pictures.

They were basically like.. for little kids.

The first day of school, I had to ride the bus, which I had never done - I had only seen them in the movies.

 It was kind of intimidating because there was snow everywhere, and I had never seen snow.

So I was going to get on this bus and not know if they were going to bring me back or not.

I thought, 'Will they know where I live?' 

I remember the first day I got dropped off at the wrong school and I started crying

 because I knew this wasn't the right school. I thought, 'but how do I communicate that?'

It was a traumatic experience. I don't remember how they figured it out, 

if they went through my book bag or what. Everyone was welcoming in the fact that they wanted to know who I was 

and thought it was so cool that I knew Spanish. So you know as fifth graders, they were asking me how to say this and that. 

They would show me what they were holding and I would tell them how to say it, so that was a great way of making friends.

The good thing about learning English was that I was a really good speller because I had to visually see the word first.

 Ironically, throughout the rest of the school years I had A's in English classes." 

4.0:

"In high school, you know, you start thinking about what colleges 

you will be going to and what you will being doing with life.

I started getting the grades in high school, well, because I like school.

I wasn't much of a sports person, so school had to do me justice, and it did. I would study for hours,

and that was fun to me." She laughs. "It's funny because my parents had very crazy shifts and worked a lot of hours,

and they didn't really push me. I pushed myself, and because of the language barrier

they also couldn't really help me with homework, so I kind of had to have that motivation myself.

My older siblings kind of helped with the caretaker role and making sure we were okay

with my parents working so many hours." I asked where they worked at the time.

She says, "They worked factory jobs.

They graduated from high school in our country and had degrees, but they couldn't have better paying jobs

because of the language barrier so they opted for the over-time and the factory work

that just took repetition versus working with people in customer service.

You couldn't do that not knowing the language.

In high school, as I started trying to plan out what I would do

l kind of lived in the shadows." She pauses and tears filled her eyes.

"I saw other students, friends, and classmates who were able to get their license

or get their first job when they were 16. Even though I wanted to help my parents,

 I couldn't because I didn't have status at that point. When we entered the country, it was legally,

but when that Visa expired it put us into an undocumented status. So we lived in the shadows, hoping to go unnoticed,

until something with the government could be done. So that meant although my grades were great and although I had a 4.0, 

 I couldn't go to a four-year college. I couldn't get financial aid or the benefits that anyone else could,

so my future at that time, being 16 or 17 years old, was unknown. I didn't know what I would do with my life 

because I couldn't work, I couldn't have a driver's license, and I couldn't go to school.

So that was hard, on top of being a teenager and finding your true identity and who you will become.

I remember a class trip where the other students were able to go to Canada for geometry club.

They asked me if I was going to go, and I just said 'No, I am not going.'

I never revealed that if I went, I would not have been able to come back.

It's funny now, but back then -it was the highlight of the year."

College and Marriage:

"I knew I wouldn't be able to go to a four-year college.

So what I did when I was 18, I went to a community college not knowing if I would be able to graduate.

I was working under the table to pay for college out of pocket, with no financial aid.

 Alex and I knew each other from going to school together throughout the years

 and liked each other back in the 8th grade, but never dated.

We started dating when he came back from college and we ended up getting engaged

kind of fast because he joined the military and got stationed in California.

We knew that we would have to get married for us to be able to be together.

So we didn't have the typical wedding, we just got married through the courthouse or Justice of Peace 

and I went to California. So what I did was continue to go to school online for a human service degree at the time.

 I learned that being married to a US citizen was that I could apply for a work permit and a permanent residence card,

but there was a fee. There is always a fee. So we started doing that, which was great.

It took a little time, but it worked, and I didn't have to fear anymore.

With him being in the military, I could travel, move to different states, and visit my family in Ohio.

After I got my residency, I was able to transfer to a four-year college,

so I transferred to Washington State University in 2012 and we started our family within the same year.

At that time, we were living in Washington State and I was a full-time student, a mom to a newborn,

and I started working in a military bank. I was able to start my career, continue with my studies,

AND start my credit which was awesome. I just had so many goals I wanted to accomplish.

In 2014, I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Psychology

along with having a two-year-old daughter, and living the military life."

Case Manager:

"We moved back to California and I became a Case Manager since I knew that I wanted to work in the social work field.

I worked for the Office of Refugee and Resettlement for a program called Southwest key programs. 

Living in San Diego and being so close to the border, I worked at a shelter that housed immigrant children.

They were unaccompanied minors that would cross the border from Central America to escape violence, 

domestic violence, and gang activity that was taking place in countries like Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, even Guatemala.

They were coming to seek refuge or have a better life in the United States.

The sad part is they would come without a parent or they themselves were forced to grow up really fast and become the breadwinner.

When border patrol apprehended them, they would be placed in our shelter and

we would have to look for a sponsor to house them while their immigration proceedings were taking place.

It didn't mean they got a green card or that they would stay here. 

It just meant at the time they were waiting for their immigration case to end, and we had to place them with a safe person."

Claudia and I went over some of the highlights and lowlights about the job and she says:

"They had very traumatic stories, but the minute you finished their case and they went to a good home you felt SO happy.

Also, I would see a child see their mom for the first time in 14 years and I would sometimes have tears.

Like a mother and child who hadn't seen each other since the child was 1.

Just to know that you worked on that case was so rewarding." I asked what was one specific case that tugged her hearts strings?

She says that, one she remembers specifically was a 6-year-old girl who came into their care.

"Her sister had been killed by a gang member in El Salvador. Her sister was about 18 and she was pregnant and I believe knifed.

So talking to this little girl’s parents, they had actually brought her to the states because they had feared for her life.

Just seeing children fear for their lives and that's why they are here is a harsh reality.

Like 'if I didn't come here, I would have been killed.' So that's what got me onto the immigration platform,

I mean I had been an immigrant myself, but my story didn't compare to any of these children.

Working as a Case Manager pushed me into wanting to go for my master's degree

so that I could move from working on the case to becoming a Clinician and getting to talk to the kids 

about their trauma, and make a difference through therapy.

That's what pushed me to go back to school, and now that's what I'm doing.

I am graduating next year, July 2019, and hoping to become a Clinician myself where I'll hopefully

do individual therapy with people, or group therapy with people, whether its children or adults.

Coming from the military perspective I really want to work with veterans

since my husband is a veteran himself. My other part is immigration and what I'm doing now.

I currently work with DOJ Accredited Representatives who work on Visas and

immigration forms for people to become permanent residents,

become a citizen, or get temporary protected status."

Dreamers:

I asked where her heart stands with DACA.

She says, "Well, when we would see the kids who were apprehended,

because they crossed the border, sometimes they would come with shirts

that were ripped to pieces, shoes full of mud, and full of such fear,

I know there is a great need. I feel that it's really an injustice because they were brought here as children.

That would have been me, but I'm fortunate enough to have been able to get status, 

but that case doesn't work for everybody, you know.

If there was an immigration reform that would allow more people to qualify to get status,

they would be willing to take that and pay the fee, but there isn't.

My hopes are that there will be some kind of solution. I wish that in the next few months they could

come up with a solution for the young people, or even the parents who are being affected.

Families are being ripped apart. Where do you draw the line when you are 

separating families and people are living in fear?

Can there be an immigration reform?

If I wasn't able to get status, then I would be a DACA recipient.

I was brought here as a child, so what makes them any different than me?

They are as American as anybody else.

They are people who contribute to the economy.

They don't even have the federal benefits,

so they are not a burden to society.

These are the qualified individuals who are bettering themselves

by going to school or in trades that are in high demand.

So to take that away would be..

I think, crucial to the economy." 

Claudia, pictured with her husband and five-year-old daughter after becoming a new citizen.

real-life story telling!

I started with a close family friend of ours -

 we talked about how he ended up in Ohio, a

little bit of what he went through, and how he got to

where he is today.

Meet Ivan.

Back Then:

I said, "You were born in New York right?"

Ivan said, "Yes, I was born in Manhattan. Beth Israel Hospital on November 21st, 1985

at 2:00 in the morning, I think it was." He laughs.

"20 years in New York and 12 years in Ohio.

My mom is in Manhattan and my dad passed away when I was about 6 or 7."

I asked Ivan what he remembers about his Dad.

He said, "Nothing.

I never got a chance to meet him face-to-face.

I only remember calling him on the phone and stuff.  

...It was fun growing up in the city. I always liked riding my bike around the city,

playing basketball, staying out late,

and also just being able to experience different cultures growing up was cool.

It was never a dull moment living in the city.

Always something to do, so I was never bored."

Why Ohio?:

"It happened fairly quick. I was 21 and coming to visit Kent over holiday break

when I was in college. Kent is like a father figure to me and my best friend."

The two of them met when Kent went with Oasis Christian Fellowship Church

 to do a mission trip for his church in New York.

Ivan went to church a lot in the city and used to help run sound.

They were doing some remodeling and Ivan and Kent did a tile job together

in the lobby and became instant friends.

Kent then invited him a few times to come visit him in Ohio.

"When I came to visit him I decided to stay and I've been here ever since.

It was a better decision for me at that time and so far so good in Ohio.

I have been able to manage on my own.

I had originally first come to Ohio when I was 16 and 17

and I didn't really like it because it was such a culture shock. 

So I went back to Brooklyn, where I felt myself because you can definitely be yourself in Brooklyn.

That I did miss. When I lived here, I felt like I had to change and kind of pretend to be someone

I wasn't during a time of my life

where your just finding out who you are to begin with."

I asked what made him decide to come back to Ohio.

He says, "I was in college, not doing well with my grades. It being Christmas break,

 I felt like I needed to get some fresh air and I needed to get away from the city

because it was such an overwhelming time in my life.

So I would come here and gather my thoughts to see what I wanted to do with 

the rest of my life because college didn't seem like it was working out for me.

It's difficult in New York City because the overhead of living is very expensive

so it was challenging to live in New york and go to college. 

When I moved out here; I got a car, my own apartment, and a job within a month

-maybe even the first two weeks. So I stuck with it here for a bit and then 

eventually decided Ohio was going to be a better place for me

instead of going back to live in New York and start from scratch,

when I was already building myself an empire 

here in the cornfields." We laughed.

The Struggles:

"I got a job working in the factory on night shift.

I made a few friends, but didn't have much of a life.

It was mostly just work, playing video games,

and microwavable pizza for a good year or two.

I started making some good friends at the Outback in Archbold - positive friends.

They all lived in Defiance, and that's how I met my ex-wife.

That's how we got together

..and we got married fairly quick.

We were two totally different people just trying to make it work.

She and her family thought it was in her best interest to divorce me,

so I went through a divorce and gave her the house and the dogs when we separated.

I had to start back from scratch,

which is easy for me because I had to do that so many times in my life.

I went through a difficult season because I didn't have many friends,

most of my friends were her friends.

I mostly went through that divorce by myself

and never had a conversation about my divorce with anyone, until years later.

Kent was the only one there for me, really.

 None of my family came to visit, call,or ask me anything about my divorce.

It was a difficult season in my early/mid twenties going through a divorce and being single, which 

wasn't a good place for me.

Video games and alcohol was the life I lived for a couple years

until I met the mother of my children.

We got together fairly quickly and we had a child together, fairly quickly.

She was very young. She was dealing with the loss of her father and I was dealing with being divorced.

We were both two people in really hard places that just needed to help someone out.

So we were in the same place in life, and that was probably the only commonality we had.

We started a family together, bought a house, had two kids together.

She started to realize that I was just in a different place than she was. I started to grow in my faith and she wanted to 

understand what it felt like to be young, being that she had both of her kids before she was 21.

So, at 21, she wanted to live the 21 year old life and go to the bars and party. 

I thought it was a good idea to let her get that out of her system 

so she didn't feel like I was trying to imprison her. I would let her go out every weekend 

and I would stay home with the girls, and during that time she met someone else. She left me for

someone else who liked to do the things she liked to do at the time.

So that was another difficult season for me because we were engaged and we had a family.

It was a hard time, being that I had this big house, had to pay all my bills and support

my children at the same time. I did that for what felt like a year."

7-Fold:

"But I did a lot of praying during that year and the Word of God tells us,

'The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much', and I prayed a lot and I got a lot in return.

What the Devil takes, the Lord returns 7-fold.

Within that year, I met my wife Amanda and I would say she's my 7th fold.

My wife and I reconnected over a book we were both reading, coincidentally,

which was a book written by John Ramirez about his testimony.

He was a Puerto Rican Satanic worshipper-turned-evangelist from the Bronx.

That brought us together in communication.

We started to realize we were both in our word, really growing in God,

and we were encouraging each other as single parents to strive after God."

Seek First:

"'But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,

and all these things shall be added to you'

I figured that if I go right after God everything would return to me, which it did.

On that road to redemption, Amanda and I were going down the same path, and God 

brought us together and reconnected us.

We started to fall for each other. I have known my wife for a long time, 

as she was good friends with my younger sister and throughout the years we would see each other.

I was a single father raising two girls and she was a single mother raising a son and at that time.

It was a season in my life that I was praying a lot, asking God for a lot, and challenging my faith.

In the Word, it says 'You have not, because you ask not,'

 So I asked a lot, and I got a lot.

My wife and I got together towards the end of the year

-in the same year that my ex-fiancé and I broke up."

Blended:

"So in the same year, my ex-fiance left me, and within that same year,

my wife proposed to me and we got married.

(photo by Jeff Jones)  

She moved from New York to Ohio to start our lives together here and bring our families together.

I finally left my factory job after 12 years.

I work in and elementary school as a social worker where I get 

to help kids K-8, who don't have a father, and never grew up with a father.

 I get to be a good male role figure for them everyday.

 I really love what I do in being able to make an impact

in the community on the South end of Toledo,

as well as help change lives in young kids for the better.

I really appreciate where God has me right now and where He has taken me.

 I feel good about what He has done in my life and what He's going to do.

I look forward to raising my children in a blended family,

which is something very common in our culture and in our nation.

It's something my wife and I want to pioneer together and inspire people

who have gone through hard times,

but want to find a right place in life with God."

I love incorporating your favorite things

into senior sessions to really capture your style and personality,

along with allowing you to pick your own locations,

all while having fun while doing it!

We had so much fun on the day of this chilly November session.

First, we stopped at one of my secret locations here in town ;),

then we went to the alley downtown, off to the bike trail,

and last but not least to the high school football field!

xOxO

She was just getting ready to start her basketball season.

I hope she has fun shooting them hoops this year. 🏀🏀🏀

xOxO

Lots of laughs and adventure at this new location with Jose.

Can't to see what his future holds!

xOxO

We also got some mother/daughter shots.

Loved all of these!

xOxO

Together they have four kids and going on their 10th grand child!

Their three daughters walked Dad down the aisle

and their son walked Mom down. So sweet.

Also, you can find their 40 year before and after somewhere below! <3

They later surprised the kids with a limo trip to Goll's Woods for some family portraits.

Susan describes their journey together as "adventurous".

 This beautiful day was a great reflection on where they began,

where they have been, and where they are today!

The ceremony was officiated by their son-in-law, Matt.

Matt illustrated their journey together, talking about their kids and grandkids.

40 years, before and after.

xOxO

streets and alleys of Downtown Perrysburg for Jariaha's senior session.

Happy senior year Jariaha, can't wait to see what you will do

and where you will go. <3         xOxO

I tried my best to stay subjective while featuring my husband on the blog this month. 

We stopped at his work before heading to Ann Arbor, Mi. for our quick anniversary

get-away so he could show me around his workplace and more of what he does. We later covered things

like moving up to Ohio from Texas, "going hard", and becoming a father & husband at 19.

"The Southmost":

"Growing up in Brownsville, I felt I had a very ethnic upbringing.  

I was surrounded by Mexican stores, Mexican people, Mexican food,

and by the Mexican language of the people. I really enjoyed living there. There was always things to get into -bad things. 

There was a park called 'Gonzales Park' and they would call it 'G park'. 

-- people would call themselves Sureños and what not.

When I moved to Ohio it was a very big culture shock. As a teenager, I was use to running around in the streets

doing whatever I wanted, but then moving to the country everything was slower.

I had no idea what a 'bonfire' was.

I thought it was actually a 'bomb fire', he laughs. I didn't understand the concept.

 Also, going to school the first thing I noticed was that they didn't have metal detectors.

In brownsville, everyone walked through them each day and if it beeped a

bunch of times it meant someone had guns, knives, or things that they were not suppose to have.

So when I got here, I was scared because I felt I didn't have structure.. or.. security.

I remember in about 6th or 7th grade there were kids snorting coke on one of the desks 

where you hold your pencils and we didn't think anything of it.

We just thought it was funny or cool. Now looking back, its kind of strange for kids that age to be

doing that kind of thing and know what it is; you don't see that around here." 

I asked Roman what he liked about Ohio and in his words he says: 

"I really felt Ohio saved me because out here every things slow;

people are really nice.. I found God in my teenage years. 

If I would have stayed in Texas, I really feel like I would've been dead or in jail.

I wouldn't have graduated.

I wasn't in a gang yet or anything, but I was associated with people who were in gangs, 

and it was all around and it was easier to lean towards that stuff. 

 I felt like I didn't have my older brothers around because they were way older, 

and being apart of a gang gives you a sense of brotherhood or family ."

I asked what he didn't like about Ohio and he says:

"Not as much of the culture.  It's slowly getting better, there's more latin stores and more latinos moving here to the country,

but that's mainly because they are picking tomatoes or working in the fields.

I miss constantly being surrounded by the culture. When you were young

every Saturday we had 'The 77' or the 'Setenta Siente', the flea markets or 'The Pulga's'. 

We would all go hang out. They would pawn stuff, sell horchata, tortas, carne asada tacos,

and all of the stuff you can't get up here.

Unless you go somewhere like Chicago, where even there it's not as authentic

being right there by the border where it's not all watered down..

it seems like when you are up here the seasonings die out."

Go hard or go home:

"My work ethic is basically go hard or go home. I go ham on everything.

I go hard because I am not really working hard for a company, or working hard for myself,

but I work hard because God said we are going to work by the sweat of our brow. 

It say's it in the bible. (Genesis 3:19)

So everything I do, I try to go hard for God, and it just so happens

that the company I work for prospers from that.

Basically all my life, I've loved to work. My Dad brought me up teaching me to work.

He said you got to work no matter what. My Dad was an alcoholic for a little while and he would still make it in to work. 

You can do your dirt, have your skeletons in your closet, whatever, but make sure you're at work on time

because the company depends on that, and you depend on your paycheck.

With my Dad since I was a little kid, we would paint barns, tear apart roofs, relay the lining and redo the roofs.

My favorite part was tearing the pieces off the roof, which I thought was fun for some reason.

 I would get a shovel and knock down all the shingles off the roof. 

Then when I got older I would sell newspapers. Each newspaper I would sell, I would get 25 cents, and of course

living in Brownsville it was like 110 degrees outside. We would go in the mornings

-they would give each kid a newspaper and assign a spot and then drop us off in a van.

We would be there all day from about 8am-6pm and one day I made almost $200 and to a kid, that's a lot.

It was a boss job. Not only that but you would get perks. People would drop off tips, drinks, sunscreen, ect.

Of course when I got older I needed something more stable."

He started off after high school working at a chicken factory in South Carolina

 "hanging chickens", then he worked temporary hard labor through temp agencies.

Later , he got out of hard labor for some time and worked monitoring at a drug and alcohol rehab,

then moving to a bilingual case worker job.He had to go back to an old factory for a short time after.

Lastly, he landed an entry-level job at a private airport fueling planes and tending to pilots. 

Hard work at that job led him to landing a career job as a 'NDT level 2' and painter for turbine plane engines and helicopters.

Working out:

"I was pushing 200 and now I'm a steady 165.

(I don't really pay too much attention to weight working out because it can be confusing.

You can be gaining muscle, but it IS cool to see that progress.)"

I asked him what had got him started:

"The fact that I was in Toledo and I just got done eating a Chipotle burrito and I felt like crap.

I felt like I was gonna die because I was over weight, and I just did not like life at that point. 

I couldn't even play with my kids at the park because I just wanted to lay around like a slob.

Since that day, I think I remember telling you,

'I feel horrible and I think I should do something about this and I didn't want to be that forty-year-old Dad

that can't do anything.' I wanted to keep my body up, do things, and change the world with whatever little thing I could do.

I didn't start off big.. I started off with little twenty pound weights from my buddy Mike,

and that just took it off. Now I have two forty pound weights from my buddy, Ivan,

and I just slowly stepped it up. Now I use those; also I got a weight bench.

Lately, I have been working out harder and harder, just to see where I can get.

 I want to be fit and live till I'm 120 -I think is what I told God. I don't know why.

I want to be healthy, conscious, and also not in a vegetative state then,

-because I want to have an input in society and help people out-, it's not just about me.

If I can keep my body up, keep it running and chugging, up to my 90's and 100's,

who knows what I can do to help the world and make an impact? I write music now, but maybe later

I can help mentor youth and raise them up to be better people. That is what I have always wanted to do."

Roman works out every day of the week at 5:45 AM since April 2016.

I can't recall him missing a day except when he was really sick,

which he would make up later in the day or on that Saturday.

Man up:

We talked about his perspective on becoming a father and husband at the age of 19.

"It was overwhelming, but I knew I had a responsibility. At the end of the day, regardless of the choices you make, 

being young you have to make do for your family. Family is everything and my kids mean everything to me;

I'll do anything for them. You have to be there, be responsible, don't get so caught up with yourself,

be humble enough to say 'I am responsible for a child now'. I am responsible for another human being whether its money,

providing food to put on the table, finding new ways for them to grow and succeed.. you know.

Being a husband is a whole other realm. It's an awesome thing to be able to be a Man for a Woman, and be able to try to

be there for her as much as you can through the bad times and good times. Also, trying to find new ways to love someone deeper,

which always goes back to God. That fairy tale doesn't really exist. I've always believed in:

love God, love your wife, love your family, love others.

He gives you the strength."

Here he showed me a plane part that he painted. 

Then he showed me some of the different techniques he uses to check engines for cracks and other flaws.

xOxO

While on our Florida family vacation we got up early

Sunday, at 5:45 am to get some maternity beach photos at sunrise.

My husband drove us down to Anna Marie Island, along with our two boys and my cousin, Alex.

After photographing, we later met up with the rest of the family for Mother's Day breakfast

on the beach. What a great experience, and, can I add the breakfast food was super good AND affordable too?

These images took a little longer to finalize just because I took the time to play with some fun sky overlays.

Also, check out the waves, they were almost as fierce as she was. ;) 

xO

While in Chicago this past month, I was able to have 

some down time with my close cousin. We roamed around the city, 

went down to Foster Beach -where she spent 4 summers as a lifeguard- 

and also walked to her neighborhood park.

We talked about simplicity.

Simplicity:

"I like being in shape, having good relationships, eating good food.  

I like when there's no expectations when your hanging with a friend.

It's natural -and it doesn't have to be posted on social media.

Everything doesn't have to be you on your phone talking to other people, but fully

paying attention to the people that you are with at the moment. 

I think a lot of people have lost sight of that.

Even looking each other in the eyes when your having a conversation or

just being able to sit with your friend and eat popcorn and watch tv.

I love to do that with my mom. We swim together or we use to watch the show "Bones" together.

You know that growing up, I've always liked doing art.

I like doing anything where you can take out your energy and there is no expectations.

Art's like that. There's no judgment. There's no right or wrong."

Contentment & Relationships:

"Throughout the years, I've learned that it is important to be content

with what you have; you are thankful for the people around you,

and you don't take that for granted. My boyfriend, Alex, says it all of the time:

'Money comes and goes, but the relationships you have are what keep you grounded.'

And money, that's never going to make you happy.

It's never going to make you happy having that dress,

or those shoes, or a nice car, or even a really good pair of headphones.

 At the end of the day, it's just going to be like 'whatever', and it's not going to make your day. 

What's going to make your day, and what's going to make you happy is surrounding

yourself with people who care about you and who you care about. 

It's a give-and-take kind of thing and I feel that throughout the years,

I've come to be a lot more thankful for those people.

My family, my friends, and realizing that you can't take those things for granted

and I do feel like some people choose their phones over spending time with a friend.

I've learned that I would rather stay home and watch a show with my Mom or go on a bike ride with Alex,

rather than to be seen by a bunch of people looking good at a party

and having fun when in the end it's just empty and lame.

It's just for appearance when on the inside, it doesn't feel full.

A lot of times I take it for granted that I was raised in a household where God

was a really big part of it and with that I realized that everyone's 

looking for a purpose for their life and without it, you don't have any peace." 

Materialism & Void:

"You think, okay this will make me happy, at least for a little while,

then I'll get a new motorcycle or a new car, and then I'll go onto the next thing. 

It's like phases, but then you get tired of that.

Even when you're not in your spirit you start to get tired of people and tired of yourself

and you get annoyed and your like, 'I don't like myself'. You become unthankful and so bitter,

and that's just how we naturally are, but when I turn to my spirit and ask God"

'just help me' because I don't want to be this person. I would rather be transformed

into something beautiful.

That's why I got out of lifeguarding because of all of the materialistic things

and you start comparing yourself to people but you can't change who you are.

You can change your appearance and get in better shape,

but at the end of the day you have to be happy with who you are and thankful for what you have.

You aren't always going to be young and I feel that people take that for granted

and then they go smoke, drink, and party. They are slowly deteriorating and I'm not judging,

because I have done most of it. At the end of the day, you are just empty,

and you feel so alone because those are the friends that you hang out with

when you want to just kind of forget about everything

and be reckless and careless and not deal with what's been bothering you.

Purpose:

My mantra has always been that I always wanted to be utterly be myself and

if I feel there is a problem between me and someone else that I'm going to talk to them.

I'm going to clear the air. That's the problem.

People just avoid each other and they don't want to be uncomfortable

and don't want to be confrontational, and they don't care.

It's sad, because if you don't have a purpose then what are you going towards?

 What's your goal? What do you care about? Who do you care about?

It's sad, but most people just care about themselves and then they are unhappy.

When you're in a relationship you feed off of each other,

you fill each other with warmth and love and it feels good,

it's natural. But when you are all by yourself, of course you are going to be unhappy.

What the media tells us is that as long as your always gorgeous, have new clothes,

and money then your going to be happy, but it's not true, it's not.

Being Thankful:

Thankfully, I have always been really thankful for my family,

because I know some people who hate their family.

They don't want to spend time with them or are embarrassed of them,

so they search elsewhere for a family, you know. 

I learned a lot when I went to Tijuana last year and I was like, 'wow, I'm really spoiled.'

Things like, they would run out of car gasoline,

and they would run out of gas for hot water, 

also, the water isn't safe to drink, and so you have to drink out of jugs

and we ran out. I was thinking 'wow, I have never had this problem before', she laughs.

You don't think about it until then. It's kind of cliche to say;

but you don't think about something until you don't have it, you know, within arms reach.

It doesn't even cross your mind and I think that being reminded of that is very important. 

It was good to go to Mexico because I got kind of put in my place

because I didn't have a job and I was freaking out.

I had just gotten my associates degree and I didn't know what I'm going to do for school. 

So it was just me like, it's all about me, what should I do in my future? 

That's the thing though, I don't have to worry about that. I just have to pray and ask the Lord,

'what do YOU want me to do?', and it's hard, because you don't want to give up that control

and you want to believe that you can do everything by yourself, and you can't, it's not possible.

I think about it all of the time, too.

How do people make it through the day with out just being able to say,

'Lord Jesus, I just feel like crap. Can you give me some peace?

Supply me. I am not happy, I feel defeated, I have failed.'

Sometimes it takes that just to get back to the Lord and feel in tune

with what God wants, because you just want to do what you want,

even though you don't even know what you want..

you just want to do whatever you want to do,"

She laughs. 

"But anyway.."

I knew I wanted to blog my Mom for Mother's Day.

This is not only a celebration of who she is,

but also a celebration of who her Mom is in her life,

as well as a celebration of all Mom's.

Meet my Mom.

Childhood:

She says,

"I can say that my Mom tried to provide me with everything I wanted.

It was fun, cool, simple, good to be a kid.

We enjoyed life more I think, you know, before all of the technology.

Everyone would go to the pool, we knew where everybody was at, it was nice. 

It was just like you see in the movies, we would ride bikes all around town.

Over all I had a good childhood, I think.

Except when we were going through what Mom went through being in

an abusive relationship that we all had to live through.

-That only lasted until I was five and then we were done with that.

After that it was just peaceful.. 

and it was just Mom.

She was both Mom and Dad. She always had birthday parties for us. 

She worked all the time and every Friday she would bring home McDonalds for me

-a quarter pounder with cheese, a hot fudge sundae with nuts, and a large french fry." She laughs.

"Grandpa lived with us, so I got to experience time with him.

He was in a wheelchair and so Mom would take care of him all of the time.

Elizabeth was there till she was 15, and had to grow up kind of fast, so it was just me.

Jose came in the picture when I was 7.

I was a tom boy. Dirt bikes, skateboards, all of it.

You never found me in dresses.

I wasn't scared of anything; I would do anything probably."

High school:

"I was a really good student up until high school. When I was a teenager I got a little rebellious..

well not a little rebellious, probably a lot." She laughs.

 "I think because I had a lot freedom (since Mom had to work, obviously) during the summer time,

when I was 8th grade, that's when it all started.. I also hung out with older kids.

My experiences I guess have led my to who I am, though.

Maybe that's why I like working with kids and juveniles 

-because I was a handful and put my Mom through a lot."

Teen Mom:

"In high school, I messed up one whole school year and had to graduate one year late.

And with all of the freedom I had is when I got pregnant at 17.

I kept it hidden to myself and then I was at your Dad's house one day

and she called me telling me that she thought I was pregnant. 

She took me to the doctors and found out I was 7 months pregnant and she was devastated.

She wondered how as a Mom she could have missed that, but then again I didn't look like I was pregnant.

It was hard because everyone was more traditional back then so that's why I kept it hidden.

When I got pregnant with you, seriously, that pretty much switched my life around and got me back on track.

Before I was always in trouble, always out late running around and Mom would have to come find me,

but then I got pregnant, had you, and re-did the 12th grade and it was the first time being on the honor roll again.

Then I decided to go to college and graduated on the dean's list. Just sayin'." She laughs.

Lieutenant Garza:

My mom has worked in Juvenile Corrections

 for 16 years and became a Lieutenant in 2014. 

"In college, I started off thinking of going into human services, 

but I didn't care for it that much.

Then corrections caught my attention. 

Work is interesting.

It's sad, but I have been there for a long time so it must be for a reason.

It's satisfying helping kids and then you get kids who call and say: 

'Hey Garza, just wanted to let you know I'm doing good.' 

He hadn't been there for two years, but still thinks about us, you know.

Because I think we have a lot to do in their lives

trying to help them get through their hard times, and that makes it worth being there."

I asked her what the hardest part about the job and

"it's getting attached and then them leaving

or them leaving and they fail and aren't doing good.

The overall hardest thing working in that environment is seeing the kids struggle.

Some of them don't have parents who care and they are being let down or their parent don't visit.

Also, when you see the kids who like us and would rather be with us then at home and that's sad.

I try not to bring it home, but there are moments where I have to run up front and collect myself because

its hard to see those kids when they are hurting and crying and missing their family. 

Overall I like the job and knowing that we have helped."

I asked what she thinks makes her a good fit.

She says, "because I've lived it.

I once had to spend the weekend there and I hated it.

I also have a strong personality, so when I go in there I am pretty confident in myself.

When I first started, the kids said I was intimidating. I don't see it in myself, because

I know what kind of person I am, but people have always said that about me.

Even back when I worked at the factory, they put me with a group of people and they were all scared of me,

and they didn't even know me.

Then they love me and they say, 'I was so scared of you at first',

and I'm like why? You guys are ridiculous.

The kids at the jail always say to me:

'Officer Garza, I'm scared of you',

 but they have a lot of respect for me.

I have earned it, it built up over time; I think it's being firm with them and keeping them in line,

but also understanding them.

They want structure. They may act like they don't, but they do because they don't have that at home. 

Also, I talk really well with people. 

I'm a people person, very sociable and I am a leader."

 Heritage:

Anyone who knows my Mom knows that she is super proud of her heritage.

I asked what makes her so proud.

She said that it's because she's experienced her culture.

"My grandfather who was from Mexico lived in my house when I was growing up.

Mom's cooking and Mom's music and also going to Mexico with Jose and Mom every year when I was young.

 I just loved it. I don't know what it was.

I loved the rancho lifestyle, the dirt roads, the horses and the roosters crowing in the morning, to this day.

I even got baptized in Mexico. 

I never was able to speak Spanish, but when I turned 13 and 14 I learned it.

Grandma and Jose would throw me out to play with other kids my age in Mexico

who only spoke Spanish, so I picked it up that way.

You learn from being in the environment.

One time Jose and his brother got a donkey and they took Mom and I to the mountains. 

 I rode it, Jose pulled it, and we went to look at the Indian ruins and cut down cacti, ate sugar cane

and went to the little festivals they had in town. I got to experience that life and live humble.

I just love Mexico. It's a beautiful, beautiful place and I'm glad I got to experience that."

A celebration of moms:

My mom say's,

"I remember when Mom got cancer 

-her hair was falling out and that was the only time I saw her cry.

I was a teenager.. she was in her robe combing her hair

and she just put her head down and shook her head.

When Grandpa died, she was strong. When Aunt Mary died she was so strong.

I don't ever, ever remember her being weak.

I think the strength that she has, made us who we all are too.

I am also glad I got my Mom's work ethic.

I always saw her busting her butt for the things that we had. I always worked, then I went to college.

Working as a single mom I worry a lot.

I worry that I can't spend enough time with your brothers.

I also get scared because they are getting older now.

It's just hard being a single Mom because you feel like you can never win.

I can try to be there and get off work for certain things, but others things I just can't be there.

I think I manage it pretty well because once I put my mind to something I stick with it,

like if I want to be able to travel and do things for the kids."

Mom, I hope you enjoyed your blog.

I know you will have a great Mother's Day as

we will all be together in Florida!!

I admire your strength and natural beauty,

boldness and confidence,

  willpower and ambition.

The thing I am most grateful for you as a mother

is for you loving me unconditionally

in every season of my life.

Through the good and the bad,

and the ugly teenage years. Lol.

Love you Mom.

perfect example as to 

why I LOVE maternity sessions so much.

 Baby bumps, 

spring vibes,

and silhouettes.

What else could you want?

Thanks Alexis and Gonzalo for all the fun

in capturing your special memories!

Adored all your guy's images. 

xOxO

she's also a very private person,

and even though she's looked the same my whole life,

she hates talking about anything to do with age. 

So I'm sure you can imagine why her agreeing to let me write about

her on my blog is kind of a big deal.

She even dug out some old pictures for me.

We talked about how it was growing up and what made

 her the person she is today.

Meet my Grandma.

Growing Up:

"For us, it wasn't as easy as it is for everybody else these days.

We had to watch out for ourselves.

I don't think we ever had a Christmas tree.

Father and Mother were from Mexico,

and back then Los Gringos, you know.

We were poor people and most everybody here owned all of the stores

and their kids were the kids whose fathers owned the stores.

Of course we didn't have the clothes, the shoes, or the hairdos they did.

Back then there were only a few other Mexican families and none of us were rich families;

we worked in the fields.

At times we went to pick tomatoes because we weren't old enough to work.

Mother and Father:

Father was a great man -he was very considerate.

He came across the border, from Michoacán, in 1929 and never went back.

Mother was born there, but raised here,

 and she was really something, man.

She learned how to do things herself -she even taught herself to drive in the fields. 

They didn't know English, but Mother started to speak it.

Father understood it, and even read the paper, but he just didn't understand everything 

and he just never spoke it."

I asked what she meant by them having to watch out for themselves.

Their mother died when she was thirteen and she says:

"You know when the train killed Mother, it's so weird,

but we never talked about it.

Nobody got together to talk about anything.

Everyone just kept to themselves.

 Isn't that awful?

I don't know why, but we just did.

I guess we just tried to block it out.

You know what's funny though? 

We always lived pay check to pay check

but we never asked for welfare, nor did we even think about it.

We kept to ourselves. We didn't associate with anyone. We were kind of like cavemen or hillbillies,

she laughs, but I don't want to compare myself to no dang hillbilly.

 There was nobody to tell us anything. We didn't ask no questions.

In school I was a quiet person, I would not talk. I would rather take a zero than talk.

I only had 2 or 3 friends that I might call friends because they were poor like we were.

All of the other kids were the kids of the people who owned all of the stores,

and of course we were looked down on us because we were poor.

I dropped out in the 10th grade to work; I kind of had to.

The twins even dropped out in the 11th grade to work.

The only one who graduated was, Rafael."

Work:

"I started working in the fields here and there when I was young, 

then the potato farm before I went to the factory.

Then in my twenties, when Elizabeth was born

I worked in the factory and I worked there in the same place

for 40+ years until I retired."

The Stories:

"You know what Mother would do?

They used to sell big flour bags for tortillas that were made out of cotton material, 

and when she got done with the sacks she would wash them all up and make dresses for us.

Either that or she would make sheets, even if she had to put them together.

They were always clean, but they were all patched up. She would make different designs with them.

Can you imagine us going to school with a dress made out of a flour sack?

And we wondered why people from the stores didn't talk to us", she laughs. 

"But we didn't think anything about it.

We were clean, but poor.

We never had a rug so Maria and I would get down on the floor with our hands and knees and wax it.

Mother was that way. We were clean people.

It wasn't even wax, but that shiny oil, she laughs.

I don't know why? We could slip and fall and break our dang necks just so the floors could be shiny.

We couldn't even walk good on it, but at least the floors were clean!

Also, you will never guess

what we use to love to do on Saturdays.

We use to love to go to the dump.

It used to be above ground and we would go through all of the junk.

We would find dolls, purses, and one time I found a ring that had a blue stone.

I had it forever, I don't know what happened to it.

We looked forward to going there on Saturdays", she laughs.

"And when we went swimming...

 we had a long driveway that was about a half a block long

and on the right side there was a field that had a little dip so when it rained

we would go swimming in that muddy water in the cornfield,

she laughs. Isn't that something? 

We would go swimming in that dirty little water in the cornfield?"

She pauses and add's shortly after, "and we didn't know how TO SWIM.

AND, when we had an ice cream cone,

you will never believe how we had an ice cream cone.. 

When it snowed one time, we went out and found the clean part of the snow, 

put it in a glass and put sugar over it. That was our ice cream cone.

 We probably never knew what an ice cream cone was.

That's why I say, you do what you can,

and that was good enough for us." 

Her Strength:

I asked her where she got her strength from.

She said she just got it from the life they had.

"Not being spoiled with everything and having to do with what we had

or what we didn't have. Put it that way. 

One time we lived in a house that didn't even have a bathroom,

but because of the way mother and father were, the farmers really liked mother and father.

The farmers built us a brand new outhouse.

The farmers, they were good people.

Everyone liked Mother and Father because of they way 

they were, they cleaned up really well,

cleaned up all of the weeds."

The cultures:

"It's so funny because the gringos would say; 'well we are going to eat steaks',

and everyone would get their steaks you know,

but us Mexicans, we would buy one and cut it up." 

She laughs, "and we were lucky if we even got one steak.

Then we would fry it up, add onions and tomatoes sauce or mix it up with potatoes

and make it Mexican style, you know?"

Her Advice:

I asked what advice she would give readers.

" You do what you are able to do in every situation.

You do what you can with what you got.

...And you can't miss what you never had, you know? "

Cassidy & Webb.

They hope to make music a career.

We talked about dream chasing.

Their Story:

Cassidy: "I started piano lessons in kindergarten and played up until the 8th grade."

Webb: "I did piano lessons for a few years and hated them.

I am surprised that I went back to music after that because I hated piano lessons so much.

 My mom made me do them and she still gets mad at me for quitting. 

I started drumming in about 6th grade."

Cassidy said she started singing on the worship team at church in middle school.

(They are both currently on the worship team at Oasis, 

which is what they describe as like "their main gig".) 

School:

Cassidy: "I started going to college for French Education. When I started, I was like

'I am going to go to school and get my degree so I can make money while I'm doing music stuff'.

I loved BG and I loved French, but I was just miserable and I was like 'something has to change'.

After I quit college, I was still working at Tiny's and I was just like;

'What am I doing? I made the wrong decision.'

And since it was this middle of the school year I constantly had people asking me,

'Oh, why are you home?'

 Even though I was originally commuting anyway.

 Then I would have to tell them, 'well I am not in school right now', and people would always feel

 the need to reassure me like, "well that's okay" and I would say "I know".

I would tell them I want get into music and they would say,

"Oh, so you are going to school for music?" I would say 'no, that's not what I am doing."  

Webb: "It would have sucked if Cassidy became a French teacher because then I would have been on my own."

Opportunities & Open Doors:

Cassidy: "I started feeling better once my friend Marin texted me because her

Grandma is part of the downtown association

and she was looking for people to do music. So Marin asked me if this something I would be interested in.

 I was like, 'I mean this is what I have been saying I wanted to do',

but then once I had the opportunity, I was like 'I don't want to do that, nope, I'm too afraid'.

My mom was like 'you need to, this is what you want to do'. 

I was stressed out for three weeks and I was like

'this is going to be BAD'...

It ended up going really well.

Then after that I was like 'that was okay.'

We have been doing stuff since then and I was like 'okay we are finally on a path'.

When I sit back and think of how young we are and how people don't even know who we are,

but are having all of these doors open left and right, it's clearly not by our ability, you know."

Webb: "Yeah, once we started getting all of the gigs and stuff,

I was like 'cool, it's probably going to work out, we might as well keep going with it.'

I don't have another plan and I really don't want to go to college, because I HATE school."

We all laughed.

Dealing With The Unknown:

I asked Webb what it was like dealing with the unknown because a lot of people deal with fear.

He says, "I kind of just go with it.

I would actually rather go that way because I like it better

not knowing what's going to happen rather than going with a plan." 

(I personally thought it was the coolest perspective ever,

I called him genius for that comment!)

Cassidy says, "Webb is more trusting than me,

I like a plan, my whole life has been planned. 

So I think that's why God was like

'yeah, were going to try something new'.

He kind of flipped that whole plan on its head

and he wasn't wrong 

--shocker."

Gigs:

So far they have played at 10 local places.

One of their favorites was playing at the new local restaurant, The Upper Crust on

Valentines Day. Cassidy said that it was one of her first options. 

They agreed it's super cool in there; also the boss is really nice.

Next, they get to play at a coffee shop in Tiffin, OH! 

Advice to the Dreamers:

Webb: "Stay humble. 

It will take you farther. 

 If your super cocky no one will want to play with you or record you.

That's the reason Twenty One Pilots made it so far,

cause I mean, they are not the best out there

-there's only two of them,

but they are different from everyone else.

Cassidy: "You just got to go for it.

If not you will stay stuck in a rut and you're going to be unhappy with where you at 

and it will be no one's fault but your own. 

God's not going to make me pick up this instrument.

But if I am doing stuff with it, then he's going to work with that."  

Love this young bro and sister team.

You can find them on Facebook @Wellsmusic

xOxOx

We talked through the realities of MARRIAGE.

(I thought it would be a good topic to go along with Valentine's month.)

 I was excited to get some raw insight on the topic and advice on how they have survived! 

(Thanks Tia, for allowing me share your story on my blog, I know it can be a little nerve-racking.)

Her and my uncle will be married 36 years this December!

Her story:

"I was pregnant and married at the age of 16. He was 18.

That was what you did back then. That was the belief from your parents.

'You got her pregnant, you're not going to walk away from your responsibilities,

you're gonna man up and take care of it.'

 That is what they told us we needed to do.

It was very scary.

Pregnant at 16, then going to get married. 

We broke up for a short time,

but then we decided, yes, that's what we were going to do.

I didn't know what I was in for. 

I didn't have any examples on how to be a wife.

I didn't even know how to make an egg.

Your Tio had to show me how to make one."

"But for me, I have always taken marriage seriously.

Family is important to me

and marriage is something that I did before God,

 you know.

I have always thought 

my marriage just isn't about me.

I think about the legacy I want to leave for my family,

my children,

my grandchildren...

I want them to know that we all have difficulty and we all have challenges,

but we have to learn to work through them.

I struggle and go back and forth through the good times and bad times; I'm sure everyone does.

Sometimes I think people go into marriage with an unrealistic expectation

thinking that everything is going to be perfect

and then when its not, they are just like,

'OH'.

Not everyone takes it seriously, and it's sad to say."

How they survived:

She says, 

"Definitely by the grace of God, and God alone.

Also, I think just being determined and saying I can't quit, we have come this far. 

We have been through the worst.

I mean, being married at the age of 16. I was a baby trying to raise a baby

and there were many times that this marriage should have been over."

Her advice:

She says, "we have to know when to choose our battles.

I ask myself, wow, is this really worth it?

Also, communication is key.

Also, the way that the movie 'War Room' impacted me was just giving it to God

and letting him intervene."

She adds, "Just remember there are going to be times where you are not going to like this person

because I have to go into my prayer and say Lord, 'I don't like this person right now'", she laughs.

She also mentions that when she took a class some years back called "Divorce Proof Your Marriage",

it taught her that when you are feeling that way to try and think about 5 positive things about your spouse.

Try to focus less at what they are not doing right and what they do do right.

His advice:

My uncle was also willing to join in and give his advice on things,

and men getting straight to the point,

he answers quickly.

"It's like a vehicle... 

if it's broken, fix it.

Don't throw it away, it's worth fixing."

(Both my aunt and I said "Wow, that was good, was that an original or did you hear that from somewhere?"

He said he heard that at one of the marriage conferences with their church.)

I asked how much the classes and conferences help and he says;

 "A LOT, and without counseling, classes, and learning communication, we wouldn't have made it."

My Aunt added the funny remark, "sometimes it's intense communication,

but it's communication", she laughs.

Then adds, "because your uncle makes it difficult!

They laugh. He says, 'I make it difficult?'

She says, "your Tio always tells me, 'I am not like you, 

you are a woman of many words." 

"A LOT OF WORDS", he adds, shaking his head.

We all laughed.

What marriage means to her:

"My definition of marriage is being there for one another through the good times and bad times

and having each others back, and definitely love of course."

She reflected on the things she likes most about marriage.

And she says, "coming home to someone you love

and also having someone to talk to when you are having a bad day."

xOxOx

this past Saturday on her eighteenth birthday.

We had fun. Plus- 50 degrees in January? Cant complain.

 

xOxO

The weather was great compared to the usual bitter January weather.

Loved hanging out with this sweet girl!

xOxO

She's 28,

a Respiratory Therapist,

and CEO of the ministry "Covered International".

Covered is an outreach and community for women in the adult women industry,

including victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking.

"Covered started from a place of my own testimony.

I was in an abusive relationship from the time I was 15, for about 8 years. 

From there I was introduced to Jesus.

 When he came into my life, he changed everything. 

He defined love for me.

I often say that culture defines a woman's worth on how she can get men's attention and

on external beauty.

But once I discovered what love was, what my worth and value was,

my whole life changed.

From there, a passion stirred up inside of me for broken women.

I got involved with the daughter project, which is another local non-profit in the area,

and they work with trafficking victims that are 18 and younger.

 Working with them,

I was at Books-A-Million one day walking with a girl; 

she was 14.

 I was hearing her story

 and she was teaching me what it was like.

Through all of her stories and trauma, she stopped and looked up at me and said,

'but I miss him', 

talking about her trafficker.

And a part of me saw myself in that little girl.

As far as how does a woman stay in an abusive relationship?

What is the trauma bond that's formed between the two of them and how hard is it to get out of a situation like that?

And to me, the only thing that allowed the unhealthy bond to finally break was the power of Jesus.

I went home that day and asked God, 'what do *you* say about human trafficking?'

I know what the world says, and what the statistics say, but I asked; 'God what do *you* say?'

And he said..

'the issue is never the issue,

it's a fatherless generation,

it's poverty.

Poverty meaning void in people's hearts. 

The issue is darkness

and the only antidote for dark is the light.'

And he gave me a scripture in Isaiah 40, that says;

 'Arise, shine for darkness covers the earth and deeper darkness the people, 

but your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.'

From there it was all a journey.

I met a woman who was a dancer for 17 years and she said there were a group of

Christian women who came into their club, and something clicked in my spirit

and I said, 'this is it'."

What a night of outreach looks like:

"We go into all of the strip club dressing rooms in our city

with gift bags for women that have our connect cards and an encouraging note

for the purpose that we are here for them

with arms wide open.

Often times we can feel alone in our pains and struggles,

so we are all about building relationships

and letting women know we are here for them."

I asked Savannah how she would describe day to day experience with the girls in transition.

 She says, "It's amazing."

Before meeting up with me, she was running the women around for last-minute Christmas stuff.

She said, "we have about 10 women and 32 children in transition right now and

a lot of the girls are from dysfunctional homes, so we always have Christmas together."

These are some faces behind the team covered...

Human trafficking is the second largest global issue of our generation.

Toledo is #4 in the nation for sex trafficking and #1 per capita and statistics show

that 80% are women and 70% are trafficked through the sex industry,

so a lot of what you see in strip clubs are trafficked victims." 

Covered went international in 2015.

 She says, "We opened a branch in Toronto 

and there are other opportunities of other countries sitting on the table.

So it's been quite the journey."

xOxO

More info or get involved at:

www.coveredinternational.org

www.facebook.com/coveredinternational/

Jenny's a nursing student at Grand Valley State University.

We talked about her experience growing up in Chicago and moving to Grand Rapids for nursing school.

"Growing up in Chicago was all I knew.

I think my mom did a great job at teaching us how to treat everyone the same

regardless of race, job, appearance.. even if they were dirty/ugly.

My mom would smile at the homeless. 

They would ask, 'Do you have change?' She would say 'Nope!' 

Then she would bring them a loaf of 'Lou's homemade bread'."

-Lou was a lady in the neighborhood who baked. 

"It was nice to grow up with people who had such different family than yours."

"Another thing I remember most about growing up was 'the van'.

She would take all of the neighbors to school.

She would say 'I am not leaving them', so we would all be banging on their doors like 'C'mon!'

She helped all families.

I think that she felt comfortable with my dad's income,

so she was in the best position to help everyone/anyone."

(My Family:)

College:

"It was kind of exciting looking into schools, but I would cry a lot.

The hardest thing about adjusting to college was being alone, because at home I use to never be alone.

It got better once I had friends, because got to hang out more and be happier."

Chicago vs. West Michigan:

"In Michigan, everyone goes to church. It's weird on Sundays.

In Chicago, our family were the only ones we knew that went to church every Sunday, besides our friends from church.

Also, in Michigan, people weren't used to being in classes with people who weren't white and didn't look like them.

In Chicago, race was more celebrated.

We would have 'international days.'

We had over 30 different ethnic clubs and everyone performed a dance and had a booth.

Minorities weren't minorities, they were just people. 

We were just all kids just going to school together."

 "I remember sophomore year here in Michigan. We were in Sociology class, we were learning a lot,

and we watched a social experiment where there was a white guy stealing a bike, then a black guy, then a girl stealing a bike.

The white guy got asked, 'what are you doing?'

The black guy got held down and a group of people were ganging up on him.

And for the woman, people were helping her steal and cut the chain.

A kid in class made a response that the reasoning behind it was because the black guy was wearing a hat and had baggy pants.

I turned around and said, 'I think it's sad that we allow this to happen.

Letting blatantly racist situations happen and blaming it on a hat or the way someone is dressed.

It's obvious that the reason is because of their skin color that they are being treating differently.'

He told the teacher that 'she was attacking him and he has his own opinion and so do she.'"

"Another time we went to this neighborhood where the demographic was predominately black.

All of the kids were so cute. Just wild kids after school.. free from school.. in a gym.

And this girl commented, “I have never been to a place with so many black people.

Where I went to high school, there were only three black people.”

Later the girl commented, 'They didn't listen, Oh my gosh these are the worst kids that I have ever been around.'

I told her, 'They are just being kids.'

The girl responds,'Regular kids don’t act like this. If you tell them what to do, they listen.'

I said: 'WHAT, they are like any group of kids I've seen after school.'

The girl says, 'They are rowdy.'

I asked, 'Do you mean because they're black, they are rowdy?'

She said, 'obviously NO' really defensively.

I thought to myself, 'That's what you meant.'" 

She describes how she feels when she runs into these situations.

She says, "My heart starts beating, I start to get sweaty from being so nervous and

I just feel the urge to have to speak up.

It's a mix of being nervous and angry and its hard to keep my cool 

because I am in the best position to speak up because

I am white and I look like them." 

"I feel that pressure that if I don’t speak up, I'll feel guilty.

And I think of how staying silent is just taking the side of the oppressor.

It's uncomfortable and you have to or you feel this thick layer of guilt that you can't get past.

I remembered learning about white privilege at the age of 17, at my first job.

I was working as a swim lesson teacher at Goldfish Swim School, and after 2 weeks, I got moved to the front desk.

I remember the other kids asking, 'What, you get to work the front desk?'

I went home to tell my dad that I had already got promoted. And he responds, 'Jenny that's good, but that's white privilege.' 

That's when I first learned about it. It's real, I have seen it. I know its true."

The Future:

As she enters her last year in nursing school. I asked her "how she feels getting ready to be thrown into the 'big girl life'."

She says "it's mostly excitement and she is ready to be able to focus on one thing instead of balancing work and school,

and to also to be a good nurse."

"People say you learn everything once you start working in real life and see everything first hand."

"This is going to be me next year", she says.

xOxO

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Random shots:

 I had so much fun with my cousin Jenny. Visiting, encouraging, talking, catching up, and getting a small dose of the college experience. ;)

College food

Stu the cat and $70 non refundable Kanye West T-shirt

"These are my three roommates."

Room mate Julia, Marketing/Pr Major, shares her excitement about her first day at her internship doing what she wants to do for the rest of her life.

College days

(and I tried something new with the light which turned out awesome!)

Then we went to met up in Toledo and captured some shots

at the Toledo Art museum and the Toledo Botanical Gardens.

Loved all of the images we got and had a fun time capturing her cute personality!

xOxO

She's a career mom.

Lindsey is a West Michigan Reporter at Michigan Radio.

It was about a year ago when she found out she was pregnant with her second child.

This was just three days after getting what she describes as

"the biggest, most difficult assignments of her career".

This is the real life of being a mom and balancing a career...

"I get up around 7:15ish and check emails..

..Layla is usually up around 8:00

...Adam and the baby 8:30ish

then news meeting on Skype at 9:00 from home...

... then I feed the baby ..then I go to work." How it all started..

 "I've always felt driven to please people,

and got joy out of being a good worker and being rewarded.

Like when we were kids and Grandpa and Grandma would pay us 1 cent to pick up walnuts in the front yard.

I learned at a young age that you always got rewarded for hard work.

I got my first job at 14 at a hardware store. 

 I would walk --it was right across the lake.

 I worked there for 5 years and got promoted to different jobs.

Hard work always."

Stepping into Motherhood..

"We didn't want kids, 

but when Adam turned 30, he told me that he thought that we may regret not having kids.

He said "We can make this work, I can stay home."

I asked Lindsey what her biggest fear about having kids was,

and she says,

"I was afraid of being pregnant, I was afraid of being in labor, 

I was afraid of everything! 

I thought to myself, 'I didn't need this',

but Adam put it in my head.

It took 4 years, but at 29 I had Layla."

I asked Lindsey what her biggest surprise was when it came to motherhood.

She answered,

"how much no sleep would impact her."

With her first she didn't get good sleep for the first 4 and a half months,

so by the second time around she was more prepared for sleep deprivation only to find out 

that her second was a much better sleeper.

She says one of the challenges is that breastfeeding can be super hard,

so she feels lucky that she can work from home.

She notes her gratefulness for her husband who is able to stay home with the kids,

making her more flexible at her job.

I asked her how she got to where she is career wise,

and she says,

"from hard work, knowing the right people,

and pure luck". 

I asked Adam if he thought the luck thing was true and 

he says "no she's great, she's great at what she does, she's perfect".

Lindsey has received dozens of awards for her work.

Most recently including, "Best Radio Journalist of the Year" and

 2016 Best News Documentary, "Not safe to Drink", which covered the Flint Water Crisis.

This past month her and Adam visited New York for the first time.

She and her team accepted the award for best audio news documentary in the county,

"Not Safe to drink."

They were able to beat out big markets such as New York, LA, Chicago, and DC.

In her humble words, "It was a compelling story without me.

I just hope I did them some justice.

Also, its weird to celebrate when the water in flint is *still* not safe to drink with a filter.

This was not lost on us."

Can I add that my cousin Lindsey is the best example

of working hard and staying humble? ;)

She's 28,

 an Occupational Therapy Assistant,

and single foster mom to FOUR.

I spent Saturday morning with Abbie and her adorable kids.

There were tons of smiles, laughs, and even a few tears.

"It's something that I have wanted to do since I was younger," she says.

 "I met a foster mom when I was 17, in which she became like a mentor."

Abbie said she started taking it seriously last year in January 2015 after she got back from Alabama,

where she went to Ministry School for two years at The Ramp.

She began taking classes in May through June of last year, and got licensed last September. 

She was placed with a teenager from September 2015-June 2016,

and currently has four younger ones, ages 2 months-9 years.

It was amazing to see how happy they all were and I was also impressed at how well behaved they were. 

She shared that just in the time that they have been with her, they have come such a long way.

She explained that some of the challenges are helping them work through their past and trauma.

"It's mainly hard carrying the emotional burden;

And at first when I got the three girls,

it was all about trying to find all the needs and then trying to survive," she laughs. 

"It's just 1 person, so I can't just have my husband go pick the girls up from school." 

I asked her how she makes it through, she states,

 "first God- daily, the foster care agency, and friends and family. 

Seeing the small victories keeps you going,

also seeing them grow and step out of bad habits and dysfunctional cycles."

I also asked her what was the main thing she liked about fostering and she says,

"getting them into a safe and loving environment for as long as needed." She goes on saying,

"I mean it says in the bible, in James, that as Christians it is one of our greatest responsibilities to look over orphans & widows."    

Can I just add that my favorite part of the morning was when the girls took

me up to show me their room. Not only was it cute and cozy, but so peaceful that it made me tear up. 

It's so wonderful to see the girls have such a comfy and safe place to rest their heads,

and see how excited and adorable they were showing it off.

Of course I asked if she even realizes how much of a big deal it is

as a single mom to take in four foster kids on your own.

She says "Yes I do.

It's crazy, but it's do-able".

I asked her "HOW?"

She says, "You just get up and do it,

you see a need and then you fill it.

If I had a bigger home, I would take in more."

There is such a need for foster care, she adds.

"It's crazy because if everyone were on board, there wouldn't be a need.

Even if it's not just fostering, not every person is called to foster,

but there a lot of things you can do, even if its just donating."

She highly suggests Adriel, which is a private organization. They have offices in Archbold, Toledo, West Liberty, & Dublin.

Or, she suggests, you could get involved with your local counties Job and Family Services.

I would describe these as nothing less than timeless and magical.

We literally had 5 minutes to get these before we needed to get into the reception hall.

It was right during golden hour and we snuck over into a shaded area right under a batch of trees

with the most gorgeous light beaming through the shadows.





 ​​

xOxO

Photo on the left taken at age 20 in 1956,

and photo on right I took this August, 60 years later. 

He will be turning 80 on the 30th of this month.

"Your Grandma's mother wanted me to take my picture in a fancy suit,

so I did that, then I took one in a black sweater because that's what I always wore."

The photo captivated me

so I got the idea that we should remake one now,

coincidentally 60 years later; funny how things work out. 

A little bit of his story:

He grew up in South Bend, Indiana.

During his childhood his family was very poor and there were 10 children.

My grandma mentioned to me at one time that they were not allowed to call his dad "Dad"

because they were so poor they didn't want people to know how many kids he had. 

Him and his brothers were called "poor white trash" and other kid's parents didn't want them

playing with the Smith kids because they were undisciplined.

(Funny mentioning now of course, because of the kind of person he became and who I've always known him to be.)

He married my Grandma, the late Nancy Smith, at the age of 19.

Her mother told her they wouldn't last.

Throughout their journey together they had 7 children (4 adopted)

and they also fostered in which they believe to have had up to 21 children at one time.

They currently have 16 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

When I asked my Grandpa how he would describe he and my Grandma's journey together,

his face lit up. He describes it as "an adventure, loved it, wish it would've continued until I was 100."  

He worked construction for over 60 years, and for many years he worked for himself, "John Smith Construction". 

"It was hard work, I went in earlier than everyone else and I stayed later than everyone else, but I liked to work for myself.

There isn't a place in the town that I haven't built something."

As a father, his daughter Penny describes him as "amazing, self-sacrificing, and hardworking.

He worked construction, he coached an umpired league, pony league, soccer, and flag football.

He was a great example as a father even though he did not have an example." 

As a previous boss, Dave Frost described him "as a great man. I never heard him yell, curse, or lose his temper.

He gave me my first job at the age of 18." 

As a Grandfather, to me he was not just that, but an amazing and exceptional human being,

a hero in many ways, and one of the greatest Christian examples that I have seen.

When I was younger I read a paper from a kid who was required from a project/assignment about a hero in their life,

in which he wrote about my Grandpa.

 It was then I realized that it wasn't just me who had come to know the kind of hero I got to spend 

time growing up having him as my Grandpa, but there were so many other people who looked up to him as well.

And just as a little testament, over the years we have known a handful of people to have named their kids after him. 

I asked my Grandpa what was one piece of advice you would give blog readers.

He said it would be what Winston Churchill said..

"Never, never, never give up."

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa!

These were taken downtown Toledo at the docks where Josh proposed. 

Can't wait to photograph their wedding this September.

I really enjoyed witnessing the love they have for each other.

You could really feel it.

"We always pink promise."

Save

Wife, mother, hair & makeup freelancer.

This last year has been a lot of changes for her.

Learning to balance being newly married (last November),

newly blended family (going from single mother to a family of five),

new state (from New York to Ohio -talk about culture change),

currently revamping the home,

doing freelance hair and makeup,

 and traveling back and forth from Ohio to New York monthly for work.

This is a day in the life of Amanda.

Current living room status. #remodeling

My sweet (model stat

 sister) came over that day for hair & makeup. 

Kids playing.

Hair, hair, hair.

(Please note the two little angels going out to play.)  

Hair done.

 onto makeup..

Maxi asking mommy a question.

"I like to apply makeup to accentuate the clients natural features so the face glows naturally, with no makeup look."

Lots and lots of coffee.

Hair done, makeup done.. 

It's all about learning to embrace the journey.

 finding peace in the chaos,

and joy in the process,

choosing to live for today,

and giving thanks for the little things,

because at the end of the day the little things are what really matter,

and what will bring the greatest joy.

xOxOx.

Ps. You can find Amanda's business page on Instagram. @pabon_hair 

With all the growing pains and steps forward this year had to offer, 

I can truly say there is peace in my heart.

Thank you for the support and I encourage you to take the time, to not take family

and those dear to your heart for granted, this holiday and everyday.

 We are breathing, we are in good health, and we are blessed. 

Merry Christmas and everything else,

 from my little family to yours! :) 

I spent the evening on the docks with this lovely couple.

We took some photos in the golden hour,

and ate some yummy italian food.

Then, took some more photos in the restaurant with our mobile devices of course. ;) 

Oh how my dear friend has been blessed with a great man to walk

with in this journey of life. 

I can't wait to be in the wedding

and watch their family grow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shhhh.

"What will baby Jasso bee?

A he or she?"

The photo is blurry, but its got to be in here.

The photo on the top right is blurry, but it has to be in included! :) 

Her face.

"Jeff, are you serious!!!!?"

"Oh my gosh!!"

Looking at the bling.

The soon to be Mr. and Mrs.
 

Pure Love.

One more ring shot?

"Jeff,make her laugh."

We attempted the dip, we may need a little more practice. =d

It was an exciting day!

xoxo

Congrats again!

roaming around town during the prettiest time of the year.

Some of my favorite things are senior sessions,

fall colors (especially at the peak of the season), and soccer!

One of my favorite shots is the silhouette soccer shot

that was captured at sunset.

xOxO

Trying to stay balanced and enjoy life in each day.

And Sweet Addisyn was just what I needed.

Why I do what I do, and love doing it.

because now that I have my studio all situated, there were some things I wanted to try. 

I just love Maternity photography. Pregnancy is something amazing, its something beautiful,

its something to be captured and embraced. Personally, I really enjoyed my pregnancies.. Some people enjoy them and

some people don't.. Either way its definitely something worth photographing. When Crystal contacted

me we had talked about a few poses we wanted to try, she wanted to do some of the same artsy I wanted to try, so this made

me very excited. :) We did a variety of different things ..some family shots, some of just her -silhouette (favvv), and some

others! I will mention we did some shots for 'before and after' so you will have to stay tuned for those! :) 

We went to some places around town and then back to the studio to add in some more. 

She is gorgeous and her outfits and over all look came together on point.

 I loved all of her images, they were all so hard to choose from because she made my 

job so easy peasy! Here are just some of the favorites from her session..

 Enjoy :) ...