Hike in the Park!

Maybe a month ago now (wow I am behind) Jonathan and I took advantage of an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon and visited the Prince William Forest Park which is virtually right in our neighborhood! It was fantastic! Turns out it will be a great place for camping with our friends when we don't want to drive all the way to Shenandoah. We took a small hike (maybe 1.5-2 miles) on a path that leads to the site where there was once a huge pyrite mine. It is amazing how they have been able to reclaim the land.

Jonathan is truly in his element when he is on a hike. At the core he is one of those true hippy-nature-love guys. I can't say I LOVE to hike but I am learning to enjoy it and just seeing how happy it makes him makes me enjoy it a thousand times more. Love does funny things to you!

I took some photos for you all to enjoy!

This is where the mine once was, with a sign to show what it once looked like. It was really amazing to see.



Trail markers (I forget the real name, Jonathan kept telling me but I am just not hip with hiker lingo yet). I loved the color and texture here.



At one point we thought we had left the park and were on the Quantico property. Last thing we wanted was to end up like swiss cheese!



And my awesome Jonathan!


We are off to the Poconos for the weekend with about 20 of Jonathan's (ok they are mine too!) friends for a fun weekend!

I will be shooting some maternity shots of our friend who is due in just a few weeks! I am so excited!!

xoxo

Sping Special!

Being inspired by my most recent client Samantha who is planning a small wedding in April I realized there were probably many more couples out there trying to plan a last minute wedding for this Spring. So for all of you I am offering the following promotion! Please contact me soon to check my availability!

I LOVE CANDY!

I just happened to fall across this and well....

I HAVE TO HAVE IT!


Update from the Vegas trip to follow tomorrow!!

xoxo

Roman is 3 months old!!

I went to our friends house today to shoot Roman's 3 month portraits! As always I had a blast with their 5 amazing kids! I never knew it was possible to love someone else's children so much and I have only known them for about 9 months now! We are doing a 'My First Year' package for Roman and I just love watching him grow!

Here are some of my favorite shots!









I loved Roman's onesie! "Don't you wish your Mommy was hot like mine?"

More updates to come! Jonathan and I are going to Los Angeles & Vegas next week so TONS of pictures to come!

Morning Dew!

When I woke up today and looked out of our bay window in the living room I saw that it was lightly snowing. I said to myself... HOT CHOCOLATE!!!!! So I got my hot chocolate and made my usual breakfast sandwich (toasted bagel with egg whites and some cheese) and have been watching it pour down from the office window. Who can work on a morning like this?! It really is breathtaking! It also reminded mecto post the pictures I took about a week ago of the spectacular morning dew we had one day. I think it was a Sunday and Jonathan and I were just sitting in bed talking and we opened the blinds to reveal tiny, radiant drops of water on EVERY branch as far as I could see. The way that the sun was hitting them forced me out of bed, into sweatpants & hoodie right out the back door.

Enjoy!

Christmas in California!

Ok....so I know Christmas has come and passed but I just finally had the time to sit down and look at some of the photographs I shot while I was out there! This was the first Christmas since 2001 that my Mom, Uncle, Grandparents & I were able to spend together. We had such a nice time and I treasured every moment! Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip:

For the first time in my life (that I can remember) I baked Christmas cookies with my mom!


This is Kirby, my uncles 17 year old cat! He is such a sweetheart. One of the days though I had an alergic reaction to him where my eye nearly swelled shut!

On the Saturday before Christmas we went to The Getty Villa in Malibu. I had not been there before even though I have visited the other museum many times. The weather was perfect, and it was absolutely breathtaking.

This image of a pomegranate tree was taken in the courtyard. I adore this image, the vibrant colors and the fruits on the tree! I think I am going to make a print of this for the house.

My Grandfather laughing over lunch & one of my grandma trying to get cell phone reception!


On Christmas Eve we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. I have to say, while it was really nice it did not rival the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN that Jonathan took me to when we first met!

Here are two shots I grabed looking at all the tanks. I just have to say that it was HUGE of me to take the picture of the Jelly Fish! I HATE JELLY FISH! I won't go into detail but when I saw them in the tank in Gatlinburg... well... lets just say... I couldn't look!

Once we went to the outdoor part of the aquarium we were able to pet sting rays and sharks! We also went into an aviary that had tons of Rainbow Lorikeets. Of course we had to go in! My mom is a bird fanatic and to be honest, it was just really cool, they are breathtaking birds!

Here are some shots from when the birds landed on my mom, uncle and grandfather:



That about sums it up for me! I was really missing Jonathan on our first Christmas as a couple but we both know that the rest of our Holidays will be spent together any way that we can!

More updates to come soon!

A semi-real post!

So I finally have everything ALMOST ready to go live! I am so excited I can't see straight! I don't have any photographs to share this afternoon but I will share some things I have been drooling over this week!

First up: This super awesome necklace from ModCloth.com




























Next we have my new winter desktop wallpaper from Pixelgirl Presents!













And last for today is this super cute shirt from Threadless!