Read to travel, and travel to read...

If you know me at all, you know that I am a reader and have anywhere from one to three books on me at all times. I LOVE reading and feel as much alive with my nose in a book as I do traveling the world. Usually I carry ridiculously large purses just so I can stuff some books in there! One of the books I'm reading right now is called "Failing Forward" by John C. Maxwell and I'm loving it. You can find it in the business section but the subject applies to everyone for we all struggle with those fears of failure in some area of our lives right? We at least have a friend who does ;)

Some quotes from the book:

"Psychologist Sheldon Kopp says, "All of the significant battles are waged within the self." That's true. People wage the greatest battles against their own flaws and failures."

"The character Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables declared, "It is nothing to die. It is an awful thing to never have lived." That's what life is like for people who deny their internal flaws, bury them, and then try to pretend that they don't exist. To have an opportunity to reach your potential, you must know who you are and face your flaws. Go through the following process:

1. See yourself clearly
2. Admit your flaws honestly
3. Discover your strengths joyfully
4. Build on those strengths passionately

You will improve only if you enthusiastically develop your God-given abilities. You can reach your potential tomorrow if you dedicate yourself to growth today. Remember, to change your world, you must first change yourself."


SOOO good isn't it? Click here to buy it from Amazon.



I feel like I should have some travel pictures included in this post since I mentioned the topic, so here are a couple from a trip with my friend Erika when we went to Denmark and France..

Helsingor, Denmark with Hamlet's Castle in the background



Copenhagen, and this is how Erika saw me the whole trip!





Paris





Le Mont St. Michel



Tivoli





Omaha Beach in Normandy



Denmark





And a fitting quote to finish off:

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

Keep reading.

Time for a break!

This weekend I took a break from the smoke and headed out to Phoenix for a quick visit to my close friend Amy and her family! We had so much fun hanging out, and Amy and Jason are the proud new parents of Ryan Madison who is only 12 weeks old! They came out to visit a couple weeks after she was born but there was a lot of competition for their time so I got to enjoy them all to myself this weekend which was a huge treat :) Saturday was a visit to the Pumpkin Patch and we got some really fun pictures of them as a family... when Amy said they didn't have any pictures of the three of them together I knew we had to take care of that! Ryan is just adorable and so very precious, I loved being with her and her parents and I can't wait till next time.

The pumpkin patches are a little more fun in AZ than here, they have corn fields that have been turned into mazes, a petting zoo, and a train for the kiddos to ride! Well it's really a quad pulling a bunch of cans on wheels where each kid gets their own can to sit in, and they ride around the corn and the animals. The kids were impressed with it so thats all that matters! We were most impressed with the ostrich though...










We tried a fun pose for Ryan on a pumpkin....



Don't worry folks... her dad was holding her on the other side :)

She had most fun interacting with her mom and dad though...


















The sunset was aMAZing!!






and here is the happy family...






So fun! Thanks Jason and Ames!!

Mapping it out...

The Irvine World News reported today that the fire came within 15 feet of Northwood. Our neighborhood is safe now, but please keep praying for the firefighters. They are really doing such an incredible job and haven't taken a break!

HERE is a link to our local paper with some Google maps of the recent activity... Google is really quite amazing with their maps and updates.

Emile and Kylee

This wedding was beautiful. Kylee and Emile chose an intimate wedding with only their closest friends and family of which I very much enjoyed getting to know. They have such a flair for knowing how to have fun and especially dance together... I told them during the reception that my family felt suddenly a bit boring in comparison!

The day started out with perfect weather of deep blue skies and amazing opportunities for some fun and artistic portraits. They were married at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Irvine which overlooks the whole city and made for some spectacular views. The Chapel is also on Concordia's campus and I really loved the architecture of some of their buildings. I took these two and their bridal party across the street for their pictures and really loved what I had to work with... I loved it so much that one of the the images is in the header above :)

This wedding will be one of four featured on the new website, but here are a couple favorites for you to enjoy now..

The Fires...

This fire has been such a horrible experience... I can't stop thinking about the people who have lost their homes and don't even know it yet, and what devastation lies ahead. It's one thing when you hear about the events on the news, but when it hits home and actually happens in your own backyard it's quite the sobering affair. Our neighborhood is okay as the fire never got past Portola Pkwy thanks to the amazing firefighters and their incredible work, but it moved on south towards Foothill Ranch and Lake Forest...

I drove down Irvine Blvd late last night and there were fires here and there dying out, but the sky was incredibly dark and I could see a huge cloud of dark red smoke lingering over the hills. As I got closer, the sight was breathtaking. The fire was slowly devouring the hillside but it was the craziest thing to see the houses resting in the middle of some hillside brush fueling some pretty rough flames and yet so far untouched. Here is what I saw...



















It's just so surreal. This morning there was this really beautiful orange sunset glow outside, and it's just so strange to see something so beautiful as the result of something so afflictive. This is the view from my backyard...







My church RockHarbor is setting up ways to help and organize resources so CLICK HERE for information on how you can help. Another organization that I highly recommend donating to is the Salvation Army.. they are ever much more than a thrift shop and did an amazing job serving New York in the relief effort from September 11 that I was privileged to work with. I saw more of their presence than any other non-profit organization in ground zero. They are already out there taking care of things (news) and can take donations online here.

On a personal note...

Today I had a great time shooting a wedding at Tustin Ranch in spite of the crazy Santa Ana winds! However, as I got home from the wedding it was extremely smoky and smelled like a bonfire gone really bad. My friend Annie called me tonight when she saw the fire coming over the hills by the 241 tollroad around 6pm, and since then there has been over 3,800 acres burned! It's now only 11pm. Crazy! [Update: over 15,000 acres burned.. 4pm on Monday. Yikes!]







That's less than 2 miles from where I live so if you could say a prayer for Northwood, my neighbors and I would really appreciate it :) Actually I think the rest of southern California could use one too right now!

You know that ice breaker question of: "If you had a fire, what would be the first thing you'd grab?" For me, it's pretty much all of my pictures, not like you probably couldn't have guessed. And my journals. So, I really want to know, how would you answer that question?

Asher

Asher just celebrated his first birthday a couple weeks ago, so his mom Tara and I took him down to the petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano for some fun portraits! I love this little guy so much and am continually amazed at how fast he grows. He has so many awesome expressions and has the most priceless reactions when he's excited. Watching a one year old explore the world around him is so mesmerizing... every pebble, piece of dirt or hay is such a treasure! Asher is also super friendly and waves at everyone just like he was with the train as you'll see below :)

Tara and I have been friends for a couple years now, and I met her at... you guessed it... Hume Lake! Her husband Dominic is an amazing musician in a band called 330 Plan, and you should definitely check out their music. These two let me take their portraits for Hume's promotional brochure's about 2 years ago and I always knew they were going to have some super cute babies someday...


Check this kiddo out:

Sean and Michele

Michele and I had corresponded through mail and phone calls mostly but when it came time to finally meet on her wedding day I felt like I had always known her. She is so sweet and not to mention beautiful!! Meeting Sean was just as fun, and as we were getting his portraits done before the ceremony I was so touched by his anticipation...

I just love watching the energy and excitement that Bride's and Groom's go through on their wedding day. The moments leading up to the guests arriving and the music starting to play just seem so surreal to them, where all the months of planning and decisions are about to play out in front of their eyes. The time passes by way too fast, and yet not fast enough for they can't wait to finally see each other after all of the preparations. It's such a sweet time!

It was a gorgeous day in Costa Mesa and the friends and family they had surrounding them made for an intimate and precious celebration. Here are some of my favorite moments from their day...

























I got to talk with Michele's mom a bit during the reception and learned that Michele and her family are from Nicaragua where they are doing missionary work. Every couple years or so they come back to the states and live here for about a year, and that was how Michele and Sean had met when they were younger. I just LOVE hearing the "behind the scenes" stories from families, and especially in this case about the timing of how they met and then fell in love. The way they look at each other is just the most amazingly beautiful thing!

I wish you two the very best and thank you so much for choosing me to document your wedding. :)

Meet my sis!

and her boyfriend Jake... it was such a beautiful day after the rain that came through that I had to go out and get some pictures just for the fun of it! I was hanging out with my sister and Jake and convinced them to be my models so I could shoot at this park I've been eying. I drive by this place everyday and thought it could possibly work for me... usually I don't like Irvine architecture or parks much because they are SO stinkin cookie cutter and uninspiring but I have to give credit to whoever did the landscape design because I could totally work with the space and I felt like we were somewhere else completely. The sky was gorgeous and there was this beautiful light coming through the passing clouds... and hanging out with these two was just plain fun. Meet my sister Katey...







She is the closest person to me and SO AMAZING. Katey just started the highly prestigious Physician Assistant program at Loma Linda where she is hitting the books hard! This was her all smiley and happy before school started :)

Jake is an awesome guy and is studying Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly SLO. They both are kind of too smart for me so I just like to take their pictures...













I hope you enjoyed them!