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Natural Beauty

Wow. Where do I even begin? I have had so many wonderful shoots lately and this one was no different. I was welcomed by the cutest giggle from Hendrix (love the name!). He was already so happy. I heard "Is she here? Are those her shoes?" After that the laughs started and continued the whole way through the session.


They had practiced kissing Mommy's belly and he couldn't wait!

How perfect is the saying above the bed!?! "All because two people fell in love."

Let me take a minute to talk about this house. Wow. Amazing. I knew it was going to be when I pulled into the neighborhood. All the houses were just so different and beautiful and really unlike any I had seen before. Then I stepped into their home and just loved everything I saw. Everything was perfect from the cushions on the couch to the bed in their room...oh and the pink and green in the baby's room.
Now let me talk for a minute about Mehdi. Okay...I knew he was French, but had no clue he was a Chef and had studied in France. I jokingly told Rachel I expected breakfast the next time. I also said I would be happy to tag along and be their photographer the next time they visited France :)
I could immediately tell that these two are madly in love with one another. When we were doing pictures of the two of them, they would giggle and whisper things to each other in a flirtatious manner. They are so cute.

Now I can't decide if the above picture, the below picture or the ones below that are my favorite.

Natural beauty. That's what Rachel is. They say when you're pregnant, you just have this natural glow. Well, she definitely has it. I told her she was going to make any woman who has been pregnant jealous. I hope I'm this lucky when I'm prego!

Lots of kisses for his little sister!

Look at those eyes!
And that's all folks!

Oh...not before I share a rhyme they said while I was there. "This little piggy went to Target...." well, you know the rest :) Love it!

Life is perfectly imperfect

Normally my blogs are about my photography and I save my personal blogs for myspace, but I just felt like this was one that deserved to be shared with everyone.


To start, I have to tell you that lately we have been DVRing everything! It is quite out of control, I must admit. I don't remember watching this much tv, but now we watch EVERYTHING. It is not uncommon to walk into our living room and see me on one couch with the laptop in my lap (multi-tasking :)) and Bret on the other grading papers. One of the million shows we watch is Haunting on the Discovery channel. This show takes "real life" ghost stories and reinacts them. Sounds extremely corny, but it can be really scary because you're always thinking in the back of your mind "wow this really happened". Okay...I am always thinking that. Okay...maybe it is a tad corny. No matter how corny it is and the fact that it is just a show, Bret and I will not be left in any room by ourselves after we watch one (whether we admit it at the time or not) and I do get cuddled a lot more (maybe I have a secret motive). Well, last night we watched one that was so-so. It was one of the typical shows, family moves into house...gets a creepy feeling or is told it's haunted...are skeptical, so shrug it off until they can't anymore...lots of flashes of scary ghostly people...etc. Even though this one really wasn't all that scary, it scared me probably more than any of the others have. I even got nervous turning out the lights behind me as I went to the bedroom for bed. So, around 12:30 I wake up from tossing and turning and having this dream that the ghostly person was staring at me through the open closet door in our bedroom and the open bedroom door...yes...there were two of them. When I wake up in a panic, Bret cuddles me tight and tells me everything is okay (I am such a baby). So, I doze back to sleep, but not for long. I had the awful feeling that someone was watching me all night. I tossed and turn and could not sleep. Then I realize that I am also keeping Bret awake. So, I take the opportunity to ask him to close the doors and maybe I could sleep. lol. Even though he wouldn't close the doors for me, he was so patient with me, when I know he was really about to kill me. Neither of us got any sleep because I was tossing and turning all night. I know...I'm crazy.


This sleepless night just reminded me of how lucky I am. I know Bret wanted to tell me I was crazy, but he never did. He was patient and tried to help. This morning I kept apologizing and he wasn't mad (even though he didn't get any sleep), he just laughed at me. It's little things like this that are really what make up life. Those little moments that just mean the world. It's little things like this that are so easy to take advantage of. It's just so easy to forget all the little things that make our marriage, our fairytale, so special. To me, the key to a great marriage is appreciating those little moments and enjoying them....oh and lots of patience :) Lord knows we all get busy and it's hard to find time for the big grand jestures you see on tv. I would rather have these small everyday moments than any big grand jesture. It's him coming home from work and giving a kiss on the cheek and telling me I'm beautiful even though I haven't managed to get makeup on that day (one of the advantages of working from home a few days a week). It's us laughing and being silly. It's us giving each other that "I'm so in love with you" look. It's coming home from a long day of work and him having dinner started. It's me having a bad day and him taking to my favorite restaurant so I don't have to worry about cooking or cleaning up. It's him telling me how special I am and how he can't wait until we have kids so he can share that with someone else. It's a football game and him looking up in the stands for me. Now, I'm not saying we never fight, never argue. We are both moody at times. Let's just say our life is perfectly imperfect.

Of course, I have to throw in a picture too. Here's my hunky hubby :) I sure do hope our kids get those eyes.

Oh and check out my new logo and new blog border for my pictures :) Lots of changes getting ready to come to the blog and website.

Love you all and thanks for reading all my ramblings ;)

Monica and James

What a fun shoot! I was thrilled when Monica said she wanted their engagement pics taken at the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen in Louisville, KY. Ideas started rushing to my head. This place definitely did not disappoint me! Neither did Monica and James. I was so excited to officially meet these two. I had heard such wonderful things. I feel so honored to have been chosen to capture the love these two share. Monica, being the former Miss KY and local weather/traffic reporter for a Louisville news channel, has had lots of experience in front of the camera. I have to admit that I was a little nervous. Those nerves were quickly calmed after meeting these two. They greeted me with a hug (those of you who know me personally, know that nothing makes me happier :)) and lots of smiles and laughs followed. Both are just so friendly and SO happy, not to mention beautiful! They made my job very easy. They just did what they do naturally and I followed. Needless to say, I can't wait to shoot their wedding!

Oh...back to the wonderful location....James proposed here! Right at the counter :) He had a cake made that said "Will you marry me". I thought that was so sweet. They said it was a place they came to all the time. Just makes sense to not only propose there, but have their engagement pics there :) Love these two!

lol. Monica was very excited about the brick wall. She said "Oh this is like your signature. right?" I thought about it for a minute and realized I do take a lot of pictures in front of brick walls. I have a signature ;)
Love Jame's face here :)

I thought sure they would think I was crazy for this next one. They just went right along with me :) They're so much fun. I thought it was adorable the way James "caught" the kiss Monica blew :)

They're soon going to be getting James into modeling. Ithink he will have no problem with that.

A little bling bling :) Okay...A LOT of bling bling!

I have to give my husband, Bret, credit for this one. He thought of this as soon as I told him where we were doing the shoot :) So much fun!

Thank you all so much for such a fun shoot! You all are wonderful!

Laura and Mike

Another gorgeous couple. It had been so long since I had done an engagement session that I had forgotten how much I love doing them. My husband said that I just love being around people in love and he's so right (must remind me of the two of us ;)). There's nothing like photographing a couple so in love. I've had two engagement sessions so far this week, and I have one more on Sunday! I love it!

Laura and Mike are so cute. They were constantly smiling. You can tell that they are insanely happy. There's something so *magical* about love like theirs. I had so much fun with these two. Thank you for letting me drag you all around down town Richmond and putting up with my crazy requests :)

I thought this next moment was so cute.

Ashleigh and John

First of all, Ashleigh and John may be the cutest couple ever! Ashleigh is my AOII big sister from back in the day and although I also knew John, I had never been around the two of them as a couple. Let me just tell ya, the love is shining bright with these two. They had no problem "lovin on each other" (as I like to tell my engagement couples to do). The love I could see was even more confirmed when John said "We kind of love each other". Cutest thing ever! Ashleigh and John, thank you so much for letting me be the one to capture that love on camera. I can't wait until your wedding!

Okay...just check out these legs.

I apologize to any families that walked through the pedway during the session :)

They could be found in a magazine. They're so gorgeous.
Love the look on Ashleigh's face in this one. John- GREAT job on the ring! Thanks for getting in the grass in your white dress Ash :)
More make out time.

Welcome to the world Layton!

Here's just a little sneak peak for the Vergne family! Thank you all for having me in your home!