As most of you may already know, Cole is our only son, and my husband, Aron has been WAITING for the day that he can teach him responsibility in doing chores....AKA yardwork!!! We have always had a gardener to mow our lawn because it literally takes Aron a good 3 hours each week to tackle this chore, but recently he diverted back to tending to the lawn himself....and bringing Cole on as his little helper. It has always been hard for me to decide whether our kids should receive a monetary allowance for these "chores". As a kid myself, I had a set list of chores I had to complete every weekend before I could play with my friends. I also got allowance for doing them. While we are firm believers of learning responsibility and earning a reward for them, we also feel like our children shouldn't be totally driven by money as their reward...on the flip side of that, it is fun to see our children save their money and finally buy something themselves and feel proud that it was earned entirely by them alone. We do give our children a small allowance for doing chores, but they put it in their savings accounts, and they love to go online with us to check their accounts to see how much they are saving!!! Well, I kind of went a little off track here, but I just really wanted to show off my little boy helping out his daddy on Sunday morning! He is so proud of himself!!! And so are we!!! It's getting HOT!!!

Over the weekend I met up with my clients, Tommy and Lisa for their engagement session. I just love them! Lisa has been emailing me since they booked me last June with fun details about her dresses (yes, there will be more than one!!!), engagement session ideas, and I feel like I know them so well already! Their love for each other is beyond evident. To watch Tommy open Lisa's car door, guide her through the front door, ask her if she was o.k. when she had to lay in the long grass, and especially keeping an eye out for a snake or even a bug of any kind. He held her so close and endearing throughout our shoot. Watching them just made me happy. Happy that they love each other so much. Happy that we were laughing together....a lot of laughing!!! Happy that I knew that they are really meant for each other. I decided that it would be fun to interview my engaged couples so that when I blog their pictures, I can list some really interesting details about their life and things that they love... Tommy: Occupation: Anesthesiologist How we met: She made a pass at me at work (Lisa: soo untrue!) My favorite thing about Lisa: She is so ticklish! :) She is also very loving and caring. My favorite song right now: Jason Mraz "I'm Yours" A random act of kindness I have done: Let somebody change lanes in front of me :D I am inspired by: My parents, they work so hard My best feature: My truck (haha) Today I bought: I didn't buy anything today, but yesterday, I bought a truck magazine! Something you must have: Lisa I am addicted to: Cars Something that is beautiful: Lisa A goal I have this year: Purchase a home In 5 years, we will be doing: Taking care of the kids What I have learned from my best friend: That she still loves me even when I make her mad (Lisa: soo true! haha) Lisa: Occupation: Instructor How we met: We attended the same college and worked at the same clinic (he was the manager and I was a research student). He was my first boyfriend and I his first girlfriend. Little did I know that our paths would cross again many moons later. My favorite thing about Tommy: His endless hugs and kisses My favorite song right now: Jason Mraz' "I'm Yours" A random act of kindness I have done: I make my students laugh I am inspired by: My parents, they always place us first My best feature: My goofy smile Today I bought: Stamps for our wedding invitations Something you must have: Green Milk Boba Tea I am addicted to: Tommy Something that is beautiful: Watching kids play A goal I have this year: To marry the best man ever and purchase a home within the year In 5 years, we will be doing: Lots of snuggling, traveling and starting a family What I have learned from my best friend: Love and laugh often! Here are some of my favorites: The funniest image of the day: My favorite image: When Lisa saw my tire swing at my house, she quickly reminisced about her childhood years swinging on her own tire swing. They couldn't resist, and had a blast playing around!!! One thing you should know about Tommy is that he is obsessed with trucks, and in particular, HIS truck... So much that we thought it would only be sensible to take a picture of them with his truck! So then we thought it would be funny to make fun of Lisa's current obsession: her wedding and wedding magazines! Of course I have to point out that the cover image on Ceremony is MINE!!! Woo-Hoo!!! Tommy isn't very impressed, though! Then they switched...not too thrilled This is what I was talking about..the endearing love that Tommy has for Lisa. It was so sweet to witness, and I know they will have a beautiful marriage!

My favorite little friends, dylan and avery are ALMOST like my niece and nephew. Their mommy is one of my very best friends, Sri. Sri and I have been friends for over 25 years and even though she and I do not live all that close, we talk every single day, maybe even a few times! She is my biggest fan and cheerleader, so when she asks me to photograph these little cuties, I always jump at the chance! Here are a few of my favorites from our session.... this little man is drop dead gorgeous... and little avery...darling! Aren't they the cutest? dylan loves his dinosaurs and can belt out some great roars!

Many of my clients know that I upload all of my events on Pictage which allows my clients the ease of online viewing, ordering and viewing every step of their album design. I am now a Pictage Group leader and host monthly meetings to get other Pictage photographers together to network and learn. I just found out that I have been featured on their blog and I am so excited!!! Check it out here! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Since wedding season hasn't officially started for me yet, I have been having a blast photographing more portraits. This particular photo shoot was such an eye opening experience for me. I haven't done a lot of senior portraits in my career, but I have to tell you...it rocked my world and I LOVED it! After I was done with this shoot and spent some serious time editing, I pulled up all of my favorite images and couldn't believe that Jenna was not a little girl anymore! She is graduating from high school and going away to college...all on her own! Immediately, thoughts just started racing through my head. That is someone's little girl who's all grown up and moving on to a brand new chapter in her life. Her parents must be so overwhelmed with joy and so proud of her. But at the same time I bet those parents have a tiny little part of them that tears at their heart whenever they think about her leaving. Do you ever feel your heart get so heavy that you just want to burst out in tears? Well, that is how I felt after thinking about this!!! And not in a sad way...in a "proud mom moment" kind of way....I just documented a very important part of someone's life and It completely rocked my world! I don't think I would ever have had that insight if it wasn't for me having children of my own and witnessing how incredibly fast they grow up. Every single day I look at my kids and cherish the moment I'm in with them (yes, even the not-so-fun moment). Before I know it, they are going to be off to college and then getting married. Then it occurred to me that I feel that same exact way when I photograph a wedding. Another huge milestone in someone's life... and I am the one documenting it. I say this all the time, but I LOVE my job. Whether I am photographing a newborn, toddler, high school senior or a beautiful wedding, I am documenting that moment in time for a family. There is no better compliment than to hear someone tell you that they love their pictures! O.k...enough rambling! Here are some of my favorite images of Jenna. You can also check out the slideshow if you want to see more!