Ahh...my life!

Today has just been one of those days...come to think of it the past month has just been one of those months!! I am just so enthralled with life lately! God has blessed me so amazingly in so many ways that he has really left me speechless!
I've set aside Wednesday's now as my "No work, just relationships day" I finally just got on the computer now which I'm so excited for and I really want to live my life more like this! It's so freeing to not have to be tied to this glaring screen all the time!
This morning I had an amazing breakfast with my best friend Rebecca and we've now set it that we will have breakfast once a week together because if we don't schedule then it will never happen and business will just take over! Then lunch with my incredible friend Beth who encourages me so much! Then errands in the afternoon while talking to some friends on the phone...and to top it off a wonderful night with my family which is soooo rare!
Relationships are really the core of everything and I would be nothing without them! I could build a huge business but if I don't invest in my relationships after all is said and done I will have NOTHING!!
INVEST NOW in your relationships because if you wait they might not be there to invest in!! :)
PS...SUPER side not and actually what I was going to write this post about...while having family night we watched an insane movie called The Prestige. It was THE most interesting movie I have ever watched and my mind is still whirling from it..(maybe that's the reason for this random post)..but if you haven't seen it you REALLY should! It's an incredible movie based on magicians and the whole movie is basically a magic trick!!(watning...not for the faint at heart!:)
...Ok...now invest in those relationships!!;) lol!!

Marlene & Jeremy

I shot Marlene and Jeremy's engagement shoot last Saturday right after getting off the plane from New York! I thought I would be a little tired at the shoot but low and behold after meeting these two I was wide awake and having the time of my life for about 6 hours!! We went extra long because we were just having to much fun and didn't want to stop!
Marlene and Jeremy are some of THE sweetest people I have ever met! Marlene is a kindred spirit to me in that she laughed almost the entire shoot...it gave me a glimpse of what my engagement shoot will probably be like! haha! And Jeremy was right there making Marlene laugh and a definite gentleman which you really don't see very much any more! All in all this was one of my most favorite shoots and I seriously can't wait for their wedding I think it's going to be the highlight of next year! Check out their adorable slideshow!! I think they could be models:)

The rest of the tour blogging is coming soon but I have to SLEEP!!! :)

Tour Journal - Minnesota

Well...this morning I woke up to a MUCH more beautiful sight...Lake Superior! It is very weird going to bed one night and waking up the next morning somewhere completely different but not seeing the whole travel in between! It's pretty fun!
We are in the adorable town of Duluth, Minnesota! It's a cute little harbour town and reminds me alot of Mystic, CT where I was last week! I absolutely LOVE towns that are on the water there is just something so calming about it!
We went shopping this morning because it's absolutely unreal outside and then hung out on the street and talked with a bunch of the bands for awhile! I love this life!

Lasts nights show was AWESOME! The crowd was seriously incredible and much more than I expected for a place litterly in the middle of nowhere! I got some really fun shots and I'll make a slideshow when I get home of all my favorites but here are a couple....
I actually did a super daredevil photography stunt and walked out on the catwalk above the whole concert to get some shots! One of the security guards asked if I wanted to get some shots from up there..and so as not to be a scaredy cat I accepted. I was kinda freaked out at first but once I was up there it was incredible!

It was so hilarious yesterday too...to use up some time we played football out in the parking lot and let me tell you...I will DEFINITELY never quit my day job for it..but I'm pretty good!;) lol!! Except I almost broke my fingers so that wasn't fun!
Tonight's show should be amazing! They actually had to get a bigger venue because the first venue sold out! This place is actually a skating rink that they just put boards over so it's kinda cold but it's huge so this should be fun!!
I gotta run and read for awhile! I love you all!

Tour Journal - Iowaaayy!

I just woke up this morning to endless cornfields...and horse jumps. I'm not really sure where everyone is going to come from cause I pretty much see no life form. I heard that the main highway is an hour away from here so this should be interesting! lol!
I'm out on tour right now with Toby Mac, Thousand Foot Krutch, and my cousins band Barlowgirl. Last night we had a show in Milwaukee, tonight we are in Spencer, Iowa(no clue where that is), then Minnesota and North Dakota. I'm pretty excited especially since there's pretty much nothing everywhere we are going! It's awesomeness! lol!!
I'm pretty excited though because even though we are in the middle of nowhere I found wifi so I can still survive!;) haha!
I have really missed being on the road like this and absolutely LOVE it! I'll post some pics from last night soon! :)

Justin & Mary!!

Finally!! Some pictures from Justin and Mary's incredible wedding! This was one of the most fun weddings I've been! Maybe because I was actually a guest!! It's always fun to get all dressed up and not HAVE to work if you don't want! It was wonderful! Justin and Mary are some of THE most genuine and loving people I have ever met! Right when I met them I felt like I was there best friend! They are truly better together and have already accomplished so much even before they were married! I can't wait to see how they change the world now that they are married! Amazing! :)
Here are some pics from the wedding!









Whew that was a lot of pictures!! haha! As you can see they are an incredible couple!!
PS..ahh! I LOVE my life! And seriously love living spur of the moment! I'm heading out of town tonight...(just found out) until Monday to go on tour with my cousins to 4 different states! Sooo excited!! I have to pack in like 1/2 an hour! ahh!! I love you all!!

Better late than never!

I have alot of fun blogging to catch up with now that I FINALLY have a card reader! lol!! There is so much more to come but I'll start you with my AMAZING trip to New York! I REALLY loved New York so much and I seriously can't wait to go back! I could be there for a year and not run out of things to do and places to see!! Incredible! Last Tuesday, DJ's new video guy Paul Rogers and I headed out to see the city while DJ was back working..I guess we've learned to outsource better;) haha!
Anyways, we went to ground zero which was very surreal to see and there was still some ruins!! Afterwards we headed out on a ferry to Liberty Island to see the beautiful Statue of Liberty! I couldn't believe I was seeing it in real life! Really everything about this trip made me feel like I was in a movie that's how beautiful and unreal everything felt!
The second night of the conference Kristen, Natalie, Lydia, and I headed out for a night on the town! We took a limo down to Times Square, did a little photoshoot, ate at little European restaurant, then met up with all of our friends afterwards!
I couldn't have asked for a more amazing trip! Here is the slideshow!! :)

PS...as I'm posting this I remembered that I still haven't posted Justin and Mary's pictures from the wedding last week! How terrible am I??? That will come SOON!!! :)
I love you all!

Jet blue ROCKS!!

I made it back safe Saturday afternoon and am so glad to be home! I had such an AMAZING time out east and didn't want to leave but as always it's good to get back and be productive again! :)
Anyways, I rode Jet blue this past week for the first time and I have to say I'm HIGHLY impressed with them and totally want to fly with them from now on! Unfortunately they are still smaller than Southwest and don't fly everywhere I want to go...but most of the places! And it's sooo inexpensive too!
My first experience with them wasn't the best timing because of the crazy storms in New York and having to sit on the runway for sooo long. They served us so well though and a couple days later I got an email from them apologizing for it(even though it wasn't their fault) and giving me a free round trip voucher!! How awesome is that! You can just tell they don't skimp in things which SO many airlines are known for! I will for sure ride them as much as I can! Plus they are entertaining...with full satellite TV and XM! Plus they give you the best snacks!! I love it! You all should definitely check them out!:)

Girl time!

After hanging out with DJ and Paul the past week, Wednesday night I got to switch over to some MAJOR girl time! lol! My friend Kristen came in with her friends, Lydia and Natalie for PhotoPlus here in New York! And let me tell you we are having GIRL TIME! We booked a room for the New Yorker and got here pretty surprised when we opened the door to the door hitting the bed and my suitcase not being able to fit through the walkway! The room is pretty much all bed! lol! Soo we just pushed both beds to make a giant extra large king bed! :) We have had the best time ever and I will post my pics when I get home and have my CARD READER!! ugh! lol! But until then read Kristen's wonderful **post** about yesterday!! We're heading out again for some more fun then I'm heading home tonight:( But I'm excited to see my family!!
I love you all!!

[b]ig time!

We are having SUCH a blast out here in New York! DJ's video guy Paul and I walked around all day today to see all the sites which was so much fun! I'll post some pics from that once I find a simple card reader! Who would've thought it would be THAT hard! lol!
Anyways..yesterday was a wonderful day of pretty much just vegging and getting some work caught up...then last night DJ and I headed out to have Dinner with Becker, Jessica, Keats, and Marisa at this REALLY amazing Japanese restaurant for Becker's birthday! Becker is so fun to hang out with because he is sooooo stinking hilarious and makes me laugh pretty much the whole time! It's awesome! lol!
We got him the best book that we thought might really help his business..check it out in the photo! haha!
I love my job so much I get to hang out with the best people ever and get to count it as a business expense! I don't know if this should be legal!! hahahah!
Love you all! :)

I LOVE NYC!!

Well we made it this afternoon to the big New York City! This is my first time here and I'm already completely in love with this place!! Ahh! The East coast is just unreal! We walked around Times Square tonight and it's just an amazing experience! I'm probably the last person in the world who hadn't been there but still...I was in complete awe and was mezmorized most of the time and trying not to walk into people cause I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going! lol!
I'll post more about being here tomorrow when I have some more substantial pictures! Here are some from Times Square though!
Also, here are some fun pictures from Justin and Mary's wedding of me and DJ and Becker that I just stole from Becker's and Steve DePino's blog...check out their blogs btw for some incredible shots from the wedding!!! :)
Ok..time to go to bed cause this blog post has taken me like 2 hours to write!! haha!!!

Glorious!!

That is definitely the word that describes this past weekend! It has been absolutely incredible! I'm out here for my AMAZING friend's Justin and Mary's wedding. They are two incredible photographers from here in Connecticut that I met back in May and just fell in love with them! I totally couldn't pass it up when they invited me out to their wedding!! And boy am I glad I didn't miss it! The night before for the rehearsal dinner we all headed out on an old fashioned train, that looked like it was from some movie, to a river boat that took us for a nice tour of the Connecticut River. It was gorgeous and getting to meet all Justin and Mary's friends was wonderful too..especially because like 1/2 of them are photographers! haha!
Yesterday, was their wedding which went off without a hitch! It was the most spectacular day with only lighting that a photographer can get on their wedding day! haha! They had it at this wonderful little quaint church and then the reception at this HUGE mansion right on the ocean! Everything was like a dream, every little detail planned out so perfect! I got a couple shots at the wedding that I'll post soon but my card reader broke so I'm kinda stuck right now! lol...but until then check out DJ's always amazing pics on Justin & Mary's blog...and give them some love too!! I also got to hang with the hilarious Becker and also Matt Grazier who were also there shooting the wedding! Check out their blogs for some awesome pics coming up too!! :) We're heading out to New York tomorrow which I'm SOOO super excited about because I've never been to NYC before! Should be a blast! I love you all so much!
PS..the picture at the top I took tonight downtown Mystic which is such an adorable little quaint town! It like you stepped right into the 1800's! :)

Connecticut!

Ahh! I made it to Connecticut! Yesterday was one of the longest days of my life but it was an adventure! I left at 10:30am for the airport, got to the gate right as they were supposed to be boarding but they made an announcement that we were going to be delayed until 2pm because of the CRAZY weather in New York....we finally boarded the plane at 2:30pm thinking we would be taking off right away! Well right as we were taxiing out we got the call that we had to be delayed 2 more hours...4 hours later we finally got the clearance that we could leave! That was probably some of the best words I've heard in my life!! haha! I finally got into New York around 9pm about 5 hours after I was supposed to but sooo glad to finally arrive! We drove right out here to Connecticut but not before stopping at probably the 10th McDonalds we saw while driving! HAHA!
It is so beautiful here! I really love it! I went on a walk this morning, the colors changing and the crisp breeze is just breathtaking! I just love my life! :)
Ok..time for breakfast...I guess I can still call it that since I'm on Central time still..lol!

Traveling....

Ahh..I love traveling so much! It really makes me get what I absolutely need to get done at home, done very fast! I've been on a roll the past couple days and have to edit 3 weddings today and tomorrow but no big deal I'll just blast loud music and drink lots of um...I can't think of what I drink that is caffeine..yikes!! I better start up a habit! lol! :)
I just updated my calendar on my **website** so you can see all where I'm going in the next couple months! It's going to be sooo busy but exciting!!
I'm also updating my website a little bit so you'll see a couple changes in the next couple weeks but I'll let you know when all the fun stuff is up there!
Ok..back to work.. and to workout! Whew I gotta run!!
I love you all!!

Speeding up your workflow!!

It is so important to find easier and faster, more effective ways to get things done so that you have more free time to do what you really want!!
Well..my brother Mark apparently a strong believer in this philosophy is pretty much a genius and learned how to crack an egg in WAAAY less time then it usually takes! So now he has more time to CLEAN THE KITCHEN!! YEAH!! haha!
Here's a video of him showing you how to do it..as always 3 times a charm:)

Revived!!

Oh man...I don't know what I would do without retreats!! I try to take them about every 3 months or so but the past months have been so busy that I finally just went on one after 5 months which was too long! I went from being soooo overwhelmed with everything to totally knowing exactly what steps I'm going to take next and being renergized just with life!! And it only took 24 hours! It's amazing what just taking a day away from literally everything will do for you! I had a list of about 10 different things that I've been working on and got direction for every single one! God is so amazing!! Plus I went to my favorite place in the world my cousins house out in the country where it is just so peaceful and I can just look up in the open sky and dream! It's so incredible! I think the more busy I get the more of these I'll have to take..but I definitely don't mind because it really draws me closer to God and so focused on what I need to accomplish in this life! I'm EXCITED!! :)
Here's for a little laugh..the other night we had a big birthday party for my brother Andrew and near the end had a little dance party! I danced with my best friend's brother Josiah...who when we were little both refused to ever dance so everyone thought this was too funny to finally get us on the floor...watch our mad dancing skills! LOL!

The most beautiful day of the year!

WOW.
That's pretty much the only word I could come up with for this wedding! I absolutely love Rebecca and Jeff...ever since we first sat down and met at their client meeting I knew that their wedding would be beyond incredible and after shooting their engagement pics I got even more excited! Well...my suspicions were proven true! On the day that is historically know as the most beautiful day of the year they got married and it stayed historically correct for sure! The love that these two show for each other and for everyone else made me laugh and almost cry throughout the whole day it was incredible! They are two of the most fun and funniest people I have ever met so the two together makes for one amazing match!
Here is their adorable slideshow!!

This was my last wedding of the season which I'm sort of sad about...but it will be a nice break.. I don't have any till winter so this was the best way to go out with a bang!!!!! :) I love it!!
PS..Rebecca told me that they are very competitive when it comes to blog comments so let's see how many we can get!! HAHA! ;)