Another fun shoot :)

Gus and Lena: our first daytime shoot was SO hot we decided to switch gears and finish one cool saturday morning!

SOOOOO Crazy busy...so behind in posts!!

WOW...what a few months it has been SOOOO many exciting projects!! I want to put a few things out here showing what I have been working on......from the bottom first was the wedding of Tiffany and Chris (July 18th).....then the wedding of Brooke and Mike (July 25th) these pics are almost to the family so I don't want to show too much here. My next posts will be a preview of a senior portrait session, a 1yr old session, my time with Extreme Home Makeover this past weekend and another fun hair and makeup shoot I just did tonight....stay tuned!! :)

Sweet Baby Brooklyn <3

This little doll was so much fun to take pictures of.......although she gave me alot of serious faces she is simply beautiful!

Best Wishes to Lindsey and Ryan!!

I had the wonderful privilege of photographing this beautiful couple (Lindsey & Ryan) on their wedding day. I could have posted at least 100 pictures here, they were so beautiful and fun to work with! I think as you can see from this last photo we all had FUN! :D

*I will add an album of many of their pictures to my galleries section once I have them ready*

To Lindsey and Ryan....I wish you both a lifetime of happiness! (to take from your program) Enjoy this next chapter of your lives as God continues to write your beautiful love story!

Simplify!

I picked this rose out of my garden and had it sitting on my desk in my office. Not only did it smell heavenly but I thought it made a cool photo! :o)

Take time to smell the Roses!

Allerton Park...Fun with the kids! :)

Just playing around with my kids at Allerton park this past Sunday preparing for a wedding I have there Saturday....they (at least Nate and Addison) were being little hams! :) I'm not sure you can tell Nate is making a "fish face" while sitting on the fish! We had fun!

Revamping my website..........

I decided to revamp my website...mostly colors for now but will start adding many new photos as well from recent shoots.

I am working to get a new logo designed and will start making new marketing materials once that is done. I have been thinking about this for awhile but recently helped a friend revise their logo and it was such a fun process I wanted to do it too :) So stay tuned I will post it here first when it is done!

The summer is gearing up to be busy starting with a wedding next weekend followed by two in July....I have found some awesome new locations to shoot at so I am excited to start booking family shoots as well! I only hope I can carve out some pool time with the kiddos!

I appreciate any feedback on the new changes I have made...if you have some feel free to email me at: heartfeltimages@yahoo.com

Enjoy the sunshine! :) I hate blogging without a photo so here is one from a recent shoot.

I asked him for a "tough guy" look....thanks Anthony, you're a pro!

Thanks Mom!! :)

I picked up my mom last week in St. Charles, MO we had a great day shopping....she will stay for a week and I am so happy to have her here!! :)

Friendship..........

We need each other...In times of private pain,of fear and stress;
We need each other...to share our joys, our times of happiness;
We need each other...to hold on and be strong, and encourage when things are going wrong;
We need each other...to keep the faith and love,

and remind each other of all the things we're dreaming of;

We need each other... now and always.

Tracy-I am so glad God picked you up and moved you from Texas to Illinois......he knew there was a photographer here waiting for you to be your friend too! :) He works in mysterious ways!

NOTICE: Calories DO NOT count on your birthday!

Thank you to Lynette, Lisa and Megan for making my birthday great!

I am thankful for your friendship!

YES....for those of you counting....this made THREE desserts today! So if you see me running tomorrow you'll know why! :P P.S.-We DID eat the WHOLE thing!

Age is only important if you are cheese or wine...right??

All three of my kids remembered it was my birthday this morning.....I am a lucky mom! :) They started after breakfast drawing me little pictures for my gifts and wrapping up toys of theirs...it was sweet! :)

After taking the boys to school I went on a field trip with my daughters preschool to Marble Slab Creamery (YUM!!!)

When the boys got home from school I promised them they could decorate a cake for me....they really did a great job and it was delicious!!

So I have had two desserts so far today and tonight I am going out with my girlfriends to dinner....I'm sure we'll do some chocolate damage! :D

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.....

Change is the essence of Life.

Be willing to surrender what you are, for what you could become.

everything was beautiful........

I was driving today and saw this....I have photos from a summer ago or so where this same person wrote a messsage on this same bridge. Fortunately or unfortunately however you see it our city cleans these up fairly quick so I wanted to document it....I wonder what their story is....their last message spoke to me and this one does as well. There is a sadness about it that contrasts to the beautiful sunny day we have here today...to me it's art.

2 "rocker chicks" + 1 playdate= priceless photos :)

Addie had her best friend Mina over today for a playdate....I had just bought these outfits and had been wanting to try them out....I think for a 15 minute photo shoot (they had playing to do!) the pictures were darling! I had two very cute subjects!! :)

Spring Break 2009

Took the kiddos to Cancun for Spring Break.......I could not wait to show Addison the ocean since the boys had been there 2 years ago. It just seemed like the perfect mommy/daughter photo opportunity! :)

I met some great new friends so I will add more pictures once I get them ready.....now that I have a taste of warm weather I hope spring comes SOON! :)

A smile for the day......and other random thoughts :)

This is a flower cart I came upon one day when I visited Prague (I photoshopped out everything except my favorite rose color).....I picked it for this because it reminded me Spring IS coming as I saw little sprouts of green under my perennials today! :)

I am working on a few new projects I hope to be writing about here soon. One is a funky facebook project for our local juniors and seniors....Second is getting some sample photos into Heartfelt Weddings and Third but most important and close to my heart is a new organization I am hoping to join the Now I lay me down to sleep Foundation. I hope that I get accepted as joining it is something for me personally that took alot of thinking and prayer but having experience with the loss of a child I think I could provide not only memories for these parents but also a deep understanding of their pain. I wish I had known about it years ago.

Here is hoping for warmer days ahead!! :)

Lessons from my Addie :)

Playing with my daughter today I was reminded of a quote I really like.

"What would you do if you KNEW you would not fail"

While for me that quote has a much deeper meaning..... today I watched her as she effortlessly soared off the bed into my arms after only once saying "mommy catch me" she did not wait, she did not hesitate...she jumped.....she was confident I would catch her and I did. While my daughter loves being a little princess I would be remiss in leaving out that she is equally a tomboy thanks to her brothers. She has no fear.

I thought about how sometimes we let fear hold us back from the things we want to do because we are scared of failing. I think if we let fear rule we can miss out on once in a lifetime opportunities and experiences. Life is too short for regrets!