Ive definitely dropped the ball the last few weeks -I was on a roll blogging weekly but I caught a horrible cold two weeks ago and it knocked me off of my blog game! And the cold has just been cycling through the family ever since. Ugh. When mama gets sick EVERYONE gets it! I even second shot a wedding with my friend right in the middle of it all!!  For most of the day the Dayquil kept it under control but I did have my fare share of cough attacks at all of the wrong times -like in the middle of the vow exchange and the speeches! You know... the times where your supposed to be quiet not coughing up your lungs! I had to run out of the ceremony 3 times to avoid interrupting the whole wedding! Not fun! ... and then I went to Stagecoach last weekend and that made everything better! It was just the mini vaca we needed to revive us! Ill post more about that later... but today I want to share with you some photos from a mentor session that I had with the fabulous Meghan Weisman! I love her work its so clean and consistent! I know her images at first glance and I can only hope that one day people will be able to recognize my work without having to look at the watermark. That would be rad! The photography world is filled with so much talent and you constantly have to learn how to improve your business  -not only by getting better gear but also  by investing in workshops to improve your skills. She taught me more about lighting, playing with the sun to add that lovely glow to your images, and much more! It was such a great experience and she was super sweet and hilarious to hang with!  

“Love and Baseball” is the perfect title of this love story! Lizett and Brock followed their passion for baseball and it brought them both to Redlands University. She spotted him first at a College Party and immediately knew she had to nonchalantly make her way over to talk to him! He was so shy but that didnt stop her from slowly breaking him out of his shell and it worked!  

After years of dating Brock decided it was time to make Lizett his wife so he planned a trip to San Diego. Lizett also thought that this trip would be a perfect opportunity for Brock to propose, but when she had a slip of the tongue and mentioned the idea of proposing Brock crashed it down! Little did she know that this would be the last time she would have to drop a “proposal hint” and this was all apart of Brocks big plan! After Lizett  sent her mom a text message that she was disappointed that he wasnt going to propose this weekend, they walked off towards the beach. Lizett had no idea that both of their parents were already in San Diego waiting at the beach where they had decorated an romantic area for Brock to pop the question. As they approached the area he was getting anxious and when she noticed all the flowers and candles on the floor she was in total shock! Especially to see Brock drop down on his knee and pronounce his love for her! After excitedly saying YES both of their families came running out from behind a nearby sand dune congratulating them! Great planning Brock!!!  

Lizett & Brock I had such a great time shooting your engagement session at the place where your love story started, University of Redlands. Your love overflowed for each other and my camera loved you! Me too!!! Cant wait to shoot your wedding this December!!! :) 

Lizett & Brock were pretty much a big deal over at the University so they were able to pull some strings and get their wedding date plugged into the scoreboard! How RAD is that!!!
12-19-14!!! 

What a cool personalized bat that was gifted to Brock after graduation.

Check out that stunning ring!!!

Lizett had some cool Save the date ideas :)

Breathtaking!!!

You guys are too stinkin cute!!!

Your are one gorgeous couple!!!

This pregnancy should go down in the books for the worlds fastest pregnancy everrrr!!! It seems like only yesterday when we were in my dining room celebrating my brothers birthday when he announced that he was going to be a daddy! This last year has been full of major milestones for my big bro - he met the love of his life, got married and had a handsome healthy baby boy! You can click  HERE to see photos from their maternity session, and it even got published HERE which was super awesome!

Ari Michael was born on April 2, 2014, a whopping 6 pounder! He is a perfect blend of his mommy and daddy. He's already one week old! This lil guy slept through the whole thing -he made this session so easy for us!!

Look at all that HAIR!!!! He has the cutest natural part!

Ari means "Lion" in Hebrew, so I had my good friend Arlene make him this adorable hat and bottoms -go check out her creations  HERE, she's uber talented!!! 

He opened his eyes for all about 30 seconds and we caught it!!! YAy!!! He's soo
doggone cute!!! I love him sooo much!

Click HERE to see his Lion themed babyshower.

Nothing ever plays out how I envision in my mind! Im starting to think that i must live in this La-La-Land and I have too high of hopes. I had a vision of getting our family photos taken by one of my favorite photographers Alisha and mail them out to everyone by the new year! I wanted to also get some shot of Jack and I for our 10 year anniversary so that I could post some on that date too! But it didn't turn out like that... of course :)  life happens and we had to reschedule. Just when i think it might actually work out my poor baby got sick the day before the photoshoot and he was not in the mood at all! It was too late to cancel so the show had to go on and we were crossing our fingers that he would cooperate. Of all the beautfitul days this winter the clouds just so happened to roll on in and blow some wind our way which agitated Maxx's stuffy nose :( Anyhow we parked up at our old High School. It was where our love story began so it was special for me to bring our children up there to take our first sets of family photos. Thankfully Alisha was amazing and so doggone patient with my crazy gang! We were able to pull some smiles out of Maxx in between all the fits and she was quick enough to catch them!  It takes a whole lot of patience to take family photos and I have a deeper appreciation for family photographers! I didn't expect to get many photos from our session with all of us looking decent but I was pleasantly surprised! There were so many great moments captured! Im super thankful for my crazy goofy family... this is us!

Photography | Alisha Marie

Makeup & Hair | Claudia <claudia_dee@yahoo.com>

Location | Diamond Ranch High School, Pomona, Ca.

My Stud muffins!!!

Poor little sicky poo!!!

Maxx had just turned ONE!!!

I cant believe Jack is already 5!!!! Makes me sad!!

If you read our anniversary post HERE than you'll recognize this paragraph about my first truck and why it is so important to me...
"We shared our first convo, our first kisses, our "I love you's", our first car accidents (yes Jack
crashed into the back of my truck one day in our school parking lot -luckily there wasn't much damage, but it was an awkward conversation to have with my parents.) This little pickup truck became our family wagon, so it only made sense to include it in our 10 year anniversary photoshoot that we did last week...!"
Who knows when we'll decide to sell it so I wanted to make sure to get some photos with it! Its cute because when Jack was 4 yrs old he used to tell me that when he grew up he wanted to keep this little truck! We shall see my dear... we shall see :)

Partners Forever!

He looks up to his dad sooo much!!! I couldn't have picked a better father for my children!!!

They are total Daddy's boys!!!

This is the parking lot where it all started!!!

He's sooooo handsome!! I love him sooooo much!!!

Thank you sooo much Alisha for capturing the true essence of my family and our love for eachother! Your awesome at what you do boo!!!

 Its always nice when you get to work with friends! I was so lucky to second shoot this wedding with my sweet photographer friend Abbey Lunt. Her clients were soo sweet and their wedding was too darn cute! It was over in Laguna Beach and theres something about Laguna beach just oozes fancy smancy! And I LOVE it! The fresh air, clean beaches, and stunning wedding venues -like Tivoli Too! Its such a hidden European gem! Your surrounded by the gorgeous Tuscany courtyard with lots of  the fresh green trees, flowers and fountains. It was a perfect fit for this adorable couple! Thanks so much Abbey for allowing me to shoot with you! :)

Primary Photographer | Abbey Lunt Photography

Associate Photographer | Janelle Marina Photography

Venue | Tivoli Too, Laguna Beach

Its always nice to second shoot because usually the main photographer is with the bride and I get to hang with the guys and they are always a crack up!

First Looks are always soooo exciting! It makes the moment of seeing each other so special because you can take this moment to let out your true feelings without worrying about everyone watching!

Doesn't she look like the princess from Tangled!!!

Shannon & Steve created a special wine and locked it up in this box to save and drink on their one year anniversary! Too cool! Love this idea!

I absolutely adored this little guy -he lasted as long as he could! Too cute!!!