Jenni's Perspective~The world through the eyes of a photographer

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

2010-03-24T12:28:00.003-05:00

I feel like the to-do list is longer than anything I will ever complete. Lots of album updates to upload and fairy pictures to sort. Hard at work for several more hours and I should be able to wrap it up! I haven't posted anything in forever and am going to try really hard to do better!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/31/08

2008-12-31T11:57:00.003-06:00

This is it...12 hours left of this crummy year~yay!
Taking off Friday to have dinner with Brooke and Brian who are getting married January 17th. We're going to Carlo's O Kellys~I love their food!
Then to Peoria to see our great group of friends for the weekend.
Happy New Years!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12-30-08

2008-12-30T11:13:00.002-06:00

I can not wait for tomorrow night so saw a BIG farewell to 2008. This year has stunk on nearly every level. I didn't even mail my regular Christmas cards and letters as there wasn't a lot of good news.
From the tornados to the floods that took my sisters house and all the little stuff in between...Jules having cancer, my roommate's dog getting hit and killed by a car, Luke's mom's cancer being back...it sure can be overwhelming.
2009 is going to be better, I just know it!
I've been doing a lot of reflecting this morning. I got a call yesterday afternoon for another NILMDTS session. The couple delivered beautiful Seth Wyatt a little after midnight and I went in to photograph them around 3am.
It's so very sad and really gets into my head after and rattles things up. It's so very important in the healing process for the families that I am grateful I am strong enough to do the session. In the words of co-founder Sandy Puc, 'We can't stop this from happening but we can give these families a gift to help them heal.'
I feel fortunate to be able to help these families through such a hard time. Please check out the website www.NILMDTS.org and let me know your thoughts. Our upcoming Hot Tots and Cool Kids session will be tied into NILMDTS with the session being donated to the charity. I'll be including info in our upcoming newsletter as well as postcards going out soon.
Please give your little ones a BIG hug for me :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/29/08

2008-12-29T12:50:00.002-06:00

Back at work after a nice long weekend. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. I'm really looking forward to New Year's and 2009~it's going to be a fantastic year!
Busy today with a session in Waverly and a wedding consultation tonight. Glad it's only a 3 day week for me as we're headed out of state Friday afternoon until sometime on Monday.
Not a lot to fill you in on today...nice quiet weekend. We photographers don't get many of those so I did pretty much nothing and loved it. Did see 'Marley and Me' last night. Was a very good movie too! I knew I'd enjoy it as I had read the book. Has anyone else seen it? What did you think?

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/24/08

2008-12-24T10:51:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas! Wanted to let everyone know we will be closing at noon today and will be back on Monday so Tonia and myself can get some R & R after this crazy holiday season of orders.
Have a Merry Christmas!!!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/22/08

2008-12-22T14:53:00.002-06:00

Whew, what a COLD weekend!
We spent all day Saturday doing our annual baking. I always enjoy spending the day in the kitchen with Luke. He's a great cook and the Holiday baking is our 'thing' We finished in 9 hours and headed to bed exhausted knowing the next day would be crazy!
The stores were not as packed as we expected. We were planning on heading to CR to Christmas shop but with the cold and wind, we decided we could get everything locally. 4 1/2 hours later we had started AND finished our Christmas shopping and thanks to Jesup Post Prom and the Food Bank wrapping for donations...all gifts are wrapped and set to go.
I'm not a huge fan of Christmas...it's just not my Holiday, but I do have to say I'm looking forward to giving a couple of gifts to people who aren't expecting and gift and I got something truly amazing that makes me feel the magic of Christmas again.
Keep warm!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12-19-08

2008-12-19T12:34:00.003-06:00

Whew, what a storm! I made it in today through the 12 inches or so of snow very much because of my wonderful husband shoveling a path to my car. I am so very lucky!
I'm surprised that the Kaplan Nurses Graduation is still going on tonight. The Kaplan nurses are always a nice small tight knit group of people and they're so fun to photograph!
I have this entire weekend off...I am looking forward to it! Thinking we'll do out Christmas shopping Monday or Tuesday. Haven't even started...no time with all the sessions and orders lately but we'll get to it :-)
Have a wonderful weekend!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/16/08

2008-12-16T13:30:00.002-06:00

Wow, I'm listening to the radio and it sounds really bad out there, so please be careful!

Tomorrow is the final day to order prints in time for Christmas delivery so please get your orders in ASAP!

Have a great Tuesday :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/15/08

2008-12-15T15:40:00.002-06:00

Just another Mainc Monday is today's theme...
It's so super crazy busy with Christmas around the corner.
A week with several sessions is also keeping me on my toes!
Hoping to do all my Christmas shopping this Wednesday and our annual baking this weekend.
Keeping this short and sweet today so I can get back to Christmas orders :-)
Have a great Monday!!!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/12/08

2008-12-12T15:02:00.003-06:00

Whew, what a week!
I feel like I haven't hardly been here but have been super busy!
I've had a bunch of sessions this week and tomorrow is packed full and is the final day to have pictures taken with Christmas delivery.
With the storm Tuesday I worked from home so it's been an 'off' week.
Looking forward to a session packed Saturday and then hurrying early next week to get everything online so everyone who needs orders for Christmas can get ordered by Wednesday.
After next Wednesday we just have to process orders and wait for the lab so we can process and get them ready for everyone. We're running on our fastest speeds right now and I promise we will let you know the minute your order is ready :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/8/08

2008-12-08T11:09:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was amazing!
We got to Peoria about 9:30 Friday night just as everyone was getting back from the hockey game. The guys left and did their own thing and us girls hung around the house.
Saturday was Luke's birthday and we started off the day pretty lazy and relaxing. I wasn't feeling all too good, so I took things pretty easy. Our friends, Becky and Scott, got Luke his very 1st Steeler's jersey and he was really excited to wear it to the hockey game. The game was really exciting and fun! We had a party box which was a blast. They provided all kinds of snacks and soda. We also all took turns going down to Scott and Becky's regular seats in the very first row. That was really cool...the action is right there in your face :-)
After that, our party bus drove us all safely back to the house for some snacks and fun. I'd love to post a pic of us at our 1st hockey game, but unfortunately I left my brand new camera in Peoria! Becky is mailing it back though. No biggie, it's just my 'fun' camera. Contrary to my family's beliefs, I do NOT haul my work camera around to take pictures :-) My little Canon Elph is great for that and the new one has some truly amazing features!
Sunday was filled with football and Luke remained optimistic through the Steelers game that it wasn't over until it was over and oh boy, it got exciting! I really used to love football when one of my clients played but haven't really been able to get into it now that he's not playing. Last night I got very excited and was cheering and screaming and everything! I've missed football and am hoping to be able to catch some more Steelers games before they go to the Superbowl and win :-)
Looking forward to a very busy week but not the snowstorm on it's way! Be safe!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/5/08

2008-12-05T11:12:00.002-06:00

I'm looking forward to this weekend SO much! Doing weddings rarely gives me a weekend off and when I do (especially this time of year) it quickly fills with family portraits.
This weekend is Luke's 31st Birthday. With November being crummy for us I asked him what he wanted to do and we decided to spend the weekend in Peoria. If you're keeping count, yes, we were just there for Thanksgiving last week :-)
We're heading out after work today and I know there will be lots of fun,plus Luke and I will get to go to our very 1st Hockey game!!! I know...we live 2 miles from Young Arena but we've NEVER been to a hockey game! Oh well, I grew up in Indee and never went to the races.
Sounds like they have a party bus all lines up for the game so no one has to drive. Should be a blast!
I'm really excited to give Luke his gifts...he said no gifts but I figure the 2 things I got him are things I'll enjoy too so it's just too bad :-)
Next weekend is the final weekend packed with portrait for Christmas and the order deadline is close behind. Hoping to do our annual baking the weekend before Christmas.
I'm not sure when we will and won't be here for Christmas yet, but as soon as we decide, I'll post it. With Christmas on a Thursday we may just make it a 4 or 5 day weekend!
Have a great weekend!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/3/08

2008-12-03T13:40:00.002-06:00

Snow again, huh? Brrrr

It sure is pretty out though! Hoping a few of my sessions in the near future decide to take advantage and get some fun snow images :-)

Got the newsletter sent out so everyone is up to date about what's going on. I set up for our Children's Holiday portraits yesterday and included a picture in the newsletter so be sure to check it out!

A couple more things to accomplish before I head to the McNally's for their annual family portrait session. They're always so much fun and I love to see how the kids have grown each year. Shanlee has a really fun idea for her cards too! Should be a blast!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/2/08

2008-12-02T13:50:00.003-06:00

Today has been pretty productive so far!

Got all our Holiday Card samples out in the mail so keep an eye out for yours! Wrapped up some other odds and ends and then headed to Waverly for Kaleigh's 3 month pictures. She had huge smiles and giggles and was SO much fun!

I'm back at the office processing the session for Tonia to work her magic on :-)

Lots of random things to work on (like the newsletter) before Carol Bradley comes in about her album from her daughter Stephanie's wedding.

As always, lots to do and never enough time but I'll make it work!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 12/1/08

2008-12-01T13:02:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!
I had a great time in Peoria on Thursday with friends and Friday in Mt Pleasant with family. Saturday was packed with all kinds of sessions and Sunday was my nephew, Cash's baptism. Whew, what a busy weekend!

Lots of sessions this week too! As soon as I'm caught up today I'm going to move some furniture and stuff around in the office and give it a fresh look!

This coming Saturday is Luke's birthday. We're leaving Friday to spend the weekend in Peoria (big surprise, right?!?)

We still have sessions available for Christmas delivery. The last day for sessions is Saturday, December 13th so shoot me an e-mail and get it scheduled before all the times are gone!
Also, I will be available for sessions Christmas weekend if you are having family in town and would like to schedule a session.

Happy Holidays!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 11/26/08

2008-11-26T10:25:00.002-06:00

Today is the last day before everyone gets a break for Thanksgiving. Whew...it's been a super busy week~especially for being a short one!

We're headed to Peoria around 3pm today to spend Thanksgiving with friends and then to Mt Pleasant on Friday to get together with my family.

Saturday is dull of appointments. I do have ONE spot left if anyone is having family in town and is wanting to have a portrait. I'll be checking my e-mail while away so just shoot me out an e-mail :-)
Jenni@HeirloomPhotographicMemories.com

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving and take time to reflect on all you are grateful for this Season. I am grateful to have some of the most wonderful and caring clients a photographer could ever wish for :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 11/24/08

2008-11-24T15:47:00.002-06:00

I'm so glad it's nice and sunny out today. It's way too depressing with the gloomy weather all the time!
I've spent today getting all the sessions from this past weekend processed and to Tonia for her to work her magic and post online. Today is also my day to balance the checkbook~woo-hoo! My least favorite thing in the entire world! I've been putting it off and now it's nearing 4pm so I have no other choice. I decided to blog first and then the books :-(
This is going to be a short and very busy week! I have 3 sessions tomorrow and have a bunch of errands to run! Hoping to get them all processed and to Tonia on Wednesday and then off to Peoria to have Thanksgiving with friends :-)
Friday we will have Thanksgiving with my family and I have sessions all day Saturday and Sunday is my nephew, Cash's baptism.
Looking forward to a couple days to just relax with family and friends before getting back to the holiday rush, rush, rush of last minute details!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 11/19/08

2008-11-19T11:43:00.003-06:00

When, yesterday was such a whirlwind! My new website is done and live and all is good :-)

Today I have 4 sessions to get sorted and Tonia to work her magic before they go online and then 2 sessions in the afternoon. Things have been super busy here with holiday portraits and we're just trying to keep up.

I'm looking forward to the future and hoping for a MUCH better 2009 as 2008 was awful for SO many people I know.

Please give your family and friends a BIG hug and be thankful. Tis the Season :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 11/18/08

2008-11-18T18:53:00.001-06:00

What a day! I've just spent the last 9 hours completely overhauling and simplifying the website. Now the opening page gives you a choice to view the site or the blog so now I HAVE to keep it up to date :-)
Heading home to get some rest with Luke.
Please let me know what you think of the new site!!!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 11/17/08

2008-11-17T13:39:00.002-06:00

Long time...no posts. It's really hard to keep up doing this so I really need to make it a habit.

We've been just swamped with sessions lately! Lot's of Holiday sessions and it's just been crazy!

Late last week I photographed my first Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Session (www.NILMDTS.org)
It was the most difficult session I've ever done but it was SO important and I know the images are helping the family through the healing process.

Have to keep it short today as I'm leaving for a session in a couple minutes.

Hoping to set aside some time tomorrow to work on website redesign...I get bored with it SO easily! Time to freshen it up :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 10/13/08

2008-10-13T16:21:00.003-05:00

What a weekend. We had a lot of sessions in the leaves and a beautiful outdoor wedding.
Had a great time with all that, but as for me personally, this was one of the worst weekends ever.

Our roomie just got his dog back from his ex about 10 days ago. Things had been going great and Max was getting along very well with our dogs. Friday Max got out of the yard and was hit by a car and died. Shane had some friends over at the time and it was so very sad! He watched the car hit him and they didn't even stop or see if he was ok. I'm pretty shaken up over it...how could someone be so heartless as to not stop? His friends didn't know if they should stay or go and everyone was just standing on my front lawn in shock for nearly an hour.

My heart is just broken. It's so tragic...

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 10/6/08

2008-10-07T09:54:00.002-05:00

What a big week we're having. Processing all the sessions from this past weekend PLUS last night I photographed Junior League members to update their head shots and then tomorrow I get to go see Kamden for his 2 year session and several engagement session and a family on Friday. It's just so beautiful this time of year that everyone is ready to book their sessions!

On a personal note, Luke and I joined a Volleyball league and had our first game last night. It was a lot of fun! I have a lot of re-learning to do when it comes to volleyball, but we have a really great team we were paired with, so it looks like ti will be great!

Please support Aplington-Parkersburg schools by visiting this web site: http://www.henkelhelps.com/

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog 10/5/08

2008-10-06T10:10:00.001-05:00

We had a beautiful weekend for our Fall Family Portrait Event to benefit the Humane Society! It was SO much fun! I absolutely love being outdoors this time of year.
Busy week ahead but I'll try to post some images of families soon!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-09-15T14:40:00.002-05:00

Whew, what a weekend!
Spent Friday and part of Saturday in Galena with friends Scott and Becky. I was SO much fun! The timeshare had an outdoor grill area and Luke and Scott make the best meal ever! We also got to spend some time in the hot tub and played lots of games in the room!
Saturday we headed back and Luke and I laid laminate flooring in my sister and her husband's house they just purchased. I'd never done laminate before but wanted to learn as I think it might just come in handy in the future!
Sunday we went to CR and to the Playstation for Favre's 3 year birthday party. Adults and children were climbing all around in the tunnels and the balls. It was a blast!
Watched a little of the football game last night when we got home and caught up with Facebook. Looking forward to a really exciting week!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-09-11T10:37:00.002-05:00

Ok, so it seems it's not possible to have my blog me my main website page without a bunch or work :-(
Bummer. That's ok, I'll just have to change things up from time to time!
I'm anxiously awaiting baby news from Mel and Jake AND Stephanie and Eric. I photographed both of their weddings and Mel and Jake were due 4 days ago and are pretty excited to meet their baby boy already! Stephanie and Eric are due in 2 days and can't wait for the surprise of if it's a boy or girl.
Newborn babies are just so fun! I'm actually going to meet Julie next week (I photographed her brother's wedding and now their daughter) next week for newborn pictures. We have this cool old scale I'm hoping to use for the first time :-)
Getting things wrapped up for the week now and heading to Galena this afternoon until Saturday. Sunday is my nephew, Favre's 3rd birthday party so that should make for a very fun weekend!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-09-10T18:42:00.001-05:00

I absolutely HATE when websites are always the same. No new images, no new content! BORING!!! I read somewhere that if your site never changes, people won't come back to see what's new because nothing ever is.
I'm going to do something a little different and make my blog page my intro page. There's a clear link for my photography page in the corner so all should be ok. Let me know what you think :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-09-10T10:32:00.003-05:00

Wow, things have sure been busy here! Can't believed it's been so long since I blogged! Since last time we have photographed Katy and JD's wedding and also Megan and Monte's, had the Dog Days of Summer Portrait Event , school pictures AND photographed a senior!
To catch up on what we've been up to, go to 'view my images' and check things out!
Today I have a meeting with the Arboretum Board as I am considering being on next year's marketing committee which would be a great fit being as I'm already the Publicity Chair for the Arboretum's biggest annual fundraiser, the Fall Harvest Festival. After that, I'm going to photograph a band playing at the Issac Walton.
Looking forward to visiting Galena with friends Scott and Becky on Thursday and Friday then heading back Saturday so Luke can lay Ashley and Matt's new flooring in the new house. Things are finally coming together for them after the floods this past summer!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-08-20T15:00:00.003-05:00

Jayleen and Fabian's wedding on Friday was so beautiful. I think I always enjoy weddings more when we've gone to dinner with the couple and I really feel like I know them :-)
The ceremony and reception were both in Independence and the Heartland Acres center has never looked as beautiful as it did that night. The meal was amazing as well thanks to Sunrise Catering. There were a few small snags during the day but neither of them let it affect their mood and I can tell they will have a wonderful marriage. Fabian's family was there all the way from Germany and what impressed me so much was the fact that the parents got along so well, hugging after the ceremony and dancing together at the reception.
Kendall from Creative Sound Productions was the DJ for the night so I knew Jayleen and Fabian were in good hands. Kendall and I know each other from when we worked at Milroy's together and DJ~ing is the perfect job for Kendall. He mentioned his dogs and we spoke for a while about Jules having cancer. Kendall got his dog's paw print tattooed on his chest after his dog died and although I have always said I'd never get a tattoo, I think that's what I will do (just in a different location)

Saturday I met with Kate to discuss her wedding plans. She really has things together and I'm really looking forward to her special day!

Amy and Kory's wedding was Saturday afternoon in Hopkington with reception in Manchester. The ceremony was outdoors and the weather was perfect! The Lenox College Historical Society was an amazing location and I went nuts with images! We also stopped at some beautiful gardens before the reception and took some more outstanding images. Amy and Kory were so fun to work with! There's such a wonderful freedom that comes with an outdoor wedding. We are able to move around a bit more and capture some angles we could never get inside a building. I just can't wait for them to return from the honeymoon to see their images!

Here's something we're working on that's coming up pretty quickly!

Leaving tomorrow for the weekend for our annual camping trip. Can't wait!!! Hopefully it stays dry :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-08-13T16:12:00.003-05:00

Here's a couple pictures from our Gone Fishin' Children's portrait event. Aren't they cute!

Tuesday evening I photographed Sean and Diana and their son, Logan. Logan is 9 months old and is a blast. I love all his adorable faces! What a cutie! I photographed Sean and Diana's wedding a couple years ago and it was great to see them again!

Here's a few of my favorites from this part weekend. All but the big background image are from right after the ceremony while the guests watched their video. It was so moving to see how the naturally interacted with my just quietly clicking away! Not too many couples give me this opportunity and these are among my favorite images of the day!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-08-11T14:43:00.002-05:00

Cassie and Jason's wedding on Saturday was very moving. You can really see the love in their eyes and we got some amazing images right after the ceremony as they enjoyed the first few minutes of wedded bliss while the guests watched their slideshow. Images should be up soon!

Jules finally go to come home. She was all bandaged up and today I took her in to have the bandages replaced. Instead, they removed the drainage tube and showed me how to clean it out. I have to dress her in a t-shirt so she doesn't drip on the floor. They also gave her an Elizabethan collar as she spent all weekend licking at her leg where near the drainage tube is. This pic shows how even with all she's been through, she's still smiling and her tail is blurry as she's wagging it so quickly. Jules always makes me laugh! Grace is SO happy to have her home!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-08-08T12:31:00.002-05:00

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-08-06T07:06:00.003-05:00

It's 7:07 am and I'm typing this in bed. Can't sleep anymore as I'm waiting to hear from the vet to see how Jules is doing.

I was called yesterday during surgery and told it was not a fatty tumor but cancer. They were calling to offer me the option of not having her wake up or to try to save her from bleeding to death~something they were unsure they could accomplish.

Our dogs are our kids. I was devastated. I got off the phone and pretty much fell apart. Thank God for Tonia. She really stepped up and comforted me and called my afternoon session to reschedule. I bolted for home and played with our dog Grace. I didn't hear anything for an hour, which I thought must be good news as that meant they were still working to save her.

Got the call around 4pm she was out of surgery and waking up. They wanted us to come and visit and have a chance to see her especially as we were not out of the woods yet and they couldn't guarantee she would make it through the night.

Dr Riley thinks the tumor will most likely grow back at the same rate it was growing before, so I'm guessing we have at least 2 years. I'm sure it will not be the actual size of the tumor that will kill her so maybe not. There are no guarantees in life though, right? I know we will have some tough choices to make in the future but am glad we will have more time. Jules is only 7 and Grace at 9 would be lost without her. Actually, we all would be!

Just waiting to hear from my sister Ashley's sister-in-law Michelle. She works at Pawsative Pet Care and was taking care of Jules and will call when she gets in at 7:30 to give me an update. I'm so glad Michelle was there with her. She's like family so it was very comforting. Michelle's dad is Dr Riley, and I feel the are both very compassionate and have really been wonderful. Here's a picture of Grace and Jules I wanted to share.

Jules is a boxer mix and Grace and black lab-greyhound mix.

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-08-05T13:44:00.001-05:00

Today our dog, Jules is having surgury to remove her large fatty tumor on her side. It's really big and although I'm really scared, I know it will make her feel so much better. Hoping to hear from the vet any time now :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-08-04T13:45:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was pretty crazy!
We had a wedding on Friday AND Saturday :-) I was really glad it wasn't as hot and humid as originally predicted.
Julie and Amos we married Friday evening here in Waterloo. They had a beautiful wedding and everything went great! You'd have never known of all the construction in the entry of the church by the pictures. This was also the very first wedding for their Decon, which was really neat! We headed to Independence after the ceremony for the reception and a few more pictures. We were done at a pretty decent time and I even had a little energy to hang out with some friends around the fire when we got home.
Saturday's wedding was in Dysart. Jamie and Clint's wedding had a lot of unique touches. I especially liked the suits and the dress color~Pool! :-) We photographed their very cooperative wedding party at the church so it was a fairly short day for me but we sure got a ton of wonderful pictures! Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!
Sunday we went golfing with some friends. We golf only for fun and always have a couple drinks. We let SO many people play through because we stink at golf. It took us 5 hours to play 9 holes~ouch! We had a blast though! Our roomie Shane is also a leftie so we shared clubs. I don't think there are many things funnier than a man golfing with pink clubs!
Tomorrow we're taking our dog, Jules to have surgery to remove a gigantic fat tumor on her side. I'm really worried about it but I know Dr Riley will take great care of her and my sister's sister-in-law works there and always pays special attention to our babies :-) Jules is a boxer mix and weighs about 110. This fat tumor is so big although I'm a little nervous I know she's feel better not toting around all that extra weight.
Luke is going to CR tomorrow to look at a house my sister and her family are considering making an offer on. it's in Central City and is just adorable! Hope all goes well!
Thursday for my day off I'm taking my nephew, Favre, to Adventureland. He's not quite 3 so it should be interesting! Wish me luck!
Pictures from both weddings should be up soon :-)

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-07-28T15:07:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was a blast! It's not all too often I get a weekend off in the summer and so when I do I try to really enjoy it! Feels like I just had a weekend off for the 4th of July, but a canceled wedding allowed me an extra weekend off! We had dinner Wednesday with Shae and Ryan, our September 20 wedding, at the Lincoln Cafe in Mt Vernon. The food was amazing and the conversation even better that the food. I'm really looking forward to their wedding as they are an AWESOME couple! Learned a lot about the two of them and we're already making plans to get together sometime after the wedding just for fun :-)

I spent Thursday at my usual favorite day off spot, my sister's place in CR. Things are finally making progress for them with losing their home in the flood. Good news for sure!
Friday we went to Peoria to spend the evening and part of Saturday with Scott and Becky. The water was too low to take out the Yacht and jet-skis but we found outer ways to have fun by playing a game and watching a movie. We love hanging out with Scott and Becky and their group and hope to go again for Labor Day! Saturday morning we had breakfast at the 50's themed Maid-Rite in Peoria, owned by Scott and Tammy Senti who won Biggest Loser restaurant edition a couple years ago. Scott and Tammy are close friends with Scott and Becky and we've gotten to know them pretty well. Scott make a great breakfast as he's the cook! We headed back to Waterloo and were planning to go to the drag races with a friend, but were super tired and had to pass.

Sunday we saw Step-Brothers with our roomie, Shane. It was a great movie but I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed. Shane first showed us the You-Tube preview about 2 months ago and we've been watching it several times a week and counting the days until it came out. The 2 ½ minute unrated preview was SO funny! I had the movie a little too hyped up in my own mind and it didn't quite live up to it. Also, we all pretty much had the entire trailer memorized and they cut parts of it out of the movie! Guess they have to leave something for the DVD, right?
This week looks to be crazy. Lots of end of the month/beginning of the month stuff to do as well as photograph Emma tomorrow, Hawkeye Community College pinning ceremony photographs and Cedar Falls tourism pictures on Wednesday. Thursday as usual is my day off and we have a wedding on both Friday and Saturday.

Today is Monday and our internet is down (AGAIN!) I'm writing this and will upload when I get the chance. I'm really getting frustrated having to wait around for Mediacom to come and fix my service (this is the second or third time we've had this problem just this year!) Agggg! Unfortunatly, we have absolutly no chioice of high speed internet providers or I'd have switched a long time ago. I've looked into Satalite and Qwest and neither provide service to this building.

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-07-23T15:43:00.006-05:00

Here's a sneak peek at what I've been up to this week:

Tuesday morning I photographed Sherri Koster and family. I photographed Sherri's family shortly before her son Nathan, married Stephanie. This time they got the entire extended family together for some great images. Everyone was really cooperative and fun to work with! They also loaded my car up with my posing stools when we were done~thanks everyone!

Later in the afternoon I photographed Maddie for her 2 year session. I photographed Christa and Marty's wedding about 5 years ago. They had a beautiful Christmastime wedding and I distinctly remember their wedding cakes being decorated to look like presents. I've photographed Maddie since she was born and it's such an honor to be able to watch her grow up. Can't believe how big she's gotten! What beautiful blue eyes she has! Marty and Christa have recently moved to a new house and weren't sure we'd have a good outdoor spot, but they have a great tree that worked out well!

Early that evening I headed to the Arboretum to photograph Francis. I was a little skeptical about finding good spots at the Arboretum as it's been my experience that the best flowers prefer full sun which is awful for pictures. We found a bunch of great spots though and the clouds would come along occasionally and make me happy! We photographed Laurel and Doug's wedding back in 2004 and have been there every step of the way with Francis. It really moved me when Doug mentioned he can't believe we've been doing this together for 3 years. Me either! They are great to work with! Doug also told me they like to leave the work to the professional and I really love that about them! Doug has some exciting things going on with a Comedy show every Friday at the CF library at 6:30. Fun for the entire family!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-07-22T13:55:00.004-05:00

Here's images from Nikki and Logan this past weekend. The skies were gloomy and I was so worried about the weather as everything was outdoors but the weather stayed dry except for some sprinkles when we first got there :-)

The wedding was at Nikki's parents house in Clear Lake. He dad is actually a minister and he married them. She's the youngest and he has performed the ceremony for all his children's weddings so it was pretty special.

Nikki and Logan went all out with a nice relaxed theme. It was absolutely beautiful. You can tell from the pictures the wedding party was a LOT of fun!

Got home pretty early, about 5pm, so Luke and I went to Tonia's for her dad's birthday party. Talk about a fun night! Unfortunately that rain I had been worried about all day for Nikki and Logan made it's appearance at the party and kept trying to put the fire out!

This week is packed with dinner with Steve from Aspire (Cedar Valley's BEST videographer) 3 sessions today and dinner tomorrow with upcoming bride and groom, Shae and Ryan. Then we're headed to Peoria for some boating and jet ski's with Scott and Becky, owners of a site we advertise on~WeJj.com It's a great site to find a photographer, videographer or DJ.

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-07-18T16:08:00.004-05:00

This has been such a wonderful week!

Yesterday I took my nephew to the fair with the help of my sister, Ashley. We met in Independence at 11:30 for lunch and then to the fair. Unfortunately, the rides didn't open until 5pm and there were hardly any rides anyway. We were pretty bummed, but that wasn't stopping us! We drove to Central City for the Linn County fair, which was about 40 minutes. It was the last day and all the rides were already gone. This was starting to become pretty frustrating!!! I was told the Jones County fair was only 40 minutes and had great rides. We got back in the car (we drove separate as Ashley is in CR) It was SO worth the drive! We got our wristbands and had SO much fun! We even got to see the animals and left right before it started storming. Here's some pictures (nearly all taken by Ashley)

Today I photographed Shari and Ron Bright for their wedding anniversary. My notes say it was their 40th anniversary but I don't believe it! They were a lot of fun and we got some pictures by their beautiful front door which has a story in itself :-) Thanks Shari and Ron for being so easy to work with! It was getting muggy and you two were great!

Today I've been processing their pictures and getting ready for Nikki and Logan's wedding tomorrow in Clear Lake. The ceremony is at their parents house outdoors so PLEASE say a prayer for DRY weather!!! I'm not being greedy, just a few hours. 11-3 would be fantastic :-) Hope everyone has a nice and dry weekend and I'll get some of Nikki and Logan's pics up early next week.

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-07-16T13:56:00.003-05:00

Brandy and Abe's wedding this past weekend went great! We had nice weather and the wedding party was very cooperative. One of the groomsmen even seated me...something that no one has ever offered to do in my 8 years as a wedding photographer :-)

Brandy commented how we must be just exhausted at the end of the day with all the energy and work we put into what we do. Thanks for noticing Brandy! As I mentioned I sleep in REALLY late and do practically nothing on Sunday's as I'm so exhausted from giving 110% to each and every wedding.

I spent Monday getting their images online and Tuesday I drove to Mason City and then to Cedar Rapids to photograph the accountants at each of the Hogan-Hansen branches there. It made for a long day and a lot of drive time, but was fun to meet everyone. I photographed the accountants at the local branch here in May. They are actually MY accountants, so it was nice to be able to do something for them!

Tonight I'm having dinner with an old friend I used to work at Cole Photography with, Stephanie. I actually photographed her wedding a couple years ago as well! Stephanie has had her own photography business and is currently working at Veridian and due to have her first child soon. It will be great to catch us as well as look into the idea of her possibly photographing some weddings for me next year :-)

Tomorrow I'm taking my nephew, Favre, to the Buchanan County Fair. Hope I can convince him to ride some of the rides with me. Wish me luck!

Here's something I worked on today that I added to the website. Let me know what you think!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-07-11T15:39:00.003-05:00

This week sure flew by fast!

Had a Junior League marketing meeting on Tuesday which got me super excited for all the things coming up this fall with League. I'm hoping to be part of a really unique fundraiser and will be taking everyone's picture for our League Yearbook.

Wednesday I met up with Denise from the Fall Harvest Festival for lunch. We discussed all the upcoming things I need to do as chair of publicity. It feels so much less overwhelming than when I volunteered last year. There's something to be said for experience :-)

Thursday I did my new weekly thing and went to CR to spend the day with my nephew's, Favre and Cash and my sister. They have an amazing swimming pool at their apartment and we have SO much fun! I'm sure going to miss the pool when they get their house fixed from the flood and move back in! I'm sure they will miss it too, but will be glad to finally be home!

Tonight I'm looking forward to dinner at Bill's in Independence with Jayleen and Fabian. I photographed their engagement session a couple weeks ago and we do something really special with our engagement couples. Instead of them paying for the engagement session, they take me and my husband out to eat. This was I get to know them better before the wedding, my husband and I get to know other couples and they save some money purchasing dinner instead of the session.

Tomorrow is Brandy and Abe's wedding in Waukon with reception in Decorah. They were lots of fun for the engagement session so I'm really looking forward to their wedding!

Here's one of their engagement images:

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-07-07T15:44:00.005-05:00

Penny and Craig's wedding was really great! Their package included rehearsal night images and we started nice and early the next morning at the salon with the girls. It was windy but good weather~at least until the ceremony! It started to rain so they sped everything up in a a quick but beautiful ceremony. It was really cool that the entire wedding party was their children and Penny's cousin. Everyone was amazing to work with as well. Here are a few of my favorite images :

We were fortunate enough to spend the 4th with Scott and Becky in Peoria, IL. They own WeDj.com, a site we advertise on and also have the annual convention cruise we are attending/speaking on. They had a wonderful party in their condo on the Illinois river and we watched the fireworks over the river set to music right in their backyard. It was fantastic! We stayed the night in the adorable Inn right across the street, then on Saturday went out on the river. They call it a boat, but it's a Yacht!!! It has beds, a kitchenette, fridge and bathroom with a shower. It was my first time boating and although I was scared, I even took the jetski out for a 60mph ride. Now I want one :-)

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th! I need to spend more time having fun with family and friends...life is short!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog:Jayleen and Fabian's engagement session

2008-06-27T14:38:00.002-05:00

Jayleen, Fabian and I went out to Washington Park for their engagement session. I was SO thankful the rain held off :-)

They are such a fun couple! We had a great time! Their wedding is coming up right around the corner and will be here before we know it!

Heirloom Photographic Memories Blog

2008-06-27T12:05:00.004-05:00

The blog has been quiet for a while and it's time to get back to it. So much has happened in the past weeks! We had a wonderful time in North Carolina but were worried about flooding for family and friends the entire trip. We enjoyed our 9th anniversary at Myrtle Beach and got a bit too much sun!!!

My sister and her family lost nearly everything in the flood but thankfully there are people there to help. Friends and family have donated clothing, furniture and toys for the boys. Thanks to everyone who has helped out!!! They're waiting now to see if the neighborhood is going to be rebuilt and getting estimates on the damages. Hopefully the healing process can begin soon!

When we got back, I had a very busy schedule. Mystie came in Thursday before her wedding and we did her bridal session. It was SO much fun and a great run through for her hair, makeup and getting dressed. Made things go even more smooth on her wedding day! She looks just stunning in these!

After the bridal session, I met Jenny and Joe and family for their engagements and family pictures in Washington Park. The kids had so much fun and everyone was really cooperative. Can't wait for their wedding in October!

Friday was busy with the Kaplan nurses graduation ceremony. They have graduations every 3 months or so and it's always an amazing group to work with!

Saturday arrived quickly and it was time for Mystie and Derek's wedding. What a beautiful couple! They had an early wedding at 10am, which was great as it got to be a pretty warm day and the church had no AC. Perfect temps for a 10am wedding, but had it been 2pm, we all would have melted!

A new week started and I was saddened by the death of George Carlin. Strange thing was we were just talking about him (me, Luke and roomie Shane) Sunday night and spent about an hour watching YouTube video of him. What a shock Monday morning!

Tuesday I photographed Molly's 1 year pictures. I photographed Ryan and Betsy's beautiful wedding a few years ago and am honored to be able to photograph their adorable daughter! Isn't she precious!

After Molly's session, I was off to Traer for Merna and Neil's 40th anniversary portrait. They have a beautiful home and it was wonderful spending time and getting to know them a bit.

This weekend is going to be a lot of fun! I am meeting with Jayleen and Fabian for their engagement session in a little bit and then off to Penny and Craig's rehearsal and dinner for some pictures a bit later. Looking forward to their wedding tomorrow at Hickory Hills. Outdoor weddings are always a joy!

Flooding

2008-06-15T18:53:00.001-05:00

I've been pretty consumed with checking the home news my entire vacation to see how the flooding is. When we left Tuesday none of the bridges were even closed yet! My sister in CR just got to visit her house and had 2 feet of water in there and the basement is still full. Mold everywhere. I am so sorry and my heart goes out to all affected. We at home and work are dry and ok. Still visiting Luke's family in North Carolina until later this week.
Please e-mail if you lost any images we have taken for you and we will get that fixed :-)
Hugs to our homestate!!!

The past week

2008-06-09T13:32:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it's already been a week since I blogged and SO much has happened!!!

On Monday evening I met with Rob and Denise about their April 18,2009 wedding. Denise heard about me from Jessica Fees, a bride from a couple years ago. Their wedding sounds like fun! It's so wonderful when people tell others about me. I truly am grateful for all my wonderful clients!!!

The storms this past week have been something else!!! During the storms last Wednesday night our building (or at least our internet) was struck by lighting!!! Tonia didn't have any internet on Thursday, which was my day off. We figured it was storm related and decided to wait until Friday as they might have it fixed. I spent the day in CR with my nephew, Favre. I'm so addicted to this little guy. He is tons of fun and I got to take him swimming for his first time (1st time he remembers at least) in the 2 foot pool in the backyard. We had so much fun splashing around. I was glad it was nice during the day!

Friday rolled around and still no Internet. We waited around for Mediacom but at about 2pm gave up and took an early weekend.

The weather was absolutely perfect (maybe a tad hot) for Stephanie and Eric's wedding. I did Stephanie's sister's wedding (Melissa) to Eric's brother (Jeremy) several years ago. We got a great mix of traditional candid feeling images. What a fun wedding party. Everyone really let loose at the reception and it was just perfect! I love the 'dip' picture with the wedding party in the background and the guys and gals looked awesome in the 'rockstar' walking ones too! When Stephanie and dad danced, seeing mom watch in the background made me tear up too!

On Sunday the water started to rise in what is usually just a tiny stream in Gates Park. We walked over and took pictures at it was only a block away. I was so afraid the water was going to spill into 4th street and come toward the house! Luckily, the water has gone back into it's banks this morning.

Tonia is spending the day at her grandmother's house today. They started out sandbagging and just a bit ago gave up and started moving stuff out as they anticipate the water to be waist deep in the living room! What a mess! Glad they have great family and friends to help out!

Luke and I are getting ready for our trip to NC to visit Luke's family. We're leaving in the morning and I can't wait to get away from all this nasty weather!!!

Stay safe and dry!!!

Mindy and Michael

2008-06-02T14:52:00.003-05:00

Their wedding was SO beautiful! The wedding party was a blast and the weather was ideal. I really got to know Mindy and Michael well when they took my husband and I to a fantastic dinner at Olive Garden a couple months ago instead of having to pay for an engagement session. I feel like I photographed a good friend's wedding, which is how I wish every wedding would be :-)

Thanks Mindy and Michael and CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The weekend is almost here!

2008-05-30T16:48:00.004-05:00

Yea! I'm so excited to go to My Waterloo Days tonight and see the fireworks with friends! Should be a lot of fun! Just met with Zach and Andrea about their August 2010 wedding. I actually did Andrea's senior pictures and worked with Zach at the Pretzelmaker briefly when it was my second job in 2001. Their wedding is going to be SO perfect!

I spent Wednesday in Cedar Rapids with my nephew, Favre. He was so great and we had a ton of fun. I took some pictures so I'll have a 5x30 of each of these!

Afterward, I photographed Cassie and Jason in this cute gazebo they found in Cedar Rapids. It was a beautiful day and they were perfectly dressed! I love how the light comes in from behind and accents their hair. Looking forward to their wedding later this summer!

Sneak peak of today's session

2008-05-27T15:53:00.002-05:00

This is Griffin. He's one and a ton of fun! We played and got some great images. Griffin's mom, Suzy had some great ideas to really personalize his session!

Memorial Day weekend

2008-05-27T15:02:00.002-05:00

Our wedding went wonderfully on Saturday. Kalyn and Lucas looked fantastic and they had a super fun wedding party that really let me do anything I wanted...too fun!!! The wedding was in Sac City and we had the adventure of nearly hitting a deer on the way home~yikes! I got home and collapsed, we really give our weddings every ounce of energy we have. When we photograph a wedding on a Saturday, it usually means we can't do much on Sunday but lay around and try to get rested for the upcoming week. Weddings are brutal! I love them SO much, but it always just puts a damper on Sunday for me.

I finally got moving in the late morning and we went to Home Depot for trim for the basement. I spent time Saturday afternoon staining trim, at least until the tornado warnings were issued. It came a little over a mile from our house and the destruction is just heartbreaking. Here's a piece of Tonia's personal blog (she says thing SO much better than I ever can!)

Why God made tornados
Yesterday a tornado at least one-half mile wide cut a path about 15 miles long though eastern Iowa, coming within about that distance of my home. Estimates are that about a dozen people were killed, and I feel quite fortunate that none of them were people I know personally. Included in the millions of dollars in damage done by this storm was the complete destruction of the house my cousin Micheal finished building less than a year ago. His wife and 4 small children were in the small storm shelter that was the only part of the building intact when the winds stopped blowing. He watched the tornado consume it from his father-in-law's home about a quarter mile away. After determining that they were safe, he went to look in on his across-the-street neighbors. They were not as lucky. His parents property, though not officially struck by the tornado, had such serious wind damage that they had to be evacuated. My mom's friend, Pam, lost her mother to the storm. My friend Casey's sister lost most of her farm.
Casey's grandson asked why there were tornados. His mother told him it was because God made tornados. I'm sure she hoped the answer would satisfy him, but like little boys will, it inspired him to ask a much harder question, "Why does God make tornados?" They could not answer him and I had no response at first myself.
In the light of the next day, however, the answer is pretty clear. Several of my friends are headed up to my aunt's to help the clean up. People who've never met my cousin are asking me what sizes of clothes his kids need. When I went to the store for water and ice for the clean up crews, strangers offered to help me out with it when they heard what it was for. My brother's driving up from an hour away to help. The answer, when you tell people about something like this is always, "What can I do to help?"
And that is also the answer to the little boy's question. I don't think God exactly makes tornados. I think He generally more allows them to happen. But He doesn't do it to smite us or punish us or because it amuses Him to watch us suffer. He lets things like this happen because, as the insurance commercial says, "...the worst events bring out the best in people." I believe that bad things happen so we can help each other. They teach us the depth of our connection to each other. They give us the opportunity to clothe and feed and comfort our neighbor, to be brother to the stranger, to live the love of Jesus in each other's lives.

New pictures!

2008-05-23T13:47:00.004-05:00

I keep forgetting to put up some of our latest work!
This is an engagement session we did last week and Kalyn and Lucas are getting married tomorrow!

Here's a children's session from earlier this week. Brianne is a new client and was one of our winners of a free session for our annual Children's Portrait Contest! Aren't they adorable? Gavin was such a happy little guy and Carter was very cooperative and wanted to play and have fun. Brianne was great during the session and while we did individual portraits of the boys, she entertained the child not in the picture. Made things much easier~thanks Brianne!

I photographed the Purdy family this week as well. I've been photographing them for about 4 years now and have had the opportunity to watch Emma and Alex grow up. One of the first times I photographed them was when Alex was only 6 months or so. He's grown so fast! He's a little man now! Emma is prettier every time I see her~and taller too! That's one of the most exciting things about my work is seeing children grow up and getting to be a part of remembering them with they were small.

Also happy to report that Tonia got a camera phone~hooray!!!

Internet frustration

2008-05-21T13:09:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I came into work and realized there was no Internet. Called Mediacom and they said it would be a few hours. How aggravating! I really had a bit of work to do but it all involved the Internet. I decided to take the day off and go home and paint the basement and steam clean. Glad I did as the Internet didn't come back on until about 4pm :-(

Best weekend ever!

2008-05-19T13:03:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was SO wonderful!!! The hypnotist Friday was great! I volunteered to go up on stage and it was a load of fun! He explained there are 5 levels of hypnosis. Just because he says he has a bird on his arm and you don't see it doesn't mean you're not under, just at a lighter level, which is where I was at. One girl was in really deep and he had her get her body still like a board then laid her over 2 chairs, one at her head and one at her feet, then stood a waitress on her!!! It was amazing!
Then we spent all day Saturday in CR at my sisters. Luke got the roof finished and I got to spend all day with my little guy, Favre. He is SO much fun!!! We played together all day and between playing and the sun, I fell asleep while Luke drove us home :-)
Sunday I decided to deep clean the basement so we can start painting down there. I got rid of a ton of stuff and I heard a commotion upstairs. Roomie Shane was cleaning out the porch!!! He said he asked Luke if he could. He was also glad Luke agreed to let him mow the lawn. Seriously. I am SO lucky to have the clean freak Merry Maid as my new room mate! He cleaned off the entire porch, went to the recycle place, took stuff to goodwill, mowed the lawn, weeded all my flower gardens and laid fertilizer. Then he climbed up on the garage roof and rescued the stray branch and it was all I could do to stop him before he went and cleaned out the gutters. WOW! He's single ladies but it's going to take a LOT of convincing before I'll part with him!

This weekend

2008-05-16T09:44:00.004-05:00

This is really my last weekend off before weddings start up nearly every weekend all summer long. We're planning to go to Jokers and see a comedy hypnotist. Tomorrow we're spending in CR with my sister so Luke can help (mostly project manager) as they put a sloped roof over their flat leaky one. I could go on the roof and help, but I think I'll be on the ground playing with my nephew, Favre. I can't wait! My nephew, Cash is still only about 5 months so although cute, he's not a ton of fun yet like Favre who is getting close to 3. Here's my favorite picture of them. I have one on my wall at home so I get to smile at them every day :-)

Home remodel

2008-05-15T13:07:00.002-05:00

I never mentioned that we love our home. It was pretty nice when we bought it but we have taken time and gone room by room and perfected it to our liking. Project of the moment:spare bedroom. We've been racing to get it done. Was planned to be a nice leisurely project, but then we ordered new furniture for our basement (livingroom area) We have a futon down there now that has to get moved to the spare bedroom and it was full of stuff so the running around began. In 1 evening we cleared it all into the basement with the full intent of putting it back in the spare bedroom (not the case now) In a weekend Luke demolished all the plaster, went to the dump and hung nice new drywall. During the week he taped, sanded and sprayed. I with the help of a friend, primed the room and after the awful job we did, Luke masked things off and sprayed the color. Then in another weekend he removed the carpet and laid the wood flooring as well as replaced the closet door. Last night he did all the trim and I touched up the paint. Tonight we're moving the futon in and re-assembling the ceiling fan, then a friend is moving in. Should be fun!!!

Hoping next week to move everything out of the basement, repaint, clean the carpets and be ready for new furniture. Whew, it's been a whirlwind but always worth it in the end!

Giving back

2008-05-13T10:50:00.002-05:00

Last night I attended the Annual Dinner for Junior League. I had the honor of presenting the scholarship recipients, Lynley Burrow and Lindsay Lewis. These two young women really show what giving back is all about. It made me really reflect on the subject and although I've been a member of Junior League for several years I've never gotten all too involved. This year that's going to change. I have some big plans for our Children's Portrait Events to tie in with League. It's such a wonderful organization that really has an impact in our community! Check out the website at www.JLWCF.org

Busy, busy weekend

2008-05-12T11:08:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was SO busy!

Dax and Marissa's on Saturday was beautiful. They are such a sincere and caring couple. They really go out of their way to make you feel welcome and are such wonderful family people. Hope Marissa is enjoying her surprise honeymoon that Dax has planned! Here's a collage of their images:

While Cari and I were at the wedding, Tonia photographed our model senior, Kelly, prepping for Prom. Kelly has done her senior session, friends session and one of her two additional sessions. I'll be photographing one of her soccer games soon and then we'll be able to design her custom senior album. It will be amazing!!!

Saturday after the wedding I went out for a couple birthday drinks but got home pretty early as Sunday was going to be busy.

Park Place was very happy with us after the Easter family pictures so they invited us back for Mother's Day. Sunday was spend taking family pictures and was a blast. There were lots of families out and the food was amazing as always! Here's a taste of what I got to do!

My Birthday

2008-05-09T11:39:00.002-05:00

Today is my 29th birthday. I have the day off from work but only because I'm working a wedding Saturday and taking Mother's Day family portraits at Park Place. Should be a great weekend as now it's not going to rain on my wedding couple! Yay!

I'm super excited to go and look at a building to buy. Can't believe I'm actually thinking of moving again! I wanted to rent some additional space in the building we're already in but the price just wasn't right and at what I'd be paying for rent it only makes sense to buy! just got the realtor's call so I'm going to check it out at 12:30!!!

Images

2008-05-06T14:53:00.001-05:00

What a beautifyl baptism! Mary Ellen was an angel all day!

Here's little Emma from Friday. Can't believe she's standing up already!!!

Tuesday weigh in

2008-05-06T10:16:00.002-05:00

I've been attending Weight Watchers again. It's been about 6 weeks now and I've lost 17 pounds. This week alone was 5 pounds! Those of you who know me well, know I first attended WW in middle school. I was thin through HS and then upon getting married put weight back on. I did weight watchers in 2001 and lost 50 pounds and then in the past 5 or so years put it all back on and 25 more friends.
What's different for me this time is that I've been making a lot of really healthy choices, which I did in the past but only for a limited time. I really feel this time I finally 'got it'

Busy times at Heirloom

2008-05-05T12:07:00.002-05:00

Last week flew by so quickly I didn't even have time to Blog :-(
I attended the Bellies and Babies seminar by my idol, Sam Puc in Des Moines with my good friend and fellow photographer, Ninya. It was a late night, as Sam spoke until a little after 11 and then we drove home. I purchased some educational materials at the seminar and am SO pumped up about some maternity and newborn pictures. Lots of new ideas to come in the near future! I'm also going to be delaying the monthly newsletter a bit as I revamp it~lots of new ideas! Anyway, if you or someone you know is pregnant, I'm searching for models for our marketing pieces I'm designing. Models will be compensated with a gift certificate toward images and the session will of course be free.

Friday morning was spent with Emma who is now 9 months. I've been photographing Emma since she was 3 months and it's so fun to watch her grow and change. Her hair is really curly at the ends and beautiful. She's always so much fun. I'll post images soon!

Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing Mary Ellen's baptism at St. Eds in Waterloo. I photographed the baptism and the reception that followed. She is such a cutie! I'll post some images as I'm working on them today.

Looks like a fun week ahead with some more of the UNI models to photograph tomorrow and then we're spending Wednesday working on our maternity and baby campaign. I'm photographing a wedding this Saturday and will be a Park Place taking complementary family photographs for their Mother's Day brunch. I'm going to take Thursday and Friday off since I'm working all weekend and Friday is my birthday.

Images to come soon!

Lots of new images

2008-04-29T13:33:00.004-05:00

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately...enjoy!
Beautiful senior session.

Isn't she absolutely adorable!

Spring engagement session. Amped up the color on it!

This is our wedding from this past weekend in Dubuque. We got some awesome images because the couple was SO much fun!!!

What a cutie!

Newborn babies are the best :-)

Busy busy!!

2008-04-23T08:09:00.002-05:00

What a busy week this is! Yesterday I spent all day at UNI photographing UNI fashion student's designs. It was a LOT of fun! Today I have baby pictures, engagement pictures and am meeting with good friends about their wedding coming up in 2010. Whew, I'll be needing my day off tomorrow :-) Friday is just as busy and I'm really looking forward to the wedding we're photographing in Dubuque on Saturday. Should be fun!

Spring is here!

2008-04-21T11:05:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was so wonderful! I got to work in the yard and everything~although my muscles are crying now! Sunday I photographed the Queen of Peace 1st Communion in Waterloo. It's always so cute to see all the kids dressed up! What a great weekend.

Here is some of the work Tonia did this weekend. She painted these images...isn't that amazing!!! I don't know which I like better!

The state of photography

2008-04-18T10:47:00.003-05:00

We've been hearing SO much about the declining economy lately I thought I'd comment on the state of photography. We attend a lot of conventions and seminars (we're self-proclaimed junkies) and so many photographers are talking about how their business is really slowing to a grinding halt with he economy. I really have a different opinion about the subject. Perhaps I should preface this with stating I believe this so called recession is being completely caused by the media. I really don't think there IS a problem with our economy but once the media shoves it at you from every direction I can see how there might be a panic.
Sure 2008 has been a bit odd. Weddings are booking later than ever. We started out 2008 with only one wedding on the books but we weren't worried. 2007, be it the lucky 7's or whatever booked REALLY early. I kept saying to myself: 'If someone wants to book a wedding in 2007 and waits until it is 2007 they'll be out of luck' and that's exactly how it happened. 2008 however is a different beast. It's booking, just more slowly and last minute than before. Now 2009 is booking up like crazy and seems like it just might surpass 2007!
We now have 21 weddings and are right on track to achieve our goal of 30. We talk to anywhere from 5-10 new brides each week and many are very excited to work with a photographer who cares about their photography and wedding as much as they do.
These photographers who are struggling make me sad. I study a lot of marketing and want to be different from the competition and I think the reason we haven't seen a slow down in our portraits is our differentiation from others. We really try to go the extra mile with what we do...from cookies and drinks at a wedding consult to all the gifts and bonuses we do...we want to be memorable. I think our very best marketing is with our weddings. We love weddings so it stands to reason we would do our very best to achieve high regard in our client's eyes. We love families and children too though so we're always looking for new ideas. We're actually in the process of revamping out gift with purchase program!
I think the biggest reason we feel such success and abundance when others are lacking is our amazing clients. You all stand beside us and cheer us on. You sing our praises when things go especially well and are always rooting for us. We only achieved 3rd on the KCRG A-List because of our loyal and wonderful clients. We are so very grateful and happy to have such wonderful people in our community and in our lives to make our dream a reality. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately as I really want to move somewhere warmer but I don't thing I could ever leave all of my wonderful clients and friends. I think it's the magic we all create that makes us truly successful and I am forever grateful to each and every one of you. Have a wonderful weekend and thank-you for being in our photography family!

Beautiful weather

2008-04-16T10:27:00.002-05:00

What absolutely beautiful we've been having! I don't mind the wind when it's 70 out! Last night we grilled out and will tonight as well. I can't wait to get out my bike again...maybe this weekend! I'm photographing the Waltz children tonight. 4 and 8 so it should be a blast! They're being photographed for our Children's Contest and I've heard they're adorable :-) Can't wait!

This week is off to a fun start!

2008-04-15T13:30:00.006-05:00

Whew, what a fun week so far!

I've received several wedding contracts in the mail so that's keeping me really busy processing all that as well as several information packats from couples so now I need to get the timelines hammered out and mail postcards with info to their wedding party and familiy. Whew, and it's only 2:20 on Tuesday!

Got to catch up with a friend from HS, Bill on the phone today too. He has such an adorable family! Hoping to get together with Bill and Brandy soon!

Last night Luke and I went out for dinner with Stephanie and Eric. I did their engagement pictures and they took us up on the deal of taking us to dinner instead of paying for the engagement session. That was they save a little money and we all get to know each other better! Luke really loved meeting them and had a great time, something I always wonder about before the meal. I've met couples here and for the engagement session and I already have a relationship with them. luke is in consturuction and doesn't know them and I always worry they worn't all 'click' and he won't have fun. Last night was great for all of us! We went to Lone Star and although they were pretty slow, we stayed for 3 hours talking and getting to know each other. How fun!!!

Tonia's neice, Samantha, was Baptised this past weekend as well. Here's Godmother Tonia and Samantha.

My weekend off

2008-04-14T10:53:00.004-05:00

Not too much was happening. Very relaxing!
Spent Saturday being super lazy...laying around and watching tv most of the day.
Sunday we went to CR and checked out some cool new furniture of our basement. Can't fit a traditional sofa down the narrow stairs of our 100 year old home, but this 'piece by piece' set is a good fit. We got a corner pieces, a pieces with a back and an ottoman. It will be 6 weeks, but that's ok as the basement needs a new coat of paint and Luke needs to re-do the spare room upstairs so we have somewhere to put the futon.
We then went to Stuff Etc. but didn't have any luck.
Took my sister and family out for dinner and had a blast.
I love a nice relaxing and fun weekend. There's not very many of those in my line of work so I really cherish them!

Weekend blues

2008-04-11T10:01:00.002-05:00

I have this weekend off~yippee!! I was REALLY hoping to play in the yard and it's going to be crummy :-(
I'm so bummed. I love that it's was nice last weekend for the wedding and I hope that trend continues all year BUT I'd love a nice weekend off. My yard is awful!
Maybe I'll go to Des Moines or do something fun...any suggestions? I wanted to go see Bob Saget in Minneapolis, but we'd have to leave this afternoon. If only it was a Saturday show :-)

Another dreary spring day (doesn't feel like spring!)

2008-04-08T16:33:00.002-05:00

Today kind of matched my mood. Cold and rainy. Wish I could have stayed in bed all day. I'm feeling under the weather as it is and had to compile all my tax stuff for my meeting with the accountant on Thursday. Ugh! Love the accountant but hate to filing of taxes :-)
Hopefully we'll have a little sunshine tomorrow!

1st wedding of the season

2008-04-07T15:47:00.007-05:00

The first wedding of the season is always such fun for us! Lots of new ideas we've been itching to try out :-) Our first one was this past weekend, Holly and Brian. They had a BEAUTIFUL day!!! I was really hoping there would be enough left for some Sunday yard work but no such luck! I'm working on uploading all their images so here's a teaser for now.

We're SO excited

2008-04-04T10:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the results for KCRG's A-List in the wedding categories came in. We are super jazzed up...out of 51 photographers we placed #3!!! We were the only one of the Top 5 that was from Waterloo. What an honor! We owe it all to our friends and clients who were kind enough to go online and vote for us and the comments you made were just absolutely amazing! Thanks SO much everyone!

Weding, wedding and more weddings

2008-04-02T13:42:00.003-05:00

2008 has been a very odd year for weddings. I find most years the dates fill up 6 months to 1 year in advance. 2007 went really early but I think that had a lot to do with 7-7-07 and the luck of the number '7'. 2008 has been super slow to book. In fact in January, when I usually have 10-15 weddings booked I only had one. I was a little bummed but kept telling myself it would happen~I knew it would. It's also kind of odd because I'm booking some 2009 dates already and have been informed by a very good client she will be stopping in soon to fill out her contract for 2010 :-)
I have an April 5th wedding and then nothing until the end of May. I was wishing some of the earlier dates had filled in April and May, but resolved myself to spending a lot of weekends playing in the dirt in my garden. We're setting our goal at 30 weddings in 2008. I keep telling myself we're going to achieve this (power of positive thinking!) I didn't actually start to believe it until just last week.
Early in the week I met with a couple and booked May 10th. Then a couple came in on Friday and booked April 26th. Things really do happen for a reason. My May 10th wedding had a photographer but decided they really loved the style of my work and switched. The April 26th wedding had their reception site fall through and because of this were being compensated well enough to add a photographer to the wedding day.
Today a groom called and e-mailed about April 12th. They had a retainer on a photographer and now the photographer isn't returning their calls with only 10 days before the wedding. I'm really excited to be able to help them out.
Looks like 2008 is filling in without a problem...only a few more dates to fill now :-)

Sessions from this past weekend

2008-04-02T10:58:00.004-05:00

Here are some images from sessions this past weeked :-)

These two were SO much fun...and so cute!

I love the hunting theme. These images were a blast to take!

What a face!!!

Kelly's senior friends session. Kelly is our model for our 2009 senior package which is all-inclusive. We did her actual session in the fall so this is her friends session. I think we'll also photograph a soccor game when it gets nicer and also her pre-prom.

I just LOVE this one!!!

These are a couple groups from Charity Ball

This past weekend

2008-04-01T11:54:00.003-05:00

It was SO crazy busy!!! I had 3 sessions on Saturday followed by pictures at Charity Ball from 6-12pm. Tonia and I printed the 5x7's at the event and were exhausted when it was over! Processing images today and hopefully I'll have a couple up here soon!

2008-03-26T13:44:00.002-05:00

This is from my session with the Pryor family from last night. I've photographed for Lisa since way back in the days I worked at Cole Photography. Lisa actually cuts my hair to look super cute and her husband Reed keeps my back in perfect working order :-)

Here's a collage of Kaitlyn for her 16th birthday.

Love the camo!

The entire group.

Grandma and the grandkids

Lisa, Reed and family

Sandra and her two sons

It's beginning to look and feel like spring

2008-03-25T13:33:00.003-05:00

FINALLY! I actually even saw a robin the other day. Spring will be very welcome here at Heirloom!

Last night I photographed the Rausch family. The boys have grown SO much since I last saw them! Logan wanted to do his own thing but eventually we talked him into it. This is my favorite family image. Aren't they adorable!

Gavin was a great sport and we were able to get a lot of great images for his 1 year.

Easter family photographs

2008-03-24T11:02:00.003-05:00

Had a great time at Park Place photographing families for Easter. Everyone commented on how amazing the brunch was as well. Here's are a couple of images I took yesterday.

Also some super exciting news! Tonia is an aunt again :-) Here are images she took of her newborn niece!

Easter

2008-03-22T21:48:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to spread the word that Heirloom will be taking family portraits and providing a complementary print on Easter Sunday from 10-2 at Park Place Event Center for all guests of the Easter Brunch. We'll post some of our favorite groupings on the blog after the event :-)

This past weekend

2008-03-19T11:33:00.008-05:00

We left Friday night to go to Minneapolis to see one of my favorite comedians, Jim Norton. The hotel was amazing...warm cookies upon check in PLUS I Pricelined it for $45 a night! (Thanks, Tonia!)

We spent Saturday at the Mall of America checking out the entire place and even got a glimpse of Ashlee Simpson (the entire place was a zoo with her there)

Saturday night we headed downtown for the show. We ate at Hooters then headed to a Piano Bar for a couple drinks before the show started. Here's us at the Piano Bar.

Then on to the theater. Jim's show was hysterical and he stuck around after for pictures with fans!!!

We came back Sunday afternoon then got up bright and early Monday to meet friends in Peoria for a party bus and bar hopping St. Pattys celebration. We had SO much fun with friends new and old :-)

We drove home Tuesday just for me to pick up Ninya and head to Des Moines for a seminar. It was from 7:30-10:30. We ended up heading home at about 10pm~wasn't exactly what we thought it would be!

Fun, fun weekend but now I'm exhausted! Playing catch up is also not a ton of fun!

Looking forward to the weekend

2008-03-14T11:47:00.001-05:00

Can't wait for 5pm today! Usually it come too fast but today it can't come fast enough :)
We're headed to Minneapolis to see my favorite comedian, Jim Norton. Also going to visit the Mall of America while we're there. On Sunday we'll come home and then on Monday we're headed to Peoria to celebrate St Patrick's Day with our cruise friends on a party bus! Tuesday we'll be headed home where I'll pick up my friend Ninya and go to Des Moines for a photography seminar 7-11pm. Not sure if we'll come back home or stay in Des Moines but you can bet I'll be beat! Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Guest judging at UNI

2008-03-13T15:43:00.003-05:00

Today I had the opportunity to be a guest judge for the UNI Graphic Communication program. The students were to take 100 photographs in as 'scavenger hunt' type format. The sideshows were really fun to watch and ranged from pretty basic presentation to pretty elaborate. Some of the work was outstanding!!! My favorite work was that of Joe Kuebler~very impressive! I judged alongside Gary Wilson of Wilson Photography in Independence and Marc and Barbara Lattin of Lattin Photography. Seeing Gary was SO nice as he took all my school pictures growing up and is an amazing guy! It was a great experience and I hope to be invited back to do it again in the fall.

TV shows

2008-03-12T10:45:00.002-05:00

I love Tuesday nights. The Biggest Loser is my absolute favorite reality show (it's also the only reality show I can stand to watch) Last nights episode was great as always. It's always an inspiration as well. I've been going to boot camp at the YMCA as well. Always a brutal workout but the feeling afterward is super rewarding!

We've gotten really hooked in the 4400 recently thanks to friends Woody and Ninya. It's quite entertaining and a good fix with Heros on hiatus. We've been getting caught up with the entire series with DVD's from Netflix.

With the writers strike having recently ended, good tv shows are becoming slim to none. Does anyone have any recommendations I should check out? Once spring gets here I'll be outside biking around most evenings again but while it's still frozen out I'm bored.

Tuesday happenings

2008-03-11T11:22:00.002-05:00

I just met with April about her wedding in August 2009. She is so sweet and has a great personality. I am really excited about her upcoming wedding. It's so great when I feel an instant connection with someone and get such good vibes about them. She really loves my work and I'm grateful to be able to be the energetic, outgoing photographer that will be working with her on her special day :)

Got some bad news about photographer Cari today. She's having some serious health problems. Some of you may rememeber Cari being the other energetic photographer at your wedding. Please keep her in your prayers.

Heading out to meet with Denise about my volunteer work with the Fall Harvest Festival the arboretum does annually.

Saturday Images

2008-03-10T13:59:00.019-05:00

Here are some of the Heirloom Signature Series portraits from this past weekend!

Our new blog

2008-03-10T11:20:00.001-05:00

Hello and welcome to our new blog.
This weekend was really busy for us as we had our FREE session Saturday! We will be posting some of our favorites here shortly!