SURPRISE!!! I was so excited when I started editing these I just could stop and decided to post Part 2 early! I hope you all do not mind ;) I still cannot believe how much of a dream this shoot turned out to be, and like I have said before, it only was able to happen because of same AMAZING vendors! Tia Celise and Sarita Dawn worked their magic to make our lovely bride look like a million bucks! If I could dream a perfect dress for the shoot, is was the one Petals and Promises let our model wear. The buttons, the low back, the lace, every single detail MADE this dress! Plant Peddler Floral's arrangements really made this shoot what it became. I was stunned by how all of the flowers turned out! I can not stop looking at these amazing colors!! If I could go back and change anything about my wedding day it would be the flowers! I got married in the winter but insisted on having spring colors haha. I would for sure have gone back and used a variance of these colors because they are MAGIC. Without the vendors this shoot could not have been possible but let's talk about our KILLER models because they deserve the biggest shout out! I seriously could not have asked for better models; I saw models but these two were married last month so this was not all that new to them ;) Lacey and Taylor were troopers for being willing to model for this shoot seeing that they had already done this three other times! They have been married one month and are in that blissful newlywed stage of their life and it was perfect! We hardly had to tell them what to do and just captured their intimate real moments together. I love seeing couples that are obsessively and madly in love with each other. It was a dream to capture their love, their smiles, their happy moments. Thank you again to EVERYONE that was a part of this shoot and made it happen and made Pinterest pictures come to life and knocked them out of the park and was a dream! Vendor TagsPhotographer: Jessica Ajeman Photography | Studio: Endless Photography Studio | Model: Lacey Hansen | Dress: Petals & Promises | Makeup: Tia Celise | Hair: Sarita Dawn at Studio 170 | Florals: Plant Peddler | Cakes: The Graceful Baker | Invitation: HoneyB Paper Co,
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While everyone is getting their kids dressed up, trick-or-treating, and watching scary movies, I am still dreaming about this shoot from Saturday! To have a Pinterest board come to life is the most magical thing and because of some AMAZING local vendors, we were able to pull this shoot off! The night I decided to do a fall styled shoot I was so excited I did not sleep at all that night. After weeks of planning, contacting, and some more planning, the day came and magic happened! Plant Peddler Floral MADE this day happen and I do no know what we would have done without them. Flowers definitely make a shoot and these flowers did exactly that! The center piece arrangement, bouquet, flower crown, all of it turned out more amazing than I could have even imagined! I was blown away by how put together and how perfected each piece in the arrangements were. The Graceful Baker put together the most beautiful cakes I could dream of. She was so willing and excited to be a vendor for the shoot. Originally I asked for just one cake and she asked me if she could do three to give more of a variety, and of course I was not going to turn her suggestion away! Celise Artistry and Sarita Dawn worked their amazing magic on our model Lacey and made her look more stunning than she already was beautiful inside and out. Details are everything and I always try to capture them in my sessions whatever they may be. HoneyB Paper Co. put together an invitation suite that we all could not stop taking picture of because we were in love with how it turned out! Petals and Promises let out model borrow a dress for the shoot super last minute and were amazing to work with! The dress was so beautiful and made the shoot even more of a dream! Stay tuned for part two of this styled shoot that was taken in Logan Canyon that you will NOT want to miss! It will be blogged soon ;) Vendor TagsPhotographer: Jessica Ajeman Photography | Studio: Endless Photography Studio | Model: Lacey Hansen | Dress: Petals & Promises | Makeup: Tia Celise | Hair: Sarita Dawn at Studio 170 | Florals: Plant Peddler | Cakes: The Graceful Baker | Invitation: HoneyB Paper Co,
I cannot believe this time last year Sean and I were announcing we were expecting a baby and now it is already Boston's first Halloween! It seems just like yesterday we were telling our families and friends we would be expecting our fist little one that next April. Having to keep a secret for two and a half months was the hardest thing ever! This time brings back all of those memories and feelings of happiness and are now multiplied more than ever with our little miracle.
Sean and I have almost forgotten all about Halloween and have been looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. This fall was definitely different being in Logan where it has been fall for a good six weeks. We have already begun listening to Christmas music, had hot chocolate, and started to make Christmas lists. This is so not like me because I am the person who usually does not want to listen to Christmas music until a couple of weeks before. Back home in Thatcher AZ it just does not get cold enough for all of that until about then. Being a new mamma, I did want a picture of Boston at a pumpkin patch with some sort of Halloween onesie. I was worried I would not have enough light for picture by the time Sean got off work and showered, but we hustled! We loaded everyone up, got Boston in his outfit and headed off to one of the half a dozen pumpkin patched in Logan. A friend told me to go to the American West Heritage Center one in Wellsville so we went to that one! It was the perfect patch and was not crowded with people so we could take our time. The only downfall of going when we did was getting no smiles from Boston because he was tired despite all of the faces and funny noises Sean and I made. I was able to get picture though, and that is all I wanted so this mamma was happy ;) Meet the Miller family!! This family was so perfect for pictures and we had a great time! Mom and me were trying to schedule a session day and time at Denzil Stewart Park that would work for them and it was stressful! The only day they had open was when it was supposed to rain...I watched the weather every day and then hourly the day of their session with fingers crossed! It was a miracle because we ended up beating it and it was perfectly cloudy day with nice even light that made their cute little faces glow! Their little girl is at the exciting age of four and she was full of energy and loved to pose on her own. She would do the cutest pose with her hand on her hip with her other hand pointed out by her side. She said that was her "princess pose"; CUTEST thing ever!! But their little boy wins the prize of best behavior for pictures!! I am not going to lie, I was a little worried when Mom told me their youngest was eight months old because it is always a hit and miss with that age! I will have sessions where babies cry and refuse to smile and then some where they do not cry, but I can get no smiles out of them. This little boy was the opposite and just as happy and attentive as ever! All I would have to do was say his name and he would quickly turn his head right at the camera and smile! So. Perfect! I really get in my element when taking pictures when I am not looking at my settings, worried about posing, or stressing over smiles. The session is then not work or something I HAVE to do, but rather something I am so privileged to do and LOVE to do with all my heart. The best advice I heard from my idol photographer and role model Katelyn James is when she said "Have your business be less about pictures and more about people.” My mission is to bring light and joy into peoples' lives through photography. It’s right there in my Instagram bio ;) I love when I can just sit back and take pictures and document families interacting with each other just how they would at home. The Millers helped make this happen! Thanks again guys!!
When I found out that there were JUNIEblake dresses in Logan, I got super excited! JUNIEblake started out in my hometown in Safford Arizona a little over five years ago. I know the owners well and one of them was my high school piano teacher! The JUNIEblake clothing line is all about being modest and trendy. From their about us page- "JUNIEblake wants to bring you clothes that you feel comfortable in without sacrificing the latest trends. There is no reason why you can't be modest AND have amazing style too! The JUNIEblake clothing line will mainly consist of modest dresses. We were frustrated with having to wear so many layers in order to make a dress "work". So we decided to design dresses that don't need a tank or cap sleeve to go underneath for a more modest feel. Dresses that won't need a cover-up or cardigan to cover the arms. Dresses that give you the length that you want. All of this, without having to sacrifice being trendy and stylish." I own four or five of the dresses and am always wanting more! JUNIEblake started selling their line of clothing along with others in their store called Sorellas Elite Fashion in Safford. I will never forget going there with my sisters and trying on dresses. The atmosphere, the service, there was nothing like it! The store closed down a year or so ago but now JUNIEblake is sold online throughout the world and through fashion consultants all over the U.S including Alaska and Hawaii! So when I found out one of the consultants was in Logan, I immediately contacted her! Sarah just started selling JUNIEblake and is already loving it! When I told her I wanted to get some models and do a photography with the dresses, she said of course and was so excited! I went on a Facebook group for local models and someone referred me to Elizabeth Howell. She was SO amazing!! This girl is a natural and I literally did not even have to pose her! She has learned from the best and her work is amazing!! To contact Sarah, look at what is in stock, and be up to date on the latest deals, go to her Instagram account or her Facebook page! Such a huge thank you to both Sarah and Elizabeth for making this happen!
SURPRISE! I cannot believe I was able to be a part of this adorable couple's special announcement! Alex and me went to high school together in Thatcher Arizona with her being two grades older. I have known Alex and her family for years and I remember being at her house when she opened her mission call to Seattle Washington. She is such a sweet person and I have always looked up to her as an example! I was so happy for her when she got married to her best friend a little over a year ago. Her and Dalton moved up to Cache Valley about a year ago and have loved it. I knew they would be perfect models for pictures and when I asked they, willingly said yes with excitement! A couple of days before their session Alex surprised me with two things I was SO happy about! When I visited my family in Thatcher I had brought my stroller for the airport and on the way to the airport I had forgotten it and it was too late to go back and get it. Alex and Dalton were just visiting her family in Thatcher and they brought my stroller back! I was so happy to have it back. But the second thing, and most exciting one, was that Alex asked if they could take a couple of pictures with a sonogram for an announcement that they were expecting!! I am so excited and thrilled for these two. While taking their pictures, all I would have to do was say look at each other and they would just start giggling and smiling uncontrollably! It was the cutest thing.
It seems just like yesterday that I was telling my husband Sean I was pregnant. I will never forget the look on his face or how we both embraced and shed tears of joy. But that's another story for another time ;) Congrats again you two! So happy for you!! This may be the most excited I have ever been to share a blog post!! Which is not saying much because I am always excited to share pictures, but I really love how these turned out and cannot wait to deliver them all to the couple! Calli and Matt have been engaged for a couple of months now but were so willing when I asked them if they model for me at a new location in downtown Logan I wanted to try out and were happy to do it! I am in LOVE with his ivy wall and had an amazing time taking these pictures! These two were so happy and giggly, I hardly had to tell them what to do. I am all about the natural and comfortable poses that don't force anything! I love seeing what couples naturally do and try to sneak in a few pictures when the couple is in their own little world. Calli is also a photographer and recently took some in home lifestyle pictures of me and my family that I loved! We have been messaging back and forth through Facebook and decided it was time to finally meet in person! And what better way than to take pictures of each other?! Calli and Matt are getting married this December three days before my two year anniversary! It is a cold month to get married but its the best way to seal the deal after finding summer love with your best friend :) When I got married in Arizona it was cold to me but it was 30 degrees out; I cannot imagine how cold it is going to be for these two!! Fingers crossed there's not a huge snow storm! I asked Calli and Matt how wedding planning was going because I know how stressful it can be!! They laughed and replied that they are at the point they do not really care what happens that day as long as they get married! I totally know how they feel and me and my husband were at that point about the same time they were! We were just ready to get married and done with the other "fluff" that goes on! I wish these two all the happiness in the world as they start this new journey together and cannot wait to see pictures of them on their special day!
Crazy story- So I had to amazing opportunity second shoot with MarLyn Goodrich Hill for her fall minis and it was so fun! We drove up together to Green Canyon and I get out of the car and its Sarah and Grant! These two were the gorgeous models of a styled bridal shoot put on by Miss E Photography a couple of months back; so crazy! It was so awesome to see some familiar faces and be a part of taking their pictures once again! Sarah had cut her hair since I had seen her last and I LOVE it!! These two were as cute as ever and you would think they were newly weds with how in love they were. Sarah and Grant have been married for a little over a year and a half and are getting ready to move wherever Grant's job takes them either in Kansas or Minnesota. They are both from Utah and are ready for the next chapter of their lives to begin. Most of you know me and my husband moved to Logan with our baby boy three months ago. It was a huge leap of faith as we both left our hometown where we grew up in back in Thatcher Arizona about fourteen hours away from Logan. It was really hard to leave our families and friends along with all of the memories made there. I had grown up and lived in Thatcher for over 10 years and my husband was born and raised there for his whole 25 years of life. That is where we met, started dating, got engaged and married, lived in our first home in a crappy trailer, found out we were expecting and where we became parents and grew stronger while being in the hospital for three months with our little miracle Boston. We are so grateful for all of those memories, but it was time to plant our roots somewhere else, make new memories, and be on our own while relying on only each other. We love Logan so far and it already feels like home. I breath a sigh of relief every time I am coming back from a photo shoot and see the canyon open up and view all of Cache Valley and know I am home. Let's see how I feel when it is the dead middle of winter and I am freezing and am wanting that Arizona "winter" where it might get to the 30s ;)
I loved fall colors at Denzil Stewart Park because they were perfect for family pictures! Meet the Christensen family! You may recognize three of these lovely people because they have been in previous pictures! I recently just did Elysa's senior pictures and her sister Nicole and her husband Nate were part of the Leven's clothing shoot I did! It was great to see familiar faces and to meet some new ones! The Christensen's have not had family pictures in a long time, and I was so grateful to document their family! The weather has been rainy and cold in Cache Valley lately, but the weather was good to us while at Denzil Stewart Park and it ended up being the perfect day for pictures! Their youngest is fifteen years old so it was a different experience not having to deal with hyper little kids and make funny noises while waving my hands in the air, and I almost would just being used to it! Not having to bribe the kids with treats was a relief and it was amazing how they just fell into order with posing in no time at all! Some people (men and teenage boys *cough cough*) dread when family pictures come around and try to avoid it at all costs. The boys, well I should say men because they are not boys, did such a great job and I was very impressed! I felt like the session went quick and easy with everyone enjoying each other so hopefully that was avoided! Well at least I think it was because everyone was smiling still by the end of it and not at each other's throats! ;) I love to see how families interact and when personalities come out, especially between the siblings! Thanks again Christensen family! I had a blast!
What is more perfect when taking pictures with a ivy wall background on USU (Utah State University) campus than this adorable little family's baby girl is named Ivey! Her mamma Jasmine and I connected through Facebook when I posted about needing a babysitter for when I go on photography shoots out of town for hours at a time for my son Boston. I had just moved to Logan and knew nobody and was a little nervous about who would answer back on my Facebook post. Jasmine was one of the the first ones that answered back and I ended up picking her! She has THE cutest little girl and her and my son Boston are only a month apart! Jasmine has babysat Boston a number of times and Ivey and him are buddies. I had so much fun taking pictures of Jasmine and her adorable little family. Ivey is soooo adorable!! She was grumpy all day according to her mom, but was super happy and smiley for pictures! Ivey waited patiently while I took a few pictures of her parents and played with her toys while sitting on the grass. She loves to chew on anything and already has tons of teeth!! While she was playing in the grass she was going to town checking on her favorite toys, especially her toy medal.
Jasmine is a new LulaRoe consultant and is already loving it! These clothes are SO comfortable and stylish! Both the dress, leggings, and top Jasmine is wearing is form there. Here is also a secret, her hubby is wearing a shirt from it too ;) Guys can wear them too! Baseball tees are so in right now and have the perfect fit for men! Contact Jasmine through her Facebook page to find all of her newest inventory and be up to date on deals and giveaways! I was so excited and happy when Elysa told me at the beginning of her shoot she LOVES having her pictures taken!! Can you say perfect?! We decided to do her session at Denzil Stewart Nature Park in Logan. Thought it was a Monday, it was packed being Columbus Day everyone had scheduled their pictures the same time! It was a perfect day to take pictures and the fall colors were so pretty. There were a half a dozen families there as well as a couple of other seniors taking their pictures as well. Elysa even recognized one of her friends there! Her senior shoot was such a blast and we had so much fun during it. Elysa was so perfect and natural posing, we were able to do some advanced poses some people usually cannot do. This girl was a pro! She let me pose her however and when she did not feel 100% natural, I said- trust me I promise it looks good, she trusted me and was confident in herself! I asked if she wanted to try some more serious shots and she just went for it thought she could not keep herself from smiling. Her beautiful smile is contagious! After trying a couple of serious shots, I rarely had her do anymore because her smile was her best accessory! I could not help but to want to capture every picture with her smiling. HER EYES. This girl's eyes are stunning!! Elysa is gorgeous inside and out and you cannot be around her without feeling happy and leaving her presence without being in a good mood. So happy I was able to meet her and take her senior pics while having so much fun. I ended up taking her family's picture today also, so hopefully she did not get tired of me! She is definitely a pro at pictures now ;)
These beautiful pictures started with a crazy start of me getting super lost driving to the Great Saltair and driving on a farm road that was blocked with teenage boys that were not too fond of me...It all started when Goldust Photography let me know of a family session she was doing that I was welcomed to come to at a super location, so of course, I was SO there! I found a babysitter and headed off on a little road trip of an hour and a half. I love to drive and looked forward to the little bit of alone time I was going to get. I was so happy that traffic was good and I arrived at my googled destination 15 minutes before the shoot was suppose to start. I looked around and something didn't seem right and then my heart sank when I realized I was in the wrong place. After a half of dozen calls to the main photographer, I tried to find my way to the location and was became frustrated when I realized I still had another 30 minutes to go. When typing it in again in Google Maps, my phone continued to say the location did not exist. I was soooo angry... My dumb phone then led me to a farm road literally feet away from the highway but I was only able to go 35 mph which was not helping my case. I then squinted up ahead and saw the road blocked with three or four cars and I was forced to come to a sudden complete stop. A group of teenage boys were blocking the way and after several minutes of me waving my arms angrily for them to move, they regretfully did. I then started to drive by them more mad then ever and I guess they did not appreciate that because a couple of them started to bang on my car. I quickly speed off and did not look back. I looked ahead and was so relieved with joy when I was the ACTUAL location! The Great Saltair! It was such a cool building right off of the Great Salt Lake and the beach was right next to it. I found the main photographer and the family and they did not disappoint! They were the cutest little family with the perfect outfits! I was so glad I was still able to get some adorable shots! Next time I will definitely triple check an address before adventuring out to a session location I have never been before. You would think I would have not made that mistake only living in Utah three months and have no idea where anything is.. Enjoy these cuties down below ;)
One word-MODEL. Mikaela is beautiful inside and out and was a natural at taking pictures! I was glad to be back in Thatcher Arizona and having a perfect session made it all worth the while! Mikaela told me because of her braces she did not want to smile at all with her teeth; I did though sneak in a couple of adorable laughing pictures ;) So instead, she rocked the model pose! I hardly had to tell her what to do, she would just naturally fall into a pose. This girl is only an 8th grader!! My little sister is in her grade and has been in sports with her and it has been so fun watching them grow up. Mikaela is super talented as well as being a super fun girl to be around! She was so confident and owned that model face, I was so impressed. Her adorable shirt is from a local shop back home in Safford Arizona called The Wear! They have super cute clothes and tons perfect for fall so go check them out! I love the feel of fall and being able to wear comfy clothes and cute boots! I will be back in Thatcher the first week of December and would love to do a couple of mini sessions for a great price so contact me if you are interested!
Today is a special day for me because two years ago I got engaged to my best friend right here in Logan Utah. It was spontaneous and it was the happiest moment of my life up until that point. We were just visiting and my husband wanted to show me around Logan because he has recently been there a couple times before and it had felt like home. I was a little hesitant at first, but when we sat on a bench overlooking the whole valley moments before he proposed, I was set. We love living in Logan, and even thought it has only been a couple months, it already feels like home. Today is also a very special day for me today because it marks six months from when my son got to come home from the hospital from being in the NICU. Those 46 days will be ones I will never forget. They were painful, emotional, hard, patience-bearing, special, intimate, and priceless. Some of you already know of his circumstances, of our journey but some of my new followers do not so I will give the short version. After being three weeks on bed rest in the hospital, my son Boston was born 10 weeks early at 2 lbs 0 oz and spent 46 days in the NICU at Tucson Medical Center in Tucson Arizona. He was truly a miracle surviving all odds with no complications. I will never forget the moment I became a mother when he was born and Boston came out screaming and the doctors showed him to me for a few short seconds. The first time I got to hold that tiny fragile body that fit into my sports bra was a moment I will never forget. Even though it felt like there were more wires than baby sometimes, I cherished those moments and hated when the nurses would make me put him back in his incubator. He was a fighter in the NICU and I felt so blessed to be his mother and a part of his journey. The days were long and especially hard being 2 1/2 hours away from our home and family. My husband and I were still in school and thankfully I was able to still graduate the month after we came home. It was discouraging to see wires and medicines taken away to then come back the next day to find they were there again. Being in the NICU is like taking one step forward and three steps back. It felt as if it would never end and we would never get to go home. The only way I survived was taking one day at a time and being hopeful and positive seeing this hardships as one for good in the end. My marriage became solid, I became a stronger person, I was able to see the good in others and help them in their struggles. I became a different person the moment I let this trial change me for good and I began to trust in God and His plan for me. "Faith and trust in the Lord requires us to acknowledge that His wisdom is superior to our own." -W. Mark Bassett Through faith, prayer, and patience of Boston's progression, we were able to come home when Boston was 7 weeks old. I remember how nervous I was to not have wires, monitors, or nurses by our side, but I was SO thankful to be home and leave that hospital life behind. I would never wish what I went through on anybody, but that part in my life will forever be very special and dear to me. I am so grateful that God had other plans for me than I intended for myself because I would not be the same person I am today. This trial made me take a step back from life when I thought my whole world was crushed as it turned upside down. Not knowing if my baby would live or not made me realize I had to trust in God and His ways were not my ways. It was hard to not loose hope and think 'Why is this happening to me when all these other babies get to come home fine?' We are mere pieces in God's puzzle of life and He has total control of it. Then why would He let bad things still happen to us? He will not give us more than we can handle and we can come out of a trial better and stronger after all of the tears, pain, and heartache if we turn to Him. I have been blessed with a miracle and I will never take life for granted again. Sometimes a thousand sleepless nights is what it takes to know God is there and that He is a part of our life. Sometimes life's hardest trials are His blessings in disguise. Thank you for reading this and being apart of our journey! I can not thank everyone enough that prayed, sent notes, fasted, and kept us in thier thoughts while Boston was in the hospital. Boston has come so far and these pictures are from a month ago for his 6 month mark. He is a happy and healthy baby and I have much to be grateful for.
God bless and Happy Monday! "Even the darkest nights turn into dawn for the faithful." Evan A. Schmutz |
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