happy christmas!

Dan, Otis and I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Christmas! Here's the photo from our Christmas card (taken by my super talented up and coming photographer mother)! We hope everyone had a great holiday. I'm so excited about what I got that I have to share .. red crock pot, red rice maker, new Rachel Ray pots and pans (cooking is my new favorite thing to do), Planet Earth series (amazing!), Post Secret book (even more amazing!), Target gift cards, Stabucks gift cards, a giant gummy bear .. and tons more fun goodies but I don't want to be here all day typing. :)

Tomorrow my Aunt Pam and I are going shopping all day and I can't wait! Every year I go on a wrapping paper shopping spree the day after Christmas. I seriously cannot explain the joy I get out of buying tons of wrapping paper, especially when it's 50% off! It's quite possibly almost more exciting than Christmas itself. ;) jk.

silverchair

Tuesday was quite possibly one of the best nights of my life. A little over a month ago, I found out my favorite band, Silverchair, was coming to Indianapolis. The day before the show I found out I got a press pass, which was the highlight of my day (or my life .. either works)! It was perfect! Seriously what more do I need? It was my two favorites all rolled into one .. silverchair & photography. :)

I was in the front row, arms length from the band the entire night and it was so unreal. I got to see them before in Hollywood a few years ago but this night was completely different. For one, I had the press pass :) and on top of that I was with Dan, Dawn, Joe and Alicia who are 4 of my closest friends. I wouldn't have wanted to go and experience that with anyone else. :)

Special thanks to Ryan and Amanda who helped get me the passes! I cannot thank you guys enough for the opportunity!

Have a look at the photos! I am so happy and proud of how they turned out. I decided I'm getting a few canvas prints made of them as a Christmas gift to myself. My walls will definitely look better with a few of these hanging around right?? ;)

bean & the pudding

It's been forever since I've posted pictures of my niece, Reagan. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, I had Thanksgiving #2 with my family and I finally got some new pictures of her. I was in the middle of making a pie and the two of us decided she needed some of the pudding filling. I never really thought of the mess she would make but these pictures were totally worth it. :)

I cannot believe how much she's growing .. and how smart she is! She picks up on things so quickly. She has a hard time saying Aunt Nicole but we still work on it every time I see her. :) She's also perfected 'please' & 'thank you' which is SO adorable.

I never could have imagined having a niece would be this fun! :)

laura & chris

Laura and Chris braved the crappy rainy weather so I could take their engagement pictures last week. It rained on and off but we managed to take a lot of pictures in a short amount of time. :) Is it just me or does anyone else think Chris look exactly like Zach Braff (from Scrubs)?? I didn't realize who he looked like until I started going through all their pictures. :)

Dan and I are photographing Chris and Laura's wedding next year in New Castle, Indiana and couldn't be more excited. :) Laura was actually a bridesmaid in a wedding we did earlier this year so it will be fun to see some familiar faces. :)

Here are my favorites!

the leake family

On our trip to Bloomington a week or so ago, I also did some family pictures for one of my favorite friends, Shanyn. They were a Christmas gift to her mom (who is so great!). Shanyn and I have been friends since we were teenagers so you know I had a great time spending the morning with them. :) They are quite possibly some of the nicest people on the planet. :)

Here are a few favorites!

camerin & thomas

In the midst of the IU/Purdue football game on Saturday, Dan and I went to Bloomington to take engagement photos for Camerin & Thomas. We had such a great time with them. They were all smiles the entire day and so easy to photograph.

I wanted to make sure to get their photos up before we left for Ohio for Thanksgiving. Camerin had mentioned to me that her friends (shout out to them!!) have been waiting and waiting for them to grace the blog. :) I didn't want to make them wait any longer. :)

I can't end this blog without telling you about the best part of the day. We had parked in a spot with a meter .. thinking we didn't need to pay because it was a Saturday. Who has to pay for a meter on a Saturday? No one right? Wrong! The next thing we know, the meter police were at Dan's car ready to give him a ticket. He starts power walking towards this person yelling, "SIR! SIR!" Little did he know that this "sir" was in fact a woman and she was NOT happy that she was just called a man. :) Luckily, those Justin Timberlake looks must have paid off because he didn't end up with a ticket. :) It was hilarious.

Camerin & Thomas .. thanks for spending your afternoon with us and for the wonderful dinner. You guys are SO much fun and we cannot wait until your wedding in May! :)

Faves!..

malari

I recently did a quick shoot of one of my best friends, Malari. She was married back in June but wanted a few more fun photos in her wedding dress and asked for my help. :) It was kind of a chilly day so she kept on her jean jacket for a few shots and those happened to be my favorite. :) Isn't she cute!?

venice, italy

So, I'm a little behind on posting my photos from Europe. I am currently going through my favorites from Venice so I figured what better time than now to dedicate an entire blog to it. :)

Venice was by far my favorite spot we visited. It was so much better than I imagined. Even with seeing hundreds of photographs of the city, it's hard to put into words what an amazing place it is when you are standing right there in the middle of everything.

Luckily, my mom's cousin, Frank and his wife Elke, had worked in Venice before and they took us away from all the tourists. I couldn't have been more grateful. If there's one thing I absolutely hate, it's crowds of people and Venice definitely had it's fair share. If Frank weren't there showing us around, I don't think I would have liked it half as much as I did!

I could blab on more about how unbelievable it was but I know you are all here to see the photos. :) Plus, I think I'm quite possibly the worst writer in history so .. on with the pictures! :)

HA! As we were walking, I see this guy hanging out (he's not posing!). He was literally just standing there .. looking at me like he knew I needed this picture to complete my Venice collection. :) It was too funny .. and perfect timing!

baby clayton

I met baby Clayton and his mom, Jamie, at Methodist Hospital yesterday for a session through the ACPCG. Clayton was born a high risk preemie, only weighing 2 pounds! He is such a precious little baby. He was so alert for the photos and even opened his eyes for us a few times.

Jamie .. I hope you enjoy your photos! I'll keep Clayton in my thoughts for a quick and healthy recovery!

A few favorites..