Marisol... open your eyes and listen.

Often the events that take place in our lives direct and guide us toward the path we fail to recognize as the road to the destiny our heart desires. Such is the case in my life, and probably yours. Things happen that make us sad and cry. Other times, things happen that leave us overwhelmed with joy and happiness. Regardless, tears and smiles shape our soul and when we stop struggling withour emotions, when we stop wrestling the way they make us feel, when we accept the things that happen and choose to learn from these events we move forward. Today, I choose to move forward. This world we call home, it is beautiful and I want to enjoy it - even when sad things happen. Life is living. Marisol do not be afraid to live. 

I write this mostly to myself, so that I can listen. Do not fret with the things that take place and hurt your feelings. Look past it and trust, know, see that God gives you strength to make it through the tangled webs. When you stop fighting your own battles and finally admit that you are not alone, God will save you. Literally. So God, forgive me for thinking I could do it all on my own. I cannot. I need you. I lift up my worries and trust in you. You give me the tears I cry so that when you give me the happiness to make me smile it means so much more. I love you and I am yours.

God, thank you.

Be blessed. Be thankful. Be happy ♥ Love one another.

Bridal Session ♥ La Joya, Texas

The weekend has been absolutely busy but oh-so-great :) Friday's wedding was amazing and now Krystal and Larry have wed. While we await the wedding photos, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite images from Krystal's bridal session. Krystal chose her wedding venue location for her her bridal photos and I think it was a great choice. Rancho El Charco (http://ranchoelcharco.com/) is immensly large and the possibilites were endless! The afternoon was perfect for shooting at the ranch and the weather was amazing. It was warm but cool and there were no mosquitoes!! The fall weather allowed us to take our time with the session without breaking a sweat, especially for my bride in her beautiful dress.

I've mentioned before that in middle school Krystal was my very best friend. When she hired me as her wedding photographer it was the first time we had time to reconnect and see each other since the days back in high school. Even then, we rarely saw each other and had not really spoken with her since we were way younger. Fortunately, from the very first time we reconnected I think we literally reconnected... It was like if I had never stopped seeing her and we had continued to grow up together. I had not seen her mom since the 7th or 8th grade but spending time with them both during the bridal session was so much fun and just like old times. Literally, I felt so at ease with them and extremely comfortable. It certainly felt like we were the same little girls who spent countless hours hanging out with one another.

Krystal, you looked absolutely radiant and even more beautiful on your wedding day. I had so much fun spending the afternoon with you and your mom. And to your mom, thank you for everything... from driving me home sometimes during middle school to being so kind and gracious and making me feel so much more than just one of the wedding vendors.

Now for the beautiful bride, she is truly amazing...

Wedding photos coming soon ;) Have a great week!

Raise Awareness! Fight Breast Cancer!

I am sure you know this, but just in case... October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For the past few years, my mom and I have dedicated ourselves to promoting a few good organizations that promote breast cancer awareness. Thankfully, breast cancer has not stricken either of us or close family members but we don't feel like we need a reason other than we want to merely support a good cause. Every year, as October approaches, mom and I head to the local ribbon shoppe and purchase pink ribbon. We'll sit down one afternoon and make breast cancer awareness ribbons to pass out to our family and friends and anyone we come across with. It's a mere small gesture, but I think it does make a difference.

We enjoy participating in the annual South Padre Island Walk for Women (http://www.spiwalkforwomen.org/). We joined the walk six years ago with just my mom, a friend of mine and myself. Over the years we have amassed a large group of friends and we all head down to the island the first weekend in October to walk, for women. This year, my mom found a great fundraiser to participate in to help raise funds for local women. Knapp Medical Center (http://www.knappmed.org/) hosted Bras Ending Cancer.  Mom decided she wanted to design a bra, participate and raise some money. And she did :)

I merely helped her glue a pearl here and there but she designed the bra and made it herself. My mother is extremely talented. Actually, I think that may be an understatement. My mother is above talented, she is blessed. We attended the fashion show showcasing over 100 designs and they were all creatively unique. That one day, mom raised eighty five dollars fundraising for $1 votes. I'm very proud of her :)

Here's what the bra looked like...

Will you please take a moment and help mom raise more funds by using the following link to vote for her bra as your favorite design? Thank you, we apreciate it :)

VOTE!

http://vmstar.upickem.net/engine/Votes.aspx?PageType=VOTING&contestid=22224#SubmissionDisplay

Have a good night!

It's easy to forget about your wedding...

...when you get to admire so many beautiful people enjoying theirs! It's Tuesday, slowly creeping into Wednesday, and I have a fabulous wedding this weekend. I've been looking forward to the wedding for a few months now so YAY! because it's finally here :) I often wonder what it feels like to be in the final days leading up to a wedding, your wedding. As the photographer, I get anxious and excited for the day to arrive. When I am at the venue, I smile when the bride walks down the aisle. I want to cry when the groom is working hard to keep it together because I know deep down he probably wants tro cry from sheer happiness. Above all, I absolutely love to take a minute and enjoy the actual ceremony myself. The reception would not happen without the ceremony, so to me it is the most important aspect of a wedding. Come to think of it, the ceremony is the wedding.

Different couples, different venues but the love two people share is always the same. I see it, my camera captures it. I L.O.V.E. photographing weddings and couples in love. It's the best! So as I attempt to check off my to do list for the week and finish the workload, I leave you with a single image from my bride's bridal session. Ideally we shoot these a bit earlier, but due to scheduling conflicts we finally managed last Friday and the day was absolutely perfect.

I hope you had a great day and an even better tomorrow ;)

Engaged ♥ Cassandra and Joseph

I have a weird form of planning. Usually, I an idea will pop into my head and I will dwell on it for a period of time. Sometimes, the idea pops in way far in advance while other times it is last minute. If I have had a few weeks, sometimes even months, to execute the idea or event, etc., I will plan in my mind but execute at the last minute. I work best that way. For example, in college, I would write my 10+ plus papers the day before or day they were due. Granted, I would formulate arguments and the actual "game plan" in my mind weeks or days prior to actually writing it. In case you're wondering, I excelled at writing papers and thankfully always did extremely well.

Earlier this summer I met a young lady who was interested in having me as her wedding photographer. We chatted and the summer eventually dwelled into late August. I was actually writing a blog post one late August night when my phone rang and I answered it. On the other side of the line was Cassandra and, thakfully, I remembered her. Cassandra's wedding was in two days (well, one really) and she needed a wedding photographer. Gasp! Wedding, ranch, full coverage... I jotted quick notes on a blank sheet of paper. Then she said it, I almost cringed... Engagement Session... and she wanted prints to be displayed at the reception. Feel free to gasp once again, I did ;)

Cassandra is a planner and organizer, but she lives a million miles per minute. She knew she wanted a wedding photographer and she knew she wanted me. The actual process of hiring me , however, was placed on hold for a while. But, like me, she knew and had faith in waiting for the last minute. Funny how things happen, I was actually free her wedding day and happily obliged. Waiting to the very end worked out for the both of us. I had the opportunity to end the summer wedding season with one last fun one with a fabulous couple and Cassandra got a wedding photographer. :)

So we photographed her engagemetn session a mere hour prior to her rehearsal dinner at her fabulous venue. The evening was hot, humid, and HOT! But Cassandra and her fiance Joseph rocked their session. They are one hundred percent plus more in love and it was oh-so-evident in their photos and in general. I want to thank them for choosing me as their photographer and trusting me to deliver, not only for their actual prints at the reception, but for their entire wedding photography collection.

See the LOVE....

Go on with your beautiful self Cassandra... Tyra would call this fierce ;)

My favorite ♥

Have a great week! And stay tuned for photos from their fabulous wedding ;)

Portraits ♥ Sofi

The first two years of my college career were spent wandering the university, finding new quiet places to eat lunch around campus and racking up countless of hours spent in the library. A friend of mine once mentioned she belonged to a campus sorority and would often recommend me to look into it. I hesitated many times for a simple reason. The summer prior to my college enrollment I attended the mandatory orientation and met  many organizations. We were bombarded with flyers and quick facts about each club. I distinctly remeber seeing a group of girls wearing pink  and smiling. My friend grabbed my arm and pulled me towards them. We drew closer but the brochures never reached our hands. hmmm.... We smiled and they were still smiling, just not directly at us. "Maybe we were not the type of girls the organization was interested in or maybe, just maybe..." I justified some sort of reason in my mind.

It was no big deal really but the moment and, more importantly, the impression remained in my mind everytime my friend suggested I join a sorority. Then one early fall day I took her up on the offer. I was nervous of being somehow rejected again. I walked into the ballroom and saw so many girls eager to meet me and lots of pink - and green everywhere. I wondered if this pink was the same one from before, but it wasn't. Someone split me up into a group where we talked about ourselves and the members discussed the components of the sorority. There were two girls in my goup and one of them made an impression on me.

Sofia talked about sisterhood and what it meant for her. Now I am not quite sure how her story went verbatim but I distinctly remember (and will never forget!) her mentioning she was ill, her body was deteriorating internally, and her sorority sisters were there to take care of her - literally. Granted, I may have embellished the story a tad bit but the moral was what stayed with me. These girls were dedicated not only to the chapter but to its members. I knew then I wanted to part of this sisterhood and share the bonds of becoming a Delta Zeta.

As a collegiate, and now an alumnae, member I learned many valuable lessons. Sofia has taught many of those lessons. We both served on the Executive Board and she was always opiniated, like me. I like how she always states her view regardless if it goes against what others want or think. And she is always ready with a rebuttal, trust me. At a mere five feet something, Sofia stands tall and is one powerful woman. Tiny in size, her persona overshadows her small figure. In the sorority she was an executive, a leader. In real life, she is nothing less. She enjoys having a good time but has no problem talking business and getting it done.

Sofi, you are funny, beautiful and intelligent. Although I may very well be somewhat taller than you I look up to you. I know there are great things ahead of you and I am glad you have begun to take the steps in the path towards them. I wish you every success and all the happiness in the world because you deserve it. Thank you for being my friend and thank you for being my sister. May the Lord bless you always - I know he will.

 

She's most certainly thinking, "I am woman, hear me roar." I am sure of it ;)

These last two are an homage to Sofi's new and current job venture as an assistant to a great valley wedding planner. Sofi you are beautiful! Go out and conquer your piece of this world :)

Have a great weekend!