I knew LatterDay Bride Magazine would be featuring one of my weddings in their upcoming 2012 issue. But I didn’t know which one they’d chosen. So imagine my surprise, and delight, to find not just one, but two of my weddings featured in the new issue. Congrats to Brennan & Austin and Suzanne & Cameron who’s weddings are featured this year! If you’re a planning bride, make sure to pick up a copy. As much as I love “flipping” through a magazine on my ipad, you still can’t beat the real McCoy.

But on a happy work related note, I booked my first Indian wedding today. The couple is having two ceremonies, Sikh & Hindu, and I can’t wait for all the colors and a taste of something new! Though wait I shall, the wedding isn’t until August 2012… So here’s to the future and good things to come. But for now, a peak at the past and the Russia I’ve known.

(After previewing this post I realized I should’ve put a light stroke around the pages so they don’t just blend into the background. But it’s late, so you’ll have to use your imagination. This album will be a vertical 8×11 book, and you’re viewing complete spreads + the opening image which is the cover front and back.)

p.s. I never did find my other Russian CD, but my husband was able to recover some files from one of my old hard drives, so I’m glad to get these babies in print!

As you know, I’ve been working on a lot of album designs lately. And I want to share…but I can’t let you see them before my brides do But today I’m working on an album for myself. I decided I’d combine my From Russia With Love collaboration with some images I took while living in Moscow, Russia. The first task of the day was to actually find those images. So far, I can only find those I shot in St. Petersburg when on vacation. I KNOW I have another cd somewhere with the Moscow images, but who knows where I’ve placed it. THIS is why I print albums. Because digital files are too easily lost, deleted or misplaced! But even if I can’t find the rest, I do love some of these. I thought I’d share my favorites just to get us all in a wintery mood.

Moscow is a big, dirty city. It does has some scenic parts like Red Square, but if I had to choose to only visit one city in Russia, I’d definitely pick St. Petersburg and it’s surrounding areas. I swear THE most romantic place I’ve ever been would be these two first shots. It’s some princesses summer home (can’t remember my russian history too well). On my bucket list is returning to Russia with Jordan. We were both there at the same time, but never together. I confess, the thought of him in his big fur coat speaking Russian makes me a bit giddy

I submitted my last client album today just in time for the holiday deadlines. It feels so good to be completely caught up, just in time for the holidays. And not only that, but I’ll be launching a new website this week with updated galleries and all new text content. I’m hoping my future brides will find the site not only visually stimulating, but also full of practical advice when it comes to wedding photography!

Sigh. This year has been so busy it’s flown by. My Hazey will be one next week. Seriously. Wasn’t I just pregnant?? Anyhow, I just wanted to publically give thanks for the biggest blessings in my life, my forever family. I’m SO looking forward to taking some time off work and just enjoying them. Happy Thanksgiving all!

What does this post have to do with today’s date? Nothing really I just wanted to post on today because it seemed like a great idea. And since I haven’t finished Angie’s wedding…you get to see my 2011 family picture update with photography by the fabulous Heather Parkinson (heathernanphoto.com) and for fun, a couple more shots of the girls I took a week or so before our family session with Heather. We took these in October and I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to share. LOVE! Thank you Heather. You rock.

Today is one of those days where I feel like pulling my hair out. The girls are a bit sick and totally onery. My computer is apparently really sick as it keeps freezing and shutting itself down. My goal to get ALL the way caught up on work this week is completely failing ;( SO I think I’m admitting defeat for the day and heading to Ikea…

But, so I don’t feel like a complete failure, today we get a blog post! A happy one at that. Meet the Kirk family. The boys were headed out the door on a hunting trip when I arrived which made for a short and to the point session. But it was just perfect. Kids really can’t last much longer. We shot these at the Kirk’s beautiful new home and I can’t wait to see these smiles hanging up. A home just isn’t complete until your family adorns its walls. Besides that, it’s good to have reminders that not all days leave you wanting to pull your hair out. Just some I suppose days like this were in the job description, you know way down there in the fine print. But I’m sure it said the remedy was shopping. Yes. I’m positive about that.