oh, the stories he tells...

half of the time i can't understand the words... but oh, the stories he tells...


me and my jonah boy on memorial day 2008

a tour of the town

i love love loved the session i did today with jason and erica! they totally gave me THE tour of austin. my only regret is that i didn't bring a notepad. as we drove around downtown they kept telling me about all of these great restaurants i have to try. they were such a fun couple. i'm really sad they're moving to houston next week.

this was another session i got from michelle, my real estate agent friend. jason and erica were her sellers and she wanted them to have some pictures to remember their 6 years in austin by.

we started at their house and got some pictures in the backyard. jason and erica did a great job with all of their landscaping. they said it was a labor of love and it shows.

erica was totally cracking up in this shot because i had them stand by this big beautiful tree in their backyard. after i told them where to put their hands it ended up kind of looking like they were posing for a picture at prom and i said so. i didn't really love "the pose" in this shot, but i just love that look on her face!

i loved this little wood pile in the backyard...

oh yeah! we're rebels! this was totally a crazy shot to get. we had to time it just right with the walk/do not walk light. luckily the street was all but empty on this memorial day weekend saturday morning. and when we darted out into the street we were lucky enough to have some other pedestrians block some oncoming turners for us. whew! i love how this shot turned out!

fun doorway we stumbled upon near where we parked off of congress

the fence in front of the capital building...

check out that squirrel in the back that we managed to get to pose for this shot

erica, you've got the greatest smile!

my signature feet shot

st. edward's university

the view of austin from st. edward's campus

this was probably the best stop of our trip. following this photo i officially became an austinite. is that what we're called? austonian? hmmm...

anyway, jason and erica treated me to a blueberry pancake at austin java that was the size of my head. no wait. it was bigger than my head. it was as big as my plate. a full size dinner plate. it was just oozing with honey cinnamon butter and blueberry goodness. i couldn't even finish it. thanks for treating me, guys! yum!

i'm totally looking you up next time i'm in houston!

an actual photo shoot

after almost 6 months in austin i finally did a real live actual client photo shoot! my real estate friend michelle lee-wilder gave the gift of a portrait session with illuminate photography to her clients, ray and jill, after she sold their home. thank you, michelle! =)

oh and btw, ray and jill had so many great things to say about michelle. if you're looking for a real estate agent look her up!

so, back to the photo shoot. i had so much fun doing this session with this family! the kids were just crazy and warmed up to me really quickly. we did the shoot at their house which was really cool. i hope this gives you guys some good memories to take with you as you start a new chapter in your lives in a new city.

here are a few of my favorites. the rest will be uploaded here soon.



j & j had so much fun showing off and climbing in the trees. i loved this one i caught of the jungle boy...

j reminded me of that kid from that adam sandler movie big daddy. how adam sandler would let him call himself frankenstein and wear whatever he wanted. that was totally her personality and i love that her parents let her be herself. i could just squish her she was so cute. mom took her to a birthday party at the end of our session and she left the house wearing the dress above with shoes and rainbow striped socks. we joked about getting her a button that says "i dressed myself today".

hmmmm... i wonder what dad would look like with beautiful blond hair? see, i told ya. just crazy...
i absolutely love this shot of ray and jill! this part of the session was totally hilarious! ray and jill did a lot of work to the house. one of their big projects was putting some really beautiful tile in their master bathroom and they wanted to get some pictures of it. so i had them climb into the tub. i told them to pretend i wasn't there. and they proceeded to have a conversation about how they normally just sit in the tub and have a conversation because that is after all what they put the pretty tile in for. ha! congrats and good luck with the move, y'all!

you are my sunshine

you are my sunshine
my only sunshine
you make me happy
when skies are gray
you'll never know, dear,
how much I love you
please don't take my sunshine away
did i ever mention that jonah absolutely loooves the water? these were taken out in the backyard after dinner tonight. click here to see the rest.

this mommy's feelin' the love

yesterday morning jonah was having a minor meltdown. i decided before it got out of hand that it was time for a nap. i put him into his bed and gave him his bink. through the whining he signed for his cup.

when i came back into the room with his cup he had calmed down. i smiled at him and held the cup out for him to take. he took his bink out of his mouth, grabbed the cup, laid back with a smile on his face and as he put the cup in his mouth... he signed "i love you".

doesn't that just make your heart melt?!

2 minutes in heaven is better than 1 minute in heaven

flight of the conchords... business time



then you go sort out the recycling... that's not part of it, but it's still very important

gol-lee! i love this band.

tenth avenue north - love is here

Jonah and cousin Katarina playin' in the sprinkler

we went over to cousin kat's house last weekend and jonah got to play in the sprinkler! ahhhh... summer fun (in april)!

an old home movie of brookfield zoo (not mine)

i just found this neato old home movie that somebody posted on youtube. it's brookfield zoo back in 1935. it's so cool to see how the zoo both has and hasn't changed in 73 years. i love looking at the clothing and that stroller. what a cool bit of history!

my new favorite band: tenth avenue north

i heard a song called "love is here" on the radio the other day from this new band tenth avenue north, so i went looking for them online.

there haven't been too many albums lately that i've just HAD to have, but i think this is going to be one of them. watching the following clip about this group has really touched me and i'm excited to hear more from them. i pray that they have huge success, not to lift up their own name, but because i think their hearts are in the right place and i'm excited to see where God takes them.