Treasured occurrences to tragic ones, it’s sometimes so easy to forget that life can be turned upside down in the blink of an eye. On the way to her sister’s rehearsal dinner last April, Erin, Owen, and their precious Ollie were hit head-on on the interstate by an 18-wheeler. The next day, as I photographed her sister Lauren’s wedding, there was so much fear and disillusionment in everyone’s eyes. Sifting through emotions of fear and shock that day, going through months of physical rehab afterwards, it’s a beautiful life that the three of them are now healthy, happy, and thriving.  So, to say that I had the opportunity to photograph their beautiful, healing family recently is an enormous understatement. To see the smiles and to witness a beautiful, growing baby boy just fills my heart to the brim.

Ollie has mad style for a one-year-old–all credit to his super talented parents. Speaking of talent, Erin has quite the nifty little Etsy Shop. You can check it out, here.

Those eyes. Ollie, you are going to melt some hearts.

Erin and Owen, thank you so much for entrusting me with documenting your beautiful family.

When I graduated high school, while I took senior photos, I did not feel the full scope of what exactly the photographer was capturing in me at that time in life. But my mother, oh, she knew. While I had a ball choosing outfits, locations, and prancing in front of the camera, these photos were for her. These photos were to capture a beautifully golden time in her first born baby’s life. A time of limitless potential to achieve any dream I put my pretty little mind to. YES. That’s right. A-N-Y DREAM, at all. Ever.

That right there, is the unsurmountable beauty I see of future and of potential, in every girl that prances in front of MY camera. And this only touches on the surface of my passion for photographing this time of life, in particular.

Gaby is her momma’s first baby to walk across that stage and into the next phase of life and I’m sure the feelings of excitement, fear, and pride are all rushing through her brain these days. Gaby, sweet Gaby, stay so beautifully golden.

N-O-T-H-I-N-G. There is nothing at all more beautiful that a girl with joy in her eyes. I will tell my child this one day. I think I will die saying these words.

Sometimes, I like to wonder about what goes through a momma’s mind as she’s looking at her daughter’s senior photo gallery. I like to imagine that she sees her personality, her true, raw personality at various ages of the past as she watches the photos change–imagining her beautiful baby taking steps into her next phase of life.

Gaby, I cannot even tell you how excited I am for you to enter into this next phase of life. Take my advice: soak up every ever-loving moment. Some of your best years are ahead of you. Live them. Embrace them. Own them.

Gaby, thank you so much for entrusting me to document such a monumental time in your life. Stay gold, little lady.

You might remember my post from last year about my first camping trip. Turns out, we loved it and the sweet friends we accompanied so much that we decided to make it a yearly event. Since I’ve become a seasoned camper now (HA!), I’ve decided that, along with photos, I’d share a few of my favorite camping recipes and ideas. I knew this year that I didn’t want to fall completely away from healthy choices just because we were camping, so I did a little extra prep to make sure to take the healthy options along with us.

If you’re planning a trip this Spring, feel free to try out some of these! Unfortunately, because I’m a girl and I was usually too worried about food during meal times to photograph, I don’t have any photos of them. You’ll just have to take my word for their deliciousness. (;

GREEK YOGURT & CRANBERRY CHICKEN SALAD

1 SAMs Club Rotisserie Chicken (or 5-6 chicken breasts cooked)

6 Stalks Celery (finely chopped)

1 Cup Dried Cranberries

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

2 TBSP Mayo

8 Boiled Eggs

Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, Lemon Pepper

Use food processor to chop up chicken and celery. Mix all ingredients together. Enjoy!

CAMFIRE QUESADILLAS

1 Pack Xtreme Wellness Spinach Tortillas (Walmart)

2 Chicken Breasts Seasoned, Cooked, and Chopped

1 Pack Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese

1 Habernero Pepper (Finely Chopped)

Put all ingredients in tortilla and use aluminum foil to wrap and place onto fire grate. Let cook until cheese is melted and dip in Healthy Guac Dip (below).

HEALTHY GUAC DIP

1 Ripe Avocado (smashed

3-4 TBSP Greek Yogurt

4 TBSP Fresh Salsa

Lemon Pepper, Garlic powder

Mix up and enjoy along with tortilla chips, quesadillas, and fajitas!

And of course, no camping is complete without some ninja fighting. Clearly. In addition to quesadillas, I also brought some veggie and meat packed kabobs and green smoothies for breakfast in mason jars–which was a complete win. I learned from last year that the more prep I did beforehand, the more smoothly it all would go. Feel free to use any of these ideas or comment some of your own!

Happy Camping!

I don’t know about you, but we are some oyster lovers in this house this time of year. But even more so, we love LOVE to entertain. Undoubtedly, my favorite new entertaining and cooking piece recently is my Oyster Bed.

Not an oyster lover? Fear not! In fact, my most loved recipe that I’ve made on it thus far isn’t even oysters. That’s the beauty of it. It’s good for cooking SO many things–and so versatile. When I cook with my oyster bed, I usually only dirty ONE dish. From food prep, to my oven, and straight to my table–all steps are done on it.

What’s better and WHY am I blogging about this right now, specifically? Because for THIS WEEK ONLY, it’s on sale! So, if you want to start thinking early about Mother’s Day, Father’s day, Spring BBQs, beach trips, now’s the time! OR if you’d just like to treat yourself. (:

If you’d like to learn more about how it works, the creators of The Oyster Bed, the why behind it, and more fun cooking ideas, hop on over to their website and check it out! While you’re there, feel free to use your handy “SB2015” coupon code for 15% OFF this week only.

As I mentioned, my favorite recipe that I’ve cooked thus far on my Oyster Bed ISN’T EVEN OYSTERS. It’s these babies below. Behold, Jacked-Up Shrimp. Guess what? This fabulous recipe, among others, is included in a small companion cookbook when you order your Oyster Bed. You’re going to thank me. 

And of course, if you are an oyster lover, you can appreciate the perfection of some classic charbroiled oysters. Oh, and see all that delicious sauce for dipping bread? That’s another intention the creators had in mind when designing the cookware–and if you’re familiar with chargrilled oysters at all, you know dipping the bread is half the fun. 

Remember, THIS WEEK ONLY 15% off with coupon code “SB2015.” Bon apetit, friends!