Cocktail

*warning this is an interesting cocktail of a post filled with changes, new love, and bragging*

I have always been adverse to change. Really not a fan.
(Ashley is “Not a FAN of Change” via Facebook)
okay I don’t really have that on my facebook,
nor do I refer to myself in 3rd person, because that is just uber creepy.
But really I am just one of those people that when I find something I love I stick with it,
and don’t like to stray.
I think my hubs gets a tad bit annoyed when I constantly ask for sushi every night, & then get the same exact thing every time.
The place I am in right now in my life is filled with change.
Some change terrifies me. Some excites me. And it’s helping me grow.
I have been working on some side projects for a while now,
and I am thrilled that it will all be coming together within the next couple months =)
Also if you noticed- I changed some of my existing labels on the bloggity blog:

The Love: pretty much where my photography stems from (ie: my heart & my rants & raves)
The Question: the question you say YES to, the start of your love story
The Day: It’s your Wedding Day! Hooray!
The Beginning: the beginning of a new chapter in your life. Kiddos & Families
The Misc: Delightful moments documented... Just Because!

And I found a new LOVE.
My new MAC came on Sat and I AM OBSESSED.
Eeeeeek, I really don’t know how I ever survived without a MAC?!

So I promised this Forever ago… and I am finally delivering!
I cannot get enough of the creativity that is JESI HAACK. I shot some details for this amazing baby shower she designed. And just want to brag about her. K?! K =)
Seriously I am thrilled for all the amazing things in store for her!
I can’t say this enough; she is your gal if you want a wedding that is TRULY ABOUT YOU. =) She is a Rock Star

The Shower was at Strawberry Farms, so beautiful there!
Oh & she made the cake, and made all the floral arrangements as well, TALENTED.

Oh the details =) seriously she is amazing!

Jacob

I have to say at first I was a hater. A hater of facebook.
But then I caved. And I am so so glad that I did.
I have gotten back in contact with so many old friends
& now have the pleasure of shooting them!
So when Stephanie found me via facebook
and wanted to set up a shoot for her lil guy I was ecstatic =)
Not only is Stephanie a wonderful mommy to baby Jacob,
but seriously I cant even believe she has had a CHILD. She is one hot momma! Seriously!!! (And I don't just throw out 'Hot Momma' in everyday jargon but she deserves it)
Jacob was such a joy to shoot; he has the most gorgeous blue eyes,
and some serious Robert Pattinson hair, and this is in my book the BEST HAIR. EVER. =)
Thank you Steph for letting me snap some pics of your handsome happy lil guy;
he is going to be such a heart breaker ;)

I think this is the perfect example of how fast this lil guy was,
definitely gave me my cardio for the day! :)

I

Really he is anything BUT bad, but I thought this was too cute!

My favorite shot of the day =)

Dear God, when I have kids please say I will look like Stephanie after, k?!, Thanks!

By far the cutest thing was watching Jacob try to take off his shirt.

Seriously it was A.DOR.ABLE!

I know I might be the only one who loves these, but I really think it's so cute when lil guys cry.

Given I dont have children, so maybe the crying cuteness wears off,

but I thought he looked so so precious!

IN the wedding :)

I think my heart is bursting. I have been on a love high since Friday.
This past weekend was one of the most beautiful weekends I’ve had in a while.
I smiled till it hurt, and cried more times than I wish to say,

I danced the night away with my best friends & the love of my life.
Some of my greatest friends got married and I was so honored to be a part of their day.
It was said countless times @ the wedding but Kayli & Darren are really such an inspiring couple, & their wedding was the perfect reflection of them.
I can’t this enough to anyone getting married.

Make your day about YOU TWO.
Make your own traditions.
Oh and Make time for pictures =)

Since I was IN the wedding I didn’t want to have my camera attached to my hip,

I wanted to relish in their joy and love them with all my heart,

so I only took a few shots of us gals getting ready!
Here they are. =) enjoy.

And please check out the AMAZING (that’s an understatement) photos that

Kayli & Darren’s Wedding Photographer –AARON SHINTAKU- took =)

I am in AWE! Oh and check out AMY HINDEN's blog as well for some rad HOLGA shots :) i just love them!
Some of their other fantastical vendors:
JESI HAACK WEDDINGS: she truly blew my mind,

check out the details on her blog too!
MY SWEET & SAUCY: melody’s treats were just ridiculous. I ate about 15 cupcake babies with no guilt =) she is the best! Ever! Forever ever!

*on a lil side note I am changing up my editing style a bit :) lemme know what ya thing?!

Her hair was absolutely beautiful!!! Thanks Carlie ;)

Gorgeous tulle flower from Chelsea @ OH MY DEER Handmades

I know she is taking a sip of water, but she was just stunning and I couldnt resist the pic ;)

Not exactly buoyant...

My week is lagging, crazy busy, but lagging. Primarily because I cannot wait till Saturday!
I am thrilled for the wedding of the year … no really its going to be FANTASTICAL =)
And I have the honor of being a bridesmaid in my oldest friends wedding (we've grown up together since we were 2yrs old! crazy!). I already know I will be a blubbering mess @ this wedding so please photogs no ugly cry pics, thanks =)
This wedding has been such a labor of love crafted up by the gorgeous bride & the uber fabulous JESI HAACK! Oh and I still have a post to come on the lovely Jesi… stay tuned.
So before the Wedding festivities officially kick off I figured I would leave you with a blog post of our lil swimmer.

Mind you bulldogs physically CANNOT swim, but apparently ours thinks he can dive…

Oh and PS. he is weighting in @ 53 lbs....

Does this mean we are no longer NewlyWeds?

I don’t really know where to start.

365 days ago I married my best friend, I know everyone says that,

but truly I know that Jeff was made for me.

He loves me despite all my crazy, & really I do come with a lot of crazy...
This year has truly flown by, and been a whorl wind of emotions all around.
The 1st year of marriage is supposed to be the hardest one,

I am sure that all the contributing factors vary in this

but its definitely not always rainbows & butterflies.

I love that we have had trials and tribulations
I love that we have fought
I love that it’s real, life isn’t always perfection and that is what I love the most about our marriage. It’s imperfect perfection. Okay here is my crazy talk coming out, but really it is.
I love that we don’t have to try
I love that even though I wake up a disheveled mess my hubby still finds me beautiful
(this would be after he calls me by my pet name: Joe Dirt…
I have some rockin morning hair) :)
I love that he pretends to enjoy my cooking
I love that he is a health food Nazi
I love that he is my gingerkid =)
I love that he calls my mom more than I do
I love that we had a breakdown together when we got our puppy (we can laugh about it now :)
I love that he always sees the good in people
I love that he adores my friends and they have become his friends
I love that he has more rhythm than anyone I have ever met,
we have urban dance nights. true story.
I love that he wanted me even though I come with baggage and was a bit broken at the time
I love that my lil brother calls him his brother (much to the confusion of other people)
I love that I didnt have to change him, or him me
I love that I could go on for days about him, but I will stop here =)

I could paint of picture of wedded bliss that people usually like to paint, but I'm not going to. Marriage isn’t perfect, and I don’t think it should be.
I LOVE our imperfections. I think you have to love them, otherwise it doesn’t work.
All of these things have just made us better, better together and striving to be more like the other person (more so me trying to be like him).
Obviously I am no expert in marriage, but marry your best friend,
the person who makes you want to be better, the person you hope to be & life is beautiful!



Hubby you are my Edward.


This is the card I bought my hubby, as you can see we dont take ourselves too seriously!

Blog posts are always better with a picture,

here is one of my favorite images ever from our wedding =)

And I thought I would post the moments right before the favorite picture. Lol.

Pretty much sums us up.

Photography by our amazing friends & photogs:

(AHS Photography) now- Aaron Shintaku & Amy Hinden

Chelsey & Tony

"PAAAAPPPPPARRRITTZZZZIIIII!!!!"

Okay so it wasnt that dramatic,

but the several times I was referred to as a 'Paparazzi' was so comical =)

Since the SLS Hotel is part of the Hollywood scene (& rightly so) it wasnt really a shocker that paparazzi prowlers are on the loose there.

I was there to shoot the ultra fab rehearsal party of Chelsey & Tony!!!

I dont think there is anything better than seeing a bride before her big day, either the night before, or the morning of, they just glow with excitement and love.

The hotel just oozes character and really doesn't prohibit photography inside,

but we managed to break some rules for the bride & groom =)

Chelsey & Tony I know your wedding was breathtaking & I wish you all the best!!!!

Enjoy the photos and Happy Friday all!

The lil square cookies were delicious!

Chesley being the sweetheart that she is said I could have one,

I think I was staring too intently @ them... :)

I couldn't resist a bouquet shot =)

HoneyMooners =)

Finally blogging the pathetic lil batch of photos I took on our honeymoon!

I say pathetic because I cant even tell you how many people have asked me

"How many pictures did you take?!!"... in which I cringe and utter "very few" under my breathe. I just wanted to live IN THE NOW & enjoy the trip, not that I don't enjoy shooting, but I didn't want to worry about lugging around my dslr camera all that much, which is why you can see it didn't leave the hotel room! We mostly used our handy dandy point & shoot & I labeled which images are with that (*PS) just for reference =)

I cant even explain how wonderful our honeymoon was, Brides & Grooms definitely splurge on this trip, well again this is just my own opinion,

but for us it was truly everything we dreamed and more!

We played, ate, waterpark-ed, ate, sun-ed, ate, read & ate some more.

I would have to say that eating is my favorite vacation activity...

hmm not really sure if that is something I should be boastful about... =)

I got in some much needed reading which is definitely my form of therapy (besides retail).

I couldn't put down How to Win Friends & Influence People, I bought it because I heard its an amazing business book but really ended up feeling like it's made for everyone.

If you want to be a genuine and kind person READ this book,

its so amazing how it clarifies everything about communicating properly!

I'm not going to lie I cringed several times as I read through the book,

catching my bad habits staring back @ me off the page, but now I am trying to work on them. Really an eye opener =)

I also got hooked on the TWILIGHT saga ;) and I am officially obsessed.

Really. to an unhealthy extent.

Well enough of my craziness, here's a handful of shots from the Bahamas peeps! Happy Monday!

Dontcha just love the air conditioning system in the airport =) *PS* (it made me laugh)

Part of the Royal Towers *PS*

Our room view *My Cam*

Hello Lover- Sigh- the most delicious drink ever (i don't even know if that's proper English, but i don't care) Yum yum Mango Margaritas! *PS*

Room view of the WaterPark *My Cam*

The Beach @ the Cove *PS*

Water Slides...scary! I'm a bit of a chicken with body slides... =) *PS*

So Jeff made me walk through The Dig (underground aquarium thing) 20+ times...

I really didn't understand his fascination but we had fun pretending we were in 300

"We are Sparta!" *PS*

Just a shot of my new TOMS =) because they make me happy-love em! *My Cam*

Oh Baby!

I know, I know definitely not winning anyone over with cleverness in my title post =)

but I just had to do a sneak peek of baby shower details that I shot for the uber fabulous

JESI HAACK of JESI HAACK WEDDINGS!

This girl does it all :) and is so unbelievably creative! She is blowin up this year & I couldn't be happier for her! I am blessed to call her a friend, check out her blog peeps!

*on a lil side note, thank you all for your sweet words of encouragement regarding my lil brother. It truly means more than you will ever know =)

Vulnerable

Originally this post was going to be about all our honeymoon bliss,

but I had to change that (I will post it later- promise!)
I am writing this with such a heavy heart tonight.

I know that there is a thin line with how much you are supposed to share about your personal life on your business blog... and while I think I might be divulging too much information,

this is me, and I would rather be hated for something I am than liked for something I am not.
I recently found out my lil brother has been having a rough time in school, being antagonized on a daily basis and its clearly upsetting when I hear of kids being mean in general but this is a new level of hurt.
See my brother was diagnosed with Epilepsy at the age of 6 months old, he grew up like every other lil boy and girl and looked completely healthy.

It wasn't until about 7 years old that his disease reared its ugly head

& slowly unveiled his brain damage.
He's been through more than I wish upon any kid to go through,

@ the age of 8 his biggest fear wasn't monsters or sharks or scary movies, it was the hospital.
Since then he has been on a complete all fat diet (to stop the seizing), @ least 40 different meds, and underwent massive brain surgery.
In 2004 he had a Make-A-Wish granted before undergoing his brain surgery to remove his left temporal lobe, he was granted a Surf trip in Hawaii, something that I know he will never forget.
Now to see him in pain and treated in a way no one deserves to be treated just infuriates me. I have always been protective over him, always.

He has taught how so much, and truly makes everyone around him a better person.
He has always been the best indicator of character too!

Sadly I have seen ugly colors come out of people who I deigned nice,

and others have just shined through with such good hearts.
2 weeks ago Ryan, my brother, won a medal in the special Olympics for golf.

This is the 2nd sport that he has competed in for the Special Olympics (the other being skiing) and to win 2nd place in his division is astonishing =) he was ecstatic to win a medal period and I am so so proud of him. It's beautiful moments like these that make me so grateful for Ryan, he sees the good in everyone, sees things as they are and not as they should be, he makes me want to be better, strive to be better everyday. I am constantly learning about love, and kindness and how to treat people from him! Why am I telling you all this?! Well he is a part of me, the better part, the part that one day I hope I can be like and all that I ask is just for some kind thoughts for him. Thoughts, prayers, whatever you got to just help his heart mend.
Because my ramblings are rather lengthy I figured I should through in some pictures =) here's some shots of the golf tournament! oh and my amazing hubby was his partner for the tourney ;) because he has the best heart!

I'm Alive, I swear =)

*shot with my camera, not the p&s =)

And I'm back, just still in vacation mode!

I barely got started last night on all of my laundry from the trip, and in reality it was only because my hamper exploded flinging clothes everywhere!

Sooooo I should be all caught up *hopefully* this week and back to blogging!

Just a lil sneak peak of our honeymoon, this was the view from our patio!

We were actually real lazy on our moon and didn't take too many pictures

& mostly shot with our P&S ;) but I don't regret a bit of it!

It was glorious to sleep, eat, water park (yes its a verb now!), read & eat some more.

I'll blog more about the lovely reads & restaurants that we enjoyed soon =)

The only downside... my stomach apparently didnt get the memo that we are no longer eating "vacation portions" of food. So pretty much I have been shoveling massive amounts of food in my mouth @ all hours of the day. =)

Happy Tuesday everyone!