A New Blog

It's time! I've finally upgraded my blog and will no longer be adding new content to this blog. I will still keep this blog as it documents my whole journey and progress in becoming a wedding photographer. But please do check out my NEW BLOG!

New blog address: www.vanessavothblog.com

Thanks to each and every one of you that have frequented my blog and have read my posts and commented and shared and encouraged! You've all been a huge part of this process!

From House To Home

We've been living in our new place for just over a month now. We haven't been around much since we moved, so unpacking has taken longer than it should. And we started painting maybe two weeks after we moved in, so it's be a little chaotic in here. We're SO close to being done the painting on the main level, the mess of stuff is starting to reside and I feel like I can breathe again. Poor Girlie was a little scared of all the ladders and furniture in the middle of the room. She would get so frustrated when she couldn't push her stroller for more than two seconds before it got stuck against another obstacle!

I was a little sad for most of the time since having moved in. Our old place was home. It was comfortable, it was lived in, it reflected us, it was home. This place wasn't home when we moved in. Obviously, it takes time for that transition to happen. But it made me sad. It was sad to see Cheyenne not comfortable with being by herself to play with her toys. She still won't go downstairs without me in the mornings. I missed the familiarity of our old place.

Our last place started feeling like home about 6 months after we moved in when a friend encouraged me to pray through our house. James and I went into every single room, including the bathrooms and garage, and prayed for each room, blessing it and casting out anything or any presence that was not from God. (There's a long story to go along with this that I'll save for another post.) Our house felt so different after that. Almost like a cloud was lifted and we could fully breathe for the first time since living there. I felt like I took control of our life and our home and who/what was allowed to be present in it. Claiming the power of Christ, in my home and in my life. It was liberating.

I didn't even think about praying for our new house until just recently. I'd been sensing something present in our home that was not from God so the other night James and I prayed for our room. Cheyenne was already sleeping and I wanted her to be part of this process so we just started with our room. A fresh slate. Whatever has been hanging around this place before we moved in is no longer present. Is no longer welcome. By the power of Christ's blood on the cross we claimed back our authority over this house, this house that God has blessed us with and is, ultimately, His.

The next night we prayed through the rest of the house as a family. Cheyenne even prayed for her bathroom, with our guidance..."Dear God, please bless this bathroom and keep it holy." I know that we told her what to say, but to hear your child pray is about the sweetest thing your ears can ever hear.

And now our house is our home. We still have lots to do before it reflects us and our personalities and style and all that, but it feels like home. It feels like ours. I'm so excited for all the memories and experiences that we'll have in this home.

If you haven't claimed your home as your own through prayer, I encourage you to do so.

Il Mio Sogno: Italia

My dream: Italy

One of my all time, must do, things on my Life's To-Do List is to go to Italy. Just thinking about it makes my heart ache just a bit. My desire to travel there, and ideally live there for a short time, is so severe! Venice is my ultimate dream. Tuscany, Rome, Florence, any Italian city really. I picture myself roaming the Italian streets, not the main streets, the side streets, where no one knows English (I have Rosetta Stone, I'll be fluent in Italian before we head off!), and I would find a cafe and drink my cappuccino on a wrought iron chair, reading the Italian newspaper, greeting passerby's with a Ciao as they walked by, and maybe even an Arrivederci. At night, we would cozy up in our Italian country side home, Andrea Bocelli serenading us as we make fresh pasta from scratch, all the while sipping Italian wine from a local vineyard.

Bliss.

My yearning to travel to Italy only intensified this weekend. James, Cheyenne and I spent the weekend in Osoyoos and, as is usual for our time up there, I read all weekend long, finishing yet another book. (I think I've read more books in this last month than I have in the last few years combined!) I frequent the library this summer. Grabbing any books that grab my attention. Yes, I'm judging every book by its cover. And it's title and the brief description written about it.

This weekend the book of choice of The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans. Wow. It was really really good. But I'm a sucker for romantic love stories. It had be captivated. Riveted. It was amazing. I was crying by the end, hoping for the best for the two main characters. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, this book is set in Italy, Florence to be exact. The detail of the country, of art, of wine, of life, was beautiful. Do add it to your reading list, if you're into those kind of books.

So yes, one day I, too, will be in Italy, my story may not be as riveting as the novel's, but it'll be real and it will be mine. And I can't imagine being in such a beautiful country with anyone other than my husband and daughter. Here's to dreaming, and one day to my dreams coming true!

*All images taken from this website.*

My Epiphanie

Last year for my birthday I asked for a Shootsac, which I gratefully received. My Shootsac has been over my shoulder for every wedding and photo shoot since last August. Having photographed nine weddings now, I realized the Shootsac wasn't enough. At least not for weddings. I wanted something more. Something that I could put my camera into with a lens attached to the body. With the Shootsac you always have to separate everything in order to fit it in. So I would end up wearing my camera around my neck most of the day and putting it in my car just on the seat when driving to the next destination. And the Shootsac doesn't have any extra pockets for my personal things, like my wallet, keys, chap stick, and kleenex.

So I started my search for a new camera bag. I looked at Kelly Moore, of course, but wasn't in love with their design and the look of them. I wanted a bag that had multiple pockets, that could fit my camera with a lens attached and a couple extra lenses and all my other little knick knacks, and I wanted something that closed with a zipper, not a button or snap. Kelly Moore's closed with a snap (maybe there are some with zippers, I don't know, I didn't look into it too deeply).

Then I came upon this beautiful company that makes the most beautiful camera bags! Epiphanie Bags!!! Holy moly are they nice. I perused their bag options and instantly fell in love with Ginger, in black. I subtley, or quite unsubtley, emailed my family with a link to that page mentioning that this could possibly make a pretty wicked birthday present! Much to my surprise (or not ;) ) I received the bag on my birthday! And I'm quite excited about it!

I just filled it up with my camera and lenses and am ready to shoot tonight's engagement session with it over my shoulder. I kind of feel like I'm cheating on my Shootsac. But I think I'll still make use of my Shootsac for some portrait sessions, or for traveling, or who knows. We'll see. If it ends up sitting around, then I'll sell it. But for now, I will marvel in the glory of Ginger!

Here she is. She does have an over-the-shoulder strap that I attached after taking these pictures!

I love this bag. But I also love my new office chair. Best Ikea purchase ever!

Crazy Pants

Yesterday was my 26th birthday! It was a great day spent lounging by the pool, reading chapter after chapter in my book, bbq steaks for dinner, my favourite cake for dessert, a game of mini golf that I won, and a gorgeous gift from my whole family! I'll post about that later. I still need to take some pictures!!

Today's post goes back a few months...

When I was in Australia I picked up a pair of sweet pants for Cheyenne. I couldn't resist. They were just. too. cute. Australia has a lot of Thai and Indian influences in their stores, which is where I found these. Cheyenne loves them, or at least she used to! We called them her 'Crazy Pants' because, well, they look pretty crazy! haha. I took these few months ago. Cheyenne and her crazy pants...

The Last of Vegas

I told you I had some serious catching up to do with my editing. Being away from home with the rest of my family means ample amounts of time to myself since there are 5 other people around that would gladly take Girlie off my hands! So, on a rainy day here I sat down and started at the top of my folders in Lightroom. That took me back to January. Pictures of Cheyenne that I hadn't edited yet, she was 7 months younger. Wow, it's amazing how much someone can change in 7 months! I'm still not anywhere near fully caught up, but I've got a good head start!

So, here are a few more images from my time in Las Vegas in February.

Also, today is my last day as a 25 year old. Tomorrow is my birthday. July 28. Mark it in your calendars. Just kidding. It's been a long, long time since I've celebrated my birthday in this town. Growing up we were always here for my birthday. So it's nice. Hopefully the weather will be in my favour! It's kind of hit and miss here this year. Oh well. Still loving being away from home for awhile and having a pool to lounge by on the sunny days!

I Love DIY... Especially Fabrics!

I spent two hours in the fabric store with my mom the other night. We're planning to rid of all the gross metal pull-up blinds in our house, starting with the main floor. Man oh man. Creativity overload. So many choices/options/ideas/textures/colours. Wow. At the end of the visit, I walked out with 4 fabrics. One for the sliding doors beside my desk which will be roman blinds; one for the valence for those blinds; two for accent pieces, either pillow cases or to re-cover this awesome retro chair I bought at the Salvation Army the other day. Here's what I brought home (I took these pictures at night, with the spotlight on them, so the colours are a bit off, but you get the idea!):

The white fabric with the dark grey pattern is for the sliding doors; the fuscia satin-y material is for the valence for that door; and the other two are for my accent pieces. I'm on love. Excited to pick out more for the rest of the room!

Spending some time away from home with my whole family for ten days at the moment. It's glorious. Hot, hot weather (aside from the rain drops that are currently falling from the sky) and lots of visiting, talking, and I brought my computer so I can edit and do the things I never have time for at home (like make a Pinterest account! haha!!)

Happy Monday!

A Year's Worth of Blessings

I almost forgot. Until I was on the phone with someone who asked about my neck and shoulder injuries and if I was still in pain or if the pain was still gone from that miraculous night. As she mentioned this I looked at the date. July 18. One year ago today, we were in the serious car accident. (See pictures and the story Here.)

Gross. I still get shivers thinking about that day. I can still hear that popping sound of the other car hitting ours. I still find my mind wandering to the "what-if's" of the situation that could have made it fatal. I still find myself thanking God again and again for safety that day.

And then there was that moment, exactly six months ago today, that I will never, ever forget. Healing. Miracle. Prayer. That night, surrounded by ten other followers of Christ, laying their hands on me and pleading with God for healing. That night when I literally physically felt the touch of the Holy Spirit in my shoulders, neck, head. Full on healing. I walked away after that healing with no more pain. None. And it's never come back, either. Just writing that makes me still with awe.

If you haven't read that story yet, please take a minute to read it Here. And if you have read it, read it again! I find I am encouraged again and again by what happened that night.

Who knew God could take such a grave, awful situation and bring something so good from it. Love it.

Settling In

We have been in our new place for a week and a day now. It feels like less because I was away for most of last week. The move went fabulous. We had so many amazing friends come out to help us which was awesome. We had every loaded into the truck and unloaded into the new place in less than 4 hours.

There's still lots to do here. I feel like we've got a good start already. but we're nowhere near close to being done. We need to paint the entire house. The previous owners had a hay day with some screws and a screwdriver, apparently. There are holes all over the place! Lots of chips in the walls, random things here and there. And we have big plans to build a wall unit of shelves and cupboards above the fireplace! In the end it will look amazing. Right now, it looks alright. :) There is great potential though, and I'm excited for the changes to  come! I'll be taking some before pictures yet so I can show you how much we do to this place.

Anyway, Step One was a trip to IKEA. We bought a bunch of new furniture to replace our old IKEA furniture that has served its time and needs to move on. Plus, my style has changed so those pieces just don't fit my new vision. We also bought a new desk and chair for my office space! I absolutely love my little nook! It's perfect! It does require me to calibrate my monitor a whole lot more because of the natural light constantly changing, but it's worth it! It's so nice to sit beside a window while I do my work. Oh, and I bought a new light fixture for my office area as well, LOVE it!

And now comes Step Two. Painting. Yay! The process of selecting paint colours gets me a little stressed out, but once we finally decide on the colour and buy the cans of paint I get pretty stoked! We're starting with our living room/kitchen/dining room space. I've picked a nice grey colour, accented by white furniture in the living room. I have great plans for this space, mostly consisting of great fabrics and decor! After the living room, we'll paint our bedroom. I hate beige. Hate it. Our whole house is beige right now. Not even variations of beige on different walls. Just beige. On EVERY wall. Sorry, that's a lie. One room is mint green with bright Winnie the Pooh wall paper along the middle of the walls, with bright underwater themed curtains. It's pretty awesome. :)

I took a few shots of a few things around our house today to share with you. There will definitely be more to come! All these images were taken with my new 100mm f/2.8 lens which I'm starting to become quite fond of!

This is my new light in my "office". It's from Home Depot. I think it suits my space perfectly!

My new desk, chair and office space. And some pretty flowers from my mom to brighten up our new place!

On the left we have our living room paint colour choice: Veil. A nice grey. I'll be accenting the space with different colours, and there will definitely be some turquoise in the mix! On the right we have some paint swatches as potentials for our bedroom. The fabric you see here is our duvet cover. I'm planning on painting the wall behind our bed something similar to the darkest colour, kind of like a brown/charcoal mix, as the accent wall. And the rest of the room will probably be a light, soft blue of some sort. We're thinking of painting our bed frame white, too. It's a dark brown right now. I'm just ready for change!

Currently, I'm thinking of using the middle blue colour as my wall colour and the top brown colour (on the right) as my accent wall. What do you think? And these are our new lamp shades from IKEA! They're white. Love them!

Ok, that's all I got for you right now! James is in the process of getting the walls ready for putty and paint. This next week will be Project: Paint the Living Space.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Plates and McDonalds

I think it's safe to say that most of our house is packed up already. I started packing before we even put our place on the market. I have limited time to do stuff as is so I didn't want to leave it all to the last minute. I wish we were moving tomorrow already so I can just officially put everything in a box and be done with it. I hate thinking about what things we might still need in the next few days. I just want to seal up another box and be done with it!

My husband was losing it the other day (total over-exageration haha) because he made himself a cup of tea and I had already packed the sugar! That was two weeks ago. Yes, I'm a little over anxious here. We have no more plates or bowls, so paper plates and tupperware bowls will suffice for these last few days. And most of our cookware is packed too, so we're either not eating or eating fast food. Can't say I'm loving this fact, but I do love having more boxes packed! You should see my pile of boxes in my living room just piling up! That is a sign of success and it feels pretty darn good!

I decided to take a break from packing while Cheyenne naps. I know that sounds kind of backwards, but that's what I did. I needed to catch up on a few work related things, and drink a cup of coffee. So I did.

Another engagement session tonight, then we move on Friday and Saturday, and I have a wedding on Sunday that I'm super excited about! Busy week, but it's all good!

And I wanted to give a quick shout out to my current clients, thank you for your patience with me these last few weeks/months. It's been busier than I ever imagined and I've definitely falling behind on some editing and all that, so thank you for you patience and understanding! I haven't forgotten about any of you! Looking forward to some quieter times in the weeks ahead!

Now, back to more editing and packing! Story of my current life.

The Final Days

This coming up Saturday we're moving. We are so excited to move into this new place, which is bigger than what we have now and is in such a quiet and family oriented neighbourhood. There are so many things I love about this new place and can't wait to live there!

But then, there are so many things that I love about where we are now, that I'm really going to miss this place. Yes, I get uber sentimental when it comes to changes. I usually have a big meltdown with every new change in my life. When I graduated and flew off to New Zealand on my own; after I got engaged; after I got married; after we had Cheyenne; you get the idea. I'm not a fan of the process of change, but I do like it in the end. Most changes are usually for the better. So that makes me excited!

We've lived in our current home for just over four years now. It was the first house that James and I bought, a year and a half into our marriage. It's the house that Cheyenne was born in, literally. We had a home birth, so that makes it even sadder  for me to leave this place. The memories of that night and the ones to follow. She crawled for the first time here, she took her first steps here, her first haircut. She had all her firsts here. I've worked out of this home for over 3 years now. First as a hair stylist, and now with my photography. So much has happened in this home.

If these walls could speak, they wouldn't stop talking. I'm sifting through memory after memory in my mind right now. All the Pizza Nights shared with old and new friends; all the phone calls to dear friends; play dates and dinner parties; birthdays and anniversaries. So many good memories!

The whole process of house hunting this time around was amazing. I don't know about you, but we often don't think to pray about these kind of decisions. Up until only a few months ago, I'd say, did we realize the importance and relevance of including God into these huge decisions. We never used to think to pray for guidance and wisdom when purchasing a car, or a home, or what have you. We've learned a lot over the last year or so. God has really stretched us in our lives and in our knowledge of His Love. So, we prayed. We prayed that God would be present in these decisions. That he would guide us and give us peace or unsettled feelings about our choices. And he did, in so many ways.

First of all, we listed our place on a Friday. We had our first showing the following Thursday, and an offer put in on that Friday, and the subjects were removed by the following Friday. Yup. That's right. Basically, we had our place on the market for a week. (Judy is pretty much the best realtor ever! She helped us when we bought our current place and we will definitely ask her to help us again with our next place, which hopefully isn't any time soon! We'd like to stay settled in one home for a while now!)

We found a house that we loved. We fell in love instantly. It had everything we wanted/needed and more. We put an offer in as soon as the deal on our place was final. Well, a couple days later I went back to this place to check it out again, from the outside. My concern was the volume of the street noise. I wanted to get away from that entirely with our next house. Our current home is right on the corner of a very busy intersection, along a truck route. It's loud and frustrating. When I drove away that day I felt sick. Literally sick to my stomach. Something wasn't right. I told James about it later, saying that I felt like the Holy Spirit was letting me know that this wasn't the place for us. James wanted to brush it off, he loved this place. It really was immaculate! But I told him we needed to pray about this. We have the Holy Spirit in us and he communicates with us and I strongly felt that something wasn't right with this place. So we prayed. And not long after, James felt the same. And Judy felt the same too. We all had this gut feeling that something wasn't right with it. Or that it just wasn't the house for us. There was something else out there that was better suited for us. When we finally got the minutes for that place it turns out it had some dodgey stuff going on, so we got out of that as quickly as possible.

And then we found our house. Yes, it's not as immaculate. But it's in the quietest neighbourhood ever! You can actually hear birds out of your windows! That's rare at our current place! So, we had an amount set in our minds that we wanted to pay for this place. And ideally, we wanted to have two days to move (Friday and Saturday) because I have to photograph a wedding on Sunday and didn't want to be too stressed with everything. After going back and forth, offer after offer, they finally settled on a price. The exact price we were hoping for AND the two days to move! How awesome is that? The way it all came together just blows my mind. In just under a month, we listed our place, sold our place, and bought our new place. Wow. That was way faster than I was anticipating!

So now we're packing like crazy. Let me rephrase: I'M packing like crazy! haha. I love packing though and I'm trying to be super organized and it's my choice to do the packing, so James isn't in trouble! ;)

Anyway, this week we bid adieu to our home and say hello to our new home :) Goodbye Unit 65, you have been a pleasure to live in!

O Canada

It's Canada Day. "That is brand new information!" Sorry, that was a Phoebe moment! Gotta love Friends! We spent the morning on the main strip in Osoyoos and watched a Canada Day Parade. It went on for a long time. I didn't think Osoyoos had that many things to put in a parade! There will be fireworks yet tonight, so we'll probably watch those as well.

This year we're spending this long weekend in the Okanagan with my family. This is most definitely one of my most favourite places on earth. It is one of the few places that I would gladly return to to visit over and over and over and over again. It never gets old for me. I love the heat, the lake and pool, the way it feels like I flew to an all-inclusive destination yet it's only a less than 5 hour drive from my home, the endless amount of wineries. I also think a big part of why I love this place so much is because it's so nostalgic. Or I get so nostalgic when I'm here. My family came up here, to the same hotel, to the same hotel room, with the same group of friends, at the same time of year (August long weekend), for a good 20 years. Basically until I got married. My parents still came after that but James and I could only stop in for shorter amounts of time, and not every year because of our work situations and stuff.

Needless to say, I'm enjoying my time here. I'm enjoying not thinking about all the editing that is waiting for me on my desk top computer at home. All the empty boxes that are needing to be filled with the remainder of the objects in our home that have made up our lives for the last many years. I don't think I ever officially mentioned on here that we sold our house and bought a new place! Well, we did! We move next Saturday! (That's the main reason I haven't been around much, life is a little crazy, to put it lightly!)

Anyway...

This is the first of many weekends this summer that we will be spending up here. That makes me very happy! I even get to celebrate my birthday here in a few weeks which makes me even more nostalgic! Out of the 20 years that I came here religiously every year, my birthday was celebrated here about 90% of the time! July 28. It's a good day!

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers, and also to you non-Canadian readers! Any reason to have a party is a good day in my books! Looking forward to the fourth of July! :)

Back From Banff

Hi!

Sorry for the major break in blog posts. We spent a week in Banff camping with my inlaws and just got home Saturday night. I've been fighting a cold and a headache for the last couple of days so I haven't spent much time on the computer. It still hurts to look at the screen, but I wanted to pop in and say Hi!

These next couple of weeks are going to be beyond busy. So please bare with me.  We move in 12 days, and between now and then we'll be spending a long weekend in Osoyoos with my family and I have about 3 or 4 photo shoots to do yet! Needless to say, I'm a little behind!

Here are just a couple pictures from this last week. Hope you had a great week and a great Monday! I'm looking for someone's TV to sit in front of so I can watch The Bachelorette live tonight and not have to wait to download it! :)

Our sweet camper set up. That's right. That right there is a 1980 BonAir tent trailer with a hot dog stand awning. I know you're jealous.

Girlie had lots of fun!

James' cousin and his wife and daughter joined us for a few days and they have this cute dog that Cheyenne couldn't leave alone!

Two

It's technically June 17 right now. Today, two years ago, at 8:11am, our baby girl was born. I just finished reading through my birth story and am so glad I documented that moment and experience. I just wanted to share one paragraph with you that brought tears to my eyes, again.

"As soon as she came out they put her right on my chest and covered her with a towel. I was crying and totally in disbelief that this baby just came out of me. James teared up, too, as we looked at our baby. Her eyes were wide open and she was so alert and did give us a cry so we knew she was ok. I took the towel off and turned her on her back and asked James what she was- boy or girl. He looked down and proudly said, “It’s a girl!” I was in shock. I honestly thought it would be a boy based on everyone’s predictions. I looked over at my mom and told her it was a girl, too. She was smiling so huge. James and I kissed and looked in awe at our daughter, what a blessing and miracle."


That was a truly unbelievable moment and I will never forget it. 


The balloons have been blown up. The cake is made and decorated. The goodie bags have been filled. Now we need to get some sleep and in a few hours we get to celebrate our little Girlie's second (technically third) birth day! :)

Feeling Summery

Looking at the stats for my blog, I sense I have a few readers who are into fashion. I've received many emails asking why I stopped documenting my 30 for 30 challenge and that they wanted to see more of my outfits. I'm not sure why, I still don't think my wardrobe is anything to be inspired by! BUT, since you asked, I decided I might start taking more pictures of my outifts, when I'm actually wearing something that I think is worth photographing. And you might completely disagree with my choice of photographical outfits, and that's fine! I don't claim to have any fashion sense what so ever! :)

Today I felt very summery. I just bought this new skirt from Old Navy the other day, along with the tank top, and thought today was a good day to wear them. As we got ready for church this morning the sun was shining through the windows, beckoning me to wear something fresh and summery. And so I did. Along with one of my favourite pairs of heels that I just bought in Australia. Love them. This is how the combo looked...

This is my husband taking pictures of me...

This afternoon looks like it will consist of a trip to the "swinging cool" (what my daughter calls the swimming pool), a cold beer on the deck, and more chapters of Velvet Elvis read. (And can I just say that I'm being blown away by this book? There will be many blogs coming with thoughts and revelations from this book. I have to read it again once I finish and actually journal my thoughts, because there are too many to keep track of! In the meantime, you should read the book so you'll know what I'm talking about! It's Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell.)

Enjoy your sunny Sunday! Hopefully I'll be able to pop in a little more often this next week! We've got some exciting things coming up in the next few weeks that are taking up a lot of my time! Will write about those this week yet too!

The Three Hundredth

Post, that is. This, right here, what you are reading at this very moment, is my three-hundredth blog post since I started my photography journey a year and a half ago. Wow. SO much has happened and changed within these three hundred posts. Let's go back on a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

My very first blog post here.

My first practice run with my new camera here.

My first photo shoots with my sister. Bridal and Portrait.

My first family session here.

My first Trash the Dress session. Part One and Part Two.

My first couples session here.

My first newborn session here.

Girlie's first birthday here!

A bridesmaid photo shoot that brought so many new clients and friendships my way! Here.

Our accident in Tofino last July here.

One of my favourite sessions to date, and  the start of a great friendship! Here.

My first wedding (not my very own, by still my first experience with weddings!) Here.

The launch of my website and new branding! Here.

The day our lives changed forever when we found out about Cheyenne's life threatening nut allergy here.

My first engagement session here.

Our Five year wedding anniversary here.

The day I was asked to fly to Australia to photograph a wedding here.

Our first family photo shoot here.

Girlie's first Halloween here.

My first wedding here.

A personal post of the importance of taking time to be, here.

Booking a trip to Las Vegas for WPPI here.

My two hundredth blog post here.

My second wedding here.

Our Christmas story here.

Probably the most important, amazing, overwhelming blog post I've ever written. And moreso, experienced. The post that still has the most views than any other post I've ever written. The miracle. Here.

Buying a new lens! Here.

Attempting my 30-for-30 challenge, but only making it about 15 days or something! Here.

Having to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Meetzy, on account of Cheyenne's allergies here.

A short reflection on my time in Vegas here.

A huge revelation for me. Learning how to establish my business the way it works FOR ME, not for you. Here.

My first wedding blog feature! Here.

My first destination wedding in Australia (third wedding overall) here.

My fourth wedding here.

My fifth wedding here.

Wow, did that all just happen in a year and a half?? Crazy! And so good!

Today, for my three hundredth post, another feature! This time a preview of what you'll be seeing in the June issue of the Weddings in BC magazine!!!! Yes, Beth and Dan's wedding will be featured in a printed magazine this month. Whaaaaat??? That's unreal! That was my third wedding ever!! You can already read some of the details on their website by clicking this link.

So, basically, I'm floating on air right now. So excited about all the things that have happened for me over this last year and a half, excited about the things that are yet to come! Nine more weddings for 2011. Love it!

Her Ways

Her ways never cease to amaze me. Her ways are beyond her years. Her ways are carefree and friendly and full of joy and excitement, and void of fear and self-consiousness. Her ways inspire me. Yes, I am inspired by a little girl, a few weeks shy of being two years old.

If only I had half as much heart and openness as her. Not a stranger will walk by without being acknowledged with a big wave, a huge smile, and a resounding "Hi!" And not one of those strangers has yet to not smile back. I believe God brings children into this world to bring joy to everyone around them, especially those who are lacking it. She will make anyone feel special. She will have the longest conversation with anyone that will give her the time. She trusts. She approaches. She loves. She is the epitome of who Christ is and wants us to be. I am truly blessed by this little person, my daughter.

She has led me to so many people, so many conversations have been started and friendships have been made because of her ways. I have no doubt in my mind that God has a special purpose for this little child. A child who really has faith like a child.

And no fear. She will throw her arms around the biggest dogs and beg them for kisses without ever stepping back. No fear. We strive to keep her this way. To teach her the dangers that are around, but not to instil fear. Fear is manmade. Fear does not come from God. I don't want to instil my own irrational fears on my daughter, or anyone's irrational fears, for that matter. When we see a spider, we do not scream. We marvel at the complexity of it's many legs and thank God for making all the animals. When we see someone standing on a high ledge, we do not remark on the scariness of such heights, for there is nothing wrong with heights, but only our own perceptions and fear of what could happen from that height. The word "Scary" is not often heard in this house. I've lived most of my life in fear and I do not want the same for my daughter. That is not living life to the full, and that is all I want for my daughter. Living the life that Christ intended for her to live. And her ways, her lack of fear, will give her the chance to live this life.

Her ways are one of knowledge. The things this girl knows at her age are astounding. The alphabet has been memorized (not the song, but the individual letters), her repertoire of songs is uncountable, her memory is so sharp. Not only does she point out the usual balls and cars, she also points out abacuses and helicopters. It's true.

And we laugh. Never have I had this much laughter in my life on such a consistent basis! Not a day goes by without a good chuckle on my part, and a good journal entry trying to write down the memory to remember forever.

These are her ways. I am so blessed to call her mine. I am so excited to watch her grow and to see the ways that God will use her to further his kingdom, even more than she already has.

(Pictures taken at 2 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and almost 2 years old!)

Meet Ray

Today I want to introduce you to a very special man. I met him 8 years ago, in New Zealand. This Irish born, Australian citizen with the most interesting accent changed my life in so many ways. I saw on Facebook that he posted some links on YouTube with a miniature version of the week long seminar we heard in New Zealand (while at Bible School). He is a discipleship counsellor and his passion for God and his ministry is infectious. And his accent makes you pay attention!

I'll never forget our first meeting. He met with each student individually and basically broke down our temperament for us based on the questions we answered prior to seeing him. Everyone is either a Thinker, Feeler or Doer or some combination of the three and you can be different temperaments in Socially, under Stress, and with Affection. Very intriguing!

Anyway, I sit down in a chair across from Ray and listen intently as he tells me that I'm a Feeler and that I would make a great entrepreneur and that I could basically go to China and sell tea. Sure, that sounds great, I'm thinking. But why do I have to go to China? I was so confused. He went on with this analogy for quite some time, and all the while I'm still wondering why I would have to go to China to sell tea and that I really didn't want to. I would rather stay near my home! Finally, I asked him why I had to go to China and he just about fell off his chair laughing. Once he explained the metaphor or analogy or whatever it is, I finally understood! Now it made sense!

Ray came to Vancouver the next year and I set it up for him to do a workshop at my church. He, again, made time to have some one on one appointments and I signed myself up right away. I had just started dating James and had some issues that I was struggling with, personally. Needless to say, if I hadn't spent that hour with Ray, I would most likely not be married to James right now, or anyone else for that matter. Ray showed me the fear in my life that was keeping me distant and closed off from accepting love from others, the result of having been hurt many times by guy friends in high school. And he made me realize how this fear was affecting me relationship with God and my view of Him. I was a changed person after that.

So, thank you Ray, for impacting my life (and my family's and so many of my friends' lives) in more ways that you will ever know.

To hear his wicked accent and to listen to his message, check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Free Wedding Photography!

There's a reason I've been hounding you to check out Weddings In BC on a regular basis. Today is the day when you can cash in on a big giveaway prize... your wedding day photography done by me, for free!! Be sure to go to their Facebook Page and tell them what you're doing to personalize your wedding and your name will be put in the draw!

I just love seeing my name and images on a wedding blog! I never in a million years thought that that would ever happen. Two years ago I would have sighed and said "I wish" if someone told me that I would be doing what I am today and that I would have multiple features on a wedding blog! But it's happening, and I am so grateful and honoured.

Since we're on the topic of features and Weddings In BC, check out today's post in their inspiration room that I contributed showing a few of my favourite locations for photo shoots in the Vancouver area!

One Week

So much has happened in one week. It's been a whirlwind of a week, a busy week. It all started with Mother's Day last weekend.

This was my second Mother's Day and it was a good one. The morning started with church. My mom, sister and brother-in-law joined us at our church and then we came back to our place for beef barley soup for lunch and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream for dessert! So good. After Cheyenne's nap the three of us (James, Cheyenne and myself) went for a walk to our local Starbucks, always a good outing in our opinion! When we got back to our place we got out the"by-yoom" as Cheyenne calls it. It's her ball but she thinks it's a balloon. We watched and laughed and Cheyenne kicked and ran after that ball all Phoebe style (from Friends. Remember that episode where her and Rachel go running together and Phoebe flails her arms around as she runs? Yeah, that's our Girlie, just miniature!) She has the best kick I've ever seen. It's like the goose step. Her leg doesn't bend and keeps swinging around until it's hip level. So cute! And as she chases the ball she yells "I get it. I get it. I get it. I get it." until she gets it. Then we took her baby for a walk in her dolly stroller around the complex.

That's probably my most favourite times as a family. When we're all outside playing together. Watching our little one smile from ear to ear and just soak in her surroundings. She has no fear of getting dirty or wet. It's awesome. This will be a good summer!

The evening ended with pizza night. Always a high light of my week. We waited until Cheyenne was in bed this time so we could enjoy it alone, just the two of us, while we caught up on some of our shows.

The rest of the week was ridiculously busy. Buying a new place is not a low-stress situation! We looked an numerous homes and had multiple conversations about what we liked and didn't like about each one. The pressure of it all has been getting to us. Luckily we have the most amazing realtor to help us with this decision. Judy has been so patient, understanding, honest and accommodating for us, we are so grateful we've chosen her to be our realtor again. Seriously, if you're getting in the market, do give her a call!!

Today we'll know if our house is sold or not. I'll let you know the result!

And thank you so much for your patience in the last couple of weeks. I know I'm not producing much for you to look at these days, but it's been really chaotic around here and I've had minimal time in my dungeon. Hopefully after today things will settle down a bit! I appreciate your understanding so much!!