Ok,  I know. I’m SO behind on blogging and I promised you something fun to look at a few days ago, so here it is!

This is Katherine and Nick. When we originally discussed doing their engagement session they told me that they wanted to do it at American University in Washington DC because that is where they met! (fun idea for engagement locations for any future brides.) Having never been there myself I was looking forward to seeing the campus and having some fun with Katherine and Nick.

The weather held out for us - it literally started raining as I pulled onto the beltway to head home - and we had so much fun searching the campus for fun places to take photos. Katherine and Nick were awesome to work with (I must admit I was surprised that Katherine quickly agreed to lay down in the front loader we found early on in our session!)and I can’t wait for their wedding in October!

Enjoy the show!

OK, OK….I know I have been a blog slacker lately - I have been SO busy that I haven’t had time to post any of the many recent sessions I’ve done, but I PROMISE a new blog posting that won’t dissapoint tomorrow, so hang tight for me, ok?? I have some families. I have some engagement. And I have some weddings…fun stuff, but you’ll have to hang tight for me while I try to catch up!

In the meantime, there is a game of tag going around among the world of photographers and I just got ‘tagged’. When Heather Owens called me at 8am on Friday morning to tell me that she had been tagged I KNEW I was in trouble (she’s not normally up at that hour. Me on the otherhand…)! At least  I had a few days to think about ‘8 things that most people don’t know about me’ but it’s still hard and even harder to have 8 other photographers to ‘tag’ next (in hopes that they won’t hate me! which is why I won’t even bother listing Evan Bishop - he’d proabably kill me!).

First, the rules… 

1. Post these rules before you give the facts.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 peoples, list their name and link to their page
4. Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they’ve been tagged!

So, on to the real business…8 things most people reading this blog don’t know about me…hmmmmm…..(these are in no particular order - just random thoughts that have come to mind - and I mean RANDOM!!):

1. I was a competitive figure skater when I was younger and gave it up to try out for the high school pom squad. I never regretted that decision - being on the pom squad made the 4 years of high school some of the best years of my adolescence. But I do ofter wonder how far I could have gone with figure skating -  I really did love it…

2. When I was 14 years old and working at my first job I saw a young girl die from an asthma attack. It was a horrifying day for me. I remember feeling completely helpless and scared and sad for her and when her parents came to collect her things I just felt so sad.

3. I have NEVER been to the emergency room for myself, but in my daughters 3 years of life have had to take her there 3 times - one time by ambulance!! That doesn’t bode well for the pre-teen/teenage years, does it?? She is going to be living at the beach and bungee jumping of bridges, I just know it!

4. I just found out last week that my right leg is 2mm shorter than my left (don’t ask how I found that out!). And the make-up artist for my own wedding ten years ago informed me that my lips are not even (how can I live another day knowing that?!). And now that I think about it my right foot is 1/2 size bigger than my left….but then again aren’t we all a little crooked?!

5. I had no teeth in the front of my mouth, except for the fangs, from 2nd (which was the WORST YEAR EVER of elementary school - the meanest teacher, no teeth….oh the horror!) until 4th grade. I guess back in the day if you didn’t loose them at an appropriate time they just pulled them. And as luck would have it just after they pulled the bottom four, the top two fell out on their own….thus the lovely nickname in the 2nd grade of ‘fang face’! Unfortunately there are plenty of photos to prove this fact!

6. I am a scrapbooker. No matter how dorky people think it is, I love it. I love to create beautiful pages of memories for my girls when they grow up. I am so dorky that I attend at least 1 3-day event each year and complete 80+ pages in less than 3 days. I think my love of scrapbooking is enhanced by my love of photography…they go hand in hand really well. I have dappled a tiny bit with the digital scrapbooking, but I still really love the tactile work of creating pages with beautiful papers, embellishments, etc.

7. I LOVE to chew gum. I love it so much that my jaw gets tired and sore so I have to force myself to take a break some days. I was an Eclipse girl - love that Polar Ice flavor, but I just tried Orbitz BubbleMint flavor - YUMMMMMIE!

8. I am a dedicated ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ and ‘Dancing With the Stars’ fan. So much so that I actually waited in line the first day of ticket sales to get tickets to the SYTYCD tour in October! The last time I did that was for either Depeche Mode or U2 WAY back in the day. I am in complete awe of the talent that these people possess and I would just LOVE to be able to move like that. But since I can’t, I’ll just watch and enjoy!

 So, that’s all I’ve got for you. I know that was super exciting and can’t imagine that many people are too interested in those random facts, but maybe somebody out there cares. If you do, leave me a comment, but only if it’s nice - LOL!

And now I have to ‘tag’ 8 people:

Heather & Jeremy Jorgensen - a very talented duo from Eldersburg, MD. I met Jeremy very briefly at at PUG meeting a few months ago and was SUPER impressed with their work. He may not even remember meeting me, but I’ll give them a tag and see what happens!!

Michael Clark - another SUPER talented local photographer from Baltimore whom I just adore both personally and professionally. He and his wife, Janee, are two of the nicest people ever and they have AMAZING TALENT to boot!

Stephanie Tueller - I have never met Stephanie in person, we met online through a photo/scrapbooking site a while back, and since she lives in Utah, we will probably never meet, however I would love to meet her! She is a very talented lady and I always LOVE checking out her work. She was very brave and backed off from wedding work to focus on her children and family photography and I just think she does a really beautiful job at everything she does.

Joel & Rita Weibner - don’t know me from the girl next door, but I LOVE their work and am a dedicated blog stalker of their work. Their work is fantastic and I feel like I can relate to them since they are parents and business owners doing kind of the same thing….they inspire me! (they have probably already been tagged by somebody, but thought I’d add them anyway…)

The Image is Found - Jaclyn and Nate Keiser - these two are seriously my ‘photography crush’. They are cool and talented and seem to be super nice too! Ever since I discovered their site and blog a few years ago I am in constant AWE! Their work is beautiful and awe-inspiring and I would LOVE to meet them one day to say ‘hello’ and tell them how much I envy the amazing images that they create. I also LOVE their daughter - she reminds me very much of my own! LOL!

Tara Whitney - Another insanely talented lady whom I admire with all my being. Her work is breathtaking and she has a heart of gold (or so it seems from frequent blog stalking! LOL!). I have been in love with her work since I discovered her (through a scrapbooking/photography site a while ago) and consider her another HUGE source of inspiration!

Doug Boutwell - I often wonder how many amazingly talented individuals live in CA, but I think the answer is safely ‘LOTS’! Doug is one of the creators of the ever-popular ‘Totally Rad Actions’ (which if you don’t have them, just DO IT!). He is ever so nice and also crazy creative and talented.

And lastly - Chenin Boutwell (Boutwell Studios) - the other half of the Doug. I just think these two are super cretive and I love their funky, fun flair. Again, both Doug and Chenin may have been tagged by somebody much bigger and more important than myself, but what the heck?! Is that 8???

Whew - that was a LOT of work….Hope you enjoyed the longest post EVER and keep an eye out for new posts with photos this week! Thanks for your patience!

The only words that I can use to describe Mike and Megan’s wedding day is this - WHAT A PARTY!

The day started early with Megan and her delightful bridesmaids getting pampered at Robert Andrew Salon and Spa. Mary Jameson did a spectacular job on Megan’s hair, as you will see below. While the guys were waiting for the first guests to arrive at the church - and Mike was sweating it out in a room down on the lower level of the church - the girls were arriving at the church parlor for last minute touch-ups.

This wedding was special to both Greg and I, as it was held at our very own church, Calvary United Methodist in Annapolis,(our first time photographing a wedding in our own church AND where we got married 10 years ago!!)  and the service was performed by our wonderful new Associate Pastor, Cynthia Moore-Valentine who gave a wonderful hearfelt message to both Mike and Megan. It was a beautiful service.

After a few formals at the church everybody headed over to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for a hot, but spectacular reception. Everything was beautifully coordinated with the brown and turquois colors - perfect for an ‘bayside’ wedding outside - and the attention to detail was apparant. And we knew it was going to be a rockin’ reception when the introductions started with each couple doing their own crazy dance as they entered, even Mike’s grandmother! It was GREAT! The band, Rollex, rocked the house ALL NIGHT LONG. They were so good! They are not only an amazingly talented group of people, but so personable and spent the whole night interacting with the guests on the dance floor. The were really awesome! The delicious food was catered by Raphael Jurkovis and Tapenade, and the flowers by Flower Follies (located at Tapenade) were just beautiful. The icing on the cake? A gorgeous wedding cake by Cakes and Confections !

The wedding rocked until the very last song (and even included Mike and a few of his groomsmen taking a ‘dunk’ off the dock into the Chesapeake Bay!) and I can’t imagine that there is anybody that DIDN’T have an amazing time at Mike and Megan’s wedding. Greg and I had a great time documenting it and I had a terrible time selecting SO FEW to go into the slideshow, so be sure to check out their album on Pictage when it’s available to see ALL the images we captured!

A special thanks to Mike and Megan - thank you guys so very much for allowing us to be with you on this very special day and we hope you have an amazing honeymoon! We’ll see you when you get home!

Enjoy the show!