Slideshows are the greatest - when done by someone else:)

So here is a slideshow from Saturdays wedding. Janey did the slideshow for me because we were crunched for time. Thanks Janey I know I tell you this all the time, but you truly are the best:)

SATURDAYS WEDDING - ANGIE AND JASON

What a great day:)

Today I went wine tasting with my friends Jensen, Anita, Tim, and Cheryl. We had such a great time. Jensen is a wedding photographer who use to live in Santa Barbara but he moved to Denver Colorado. He is such a great friend and I miss him so much. He seriously calls me every one to two weeks just to say hi and to see how I am doing, now that is a true friend. He is so positive and I know that whenever we have plans to hang out we are going to have so much fun. I love talking to him about his business because he is a master of marketing and I am so encouraged by how he runs his business.

So first Jensen took me and Anite to Cold Springs Tanvern for some amazing tri-tip sandwiches, and then we met Cheryl and Tim for some crazy wine tasting. It was a perfect, super relaxing day, which is exactly what I needed.

Thanks again for everything and I can't wait to hang with you all again.

Definitely in LOVE:)

This couple that Janey and I shot today were so beautiful, sweet, and man on were they in love. Even when I shot their engagement photos I thought to myself "shooting your wedding is going to be a piece of cake". Well at least photographing the two of them was. I love how they are so comfortable around the camera and at one point I said pretend I'm not here. (kinda cheesey I know, but it totally worked). They totally went into a about us mode and forgot about everything else around them, it was so beautiful:)

I'll post a slideshow tomorro:) Goodnight all.

P.S. Thank you Janey soooooo much for shooting with me. CHALLENGE US:) - um it can't be done:) LOL

Vote Now:) LOL

Ok it's official!!!!!!! You can register for Partnercon LA.

GO HERE

So many great speakers so make sure you check it out:)

Hanging with my Colorado Mom and sis:)

Because Janey and I are like sisters, her mom is like my mom:) Whenever she's in town we make sure that we all get to hangout:) A couple of nights ago, mom, took me and and Janey to the Sage and Onion. It's this super cute restaurant right off of state street. We just sat there and talked for the longest time, which I enjoyed so much. We talked about our businesses, where they are going, ideas we have, and life in general. IT WAS SOOOOOOO GREAT!!!!! While we were sitting there we also talked about how this place would be a great place to go on a date:) hmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!! -----

A big thankyou to my Colorado mom and sister for the amazing dinner:) Love ya both:)

Needing attention and love:)

So I've been helping out with Junior highers for about 2 years now and every time I start to think "oh I don't have enough time to help out anymore" some junior higher or high schooler asks to hang out with me or I hear some crazy story about a junior higher and what they are going through. Being picked on at school, taken out of their home and put in another foster home, or not feeling loved at home are some of the many things that I hear. Some of these parents seriously don't deserve these kids. They don't spend anytime with them at all. Why have kids if you're not going to pour your heart and sole into them. Even tonight I seriously sat back and thought could I adopt you?? Because I really want to. My heart goes out to these children and I know that my time helping out with junior highers is not over and it's just begun. I know that I am there for a reason and I am going to make a more conscience effort to hang out with these kids.

SO I started thinking, I want four kids so why not adopt two..... Would you adopt, and if so what age???????

PartnerCon LA - 2006:) - COMING SOON!!!!!!

So I just saw on David Jay's blog that the PartnerCon website wasn't supposed to be released yet. LOL .... OOPS.....

So anyways, keep your eyes open for the PartnerCon Website on the Pictage forum, which should be released any day. And when it is released make sure you vote:)

What a classy couple:)

Yesterday I assisted Mary Jane at a wedding in Los Olivios. Classy is the only way to describe this amazing couple. From the very moment that we met the bride she was so sweet to us which is always a great thing and definitely made me feel vey relaxed. The bride was very calm and everything that came out of her mouth was so positive and uplifting. I was blessed to be able to photograph such an amazing couple.

Unitl next week Mary Jane:) LOL.....

IT CAN'T BE A BIG BUG:O

So tonight I shot a wedding with Mary Jane and it was wonderful like always. However, I had the funniest thing happen to me. Actually, at the time it wasn't that funny. Anyways, as most of you know I was raised in the country and am a country girl at heart in many ways:) However, I HATE bugs WITH A PASSION, especially spiders.

The story begins:)............ It was about half way through the reception, which was outside, and something starts to tickle my back. At first I thought it was the tag on my sweater and didn't think anything of it. About five minutes later something starts to tickle me again and I think to myself IT CAN'T BE A BUG (deep down inside I knew it was, aaaaaahhhh). The worse thing about it was that it was under my sweater on me. I quickly smashed it and soon realized that whatever freaky creature was crawling on me was smashed under my sweater. SICK!!!!! I quickly spotted Janey, ran over to her and start to frantically tell her that there's a bug under my sweater. She runs her hand over my back and realizes that whatever is under my sweater is HUGE. SHe lifts the sweater and goes ummmmm there is nothing there. At that moment we look down and guess what we saw???? Yep, the biggest bug ever. At that moment I almost passed out... Later on in the evening we were looking at the DJ, which is where I had been standing when the little creature decided to invade my personal space and at the moment a big bug hit him on the side of the face. Janey almost lost it and started laughing soooo hard. She went up to him because I am sure it looked a little awkward that we were staring at him laughing and he said the bugs were wine bugs. WHATEVER THAT IS!!!!!! All I know is that I hate bugs even more, and all night I felt like something was crawling on me.

My sis:)

So one of the most amazing ladies I will ever meet is my sister Mandy. She is seriously the most caring, generous, give her shirt off her back for someone, kind of girl. Growing up I remember she was such a tom boy and she would beat me up:) However, I would pick on her sooooo much which then led to a good beating by my sister,haha, but things have definitely changed since then(thank goodness). I would always tell people that "I don't need a brother because I have Mandy":) Now people think she is older then me:) She is super mature and I am so blessed to have her as my sister. Now she calls me to make sure I'm doing ok. Usually with sisters the younger one looks up to the older one, but I think it's the opposite with us. I have watched her mature and grow up into this amazing beautiful young lady who is extremely loving, just down to earth, and people just love her for who she is.

So, anyways, I hadn't seen her for a couple of months because she is going to school in Idaho but she is on her summer break right now. Waaahoooo..... So I went home for a couple of days and Mandy drove me and a couple of her friends to the beach. We had so much fun. we played in the waves all day long. Yep, just like little girls again. I swear our maturity level drops five years when we get together.......:)


I only have a few pics but Mandy took tons so I'll have to grab some from her later. I have also included a couple of her from a year or so ago. Yes guys she is single but you have to go through some crazy interviews to date my sister:) hehe

QUIRKS:)

I have really been thinking about quirks this week and how easy it is to dwell on the quirks that someone has. I am also finding that I have sooooo many. LOL... Even when I was driving for two hours last night I was thinking about them and how I could change my quirks.

For example, I worry and stress alot, which can become very annoying to many of my friends I am sure. So I've been trying to change how I stress and worry but find that it's really hard to fix these areas in my life. I started to ask myself, how does one change their quirks??????

So tonight I was having a conversation with my Dad and all of a sudden he started talking about quirks (out of the blue). I thought it was so funny because I had been thinking about this all week but hadn't mentioned it to him at all. He started to tell me that everyone has quirks and instead of dwelling on someone's quirks in a negative way you need to learn from them and love that person for who they are. It hit me at that moment that yes I have quirks and I am so far from being perfect, but a true friend is going to love me for those quirks. My Dad ended the conversation by saying "quirks are what make us". Then I thought about it a little more and realized that it's true, quirks make us unique and who we are. waaahoooo!!!

So I ask you, what are some of your quirks??????

Thank you Gary and Melissa:)

This weekend Gary and Melissa took me, Janey, DJ, and four of Melissa's friends (Ashley, Diane, Lizze, and Crystal) to Catalina. We went in Gary's boat (HMS Kewlona) which is extremely nice and I felt very safe:) However, there is never a dull moment with this crew, which is why I love hanging out with them. When we finally arrived to the beautiful island we had to take a smaller boat from the yaht to get on land. Next thing I know Gary goes "we only have 30 seconds per person to load on the smaller boat". I started thinking, there is no way that I am going to make it from HMS Kewlona to the smaller boat with everything in my hands in 30 seconds. Then he started to count out 30 seconds for everyone and I started to get a little worried. Come to find out there is no time limit and he was just pulling our legs, or maybe I'm the only one who believed him:) haha

Anyways, I had such an amazing time relaxing and hanging with amazing people who I absolutely love:) Thanks again Melissa and Gary. Also, Janey thanks for keeping me company on the drive down and a big thanks to DJ for letting us take your car and for letting us sing all the way down to Santa Monica:) hehe.... "oh I love that song"

To see more pics go to Gary's blog or David Jay's

Why Blogs are Important

Right now I'm reading "Marketing Without Advertising", which was recommended by Gary Fong. I love this book and when I actually find time to read it's super hard to put it down. So I thought I would share this paragraph with you all which I found pretty interesting.

"Any Business and especially a hospitality business, has to be renewed constantly to feel alive to clients. A business that radiates robustness and enthusiasm attracts clients and spending like a magnet. If everything remains the same day and day out, it gets static and there is a stale feeling in the air. It's palpable. It can be as simple as fresh flowers and a new greeting. If clients sense that your place of business is a constant work in progress, striving for great goals, they will keep coming back to see the progress if nothing else".

Even though the author is talking about the physical appearance of a business, as a photographer I was encouraged to apply this advice to maintaining and updating my blog and website. Blogs and websites are our number one marketing tool and should be kept up and updated all the time. Yes it's work but well worth it.........

Ok, gotta get back to reading:)

ACCOUNTABILITY:)

So starting tomorrow I am staying off of suger for two weeks. This is going to be extremely hard because for those who know me know that I LOVE sweets:( So by posting this I am holding myself accountable and if anyone wants to join me then e-mail me and we can hold each other accountable:) LOL

Ok ready set go.......

What great friends I have:)

So today I turned 23.... I'm not a huge birthday person, and today I was trying to figure out why I'm like that and I came to the conclusion that being the center of attention isn't really my favorite position to be in. I have always preferred to be the one behind the scenes, or in big groups I'm the one who is off on the side in a smaller group:) LOL.... But one time a year I get to be the one who gets most of the attention and I am sure I turn red:) Especially when they start singing happy birthday, that's the worst. he he...

Well today I got to spend my birthday with some of my dearest friends..... Melissa Carl, Gary Fong, David Jay, Dane Sanders, Becker, Keats, Shyla, and Kristen. They took me out to a super nice dinner At Chads restaurant, ice cream at Cold Stones, and fun hang out time at DJ's place. I had so much fun and really it was ideal. Thank you all for being so wonderful and amazing friends. I am blessed to know you all.

Can't wait to hang with you guys tomorrow....

Love you all so very much,
Amy
P.s. Janey we missed you and can't wait to see you tomorrow:) Travel safe girly!!!