Emily Loo

I call her Emily Loo - she's so cute! I took some pictures of our adorable niece on Friday. We didn't get too many, but I think there are some really good ones! Hopefully Brett and Jess like them. We'll have to try again soon. But, I'm so lucky that I have such a fabulous family that lets me test out my photo skills on them - and I love that they're all so photogenic! So, here are a few more of Emily and I do have more of Ezra coming! Do you guys realize that it's December tomorrow? Crazy!

 Little Christmas card idea.

I'm taking my first set of pregnancy pictures tomorrow - wish me luck!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Ours was wonderful! We got to spend our time with these cuties!
Our niece Emily - Matt's brother Brett and his wife Jess' daughter.

Our nephew Ezra - my brother Talin and his wife Jen's son.

The best thing about the holidays is the time we get to spend with family! We headed home on Tuesday the 24th - Talin's 29th birthday! We had a fun time hanging out at mom and dad's. On Wednesday morning we made our way to Wyoming for more Thanksgiving fun. Matt's step-mom's parents, Judy and Ray, were nice enough to open their house and cook a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner for us. Yummy! We got to play games 'till all hours of the night, watch some awesome football and generally feel welcome and constantly full of turkey and pie!

You should have seen Matt with Emily! Oh my gosh, it was the cutest thing! He was so sweet and attentive to her - he always wanted to hold her! I loved watching him play with her! It just reinforces what I already knew - he's going to be an amazing daddy, when we get around to that.

Hope you all have a great long weekend! Here's to an even more wonderful Christmas!

My Grandma & Grandpa Wilson

I took a fast-paced trip down to Salt Lake Saturday so I could get some stuff done for a pregnancy shoot I'm doing on December 1st (stay tuned for that!), and I had to chance to go spend some time with my grandparents. John & Gladys are mom's parents and have always been so good to me! I love them so much - and I have a blast with them, they are so hilarious together! I have so many awesome memories with them. They have also been so supportive of Matt and me, along with my photo business. I wanted to take this chance to thank them for all they do for us - we are truly grateful to have such a wonderful family! We are so blessed!

I got some fun pictures of them before they took me to a yummy lunch and sent me home with some meat pies for Matt and me to enjoy! Yum! So here is a good one and there are more to come.

Matt and I are heading out tomorrow for a fun-filled Thanksgiving. We wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday! Here's hoping we don't get caught in the snow. Loves!

So Cute Bjarnson Fam!

I finished up the Bjarnson family pictures today - I had so much fun with these! So here are a few more. Enjoy!

I also wanted to add my sadness about the Aggies loss to the Utes last night. Despite all my yelling at the t.v. Jared Quayle still missed that all-important shot at the end. But, they will be bouncing back - it's ok to lose one. I also can't believe that the end of the semester is almost here - man, it will be so great having Matt around and not stressed about a paper or project. I sure love my hubby! Here's to a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving weekend!

Sunday Post, On Wednesday!

I realized today that I didn't post my Sunday series blog on reasons to visit New York City! My No.2 reason to visit NYC is Broadway! Whether you like the dramity of "Chicago", or crazy-fun beat in "Hairspray," there is something for everyone on Broadway! Last time I went, in 2006, I saw "Mamma Mia" with my cousin Nicci. When I went back in 2003 we saw "Thoroughly Modern Millie," which to this day remains my favorite! Be sure to plan before you go, shop around for the best price and even see if you can go see more than one show - I guarantee it will be worth it.

Me and Nicci right before we saw "Mamma Mia," we had such a blast - Nicci is so much fun to travel with!

Bjarnson Family Preview

I had such a fun time taking pictures of the Bjarnsons today! We had a pretty good snow storm this morning and luckily it stopped long enough for us to run out and get some really fun shots. I absolutely love this family, we have had a great time getting to know each other and I love being able to watch baby Josh! He was such a trooper today - it was so cold and he kept a smile the whole time! He even smiles on queue - I had to make some funny faces toward the end that not only made Josh laugh, but I go Amanda and Mike laughing also. Here are some of the first ones I've gotten the way I want! Enjoy! Thanks Bjarnson Fam!

Tessa

I picked up some new studio background stuff and wanted to try it out. I had lunch/dinner with a couple of my friends, Sarah, Tasha and Tessa tonight -  Tessa agreed to come over and help me out. I'm going to be taking pictures of Tessa prior to her LDS mission and I'm so excited about it! I know she will make a fantastic missionary! Tessa was my roommate the year before I got married and it turns out that her dad and my parents went to high school together - what a small world! So here's a little preview along with my new backdrop - I love those pink flowers. Have a beautiful Friday night!

Me By Me

I was testing out some new ideas tonight in our apartment. I moved the couch, brought out my lighting methods and got to work figuring out new things. I haven't used my camera in what feels like forever - I hate being sick for that reason. I've been getting inspiration in so many places while sitting on my couch waiting for this stupid cough to go away. Anyway I finally got a good one of me - yay! I'm so thrilled to be taking pictures Saturday of two families - the Enghs in the morning and the Bjarnsons in the afternoon. Let's pray it doesn't snow on us!

I got the old Polaroid from my grandpa John. I'm on the hunt to find film for it. Wouldn't that be cool?

I Heart Taylor Swift

What I love the most is that she can laugh at herself - she was so hilarious on Saturday Night Live. Go here to see the entire episode. She cleaned up last night at the Country Music Awards, winning album of the year, music video of the year, female vocalist of the year and entertainer of the year. She's so genuine and adorable, plus she writes all of her music - how many singers can you say that about these days? Anyway, I heart Taylor Swift and think she's going to be around for a long time. Here's her opening monologue fro SNL.

Up!

"I was hiding under the porch because I love you!" I have to say that Pixar just keeps getting better and better. We got "Up" from Netflix yesterday and I've been watching it and I just love it! The beginning montage of Carl & Ellie is adorable - Russell is so cute and Doug is just beyond compare! It amazes me how Disney & Pixar come up with this stuff - how cool would that be to work with those amazingly creative people every day? Man, even the end credits are great! And we for sure need a dog - I don't think we can live another day without one - oh, and I'm sure Matt will want to name it Kevin, whether it's a boy or girl puppy.

I'm also pretty excited for this one from Disney!

Two Months of Josh

I was looking at the pictures on my phone today and I thought it would be fun to make a little collage of my time with Josh. It has been so nice to be back watching him this week - I can't tell you how boring it was without him! He's my bud!

City Love - Reasons to Visit New York City

I wanted to start a Sunday series of blogs and while at work tonight I thought, "why do I like New York?" So I decided to tell you all why I want to visit this awesome place. I'll also share some fun pics from my previous two trips to one of my favorite places on earth. Here is reason number one..

Black and White Cookies from Dean & Deluca! Nestled right next to Rockefeller Plaza, Dean & Deluca offers high-end confections. From hot cider to the best chocolate-dipped strawberries, this place is heaven - if I could design my own heaven it would be this little nook. The mentioned cookies have a hint of lemon in the frosting and a wonderful shortbread underbelly - scrumptious! When I went to New York with my cousin, Nicci, I bought about four boxes and ate two of them on our way to Vermont - I also almost got hit by a car crossing the road to get to the shop - it wasn't a scheduled stop for us on our trip. She didn't like them, but that's ok because then I didn't have to share. I also had to pay extra to get my bag home from the Cincinnati airport  - it was overweight.

When we went to the city in 2003 with my high school concert choir I don't think we went - I think it was my brother who introduced us to them. He's the one that finds the cool stuff.

Me and Nicci on Ellis Island in 2006! We had such a wonderful time - we spent about two days in the city before embarking on our church history tour through about five states. We saw "Mama Mia" and ate at an awesome pizza place - we should have written down the name of that one. But everyone else on the tour with us went to McDonald's to eat. Word to the wise - when you're in New York, or anywhere amazing for that matter, you don't eat at McDonald's if you can help it. We did when we went there for our high school tour, but where else can you go that has fair prices and something for everyone? But we'll forget that and default to my former advice.

I love New York and can't wait to experience it with Matt.

So Odd

I went back to work tonight for the first time in a week. It was nice to get out of the house and interact with people besides "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." I wore a mask over my mouth and did everything I could to wipe my germs off of everything I touched. My coworkers have families and really don't need to get sick. Anyway the guys started talking about this segment on ESPN last night, it involved the BYU womens soccer team - well, you can see for yourself how bizarre it is.

And can you believe this girl wasn't given and red card or thrown out of the game? What could have made her so mad that she had to go on a rampage against the competing team? Weird.

Anyway, I had planned to go to a baby shower for my good friend Shalea tomorrow, but because of my condition I think it would be best to stay at home. I wish her and her husband happiness and a healthy baby boy. I hope she likes the present I got for him. Have fun without me ladies, hopefully we can all get together when our health and schedules permit! Lots of love!

Shower invite I made for Shalea's shower. The blank spots are info I took out so I could post it.

All I Want for Christmas

Everyone has been bugging me to get a Christmas list out and now that I've had some obvious down-time I decided to get it done. I know that some of the items are way too expensive, but I can always dream. My photography wish list is much longer, but I realize that I'm going to have to scrimp and save to get those things - I'm ready to work hard for it! 50 days 'til Christmas - I think once I get feeling better I'm going to celebrate by putting up our Christmas tree.

New Inspiration Find

So, as you can tell, I get extremely bored while just sitting here on my couch, praying that at some point in the day I'll feel better. Anyway, I was checking out my favorite blogs this morning and found this amazing photographer - Max Wanger! He captured this couple's day perfectly. It seems that everything about this wedding day fit together effortlessly - weddings can be whatever you want them to be, as this couple proves, ladies you don't even have to go for the traditional white dress if you don't feel like it's you. I thought I'd share these, and you can connect to Max's blog down under 'Blogs We Love.'

I also was up late last night, about 2:30 a.m., and I unfortunately saw the first episode of this season's 'For the Love of Ray J.' First of all, he gives all of the girls nicknames - why? I think it's because he doesn't want to remember real names and get to attached - lame-o. The other thing is when did these girls decide that the way to get a man is to lose all of your self-respect? But, I guess that went out the window when they made the choice to compete for the love of a man who didn't stay with the woman he chose in the first season of the show. The thing I hate the most is that now I'm interested and will probably end up watching the rest of it - blah!

I also saw a commercial for the winter Olympics yesterday - it made me cry, and they haven't even started yet. I'm a sucker for Olympic montages - well, montages in general. 99 days to Vancouver!

Minted & Inspiration

I was going through my blog roll today and went to one of my favorites, All Things Lovely, and saw that one of their contributors had designed a birthday card for the Minted challenge - a fabulous card design company, everything from baby announcements to stationary. I think it's so wonderful that we can have these adorable designs at our fingertips. Pick your card, upload your picture and personalize. They even add in envelopes and return address labels if you want. I had a blast exploring the site, I added in a picture I took of my brother-in-law Scott and made a graduation announcement - it's a wonderful alternative to sending out the same cards as someone else - they're beautiful and fully customizable, you can even change the font. So, if you're looking for a fun Christmas card or a baby announcement, you can check out this site - I'm so excited to have a reason to utilize their services!

A few samples..

I also love Our Labor of Love Photography! I'm constantly obsessed with their wedding shoots - they are so unique and fun. I have two weddings booked for the spring and I fully intend on channeling this amazing husband-and-wife team. I only hope that my photos turn out as beautiful as theirs. Here's a taste of the awesomeness - to view this entire event head to the OLOL blog!

We also want to send a shout out to our good friend Justin - he reported to the Missionary Training Center today. He will be serving in the Atlanta, Georgia mission - we wish him the best!

Don't Come to Our House

Well, wouldn't  you stay away? Good news though, I don't have the Swine Flu, even though my mother taunted me about it the entire time I was at the instacare tonight. I have bronchitis, with a tiny bit of ear infection thrown into the mix. Bless my husband's heart, he has been sooo patient with me. I hate being sick, who doesn't, but I tend to get mad. It totally inconveniences everyone - I was telling mom that being sick as a kid is so different than being sick as an adult. When you're a kid you can stay home from school and it doesn't make much difference, but I have to miss out on this cute boy...

and the guys that count on my at the newspaper. So, with antibiotics, Mucinex and a lot of cough medicine, let's hope that Erin can get better real soon! But, until then, don't come to our house - not only because I'm sick, but because it also looks disgusting.
How I keep myself entertained...

So, for all of you out there with a cold season style-cramper, I feel for you - I'm right there with you!
Happy November, listen to some Christmas music people!

Josh as Handy Manny!

We got to hang out with Josh and his mom & dad, Amanda & Mike, last Friday at the MASA Halloween Carnival. I'm so in awe over Josh's little tool belt, Amanda made it (I really can't even imagine how to start that). He looked so cute in his boots - you could tell he was having a good time. Amanda has been so patient with me this Fall when it comes to being sick, I'm so grateful that she understands - I just don't want to get her cute family sick. Stay tuned for their family portraits.

For those of you who don't know who Handy Manny is here you go, he's on the Disney channel.

It was such a fun Halloween - and I can't tell you how excited I am that it's November! Mom & I started listening to Christmas music this weekend! Bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Now let's hope that I get over this cold soon! It's no fun being sick - I'm feeling pretty helpless and sooo bored!

Halloween at Mom's House!

Matt & I spent Halloween at mom & dad's house! I wore my Gertrude costume, Jill was Minnie Mouse, Diane wore her poodle skirt and Allie was a candy striper (follow the link if you don't know what that is). We had so much fun, ate too much and got to catch up with old friends! Scott & Courtney Huish came over with their adorable son Sam - it was great to see him in his kung-fu costume! Bart, Colleen, Ken & Pam all came over as usual for mom's annual Halloween shindig. The food was scrumptious & the company was even better!

Our neighbors Dave & Carson!

I have to say that my parents are hilarious! Best picture of the night!