okay friends & family. i am baaaaack!!!
this makes me so incredibly happy.
when we moved here, for some reason, our blog crashed on us.
and time slipped away from us to finally sit down and get things fixed.
when the dust settled from moving, my computer genius husband fixed everything.
and thanks to a night off of work - i am here and able to start blogging again.
seriously - there is SOOOO much to catch everyone up on.
i guess i’ll start from october 3rd - the day we left oklahoma.
buckle up - there’s gonna be a lot of pictures just from the first few days of moving!

first of all - i have to mention some friends of ours that totally blessed us!!
adam & annie! they are one AMAZING couple.
they took time off of work and helped us move to new mexico.
seriously - they are such great friends.

we all woke up super early and started our journey west.
once in texas, we stopped at a rest stop for a lil’ picnic we made.
it was a beautiful view! and nice to relax and rest halfway through our trip.

once we arrived in NM, we quickly found our new home - blew up our air mattresses and slept!
the next day, one of my lifelong best friends (& her boyfriend) and one of my many cousins came over to help us unpack our uhaul.

while unpacking - i snapped a quick shot of the front of our new house. the house quickly grew on us and we are way in love with it. there was a lot to get adjusted to. but overall - we like it.



and here is the reason i wanted this house. once i saw the picture of the dining room online - i knew this is where i wanted to live. and thanks to Gods favor - we got it! (little did we know - our new home would be just a couple minutes and a few streets away from our new church and job!) sorry - i don’t have any latest pics of the home. i need to take some of the finished product… hmn.

after a couple days of unpacking and getting things set up. adam, annie, daniel & i got out and had a fun day to ourselves. we also did a complimentary maternity shoot of adam & annie since they so graciously helped us. we took a few pics of them on our way to NM during the drive. then did more at the UNM campus. ever since nick & amy’s stellar shoot - i now love going to college campuses for shoots.

we walked around and found this vegan cafe. seeing that we’re not vegans. we settled for some organic smoothies. (except annie - she was hungry. since she’s pregnant - she gets what she wants).

(they’re not kidding with the corn tortilla chips).

(seriously - they’re way cute!)

(adam was serious about that java smoothie).

after our vegan cafe adventure - we wanted some meat. and found the best greek food restaurant i’ve ever been to. this would be the view of the boys while annie & i did some self portraits.

later that night - we went up the sandia mountain tramway, where we had a spectacular view of the city at night. it was super fun - and super cold.

on the morning of adam & annie’s departure - we were greeted with a view of the hot air balloon fiesta.

this would be our view as we were taking adam & annie to the airport.



i’ve been wanting to post these pics for over a month now. i have a ton more to post of a couple shoots i’ve done since we moved. including the infamous senior pics of amanda. all those will come VERY soon.

okay. I know I haven’t blogged much (or at all) since our big move. so much has happened in just a few days! we’re now onto day 3 in our new mexico adventure.
and since we don’t have the Internet yet, I’m using the wonderful technology of my iPhone.
this morning I woke up to a beautiful view right outside my bedroom window. I still am in awe of the beauty here. so weird since I’ve been here a million times before.
yesterday, we went to a new walmart. that was different. a different layout than what we’re used to and definitely a different view from when we walked outside. I was seriously expecting to see 71st street in front of me. but was greeted with a desert view and dry air.
I’m still getting use to actually living here!
our house is amazing. a bit smaller than expected but it’s definitely growing on me. it has a lot of personality and a lot of neat features about it. like a central vacuum unit, radiant heated floors, and the cute courtyards around it. it’s completely different than what we’re used to but it’s a nice adjustment.
some people have asked and were concerned about our cats. they took the drive here well. one even chilled out on the dashboard while we were driving. once we got here - it was a different story. they were so confused. melody became depressed right away. she went directly to our closet and hid there for quite awhile. then she went under a blanket and would not come out. at one point we thought she escaped!! so with a full 6 person search - we found her in a tiny ball under a sheet. her mannerisms were completely different. BUT… once we got our furniture out and set up. she finally decided to come out of her shell and sniff the house. I think seeing familiar things definitely helped. forte returned to his normal self quick. he adjusted fast and was as adventurous as he normally is. he checked out the entire house, played with some local bugs, caught and ate some flies for us and was picture perfect while sleeping on our stairs. so overall - the cats are now doing fine!
yesterday - we went to church for the first time. the church itself is beautiful & nice. but after leaving, Daniel & I looked at each other and knew that it wasn’t where we were to be. so… our search for our new church is underway.
it’s a bit frustrating for me at times. I’m the type to have all my ducks in a row. have a job lined up, have a church set to go to, etc. but now - sitting here with no clue of what is to take place. no clue of where I’m going to work, attend church, do in the next few weeks is definitely out of my comfort zone. but I know it’s also a place of comfort when I let it be. being in this place of vulnerability puts me in a position of saying “God- you’re definitely in control!” when Daniel and I agreed to move here, what we heard from God was “Just get there and let Me do the rest.”
so here we are. still unpacking. still learning the new roads. and falling in love with our new surroundings. and praying, studying & spending time in worship while God is “doing the rest”.
I’m excited to see what happens next. cause with God in control - I know it’s gonna be a good outcome overall.

by the way - thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! to all our friends who helped us move last week. I once heard, “you know your true friends when they help you move!” and our friends definitely showed up and showed us their faithful friendship.
also a thanks to our friends, johanna & matt for showing up here in NM to help us unpack. I’m excited to be near johanna again! we’ve been bff since birth! (literally. our mothers were pregnant with us together.)
and a special thank you to our good friends, Adam & Annie!!!! they’ve definitely showed us their deep friendship by helping us move here to NM. today is their last full day here. and I’m really sad to see them leave. but I know they’ll be back. they definitely have the new mexico bug.
I guess I’m done. today will be filled with sight seeing, shopping & eating!!! good times.
I’ll post more pics from our real camera soon!!
for now- enjoy these random phone pics.

know that we miss you all in Oklahoma. I know we’ll see each other real soon!
love you guys!!

so i have this best friend from forever ago.
her name is stephanie… or as i call her… “stephy”

before my big move, i was excited to be able to do a shoot of her and her uber photogenic son, chase.
these shots represent some fabulous mother & son love.
i heart their bond and how they photograph together.

love you stephy!

and my favorite of the bunch…

this week, i was able to do the bridals for our good friend, jo.
we also did her and her husbands engagement shoot and their wedding day!
i seriously love this new park i recently discovered thanks to a friend of mine.

we had a good time as we walked around, chatted, laughed and snapped some shots of the beautiful joleen.
we’ll also miss this amazing couple when we move.
but i know i’ll be back and will get the privilege to photograph them again.
maybe some maternity shots sometime soon?? hehe.

love you guys!
enjoy your picked favs!

i love how rob sneaked in for this quick kiss

one month ago today, daniel and i woke up early to do a photo shoot of my aunt and uncle in bloomfield, new mexico.
this particular aunt is my moms sister and she’s one that i’ve been close to since a child. her daughter, ranelle, (my cousin) is one of my absolute best friends.
remember the post with ranelles’ kids last fathers day??

anyways.
we had ubers of fun with my aunt lena and uncle ben (aka b. smitty)
they’re really silly and fun to be around.
they’re also celebrating their 5 year anniversary this december! yay for the smiths!
so daniel and i had the honor of photographing them for their anniversary party invites.
it was all good times and good memories.
i’m pretty stoked to be near them when we move to new mexico

love you auntie! and uncle B!

ben is pretty ridiculously silly. he’s always making my aunt laugh!

my aunt & uncle were telling me about their dance lessons they were taking. so i told them to show me a move.

and my favorite of the day…