The Arnold's...

i was in stillwater mn this past weekend for a good friend dougy rarig's wedding. it was soooooooooo much fun! i'll post those pictures soon- it was four days of festivities so i have a lot of photographs to edit :)

this post is of some family portraits i took this past sunday of the arnold's. i met katie & her husband clint at katie & joe's wedding in phx this past january. small world that it is- the arnold's live in hudson about 6 min away from stillwater. so i got to meet their adorable little boys danny & tommy at the teddy bear park.





they even treated me to ice cream afterwards for my birthday! thanks arnold's i had a great time :)

click here if you'd like to see more.

last night bryan

hosted a lil bday party for me. (my bday isn't until sunday but i leave tomorrow morning for 2.5 weeks) he took this sweet picture so it thought i'd share:


about 20 of our closest friends came -we had papa john's pizza (yummm) & he baked me my favorite cake -chocolate cake with funfetti icing!


after the party was over & we were cleaning up... i started getting a little sad. almost everyone at the party is about to experience some amazing life changes -whether it's moving to l.a., mexico, florida or colorado, having a baby or getting engaged/married. our group of friends here in phoenix is changing drastically. bryan & i have created a great life here -comfortable & fun, but when i get back from this 2 week trip of weddings in minnesota & new york (yeah! doug & molly, mike & lisa!!!!) it's going to be a whole new ball game. so here's my sad little post to everyone that's spicing things up a bit- i'm so very happy for you & a little sad things always have to change, thus is life. i love you.

best bachelorette party ever.

my beautiful friend hannah (we play ultimate frisbee together) is getting married this sept in ohio!!! she decided to have 14 girls hike havasu falls for her bachelorette party & it was fabulous- not what many would expect of a bachelorette party, but everyone that went- whether a hiker or not had so much fun.

i met some amazing women that weekend- 13 of them to be exact. they were definately inspiring but, originally i was a little bit intimidated -remember the two girls that rowed the atlantic ocean two summers ago alone for 45 days? they were with us -sarah & emily, two of the most driven & dedicated ladies i've ever met. you can find their story at www.americanfirerowing.com please check out their site & donate if you can- they are raising money to try again next summer!

the other girls were either college soccer players from d1 schools or played rugby- i was a little out of my element to say the least, but i'm proud to say i kept up & had a ton of fun.

so here are some pics from our trip-

in the first hour & a half of the hike you drop over 1,000 feet. that's a lot of switch backs. here's all the ladies except myself and one other. i love this picture.


you can cheat and have the donkeys carry your pack... which i will do next time -because carrying a 40 lbs pack is not easy!


just about the time you think you can't take it anymore you hear an amazing water fall near by- round a corner & this is what you see. suddenly everything stops hurting & you're speechless.


after some rock climbing this is the third waterfall-


jenn & i on our first jump- it was soo cold & refreshing.


we met up with our friends ted & sarah -whom i hiked out with.




the four frisbee-ers: sister mary hannah, sister mary megan, sarah & ted!


emily (another frisbee chica) and i shared a tent & this was our beautiful view.

miss hannah sittin in a tree. k-i-s-s-i-n-g. first comes love, then comes marriage!

more pics...

me jumping from a lil rock wall- this was fun!!


i could do this all day- thanks hannah for an amazing weekend!

the hike out...

i was dreading. the sandy 8-10 mile(from our campsite) part ended up not being so bad, but the 1000 feet up at the very end under the 10am sun kicked my booty. i felt a little ill & thought i was going to faint- but i did it -tortouise style, slow & steady. it was by far one of the hardest things i've ever done. but so very worth it :)


so our camp was all the way at the end of this valley & to the left of that canyon wall...


me at the top screaming because i couldn't believe i was finally done!!!


kissin & high fivin sarah because she rocked the climb out- we all did, looking back on it :)

101 update...

i revised my list- so you may want to check out the original post... but here are the ones I've worked on so far.



16. finish my website -DONE! May 14th

18. apply & be accepted to WPJA -Done! June 13 th
this is sooooo coool.

19. go to lots of concerts -Doing! July 18th
- bryan took me to the blueman group -which was really cool.
- i saw gwen stefani with Joanne, Sarah & Hannah - yeah girl's night out!

- & then we are going to snow patrol in July- is that kind of cheating since it hasn't
happened yet?

28. design & order business cards –DONE! June 14th


43. keep a cactus garden since flowers are so hard to keep alive –DONE! June 5th
- i have several stations around our patio & in our kitchen, this is just my favorite!


44. collect arcosonti chimes & plant hangers for the back yard –DONE! Mar 16th

50. hike havasu falls or the grand canyon -DONE! June 7-9th
-will post those amazing pictures soon!

64. make a blog for my family to keep in touch with :) -DONE June 14th
if you dare...
http://millerlovin.blogspot.com/

74. make bigger cups and bowls in my ceramics class –DONE! May 16th
- here are a few:

78. get my art & jewelry in boutiques/ galleries –DONE! April 25th
-i have earrings & necklaces at the Mesa Arts Center!

88. buy a new lap top, with all the bells & whistles -DONE! April 17th

101.appreciate how lucky I am- constantly workin' on it

oh holy crudoodie!

i've just found out that i was accepted into the wpja! this is so very exciting because i'm now part of "the most talented professional wedding photographers in the industry." Only 5% of the nation's photographers are accepted!

"Leading the way in Wedding Photojournalism, WPJA represents the most discriminating talent around the world technically, creatively and visually. Qualified members hold industry-leading standards, skills and business integrity."

whooot!



i've been screaming & dancing the past 10 minutes :)



their website www.wpja.com is a great resource not only for photographers but for clients as well. they put out this online magazine with tons of great tips in it. you should check it out & very soon my name will be right there with other wonderful photographers! YeAhhhhhh!

road trip back to phx

we left sunday afternoon for phoenix. we stayed the night in flagstaff & spent monday in sedona & jerome (a really cool artist town that was an abandoned copper mining town). we drove along route 66 for a bit until it turned into a dirt road. oops!

it's not as cool as it should have been in my mind- but we did find an old-fashioned local sonic like resturaunt! i'm in the middle of reading 'the lost continent' by bill bryson- who is one of my favorite authors, ever. he talks about how the small town ideal is lost to walmarts and huge chain movie theaters. it's so sad, because i can imagine how cool a road trip was during my parent's childhood- stopping to see the cool sites & now every site is the same... (ill stop my soap box now!)

we had a great time, none the less.

evelyn cont'

we spent sunday morning being lazy- the best way to spend your morning when you're getting to hangout with out-of-town family! so here's a few pictures from that.

grandma

jeff, melissa & neil- laughing at someone farting, i think

these two barely made it off the couch :)

great aunt di making evelyn laugh

this is a happy baby when uncle bryan has her