cartel

cartel coffee house. yummy stuff. it's my neighborhood joint & i love it. it's
off of university behind buffalo exchange & in front of casey moore's. the
owners jason & amy are awesome people & they've created a really cool
hole-in-the-wall place. the last friday of every month they are hosting an art
walk. last month i was one of 5 or 6 artists! i showed my honduras work.
(i'll post some of my work in my next post but this one is about the show!)

it was a fantastic night, the place was packed & several of of you came to see
it, which i greatly appreciate!

here are some images from the night:

everybody working hard.


very cool artwork that deals with space.


some crazy cool photography & digital manipulation.


my work!




i saw this out of the corner of my eye & grabbed it just in time.


they had some great music.


jason & amy. the proud owners.




if you sit on this couch you get your picture taken & hung on the wall.


& then they closed the evening with some live music.

monika & josiah

*this post has been updated to include the slideshow :)

so, this post is going to be quick & dirty. well not dirty, but pretty,
but still quick. i am leaving to hike the grand canyon in like 20
minutes!!!!! but, i wanted to put some pictures from monika &
josiah's wedding because they just returned on sunday from their
3 week honeymoon in thailand! i asked if they wanted me to tag
along, but they gave me a funny look ;) i guess they wanted privacy or
something!

i can not say enough great things about this couple & the beautiful
day they pulled off. monika & josiah thought all the details through,
from hanging lanterns with butterflies dangling, to birds nest as
the party favor, to the mariachi band that played throughout the
cocktail hour & dinner.

here are a few of my favorites & the slideshow is coming soon!

here's the bride, ms. monika. she was glowing all day long!


here is her amazing dress.


the rings.


her sweet sister, tanja, gave her this locket with her favorite photo of her & her mom.


the witty & hillarious & don't forget adorable josiah.


moni's nephew was so cute during the ceremony!


a kiss to seal the deal.


moni's veil trying to escape!


sweet moment with momma.


sweet moment together.


i loved this hallway.


bridesmaids. aren't they a goodlooking bunch?


wedding party.


& this i love. we checked out this spot a few months ago & i saw this low branch & the
mountain perfectly framed underneath it. the amazing ben chrisman had done something similar to this & i absolutely loved it, so when i saw the branch i asked if they'd be up
for it & they said heck yeah. how cool are they?? i don't expect everyone to climb trees
in their finest attire, but if you're up for it...


here's the place settings/ party favors. i'm obsessed with birds, so this was my favorite
detail.


they had an amazing mariachi band playing as the sun set & i thought this was so cool.


it was such a beautiful venue with some extra touches that they brought in.


thanks moni & josiah, i had such a great time with you & your families.

here's the slide show if you'd like to see more of their wedding!

earth day!

what a beautiful day. it was my goal to not use my car at all today, but i had to go pick up 24 framed prints that were in the show a few weeks ago & that was not going to be easy to handle on my bike. so shoot, earth i'm sorry. i did enjoy you, though with a 2 hour ride with my friend, lindsey, who's in town for a few days to kick some major booty on her phd thesis! go girl!!!

on our bike ride i added the other knee to the injury list. i did a very weak tip over :( i hate getting hurt when it's not bad-ass & worth it, don't you? last night at frisbee i dove (or my attempt at diving for the disc, which usually means i tripped or something similar) for a d & got it, so at least that one was cool. both knees are cranky & strawberry-esque! i thought about taking pictures to show you, but it's not that pretty.

but anyways, back to earth & not my wussy injuries...

i wanted to post a prayer in your honor that my aunt just sent me.

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
~Native American Proverb

i hope you had a greatful earth day. we are some lucky devils to live here.

update on shannon & jonathan!

they had their babies tuesday morning (yuck, tax day!) around 5am. it was a very long 24 hours!! shannon was amazing, jonathan was incredibly sweet & the babies are so beautiful both with heads full of strawberry blonde hair. allison was first out at 6.4 & harrison was 7.6!

thank you for all of your kind thoughts & prayers!

i will post those pictures soon, i promise.

paige, rory & anya

paige is my kayaking buddy. she is always up for some adventure. she also
has two beautiful girls & asked if we could do a portrait session at our lake
& i said of course. i wish we would have gotten there like 30 minutes earlier
because the light shining on the weeds was amazing!!!

this may be my favorite one from the shoot.


this is miss anya. isn't she precious?


this is miss rory. she is going to be a heart breaker.


too cute!


i think we were being apes.


i loved this detail.


ladybug time.


these girls are lucky to have a mama like they do. she takes them hiking, kayaking,
rock climbing & they are enrolled in all kinds of classes from acting to art.
she has done such a great job raising tough, strong & sweet little girls.


lil modelin.


the girls responded to SMILE with funny faces & FUNNY FACES with a smile. we were
hardly on the same page :) but it made for some giggles.


i love how sweet this one is.




see, this was a smile one ;)


i had such a great time ladies. see you on our next adventure!

shannon & jonathan

you met back in september while i was in st. louis for sara & john's wedding! they are
good friends of mine from college. well, i'm back visiting with them. i helped jonathan
with a wedding yesterday & tomorrow i'll be documenting the birth of their twins!
they are inducing her in the morning :) she has now carried her twins full term,
which is amazing in of itself.

i'm going to be taking pictures of the whole day, hopefully even through delivery
if everything goes smoothly. i've had a few people respond with, really? you're going
to document it? us pj kids from western assume everyone would want everything
documented- pictures are a powerful thing & what is more important or intense
than your child's first breath? first moment in this world?

so it's odd. i can appreciate that, i guess. but it's also a wonderful beautiful thing
& i am honored that they want me to be there & do this for them.

here are some photos from today- we've spent the day cleaning, packing & jonathan
has made shannon a few of her favorite meals! they left tonight around 6pm for
the hospital so they could monitor everyone & prep for tomorrow. wish em luck & a
safe, fast delivery!

how is it possible to get so much joy out of the wittle clothes that will fit on
these tiny bodies? i mean, this cabinet i stared at for like at least 15 minutes in awe.


here's shannon getting ready & abe, their cat, who has no idea what's coming home
with mom & dad in a few days!


we took a few portraits before they left. they are so sweet with eachother. i asked
jonathan earlier if he'd ever heard shannon scream & he said no, not even raise her voice! tomorrow should be interesting ;)


i love how big her belly has gotten!! isn't it adorable how far
jonathan has to lean in?


the twins are probably 7 lbs each, or so the doctor guesses. which is nuts! two big heads,
two big bellies, four arms & four legs are cramped inside that belly...
isn't this whole baby thing fascinating? i'm sorry guys but our bodies are just amazing.
you don't got nothing on us :)


i love this moment of shannon -patiently waiting at the door for her life to change...
so peaceful & beautiful. she is definitely one of those beautiful expecting mamas. she's
so prepared with half cloth diapers & half disposable. special bottles & cute clothes. these babies are so lucky.


practicing her breathing & ammmmmmmmms.


in front of the house which is quickly going to become a home!


i'm sorry shannon but this one was tooooo cute.


i picked jonathan's mom up at the airport & here is the first picture of mama hugging
her baby before he becomes a daddy.


not sure if i'll actually get anything posted tomorrow, but by tuesday you're going to
be seeing some adorable lil babies!

i also have paige, rory & anya's portrait session coming!