PhotoJenic Photography [blog]

Ok, I’m here and I finally got to do a little work this afternoon! Here’s some images I’ve been dying to post. Last month I went back to the East Coast for the first time to photograph Gerry and Tiffany’s wedding. I had never met the couple, but from the interactions with them, I knew they would be so fun to work with, and they did NOT disappoint! And to make the trip even more amazing, I got to bring along Marnee Marriott to second shoot with me! We had an amazing time with the gorgeous green of the East Coast and despite the sweltering humidity, we could have easily photographed these two for a few more hours around town. Here are some of my favorites from the day.
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You can see more images from this wedding here, on Marnee’s blog. Thanks so much Marnee for coming and doing this on YOUR anniversary! It was so much fun, let’s do it again =)

And a special thanks to Gerry and Tiffany for trusting us with your special day; and for being super patient while I went through TONS of photos to get the images online!

I’m not gonna lie, this has been a really rough week!! Today we laid my father in law to rest with a beautiful service that definitely brought peace and comfort to so many family members. The funeral is such a great thing, a bit of initial closure for the week of grief which preceded it. I know for some it’s the beginning of many years of grief, but it’s comforting to see a tight woven family surround their mother during this time. I especially enjoyed the motorcade to the cemetary. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time I’ve been in a motorcade. While my Dawson is super excited about the policemen and watching them zoom past back and forth…I find more comfort in the feeling of peace it brings for the outside world to STOP in honor of your loved one. There’s really nothing else like it, and even though they don’t have a choice, I do think it’s honorable to pass so many cars stopped for this long line of your family.

So the funeral prep and family time and getting hair cuts and nice dress clothes and printing photos to put together frames, it really only makes up half of the crazy week…the other half is the neverending illness that seems to have struck our family. I’m going on day 8 of being sick with what I’m guessing is a sinus infection. The fevers have passed and the sore throat is finally gone, but the congestion is here to stay I suppose. And to add to that I now have built in ear plugs…might as well be swimming under water because that’s how I hear right now. And then last night my husband is up most the night with a fever! Now he’s down as well. Thankfully we both were able to feel pretty good for the 6 hours or so today of services, but tonight hasn’t proven so lucky and he’s been in bed most the day.

So we have sick and sicker over here trying to stay afloat with the 3 kids and the house, which has definitely seen better days! I’ve survived this week on just doing as little as I had to because I’ve felt so crummy, today I couldn’t take it any longer so I now have a clean kitchen, complete with steam mopped floors and all. Maybe tomorrow I can tackle folding 1 or 2 of the 6 loads of clean laundry and clean up the family room? I’m also thinking a second visit to the Dr. is in order as well. If I don’t go soon I will have used every last bit of toilet paper in our house to blow my nose…and I’ve already cleaned the store out of their cold meds, we’ve taken them all…none of them seem to bring any relief.

I’m certain I’ll be able to get back in the swing of things soon, but then I’ve been thinking that since last Friday =) Hopefully the end to this madness is soon, I need to get some work done and school is just around the corner so there is some prepping to be done there as well.

A few hours ago, my father in law returned to heaven where his body was once again made whole. He was a great man who along with his wife, reared an amazing family.

I’ll never forget the first time I met him, he could walk then and he walked to the door and greeted me with the biggest smile and firm hand shake. He was ecstatic to “meet the girl who stole his son’s heart.” He was ALWAYS respectful to me. He always wanted to know about others and what they were doing, rarely did he talk about himself. Despite spending most of his days in bed and often feeling sick, he would have someone write letters and thank you notes on his behalf, I still have a few of the ones he wrote me, I’m touched by the kind words he spoke to me.

He had a love of science, a love of for God, he had an amazing love for his children and often choked up in our group gatherings as he prayed or spoke of his family being together. There was no doubt where my husband learned his poetic and romancing ways, his dad was that way to his mom through many of their years of marriage. In the past year, he was able to be with two of his children who married and also see that his youngest son was just able to earn his Eagle, these were all very important things to him and I’m glad he could be a part of them.

I’m grateful to him for raising such a righteous family. I’m blessed to reap the benefits being married to the eldest son. While he will be missed amongst this family, I’m happy to know that he can now see again, and he can walk again and most importantly, he is without pain. His work here on earth is through, but no doubt he will be working in heaven with his love for the gospel. I can only hope that these things bring peace to our family, especially to his sweet wife who has taken care of his every need, almost never getting a full night of sleep for many many years.

Love your family, you just never know when you’ll lose a loved one.

In Memory, Reuben E. Garbett

you should watch this.

I can safely say that any client that wants to start their wedding off like these guys can be mine ANY day!

This has been floating on facebook and youtube, it’s not MY client (I wish) but how fun is this?

I never feel that people need to or should apologize for a reduction of blogging, because honestly when people have time or have something to share, they’ll get to it, and explanations aren’t necessary if you don’t have time or anything good to say, right? So, here I am, going against my own rules because I see that people visit my blog regularily and really over the last 1-2 months I feel like I’ve been a blog slacker…sorry!

So, here’s what’s up…it’s summer, schedules off, routines unheard of, kids bored, mom’s crazy, heat draining every bit of creativity from the brain…it’s definitely summer! Awe…feels better, explanation complete.

Now for a recap of what we’re up to…
1. I have a LOT of photos to blog…I just haven’t had time or been up to it…remaining Utah images to share, Tiffany and Gerry’s wedding from Maryland, exciting travels to DC, my kids and other things I can’t think of now.

2. I am still working, not shooting much, but man has my to do list been getting lines through it lately, makes me feel all warm inside each time I mark through one of those things, yipee.

3. I have finally enjoyed the pool this month, at least TWICE, sadly the tan still suffers. Baby steps.

4. I’m trying to be a saver in this economy, because it feels better to save (I just have to keep repeating this in hopes it makes me believe). This means I try to remember to use some of my coupons, the $1.99 car wash is a fave around here, I’m lovin’ summer clearance sales for when I do shop, I have a crush on Craigslist and I frequent it OFTEN AND I’m even being open minded to my husband’s desire to drastically reduce our phone/cable monthly expenses. I drew the line at no home phone though, I need a land line, you just can’t do dishes and mop and change diapers while on a cell phone! The best part is, we are just TRYING to be smarter because we’re inspired in this economy to spend wisely and save. We are enjoying being more financially focused…but I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really want to give up my weekend eat outs, I NEVER cook on weekends…repeat that…N E V E R. I think I might have to change that soon, sigh.

5. I think the Bissell Steam Mop is the most AMAZING invention ever! Ok, maybe not the MOST amazing, but seriously, this thing has made me ENJOY mopping and cut the time it takes to do it in half AT LEAST. It’s SOOOOO EASY and dare I say “fun?”

6. Clutter is bugging me, but sadly I still have areas with it. I’m working on that.

7. My baby is learning simple commands like, go get mommy a diaper, let’s throw this away or lay down so I can change your diaper. She’s also learning that she doesn’t need high chairs OR boosters, she wants to STAND on the big chairs or SIT on the table, it makes meal times very chaotic and not very fun.

8. I’m about 5 episodes behind on So You Think You Can Dance…insert GASPS here. I’m not giving up, but I did give up on The Bachelor, I had to, never even saw ONE of the episodes I recorded…bummer, just no time for tv like I thought I’d have.

9. I have noticed lately how comical it is to TRY and have a conversation with my husband at night. We each start a story at LEAST 10 times and most the time never even finish it, or remember later to finish. Usually it’s Emery’s crying, Dawson’s whining or the boy’s arguing that keeps us from talking…I mean LITERALLY we will try over an hour sometimes and then days later I’ll realize “oh I never did finish telling you that.” Frustrating, but life with little ones is like this I guess.

10.I’m on IM (aka Instant Messenger) with my husband. He’s sitting in the next room on one computer while I’m in another room on the laptop. I’m pretty sure this qualifies us as nerdy, lame, dorky, boring or _________ what? You name it. We do this often, it’s funny.

So, even though I don’t have pics to post with this, are you glad it’s FINALLY something different on this page then my cute little Mr. Four? Or should I have waited til I did some image uploading?

Thanks for visiting…more soon.

Going on 24…

This little dude has quite the personality for his young 4 years! He cracks us up and makes us crazy pretty much every single day!! He is the inventor of the speech we call “perpetual whine,” and has negotiation skills that would impress any good lawyer! He’s destined for good things with those negotiation skills, I just have to remember that everytime he tries to change ANY and EVERY bit of discipline or instruction we dish out. I love his faces and how every time I take out the camera he takes the same pose of tongue to the side of the mouth and hands outstretched up and down like a plane coming into a turn.

Here’s some of the funny things he says/does…
His favorite number is 1010050…that’s ten hundred and fifty! 1010050 pounds, 1010050 miles, 1010050 minutes left of time out, 1010050 days til school, 1010050 years old, everything is 10100and50!

He thinks that Daddy is it, he’s the man of the year every day, every minute. He compares EVERYTHING to his Dad, “my Dad’s truck is bigger than yours,” “my Dad’s truck goes faster (and no we don’t have a fast or big truck),” the list can go on and on, but his “dad” is pretty much better than all yours, so don’t try and tell him otherwise!

He walks out to our friends backyard and stops dead in his tracks…he looks left, he looks right and he exclaims, “THIS, is YOUR backyard?” (our yard is huge now in this house we live in). My girlfriend replies, “yeah, it’s small.” He is dumbfounded and then replies, “where the heck is your firepit?” He then replies, “why don’t you call my dad, he can fix it. My dad can fix anything.”

While on the topic of Dad, he is obsessed with “working” with Dad. EVERY weekend at least 10 times we hear “Dad, let’s go out and WORK!” Translation, get your shovel and wheelbarrow and I’ll get mine, we have “WORK” to do. He also loves to “snuggle” with Dad. This is HIS word for it, not something we taught him.

One liners “let’s get this party started” “you want a piece of me?” singing “I hate this part right here” or “looking at you through the glass” and most embarassing when in public he whips out with “save a horse ride a cowboy!”

Getting in big trouble Daddy finally starts counting (we go backward, got sick of the 1.2.3) 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…Dawson who has barely escaped his punishment smiles and yells out “BLAST OFF!” I couldn’t help but laugh.

He told his Sunday School teacher that he was “having a bad day” because his mom was really sick and had to go have surgery right after church and that Daddy would take me and after I would stay in the hospital and then be better in a couple of days. It was a total lie, the teacher did ask me with great concern at the end of church if I was ok.

He likes using bigger words, I overheard him telling the nanny “NOOOO, it’s not MY responsibility!” and he’s also known to say “this is ridiculous,” or “what the freaking heck?”

This really only scratches the surface to this kids personality. I wish I could remember more, I wish I wrote more down, there are better ones, I might come back and add to the list, cause I’m sure once I post this a bunch more will come to me, and I want to remember!

So, that’s my glimpse at Mr. 4 years old…

Another family I can and do call my own! I love these guys. Here’s the Deans who I had the chance to take pics of when in Utah last month. Sadly, we are missing one of their kids who had to work, but hopefully I can do another shoot for them soon. It was MOST important to get this little guy some pictures…he was born full term expected to be fine and turned out to have Strep B, Menangitis(sp) AND Pneumonia! The little guy is a fighter and thankfully little baby Joshua survived!
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Thanks Deans for having us!

I’m here peeps…been to DC and back, had a hot week with a broken A/C and am going into a busy weekend hosting family swimming and bbq’s! I will have more to share soon, but for now, this cute family, our friends from Utah, with their adorable kiddos!
The odds were against us when I couldn’t find a BIT of shade and had to shoot at high noon, but in the end, I think it worked out =)
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Andrea is such a sweet mommy, she takes more pictures of her kids than me (can you believe it?) and she has so much patience with kids! I’m super excited I could finally photograph their family! Thanks guys, we had a lot of fun hanging out with you!