Holiday Cheer

So right around my corner is a house that is spreading the Christmas cheer around Broad Ripple, B Ripple as noted on the roof. The other night I decided to stroll one street over to capture this display in all it's glory. It's quite the scene on the corner of Primrose and Broad Ripple Ave/62nd Street. I imagine that it will be up for a while more. It never really completely gets taken down. My favorite part is the T-Rex stealing a present on the porch roof.

On another note, I am about to head south, though not as far as Costa Rica this time, to shoot Lindsay and Derek's wedding Saturday in Owensboro, Ky and Kim and Todd's wedding New Year's Eve in my hometown of Rockport, IN. In between the weddings I plan on visiting with my family and friends who are home for Christmas. By the end of next week, my office should be back to normal operation.

Have a fun and safe time ringing in the New Year!

Introducing... little Miss Kaytlin Elizabeth Roark

Last night at about 9pm our cousins, Michael and Aimee, became proud parents of a little girl! Kaytlin is their first child and she is precious. For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you might remember their wedding back in September, 2006. They had Kaytlin at the Nurse Midwives of Indianapolis birthing center, which is a pretty neat alternative to a hospital birth. When Tim and I left for Costa Rica, we though for sure we would be gone when the baby was born. Little did we know baby would hold on so long. Aunt Barb and Uncle Mark are glowing grandparents now. Mom, dad and baby are at home resting and we plan on seeing them tomorrow at the family Christmas gathering in Ladoga. As a note, Kaytlin was only 2 hours old for her first photo-shoot!

so alert

precious


tired after such a big day

the Roark family

Saludos!

Hola amigos! Wow, what a wedding. Yesterday was amazing, very crazy, and lots of fun. More details to come later. Costa Rican's know how to celebrate a wedding. The keyboards here are just enough different that it is slow for me to type. Tim and I are staying a few days to explore the rainforest. It's nice to have my camera equipment with me as there are so many neat thing to photograph here. I'm sure I'll share some of those later. Hasta luego!

Leaving for Costa Rica!

I'm doing some last minute packing for Leon and Erika's wedding this weekend in Costa Rica! They just light up around each other, which is adorable. The wedding is in Erika's hometown of Venecia and the reception site has a view of one of the world's most active volcanoes. How cool is that? Tim and I are heading out early in the AM tomorrow. We are staying a few extra days to explore the rainforest and enjoy hanging out together. This will be our first "us" vacation since our honeymoon 1 1/2 years ago. I decided to post of few of their engagement pictures to give you a taste of what's to come.

A few administrative notes.... I'll only be in my office a few days sparatically now through New Years between 3 out of town weddings and visiting out of town family for Christmas. All of my "by Christmas" orders have been taken care of, but any new requests or inquires will probably be a few weeks before I can get back to you. I appreciate your patience. Please take some time to just slow down and enjoy the holidays this season. I know it's easy to get caught up running every which way this time of year.

"Jesus is the reason for the season"

I'm going to try my best to at least post of few Costa Rica images before Christmas.

Christmas in Santa Claus

This last weekend myself, Tim and our house church went down to my grandparent's lakehouse to enjoy Christmas time in Santa Claus Indiana! It was relaxing to get away and just hang out. We went to the big parade and later drove around the festival of lights. I loved seeing all of Tim's Christmas enthusiasm! I think he might have made it on a clip for the Travel Channel at the parade with that great Christmas sweatshirt.

It sure looks like Santa is pointing at Tim!

Just to prove we were really in Santa Claus.
This post office is pretty busy this time of year.

Just us spreading some Christmas cheer.

Girl Scouts

I've got my last Brownie meeting for the semester coming up tomorrow. We are having a Christmas blow-out, decorating Christmas cookies and making decoupage Christmas ornaments. We took a group photo last meeting, so I thought I'd share the cuteness.

The snow outside my window this morning verified to me that it was indeed winter. I love to hold onto the warm weather months, but the cold is inevitable here in Indiana. With it, however, rings in time for Christmas cheer! I thought I'd share a few winter images to get you inspired for the season ahead of us.

Don't get too excited, there aren't many of these tasty treats left at our house.

Thanks mom for the Christmas wreath!

Stephanie & Adam- Texas Wedding

This upcoming Saturday our friends, Steph and Adam are getting married in Austin Texas! Tim and I wish we could be there to celebrate with them, but we will be at the King family reunion. I thought that I could post some of there engagement pictures in honor of their big day. Stephanie will look absolutely amazing and Adam will have the biggest smile in the whole place. Early congrats to these two!

Adorable.

Dave Ramsey LIVE!

Last week Tim and I enjoyed volunteering at the Pepsi Coliseum for Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover Live" event. With 7,000 other folks, we listened to Dave talk about practical personal money management. How to "Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else later". Tim and I manned book tables with our friend Paul during the breaks.

I've known about Dave and his money philosophy since I received his first book, Financial Peace, from my pastor as a graduation gift. While initially I thought it was an unusual gift, after I read it, I realized there weren't many gifts more fitting for a new grad. Because of reading that book, I have began and grown Megelaine Images debt free. If I don't have the money for it, I don't buy it.

In addition, every bit of profit from my business, since I got married, has been paying off student debt in our "debt snowball". Every day in the office I listen to Dave's radio program from 12-3 on 95.9fm. What he teaches isn't rocket science, but rather practical ways to control your money now and for your financial future. The most exciting thing about his plan is the ability it gives you to be a "giver" once you are debt free and how it can truly change your family tree. There is so much freedom and peace found when you are not tied down with payments!

I can't really emphasize how important I think it is to give a listen to his radio show or read one of his books. Even if you don't follow his plan to a "T" or at all, there is just good knowledge to gain about money. It's something we all deal with, no matter who we are. If anyone is interested in borrowing a book, just let me know, I have two on my shelf.

Hopefully in about another year, Tim and I will get to scream "We're debt free!!!" on his radio show as we kick that student debt to the curb for good!

Bassberry?

I had a fabulous weekend with some of my best girlfriends as we road-tripped to Erie, PA, where we visited our friend Holly. Toward the end of the summer Holly moved out there with her hubby, Brandon, so she could start Med School. We got the deluxe tour of Erie that included a delicious stop at a chocolate shop where these fun pictures were taken. We couldn't help but get a photo with the Chocolate Covered Bassberry. Also that weekend, I discovered how fun and addicting Guitar Hero can be. Rock On!

Random...

Save The Date

There has been several cool save the date cards that have graced my mailbox. However, this one was pretty special because it was for my brother's upcoming wedding. The picture is a line drawing that my brother did of our church back home, Trinity UMC, with the caption "Here is the church and here is the steeple... please save the date and be one of the people" It's cool because Ryan drew this back in high school when he met his soon-to-be wife and it just worked perfectly for the save the date cards.

Just because I'm thinking of it I'll include a few other of the neat save the date cards and invites that have included some of my pictures.

Gorgeous Fall

So for my first wedding-free weekend in a while, I headed down to Camp Illiana in Washington, IN, with my husband to volunteer at InterVarsity's Fall Conference. (for college students) Little did I know how beautiful it would be there or how hard of a job cooking for 200 is. After 12 hours in the kitchen Saturday, I have a whole new appreciation for school and camp cooks. Can you imagine how much chili you are making when you start with 40lbs of ground beef? The food was all very delicious and I was lucky enough to bring a few leftovers home! Tim helped in the kitchen some but most of his time was spent playing bass with the worship team. Sunday morning I had a little time with my camera to capture the awesome fall leaves. I thought I would share those in case you don't get a chance to see some pretty trees this season! I was just in awe of the trees beauty.

Cozza Wedding

How cute are these two flowers girls? Well, almost as cute as Lauren and David! Lauren was such a great bride to work with and the first bride I've ever come across who ate a foot long hotdog for lunch the day of the wedding! She had wonderful gal pals that went way back, all the way to the cul-de-sac where they grew up. They have shared many memories together and this was the first wedding for the trio. With a late evening wedding, we got done with pictures in time for every one to enjoy some Papa John's pizza before the ceremony! (Lauren & David both went to ISU, where the 5.99 campus pizza deal will hook you on Papa John's for life!)

The ceremony was very intimate with a dark sanctuary and lit alter area. This church had the scariest cat walks, but great angles for me during the ceremony. Since it was dark, they exited the church lined with sparklers. There was a fun limo ride with a lively wedding party and a few fun pics at the circle before we arrived at the Hyatt downtown. The Hyatt's renovation looks awesome and very contemporary, unfortunately it wasn't all finished on schedule. Despite that, the ballroom was awesome and everyone had a great time, especially during a special concert at the end of the night from a college band, Baton Smooth! The last picture is when David discovered the Colts garter, which Lauren was a fan of and well, he wasn't. They took off for a Florida honeymoon before settling into married life in Avon. Best wishes to this great match!

Long Time Love in Vincennes

Here's a peek at the engagement session I shot downtown with Kaleena & Eli. They're a couple with a long history as they have been together since their senior year of high school! Kaleena was an Indy 500 Princess with one of my former brides, Betsy. Despite the day we shot being generally yucky, the weather broke long enough for an awesome sunset!