My iPhone's Last Day

It was a glorious day. Monday afternoon, myself, Tim and my trusty iPhone were nagivating our way to La Jolla Beach in San Diego. Maybe we got too caught up in the natural beauty or the seals giving birth on the beach, but we ventured out to the sea wall where Tim got soaked by a giant wave. Unfortunately, Tim had my iPhone in his pocket. Turns out my trusty phone just couldn't survive the water and died right there in such a glorious location.

Today, back in Indy, I had to bite the bullet and buy a replacement phone. So, if by chance you left me a voicemail over the last few days please feel free to give me another call as my voicemail has yet to be retrieved.

Here's the last photo taken on my phone and the photos I took of Tim on the end of the wall where the wave claimed my phone. Little did I know these photos would not just be a funny memory but rather the end of life for my iPhone.

Good Reads

I tend to be a person that reads in waves. Sometimes I can't get enough of books and other times I'm perfectly fine going a few weeks without reading anything particular.

I just recently finished up an extremely interesting and moving book called "The Same Kind of Different than Me". I borrowed it from a friend who highly recommended it. Tim just finished up "Good to Great" and I'll probably snag that up next. I don't know about you guys, but I tend to get really intimidated about picking out what to read. I feel like it's so hard to just randomly choose the right book, which is way I pretty much only read books that have been recommended to me. So here's my question, do you have a must read or a great book you've recently read?
(I'm mostly a non-fiction reader but branch out every now and then.)

Here are a few goodies I've read lately:
Love One Another by Gerald L. Sittser
Millionaire Women Next Door by Thomas Stanley PhD (a little text bookie)
Fast Track Photographer by Dane Sanders

All time favs:
The Bible (NLT version)
Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey
Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

Brinkley ║ Indianapolis Dogwatching

Many of you know that Tim and I have a cat named Nacho. She is currently on the other office chair curled up and sleeping soundly.

Well recently we had our hand at dog care as we watched Brinkley for a few days while a friend of ours was out of town. Brinkley is quite the dog, definitely the most trained dog I've been around (which was a good starting point for our friendship). She got many walks, most of which were in the midst of snow storm activity. I loved that she saw the world as a giant snow cone, while my job was to keep her away from the "lemon flavored" parts! We did a bit of jogging, though hindered by my snow boots.

It was neat to interact with a dog and see their loyalty and love. However, I was still happy to come back to my small, lovable and low maintenance Nacho.

Greek Conference ║ Intervarsity ║ Indianapolis

Last weekend I had the opportunity to photograph an incredible event for college Fraternity and Sorority students. It's InterVarsity's annual Greek Conference where several hundred students come to connect to God, learn to lead and to change the world.

I never had the opportunity to attend the conference as a collegiate, but have volunteered in some capacity every year since graduation. (I actually was shooting a wedding my senior year when I was wanting to attend!) It is full of time to connect with other Greeks, to dig deep into questions that matter and to be encouraged. The weekend is made up of large general sessions, more topic specific break outs and lots of fun (dance party, indoor tailgating, etc).

Enjoy a little glimpse of what the Greek Conference experience is all about.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Okay, so maybe I'm a day late, but better late than never! I do enjoy that I was able to use my craftiness this V-Day with homemade cards. Even though I ran out of supplies and wasn't able to make a card for everyone, I was still happy to spread a little love around.

Tim and I had a great weekend together. We went to one of my favorite restaurants, Carrabba's, and out to the movies. I love date nights!

Special congrats to one of my friends who just got engaged.

Love is beautiful.

Kelly & Eric ║ Winter Engagement Pictures║ Downtown Indianapolis

Kelly and Eric had a whirlwind weekend, Eric flying in from New York, heading downtown Indianapolis for engagement photos, to Zionsville to visit with his family and then an all day pre-marriage retreat Saturday before flying back Sunday. Kelly and Eric have been doing the long distance thing for a few months and it's meant lots of flying and weekends that go by too fast. The good news is that they are getting married in June and they will be together full time soon.

We were happy to work out a time to get a few engagement pictures done, but of course it would fall on the blizzard like day last Friday! Actually the pictures we did in the snow are my favorites, even though it was a nice wet snow and we were cold and soaked after. I'm so excited for this couple and am looking forward to their wedding, even though it means Kelly will be moving to NYC. Enjoy and be happy to be indoors and warm!

Indianapolis Weather

I feel bad for anyone that had to take wedding photographs in Indianapolis this past weekend.

Some of you know that I grew up in a small town in Southern, Indiana. After moving to Indianapolis around five years ago, I have grown to really love many parts of the City. One thing I do not like, though, is the winter weather!

You may or may not believe me, but it is seriously warmer in my hometown of Rockport because it is so close to the Ohio River...something about a micro-climate or some such thing. Regularly when I call my mom, she will tell me it is 5-10 degrees warmer than it is here in Indy. Yesterday was no exception. I called Mom and she said that they were covered with 3-4 inches of snow. I exclaimed that I hate the winter weather in Indy because we have had more than a foot over the past two weeks!

Now many of you are suffering through multiple feet of snow on the East Coast, so maybe your thinking the same about me as I did with my Mom. Others of you on the West Coast are laughing at all of us because you have no snow at all. Point taken...

Anyhow, since it has been so bad, I haven't gone out of the house much and it is driving me crazy! So this morning I braved the elements and trekked through the snow to a great local coffee joint: Cornerstone Coffeehouse. The place has great, warm wood paneling and good hot drinks.

Here's to all of you suffering the winter weather blues. May you find warmth and a good cup of hot chocolate!

Emily & Dave ║ Common Ground Church║ Wedding Day Part 1

It's difficult to know where to begin for this post. I have seen the courtship of this couple on a weekly basis since it began. Emily, the gorgeous bride, has been in house church with me for 3 years. Dave has been a part of that group since they were in a relationship that was going somewhere. Being their wedding photographer was such an incredible experience, knowing so much of the back story of what brought those two together for such a monumental day. Everything went perfect. There was so much joy and energy the entire day, you couldn't escape it. God was in the middle of it all.

As to not overwhelm my great readers, I will be showing up through the ceremony for this post. More to come on their extremely fun Fountain Square reception.