i love the deans...

this is going to be a really fun post for me... i love the dean family. now, too, it's better than ever with a little addition, known as andrea. she is quite possibly the most down-to-earth, fun-loving, caring person that i know. i do not know a kinder individual. she sent me the sweetest e-mail a little bit ago and almost had me in tears.

i want to post some great pictures of her and her groom, michael. michael, by the way, is perfect for andrea and just as kind. they are a great couple -- two people who really do care about their friends, family, etc. what an absolute honor to be apart of their day!

kiss right after the ceremony... i love the "first moments" when couples are finally husband and wife:



i love this moment i caught of them walking to the limo. i mean, does a bride get more beautiful? and better yet... she is just GLOWING!!!



don't they look like celebrities here?



i am not sure that a dancing picture can get better than this:



wow. michael and andrea, you guys rock!!! :)

on a different note, i must say that i am still going through photos from my last 3 weddings. it's really enjoyable, but i just wanted to make a note of that. if you feel like you are seeing photos from amanda, andrea, and meredith, it's because you are. they are all 3 such fun brides, though, that when i find a good photo, i have to share them.

and finally, i just want to post a little of andrea's sweet e-mail to me. what a treasure she is in my life:

"there is no way to express the gratitude that i feel right now. having you as a photographer was the best decision we made when we were planning the wedding of our dreams."

"well, we got back from the honeymoon and i couldn't wait to sit down and tell you how thankful i am for what an amazing person you are and how lucky i am and we are to have had you at our wedding."

"when we met before the wedding, i had no idea that i was not only hiring the best photographer a bride could as for but i got such an amazing friend as well."

stunning

i have had the privilege and honor of (almost) participating in these 3 girls weddings. they are some really great people, although their "coolness" doesn't surprise me. see, the 2 on the left were roomies with my best friend, meagan (on the right) through college. all that saying that of course they are cool. love you jess, mere, and meg!!

Mr. & Mrs. Zack Reuter

Meredith and Zack are such fun individuals!!

Thank you both for allowing me to capture your day with photos. It was such an honor, and I am blessed to know both of you.

Can't wait to play with more of these photos soon, although I still have 2 weddings worth of photos to enjoy. Then I get to experience these beauties!

vacation...

click HERE to see a post of my trip this past week:

what a vacation i just had!!! it wasn't your average vacation, but it was a blast. i actually chose to go to phoenix during the hottest months of the year, and i actually enjoyed doing work while i was on vacation. it was a really great trip... really, really great trip.

some things i learned on my trip:

1. cauliflower is actually REALLY good on salads
2. i need to find some really good garlic-y dressing for salads
3. spinach turns smoothies green, but they can actually taste really yummy :)
4. mexican train and nertz (?) are 2 really fun games, that are a lot more fun in good company
5. trader joe's makes some unbelievable cookies
6. almonds are the "good kind of fat," so it's totally okay to eat an entire bag of almond m&m's each day
7. massages are going to be required each day in heaven

and finally, i learned that melissa jill is one of the neatest people EVER. she is such a fun, talented, kind individual, and my time with her was fantastic. my goal in the next year is to go second shoot a wedding with her, if she'll actually have me... and, maybe even move out there soon. that's a big question with a lot of thought separating me and that extra bedroom in her house. we'll see how it goes!

melissa, if you're reading this, thank you, thank you, thank you. tonight i am in atlanta, and it isn't as much fun as phoenix. i really miss dixie, too. oh, i definitely miss dixie!!!

the top of the post has a photo of dixie. (now you know why i miss her!)

what a job

it's just not fair that i get to take pictures at people's weddings. it is such an honor, and i am so blessed to be such a big part of a great celebration. here is the first sneak peak of this FANTASTIC wedding from friday.

there are a lot of things in the making this week, so hopefully you'll see more soon. :) everything is going well with post-wedding processing, but it's going to take a while. i've got an atlanta one on saturday, too. wow... can't wait, though!!!

keep checking back for more on this fantastic couple... love it -- draft and possibility of first album page:

sizing?

i'm trying to figure out which size is better for blogging... i LOVE that i can put up big photos but want the entire photo to be able to be viewed. hmm -- here are my 2 options:





i love all 3 of these ladies. starting on the right, katherine, was my freshmen year college roomie. we knew each other in high school but REALLY got to know each other at alabama. she is one of the coolest people i know and a lot of fun to know. andrea, the bride, is fantastic. she is now sister-in-law to katherine and daughter-in-law to mrs. dean. i don't know that michael could have done any better. she is fantastic. absolutely fantastic. i have grown close to her, only through doing her wedding photos and could not have asked for a better bride. thank you, andrea, for being so much fun, so laid back, and forever appreciative. mrs. dean is in a lot of ways a second mom to me. she was always so kind as to make certain we were ok during the first year of college. we got to take a lot of trips to get cinnamon pretzels and milo's, which are 2 of my passions. :) love you all!!!!!!!!!!

one more...

amanda, you are gorgeous. i hope that you and mitch have a great honeymoon in jamaica... i wish you all the best. thanks for letting me be apart of your great wedding day; it was truly an honor. everything was perfect, and the photos prove that. can't wait to show them to you in a few weeks!