Sunday, January 29, 2012

[personal] a week in the life of...

Oh my land, announcing boudoir sessions this past week was definitely the professional highlight of my week. And ladies, keep the session requests coming! :) Too bad I can't blog all your gorgeous selves (okay, I can~ but only with your permission!).

But personally? We did rally. And folks, we did indeed kick booty. Bootayyy.

We're talking birthday parties, days with sunshine (oh, hallelujah, thank you, Michigan), special trips to the Holland Peanut Store (candy heaven), orders sent out and lots of animal lovin' from our own babies and some that aren't our own (only because Adam won't let me keep them).

Not to mention the biggest news of all~ Adam received the job for which he applied! :) Out of retail forever...no more Black Fridays, no more Saturday nights; full-time consistency for him and that makes us one happy little family.

stars of the show:

stray kitties that i give food to despite my husband telling me not to. he was at work at the time, so it wasn't a big deal. too bad the babies were begging to come in when he did come home, and i had to tell him why they were there. :\
happy birthday, everett! my sweet nephew everett turned one this past week, and we were able to celebrate his birthday earlier tonight. love this boy with all my heart<3
me & the hubs on a sunshine walk. it only lasted 5 minutes, but the vitamin d felt goooood (even if the air still did feel cold).

points of interest:

business cards. newly designed. ordered. and received. so pleased & i can't wait to give these puppies out!
squeeze pops. does anyone remember these? i found them at the peanut store when we were there earlier this week with friends, and they convinced me to buy one. pure corn syrup + sugar. surprisingly, still yummy. sort of.
turtle cake~ team baking sisters strike again! remember the bird cake from two weeks ago? this is our most recent creation for everett's birthday, and i am in love with this turtle. too bad he was completely eaten within 15 minutes by nine hungry kiddos.

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*(Instagram is a free app for iPhones that features various filters that are easy-to-use and make posting to Twitter, Facebook, and ha, my blog, easy-peasy!)


Look out for some baby sessions this week. :) And as soon as we get some more snow, I'll have some very happy engaged couples and seniors: and I can't wait to put those on the blog!

...and hey! this week it'll be love month<3

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Now Offering :: West Michigan Boudoir Photographer

I've been typing, backspacing, re-typing for a little over thirty minutes. Normally, I wouldn't phrase my words so precisely, but this introduction is special to me. I believe its special to brides. And most importantly, I believe with all my heart that its special to women.

I love having the ability to freeze a moment. But the multitudes of moments, they're the pieces strung together to create stages of life. And I believe that these stages deserve proper attention just as a birth or the first wedded kiss would.

Before I was married in August of 2011, I was given the opportunity to freeze a stage of my life. I was getting married to the love of my life. I was single for the last time. I felt the sexiest I've ever felt. And I was confident in my accomplishments. I was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. And I wanted to give a gift to my husband that meant something. I wanted to give myself the permission to do something for me too.

Having my own personal boudoir session last summer was one of the greatest investments I've done in a long time. With the photos that comprised a little black book, I was able to give my husband me. The woman he was marrying, the woman who meant so much to him. And I was able to give myself something to never forget. Years from now when I look through those pictures, I will see me. And I couldn't have given myself (or my husband) a better gift.

So, without further ado...

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As I said, allowing myself to do one of these sessions was a gift to myself and my loved one: which means...its not exclusively for brides (however, I do encourage my brides to book a session!)! I've already done a few as Christmas gifts and have a few sessions scheduled for Valentine's Day gifts. You can find more information about the session at my website. Oh, ladies~ celebrate being a beautiful woman and book a session today!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

[personal] a week in the life of...

We've had one of those weeks here in the Burnett household. The ones where you're lucky if you emerge unscathed. Five loads of laundry, 4 Meijer trips, 3 prescriptions, 2 emergency hospital visits, and 1 exhausted couple. This isn't Christmas anymore, Rudolph.

Not to mention dirty house, rescheduled engagement session [thank you, Tracie+Nathan~ you are the best!], and a mess of bills to deal with later. We're weren't the lucky ones this week.

So I did what everyone has to when you're on the edge of a breakdown. You rally. You pull up your big girl panties, tell yourself that only you can change the.here, the.now~ and you do it. And you pick up your falling pieces along the way.

The best medicine for my personal funk is seasonal-cleaning. Adam and I took down the Christmas tree (I thought the magic could stay until February, but it turns out that the elves take the magic on January 1st.), threw away bags filled with unnecessary paperwork, old magazines, and mementos that would eventually get us on Hoarders. We re-arranged furniture and deep-cleaned the germs away (for a long, LONG time~ we pray.).

I rallied. We rallied.

And we're going to kick this week's bootAYYY.
I can feel it.

stars of the show:

kleenex. napkins. rolls of toilet paper. anything to - you know - help us with the snot.
ingrid michaelson~ oh, hallelujah, girl, thank you for your sweet words when bad turned to worse. it's easier to tackle your to-do list when the only thing on it is to keep breathing.
thunderstorms in january. i fell asleep on the couch believing i was somewhere warmer, somewhere away from all this~ and gratefully listened to the sound of thunder + raindrops.

points of interest:

medicine tin~ absolutely love this thing. this stylish divided pill container helps my crazy seem not so bad.
cemetaries: at the risk of sounding morbid, i really like cemeteries. grief is raw and funerals are difficult, but i find it hard to rival the history of everyday people and the peace i feel in cemeteries compared with other places.

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*(Instagram is a free app for iPhones that features various filters that are easy-to-use and make posting to Twitter, Facebook, and ha, my blog, easy-peasy!)

THIS week (Lord-willing, no more sickness or doctor visits), I'll be introducing my new session~ at least, I had better...there'll be three of them already completed by the end of the week!

Happy last full week of Janury! :)

Sunday, January 15, 2012

[personal] a week in the life of...

I met and interacted with many different venders while planning my own wedding last summer. While many were talented (cooked well, took gorgeous pictures, and even had pretty venues), my fiance chose those with whom we felt a personal connection. As a vendor myself, I wanted to make sure that my potential clients could see me. My life outside of post-processing, carefully chosen words, and *gasp* photoshop. Hence...

This year, I'd like to feature a weekly blog that depicts my life. While I don't carry around my Canon all the time, my iPhone is always in my pocket...in my hand...or by my ear. I am a self-proclaimed instagram*-aholic (see note below), and I've found that the easiest way to share my life is in pictures (photographer, duh!) that I take on a daily basis.

You ready? Here we go. :)


stars of the show:

Hubby Adam (a.k.a. second-shooter) with Toad (our one-toothed rescue kitty),
nephew Everett being all cute and perfect,
and brother-in-law Jake swimming at a pool party.

points of interest:

Ken is a lot more attractive (in an "I wear Express and could be considered metrosexual" kind-of-way) today than he ever was with his plastic hair, 80s wardrobe when I was a kid.
The cake on the left: idea. The cake on the right: reality. My sister and I bake like a boss.
And helllloo, Michigan snow-storm! We've missed you this winter. Welcome, home. I desperately wanted to take advantage of you for your sled hills and perfect backdrop for engagement sessions.

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*(Instagram is a free app for iPhones that features various filters that are easy-to-use and make posting to Twitter, Facebook, and ha, my blog, easy-peasy!)


ACCOMPLISHED.
Things to look forward to this week: introducing boudoir sessions.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I'm looking forward to this one. :)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Journey Raelin :: One Year

I've had the immense pleasure of photographing Journey as a newborn, sweet six-month-old, and finally now as an adorable little girl full of energy...and lots of love for her Mama & Daddy!

I spent a gorgeous winter afternoon with their little family walking- okay, running around downtown St. Joseph (loooove my hometown). I love babies at this age! They never ever tire of new, new, new and are amazed at what the world has in store!

Happy Birthday, Journey-Girl~ may you never lose your sweet sense of awe in the world. :)

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I love this next sequence! She's so excited about her new find! "Look, Ma!"

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Beautiful girl. My Grandma is from England, and Journey looks like such a little English baby in this picture with her cute coat!

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*JOURNEY SANDWICH!*

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

This holiday, we...

I willingly handed in my camera for a spatula this past holiday season.
My lenses for wrapping paper.
My iMac for holiday movies.

And for the past month, we drank in the season of gladness~ complete with rudolf mugs filled with hot cocoa and kitchens smelling of sugar cookies and chocolate pie. We held hands and hearts as we made time for coffee, board games, and snuggles with babies.

I needed this. We needed this.

And here we are~ exactly one month from when we left. Rested and recharged as we face the new year with gusto! Pulled up our sleeves and got dirty re-inventing our brand and offering new sessions.

We look forward to 2012 with you!

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