As summer starts to retreat I am finally able to catch my breath. It's been an extraordinary summer, engrossed in adventure, love, family, and work. I'm grateful for a season of busy, but ever so glad for things to finally slow down.
My husband is mostly healed from a car accident at the beginning of the summer {praise God and thank you for all the love and patience while we have dealt with this!}. I've gained new friends and built stronger bonds with existing ones. We traveled & then traveled again. I've been challenged by a food allergy I never knew I had, but have learned to manage and live with. I've juggled many hats this summer and by the grace of God have been able to accomplish the many jobs He's set before me. And best of all I've grown. I can't pinpoint specifics, but this summer has changed me and I'm not the same lady I was at the start of it.
Hope your summer was a full, as wonderfully-challenging, life giving & warm as ours.
I'll leave you now with a sweet set of teasers, with full blog posts to follow.
{My husband took this dreamy sparkler filled photo, as I was on the other side of my bride & groom taking a completely average photo. My Mr. is so talented!}
The rest are photos from this summer's East Coast travels.
I think no amount of video footage can do justice to the weeks I spend in California last month.
But I've gone and tried any ways.
My weeks there were so full. Even counting 3 or 4 peaceful days spent alone at "home" editing and doing work . I loved every single second of my trip there, most especially random burst of dance, a bachelorette party that had us running around like crazies, eating alligator hotdogs, and thrifting almost daily. I'm pretty sure I visited every thrift store within a 20 mile radius from my friend's house. I managed to squeeze in a morning run to another friend's house, 2 photoshoots, attended 2 sweet weddings, and ended with an awesome trip to Disneyland with my family. My stomach was always full, as was my heart.
And though many moments were not captured on camera {or captured on someone elses camera}
those moments and conversations will be the real important moments I will cherish and remember forever.
To all my lovely friends in California,
Thank you for making every second of my trip feel like home.
You guys are truly amazing and know how to make a girl feel loved.
Miss you guys, but you know me ... I'll be back.
// Extra Love: To "my sister's from another mister" quoted from their dad himself; Reinna, Rj, Rubyand of course "bruder" Ryan-boy;
Thank you for treating me like your own. I am beyond blessed to have each of you in my life. Thanks for not simply taking care of me but also my family the week they were there. And don't get me started on your parents // Tito Alex and Tita Lolit I know you check my blog sometimes, so thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for always letting your home be my home-away-from-home each time I visit. Thank you for showing me love like Christ's love and for always feeding my tummy the best food ever. I love you west coast family with my whole heart. And till we can't wait to see you all again in VA for another wedding .. wink wink! //
This time last week my long trip to California had come to an end.
It's been weird being home in 20 degree weather after weeks in 75 degree sunshine everyday.
But it's good to finally be back. I've missed home, even my own bedroom.
Also I'm glad to finally have a little time to blog about my best friends' wedding in California.
My dearest friends Reinna and Christian finally became husband and wife, and their wedding day was nothing short of beautiful.
Besides being a bridesmaid, I was asked to double up as a photographer to capture Reinna getting ready in the morning. I'm no Max Wanger, who actually shot their wedding {I pale in comparison} but I was soo honored that Christian would trust me in capturing those fleeting moments at the start of their wedding day. I hope I did your bride justice Christian, she was stunning! And since I know Creinna shoots full frame and Canon, I shot all the getting ready photos on Christian's Canon Mark II so only Chris could show you guys the real work. Some how I managed to snap a shot or two on my own camera for keeps.
I didn't take many pictures in the chaos of the wedding day, but thankful my fully trained,
awesome sauce fiance rocked my manual D300s like a pro and caught some sweet moments.
To my suprise I didn't sob like a baby like I had anticipated, but I smiled from ear to ear walking down that aisle knowing God had brought my friends together for His glory and His faithfulness brought them to where they are today. It's a true joy seeing God's favor being poured out over two of your dearest friends.
But before I get ahead of myself, the tears were definitely plenty once Reinna walked down that aisle with her father.
As evident as her beauty is on the outside, I can't tell you in enough words how beautiful she truly is on the inside and how much she's grown in these last few years. Being her roommate for the final month of her single life was the sweetest blessing in our friendship this far. With marriage just over the horizon for Tim and I, my weeks in California will be the last that Reinna and I will have shared as "single" ladies. It's a blessing to call Reinna friend in these ever changing seasons and I couldn't be happier seeing my dear friend marry the man she loves.
The entire ceremony continued to be as emotional as Reinna's grand entrance was,
Christian's heart felt tears sum it up.
I won't ever forget their ceremony. God's presence was felt from start to finish.
After their first kiss a suprise bridal party *DANCE ensued at the altar, getting the party started right!
I'm sure good footage of it will surface on youtube sooner or later, when it does I'll share it as soon as I can.
Reinna and Christian's wedding also meant partying down with my family and friends who I haven't seen in a long time.
Like this little guy, my handsome nephew {who did awesome flying both to CA and back}
My sister and my other seestars.
Mother Dearest!
And my ever so handsome fiance.
We'd been apart of an entire month, I missed him so much.
Attending weddings with him gives me even more butterflies thinking about "our" day.
I got to party with some of these babes,
Got to hug it out with my brother from another mother.
And we all danced to the sweet melodies of Avasa and Matty Love at the start of the night.
Twas a blessing that Matt and Avasa are friends of my also very talented friend Hope,
if she hadn't introduced Reinna and Christian to their music Creinna's wedding reception dance floor would have been terribly empty during cocktail hour..
{Avasa and Matty thanks for sticking around after your set for a few more minutes, letting Tim and I use your wires. We never got aound to saying thank you!}
Much of my stay in California revolved around wedding errands with these two chicas.
These two crafted, designed, and helped plan so much of the wedding ... they are insanely talented.
Not to mention they are both lovely to have conversations with, awesome to cuddle with, and great to dance with. I love you girls!
After weeks of crafting, slideshow making, speech writing, song practicing, dance memorizing, and program designing I finally got to kick back, cool down with a soda and enjoy the wedding of my darling friends. I truly love weddings.
Side note, all together I spent $20 on my entire outfit for the wedding acessories included.
When does that ever happen as a bridesmaid? Lucky for us ladies, Reinna is a girl after my own heart and loves vintage and thrifting coz even her stunning wedding dress was vintage too. I can't wait to see Max's photos of her. As for the mess that is called my hair, the red ombre is not intentional but it's grown on me and I enjoy it.
My East Coast ladies. Though half of them now live in California.
Thank you for making me such a big part of your wedding day. It was an honor to be standing there in your bridal party celebrating the love and friendship God has bless you both with, and the beautiful marriage God has planned before you guys. I enjoyed every ounce of helping you guys for your big day because you both deserve the very best. I almost wish it didn't have to end. Your friendship is one of the sweetest blessings and I will cherish it forever and I praise God that these past few seasons of life have brought us so much closer. Your love for our God sets such a beautiful example for the rest of us to follow, continue to hold steadfast to the word and pursue Christ daily and I know His blessing will surely follow.
Borrowing Christian's words "We love you guys with all our hearts".
I've here in Southern California exactly two weeks today.
My time here has been filled with many adventures, wedding errands and crafting for my dear friend Reinna, and many wonderful conversations both day and night. My heart is filled to the brim, but tomorrow it's going to get even better. Tomorrow morning my family will be flying in and will be celebrating Reinna & Christians wedding weekend with us and tomorrow night my fiance flies in to join the parting also. The following day my aunt and cousin fly in to join the fun, and my two best friends from San Jose drive down to meet us to! SOOOO EXCITED! Just one more day till it all begins!
It's been a blast helping my dear friends Reinna and Christian prepare for their wedding and also celebrate the last of this engagement season with them. I am so blessed by their love and friendship and we are all so excited for their wedding this Saturday. It's going to be above and beyond ammazing.
Last night me and Reinna had an awesome little dinner date at Tranquil Tea Lounge {A place I've come to really love and enjoy} just the two of us. It was the last dinner date we'll ever have as single {*engaged} ladies, and I wont ever forget it. We laughted hysterically even cried a little and reflected on the friendship we've been so blessed with. Reinna is like a sister to me, and living with her and her family for a few weeks has proven just that. I've loved being her roommate for the last weeks ... I can't believe she'll be living with a boy and she'll be a wife this time next week!
3 more days till CREINNA becomes Mr. and Mrs. Cruz!
Lastly here's a little teaser from a family shoot I had this weekend.
It was a blast shooting fellow blogger, Ellyn's family portraits this week. Thanks to Ruby's little blurb about my trip here and the so-cal special I had on portraits, Ellyn contacted me and we shot in downtown Fullerton on a beautiful afternoon. Can't wait to share more!
Late last month I took a trip down south with one of my favorite families to shoot a wedding and adventure around for a week.
We made a stop in Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC; Kiawah Island, SC ... and finally our destination:
Savannah, Georgia.
The first night on the road we stayed in Charlotte and had dinner with my dearest Hope and a group of her highschool friends. Meeting these guys was a long time coming.
A lot of love goes out to my darling friend Hope. I love her to a million pieces and
wouldn't have done any of this without her.
I wish I saw more of you Kiawah Island, but we'll save that for another adventure.
Finally Savannah.
I've had this on going love affair with Georgia since the very first wedding I shot. I've been there every summer since, hopefully booking a Georgia wedding every summer from here until forever. It's my little paradise away from home; old oaks, historic buildings, sun, shore, and romance. And though it might not be everyone's favorite place in the world, Georgia has a special place in my heart and each time I go back I fall more and more in love.
Who did I go with?
Well this beautiful family of course. I love them so much.
Most especially these sisters.
Mariah, Jessica, Hope ... you three are simply the best and thanks for letting me be the 4th sister for a week.
I can't say much more about Georgia without just letting you take a look for yourselves.
Of course I went down there to work, but I sure did play, and dance, and adventure.
I was told to drop my camera and dance while shooting the wedding ... and of course I did. {With my bride and groom dancing behind me on the dance floor! Love love love this job.}
The day after the wedding was vacation time to the max.
Spent some time at the pool, and downtown on River Street shopping, enjoying as much of Savannah as possible.
If I could do college over again with endless money to spend ...
At the end of our Georgia adventures we went out for some Leopold's famous icecream.
All together Savannah was the perfect get-away. I can't wait to go back, and if you haven't been .. go.
sa
