Lots of Good News!

So, the last few days have been awesome because we've gotten a lot of great news!


1. Michael won 1st Place in The Knot National’s Best Wedding of the Year (He's so talented...hehe)


2. We just found out that we'll be speaking for the PPA convention coming up in January in Phoenix. Should be loads of fun!


3. Our client and amazing wedding coordinator friend Ariel Yve hired us to shoot her wedding and she called us today to let us know that her wedding is going to be featured on the WE Network on their Platinum Weddings reality TV show! We are so excited to be apart of it!

We totally feel totally blessed and are so grateful that we are surrounded by such great people who have helped us so much. That's why communities like photoforthepeople.com are so awesome because it gives everyone an opportunity to share and grow for each other. Thanks to everyone who have shared with us and hopefully we'll be able to do an adequate job of returning the favor to others! :)

Iron Man Review & Pedicures

Michael and I went to the opening night of the movie, "Iron Man" and so we bought our tickets a few hours before to make sure we got in. So, in the meantime we were like, "What should we do?" We'll I spotted a nail place across the street and said, "We should get pedicures!" Michael was a little skeptical and was worried that the nail person would cut him. I had to assure him several times that they are pro's and they wouldn't cut him. So, we went a got pedicures and guess what? The lady cut him!! haha! I don't think I'm going to be able to get him to do that again...
But "Iron Man" ended up being a really fabulous and fun movie and we both really enjoyed it. Robert Downey did a great job and it was really refreshing and fun to see someone different. If there is a movie with Jude Law or someone that gets WAY over used I'm really hesitant to see it. And Michael and I are both movie buff's so we've felt a little starved lately because there hasn't been that many good movies out. All in all it was a really fun day!
On the business side, I started reading "4-Hour Work Week" and I'm totally in love this book! It's a great book for anyone who works (which would be most of us!) so definitely pick it up the next time your in a book store. I may even make it of of the reads for my Book Club!

A lot on the horizon...

Today, was a relatively pensive day. I woke up at 6:00 am (ahem) to go for my morning walk with Amy Nave and Co. Then I went home, took a bath, and then took a walk to Alice Keck Park where I proceeded to pretty much finish "The Anatomy of the Buzz." This book is action packed with business goodness! It's so nice to be able to take a good chunk of time out of the day to re-group and really focus on what is going to be really important for our business. Sometimes I feel like it's really really easy to get caught up in the day to day of running a business. It's SO key to consistently take a step back and really try to see the "forest for the trees" so to speak. Otherwise, one day we'll wake up and be like, "What have I been doing for the last 10 years!" Michael and I have so many exciting things on the horizon that I'm really anxious to share with everyone. Should be soon...
So here are some shots I took with my iphone of the park. It was such a beautiful day and was a wonderful atmosphere for me to let my mind focus on the upcoming future. It's such a treat to live in such a beautiful place. We are truly blessed...

Start of a my 2nd Oil Painting...

Today I got to start a new painting in my art class! It was a hard call, but I chose this dramatic still life of these beautiful red flowers. Alli pointed out that I am definitely drawn to still life - which I think is an accurate observation! So this is the preliminary skeleton...
This is Alli's finished painting from the past two weeks! Isn't it awesome! Alli tends to gravitate more towards landscapes - which she is obviously very talented at painting. :)



This last weekend, Michael and I were traveling north to be with him mom on her 60th birthday party, and as I was looking out the window I literally saw the landscape that Alli was painting. I took this picture to show her!


Here is Alli with her awesome painting. Our teacher always shows us how our final painting looks in a professional frame - which really makes it look finished. I love it!




Yay! Art class rocks! :)

Our Trip to Paris

I was going through pictures recently and came across pictures from Michael and my trip to Paris awhile back. I thought I'd share some our favorite spots! (I didn't have a blog when we went :)


Michael took this shot outside the Catacombes of Paris. What do your think it is?

Awesome shot Michael took of the Eiffel Tower

This is a shot Michael took looking down from inside the elevator in the Eiffel Tower. Cool, huh?
Michael took this shot directly UNDER the Eiffel Tower.


This is actually a shot of the inside of a huge fireplace in the Concergerie. This is an old Medieval Castle and the place Marie Antoinette spent her last hours before getting her head chopped off. (In the Concergerie - not the fireplace, I mean!)


Michael and I in the Tuillerie Gardens


Michael and I in front of Notre Dame


This is a cute picture of Michael in the Catacombes of Paris! Yikes! :) (This is one place I REALLY wanted to go!)

I had fun going through the pictures again! Michael and I loved Paris SO much that we made a commitment that we would live there someday for at least a year. Paris is a magical place! :)

LIVE Chat TODAY with Jared Bauman!!

For anyone who is interested in learning more about being an amazing business owner, definitely log onto photoforthepeople.com today from 4-6 pm (pacific) and post questions for Jared Bauman under the "Interviews With Photographers That Know the Biz" section! Jared is such an amazing example of how to start a business, make it profitable quickly and expand quickly and efficiently. I've been SO impressed with the volume of weddings he books between him, his partner and "crew" photographer, and how well his office operates.
Also, check out this interview I did with him that is also on Photo For the People. It's gives some awesome insights into his business!!
Can't wait to see you there and join in the conversation!!

xo

Take a minute to help solve world hunger...

Hey everyone,
Today my relative Jana made me aware of a cause called ONE that helps fight world hunger. All they are asking right now is that people sign a petition to put World Hunger on the G8 agenda poverty-fighting agenda in July. Here is more info:

It's being called the "Silent Tsunami." In three years, prices for the basic staples that feed the world—wheat, rice and corn—have risen by a staggering 83%. For people in the developing world, affording enough food to eat is becoming a daily struggle for survival.

The New York Times is reporting that in Haiti, people are eating cakes made of mud mixed with a little sugar and oil to try and beat the hunger pangs. Without action to stop the upward spiral of food prices, 100 million people around the world will face deeper poverty and hunger, and hundreds of thousands will confront famine and starvation.

In the face of this suffering, we cannot be silent.

Please send a message to President Bush and urge him to make solving this hunger crisis a priority on the G8's poverty-fighting agenda at its summit this July in Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda has sent a letter to the other seven leaders of G8 nations adding the hunger crisis on the agenda for the G8 summit. It's a critical first step and shows that our concern is being heard. Now we need to hear from President Bush and work to keep the focus on this ongoing crisis.

Why are we asking the G8—the leaders of the world's eight wealthiest nations—to take action? We ask because a global crisis demands a global response, and recent history shows these leaders are in the best position to take action.

In 2005, ONE members joined millions of people from around the world in demanding that the G8 make poverty a priority at its meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland. The results were historic. A year of grassroots organizing culminated in the Gleneagles Declaration, in which the G8 committed to double development assistance to Africa by 2010.

We can help get such results again - please show your support for this effort by signing the petition.

It took me literally 20 seconds to sign the petition, so I'd urge anyone who'd like to to do the same! Here is the link: http://www.one.org/hungercrisis?rc=hctaf

Thanks! xoxo