love and art...makes me happy!

I remember it clearly...my hands shook just a little as I filled out the form. I had been attending LifeChurch.tv for awhile, at least a year or more, but at that time, I still wasn't really involved. It was a new campus, one closer to my home. I had no excuses for not volunteering. The pastor had preached about being involved in the church, in helping with the ministry, and quite simply, I was convicted. So I filled out the form saying I wanted to start volunteering. Someone from the church called me. I explained that my weekends were usually pretty full, and asked if they needed any help during the week. The first day I went in to help, I met Deidra. A beautiful blond with a very cool personality, Deidra was easy to talk to and easy to like. We hit it off immediately! At the time, she was the LifeKids director, and I volunteered under her until she switched over to Campus Admin. Still, every Tuesday for the past two-plus years, I have seen Deidra in the office whenever I was there. Over time, I got to really know her and her story, and see what an amazing woman she is.
At the beginning of this year, I started volunteering in Switch, Lifechurch's youth program, every Wednesday night. One night, I was talking with Deidra after Switch, and she pointed out this guy. His name was Matt and he also volunteers in Switch. She told me they had gone to high school together. And that she thought he was cute. :) And that maybe there was something starting between them...Next thing you know, they were dating, then engaged {and now married, but that's another post :)}! I could not be more overjoyed for any two people! Deidra and Matt both have a heart for God, and a strong and apparent love for each other!
Matt just happens to be a super-talented artist, so when they got engaged, I wanted to come up with a unique and artsy location to do their engagement session. Well, I knew the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts was coming up, so I suggested that we shoot there. Deidra and Matt were thrilled with the idea. The Festival of the Arts is one of my favorite things each year here in OKC, and Matt and Deidra are beautiful inside and out, plus they brought some serious style with their outfits for the shoot...so you can only imagine how much I loved doing this shoot! :)

But I'll stop chatting {finally} and show you the photos!

cool sculptures + pretty light + hot couple = gorrrgeous! :)




Thank you, woman, for walking by, cup in hand, at exactly the right moment--the other shots in this same spot without you are just not as interesting. :)














Love-love-love!


























so clever, haha. ;)





Deidra, you are stunning! And Matt, you are handsome! :)




Matt & Deidra~
I have probably gushed enough to you guys about how much I loved your engagement session, but just in case you didn't get it--I freakin' looooooved this shoot!!! :) Thank you for being fearless with your pda among the crowds. :) You guys are THE BEST and you have renewed my faith in love. ;) Thank you for your friendship, which means the world to me! I love you guys!

~abi~

it's a fabulous life i lead!

Hello, my lovely friends! I just had to do a blog post and share what a wonderful past week I had! The week of June 27th through July 3rd was a pretty fabulous one for me! It started in Vegas, one of my very favorite cities, where I was vacationing with three other girls in celebration of my friend Brandie's birthday. It was my fourth trip ever to Vegas, second this year--but the previous trips have been for a yearly photography convention held there. This one was purely for fun, so I was stoked! We stayed at the Wynn, which is so nice! As I mentioned, I looove Vegas! Everything there is so crazy and fun and extravagant and, in my opinion, pretty! Anyway, I remember after my first trip to Vegas several years ago, I remarked that if I were rich, I would go to Vegas every three to six months, just for fun. Well, I am certainly not rich, but I thought it was funny that I was going to Vegas this time just three months after I was there last! Sure, I might drive an old, crappy car that is losing it's air conditioning and sounds like it has cowbells attached to it, but I will travel, dang it! :) Here are a few photos from my trip...

Brandie sitting in the window of our room at the Wynn...


the view!


ahhh, the pools! *sigh*


A couple of point and shoot pics of myself and the birthday girl! On the right, you can see the Bellagio fountains behind us. :)


After coming home, I was a little deflated. You know that feeling you get after being away on vacation, right? Like, back to reality. But I couldn't stay down for long. You see, my family had been contacted about being in the Freedom Festival parade here in Bethany, OK, in honor of my brother Jack! He graduated from Bethany high school, and they wanted to honor his memory by having my family be the Grand Marshalls of the parade. Very cool! Obviously, I had never been in a parade before, so I was a tiny bit nervous about the whole thing. But I figured if I had my camera as protection, I would do fine! :) And when I saw my sweet ride, everything was cool! ;)

Here I am in the 2010 Corvette...

Have I ever mentioned that Corvettes are my favorite car? :)

It was very cool getting to ride in the parade in honor of Jack! When people cheered and clapped and waved their appreciation, I definitely had to swallow the lump in my throat a few times!



The night before the parade, I made these t-shirts for us to wear. The photo is one I took of Jack at his Special Forces graduation ceremony. I simply created the design for the shirt in photoshop and then printed it out into iron-on transfer paper. My sister Amber helped me iron it onto all those shirts!

Here's my family, plus my cousin Caleb who is visiting for a couple weeks from Iowa...


The skies opened up right as we were coming to the end of the parade route, so we sought shelter in a tent for a bit, then headed over to my mom's house for the afternoon. We came back up to the festival that evening after the rain stopped.

My nephews had fun riding the carnival rides...







I have always loved carnivals!


After it got dark, we sat and listened to the band play off in the distance...


We ended the day by watching the fireworks show, of course! :)


Overall, I would say that's a pretty fab week: I started it in Vegas and ended it by being in a parade! :) I am blessed!

~abi~

...and one for my niece!

My niece Laila is an awesome girl! There are so many things I love about her, but in honor of her 18th birthday today, I thought I would list
"18 Awesome Things About Laila"
1} She loves Jesus
2} She is a good listener
3} She is very smart and makes good grades
4} She appreciates my really dumb sense of humor :)
5} She is a wonderful daughter to my sister Amber
6} She loves penguins :)
7} She is a great basketball player
8} She is also a great runner and jumper :)
9} She is a cool cousin and good example to my nephews
10} She loves her niece and nephew
11} She is a bit of a homebody
12} She loves the Twilight movies--especially Jacob! ;)
13} She drives a motorcycle!
14} She got a memorial tattoo in honor of my brother Jack
15} She lets me shop for her! :)
16} She is an adventurous eater and loves sushi :)
17} She has really pretty naturally curly hair
18} She is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!

Here are some of my favorite senior portraits I have taken of Laila this year.....













And here are a few photos from homecoming and prom.....

{Laila won homecoming queen!}




Laila/LaLa/Lailers/La/and all my other nicknames for you :) ~
I love you so much!!! Thank you for opening your heart to me over the past few years! You have enriched my life and been a wonderful addition to our family! I know that God placed us in each others lives! Happy birthday!!! I hope this year will be amazing for you! I am so proud to call you my niece!

~abi~

a birthday post about my sis in law!

I fell in love with my {at the time future-} sister in law, Ashley, before my brother Jack ever even laid eyes on her. :) Fortunately for me {and Jack}, Ashley played basketball in college with my sister Amber. Amber and I lived in a tiny apartment just off campus. Our place was the hangout spot for the girls on Amber's basketball team. Ashley is one of those girls who is just cool and hilarious and fun to be around! When I met her, I liked her immediately, but I clearly remember when she actually took over a big piece of my heart. :) You see, Amber tore her ACL in a basketball game and had to have surgery to repair it. If I remember correctly, it seems like that was right before the Christmas break. For some ridiculous reason that I can't recall, I had the best idea ever to have a Christmas party for the girls on the basketball team at our apartment right after Amber had her surgery! {Needless to say, I am not always the best planner.} At that time, I already considered Ashley to be a really good friend, but the night before that party, she proved her friendship to me. :) I remember that she and I stayed up until about 4am cleaning and decorating the apartment. We were cracking up the whole night! Amber slept peacefully through all the commotion, thanks to her medication from the surgery. :) I honestly don't remember a single thing about the party the next day, but what I do remember is bonding with Ashley that night.
A few months later, Jack met Ashley for the first time. Their love story belongs in a novel or on a movie screen! To sum it up for you {and I hope Ashley doesn't mind my sharing}, Ashley had sort of fallen for Jack before she ever met him. Amber and I {along with the rest of my family} were always extremely proud of Jack! He was just so handsome and funny and determined! At the time, he was away doing his Special Forces training. We had several photos of him up in our apartment and we talked about him all the time. Ashley was clearly intrigued by our tall tales ;) and his cute pics, so she claimed him as her boyfriend, sight unseen. We would all joke about it with each other. One weekend, Jack surprised the family by coming home to visit. That fateful weekend, on the day after Valentines Day no less, Jack & Ashley met for the first time. Naturally, since Ashley had already claimed his heart, he immediately and happily handed it over to her. From that day on, he and Ashley committed themselves to each other and they didn't look back! I can honestly say that I have never been around a couple who enjoyed their relationship more! Observing Jack & Ashley, I learned so much about happiness and love! Every single time I think about their marriage, it warms my very soul.
Today is Ashley's birthday, and I just wanted to honor her and the amazing woman she is. Because of her, my brother's all-too-short time here on earth was made beautiful and complete! Because of her, I have laughed and cried and seen what it means to survive. Ashley has taught me so much about goodness toward others, toleration, peace, and living life to the fullest! I will forever be grateful that our lives and hearts have intertwined.

Here is one of my favorite photos I shot of Jack & Ashley on their wedding day in 2005...


And one of me, Ashley, Mandi, and Amber: my sisters, my best friends...


Ashley~
I love you and admire you so very much! Thank you for giving me your love and friendship! I am happy to celebrate your life today on your birthday!

young love in a small town

Casey & Tara are one of those adorably cute couples who are just fun to photograph! They make you think of a really good country song about young love in a small town! :) I drove down to Marlow, OK, for their session. I have to say that I have really enjoyed shooting in and around Marlow! We started out on Tara's parents' property, which is a perfect setting for photos! After shooting there, we headed into the heart of downtown Marlow, which is full of cool little spots to shoot! Casey & Tara were absolutely great in front of the camera, and they didn't blink an eye even when people who knew them drove by and honked! :) Gotta love a small town!

We did a morning session, and the light was so pretty!


























Casey suggested we do some photos by this old house, and I just loved it!






Love the shoes, Tara!


Seriously, how cute are they??






Casey & Tara~
I am so looking forward to your wedding next month! You guys are awesome! I enjoyed our session so much! Thanks for making my job easy! :)

~abi~