Photos from yesterday's photoshoot

Took some new stuff yesterday! I have a lot more photos to post....lots of models, looks & poses! Oh - I love to do body paint and those snowflakes were fun to paint on!

Teaching belly dance at hulapalooza at the UofA

I taught 2 mini belly dance lessons at the University last night during Friday Night Live. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time. There was lots of laughter and a large crowd watching. I had a good time speaking to a lot of students and met a lot of nice people.

The COOLEST step dad EVER!

I thank God every day for bringing Doug into our lives. He brings us so much joy and is constantly making us laugh. Last weekend Amelia had her little friend from school stay the night and the girls BEGGED Doug to sit down and let them put make-up on him. He said that he would do it but only if he could turn around and do their make-up! So it was a deal! How funny! At one point I was laughing so hard I fell off of the little step stool I was standing on and busted my leg....I still have a bruise! Doug is such a good sport and funny as all get out. I don't know too many guys that would of sat through the torture of blue eyeshadow, glitter, pink hearts, and a tiara. Doug sure does keep us laughing...who needs a gym to work out when you're always laughing? :-)








Amelia is holding a mirror and Doug's reaction to the makeup is priceless!

Washing the make-up off!


Amelia, Doug, and Sheba

Working out.....oh the gym hurts!

So I've been going to the gym for over 2 months now. I do 4 hours of cardio and weights during the week and then 3 hours of dance classes on Sunday. My goal is to be very toned for this summer! I've gained 7 pounds! I almost freaked out when I weighed myself but then it hit me - muscle weighs more - duh! So I was checking out my stomach in the mirror yesterday and I realized that I'm getting some really defined muscles....I'm really excited about that. I've been doing 50 lbs. on that "cruncher stomach machine" - whatever that thing is called! I did 25 lbs. on that butterfly machine - ya know - the machine that builds your chest - yeah, I think I'll go back to my 15 lbs. because I feel it today! Ouch! I've been stretching so much as well because I want to do the splits again. I'm about 4 inches away from the ground - I'm almost there!!! I want to be able to go into the splits while balancing a sword on my head. Oh the fun that could be for audiences. I can hear gasps now! (belly dancing - incase you wondered) Going to the gym makes me so hungry and I have more energy. I have found that I sleep better, I'm not stressed, and I have more energy! I also found that shooting a long wedding is way easier. I may just get addicted to working out because I am really loving it a lot!!!

Well, Doug & I have started packing the duplex. I've been packing books, CD's, bookshelves, etc. Spoke with the lender again today. They've sent an appraiser to the house. I cannot believe that I will be a home owner - it just seems unreal to me. I never thought this day would ever happen! Doug & I couldn't be more excited. Speaking of Doug....that little boogerhead....he's planned some kind of surprise for my birthday and he's only given one hint. He had to put a deposit down for them to make it. He said it's a custom design. That is all he will tell me. I love surprises so I'm really excited to find out what it will be. Custom....hmmm....I wonder....oh he knows it will drive me crazy until my birthday. He sure is a sweetheart. I'm so proud of him. He quit smoking!! He's on his 12th week. I know how hard it has been for him but he says he feels so much better. He wanted to quit for a long time but told me that Amelia was his inspiration for quitting.

My Blog and Comments

Hey everyone,

I changed the way you can comment on my blog because I was getting too much spam and because I have some 20 year old stalker girl that was making weird comments. I am trying to keep my blog as fun as possible but weird comments are well....weird. She has sent e-mail but thank goodness for email block - right? I really really love how young girls think they know everything about life and they know how to be a mom..... I hate saying this because it's so cliche but "get a life!"

I don't really care for jealous people folks. If you have the green eyed monster ruling over you - move on. It's easy....the little red X in the upper right hand corner is very simple to click on. Once you click on it - "poof" my blog disappears! :-) And yes, I'm being a smart-ass, but hey -- it's what the internet/blogging is for!

I'm almost 32 years old for cyring out loud!! The teenagers that bother people on the internet need to stay in the teenager sections of the internet. Leave us "old" people alone! :-)

Yeah, Yeah....I know....."well get rid of your blog if you don't want to be bothered" - but this is my little corner of the internet and a lot of my friends read my blog to keep up with what is going on in my life.....now back to our regular programming.....

House!

Sweeeeet! We are getting the house we found in Springdale! Oh the excitement of owning our 1st home! We got the house inspected on Wednesday and it passed with flying colors! It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a 1 car garage. There is a HUGE yard with a privacy fence. In the back yard there is a "house" that is partially built. There is also a big dog house that is big enough for Amelia to have as a play house. We are going to finish the partially done "house" and "dog house" out back. We plan on running electric out there, putting in 2 french doors, big deck, and of course finishing the interior. We are planning on making it our party house/guest house. We will put a futon in there along with the mini fridge. I plan on painting the walls a deep "sexy" red and we are going to install the stripper pole. Oh yes, ladies...I've had a pole for awhile and plan on installing it for those fun boudoir/personal photos!!! I bought the silly thing off of ebay! HA! The pole will be great for photographs!! I know so many girls are waiting for the installation and ready for photos! I plan on getting a fog machine for the special effects!
We plan on converting the garage into shooting space. It was semi-converted into a work area previously. There is an air conditioning unit in the wall and there is a nice window for some great window light photos. I plan on having a huge "dress up" closet installed and having all the accessories and clothes for photoshoots out there.
The house has a nice kitchen with crown molding, black appliances, and really nice big brown tuscan style tiles. There is a dining room as well and it has a bay shaped window in the dining room. We plan on putting in granite countertops eventually. The living room has really high ceilings which I love. The hallway has a bathroom, washer/dryer space, and a bedroom which will be my office space. There are 2 back bedrooms as well. I plan on painting one of the bathrooms with flames going up the walls - hey I've got an airbrush machine so I can paint awesome flames!! The ceiling will be a constellation. I haven't planned out the rest of the paintings yet.
We close on March 16th - the day after my birthday. We may close way sooner, though. I just got done speaking to the lender today and it looks like everything will be going really quickly and the seller is ready to close now!

After we get ourselves settled in - we plan on having a big house warming party so all our family & friends can come check it out! Food, music, and laughter - life is great! :-)

Sunday ~ March 4th

Bringing another fun shoot to NW Arkansas....Sunday March 4th in Fayetteville. If you are a photographer or model - contact me! This is the 4th annual fun shoot. Lights, camera, action! Contact Lena for more information!

More Mardi Gras Photos!

Photos by Chris at zenandjuice.com

Bridal Fair

I did the bridal fair back in January....I just remembered I took some snapshots with my little point & shoot camera....though I'd go ahead and post 2 photos from it. The bridal fair is held every year at the convention center in Springdale. This year they had hideous blue drapes. Oh they were just AWFUL! It looked like a circus inside due to the horrible blue. Can anyone say plain black or white drapes? I don't know why they have thos horrible colors because it makes everyone's booth look awful! Anyways, I shared a booth with Thea from Rose of Sharon. She's an awesome florist. And we had the Northwest Arkansas Wedding Professionals in our booth. We were giving away bags full of goodies and pink feather boas! ooo la la fun! We are definitely going to hand out the pink boas again next year. All the brides were loving them! I just hope next year they get rid of the circus blue! Can you hear the music playing now? ;-)

Mardi Gras!

Well....we did Mardi Gras again this year! It was a blast! COLD COLD outside but we warmed up. I wore 3 layers of clothes as everyone else did! Amelia had the most clothes on! HA! I gave her hand warmers and she thought those were great. My fun husband wore the genie costume my mom made. He's so much fun and a great sport! You gotta love a guy that can sport a cool costume and be supportive of his belly dancing wife! ;-) He really got into the bead throwing! We had over 1000 necklaces and we ran out by the time we got to the Walton Arts Center. Thanks to Bridget for donating a TON of beads from New Orleans baby! We had HUGE beads that we were throwing out. I can't wait for next years Mardi Gras - too much fun!!!!

Drawings & Paintings

Cartoon painting of Sheba. Just an extracarricular painting that I did at home.


Self portrait ... it doesn't look much like me. There's a "mask" peering between my arm - the mask is weird looking.


Charcoal drawing from figure drawing class


Pencil drawing from drawing II class


Pencil drawing from drawing II class


Drawing II class - charcoal drawing...


Drawing II class. We had to glue papers on top of paper.


Charcoal drawing from drawing II class. Cecille's wedding in Cozumel inspired this drawing.


Charcoal drawing from drawing II class.


Vine charcoal and charcoal drawing from drawing II class.


Vine charcoal and charcoal drawing from drawing II class.


Vine charcoal drawing from drawing II class.


Pastel drawing from drawing II class.


My final for drawing II class. I got an A!! This is a piece of matte board spray painted with blackboard paint. I used conte crayons, pastels, sidewalk chalk, & charcoal. We had to draw about something that was happening in our lives. The instructor really liked this piece. I'm very happy with the result.



This is a charcoal drawing of some paper bags from drawing II class.

This is a painting by my 7 year old Amelia. She loves to paint!

Congratulations Jenny & Jeremy!

Congratulations to Jenny & Jeremy!

Website updates!

More flowers from my sweet husband!

I'm working on the website! It's almost done. I want to add a lot more photos and will try to do that this week! I have a few more pages to make such as FAQ's and comments. I have to update the galleries to several of the topics that I have. I'm excited about the new website. A special thanks to Michelle for designing my logo. I think it's fun and vibrant!
I'm really excited about 2007. I have been getting a lot of inquiries and will be meeting quite a few brides this week and next! Dates are filling up fast and I am so thankful to all of the awesome brides that I'm photographing this year!

Well....Doug & I are still on the search for a house. Now I'm just praying we find something nice and get moved in before the summer! We are concentrating on the Rogers/Bentonville area as there is nothing for sale in Fayetteville! Most everything for sale in Fayetteville are condos and we don't want that as we really need a backyard.

Lori.....

Well....Lori moved to L.A.! She's big time now! ;-) Lori was shooting so many weddings in L.A. that it just made sense for her to move! Anyways, I assisted her at the last wedding she photographed here in Fayetteville. I was surprised to see the governer as the officiant! I got a picture of Lori meeting the governor. I thought it was pretty neat. I'm really really going to miss Lori. She & I had such a good time at weddings and a great time eating at La Huerta! I'll just have to visit her in L.A. I'm gonna miss you girl!

We lost baby Marshall

Doug got this tattoo. BM stands for baby Marshall. We are both upset about the loss. Doug wanted to keep the memory. The heart is part of a whole big design on his arm. I will post pictures of his arms sometime soon.

I had been in bed since Tuesday Jan 2nd. I started to bleed on Tuesday and went to the ER at the doctors recommendation. Doug & I were there for close to 7 hours. I was sent home to "rest" and call the doctor in the morning because the ER couldn't decide what was going on. After 2 visits to the doctor and having blood tests done, it was determined that I needed a D&C due to hormone levels only going up somewhat but not doubling. After having the D&C, I was told I'd need shots of methotrexa-something (can't remember the name) but basically I needed the shots to dissolve the baby since it found its way in my tube. So I was pregnant with a tube baby. Everything else was fine but the baby was in the wrong place. My tummy went back down and I'm doing fine today. I had to do the proecedure on Friday. Doug & I said a lot of prayers to take baby Marshall and keep him/her safe. We won't try to get pregnant until the end of 2007. I want to finish the spring & fall semester of 2007 at school and shoot weddings this summer. So there are a lot of positive things that can come out of this tragedy. Doug & I are devestated naturally......but we are happy that we have each other & Amelia.