It's a special thing when God brings people into your life. If you've followed my blog for a little while, you may have read the story of how I met my friend, Miranda. If you haven't, basically we met online. But the story is a good one and an amazing testament of how God can use us in the most surprising ways. I am so thankful that Miranda reached out to me over three years ago and we've been able to keep in touch through texts and more recently, visits in the flesh! She is a special girl, with an amazing calling on her life. God is already using her in great ways and I can't wait to see where He takes her! A couple weekends ago, she came to visit us. If there's one thing about Miranda that I know for certain, it's that she LOVES children! So we had this weekend planned as soon as possible after Hannah was born. And she was such a help with Micah and Hannah over the weekend that I really could've gotten used to having her around every day! ;)

One crazy connection we have, is that her family owned a lake house 10 miles down the road from me! She grew up in Georgia, but remembers coming down to visit the lake house in the summer when she was young. The house has been vacant for years now, but we thought it would be fun to take a trip over there and shoot some portraits. I needed the practice, and it was literally right down the road, so on a whim we decided to go. Let me tell you, I am SO glad we did! Not only was it beautiful to see the lake house where she spent sweet days of her childhood... but it is now going down as one of my favorite locations for future shoots!

We had the babies with us in a stroller, and there was a pretty steep drop off to get to the water... so we didn't take too many shots down by the lake (at least not without a couple babies in our arms, ha!) But the water was gorgeous!! I can't wait to get back there to take more soon.

Only walking distance away, was a beautiful dirt road covered with trees. So of course, we took advantage of that.

Then we made our way back to the lake house and decided to take a quick peek inside. Surprisingly, these turned out to be some of my favorite shots! Although the house is empty now, it carries so many beautiful historic qualities about it that can't be replicated. I am so thankful Miranda allowed me the chance to capture her here. It was spontaneous, but sometimes those are the best times. After all, that's kinda how we met. :)

If you live in the Central Florida area and would like to have me as your photographer, please visit my photography page for more details and pricing! 

Last week I had the privilege of meeting little Madison Grace. Her mom, Jennifer, and I went to school together growing up, so it was extra special to be able to take these precious photos of her baby girl! I even brought along my little Hannah so they could "hang out!" It was pretty surreal to see them both together. I'm sure when we were in high school, we never imagined we'd have little girls only a few weeks apart! :) All of these photos were taken in Madi's cute nursery. I love this, because it adds such a personal feel to the photos. There were quite a few special pieces that we incorporated into this shoot - including a little baby rocking chair with her name engraved, a cardinal in honor of Jenn's mom, and cute baby Wrangler jeans! Here are a few of my favorite shots of little Madi.

If you live in the Central Florida area and would like to have me as your photographer, please visit my photography page for more details and pricing!

A couple weeks ago, I took a few portraits for our sweet friend, Katie. It was somewhat spontaneous, so we ended up taking a few inside my house and most of them outside in my front yard. Also, I came down with some kind of stomach bug right in the middle of it - but Katie was a good sport the entire time and even helped hold the babies for me (she's an amazing babysitter and Micah just loves her!) I am excited to share with you some of the portraits from our fun time together.

Katie is currently going to school for nursing at College of Central Florida (or CF, as we lovingly refer to it) here in Ocala where she and I grew up. We actually have a little history together, although we didn't know it at the time. Her dad was my AP History teacher in high school. One day after class he asked me if I would be interested in babysitting his kids. Since I have a late birthday (May) I was only 15 at the time and not driving yet, so it was going to be difficult for me to get to his house. Unfortunately, I was never able to meet Katie back then. But as God would have it... 10 years later, she ended up becoming MY kids babysitter!

Katie's smile is one of my favorite things about her. And her LAUGH. If you could just hear it. It's the best.

If you live in the Central Florida area and would like to have me as your photographer, please visit my photography page for more details and pricing!