Robert and Jackie met at work…. and fell in love at work. When the time was right, Robert put his heart into planning the perfect proposal. He took Jackie to Catalina Island for the day, and professed his undying love to his love in the heart of the quant little town. …He told her he...
I actually live a few hours away, but totally would drive down for OSP get togethers and shoots!
Beautiful! Love that first picture!
…just a note to all of you interested in my contest for a deserving family/individual.. I have extended the deadline, and will choose a winner by September 1st!! So get your writing on. Nominate someone!! Anyone. It can be for yourself, your sister, or someone who’s blog you follow! Doesn’t matter. Big person, small person,...
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Ohh ohh ohh! A winner will be announced today!! Right?
I almost feel a little lame for doing this. The only reason I feel like I might be deserving of this, is because I give away lots…I mean lots. Free or discounted photo shoots, lessons, cards, you get the point. I am even going to try to become a photographer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. I haven’t yet submitted my application, but it is on my list of things to do this week. Along with take a meal to a sick family from are church . Spend time with my sister who is in from out of town. Finsih the final touches on my grandma’s 80th birthday party that I orchestrated, planned, and put together. yikes, as I was just re reading that it almost sounds like I’m making it up. But I’m not I promise. The only reason I’m not nominating some one else is because I don’t know of anyone who lives in your area. However me and husband are coming to California for our 8th wedding anniversary in December. I have been dreaming of doing a photo shoot of just the two of us now that we have three little boys. Honestly, more than anything I want a reason to get dressed up, get my hair and make up done. Feel young, beautiful, and in love again. Maintaing my feminity has become more important to me the older I have gotten. Maybe it’s just that I’m surrounded by boys on all sides. Don’t get me wrong I love them more than anything. Sometimes it would be nice to just be Lori. Thanks for considering me/us.
Lori
it’s. official. {oh my.} The lease has been signed, the uhaul has been rented, and we’ve got enough boxes in our house to probably take a world record … …see, me and my love, husband man, are finally doing what we have been talking about for the last few months… we’re leaving LA and all...
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Welcome to the area!
How incredibly exciting!! I love San Francisco and all the excitement that goes along with it!
you finally have fall. FINALLY :)
Abi…congrats on the move…I admire your courage! My husband and I have always talked about packing up and moving to someplace in Europe for awhile, but now that I have my business I feel hesitant to leave.
Any tips on how to move your business over? I’d love to hear cause we only live once right?!! =D
Oh no :( im so sad your leaving! but sooo happy for you too =) i adore san fran, and am seriously sooo friggen jealous! your going to have some rad shoots there, i just know it!
How exciting!!! Can’t wait to see pictures of San Fran. Enjoy the wharf.
I am sooo, sooo, sooo happy for you guys, and in the same time excited, because I know San Francisco needs people like you, with that great vibe and all. And I can’t wait to see a San Francisco-ish vibe brought to your blog.
Happy moving:)
It’s the way he looks at her. The way she flirts with him. Doe eyed and full of adoration. It’s the way they laugh together like no one’s watching…. Yes world, David and Karen are one hundred percent, undeniably, intoxicating in love….. ….they’re first few dates were at the Los Angeles Public Library…. and over...
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beautiful – great composition!
Love the library and LOVE these images! It feels like you captured some really beautiful intimate moments between them! :)
Oh my gosh! these are great! Thanks for the reminder about the L.A. library. I haven’t been there since my wedding 16 months ago.
Abi, these photos are absolutely gorgeous!! :) I looooooove that they spent their dates at the library. :)
…just back from Oregon last night and this fab wedding! Can’t wait to post a zillion more!! xoxo
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love the mood of these. a wedding in the woods? I’d love to see more!
Your work is amazing..of love the tones in the image to the right…gorgeous!
ahhhhhh…… anxiously waiting over here! beautious! :)
oh i LOVE them post more soon !!!
I love the pine trees! Abi you’re amazing and very creative!
I was in the store the other day, waiting in line to return a few items. The line was long. and, I was bored. I looked around, trying hard not to tap my foot in impatience… and I noticed out of the corner of my eye a lady holding up purses. Back and forth. Back...
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As the ancient Greeks would say…”live with passion”. Love your idea and thankful you allowed your five minute friend to inspire you to do this. Even if you didn’t think of it right then, God is using the inspiration given to bless a multitude!
Abi – your blog has touched my heart. Yesterday was the funeral of my 52 yr old aunt that passed away 11 months after being diagnosed with a very aggressive form of bone cancer. She too went through the scarf and wig phase of the treatments. I wish you the very best in choosing a winner for the giveway.
i came here from your mom’s blog, which i found as we’re adopting from uganda. =) although i don’t know anyone in your area, just wanted to tell you that i think this is an awesome idea. and who knows if your paths will cross again….
I also kick myself way too many times because I mommy brain – I am not as quick on my feet and have delayed reaction – I come up with great ideas of what I could have done to make someone’s day better way after the fact!
We are an adoptive family – we added three kids this year to our family – an infant and 18-month old twins. We would be totally blessed to have them captured in pictures! My point and shoot does not do them justice in capturing their joyful spirits! We are in an impossible legal situation and should the worst happen where the appeals court overturns the trial court’s decision to terminate bio mom’s parental rights and rules to have the children reunified with their incarcerated bio mom, it would mean the world to us to have wonderful tangible reminders of our children. And as an added incentive – we are in the East Bay about 35 mins from S.F!
Blessings.
I stalk…I mean READ ;) your Mom’s blog and followed her link here to yours.
I just want to say your photography is DELICIOUS and your heart is wonderful!
I have actually had a session for the same thing. I received a phone call on a Monday and she said she needed photos done ASAP. Not knowing why, I asked her why she needed them so quick, and that was her reply as well. “I’m starting chemo and I want to remember what I looked like while I was still beautiful.”
Her photo session was incredible and brought tears to everyone’s eyes that saw them and heard her story.
And I begged her to allow me to shoot her again, free of charge, after she has lost her hair. I told her that she will have another kind of beauty: one born of God’s strength and mercy. And this beauty will surpass her before photos.
I just want to say that this is a great idea, and I know several people who could qualify…except they are all in Canada. I hope you find someone who truly needs it and I know you will change lives.
You have such a precious heart! Wishing I lived in CA not TX!
Blessings,
Carla
Abi,
I found this post through your mom’s blog. I made the mistake of starting to read it at work! I have a very public, customer service related job and I actually had to head to the back for a few minutes to collect myself.
See, my mom is a seven year survivor of breast cancer. When she started chemo, my dad went in and had his shoulder-length hair shaved and donated to cancer patients. My little brother did too, although the sacrifice wasn’t quite as great for him. Mom managed to convince me not to shave mine too, as I was away at college, about to graduate and needed to find a respectable job. She also forbade me to leave my last year of school to come help.
Mom made it through a grueling double-round of chemo and radiation treatments with a lot of prayer and help from some amazing friends. My dad (who gets queasy pulling off a band-aid) did an amazing job taking care of her. Some days, she saved up all of her energy the whole morning to stand up and take her glass of water to the sink herself. What a triumph!
I’m not trying to be dramatic here, I just want you to know that if this amazing gift goes to someone – like your five minute friend – who is dealing with cancer, it will surely be appreciated. Most days, when I would come home to visit for the weekend, I’d find Mom on the couch surrounded by photos. They were her prayer list, her encouragement, her memories and her hope. To be able to provide that to someone is a truly special gift.
Let me know the next time you’re in Durango. I’d love to meet you in person.
Shelly
Simply said, “Bryson”. I have wanted a photo of me kissing his precious feet every since we got him. We qualify as we live exactly two hours away from your new home!
And thanks for the reminder about the simple things! You have your mother’s heart.
I recall those very moments of “kicking myself.” A mom in a grocery store line continually calling her kid down. A man at the rear of the packed line yelled out in his deep voice, “Austin, I don’t even know you and you are getting on my nerves.” Saw her in the parking lot trying to load kids and groceries. Kick myself that I did not go over with my kids and tell her it could have been me on any given day and load her car as she just sat….love what you are doing. Have checked out your pix-AMAZING! Wish I lived closer! Hope you find the perfect someone to bless!
What a fabulous idea! I am so inspired by this story–and love your Mama. :) I am a beginner at photography, but I am praying that I can develop it into something that God can use. I would love to just do things for free for those who cannot afford a photo shoot. I have two friends with cancer and I would never have thought to tell them to get photos taken before they lost their hiar. THANK YOU for posting this. You sound like a treasure…just like your Mom. :)
WOW what a wonderful giveaway. How I wish I knew someone close to you. I just know someone special is going to be very fortunate to have you doing their picture. AWESOME!!
I heard about your giveaway through your Mom’s blog. My story doesn’t meet the location parameters(Ft. Worth, TX), but I’m hoping you might consider anyway. We have a sweet couple in our church, Kim and Steve. Steve was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma, cancer of the blood. There is no cure, but with treatment people have lived as long as five years. What breaks my heart about this family is that Steve is only 44. They have two beautiful daughters, Abigail (5) and Rachael (3). Kim lost her father to cancer when she was a teenager and her mother died this past December. They have been through so much and yet walk with such faith and hope. I know they would be so grateful for your generosity.
Well, my little family lives two hours from San Francisco. I am a single mommy of three, adopting my fourth. IF I should win, I would want to save it until my daughter comes home from Ethiopia. I got my referral March of 2008 and am still waiting to pass court and bring her home! She is 8 years old next month and spending her second birthday in the orphanage. We have had failed court dates three times…and now are waiting on an impossible (so it feels) piece of paper from Northern Ethiopia and the village is rained out.
God knows when she will come….and I would love a family portrait! BUT I just won your momma’s memorial box, and I feel guilty entering again! :) But I will.
Blessings to you on your move. SF has some very fun and beautiful places.
We would love to be able to get our large families pictures taken. We live in Brentwood. Which is 1 hour from San Fran.
We are a adoptive family. We do not have the money to do professional pictures. I love pictures, that is my most favorite gift to get. We usually take them with our personal camera and print them out and hang them on the wall. I would love to take a class on photography. Maybe someday. I have lots to do before that. Theology classes, Russian classes and whatever to prepare our family for the mission field. :D
Also keep me in your prayers as this Fri I will be having my second mammogram and ultra sound, to see what they have found in my left breast. I do believe that my time is not at the end. God is not done using me for his will yet.
SO please enter our family in the contest and come check out our blog. I am a little slow as keeping it updated.
Blessings to you.
What a beautiful idea! I know the Lord will lead you to just the right situation.
mama of 13
(I think you and one of my daughters have become Facebook friends … she’s a photographer also)
what a sweet and precious idea.
i had a friend who went through medical gymnastics to get pregnant. she and her husband had three beautiful babies. when her youngest was 16 months old, she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer.
three children. 5, 3 and 16 months.
she had glorious long golden hair.
i really wanted her to take a photo with her kids. and her family.
she never did.
and she died, bald as a cue ball.
and her kids wouldn’t have cared if she had blue hair, no hair or straw hair. just to have a moment captured in time with their mommy. . . what a treasure.
especially if she’s around to enjoy it with them twenty years down the road. “remember that time i took that yukky medicine and lost all my hair?? that was so hard, but look how God delivered us!”
all moments deserve to be chronicled. even the hard ones.
bravo for a FABULOUS idea.
Gorgeous pictures…gorgeous writer!
I would like to nominate the Saunders family. They are a family created by God and determined to be His hands and feet. They are the essence of your post today. They do NOT waste moments, time, experiences. They use all they have been given, for God.
They are well-known by the bloggy world as selfless people. When things get rough, they never lose perspective. Their focus remains on God. So admirable.
Their family is beautiful. It is made up of all shades of the rainbow and it is growing. If they should win, please wait until their newest daughter, Jubilee, joins the family. And, also, please set the timer on your camera so that you and Ryan can jump in some photos too. You, are, after all, their baby too!
What a great opportunity you are giving! I hope the Saunders win!
Good luck in your new home!
Hey Abi! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your work so pleeeeeease enter me into your drawing. I do not need to tell you our story – you know it well. I would love to have a photo shoot after Isaiah is home. Actually I would love to do it whether I win or not :)! We are 4 hours from you but we can take a road trip or better yet – you and Ryan can come up and enjoy some country living or skiing this winter.:) Let’s chat soon!
Through tears I say, YES! Beautiful…joyously beautiful!
you and your mother are truly gifts from God! i love yall and how good yall are to people! we need more of you everywhere! Yall are AMAZING!
I just found your blog, I’m not even sure how, a link from another to your ooh la la post, but this one made me tear up. One of my very best friends has just finished chemo and radiation, sported buzz cuts, wigs, and scarves, and is coming through to the other side of the experience – the side the says “thank God it’s over with.” We had our own fabulous photoshoot before she lost her hair and oh, how I wish you had given one to your five minute friend. But it wasn’t meant to be, because you were meant to do it online and make a difference to someone else. I wrote too much, but I’ll be back.
Hey Abi :)
This is a great idea.
I was just wondering (Because my husband and I are starting to plan for his next tour…)
if you knew of any good venues/churches/coffee shops in your area and/or some legit musicians in the area that he could hook up with to set up a show? We may possibly be coming your way! I hope all is well.
–Jillian
Awesome Abi. I haven’t commented before but this post really moved me. What an awesome gift you have to give. You are a wonderful photographer and I think the winner will be so blessed by your talents. Thanks for the challenge to look outside of myself – or a line – and see hurting people and see what gifts I’ve been given to bless them. I can’t wait to see who will win and what the beautiful results will be. So fabulous!
Jill from Durango
You are so sweet! I hate when things like that pass me by. I’m usually the one who has the great ideas after the fact. You have totally inspired me to be more mindful and giving! Thanks
I love it Abi. Great post, I commend you for living with your heart. xoxo
Wow, Abi – you are an angel. Your husband and family are lucky to have you. You are so unique.
Orange.
Who else but you would be guided (by the hand of God) to chime in as a distraction to the boredom of standing in line.
Lesson learned? When I get impatient in lines (which I loathe), I’ll look around, be more aware of the world that is spinning around me as I stand there, and look for the positive.
So true! So true…..
…..I know all I’ve been doing lately is posting sneak peeks, and believe me, millions of good posts are on my todo list…. …but my list is oh-so long… and while I’m trying sooo so hard to catch up.. … for now, I couldn’t resist… {because I just love me a pretty picture…} from yesterday’s...
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AMAZING!!! We are previewing from the BVI’s!! We just couldn’t wait. That one photo has us looking forward to the rest!!! Thank you so much! you are Awesome!!! We couldn’t have asked for anyone better or more talented!
Love,
Nick & Britne Bernatowicz
oooh! i love a pretty picture, too! please share the rest soon! ;)
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