don't let your dreams be dreams

My thoughts are turning and my heart is so full. I have been shooting a ton of portraits lately, which thrills me to no end! I realize my blog posts lately have not been so wordy, for which you all might be thankful, but I feel like an update post is needed. So, here ya go...

Next week, I am going on a fabulous trip to stay with some of my very best friends in the world. Let me explain. I have a tight knit group of friends whom I have been friends with since I was about thirteen years old. We met at a church youth conference, and we have all stayed in touch with each other over the years. The last time we were all together was at my brother's funeral, and we decided then and there that we needed to plan times to get together other than weddings or, God forbid, another funeral. So, we started talking about all taking a vacation together. Next week, that will happen. This could not come at a better time for me, as I have been going at a nonstop pace. There will be twelve of us total, and we will be staying in a gorgeous cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Georgia. These people are the same as family to me, so it will be refreshing and relaxing and so much fun to spend a week with them!

There is only one negative about my trip next week...I will be missing the kickoff night for Merge, a new ministry/community that I have been involved in helping to start. I honestly wish I could sit down face to face with each of you and have a conversation about Merge! It is for people in their early twenties to early thirties, and I truly believe that is is going to be just fantastic! It will provide a connection and serving opportunities for people in my generation, build friendships, and hopefully change lives in Oklahoma City! I am so sad that I will be missing the first night, but that does not diminish my excitement or my belief that this is the beginning of something huge and something wonderful! Please check out the Facebook page and the Twitter feed. Like us and follow us. :) {I know I might sound just a little bit like a cheesy infomercial when I talk about Merge, but I am just so excited about it that it comes out as gushing. But I promise I am saying all this with all sincerity, and I really just want everyone to join me in my enthusiasm. :)}

Aside from those two major things going on with me, I am excited about two cool shoots that I have this weekend, one tonight and one in the morning. And I will be going to Tulsa on Sunday for what promises to be a very cool wedding shower for my dear friends Kevin and Melissa, whose wedding I will be shooting in May.

Monday morning, I will be riding the train down to Dallas, where I will be flying out of to go to Georgia. I am pumped about the train ride, since that is one mode of travel I have never experienced before. I will let y'all know how that goes, okay?

Well, that about sums it up for now, I guess. Happy weekend to you, my fabulous blog readers! Since a blog post is always better with pictures, here are two adorable families I had the pleasure of photographing this week...





Don't those images make you feel happy inside? :)

~abi~

there she goes

This is what I've been editing this week: senior portraits of the lovely Lindsay. I have known Lindsay since she was a manager for the middle school basketball team my sister coaches. It has been awesome watching Lindsay grow into a young lady who is as sweet and beautiful on the inside as she clearly is on the outside! Here are a few of my faves from our session...











Lindsay~
You are awesome! :) Thank you so much for having me do your senior pictures! I love you!

~abi~

just me

Yesterday, I made the drive out toward Lawton, OK, with one of my closest friends and one of the best photographers I know, Kelly Beane. It had been forever since I had posed for a professional shoot, which is a shame, since I have some wonderful photographer friends. Once I had decided it was time to do a shoot, I knew I wanted to go out to the Wildlife Refuge and Medicine Park. I also had a great time putting together my outfits for this session. Of course, most of my clothes came from thrift stores... :)

Here's an early favorite from the session.


{shot and edited by the one and only Kelly Beane :)}

It was extremely difficult to choose one to blog today, since Kelly did such an amazing job and I loved SO MANY of them! I updated my Facebook and Twitter profile pics with new photos, as well. :) I will do a full post of a lot more from this shoot in the near future. I am so excited to share them with you all, since I put a lot of thought into the session. :)

such cute babies!

Here's a roundup of some of the adorable babies I've had the privilege of photographing...


{Lilly}


{Kayla as a newborn}


{Kayla about six months old}


{Isabella}


{Jaden and Jalissa}

So adorable!

precious Nehemiah

I dare you to look at these images without feeling your heart melt just a little. :) This boy is just so very precious! His parents Nate and Jessica must be so proud of their handsome little Nehemiah.



Awww, so perfect!





I just love tiny baby fingers...



...almost as much as I love tiny baby toes! :)





Look at this expression! I die. :)



A couple quick family shots, with a kiss from big brother Noah. So sweet!





Nate and Jessica are some of the very best people I know. I am so happy for them and their little family, and I'm so happy that they asked me to do this shoot!

double bubble

After posting the photos of Avery and Macy yesterday, I got to thinking that I had never posted any of the maternity photos we did of KC when she was pregnant with them. Since it was such a fun shoot, I wanted to share. And yes, I realize I should've posted these before the newborn pics, but sometimes I do things out of order, okay? :)

I made these little banners for her to hold...







Such a pretty mama!



clever...







Recognize these tiaras?





a double scoop ice cream cone... :)



KC~
You know I love you, girl! Your friendship means the world to me! I have so enjoyed being your personal photographer over the past several years. ;) Your family is precious, and I love you guys!

~abi~

sweet twins avery and macy

So, I have decided that this shall unofficially be Baby Week on my blog. Or maybe it is official. But whatev. Basically, I'm gonna post about babies and such.

{Just to clarify, I am not, in any way, shape or form, pregnant. Not even a possibility, folks. Just so ya know.}

Okay, so for today's baby post, I want to show off the beautiful twin daughters of a very close friend of mine, Kristen. Only, she is and always will be "KC" to me...just like back in the day when we were roomies who were always out and about in Bricktown together. ;)

KC is now happily married {hence, she is no longer actually KC, what with her married last name changing her initials and all} and already has one gorgeous daughter named Madison. In January, KC gave birth to fraternal twins Avery and Macy.

Here are some of my favorite images from their newborn session. I love how different they are from each other.


{Macy on the left, Avery on the right. - We had to do at least some shots that were all out-girly, just for fun.}

Avery's tiny hand...



Sweet, sleeping Avery...



Macy's itty-bitty fingers...



Adorable, yawning Macy...



Melt my heart...



And then this happened at the very end of our shoot. A little boxing match reveals their true nature. ;)

happy friday, friends!

That is all.


{This is Garland. More images from our shoot, coming soon.}

masquerade fun

Well, as you can see, I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from the actual masquerade I went to last Saturday.

Here is the group of fabulous girls who went with me. What can I say, I hang out with gorgeous people! ;)


{Whitney, Stacy, Katherine, Me, Angie, Brandie, Megan}

Of course, if you know me, you know that I demanded a photo with each girl. :)


{Megan, Brandie}


{Katherine, Whitney}


{Angie, Stacy}

We thought that all the LBD girls looked like hot bridesmaids with masks in place of bouquets.



Brandie's mask went so well with her Manolos! :)



Brandie and I modeling my mask handiwork...



Some details...I twisted my hair up in about five minutes, and added some leaves and sticks. :) Also, I covered the back of my mask with a few large leaves...



My hard work paid off when I won a $250 gift certificate to Cottonwood Spa as a prize for having the best mask! :) Of course, I had to strike a pose on stage...





It truly was such a fun and different thing to do on a Saturday night. And it was for a good cause. Check out Elevate Minds.