kim and david blew my brains out with engagement awesomeness.  these two have been dating for about 8 years and their level of comfort with each other is so apparent.  i love how secure kim is around david. they love to have little adventures and caddo lake state park was just the right setting for them.   they are totally into each other and that just jumped out into my camera.  don’t believe me?  take a look at just a few of their images.

so, over the past couple of weeks i have been busy.  busy shooting and busy vacationing.  this site is about to get a full force of blog love.  here is a little peek of what’s coming your way.

i ADORE this shot of zach seeing his daughter.

stephenie and jared.  chillaxing before their reception.

ericka and justin getting their flirt on.

it’s been a while since i’ve had a couple that laughed and hugged as much as cassie and kinsey.

nothing beats having your parents slam you with poppers as you make your exit.

Lauren & Blaine were married at The Belgium House just outside of Longview exactly 1 year ago today.  Word.  Let’s check in on them and what the first 366 days of marriage was like for them.  BUT, before we do… how about a few of my favorites from their wedding.

What do you miss most about the single life?
-We honestly decided we don’t miss the single life – can you say cliche’? yet true!

Give us your best cheapo/fun married date idea.
-Four wheeling/back roading & star gazing in the piney woods of East Texas!

What have you liked most about your first year being married?
-A year of “firsts” in our first year of marriage!…first married christmas, our birthdays as husband and wife, etc..we try to commemorate them with a picture or a new tradition!

What’s been the hardest part about being married?
-Getting used to each others quirks and mannerisms, like leaving bobby pins in the shower or leaving the kitchen cabinets ALL open.

What surprised you the most? (Either good or bad.)
-In a good sense, what a great team we make! Whether its splitting up at the grocery store to get out quickly, or taking turns folding laundry. There’s never a “point” system with us.

What have you fought about most and why?
-Co-managing our finances, which we knew in advance. Women and men have such different buying patterns, so some advice: Sit down and talk over bill distribution, financial goals, and budget expectations. Save, save, save!

a few months back i went to haiti for the first time.  one of the things that jumped out at me right away was just how much of an influence “disney” had there.  mickey was on pretty  much every street and corner and building.  now, i put disney in quotes because i don’t think i saw one official disney product while i was there.  they were all hand painted.  all of them used to attract kids to a school, church, or day care.  have a few disney loving kids back home i tried to snap as many images as i could as our buss flew down the roads.  here are a few that came out in focus.  enjoy.

some of the artist did better than others.  here was a less than stellar mickey.  along with a bit of looney toons cross promotion.

everyone know disney and jesus christ go hand in hand.

it’s heartbreaking to live in a world were there can be such extreme poverty in one city and be able to board a plane, fly 2 hours and be in disney world.  it’s something that our family wrestles with almost on a daily basis.

i don’t know how to end this post.