Tomorrow I will be at the 8th Annual Alaska Wedding Fair. As I have been planning for this I have gotten some fun ideas on how I can not only display what I do, but give people a glimpse of who I am. The question I keep asking myself is how can I stand out from the crowd.  I mean I know I'm different, but how do I show that to someone in a matter of seconds.  Here is the spin I put on my promotional materials.

I might have said this before, but I grew up in California.  My mom, three sisters and I are very close.  Needless to say, I do miss them, and that warm California sun.  For Christmas this year, my husband and I went down to visit them.  However, they did not know we were coming! Long story short, with a bit of planning and collaboration with my sister Arden, we were able to pull off an exciting, emotional surprise.  My younger sister Joye is graduating from high school this year, and as a gift, I did her senior portraits.  It's crazy to think that I have been in Alaska for almost 6 years.  I left home when Joye was in junior high, and while I am a little sad I wasn't physically there to help her through this time in her life, I am grateful for how close we are despite the miles.  As you can see from this little preview, she is gorgeous inside and out.  I love you JoJo!

I moved to Anchorage from California about 5 years ago.  Similarly, my cousin Sam moved up a few years later. I grew up in Southern California. His family was also in California, but a bit further north, in the Bay Area. Although there was about 400 miles between our homes, we were the closest relatives to each other, so our families would alternate taking the long drive to spend the holidays together. When he moved up to Alaska he had saved up money so he didn't need to find a job right away. However, he ended up finding one a few months later to keep himself from getting bored. Basically he started fitting right in up here, and making a life for himself. A few weekends ago his life was made even more complete when he married his best friend, Kathleen.  She is awesome (beautiful, funny, quirky, an artist)! I had the honor of photographing their wedding, and while I am nowhere near being done with their pictures, here is a little taste of their day!

The Lesslie's are an amazing family Who I've had the privilege of working for in a couple different wast this summer. Rick and Rachael both work for the Forest Service and since school was out for the summer, I watched their three kids during the weekdays.  It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. During 4th of July weekend I was asked to photograph their family reunion. Family came in from out of town and their house became instantly full of kids, adults, laughter, tears, games, and fun. Here is a preview of their photoshoot.