{things that make me happy} giving away gift cards!

I recently ran a gift-card giveaway on facebook. Yay! Wait, what? You didn't know?! Maybe you should be my fan!

Okay, shameless plug over and back to the point. So! I recently ran a gift-card giveaway on facebook... as all you wonderful people share, love + like my page, my fans increase, so I said that I would give away a $15 Starbucks gift card to one lucky winner if we hit 200 fans. Well, last night we hit 200 fans! Double yay!

Drumroll please...

The winner is: Jahna Jurenka!

As time goes on, and y'all share, share, share, the goodies are going to get bigger+better. Think big, friends! Stay tuned, the new giveaway will be announced on Monday.

Here's proof I did a random number generator, and after counting down 70 fans (yes, I did that manually...), the winner! 

{PS} Please forgive the extremely crude use of Photoshop's paint tool on the winner screen print. What can I say? I don't use it very often!

Tucson Newborn Photographer ~ Sneak Peek: Olivia!

So, someday {mike+I} want a little bub of our own, but for now I can live vicariously through my friends' adorable babies! Keep it up, friends!

Here's a sneak peek of what's in store for y'all in the next week or two - a teeny, tiny little girl with one of my favorite names of all time: Olivia Marie. Little Miss O decided to join us last Sunday!

Staring contest... 1, 2, 3... GO!

{cela+noah} trash the dress, part 2!

Love these two. That is all.

*You can see {cela+noah} part 1 here. If you still want more, they are also here, here and here!

Just for you, Noah.

{cela+noah} trash the dress, part 1!

It's a two-fer! Because these are going to be large posts, I'm just going to keep it simple. No long, blabbering, soulful notes today my friends. Stay tuned later this afternoon for the second half!

Enjoy the gorgeousness...

*{location} Brown Canyon Ranch, Sierra Vista, AZ
*You can see more of {cela+noah} here, here and here.

{travel recap} here, there & everywhere!

Whew!

It's been a whirlwind ten days, but I was able to sort through some of my photos today and do a quick edit to share a little bit of my trip with y'all...

First stop was Missoula, Montana for my big, little brother's graduation (he's tall, I'm short, therefore "big, little bro.") While we were there, he asked me to help him prepare for the big, bad real world with some headshots. He has a really hard time keeping a straight face, so I had to add in the "bloopers." I also snuck in a few of his roommates adorable daughter.

The next leg of my trip involved a second stint as an intern for Justin & Mary Marantz - this time in my hometown of Seattle. Despite an argument with a certain virus called the flu (grrrr!), I'd say the week was a success! Some of my childhood friends were gracious enough to come model for us, and I'd say they knocked it out of the "Water for Elephants" ball park. Not to mention a big shout out to my friend Bunn Salarzon, who drove all the way up from Portland to help us out!

And just for fun, here's a shot of the whole fam-damily after my big, little bro gradu-muated from college!

From left: Papa+Mama Bentz, "big, little bro," yours truly+hubby

Sneaky Peeky: {cela+noah} Trash the Dress

{dolli news} sneak peek

Just a little something I'm working on for my future {bride+grooms}...

{travel recap} san di-aaaahhhhh-go

I had a dream last night.


Not in the "I have a dream!" sense of the phrase, but more like the shock me awake and then lie there, wide-eyed, for 45 minutes type of dream.


There was this huge truck. A Dodge Ram, actually. It was towing a very, very full trailer. Not a car, horse or flatbed trailer, but one of those smallest-size-that-uHaul-offers sized guys. The only reason I could tell that the trailer was very, very full was because I was driving this humongous truck up a really, really, really steep hill. And we were struggling, definitely struggling. And I had this passenger... this really annoying passenger that kept telling me how ridiculous it was to try and tow this trailer, and drive this truck, up this gigantic hill.


But I kept driving. I dropped it into second and chugged up that damned hill. Because I knew the truck could do it. I knew that that bad-ass truck and the little ol' trailer could do it. Every time I felt like the incline was about to toss that truck backward, I just kept grinding up the hill. And you know what? As I was nearing the top, that annoying passenger bailed. Like, tuck and rolled out of that thing. And then that passenger, that annoying girl who just wouldn't shut up with the "why's?" and "this is a dumb idea"... she sat there, in the dirt. She sat in the rocks and watched as that Ram kept chugging, onward and upward, like Thomas the Tank Engine. And guess what?


The truck never reached the top. 


Wait, what? That's right. There was no end, no summit. There was no ceiling nor limits to how far I could tug that trailer.


And then I woke up.


So much of success is believing in yourself, in what you do. You have to believe that you are capable of doing more than what you think you can do. You believe in your mission, no matter what that mission may entail. So many of us are told constantly that we don't live up to our potential. That we don't, we didn't, we haven't, we aren't. And I ask them, what's with all the "n't"s?!


Three weeks ago, I had the fabulous opportunity to spend a week with the equally as fabulous Justin & Mary (and J2!). As I mentioned before, a lot of their workshop is focused on the why of it all. Why do we, as photographers, do what we do? Why photography? Why do you want to succeed? Why not? Why are you fearful? The list goes on and on and on. Always, always, ask "why?"


My dream last night is my why. I can't tell you how many times I've been told that I'm not living up to my potential, that I could do more, be more, succeed more. And you know what I tell those people? 


Screw you. 


This is what I do. This is what I love. I'm good at this. Edit that: I'm great at it. This is what I will succeed in, and I don't need you to tell me I could "do more" anymore. My "why" is because for the first time in a long time, I'm not miserable at the end of the day. I'm excited to "go" to work. I wake up, wide-eyed, in the middle of the night because I have ideas that I can't push out of my head - and thank God for that! I'm happy. I'm full of energy. I'm doing more, living more, loving more, and laughing more.


And you know what? Those "mores" I'll take.


Enjoy.


{ps} That's right, it's an Anchorman reference. Live it, love it, embrace it.

 

{Friday Funday!}

Just a quick look of my friend Kim's adorable puppy Lexi (aka Turk's new girlfriend!) before I head north to Sedona for my birthday weekend!

{birthday thoughts}

Today I am 27.

In 27 years, I have not achieved what I thought I would. I thought I'd have a masters degree, possibly a law degree, some sort of amazing job that commands me oodles of money, that I'd be the "boss-lady." Maybe those ideals were too lofty, but at the very least, I thought that I would have some degree of success that was measurable.

I thought.

The thing is, I have achieved milestones that I am proud of, just not the ones I "thought" I would.

I have my bachelor's degree. I am married to a wonderful, successful and supportive man. I have two awesome, well-behaved huge dogs. I have worked in journalism, design, finance and banking. I have lived in five cities in eight years. I have left my comfort zone multiple times - on purpose. All of which were super, duper scary... but I did it anyway. Most importantly, and perhaps the scariest, I left stability, consistent income and benefits to start my own business. I'm doing what I love rather than what others thought at which I'd excel.

I am still wrapping my brain around the idea that I don't have to measure my success against others. Something that is so easy to do, so easily quantifiable and so human, is something that I have to force myself not to do. I have to make a concerted effort into putting my ideas, energy and thoughts toward the future - into what I can directly affect - rather than drain myself in unproductive directions.

Don't worry, this isn't a pity post, merely a reflection. I have not achieved what I thought I'd achieve, but I think I've finally decided that's okay. Because in life, as in business, there is room for fear but not excuses.

Onward and upward.