I have to be honest here, this WAS one of the hardest tasks I have ever had to do! It was fun though! I started with a folder called, “2009 Top 10″, and kept dropping files in the folder….I had about, well 50+ photos! SOOOO since I don’t want to bore people, I went through them AGAIN, and AGAIN, and finally decided that I REALLY need to narrow it down. I guess what I really did was kind of just hurry up and choose so that I can get this post up! Well I do LOVE these photos and would LOVE to post more but I wanted to get a real feel for just having my favorite 10, I wanted you to see this also. So thanks to my friend Rustin Cerveny for the idea. I think it’s fabulous! Please note that these are my fav and top 10 photos for WEDDINGS, I will do another for portraits, but I may wait till the new year or post them in this post later….yeah that sounds much better I think I’ll do that. But for now, in no particular order, please enjoy! For some, it’s the actual photo, for others it’s what I remember feeling when I took the picture, or what my subjects were feeling….for one, I love the shoes and want them badly, and the prettiest hair piece, there are many different reasons why I choose them, but I love them…….

Have a very wonderful New Year, and cheers for all that we have accomplished, endeared, recovered, created, lost, gained, celebrated, struggled and benefitted from in 2009. It has ALL brought to a new year, with new-ness in everywhere! XXOO

The emotion of this Father and Daughter walking down the aisle is priceless!

OH!!!! You see my favorite shoes! Really I don’t think I need to explain this one!

This was a fantastic location that I totally loved! This stairs so beautiful and what a fun couple! It was great to shoot this wedding with Kenny Kim and Roberto Valenzuela! So much FUN!!!!

This is just such a sincere kiss…..I love it! She almost looks shy!

Okay I may have to explain the flower girl and ring boy! LOL…..that’s my son! (he hates to look towards cameras! Go figure! I guess he has enough in his face all the time!

This photo was taken as I decided to check my exposure photographing a wedding with my friend Gustavo Fernandez. There is something magical I love about it, I truly can’t explain it, it just do love it!

Ha! I know, Reservoir Dogs! By popluar vote, a very cool groomsmen shot, this one, my fav! What Hotties!

This next photo, I just LOVE how the groom is holding the bouquet, not sure why I’m not making most of them do this! Besides the fact that yes, it is a posed photo, but NOT a posed moment, they were both laughing…..I love when couples are having a good time it totally makes their photos come to life!

I LOVE Rolls Royce wedding cars and this car was no exception! What is so great about this photo, is not only the obvious smile of her face, but I and so loving how he is grabbing her arm, this picture says so much!

Look at these two! I mean, I just don’t think it gets better than this! Many of you may get to know the maid of honor soon as she is the fab makeup artist whom I refer and use! XXOO

The following are some of my favorite portrait favorites! It is SOOOO very hard to decide and really again I had a list of soooo many that this was just pretty much the ones I grabbed, and added to this post! There are so many…SOOOOO many and I think I went over my 10 limit but sorry…..DEAL WITH IT! Can’t wait to see what the next year will bring! See many of you Photographers soon, many of my old clients soon, and can’t wait to meet many of you new clients with my first portrait session of the year Monday, January 4th, I think this year is off to a great start! XXOO

Well…it’s over. HA! Well sort of~! I have been cleaning ever since Santa arrived and dropped off the loot. I have been finding wrapping paper, small twisty ties, bits and pieces of plastic just about everywhere! I have discovered that video games are great for kids to pass time, the minimum age on a Spark Razor Scooter is legit, cupcakes are what Santa really wants, gifts are for kids, Santa is magical, small trees are awesome, memories always linger, time is precious and laughter is forever!

Troy decided that this year he wanted a small tree. I was okay with that and we picked out a tree that was exactly his height. It was funny though because both boys decided they wanted it flocked. And when we went to pick it up the people at the lot said we’d have to wait an entire day to get it flocked….so…..flock that, we bought spray flocking and the kids had a blast spraying their own tree!

My Mom had a set or ornaments that she had purchased when my parents were married, like 40 years ago. She used them every year and each one was different and handmade. I sent my brother a large box of them and kept about 6 for my family. This is a photo of one of my favorites. Totally reminds me of all of our Christmas’s together! I love my memories!

Our family has decided that presents are for the kids! HURRAY! I mean, I have to admit I don’t complain when a gift comes my way but the pressure of giving has been taken off my shoulders! We asked the family to get the boys a Wii and with that came tons of games and tons of good times! Just teaching them how to use the controllers is pure comedy!

I had no idea what to get my husband, a gift was kind of out of the question, and a card was too simple. I love the man, so very very much and wanted to find a way to show him just how much. I found this book a few months ago, a fill in the blank book that I thought would be just great to give him! I have been so busy that I am actually guilty of not filling it all up. But he loves it and in time I will complete it. It was perfect…..getting it all on paper…..I think that I do a good enough job letting him know how deeply I adore him, but I know it never comes close to how I really feel….this is a start!

Santa I know was so THANKFUL for the cupcakes on Christmas morning that the boys made for him! First it was supposed to be cookies….then they wanted to make cupcakes….well….okay….thanks to boxes of cake mix! Santa was happy…..as he finished his santa duties at like 2:00am….. a cupcake or 2 were eaten!

My son Travis is a crack up! He loves to play with anything and has been intrigued by little girl toys at times. So I thought it would be great if Santa brought him one little My Little Pony doll…I mean, it’s a PONY, not a Barbie, not too girlie….right? SOOOOOOOOoooooo, he opened it looked right at me and said…”Mommy, I think Santa put the wrong name on this. This is for you.” So secretly Mrs. Santa (me) was kind of bummed out cause I thought he was going to love it! But Santa (Marc) was more than happy and laughed…..It’s on video….It was pretty funny!

Okay so I have no girls and I’m good with that! I grew up a tomboy and have no issues with Boy’s things! ALTHOUGH….Santa could not resist this tea set and I have to tell you it was a complete hit with BOTH boys! The only issue…..I have to drink a LOT of tea these days and it’s so fun!

Little boys grow up…..they watch TV and then all of a sudden they are asking for things that are totally REAL….I mean, not just “toys” or “legos” but actual items with a title and specifics….like a RAZOR SPARK SCOOTER. Troy had asked about this over and over again and I had no idea what he was talking about until one very late night at Target, I saw “Spark Refills”. Sooooo I thought OMG! A Spark scooter really does exist…well…funny I say that cause it only did exist at very select Target, and other stores as I take it we weren’t the only Santa’s getting this request! We found it….yep….and both asked for it……the age is 8 and over…..well…the little one too…probably not the greatest of his gifts though!

Of course Daddy and big brother were out watching with the video camera! I mean I don’t think I took nearly enough photos this morning….but I do know we have it on video!

The problem with having a Spark Razor Scooter is that, well….. little boys want to see the sparks right? I would too….BUT the sparks are behind you which means you have to look behind you to see them….yep a crash and burn……..then me, I promised to photograph the sparks so that no more crashing will occur….too tempting though…it’s just that cool to watch your scooter spark.

Remember I told you about the age minimum? Well this smart guy found his older 3 wheel scooter and decided to let the spark scooter wait a while before he conquers it…I say smart!

But even with all the new scratched, skinned knees, bruises and all….they had a great time and now I need to find more Spark refills!

One thing about this Christmas that many of you know is it was my first without my Mom. I have to say that she loved the holidays but to her, everyday was more important. So it wasn’t like it was a terrible Christmas because I miss her everyday. It was very nice and the boys had a blast. There are things though that I can tell you make me feel so close to her, and also make me realize that there is more tradition in my family, passed on by my Mom than I ever really realized. Take this next picture for example. This juicer is not from 2009 or just a few years ago. My mom gave this to me about a year ago, but I used it as a child when we lived in Anaheim. It was given to my Mom by my Grandma Katie because we had an orange tree in the backyard. My Mom gave it to me, cause now I have several citrus trees in my backyard also. My Mom says it belonged to her grandmother…I’m not sure how old it is, I guess I can find out. All I know is it never struck me more than it did this year watching my 3 year old anxiously wait for the orange juice from this machine than works AMAZING and is most likely over 50 years old……memories are what it most important. SOOO my Great Grandmother used this, my Grandmother used this, my Mom used this, I used this and my children are using this! I can totally remember filling up brown grocery bags with oranges in the winter time and using this juicer to make the juice. I am so thankful for all my memories on Christmas…….I’m so enjoying creating memories like this with my family.

** Update….this Juicer was made in the 1950′s, purchased by my Great Grandmother and passed to everyone else…how totally cool!**

Oh boy can I tell you that this one was a fun one! Not only did I have an amazing couple but I also had incredible shooters to work with this wedding! My intern Christina and my friend Greg Peterson. It was a fantastic day! Franciscan Gardens is a pretty nice place! It had a beautiful room for the bridal party and bride to get ready as well as a parlor type setting for the men! I have to say it was pretty cool! Although I had a little issue with the coordinator of the whole place! LOL!!!! All I can say is I do what my Bride and Groom want, and it is means move a table here and there it’s going to get done! ANYWAYS!!!!! It was a nice place though and it turned out beautifully for Amanda and Matt.

A little about them. They are the DREAM couple that you want to photograph! The most easy going people as well as having the absolute biggest hearts EVER! Amanda and Matt have been waiting for this day for a long time and it truly showed in every picture! When we met a while ago they were so kick back and seemed to take everything as it was going to come…..just really knowing that the most important part of their wedding day, was well, them getting married and they weren’t going to stress and bother about details too much. Well let me tell those of you potential brides who might be reading this. The had AMAZING details and you know why? Most likely it was them who made it all shine through! Yep, the flowers, the shoes, the location, it was as though they stressed and stressed to make it all work, but they didn’t. It was a vision, they knew what they wanted and had the right contacts to have it all graciously fall into place! It was awesome! And even with all the amazing details, you can totally tell that the most important part of this day was when they both said “I DO!”.

I can not tell you how much it has meant to me to have sponsored a child in the Dominican Republic! Actually it doesn’t matter where the child is, but I had never sponsored a child before. I know I will for sure sponsor more, even now. My friend Gustavo Fernandez, decided to start a charity ride called Hog For Kids. An avid Harley rider, Gustavo rode across the United States and Photographed families for a small minimal $100 donation, this didn’t even cover his expenses. But the idea was that every family that he photographed, that family would sponsor a child in his home country of the Dominican Republic. In fact, if you are familiar with his work, you totally hopped on board. Although many of us who donated and sponsored were his friends and fellow photographers, we all were not only excited to help out in the cause but truly super excited to get him to photograph our families, as he is that good! (Excellent Actually!) So I sponsored my child via his link (http://www.hogforkids.com), and he promised to visit the DM very soon and photograph our child…cool…I thought…

I received my first letter, written by my child Christopher a few months ago and every month get an update. I cried when I got my first letter and man, it puts things in perspective. We all have tragedy, great as it may be, but it is nothing compared to what these kids must endure everyday.

At the gym a few minutes ago I received a missed phone call from Mr. Gustavo again, and thought okay what’s up (he called 2 times and he always has good stuff to talk about…..so I checked my email and saw, photographs of my child and his Mom, and his home and I cried, there on the treadmill at 24 hour Fitness….I mean seriously. Come on people, I know money is tight, we are all making small sacrifices these days, but there I was, Ha….with all my problems at a fitness center with my iPod, reading email on my iPhone, sure yeah….I have problems. So again life in perspective. Thank you Gustavo for making a difference not only for me but for my sponsored child and his family. You are what we need more of, people making a difference cause they can, and they want to, not getting anything out of it for yourself but a smile….thank you so much! XXOO

Please Sponsor a Child or Support Gustavo by Clicking here: Hog For Kids

Oh you MUST know by now that I have a sense of humor! I’m sure…how can I not! I am my mother’s daughter! Anyways, seriously….. I like to take clients to places that there isn’t any other photographers….at that time! Which means I do like to go to other places were there are other photographers, just not the same time! I mean I hate trying to wait my turn for certain angles and all that! We all love nice places and it’s no wonder that we all end up at the same place….especially the beach LOL, where the only free place truly that is pretty happens to be very crowded around Christmas Card making time seeing it’s totally portrait season!

So after having my studio in Irvine for a while, and living in Foothill Ranch (Lake Forest), I continued to drive down Jeronimo and couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the eucalyptus trees are. I always thought it would be a great place to take clients, and you know what? It TOTALLY is! What’s awesome for me and using this location is I have never had to get in anyone’s way and no one has ever been in mine and I LOVE that! I also love the lighting here, perfectly diffused, awesome catch lights for the eyes, spectacular “fall” appearance, and no matter what time of day I can ALWAYS find a place to take a group of people and not worry about dappled lighting!

I am sharing this now to EVERYONE, and it truly wasn’t a secret as I take many other photographers here to shoot with me, and I have told anyone who asked! Honestly this is just one small stretch of road, there are plenty of other places but as far as I know, this place is the only one with a bridge!

The problem is, it is private property! Don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness is my motto in this situation, but since I am a resident of Lake Forest, I figure I can interpret the sign as saying that, instead of this development! Anyways, keep it clean, never left trash and always made sure I as well as my clients were pretty quiet!

So I am off to find another location. I still have tons of photos from this location to blog as well as edit and sell to my clients. For this and the sheer reason that I love new locations, I am bored of this place and want to make sure other photographers who may like it, see where it is and can take their clients there if they were interested! I hope you liked the video! LOL…..it’s not supposed to be serious! Just in case you didn’t know!~

Location: City Lake Forest Intersection of Jeronimo and Ridge Route