Good morning! I am so excited that spring is coming and sessions are starting to get scheduled.  I looking forward to seeing returning families and meeting new beautiful faces.  I thought I would take today to let you in on who I am and a few of my favorite things.

Photo credit:Kelly Gibbs Photography

Isn't that a beautiful family?! I think so because it is mine! I have an amazing husband of almost 10 years, whoa! Richie is kind, supportive, and so easy going. We seriously are a perfect match and I am thankful every day that we found each other.  We also created two terrific boys.  Noah, is almost 8 and pretty much a mini me and Jude, who just turned 5, is totally himself.  Having children is fun, difficult, rewarding, and exhausting, so you know everything all at once! This little family of mine is great, but I am also happy to say that we have a huge amount of family on both sides.  All of my family still lives in the same town so we always get to see my parents, siblings, grandparents, and so on.  Richie is the oldest of seven boys and even though we all live apart we regularly get to skype and keep up with his side too.  We love family and are truly blessed with all that we have.

Speaking of family I should mention Laika.  I practically made my husband get this dog from the pound because when I saw his photo online I fell in love.  Well, apparently Laika fell in love too.  He doesn't leave my side.  He lays outside of the bathroom door when I shower.  He doesn't want any other family members to let him outside in the morning, he waits on his chair or scratches at my bedroom door until I will get out of bed.  Thankfully the kids do love to play with him and he is just so adorable that I can't help but love him too.

So what do I do in my free time? You know all that time I have between sessions and kids? I really do love to cook as long as it isn't dinner, haha.  I love to make breads, cookies, puddings, cakes, oh you know all the things you should not eat everyday.  When I was growing up I always enjoyed making the cake for my mom or dad's birthday or Mother's day, but I never cooked anything else.  My mom was worried that I would grow up to be an adult and not know how to make a meal so once a week she made me in charge of cooking dinner.  Honestly I do not remember how well those dinners went over and when Richie and I got married I still prepared nothing but baked chicken for 80% of our dinners.  Finally he expressed that we had to eat something other than baked chicken and now we are very diverse in our food. However I must confess that there where a lot of calls to my mother about how in the world to cook rice or chop garlic in the first few years!

My neighbors probably think that I am crazy.  I am always hunting around in the grass and bushes for insects to photograph. It is a funny thing but I find macro shots of bugs fascinating.  I truly do not know what to do with all the photos I have of spiders, flowers, snowflakes, and various other tiny things.  It is both challenging and rewarding at the same time. It also provides me with something to shoot while at home and my boys decide they have had enough of my camera in their face.

When I was a teenager I loved arts and crafts of any sort.  I drew, painted, cross stitched, pretty much anything creative. This winter I have come back to embroidery.  I get so excited during my busy photography season that I let most things slide to the back burner, ahem laundry.  I feel so creative and expressive while shooting and editing that I need nothing else.  I have come to realize though that I lack that in the winter while I am not shooting as much and embroidery has been fulfilling that for me this year.  I love some of the things I have created so far. I know that once the spring is here embroidery projects will slow down, but I am delighted to have rediscovered this artistic outlet again.

I never want to move.  I love my hometown. This is not it though, this is Chicago. I also love Chicago. It is just far enough away for me to feel like a trip but still feel close to home.  It is just big enough to feel exciting but not overwhelming.  I am a huge introvert so traveling is not my favorite thing, but Chicago feels comfortable and relaxing to me.

Whew, ok so now you know a lot more about me.  As I look out my office window and watch the snow melt I am thinking about all the wonderful sessions coming.  I can not wait to meet you and your family.  I know that we are going to have a marvelous year full of sunshine and fun times!