Fun Mail

Ever since I got back from Ireland I've been trying to tackle the big pile of mail that has been patiently waiting for me. I don't like mail - it breaks my heart to toss piles and piles of unsolicited mail, paying bills is never fun and I'm almost always disappointed because for some odd reason every time I go through the mail I always secretly hope and believe that I'll get something good. Maybe a letter from a friend (even though I know they all email me), maybe a surprise postcard (even though I'm pretty sure I'd know if my friends went on vacation), but my sister sometimes sends me cute cards in the mail! Anyways, realistically speaking, unless it's around Christmas time, chances are I'm really not going to get anything great.
I'm happy to report though that while going through my huge pile of mail and lamenting through it all, I opened the cutest wedding invitation! It's from Brandon and Tovah, whose wedding I'll be shooting in October:

Isn't this the cutest invite?? I think invitations are so important because they really set the tone for the whole celebration. Receiving this invitation made me even more excited for their wedding.
In case you are wondering, the invitation is by Your Style Invitations.

Now I better get back to the rest of my not so fun mail.

...

I AM … always trying to be better
I WANT… to have an amazing photography business
I HAVE … faith
I KEEP … my family and my friends in my heart
I WISH I COULD … be in two places at the same time
I HATE … the word hate
I FEAR … losing the people I love
I HEAR … the rain falling right now and I LOVE it
I DON’T THINK … I should have had that second ice cream bar
I REGRET … not always telling people they've hurt me
I LOVE … too many things to type...
I AM NOT … sure how to answer this one
I DANCE … not as often as I would like to or used to
I SING … more often than I should
I NEVER … can go to sleep without brushing my teeth
I RARELY … go to sleep when I should
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … almost anything - even commercials
I AM NOT ALWAYS … patient
I HATE THAT … I have to wait for things
I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … reality t.v. 

I NEED … to get my butt to the gym - literally
I SHOULD … go to sleep now

Good Friends

Good friends are sooo hard to find, but I guess that's what makes them special.

I have been through some hard times lately with my grandma passing away, but I've also been surrounded by my good friends with phone calls, visits, and invites to lots of fun things - and for that I am very thankful and feel extremely blessed.

Today, a couple of hours after a friend left my house, I opened the fridge looking for something good to drink. Even though I know we never have anything good to drink in our fridge. Water anyone?

Well, I found this:

Simply my most favorite beverage ever. My friend had left it in there without a reason, without saying anything... It put the biggest smile on my face - and my taste buds were pretty happy too. Thanks Dani, friends like you are hard to find and I'm so glad you are my friend. Although I must say she also left 3 packages of my favorite cookies, so it makes me wonder if she's really my friend.

Workshop Recap

I'm running behind so here it goes: 3 in 1!

Day 2 of the workshop I didn't get to take any photos since I was the model for the mock bridal shoot. Please note the word model being used very loosely here as I couldn't think of a more appropriate one :). If you must, you can see photos from that day on Melissa's blog or Amelia's blog. Even though it was very cold, it was still a fun experience for me to be on the other side of the camera and be able to keep in mind what my clients go through. Not to mention I felt like I was on America's Next Top model when they have a swimsuit photo shoot in the middle of the winter! The other really funny part was the look I got from the locals and tourists. Everything from a wave, to a honk or a completely puzzled look! What is that bride doing laying down, why does she have 7 photographers taking pictures of her, and where is the groom? Ha!

Day 3 Arden and Brett went over their posing techniques. I mostly listened but didn't take many pictures.

Day 4 was super fun! We took each other's headshots and I had a blast. Amelia found a cool hat in the house we were staying in and it became quite the prop for our photo shoot. Hopefully she will post some of those photos on her blog soon.

Here are my favorites of each one:

My good friend Amelia (sans hat):

The super sweet Esther from Spain:

The Irish lad, Mark (I totally asked him if people in Ireland really say "top of the morning to ya" and he gave me a very emphatic no!):

Brandi from Arizona - How cute is she??:

Super stunning Trina from Utah:

That last night we went out on the town and it was soooo much fun! I didn't bring my camera - which Amelia and I vowed to never go anywhere again without a camera, we even toasted to it -so I need to wait until Trina gets me the pictures from that night. We shamelessly stole her camera throughout the night and also shamelessly posed for her throughout the night. I can wait to tell you all about it.

Workshop Day 1

It's hard to put into words what an amazing experience it was to be here today. First of all, we are in Ireland which is so incredibly beautiful! Second, everyone who is here is just so nice and fun to spend time with.

This morning Melissa shared all of her photographic tips and techniques and then we went out to practice. Brett and Arden were our engaged couple for the day. They are both incredible photographers but they also do a really fabulous job on the other side of the camera.

First we took some pictures just around the house where we are staying.

Then we hopped on our little cool bus and drove to a ruin nearby. You have to go to Melissa's blog to see a really funny picture of me shooting around the ruins.

And lastly we drove down to the beach for my favorite shot of the day.

Aaahh, what a wonderful day!

*I'm having a really hard time posting from a mac so things are a little out of place, but I wanted to share some of my favorite images anyways.

Irish Rainbow

So Melissa went to sleep and graciously let me use her computer so I could add some photos for you all to see.


Here's my new friend who owns the sheep next to us:

Here's proof that I'm in Ireland - thanks to Amelia for taking this shot.

Hey Guys!

So I made it to Ireland today. It is sooo beautiful here but not at all like what I expected to be like.


Today we went for a little walk and I saw my first Irish Rainbow! No pot of gold though. Still working on that.


The cutest Irish man who owns the sheep next to us came and talked to me. I only smiled and nodded my head as I have no idea what he was saying to me. EnglishIrish is really hard to understand! I've been wondering if someone is going to say "Top of the morning to you". I think I'm going to go for a walk in the morning just to see what happens. I'll keep you posted.


Unfortunately I don't have my computer, so no pictures until I get back. If you would like to see a picture of the amazing rainbow today, go to Melissa's blog: www.melissajill.net

And the winner is...

Thank you, thank you, thank you soo much to everyone that voted. It's been fun :)

Now I just need to decide between the black logo or white logo.

The final score was

1. 6 votes

2. 3 votes

3. 2 votes

4. 1 vote

5. 15 votes

6. 7 votes

7. 3 votes

8. 1 vote

In case you checked and think I can't count, I got some votes via e-mail.

Again, thank you so much for helping me out!

I'm leaving for Ireland tomorrow morning but I'll try to stay in touch.

blog under renovation

First things first... bigger pictures!
I've spend the last 2 hours trying to figure out how to do this and I have to say I'm very proud of myself! (And so tired - it's 2 am). This whole Html coding stuff is not easy! I still don't understand it but I got it to do what I wanted. But I have to say it was a tough battle. Final score: Html 9 x Cristi 10. And this was only the first match. I'm actually excited for my next little Html project - a navigation bar. I really have no idea how I'm going to do it, so stay tuned...

Help!

Hey guys, I need your help!

I wanted to add a photo to the back of my new business cards but I'm having a really hard time choosing a photo. Help, please!
You can click on comments and vote for your favorite.

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Thanks I appreciate the help :)

Shanel, Brian and Bryson

Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of photographing a beautiful family. They definitely take the prize for the most well dressed family ever.
Bryson just turned one:

I loved the time I spent with you guys and can't wait to get together again. I hope you love your photos!

Albums

The mailman and I are best friends this week. All the bills came last week and only fun stuff this week.

I received Heidi's albums today and they turned sooo good! She already picked them up but I took some pictures to show you:

I know some of you are thinking about ordering your albums and I just wanted to let you know that I'll be out of town from 08/16 - 08/24. If you are in a hurry, please get your orders in this week. Thanks!!