Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas! I enjoyed my time at home seeing family and friends and eating way too much food! :) Here are a couple family pictures we took on Christmas night.

That time of year again...

This past week I survived my second to last "Dead Week" and I couldn't be happier! Most of you college students and grads know that the term "Dead" in professor lingo means "lets pile all the projects, papers, and one last final test Week," which is exactly what my week consisted of. But it's all over now and I'm heading into finals with only 3 tests and a portfolio to go before I'm completely finished with Block 1!

Between work, photography, school and all the Christmas and Block 1 festivities lately, I haven't had much time to breathe. I have had a chance though to compile a few pictures of the best semester of my college career.....so far! I've met and become friends with so many awesome people this semester, and I couldn't be more thankful for them. And for all you people out there that were already my friends before this semester, don't worry, I'm not going to leave you out. I'm thankful for all of you as well. I wouldn't be where I'm at today without you:)

Here are a few pictures from this past semester which include: K-State Sports, Block 1 Pub Crawl, Lab "tacky sweater" Christmas Party, and my first visit to The Plaza!

Rucker Family

Over Thanksgiving break, I had the privilege of taking some pictures of this awesome family! It's was a little cold and wet, but they suffered through and we got some great pictures! Cassie, the little girl, definitely stole the show:) Enjoy the pictures!

Tag!

Ok, so I'm not one to do much of the whole fill out this questionnaire, tell me about yourself, etc...kind of person....BUT I've been tagged by my great friend at La Brisa Photography. He was tagged by another photographer I've been in touch with lately, and I have to admit I've learned some very interesting and fun random facts about them. Sooo I've given into peer pressure and well....here you go...


So here's how the game works:
Link to the person that tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Write 6 random things about yourself
Tag 6 people at the end of your post
Let the blogger know that he/she has been tagged
Let the tagger know when your entry it up

My six random facts you may or may not know about me:)
1. I have so many celebrity athlete crushes I can't even count them all! Of course you all know about the hottest one out there: the back-to-back-to-back Nascar Champion Jimmie Johnson!!!:) Others include Tom Brady, Brian Urlacher, Kirk Hinrich, Kasey Kahne, Tim Tebow, Matt Cassel, Jordy Nelson, Matt Holiday, Sidney Crosby, Jay Cutler, Tyler Hansbrough, Jonathan Papelbon, Michael Phelps, and the list just goes on and on! :)
2. I stopped believing in Santa Clause the year I did not get my easy bake oven. Then when I was a sophomore in college, my parents gave me one for Christmas....and I cried (literally) as soon as I opened it! I guess I didn't realize all the emotions I had stored up for so many years.
3. I want to visit every Major League Baseball Park before I die. During my visit, I want to attend a game, buy a memorabilia, and document it with a unique picture! In case you're wondering, I've been to 3 (Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, and St. Louis Cardinals) and loved every one of them!
4. The one thing that will put me in a bad mood faster than anything is....anyone touching my feet. I can't stand it! It's my automatic trigger for anger (ask my sister).
5. I have to buy my jeans from the Buckle, because they're the only place that makes them long enough for me. When I buy jeans, I have to get 37" inseams. I'm pretty much in trouble if my legs get any longer.
6. When I was 8 years old, I was on a fishing/camping trip with my family and my mom dared me to eat this worm I was going to use as bait. So I picked it up and I actually ate it! Yummy!

Tag, you're it! Andrea, Amanda, Thomas

Thanksgiving

So in case you haven't heard, I have the cutest nieces and nephews ever! :) The past few weeks I've had the chance to see them and snap a few pictues. Tessa is almost 5, Caleb is 3, and Cheyanne is 7 months. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Charlie

This weekend I had the opportunity to take some pictures of the little girl I babysit. Charlie is an absolute doll! She has so much personality and is very smart for a 2 year old. Her parents, Tracie and Byron, just moved here from Washington D.C. They are both originally from North Carolina, and they have been wonderful to me ever since they've moved here. Byron's a surgeon in the Army and Tracie stays at home with Charlie. Tracie bought this adorable little outfit at a craft fair and Charlie loved it!

Thanks for choosing me as your photographer for the Christmas season!:)

Wedding Pictures

Here are a few wedding pictures I've taken the past couple months. Enjoy:)

In Case You Missed It...

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK NASCAR CHAMPION JIMMIE JOHNSON!!!!!!

(what a HOTTIE!?)

Many of you know that I'm a Nascar fan and an even bigger Jimmie Johnson fan! The article below gives more information on his accomplishments, just in case you're interested;)

http://www.jimmiejohnson.com/articles/view/431

I'm going to leave you with this picture of his greatness. Ladies, don't drool too much over his great looks:) And yes, unfortunately, he's married:(...........(haha)

And the Winner Is.....

And the winner is....

Sarah Jeanne Photography!

A huge thanks to Chris Hsieh at La Brisa Photography, Erica Short at Erica May Photography, and my parents for their support, input, and great advice on this big decision! Also, a big thanks to everyone else who sent me their ideas. There were some great ones and it definitely made my decision difficult.

Here's an update on what's been going on lately:

• Bought my first camera! Canon EOS 40D...and I love it!
• Working on my website...
• Shadowing Chris!
• Booked my first wedding for next year!
• Trying to survive Block 1 and Biochemisty in Society...
• Celebrated my 22nd birthday! Had 2 awesome birthday parties as well:)
• And last but not least, cheering on Jimmie Johnson as he goes for his 3rd Championship!!! WHAT A STUD!;)

Hope everyone's doing great!

In Loving Memory of Gunner Owen

Last night the Lord decided to take Gunner Owen home with him. He just turned 1 about a month ago and this picture was taken at his birthday party, which was the same day he was dedicated to their church here in Hill City. Gunner is the son to my cousin, Morgan, and her husband Jordan, and the brother to my 3 year old cousin, Elizabeth. Morgan is my age and Jordan's a couple years older than us. The causes of death are unknown, but they believe he had a seizure in his sleep and it was just too late by the time they got to him. Instead of having an autopsy done, they chose to have his heart donated to another child in need of a new one. How amazing is that! They are both doing fairly well, but they also know that he's in a much better place now. I arrived in Hill City this afternoon to be with Morgan and help her with anything she needs, and the rest of the family will be here tomorrow. Please keep all of us in your prayers for all of the families involved, as well as safe travels. The weather is getting pretty bad and it's supposed to snow. Thank you to everyone who have already sent their condolences, we truly do appreciate it. We love you and miss you Gunner.

John and Gina -- Engagement

EDSEC 620 was the class that started it all, just 1 year ago. It is where Gina and John met and their love story started. I was fortunate enough to meet both of them in this class as well and become good friends with Gina. As John finishes up his degree in Agriculture Education and Gina in Family and Consumer Science Education, they begin to plan the best day of their life. For their engagement pictures, they chose some great places on campus, including the new Jardine apartment area (if you haven't checked it out yet, you should!) and Bluemont area.

Congrats again to both of you and thank you for choosing me as your photographer!

Anderson Family

Located a few miles outside of Dwight, a small town south of Manhattan, off a dirt road you will find the 3 homes of the Anderson family. Their horses, dogs, red barn, home grown pumpkins and the amazing weather on a fall afternoon made for a great atmosphere! It reminded me of home:) They hadn't taken family pictures for over 10 years, and Bailey (the girl in the turquoise shirt) finally convinced all of them to come together for a few minutes to capture some pictures that will last forever. Thanks Anderson family for choosing me as your photographer!

Check it out!

Every morning while I get around, I turn on a show called Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN (shocking I know!) and yesterday, much to my surprise, I heard them discussing a football player from Mesa State, a college located in Grand Junction, CO. I'm originally from Grand Junction so this story caught my attention right away. It just blows my mind what some people will sacrifice for a game. Check out the article below that Rick Reilly wrote about this kid.

Life of Reilly

My creativity has run dry....

These past few months have been absolutely crazy, super busy, and amazing all at the same time! As I blogged about before, the breakthrough of my dream of becoming a photographer and starting my own business has now become a reality more than ever. With that being said, I'm currently taking the next few steps in that process to fulfill that dream. One of those steps include coming up with a name for my photography business, and unfortunately, my creativity has run dry on this task. Sooooo, I'm asking for your help. I'm accepting and asking for any ideas on what to name it. I'm looking for a romantic and professional name that also reflects me as a person and photographer. So while you're sitting at work, class, or the comfort of your own home, bored out-of-your-mind with nothing better to do, I'd appreciate any ideas or suggestions on a name. There will be a prize given to the person who's idea I use! Feel free to leave your suggestions here on my blog, email, phone call, or text message; I answer to all of them:) Here are a couple that Chris and I have come up with:

Essence Photography
Sarah Jeanne Photography
SE Photography
Essi Photography

Let me know what you think!

Photography

To make a long story short, I have recently started pursuing my dream of becoming a photographer, and I owe a HUGE THANK YOU to Chris Hsieh at La Brisa Photography for helping me get started! He has allowed me to follow him around on several occasions including a wedding! He even trusts me with his camera and lets me take pictures at every event! It's not often enough that you run across genuine people like him! If you get a chance, check out his website and blog to take a look at his talent!

This past weekend he let me take his camera and practice with it. I ended up taking some pictures of a friend for her college senior pictures and finished with a few good ones. I'm a work-in-progress and hopefully will get better with time and experience! I plan on shadowing Chris and learning as much possible within the next 9 months before him and his wife move. Thanks Chris! And thanks Amanda for referring me to him! My goal is to start my own photography business this January, and specialize in weddings and special events. This will hopefully allow me to be a full time teacher as well as a photographer.

Here's a couple of the good ones I got this weekend. And yes, unfortunately, she's a big KU fan...:(

Praise God!

Billy was released on Friday from the hospital! The blood clot in his lung is gone and his cough has cleared up. He still has 2 blood clots in his leg, but he's on some medicine that will hopefully help them stay put or thin out. He was able to come to Hays this weekend and celebrate Caleb's 3rd birthday! I gave Caleb a bat, glove, and baseball for his birthday, and of course he thought it was pretty awesome! :)

And in case you missed it.....Jimmie Johnson won again this weekend! What a STUD! The chase is on with 10 races to go. And some more good news....the Chiefs lost! All of this gets a great big HOORAY!!!

Update...

Yesterday was his first day they let him shower and take a ride in the wheel chair out of his room! He was ecstatic! Unfortunately this morning Billy woke up with a terrible cough. They have determined he has bronchitis and put him on some strong antibiotics. The cough is very painful for him, and it also raises the chances for the blood clot to move towards the heart. They have discouraged any visitors for now because he needs to get as much rest as he can. They will be running several tests tomorrow to look again at the blood clot to see if it has moved or if the size has changed. Please keep him and my family in your prayers as well as the Doctors.

Prayer Request

On Saturday night my brother headed to the emergency room with 2 blood clots, one in each leg. Sunday morning one of the blood clot's traveled to his lung. They are currently trying to monitor and hopefully thin out both of the blood clots. His heart rate has been ranging from 40-150 bpm which has caused some scare and worry. They believe this is caused from anxiety Billy is having from what he's going through, and they have not found anything wrong with his heart. They have tossed around the idea of moving him to Denver or Wichita, but the risks are high for doing that. He is currently in the Colby hospital, where they plan on keeping him there for awhile. Please keep him in your prayers as well as our family, especially his wife and 3 kids.

Summer 2008

Finally!

With some encouragement from a couple of friends (Thanks Andrea and Chris) I've decided to enter the world of blogging! For my first post I couldn't decide what to write about, so I decided to just fill you in on my very busy life and what's been going this summer and what's to come for the future!

• One word to sum up my summer....WEDDINGS...It has been a very busy summer and the main part was spent going to all my friends and family weddings! Every one of them was unique and special to me in some way and just a great encouragement for me. I ended up attending 6 of them and missed 3.
• Vacation to Colorado...3 times! I was in two weddings in Grand Junction and went to Denver with my family for a long weekend.
• Visited my best friend Stephanie for 3 days. I took her to her first Rockies game, which she loved, and we did some shopping and lots of eating!
• While I was in Grand Junction for a week, I went to the JuCo World Series. What a perfect way to start the summer....baseball everyday with family:)
• Welcomed my brother, sister-in-law, 2 nieces, and nephew back to Kansas with several trips up to Colby to see them! My niece Tessa is now 4 1/2, Caleb is almost 3, and Cheyanne, my new little niece, will be 4 months! I never could've imagined how great and rewarding being an aunt is!
• Survived a tornado! It missed the house I was staying at by one block!!
• Celebrated my dad's 50th birthday with 3 parties!
• Spent some genuine time with my mom and sister shopping and eating!
• Went to the Wallace County Free Fair and all of its festivities:)
• Spent some time in McPherson with Jonathan and Caitlan, Hill City with Morgan, Jordan, Eli, and Gunner, Salina with Thomas and Elane and Andrea and Brenden, and Wichita with Andrea and Billy.
• Throw in school, work, softball, sand volleyball, bible study, family, friends, and watching the Olympics and I had one busy, but awesome, summer break!

Coming up....

• Another baseball game! Go Royals!
• Finishing and posting my 101 in 1001 list!
• School starts the 25th...BOO!! Block 1 (9 hours) plus another 8 hours on top of that:(
• K-State Football games!
• Essie's 18th birthday...how sad!
• Purchase of my first camera to start my journey of becoming a photographer! More to come on this subject!!!!:)
• Start the search for Grad school...

Hope everyone is doing great! I will post some pictures of my summer soon!! If you're ever in Manhattan give me call!