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.