• About
  • Contact
  • Features of our Family
  • My Plant Based Diet
  • Reviews of Places and Events
  • White Rabbit Photo Boutique

This Little Blog of Mine

This Little Blog of Mine

Category Archives: Photography

Are we there yet?

11 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Momma J in life, Photography, The Family, The Travels

≈ 3 Comments

This was one of those unusually busy weeks, where Big T becomes Mr. Mom while I hop from one event to the next. It was a lot easier this time around, physically and mentally. I think this means it’s starting to become a normal for us to have crazy lives. πŸ˜‰

Wednesday: Wedding at the Grand that had me genuinely surprised when I turned around and saw everyone had formed a giant pyramid…

20130814-093850.jpg

Thursday, the family checked into the Grand and back I was back for another wedding. The details were gorgeous and Heather did most of them herself!

20130814-094044.jpg

Friday: Working for the Mouse!

20130814-094147.jpg

And taking a quick break at D23 to see my family. Little T had a lightsaber and was determined to take Darth Vader down a notch or two.

20130814-094318.jpg

20130814-094345.jpg

My sweet mother in law may not look so sweet in this photo, but she did spend the weekend with us at the Grand to help out. πŸ˜‰

20130814-094433.jpg

20130814-094451.jpg

Even though I had carried two cameras and a heavy back pack all over the place, I was back at 7:00am Saturday morning. I’m not going to lie, I was super excited to be there. :p

20130814-094645.jpg

I finished around noon and drove to Pasadena for wedding #3! They had a big Band playing and Louise and I felt like we were at a concert, it was magical!

20130814-094748.jpg

The next day, we took Little T to Disneyland for his birthday. He has now discovered Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and he thinks it is incredible.

20130814-094857.jpg

I was so exhausted, that when I got home and parked in the driveway, I fell asleep in the car. Big T had to come wake me up and get me. He’s good like that.

The next day, I was back working for the mouse, and on Tuesday I was in Pasadena again for an e-shoot. Today I’m off to Newport. Tomorrow? I sleep.

Advertisement

ABC OC at the Pacific Club

11 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Momma J in Photography

≈ Leave a comment

Every once in a while, I make the trek out to Newport to network with these fabulous ladies and gentlemen in the wedding industry.

20130710-133642.jpg

20130710-133657.jpg

20130710-133743.jpg

20130710-133705.jpg

20130710-133830.jpg

20130710-133841.jpg

20130710-133848.jpg

I wasn’t sure if they’d have any food for me, so I stopped at Native Foods to grab a salad before hand. I was sad that they didn’t have my favorite salad anymore, and took shameless selfies of my “not impressed” face. I was there by myself, so it wasn’t like I had anything better to do. :p

20130710-134022.jpg

The chopped salad turned out to be really tasty though. Still not as good as the chimichurri, but if works. πŸ™‚

20130710-134041.jpg

I hate to ask you this, but…..

10 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by Momma J in Photography

≈ Leave a comment

Would you mind sending a vote our way? Circle of Mom’s helps me connect with other blogger momma’s, it’s a really great website. If you feel we should be listed as a top photographer mom blog, please take a second to click the link and send a vote my way. πŸ™‚ Thanks friends!

Another Busy Week

29 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by Momma J in life, Photography, The Family

≈ 1 Comment

I wouldn’t trade photography for anything, but it does make my schedule a little sporadic sometimes. Especially because I photograph destination weddings and my weddings are usually on weekdays. This was one of those weeks where our family just had to throw our schedule out the window and go with the flow!

On Wednesday, I met with two different potential couples at the Disneyland Hotel. It reminded me of when Big T and I were getting married, and the excitement of planning and meeting vendors. On my way out, I ran into Tara of Fairytale Hair and Makeup at Trader Sam’s. Her family was celebrating a birthday, so I joined them for a while! M met up with us too because I’d brought a few odds and ends that she’d left at our house. We all chatted for a bit before watching the fireworks together at the Disneyland Hotel.

The next day, I had a wedding to photograph at the White House in Anaheim. When I walked into the bridal suite, Joy’s dress was hanging in such a beautiful way, that I snapped a photo with my phone before I even had a chance to pull out my camera.

photo (13)Isn’t this couch gorgeous? I could have sat on it all day, but that wouldn’t have been very productive, seeing as how I was there to photograph their wedding and all. πŸ˜‰ Tara was doing Joy’s hair and makeup, and it was fun to work together at a new venue.

IMG_4625_small

The White House was an exquisite venue. I wish I’d had more time to wander around and take photos of Joy and Eric. But then again, it’s good that I was on a schedule because I probably could have taken photos of them for hours and hours. The staff was very friendly, and set up the fanciest vendor meal table I’ve ever sat at. My assistant Louise and I joked that we were having a very romantic dinner together, and that our spouses would be very jealous. πŸ˜‰

Dinner at the White House Anaheim

Dinner at the White House Anaheim

This was Louise’s meal, they made me a special pasta with eggplant and vegetables.

Joy and Eric’s family were fun to photograph, especially when they all began dancing. There’s something about dancing that makes me really happy. When I was taking anthropology, we learned that every single culture dances and sings. I’ve always wondered what it was about singing and dancing that was a necessary part of of being human. I don’t know, but I do know that watching dancing feeds my soul and makes me smile. There was a point when all the adults were singing and dancing together with Joy’s four year old niece. It was such a sweet and special moment. She looked so happy to have everyone singing and dancing to her, I bet she’ll remember it forever.

After we said our goodbyes, we drove to J’s house to spend the night. We had a morning castle shoot the next morning and had to wake up at 4:00 AM, and it would have been too difficult to drive home and back. We sat in the kitchen and started downloading disks until late into the night, and Louise began to laugh at how I was able to fall asleep sitting up in a chair at my computer. I think I finally fell asleep on J’s couch and got a few hours of sleep before I had to wake up again at 4:00. Here’s the hotel on our way in.

photo (9)

When we arrived, Tara was there again for hair and makeup. We laughed about how we’d spent the whole week together, as Tara worked her magic on Christie’s hair. The morning was amazing. It’s always Β an incredible feeling to have an hour to photograph couples in front of the castle, and Christie and John were such good sports. We had them running, like-literally running, down Mainstreet to the Castle. We were laughing and giggling the whole time.

Disneyland WeddingDuring the reception, I gave a few impromptu camera lessons to a young protegee. πŸ˜‰

Disneyland Hotel Wedding

There were lots of kiddos at the wedding, and so I had them jumping and laughing in front of the camera and took some great action shots. It did make me miss my little boo!

When the wedding was over and we’d said our goodbyes, Louise’s husband came to meet us for his birthday. He’s also a photographer, and gave me a few tips and talked to me about better camera straps to help my shoulder and my back. I wished I could have stayed to talk with them longer, but I was completely exhausted and my bed in our little home was calling my name.

photo (12)

When I got home, Big T had prepared a special meal for me that made me laugh. So much talent!

food artΒ After dinner, Little T had physical therapy and occupational therapy. I felt so rude because I was dozing off the whole time from being tired. I was trying to stay awake, but it was impossible! I fell asleep on the couch two seconds after they left and didn’t wake up until the next morning.

And today, we’re going to try and take Little T to the movies to see Monster’s University. We found an early show, in the hopes that the theater wont be crowded or will at least be crowded with other toddlers. I’m not sure how he’ll do, so we’re setting our expectations low and telling ourselves he may not last the whole time, but we’ll see. It could be fun. πŸ™‚ Wish us luck! When did you all take your toddlers to the movies for the first time? If you have any suggestions for successful movie trips, I’d love to hear them!

Going to Work With Mom

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Momma J in Photography, Quick Snippets, The Family

≈ 1 Comment

Last week, Little T and Big T tagged along with me at work.

Disneyland Family Photography

IMG_4801_small

Big T is somewhere under there.

Disneyland Family PhotographyIMG_4168_small IMG_5111_small

 

IMG_5430_small

Photo Bombing a Photo Bomb

My Dad at my Wedding

28 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by Momma J in Photography

≈ 4 Comments

The past two weddings I edited had some very touching father daughter moments, and it made me think of my own “dad moment” at my wedding ceremony.

My poor dad, is used to me and my quirky “untraditional” ways, but he is the kind of guy who believes in ceremonies, and so it took a lot of convincing when I explained what we’d envisioned for our day. My Dad had really wanted to walk me down the aisle, but my wedding didn’t have an aisle to walk down and Big T and I didn’t want a formal event. Instead, we asked my dad to read my favorite Beatles song during the ceremony, “In My Life”. My Dad, who has a great voice and used to sing at weddings with my mom, surprised us and sang instead. Hearing my dad sing such a special song for me, was the best gift he could have given me on my wedding day. When I think back to that day, it’s always one of the first things I remember.

Here I am, crying away, photo taken by Beverly Hills Photography:

dadsinging

A past due family update!

22 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Momma J in Photography, The Adventures of Little T, The Family

≈ 15 Comments

Hello world, this post is long overdue. Life has taken off at jet speed and it’s hard to sit down and find the time to write, but I promise to try harder, mainly for Little T. I want him to be able to read about his younger days. πŸ™‚

Little T:Β Sometimes I look at sweet Little T, and wonder what day it was that he sprouted up so quickly. I’m amazed at how much he’s learning, how much he’s talking, and how much he’s grown. He’s a fun loving little toddler, even though a week and a half ago, he woke up and officially began his terrible two’s. Big T and I looked at each other and scratched our heads, as his new favorite word became “no”, he suddenly decided that everything was “mine”, and he began to show his more “spunky” side. At the same time, he is still the sweetest little boy who loves and remembers everyone, and can win a smile from anyone he meets. He fiercely loves all his grandparents and cousins, and constantly asks us to take him to see them. He plays basketball like there is no tomorrow, and has made us listen to the Pirates of the Caribbean song approximately 314 times. He loves all things Mickey Mouse, Cars, and Tinkerbell. He has a silly side and loves to laugh. My friend Janet, commented on my Facebook page the other day, saying he was such a kid. I think that’s the perfect way to describe him. Little boy, through and through.

Big T:Β I love to watch Big T and Little T play together. They’ve become best buds and to my dismay, love to sit on the couch and watch Football and Basketball together. I see a lifetime of sports ahead of me! 0_0 Because of my crazy schedule and workload, Big T drops Little T off for daycare, helps out with the dishes, gets him ready for school, packs his lunch, and gives him his baths. He gets a A+ for daddy duties and I don’t know what I’d do without him.

Life has brought us a lot of unexpected turns over the past year and a half, but Big T has been there the whole time, cheering me on. Of course, we’ve had our little fights, but if I was to throw them in a pile, they’d be nothing compared to the support he gives me every day. Last night, I was upset because I can’t help with Little T as much as I’d like because of my busy schedule. Big T reminded me that I was with Little T 100% of the time for the first year, and that my schedule is temporary and not forever. Big T is kind of awesome and supportive in that way.Β 

Momma J:Β My foot is still healing, but it’s doing so much better than it was 9 months ago. I’ve gained more weight than I would care to admit from not being able to walk or exercise, and am beginning the slow process of shedding the weight. My business has been amazing. I can’t think of a better job than photographing people on one of the happiest days of their lives. I’ve discovered that I love my job, love having a business, but hate taking money from people. If only my payments could grow from the orange tree in the backyard…then I’d be a happy camper. πŸ˜‰Β 

Our family looked at my schedule for the next year, and we’ve made some decisions about how many weddings I can book in a month. This is so my family life will be a little more balanced. Having so many weddings is an amazing problem to have, so I’m not complaining! Oh, how I wish I could do them all! But I want to make sure I have time for my two T’s.Β 

Running a business is definitely much harder and time consuming than I thought (think 60-70 hours a week), but there are great perks. I can work in my pajamas, I can be in the living room so that I can still listen and feel like I’m a part of Little T and Big T’s playtime, and I get to make my own decisions. It’s been a lot of learning this year, but it’s been amazing.

And that’s where we are right now! Pictures to follow of all of us at the Rose Parade this year πŸ™‚

My step dad, before the parade!

My step dad, before the parade!

Little T's cousin R and her family.

Little T’s cousin R and her family.

My Mom, giggling with Little T

My Mom, giggling with Little T

Little T, giving out high fives to total strangers.

Little T, giving out high fives to total strangers.

Big T and Little T, getting their energy out before the parade.

Big T and Little T, getting their energy out before the parade.

The rose parade theme

The rose parade theme

roseparade_small

June Lake

28 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by Momma J in Photography, The Family, The Travels

≈ 6 Comments

It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life~Bilbo Baggins

Every year we go to June Lake to celebrate the day we learned about Little T. It’s a special trip for our little family.

The start of our trip this year was rocky, because Little T had a bad fever. The night before we left we made a trip to urgent care to make sure it was okay to bring him up to high altitude. We were debating cancelling the trip or going up later, but the doctor said it was fine to take him, and the fever actually made the six hour car ride pretty mellow with Little T getting a chance to rest. I spent the first two days of our trip in the cabin working and taking care of Little T while he slept. Thankfully, his fever finally broke yesterday and he was able to walk around, so we walked over to the river to take some photos while the sun was setting.

You can tell he’s still feeling out of it, poor little guy.

My job is pretty friggin cool.

03 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by Momma J in Photography, The Family, The Travels

≈ 2 Comments

This last weekend was awesome, in an, is this really my job?-kind of way.

We had an early morning castle shoot on Saturday that began at the Fairy Tale Suite at the Disneyland Hotel. Our start time was 3:45 A.M., so we stayed overnight at the DLH with Little T, Big T, and Grandma K. As we pulled up to the hotel, Little T said, “Minnie?” It freaked us out that he knows the words Minnie and Mickey. I can only guess that he learned it from daycare, but it’s crazy to think that Disney is such a big part of our culture that it’s a word little kids just know. 0_o

We got adjusted in our rooms and decided to go to Trader Sam’s for dinner and a cocktail. We ordered a fruit plate and a vegan salad and some sweet potato fries. Little T didn’t want anything to do with the fries. He can be such a health snob sometimes. πŸ˜‰

After dinner, we walked around the hotel a bit. I was excited because I saw Hope, who told me they were helping with a friend’s wedding. Because of Wendy’s wedding, we saw a lot of friends walking around. Big T met up with us after having dinner with one of his buddies, and then we tried to go to sleep early so we wouldn’t be tired for the shoot.

I woke up around 2:00AM because my mind was excited and I couldn’t rest. I had made up a storyboard for this shoot and was going over it again and again in my head, thinking of the photos I wanted to try and capture and wondering what the Suite would look like. Around 3:00, I finally got up and met with my new intern, Marc. Big T met us downstairs with the equipment, and we made our way up to the Fairy Tale Suite. Across the hall from the Fairy Suite Suite was the Pirates Suite (!!!) I hope I get to see it someday.

When they opened the door to the Fairy Tale Suite, pixie dust music played and an animated Tinkerbell flew across the wall and lit up a beautiful crystal statue of the castle. No joke! 0_0 Fairy Tale Suite, indeed! We thought this was amazing, but after we had to go in and out of the room about 20 times in a row, the magic wore off just a little bit. πŸ˜‰

Tara from Fairytale Hair and Makeup was there getting Tina ready. We talked about how early it was, and how amazing this was, and all three of us kept pinching ourselves. Tina was absolutely stunning, inside and out:

Around 6:45, we were taken over to the castle and had an hour to take photos. It was fun having the castle to ourselves. There are so many photos from the shoot, but I posted this on my facebook page because I had to pay a little tribute to the Walt Statue and the Disney gods. Heh heh.After the shoot, we were exhausted! Little T, Big T, and Grandma K sat by the pool while I packed things up and got ready to go home.

Little T had a giddy screaming match at the pool with another little boy. He was excited to meet someone who loves and appreciates the art of screaming. When it was finally time to drive home, I made it almost all the way there, but at the last turn to our house when I stopped at a stop sign, I closed my eyes for a second and fell asleep. Grandma K gave me a nudge and I was able to make it the rest of the way home. Of course, instead of going to sleep I wanted to see my photos from the shoot, so I attempted to look through them but fell asleep at the computer instead.

Around 6:00PM, we got ready to go and meet some friends at Disneyland again to see the Mad Tea Party. Little T read his favorite book on the tram. I just bought it from Amazon, it’s about *dun dun dun* basketball.

The first thing we did was go on the Little Mermaid with one of my best friend’s Jackie and her significant other (and Big T’s bro-mance partner), Randy:

Then we stopped by the new Ghirardelli Shop. An ice cream shop that doesn’t carry any soy ice cream. *grumbles*

Next stop was the Mad Tea Party. I wished I could have stayed longer, but I was exhausted and my foot was aching from the sprain. We stayed about 30 minutes before calling it a night. I did manage to grab some fun photos though:

All in all, a great day. And according to my body bugg, a busy one.

  • I burned 2943 calories
  • Walked 18229 steps
  • Was active for 4 hours and 57 minutes

I think that calls for a soy milkshake.

Conversations With Little T

24 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Momma J in Photography, Quick Snippets

≈ 1 Comment

Little T is all about basketball right now. The only thing he’s remotely interested in discussing is sports. Every conversation with him goes like this:

Little T:Β Ball?Β Ball? Basketbal!l? Ball? Shoot? Shoot basketball? BASKETBALL! SHOOT BASKETBALL!!!!

It’s kind of funny how Little T is such a little boy. We haven’t made any effort to steer him towards boy things, but all he wants to play with are balls, cars, trucks, trains, drums, dirt, and bubbles. I’m still trying to find ways to get him more interested in books. Maybe I can find some sort of baby book about basketballs…Now, that’s a thought. I found some baby books about basketball on Amazon, hopefully that will do the trick!

← Older posts

Follow Me on Pinterest

Facebook

Facebook

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Categories

  • All Others
  • Escape Rooms
  • life
  • Meal Plans
  • Photography
  • Quick Snippets
  • The Adventures of Little T
  • The Family
  • The Travels
  • this and that
  • vegan

Top Mommy Blogs - Click To Vote!

Archives

  • June 2017
  • January 2017
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Blog Hop

http://www.jmanandmillerbug.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • This Little Blog of Mine
    • Join 82 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • This Little Blog of Mine
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...