Cheyenne Taylor | Senior Photos

Had an absolute blast shooting this pretty lady's senior photos. Her style is so much fun, I loved getting to hang out with her for the afternoon. Take a look at her sneak peak, and be jealous of all her fun hats!

Glasses, hats, and bubbles

Aren't these kids adorable? Sunday afternoon's photo shoot was for these 4 little cuties- all under the age of three, by the way- Yikes! Thank goodness for fun toys and bubbles! And of course, awesome parents, grandparents, aunts, and my sister who were there to help make this shoot a success!

Enjoy!

~ j

Oxford

Oxford... that sweet city with her dreaming spires -Matthew Arnold

Oh Oxford, how you stole my heart! What a sweet city, steeped in scholastic tradition!

What a grand day trip that was- spending my time wandering the streets where C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and countless other greats used to walk. Home of the oldest university in the English speaking world, a trip to Oxford means you are in for a treat. It's beautiful, and thoughtful, and reflective. It's a place where people think deeply, and challenge themselves academically. A place where students wear tuxedos to class, and eat their meals in grand banquet halls. A place whose motto is, Dominus illuminate mea which means, "The Lord is my light." A place where even the architecture is meant to draw the eye, and the thoughts up to God. Needless to say- I loved it! 

Have a peek at some of the day's snapshots.

The main thing I walked away with after walking the streets of Oxford is that I want my life to be built like this city. I want my life to draw the eyes of others up to God. Ahh! It was so inspiring! 

Had the lovely opportunity to visit Magdalen College while we were there, where C.S. Lewis was a professor. 

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to cross something off my bucket list when we had dinner at The Eagle and Child where Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings met together. Sitting in that pub has been on the list for several years now, and now, I can finally say I've done it! Sadly though- no pictures so you'll just have to take my word for it. 

There it is! A tiny peek into a one-day trip to a lovely city. Believe me, neither the photos, nor my description could do it justice. If you ever have the chance to visit- Do it!!

Happy weekend everyone!

~Jasmine

Daniell Family

One of my favorite things about my job is getting to meet new people. There's so many cool people and families out there, and lucky for me, my job introduces me to them!

Had a blast getting to hang out with the Daniell family on Saturday. Here's a peek at some of their shots.

~j

What Kind of Man is This?

Happy Ocean Day! Yes, this is actually on the calendar, which I was quite excited to discover this morning. If I had it my way, this would be a national holiday, and we'd all get the day off to go to the beach. (Or days off depending on how far inland you were.) We would all spend a lazy day in the sun, absently gazing out into the vast awesomeness that is lady ocean, pretending that we would live out the rest of our days in flip flops. It would be epic.

There's almost nothing that sets my heart at ease like the ocean. For me, the ocean is synonomous with relaxation, and peace; comfort and clear thoughts. I read about the sea during my Bible reading this morning, only in this passage, the sea isn't described as anything calm and comforting. Matthew chapter 8 says,

Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

It's the last sentence in this passage that struck me the most. "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him?" How often do we marvel at this man who calms our seas? These storms allow us to know Jesus in a way that sunshine doesn't make room for. Just think, if they hadn't experienced that storm, the disciples wouldn't have had cause to ask that question. So often we wish that Jesus would guide us around the inconvenient, and frightening storms of life, but if He did, we would never have reason to ask in awe, "What kind of man is this?" Without  the need for deliverance, we won't know our Deliverer. Without danger, we can't experience refuge.

I think it's very good for us to step back sometimes, and ask in wonder about our savior,

"What kind of man is this?" 

~ j

Snake Raking

You know how everyone these days has their own reality TV show? It doesn't matter if it's about cakes, alligator wrestling, storage units, bugs, bounty hunters or pawn shops, everyone and their brother is on TV. Well if there had been a film crew wandering around in our neighborhood last night, they would have been able to film a one-show season of a new show that they could have called "Snake Raking".

There was a snake that made its way into the rose bush beside our back door. Being worried for the safety of their favorite little dog, my brother and dad decided to try and see if they could move it to a less prickly, less in our way location. If this was on TV, I think they would have played some dramatic music, and said something about how the safety of the family had been threatened by this creature. Ian and Daddy would have suited up in some ridiculous outfits that would probably include fringed leather vests, and everyone in our family would be sporting mullets. 


Armed with a shovel and a rake, my brother and father strode toward the rose bush to take on the snake. It took a little while to extract it because, in the words of my sister, "the snake kept lunging at them!" Are snakes even capable of lunging? My father said it took a while because "it was like trying to scoop water with a rake." If you say that last line with a hick accent, you can see how this would have made great television. My other sister suggested we stick the snake under the house since they eat mice. My dad reminded her that he stores stuff under the house and wasn't really interested in challenging the beast again. Just think of the sequel episode that could have been though! Revenge! Drama! An epic underground battle between man and serpent!




Eventually, they did manage to extract the snake from the rose bush, and half carried, half raked it off into the willows. If the cameras had been rolling, someone would have had to get bitten before the show could come to a happy ending in a nice tidy 30 minutes, but alas... we had no such drama.

My brother and dad: SNAKE RAKERS!

Do enjoy the following documentation of this epic encounter between man and nature. To add the most drama, please start the video before scrolling through the pictures. 


~ jasmine