There are no words to describe the love that these two have for each other. This day could not have been any more perfect and Brandon and I were blessed to be apart of it. Ben and Liz had an eventful day on June 4th in Denver. Liz and her bridesmaids got ready at the beautiful Brown Palace. After that she rode in style with her dad to Alamo Placita Park where Ben got to see his beautiful bride for the first time. After taking as many photos as we could possibly squeeze in, we headed to Denver Community Church for their "I-do's". Their ceremony was both elegant and simple full of tears of joy and laughter. After the ceremony, we headed to the most beautifully decorated reception location, The Mercury Cafe. This place was magical and was the perfect spot to celebrate the night away. Instead of cutting a traditional wedding cake, Ben & Liz cut the ribbon off their Oreo cake that sat underneath two superhero Corgi cake-toppers. Why you ask? Because why NOT!? For those of you who don't know Ben and Liz, while they don't have a dog YET, they are obsessed. So much so that Liz joined Instagram purely for the puppy pictures. The fact that they love Remi the Berner as much as I do makes me love Ben and Liz even more than words can say. I've never been to a reception that was filled with SO, SO many home-baked with love-cookies. Liz's mom and dear friends from all around the U.S. made and brought cookies all the way to Colorado to make this reception absolutely perfect. And to top it all off, they even had ice cream from the one and only Sweet Action Ice Cream. Now this was a wedding after my own heart :) Liz's mom also made the beautiful bouquets and the day ran smoothly thanks to the wonderful Cherry Bomb Events. The love that this bride and groom have is contagious ... I don't think I've laughed as hard as I have on both the day I took Ben & Liz's engagement photos and on their wedding day, and they made my job E-A-S-Y! Ben and Liz, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for letting us capture the beginning of your marriage. Wishing you all the best and lots of laughter ahead!
Adiós Sticky Cabinets - Our Kitchen Remodel
You might remember when Brandon and I closed on our new home last June.
Well, it's been exactly a year and we've finished our biggest project yet ... remodeling the kitchen. Upon moving in, it was my ultimate goal to get rid of the old, sticky cabinets and open up the space that we have on our main floor. So, in January, Brandon set out to tear down some walls, add some walls to extend the kitchen, and vault the ceilings. Here's a look at what our kitchen looked like before we started the remodel.
Now, I am lucky to have a husband who does this type of thing. So besides the hardwood floors, the electrical, the gas line, and the drywall on the ceiling, Brandon did everything else. If you need anything done in or outside of your house 5280 Paint has got your back.
Remi was a trooper throughout the whole process. And while that was all being done, we lived out of our basement
We set up a little kitchen with a microwave, small stove, and a toaster oven and we made the best of it.
We were trying to do this all on a pretty tight budget so we opted for IKEA cabinets and absolutely have fallen in love with them. Thank goodness Brandon wasn't overwhelmed when all of these boxes got dropped off.
So without further ado... here is a before and after taken from the same spot.
And one more... taken from the far side of the front door.
I am in heaven...
My FAVORITE part of the kitchen is the beautiful teal island, which was a gift from my mom. I love the color, the distressed finish, and the butcher block top. Gorgeous to say the least! Did you know that my mom, Lori (Interior Ideas and Renovations, LLC) is an interior designer and general contractor? She contributed to the brains behind our kitchen, put all of our hardware on our cabinets and island, took us to the granite yard, helped with appliances, the list goes on...
And my second favorite part of the kitchen is the little breakfast nook that we added on. I love this bright space to sit and enjoy my coffee or flip through a magazine and I especially love how our garage door is now connected and goes straight into the house!
See how the teal brick wall matches the island? :)
I especially love the little things that make this kitchen come alive ... the white subway tile, the amazingly huge and open sink, the beautiful marbled quartz counter top, the natural hardwood floors thanks to my cousin Brian (Heritage Custom Renovations) and the gas stove that we snagged from Sears Outlet and the hood vent (Amazon). Also, my wonderful parents gifted us their old fridge when they decided they wanted a new one, and my mom found our dishwasher for a bargain price from Mountain High Appliances ("Mountain high appliances in Louisville, in Louisville..." I can't say that without singing the jingle ;) ) Our stacked microwave and oven are also from IKEA.
The rest of our main floor looks like this now ... new kitchen table (thanks, Margaret, for the discount!), new paint, new hardwood floors, new baseboards, new rug made from the extra carpet from the basement, and my Grandpa's old piano)
During the remodel, we also got a brand new patio that wraps around the side of the house and Brandon painted the exterior. Brandon also built us an amazing garden, and a few months ago we got a new roof as well! This is our happy place!
A big thanks to everyone that helped along the way! Couldn't have done it without ya'll! Now come on over for dinner!
Life Lately & Snow Day Fun - Colorado Spring Blizzard 2016
Let me just start this post by showing you a picture of what it looked like here in Colorado on Tuesday.
Yup, that's right. On Tuesday it was nearing the 70's ... sunny and beautiful. The grass was green and spring was in the air. During work, I actually went outside to warm-up during my plan time because I was cold inside! Brandon and I took Remi on a walk in short sleeves after I got home from work. Remi rolled around in the grass and played fetch and it was a perfect Spring day.
Now, I shouldn't be shocked by any means because blizzards in Colorado can happen without any warning and it's not uncommon to get a spring blizzard, but when the news informed us that we were on a "blizzard watch" for Wednesday, I said "Yeah right, there is no way". Being a Colorado native, I should have known better, but even Tuesday night and early Wednesday it was WARM! We actually slept with the windows OPEN all night!
Wednesday morning my phone rang at 5:30 waking us up and when I saw the number I knew that we either had a delayed start or a snow day! The later came true upon answering so I immediately turned off my alarm and tried to fall back asleep, but Remington wasn't having it. When we got down stairs and let Remi out, there was only about an inch or two of snow on the ground. In fact, we thought "what the heck" and proceeded to take the pup on a walk around the block!
Side note: Remington is getting spayed on Monday so we had her pre-surgery appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. Since I now had the day off, I decided to tag along and only after getting in the car did we realize that we couldn't drive anywhere! For the first time ever my Rav4 was stuck and on our street of all places! Without us even realizing it, it had dumped at least 8 inches of snow or maybe even more in the two hours since we had been up and it was still coming down pretty heavily! So we called the vet, rescheduled her appointment, and hopped back into our PJ's! Brandon was supposed to continue building our neighbor's fence which he started earlier this week, but due to the storm, he decided to take the day off as well. It was so nice to have the day off when my handsome hubby was around!
Brandon had made us breakfast burritos first thing in the morning so by nine we were hungry again. Given the gift of time, I whipped up some home-made pancakes. Brandon thought it would be fun to make giant pancakes so that's what we did. We put both giant pancakes on top of one another, smothered them with butter and syrup, and topped them with fresh blueberries. While the giant pancakes were cooking on our new gas stove, I sat in our new breakfast nook, watched the snow fall outside, and sipped on a warm cup of coffee. Oh, how I love a forced day off to relax and enjoy the little things! Two forks, one plate, a mound of scrumptious pancakes and I was one happy lady!
Another side note: Brandon and I moved into our house last July and since then we have been living in a kitchen that was straight of the 60's with minimal cabinet and/or countertop space. The cabinets were small, a gross shade of brown, and STICKY beyond belief. We were so thankful to have even bought our first house and we had absolutely no right to ever complain about the kitchen, but we knew it was on our very long list of homeowner's to-do's. So, near the end of January we decided to gut the whole kitchen, tear down a few walls and the ceiling, add on a small breakfast nook, and two months later, it is finally resembling a kitchen again! While it's not finished completely, we have brand new cabinets, beautiful marble countertops, a vaulted ceiling, a cute and bright breakfast nook, and incredibly nice new hardwood floors. We have all new appliances (except for the fridge) and we are so in love with our new kitchen. We (and when I say "we" I really mean "Brandon") are now putting the finishing touches on (backsplash, toe kicks, window sills, baseboards, a final coat of paint, etc.) and are waiting for our greenish/blue/dark teal island to arrive. When it's completely finished, I will post some before and after pictures. I am so blessed to have a husband who did and is still doing all the handy work, a mom who has helped us design the kitchen, and a cousin who installs beyond-gorgeous hard wood floors. I am a happy chef over here ... oh wait, I don't cook, that's Brandon's specialty. :)
After our delicious 2nd breakfast, we headed out in the snow to play with the Remperson (AKA, Remington Estelle Gayle). Oh man, she LOVES the snow. We couldn't get her to come in all day and by the time she did come in, she was soaking wet and her fur was filled with tons of little snow balls matted within every millimeter of her.
Brandon kept measuring our snow fall throughout the day ... in the evening we had 15". He also had to keep knocking off the trees and the Comcast cables.
After so much playing, we came inside, lounged on the couch, and took a nap. What else is there to do on such a lovely day off while the weather is frightful outside?
At 4:00 Remi had a playdate with Harvey from next door. They are best buds. To see a couple of pictures of Harvey when he was an itty bitty pup click here!
While the fur babies were playing, the neighbors and us discovered that we both made crock pot meals for dinner so we decided to have a crock pot feast for dinner at their house. We headed over with our spaghetti squash pasta and they provided delicious french dip. It was all yummy to say the least. We are SO lucky to have neighbors that we like, get along with, and have dinners with. Can I get an Amen!?
After that we headed home and snuggled into bed. I was already sleeping with my kindle in my hands when my phone woke me up yet again, but this time at 9:30 p.m. last night. Same number as this morning. Ummm what?! "This is a call from the Cherry Creek School District to inform you that all schools will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, due to inclement weather." Hallelujah! I turned off my alarm and drifted off to sleep now knowing that I had another day off.
This morning, Brandon, being as sweet as he, got up with the pup and let me sleep in until 7! Seven! That never happens! It was a miracle! While yesterday was more eventful, today was such a nice day catching up on things I normally only get around to on the weekends (laundry, cleaning, sweeping the floors). We shoveled the driveway with the help of my dad and hung a new blind in our nook with the help of my mom. Brandon finished building a fence, I worked on my blog. We took Remington to the vet and we played outside in the sunshine and snow. Now Brandon is at Easter practice at church and I'm just hanging at home. I think I'll read my book, finish my laundry, and reply to some emails.
Needless to say, it's been a wonderful two days off. Now it's back to work tomorrow (which I'm glad about because my first graders and I need to change out the apples in our mealworm habitats and make sure our milkweed bugs have enough water to make it through spring break ... good ol' life science for ya), and then off for a week for Spring break. Not a bad couple of weeks if I do say so myself.
There you have it. That's been life lately, and I wouldn't have it any other way!
IMG_2749 from Emily Ann Photography on Vimeo.
P.S. if you think this post was long, just imagine how lengthy they will become when I have actual human kids, not just fur-kids. Yikes ... you still have a few years [at least], but you may want to brace yourself for them now!
Gretchen & Greg - A Denver Backyard Winter Wedding
I've photographed Gretchen's family for many years now so when she called me out of the blue a day in November and asked if I would be available to photograph her December wedding, of course I said "yes!" Greg was Gretchen's ski instructor when she was a young teenager, and all these years later, Greg has been waiting for her to marry him. I mean, could their love story be any more darling? I met Greg the day before their December wedding and immediately saw how perfect they were together. Gretchen and Greg wanted photos of the two of them outside of their wedding attire out of the chaos of the wedding day so the day before we met at the park and captured a few photos of just the two of them before the big day.
Gretchen's parents host a "Soup Kitchen" every Holiday season ... Gretchen's dad, being the chef that he is, makes a potluck of delicious soups and they invite all their friends and family over for the tasty affair. What I love about their Soup Kitchen is that everyone is welcome just how they are, and every December their Denver house fills with people ready to taste tasty soups. Since this was happening anyway on December 20th, Gretchen and Greg decided to have their ceremony right before this big event in Gretchen's parents' backyard. They set up a warm, beautifully-decorated tent and the intimate ceremony was beyond perfect for the two of them. The winter decor and beautiful bouquets of flowers added just the right touch and the day was a memorable one spent with friends and family from all over the world.
Gretchen and Greg, thank you for letting me be apart of this beautiful day! I love the both of you and wish you all the best!
A Year For the Books, Fall Family Sessions, and a Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I cannot believe that tonight we will head into the year 2016. I have so much to be thankful for as I reflect upon what a year it has been. 2015 was a year for the books! A BIG thank you to everyone who made this year extra amazing! Here are my top ten highlights of 2015 (in chronological order):
- Brandon and I bought our first house and we are finally feeling a little more settled in, have finally hung some things on the walls, and are continuing to work on never-ending house projects. We are slowly but surely turning this house into a home. I'm lucky that my hubby is handy!
- Finally got the brother I have always wanted. My sister got married on June 20, 2015 and now I am so happy to say that after 25 years of life I now have a brother (well two now, but I'll get to that) and a pretty cool one at that! Congrats to KK & Cam!!
- On July 11, 2015 I married my best friend. We had a beautiful, small backyard wedding at my parent's house and it was perfect in every way. Thank you to my friend Sharon Arnoldi for capturing such a special day! I also gained another brother and sister (love you Jeff and Katie!) and two loving parents (Mitzie & Lou!). A big thank you to my mom and dad for such an amazing wedding, letting us use your house as our incredible venue, and for all your love and support!
- Honeymooned in Cancun, Mexico! We stayed at an AMAZING resort where we had our own pool on our private "roof-top terrace" and divulged in fresh-made "Coco-Locos" on the beach everyday.
- Emily Ann Photography grew immensely ... thank you to ALL of my amazing clients old and new. Thank you to those who continually give my name out to friends ... I wouldn't be where I am today without YOU! I am so lucky that I have clients who do all of my marketing and advertising for me. And a BIG thank you to those who trusted me for the first time to capture your special moments whether it was an engagement, a wedding, a new born bundle of joy, or your family. I am truly blessed!
- Traveled to Ft. Lauderdale with Brandon, my brother and sister in law, and great friends where we spent time swimming in the ocean, walking on the beach, and enjoying the immense hospitality of a church that hosted a HIFR show. That little yellow book has been a blessing in so many ways, and it was so much fun getting to see Brandon travel and play at this show.
- Brandon and I welcomed our new fur-baby into our hearts. If you haven't met Remington yet, here you go! To see more pictures of this cute pup, click here.
Wishing you all the best, good health, and an abundance of happiness in 2016!
Remington
Meet Remington the Bernese Mountain Dog, the newest addition to our family! After waiting 8 long weeks, Brandon and I finally got to meet and bring home this sweet girl last Saturday. We have now spent a little over a week with her, and we are completely in love. I've been meaning to post some pictures of her and with the surprise snow day today, I am finally able to! So far, Remington (Remi) spends the majority of the day sleeping and thinks she is a lap dog. She's going to be in for a reality check once she gets bigger. She's gained 4 pounds in one week and now weighs a whopping 21 lbs at 9 weeks old. She was the biggest in her litter and her breeder said that she will be at least 100 pounds when she is full grown ... I mean, just look at those paws!
Last weekend, we set up the tripod to take our first official family photo ... Remi wasn't thrilled, but we got one!
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I am completely obsessed with her spotted nose ... it will eventually turn all black so I had to pull out the macro lens before that happened! (I know, somehow overnight I turned into a crazy dog lady)
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Remington loves the snow ... running in the snow, burying her head in the snow, chewing on all the sticks she can find...
And while I baked cookies today, she did what she does best. The entire time she didn't move. Playing in the snow wiped her out!
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And last but not least, since my dear friends requested a video, here you go, Ben & Liz!
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Ben & Liz - A Fall Engagement
It was so much fun to capture the love that these two have for one another. This session was filled with a lot of laughter, goofiness, and pure love. They even came prepared with hot chocolate, shooters, blankets, and "snuggle clothes"! Congrats to Ben & Liz ... we can't wait to be apart of your wedding!
Alex & Jared - A Red Rocks Chapel & Molly Brown Summer House Wedding
These pictures are all the words I need ... a gorgeous wedding for a beautiful couple. Blessed to be apart of it! Congrats Alex and Jared! Best wishes to the two of you!
Hilary & Taylor: An October Proposal
I could not be more honored to be apart of Hilary and Taylor's beyond cute proposal! Hilary had already scheduled her annual "Christmas Card" photo session with me when Taylor called and told me that he wanted to propose to Hilary during our session. Hilary kept making things complicated by changing the date of the photos more than once, but Taylor thought of everything -- having their puppy be apart of it, the sign and the cute saying on the sign, the plot to get Hilary away for a minute so that he could put the sign around Oly's neck, everything. All I did was help make the sign (with the help of a friend ... thanks Molly!) and showed up to capture the moment. After we took a couple of photos like normal, I asked Hilary if it would be alright I took a couple of "head shots" of her because "I've recently had an inquiry for business head shots and I don't have very many to show this potential client". Of course she agreed so I pulled Hilary away to take her business picture (I've included it below). Taylor and Brandon pretended to be playing with Oly when really they were getting out the sign, making sure the ring was ready to go, etc. After a couple of minutes, Hilary and I walked around the tree to see Taylor and Oly standing there waiting for her. Needless to say, what came next was magical. I was so unbelievably blessed to be apart of this. Wishing Hilary and Taylor all the best as they enjoy their engagement (they are celebrating in Thailand right now!) and while they plan their wedding. What a special time in their lives!
Megan's Senior Portraits - Class of 2016
Congratulations to this darling senior! It was so fun to photograph Megan ... what an amazing, fun, and gorgeous girl. We took these at Cheeseman Park on a beautiful morning a couple of weeks ago ... the lighting, the flowers, the greenery, and that smile could not have been any more perfect. I wish you all the best finishing up your senior year!
Erica & Trey - Hudson Garden's Wedding
Erica and I were close friends all through elementary school ... I remember constantly having sleep overs with her, spying on her brothers (yes, we were Harriet the Spy fans), and doing everything together. Because of this I was so honored when she asked me to photograph her wedding. This wedding was so much fun to photograph because not only did it bring back so many good memories, but I was able to catch up with many old friends that I have not seen in years! Erica is now a flight attendant who travels the world and lives in Virginia where she met her husband. I did not get to meet Trey until the wedding day, but as soon as I did, it was clear that they were perfect for each other. They decided to do a first look (which always makes me cry) and the pure laughter, tears, and joy made it so clear that they belong together. Erica and Trey got married at Hudson Garden's surrounded by friends and family, and they sure did throw quite the celebration! Didn't Erica make a stunning bride? Erica and Trey, I wish you nothing but the best. Congratulations and thank you so much for letting Brandon and me be apart of your special day!
Paul's Senior Portraits - Class of 2016
It's that time of the year again! Senior portrait sessions are filling up, and I couldn't be more thrilled with how Paul's turned out! We took these photos at Three Pond Park on a beautiful afternoon last weekend. Paul and his parents were so wonderful to work with, and made our job a piece of cake! Wishing Paul the best of luck as he finishes his last year of high school ... congratulations to the class of 2016!
Congratulations Chelsie & Chase - Sweet Baby Boy Is Almost Here!
You might remember Chelsie and Chase from their wedding that I photographed in October of 2013. Well, now they are awaiting the day when they get to welcome a sweet baby boy and grow their family to a family of three! I couldn't be more excited for them! Chelsie is one stunning mama, wouldn't you say?! Stay tuned for new born photos after they are home from the hospital!
The Matthews & Reilly Family - Cheeseman Park
It was so much fun photographing this lovely family again! I photographed them about a year and a half ago at when Quincy was just a little guy. Now he's two and half, and has the biggest vocabulary of any two year old I have ever met! It is so much fun to get to photograph multiple generations in a photo session, and it is so much fun to get to photograph a family that you've photographed before! Thank you so much to the Matthews family for a wonderful shoot!
Alex Morrision Real Estate
A couple of months ago I had the privilege to photograph this beautiful lady's head shots. Alex recently received her real estate license, and has joined SPX Real Estate. Whether you are looking to buy your first home, move into a larger home, or sell your current home, Alex is your girl! You can get in touch with her and find more information about her through her website.
Furthermore, many of my clients do not know that I provide head shots so if you are wanting to update your current headshot for your website, business card, or just to have a professional photo of yourself, let me know!
The Goldammer Family: Backyard Portrait Session
So much thanks to this darling family for a fun, laid back photo shoot! So fun to be able to capture the entire family together!
Happy New Year : 2014 Highlights
2014 was a year for the books. Top ten highlights: 1) Finished student teaching with the best mentor teacher in the world (Thank you Angela! I learned so much about being a teacher from you!)
2) Graduated from graduate school with a Masters in Elementary Education! No more homework! (well now it's lesson planning... see below.)
3) Received my first teaching job. I've made it half way through my first year of teaching! Go Second Grade!
4) Photographed weddings, families, babies, kids, dogs, and occasionally the beautiful Colorado scenery. I am so blessed for all of my clients and the smiles and memories I get to catch in one year's time.
5) Helped my sister plan for her 2015 wedding ... it has given me a great project to work on and now has come in handy. (Again see below, number 10)
6) I went to my first Broncos game and it was a playoff game, and they won! Until... they lost terribly in the Super Bowl.
7) Vacationed in Mexico with a family I am so lucky to have in my life. It was so beautiful. I never take the ocean for granted living in Colorado.
8) Took swimming lessons, and now I can finally say, I can swim without doggy-paddling! Triathlon in 2015? I think so!
9) Spent time with family and friends. My life wouldn't be the same without all of them.
10) I got engaged! My (now) fiancé surprised me with a Christmas Eve proposal. My entire family was there to celebrate the special moment with us! See the pictures below and you can fill in the rest of the story. I was so shocked, happy, and excited to say the least (don't let the happy tears throw you off!)
Wishing everybody a happy and healthy New Year! Thank you so much for your business and your support this year! Looking forward to a wonderful 2015!
Jose & Angelique - Holy Ghost Church & Terrace Gardens
Jose and Angelique were such a joy to work with ... I am so honored to have been apart of their special day! The first time I met them, it was clear that they are perfect for each other, and I knew I would be capturing something amazing. They got married at Holy Ghost Church in downtown Denver, and a fun reception followed at the Terrace Gardens in Ken Caryl. Thank you so much for having me, Jose & Angelique!
Kayla & Cameron - Denver Engagement
You might remember when my sister got engaged last December ... If you don't, you can read about and see her engagement here. Well, we got around to taking their engagement photos in June, and since we FINALLY got their Save the Dates sent out this week, I can finally post their gorgeous pictures! Their pictures turned out just darling, but I am a little bias. :)
Here are some of my favorites from that beautiful June day!
Even though we didn't end up using these for the Save the Dates, we took a handful of "Save-the-Date" pictures that I thought turned out cute so I just had to share!
Here is Kayla and Cameron with their cute pups.
Isn't my nephew so dang cute?
Erin & Michael's Gorgeous Crested Butte Wedding!
Where to begin? I was so, so blessed to be apart of this extraordinarily perfect wedding. From the location, to the people, to the details, to the lawn games, to the celebration and the dancing ... simply perfect. Did I mention the location?! This wedding was on top of Crested Butte Mountain and was GORGEOUS! The rain held out, the sun was shining, and the stunning mountain peaks in the background were breathtaking.
Here is the gorgeous bride and handsome groom ... stunning!
And without further ado, I will let the rest of the photos do the talking. Enjoy!
This couple sure knows how to throw a FUN party!! It was such a fun reception, and I always love a good sparkler send-off to end a wonderful day!
Congratulations Erin & Michael! Thank you so much for having me be apart of your special day!