Top 9 blog posts of ’09

To keep this from being the top 91203 blog posts of the year I limited myself to 9, seems to fit, right? I hope you all had a great holiday and are as excited as I am for 2010! I’ve been thinking back over the last year and can’t find a way to wrap it up. Thankful doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’m not sure if I know anyone that loves their “job” as much as I do and for that I’m thankful. I get to work from the comfort of my home, and for that I’m thankful. I get to be with gorgeous couples on the happiest day of their lives, and for that I’m thankful. I get to spend time with families and capture all the little moments that make their family unique, and for that I’m thankful. I’m in an industry full of other photographers so willing to give back and share their “secrets of success”, and for that I’m thankful. I have amazing friends who are interested in me and what I do and encourage me every step of the way, and for that I’m thankful. I had the best year I’ve had so far business wise and 2010 is shaping up to be even better, and for that I’m thankful. Thankful to be able to do what I love and call it a career. I am blessed!

I’ll be doing posts over the next week with some wedding, portrait, and engagement highlights from 2009..  but for now here are my top 9 blog posts of 2009 that deserve a 2nd look! These are by no means my favorite pictures of the year, more my favorite moments and the things that made this such a great year! These are in chronological order, and the link to the original post is included so take a minute and look back at my favorite moments from 2009!

First up back in February was WPPI!!! This was my first year at WPPI and I’m already counting down until I get to go again this year! Katelyn and I flew out to Vegas for this week long conference and I think its safe to say we both came back with a million new ideas for our businesses and were challenged to really think outside the box! We were both so excited to meet so many other photographers, and who do you suppose was the FIRST person we saw Sunday night when we got there but the lovely and talented Jasmine Star! We had both really hoped to meet her, but didn’t think it would actually happen since literally thousands of photographers from all over the world packed out the hotel, but we just happened to run into her within the first couple hours we were there! So fun! Katelyn and Michael will be spending some time with her at WPPI this year doing their ENGAGEMENT PICTURES (woo!!) and Jasmine is one of the speakers this year! Can’t wait to hear from her and all the other fabulous photographers in a couple months! Click HERE for the original post! b7Next up is Scooter and Ashley’s engagement session from last April! This session was recognized by collages.net, my online proofing company as their website of the week! They sort through ALL the galleries that are uploaded and pick the best of the best to showcase as their website of the week and I was THRILLED to hear that Scooter and Ashley’s engagement session had been picked! You can click HERE for the original post, as well as their engagement, wedding part 1 and part 2, bridal session, and day after session part 1 and part 2.. whew! i think its safe to say they’re my most frequently photographed couple and I LOVE it! I can’t wait for anniversary sessions and baby sessions down the road! b6This year I was able to partner with Miss Priss Tutu’s as she was looking for some updated pictures for her website, she agreed to mail me some of her favorite tutus that I could use for future sessions if I let her put the images on my blog! DEAL! I was so excited! I have had so much fun taking pictures of these beautiful little girls this past year twirling around in these precious tutus.. although I think its safe to say that the girls enjoyed it more! When I took Lauren out for her session she walked all around Target before hand in her tutu and I know she felt like such a princess! She got so many compliments and didn’t want to ever take it off! Click HERE to see the original post, and click HERE to see the Miss Priss Tutu’s website! Here’s my little princess: b4One post that I knew right away would be in my top 9 was finally getting to meet and photograph John. I asked my faithful blog readers back in January to join with me to pray for for some sweet little boys. This year taught me more about loss and grieving and even moreso the mighty power that our God has to heal and restore! Hallelujah! Needless to say I was absolutely THRILLED when the day finally came that I was able to go meet sweet John and photograph him! Please continue to pray for him and his family, and please check out Johns 3 month, 6 month, and 9 month pictures!! I cannot believe that he will be ONE this month!! My sessions with John always have to start with a few minutes of bonding for me and him ;0) and I always have to remind Mary Elizabeth to tell me to put the baby down and pick up my camera… what can I say, I can’t resist his big blue eyes and that contagious smile! Click HERE for John’s first pictures! b2Something else exciting that happened this year was my good friend Jill started 2nd shooting for me! Its been so fun watching her learn and get better and better with a camera in her hands! She’s coming to WPPI with Katelyn, Michael, and I this year and I know she will get so much out of it! She has her own blog now, so go check it out and encourage her to post more often! ;0) This session was one of my favorites from the year because not only was it the first one Jill did with me, but I always love it when I can talk my best friend Alison into jumping in front of my camera for a while :0) She is one of my favorite people to photograph, they ALL turn out gorgeous! She and her boyfriend Manny graciously agreed to model for Jill and I so Jill could practice some before her first wedding with me! Check out the original post HERE! b5If you know me at all you knew this post would make it into this list.. c’mon, how could I not show off my favorite kiddos?! This summer Lauren and Sammy came and spent almost a week here in NN with me and I seriously contemplated ways to keep them here forever. They’re my heart and soul and I absolutely cannot get enough of them! I have thousands of pictures of them, and Jill was willing to take some pictures of me WITH them.. what a concept! ;0) These pictures of me with them are all over my apartment, the desktop of my computer, my phone.. they’re everywhere! Jill, please know how much I treasure them and that it was YOU who took them! Click HERE for the original post from this summer, as well as last April and January! b1Another one that was guaranteed to make the top moments of 2009 was the proposal. I had been looking forward to it for months and was one of the few people to know “the plan”. I felt so honored that Michael let me be there to document this specific moment in their lives together! My heart was beating so fast as she walked into the sanctuary! This post definitely requires looking at again, especially the slideshow at the end, it still brings tears to my eyes! I can’t wait for 10.10.10!!! woo! Click HERE for the original post! b8Another big time highlight of the year for me.. DISNEY WORLD!!! I had been dreaming about taking Lauren to disney world for quite some time now, and who ever said dreams don’t come true was mistaken big time! :0) We had THE. BEST. WEEK. and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! I’m thinkin about going back for my birthday.. anyone wanna come with me?!? ;0) Click HERE for the original full post and here are all the daily posts I did while we were there! day 1, day 2, day 3 (the funniest one, in my opinion!), day 4, day 5, day 6, and day 7! b9ahh I couldn’t pick, so I’m posting both of them.. c’mon this picture is too good not to share again! ;0) b10and last but not least, one of my favorite moments from 2009 were taking Ashley’s bridal portraits back in October. Ashley probably thought I was insane as I couldn’t contain my excitement throughout the entire session. This session is one that was so thought out and stylized and just encompasses everything that I love about my job. I remember walking around this farm with Ashley just feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude for clients that are willing to do anything and trust my judgement, and gratitude that this is what I get to do for a living. Walk around and take gorgeous photographs of a bride. The engagement/first year of marriage is such an exciting time for a couple, and I love that I get to play a small part in capturing that. Ashley completely ROCKED out this session and I still get that excited feeling whenever I look at these! My hope for these pictures is that it will truly inspire other couples to really think outside the box and move away from a super traditional posed style of portraits, and realize that you can look completely drop dead gorgeous even just sitting on old muddy tires! :0) Click HERE for the original post! b3Enjoy my favorite moments from this last year, and I can’t wait for all thats to come in 2010! Stay tuned for even more highlights from 2009!

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  1. evelyn says:

    i love your top 9 blog posts! i love your bolg so much yesterday when i was in the Apple store at short pump i pulled it up and looked at it for a while. i miss you jess!!!

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