Love and Hope
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson
The first thing I noticed about Gabriella Ford was how upbeat and happy she sounded. Granted our first 26 encounters were all via email haha, but still, I definitely felt I knew what type of person she was even before I first set eyes on her.
And when I met her in person she was just as I had imagined her--cute and bubbly and full of positive energy. She was so adorable with her husband Curt. They definitely radiated that newlywed vibe, which makes sense, since they celebrated their first anniversary June 20th, 2016.
Curt and Gabriella met through Beachbody and after knowing each other for 6 years have been together a little over 3 years. Gabriella has also stepped into the role of stepmom to Curt's sons. Jacob is 14, Ethan is 12, and together the 4 of them are picture perfect. :)
You would never know that this happy couple had suffered a sad loss this summer. This past June, Gabriella experienced a miscarriage at 11 weeks. Though they did not know the sex of their child, they always referred to the baby as she and they feel strongly she was a little girl they call Hope.
It was important to the couple that they remember their child in this session and Gabriella wore a necklace with the name Hope on it as well as an anchor ring.
After reading Gabriella's beautiful blog post on their experience I knew I wanted to share their story and her post.
http://www.teamaddictedbb.com/2016/06/our-story-of-hope.html?m=1
I know others will find her story as beautiful and as uplifting as I did and I want to thank her for sharing it with me and for allowing me to share it here.
I wish the Fords all the best and many years of happiness in their new lives together.
At the end of the day they have each other, they have love, and they will always have Hope.
Cubs versus White Sox
I first met the Littig family when I took images of the youngest Littig, the oh-so-adorable Declan, for his first birthday last summer.
So of course I was happy to take images of him again this month with his equally adorable big brother JJ and the boys' good looking parents, Josh and Emily.
During this session I also got to meet Declan's grandparents, John and Michelle, and his Uncle Jon. I love, of course, that the family is from my home town of Hessville, Indiana :)
The session was a lot of fun as the family was easy going and quick to laugh...despite their White Sox and Cubs family rivalry, haha!
I think it is super cute and cool that the elder Littig's, John and Michelle raised two boys, Jon and Josh, and are now grandparents to Josh's two boys--JJ and Declan.
I wish this awesome family nothing but health, happiness, and years of joy to come with these two sweet little men, JJ and Declan. :)
The archer is the true weapon..
"The archer is the true weapon; the bow is just a long piece of wood."
Sebastien de Castell, Traitors Blade
Senior Dylan Roe began shooting archery after a visit to a local range in 2014. After picking up a bow he became hooked and immediately joined a youth archery program. He purchased a Olympic Recurve bow and began competing locally in 2015. 'A recurve bow has tips that curve away from the archer when the bow is unstrung. When strung a recurve stores more energy than an equivalent straight limbed bow and therefore offers more thrust to project the arrow through the air to the target.' (JordanSequillion.wordpress.com)
To date Dylan has competed in 21 local and national tournaments including the USA Archery Outdoor Nationals and the Buckeye Classic USAT. His highest finish was 4th place at the 2016 NFAA Indoor Nationals and he was recently accepted as a member of the Shrewd Archery Factory Staff.
Dylan received his Level 1 Instructor certification in Spring of 2016 allowing him to instruct Beginner and Intermediate archers in the JOAD program at Washtenaw's Sportsman's Club as well as Cub and Boy Scouts at local camps
Dylan also received his JOAD Bronze medal for Indoor Olympic Recurve this past May and currently ranks 47th in his division in USA Archery.
What a list of achievements, especially for someone so new to a sport!!
Adding to the fun, his mother and father bought bows and started shooting in competitions in January of 2016 so that they could be actively involved with their youngest son's sport. How cool is that??!
Dylan has been in the Milan, Michigan school district his whole academic life. After starting to play drums in 6th grade he became a member of Milan High School's drum line in 2013 and is currently the co-captain.
After graduation Dylan plans on attending Eastern Michigan University to major in Political Science with a minor in Economics.
With his dedication to excellence I am quite sure Dylan has nothing but success in his future. I wish you the very best Dylan! Enjoy your Senior year!
The Major and his Minors
Well this family definitely makes my list for one of my cutest family groups, that is for sure. And when it came to coordinating the color scheme, with just the right amount of accent patterns to make it interesting, Marilyn Rauschenberg NAILED IT!
Marilyn and her husband Major Justin Rauschenberg just relocated to Michigan from Virgina. Major Rauschenberg has been in the Army for 12 years now and did one year in Kuwait. He told me the hardest part of the experience was being away from his family. I can understand that--they are adorable!
And what personalities the girls Sydney, age 7, and Riley, age 4 have. Both were always ready for their close ups until the very end when 4 year old Riley was ready to move on to other things haha.
At one point the girls discovered a lady bug...Sydney was quite mesmerized by it but Riley decided the bug belonged in a better place and made quick work of it with a quick solid stomp from her boot. Oh em gee. I was dying!!! What a hoot!!!
While I know they miss the mountains of Virginia the Rauschenbergs are learning to love their new Michigan surroundings very quickly. Which is good, because I hope to see them the next time they need some images done! They were truly awesome :)
Welcome to Michigan, Major Rauschenberg, and your adorable Minors ;)
Fun and Fearless in the Big City
I am always a big fan of new sites, as I've said before, so photographing at Promontory Point in Chicago was a cool new place for a Senior session.
As I had only seen the location online, I was happily surprised at the awesome views and peaceful sereneness the Point allowed.
My Senior Maya Pancer loved it there too! She jumped right in with her fun and fearless self. Despite a few times when her boyfriend's staring perusal threw her off a little bit she was a total professional. I guess I could have thrown her boyfriend, Jacob, off the 'set' but he is my nephew so we worked around him haha! (In truth he was a big help--thanks Jacob!)
Maya is a Senior at Lake Central High School. Unsure of which college she plans to attend she is looking at her local options. She does know that she wants to minor in Fashion Design with most likely a major in Business. She loves reading, writing, drawing, painting, and music, so she definitely has an artistic bent.
Good luck during your Senior year Maya and I hope college is everything you hope for :)
