This gorgeous wedding took place last July (yes, I am the worst at keeping up with my blog!)
on Deer Isle one of the prettiest spots in Maine I have ever seen. How beautiful it was doesn't compare to the relationship and love story between Emma & Sam and all the special people they invited to witness them join their lives as one on this special day.
I am just going to let the photos speak for themselves, to tell their story. ....

I wish you all happiness as you navigate through life together, God bless your marriage!

 This season of life goes so fast!
The days are long though.
We are tired,  
and life is crazy busy as it is no longer our own,
there are so many little things to be done each day.
We can easily forget that there is beauty and joy there in the everyday.
They change so quickly from babies to toddlers to mini adults. 
I love to capture life as it is, there are so many memories to be had here.
I am realizing how much I miss everyday just because I am simply busy doing life with my kids.
It blesses me to be able to help other moms capture that and see how special their family really is.
I just finished the gallery for this in-home newborn session to capture just that....
a typical summer morning while dad was working. 

April just flew by, Its still cold and were still making wood fires at night but spring is here and we are so glad to not e cooped up. Here are some photos from my attempt to take a picture everyday for my year-in-pictures project for my family.

Our sauerkraut finished fermenting and is so good! I've eaten it almost everyday since.

These two made a mini meal completely cooked with mini pans on the wood stove, used mini tea set and ate with tiny toothpicks.

Coltsfoot, my favorite spring flower because its the first to appear... while everything is still brown these pretty little yellow sunshines appear!

Baby rabbits were born this beginning of this month!
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I love to see this! Big sister helping little brother to ride his bike!

What did they catch?!!

Yikes!!

The most fun these two have had on the trampoline in a long time!

We celebrated Dada's birthday this month...

I love when the bikes come out, 

....especially loved spending some time learning how to make a panning photo of one of my favorite subjects for fun.

It was tricky!

For Easter this year we did a passover meal with our homeschool group and prepared homemade Matzah, it was so good!

And the best lamb I've ever roasted and tasted on Easter Sunday!

Our baby rabbits have grown so much since the beginning of the month.

And last but not least, Wonderful Husband built this pergola for me the end of the month so I can grow grapes.

May is now here, as spring really comes to Maine, let the planting begin.

What are your favorite spring activities?

                  The past two weeks have been rough with the exception of the first part of the week of the 20th. We had good half week of school; we started a batch of saurekraut, spent time outside, rekindled the love of chess, even did a still life art class. At that point they all began dropping like flies one at a time. There has been this 5 day fever going around, not sure if thats what you would call it but it's been consistently 5 days for each member of my family. I have served up many rounds of chicken soup these last few weeks. We are STILL going through it, with my littlest!! I am praying it passes over me, still haven't got it. We'll see.
                       So there wasn't much to take pictures of being cooped up in this house. Poor kids have to have a camera in their face all the time, let alone when they are sick. I have had to learn to become very stealthy... For instance; The art class photo (3rd one down), was me holding the camera at waste level, talking to them, acting like I'm not up to anything. I accidentally got my daughter's head stuck in the chimney of the oil lamp, but oh well. I think its bizarrely funny. 
                        I am worn out and keeping track of which days go with which number on this 365 day thing is annoying.  I've decided to change the  the way I do this, I will still do my best to take a photo every day, but instead of worrying about days, I 'm going to worry about weeks and months, maybe I'll post every 2 weeks maybe once a month we'll see. 
                       Today we went for a walk in the woods there is still over 2 feet of snow in some places, its supposed to snow tomorrow. I know that Spring is coming eventually and we will all feel better soon, hopefully sooner than later. Tomorrow we get to check on our sauerkraut to see if it is ready, I sure hope so!

            It was so nice to get to know these two and spend some time with them for their Storytelling Engagement photos. I love capturing people in environments that they go to often, where they are the most comfortable, without the pressure of having to pose... with genuine emotion, telling the story of  relationships. 
             These two enjoy spending time at the local natural food store, Whole Life Market. They have spent a lot of time at Bad Little falls where Cody plays music during the summer festivals, we spent some time at both places for photos. We made a quick stop to get a few photos on their front porch where he proposed to Angleana on Christmas and finally to Roque Bluffs, where they will be married this summer, 
                 What a special couple they are, I am so glad that these photos will not only hold meaning because they represent their engagement, they also will be a reminder of some places that hold   some very special memories for them together.  
They will have a beautful July wedding. Congratulations you two! 

           These two are a joy, they are a fun silly- in-love couple. They have a wonderful story full of love and redemption.  I wanted to really tell who they are as a couple in their pictures. I was inspired with the idea to go on a mini date. We talked ahead of time to find out what was special and important to them;  what they like to do as a couple, some special places they liked to go. We spent some time at Bagel Central, where they often frequent and around Downtown Bangor. We spent some time visiting so we could get to know one another a little, I mostly just let them be themselves as I observed and took photos, we took some time here and there to get some nice relaxed posed photos as well. 
I enjoyed this so much I decided to start offering it as a new session; Storytelling Engagement Sessions are one of my favorites to do now, I love capturing genuine emotion,  it enabled them to relax and just enjoy the time together, I know they can look back on their photos years from now and truly cherish them.

Congratulations you two, it was a blessing to spend this time with you and get to know you more, I'm looking forward to your wedding next month!!

Its been a month, I really have enjoyed this project of the attempt of taking a picture everyday for the year. You will see I haven't done it very consistently the last month, I have missed days at a time and even a whole week. I am however still glad I challenged myself to do this, I have still be picking up my camera up for my family much more than I have had the last few years. By challenging myself, I have able to preserve some great memories.
I think our month has focused a lot around food. I have been enjoying cooking a lot this month and I love so much when our family comes together around a meal, whether to make it or to eat it. We have a lot of fun, I hope this post doesn't make you too hungry !

We love having a big meal on the weekend together after daddy has worked so hard all week.

I cant get over the fact that i have a little mini me, she's my partner through and through!

Irish soda bread is a very important tradition in our home, as I made my first loaf when I was engaged to my husband. It was a present for him, we were living in different states,  I went to visit on St Patricks Day, I'm not Irish but wanted to impress my very zealous Irishman, when  it was time for me to return  home I left him a loaf of Irish soda bread to enjoy. I try to make it every year, I have changed the recipe a little; when I can't get currents, I use chopped dates instead. Also I now make a Downeast version for my children who dont care for dates, but prefer blueberries instead.

I hope to be able to continue this little personal challenge the hardest part is taking time to organize and share the photos, but it also keeps me going and forces me to organize them all. Spring is on its way, and we will be even more busy with gardening and canning, and finishing up homeschooling....never mind weddings! looking forward to a lot of wedding this year! 

Melissa shared with me some words about how special it was to be married in the church her  husband grew up in and she is now a part of; 
"Our favorite part of the marriage was definitely the ceremony. It was special because my husband grew up at the church and was personally trained by Pastor Ken who got to watch him grow up, and then marry us! I loved how glorifying it was to the Lord, and how much of the work of Christ in our lives was brought to center stage. It made all of the waiting worth it."

For their couples portraits they choose to go back to the very place he proposed on the night they got engaged, this made them so very extra special!

God bless your marriage! You two have a life time of joy ahead of you!

My personal project of taking a picture every day for a year is going well, this last week ai missed a few days but thats okay It was bound to happen. These last two weeks we got more snowfall combined than any previous winter we can remember, we are up to our necks in snow and we are waiting for spring. Lots of Homeschooling and snow playing with a birthday and a Valentines Day party these pass two weeks. 

We like big breakfasts and reading aloud stories theres a lot of that around here.

I little green to break up all of the white... I need lots of color in winter.

Nachos and Valentine card making chaos!

My rabbit lover girl made such a creative box for her Valentines! We had a super fun party with all of our homeschooling buddies! Its always so fun to get together and see what everyone comes up with.

I love the full moon in the winter. I had to go out and see If I could capture the light and shadows on the snow. This was handheld with my ISO's at 5000, f2.8, 1/5.  It took a few tries, not too many came out, focusing was hard, but I got this little gem; a fun little latenight adventure. This was not quite the 42nd day as it was before midnight but who's keeping track anyway?!

My Baby turned 14! we had a big breakfast instead of our usual big dinner since it was on a Monday and was a snow day that day.

My boys are becoming men this year as they shovel and bring in wood all the time, its so great to witness.

So much snow!!! 

Have a nice next few weeksas we get closer to March and closer to spring!