Showering with Love for Sharon & Dave

Yay, more baby shower pictures :-D  This has to be the year for babies!  Bobby and I are very happy and proud for his cousin, Sharon, and her husband, Dave.  They are a great couple, and I am eternally grateful to Dave for bringing his video camera at my wedding and taping the whole ceremony and reception!  Without that, we would have never had a cool video of us dancing with Elvis in Las Vegas :)  

>>CLICK HERE FOR THE MINI-SLIDESHOW :-D
>>CLICK HERE FOR THE MINI-SLIDESHOW :-D

Showering with Love

Had a great time at Emily's two baby showers, one for friends and one for families. We can't wait for their baby! Bobby and I are going to be a proud auntie and uncle soon :) Enjoy the little slideshow I put together, and the pictures below. 

xoxo

>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW :-)
>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW :-)

Valentine Vacation

I had the best Valentines Day ever this year. My sweet husband surprised me to a weekend getaway in Amelia Island. It was our first time ever staying at a Bed and Breakfast Inn, and we both love it so much. We ate at Arte's Pizza on our first night, and that pizza joint has some gnarly pizza! Found this amazing candy/coffee/ice cream store after dinner, and I was in heaven when Bobby bought almost a pound of chocolate-covered strawberry. Yum!

It rained all day on Valentines Day, but we decided to go ahead and check out the Farmers Market in the lovely downtown historic district of Fernandina Beach. The locals were very nice! Then we headed out to our scheduled excursion at the Amelia River Cruises, which is really awesome to find out that the company is owned by the Kevin McCarthy's parents. You might remember Keith and Jennifer's wedding that I photo-shot last April in Fernandina Beach. Lovely couple! Keith's dad is also the captain of the cruise boat, and everyone, check out Amelia River Cruises next time you're in Amelia Island! :) Bobby and I had fun despite of the cold and rainy temperature.

Many people ask me if there is one lens that I would never leave home without. That would be my fisheye lens. I love it so much, and sometimes it has its own disadvantages. In this case, we had some dolphin sighting, and of course, I really couldn't get a good shot with the fisheye lens. ;-) We enjoyed the rest of the weekend just watching movies and enjoying the comfort of the bed and breakfast inn. I'm very happy to be living in Florida--beauty is literally just right outside the door :)

Encouraging Words

It's so nice to get home from a long busy day and find an email with a subject title, "Encouragement."  Friends of my two sweet friends from Sweden, John and Kadri, sent me an email that just warmed my heart :)

Wooohoo! We have just seen some of your pictures and we loved them! You are an awesome photographer! Keep up the good work! And yes, Fireproof is a great movie, we hope, caz we haven't got our hands on it yet....Stay blessed! (PS. We are newly married and we would have loved to have you taking our pictures. 4 sure! Deus Abençoe! /Johanna & Paulo

Now, I think this couple is from Sweden too..and yes, indeed, it would have been nice if I got to photoshoot their wedding there :) Never been to Sweden before, and I certainly would love to visit that country. Hmmn, it can be a part of my 5-year plan instead of the 15-year plan ;-)

Here's one of my many faves from John & Kadri's Fun Session last summer:

((picture link removed))

Little Girls are Made of Sugar and Spice

All of our families and even close friends know that I just don't want to have kids, ever.  Many of our friends are now in that chapter of their lives to start a family.  One of our best friends just had a baby girl, and now to find out that another best friend in the same circle is expecting.  Bobby's cousin just had a baby girl last month and now his sister is having a baby girl due next month.  Wow--everything is happening so fast!  

I still don't want children, but I must say, I am starting to crack a little.  This video I found online of another photographer's current session didn't really help much.  The little girl in the video is just simply adorable, and the whole family just looks so happy and full of life :)


The Nichols Family! from SarahQ on Vimeo.

Be sure to turn off my lil' jukebox on the bottom left hand corner of my blog before viewing this video.

Top 10 Romantic Movies

Bobby and I had a great relaxing time over the weekend as we spent our Valentine Vacation at the Hoyt House Bed and Breakfast Inn in Amelia Island. It was so beautiful there, and we enjoyed our time alone together and simply not having any set agendas. We definitely got to watch a lot of romantic movies, too, on Valentines Day since it rained almost all day, and we were content of living the posh life at a bed and breakfast inn :) That got me thinking of what my all-time favorite romantic movies. I have a lot that I love, but if I only get to pick 10, those would be (not in any particular order):

1. The Notebook
2. Pretty Woman
3. Ever After
4. P.S. I Love You
5. 10 Things I Hate About You
6. Barefoot in the Park
7. First 50 Dates
8. The Wedding Singer
9. Shakespeare in Love
10. Along Came Polly (**EDIT**I'm scratching this one out for One Fine Day!)

I know I mentioned 10 movies only, but I have to add the movie Fireproof to the list. It may not be a romantic comedy, but this movie definitely hits you right at heart and makes you really appreciate your significant other.


Now tell me your favorite movies, and I may just grab some popcorn, sit back and watch the movie for free at Hulu.com :)

Happy L-O-V-E Day!

It's 4 am somewhere beautiful in Florida enjoying my Valentine Vacation with Bobby.  Thank goodness for Wi-Fi, I can still check my blog and blog-stalk everyone else :)  

Here's a LOVE picture for everyone :)  I love you all and thanks for checking out my blog!  Enjoy this day with your loved ones wherever you are and whatever you are doing :)



Last but not least, I want to wish my Mom a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! I love you, Mom, and you're the best and wisest mother in the world :)




(She's the lovely lady in pink! This was taken back in Dec. 2004 during our family vacation in Mexico. I wish I could post a more recent picture, but without my external hard drive here, I can only be thankful to Photobucket.com.)

Ethridge Fun Family Reunion!

It was a pleasure to capture this family's fun southern reunion in Live Oak last week! Stetson hats and cowboys boots are the best :) Tracy, who helped organize the reunion, lives in NYC and contacted me via email to cover her family's gathering. I've never met Tracy nor her family before until that beautiful Saturday morning, and instantly, I felt right at home. Her family and cousins are so nice and very welcoming. It was a fun night as they played Family Trivia, boogied, and did the Conga line on the dance floor. Ethridge family, thank you for a wonderful time and many blessings to all of you :)

>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW :-)
>>>CLICK HERE FOR THE SLIDESHOW :-)

Celebration Time!

I love my church so much!  So happy that we are members at Celebration Church and have wonderful pastors :)  I want to live for God, and I'm thankful that He has given me the photography skills to help glorify His name :)  As many of you know, I recently did the 21 days of fasting and prayer.  I believe my calling is to be His servant, and I feel like there's more to photography than just taking pictures of weddings, families, maternities, and other portrait sessions. I want to inspire others with my work, and to have God use me as His instrument to show compassion to others with my photos.

I never doubt the power of God, and though, I may not be able to join the Africa missionary trip in June, I have secured a private donor to pay for my whole missionary trip and immunization costs for next year!! :) Thank you, Jesus, to my private donor, and to everyone that kept me in their prayers during my 21 days of fasting and praying. My husband was absolutely the best supporter eating only veggies and fruits for dinner every night along with other organic meal. Being Vegan is very tough, and I super admire people that religiously follow the Vegan diet.

Blessings everyone :)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." - Matthew 28:19

Below are copies of our church bulletin and 2008 Annual Report with pictures I've taken before for Celebration Church.