North Louisiana Lifestyle Family and Newborn Photographer

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Pennsylvania Trip Pt 1 | North Louisiana Photographer

Early June David and I took a trip to Pennsylvania to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. Technically, he had to be there for work and I tagged along but we went a few days early and stayed a few days later so that we could make a little vacation out of it. Our first stop was Lancaster, PA.

This part of our trip started off a bit rough with the airbnb booked being in a really rough part of town. What I did not realize is that Lancaster and Lancaster County are actually two totally different places. Lancaster is a big city and Lancaster county is smaller towns inside the county that make up Lancaster count and it is all Amish farmland. Or at least, mostly Amish farmland. There are shops and Sight and Sound Theaters and whatnot.

We quickly cancelled our airbnb. Tried to get a refund due to feeling very unsafe staying there, but the owner would not allow any amount of a refund. After going back and forth we decided to reach out to airbnb and they are giving us a partial refund. Hey, better than nothing!

Ok. So now we cancelled that airbnb, now what??

We planned this portion of the trip with some friends who were driving up from VA. They quickly booked an alternative airbnb IN LANCASTER COUNTY (haha!!) and we stayed there. It was soooo nice and peaceful.

For this portion of our trip we did Sight and Sound Theaters, Agape coffee shop and restaurant, we ate at a few Amish restaurants, went to Kitchen Kettle Village, a really good ice cream shop that I don’t even know the name of, and went to Main Street Skirt Exchange. We saw more horse and buggies than we have ever seen (which was previously zero because we DO NOT live near amish country) and more beautiful farm land than I could capture. Word of warning, don’t drive through farm land with your windows rolled down. Haha!!

Thursday afternoon we all split ways. David and I drove to northern PA and our friends went back home to VA. More to come soon!

Flying above the clouds always makes me happy

The much better Airbnb

*Singsong voice* agapeeeee

My drink choices for the trip- iced dirty chia (amazing!!) and plain lattes (delish)

About to watch Daniel at sight and sound- it was goooood

me

Such a beautiful drive across PA

Specifically for my horse loving Emma

Kitchen kettle village

This just takes me back to the 1800s.. not that I know anything about what that was like

Look at that mane!!

One lane wooden bridge

June 21, 2024
Minden’s Summer Soiree | Minden Louisiana Photographer

A few months ago Minden, Louisiana had a Summer Soiree at the Fuller White House renovated by Sara Mcdaniel in conjunction with Magnolia Network’s In With The Old. Sara has worked so hard to put Minden on the map and I would say she is doing an amazing job!

This fun event was put together as a fundraising opportunity for the Mayor of Minden and the Chief of Police. So many came out to show their love and support. One thing I have noticed about Minden is they love big and they love well.

Incredible teams came together to make this event the success that it was. From event planners to caterers, everything was spectacular!

Thank you Minden for being the friendliest city in the south!

June 7, 2024
We‘re Moving Pt. 3 | Home Delivery Day

With the threat of being rained out and rescheduled, we had no idea if today was going to go the way we had hoped. After lots of praying and just committing it to God, we got a call at 6 am this morning saying they were delivering! What a sigh of relief!!

We all got out of bed bright and early to watch the home be delivered. We don’t get out much?? Haha!!

There were a few spots on our driveway that were very tight and it took quite a bit of maneuvering to get through but they did it with minimal damage. Thank the Lord!!

We are watching them all work hard to get the home set, tied down, and put back together. It’s an exciting time! It should be about 6-8 weeks before we move in. There’s still lots to do!

Phew, we were holding our breath

Doggie driver. Haha!!

She’s a beauty

Our little fam

May 29, 2024
Our Home Progress | We Are Moving Pt. 2

As many of you know from my post a few weeks back, we are moving. Not off of our land, just from one part of the land to another.

I shared some staged photos of what our home looks like but today I’m sharing some updates on what’s been happening since then and what is to come.

About two weeks ago, mid April, the pad for our home was completed and we went and closed on the construction loan of the home. The girls got to tour the model home that ours is going to look like for the first time. They loved it!! They have seen pictures and a virtual walk through but we made the choice on the home without them being there so they hadn’t seen it in person yet.

We were asked to take photos of the pad and send them in so that the company delivering the home could see we were ready.

We did our part but the next day we got a heavy downpour and parts of the pad were damaged. We immediately started contacting different ones to make them aware of the damage and to figure out what needed to be done next.

Because of even more rain, the pad repairs were delayed two weeks. We finally had a break in the rain and everything was able to dry out. The pad was repaired and drainage ditches were cut to redirect water from the top of the hill.

We picked up some hay from tractor supply here in Minden, LA to put down around the perimeter of the pad to prevent any further washouts from rain. Funny enough, we haven’t had any rain since. We had a storm that was supposed to come through but it missed us completely. I won’t complain.

As of now, our home is going to be delivered on May 29th. We are praying there will be no issues to cause delays on this part.

After the home is delivered we will have lots of things going on. The septic will be put in, the plumbing work will be done, electrical work, a/c work, inside finish work from flooring to sheetrock and whatever else needs to be done. We might try and sneak in some landscaping during this time as well. This process is estimated to take 8 weeks.

Once this part is completed we will have a final walk through with our contractor to ensure everything is the way we wanted it and if so, we will have the final close and get the keys to our home! This is estimated to be late July/early August.

We can’t wait for the move in and are trusting for no hiccups or issues along the way.

Pad work being done

The first go around before damages

Closing on the home construction loan. This will be our kitchen view in a few short months!

Sweet gifts from the company we are purchasing the home from

Some of the damages

Another location of damages

Ah, that’s more like it

The next updates will be that our home is here and construction work has begun. I’m excited for that post!! Stay tuned, it won’t be long now!

May 10, 2024
Baker Turns One | Lake Bistineau Milestone Session

Babies coming back for their first birthday photos after having their newborn session with me means the world!!

Baker boy was a sweet newborn I photographed last year and I just loved his session. I have since been watching him grow through his mom’s social media posts and I have loved seeing how much he has changed. Then getting to see him again in person. Oh, he is so cute!!

I loved our time together out at Lake Bistineau State Park in North Louisiana and how easy it was to get sweet smiles out of this sweet little man.

Happy almost first birthday , Baker!!

May 7, 2024
Isabelli | Airline Senior 2024 | Bossier Louisiana Senior Photographer

Let’s talk about this stunning girl. Oh my word. I could have photographed her all day long. She’s as sweet as she is stunning and she was down for absolutely anything. Her session lasted two hours and we easily could have gone longer. After two hours of smiling, however, it gets hard to continue to smile. Sore cheeks and all.

We started this session at Airline High where Isabelli is graduating from. After there we went on to the Red River Wildlife Refuge. This is my go to location in Shreveport/Bossier. It’s just so good! We found beautiful sun light and stunning florals that made this session even more stunning.

I can’t wait to see all that you accomplish in your future, Isabelli!

April 23, 2024
Elaine and Emma | North Louisiana Photographer

My sweet girls in the spring Wisteria
I love the time of where when all the flowers are in bloom. It makes me happy.

We have a large patch of Wisteria on our land in North Louisiana that bursts to life every spring. I make it a point every year to get my girlies out in the flowers for photos. It’s something I just love to do! As they get older and older the images that I have taken every year get more and more precious. There is nothing NOTHING like having your family documented every year. I love looking back over years past and seeing my babies as babies. Boy were those times hard, but now that they are older those times are so very dear.

Document your babies, mamas!

April 16, 2024
Minden Chamber of Commerce 82nd Gala | Minden Louisiana Photographer

The Minden Louisiana Chamber of Commerce hosts a gala event for their members every year to celebrate the accomplishments and honor businesses and business men and women who go above and beyond. It was such an honor to photograph this event and meet so many of Minden’s business leaders.

The theme was Arabian nights. Did they not smash it out of the ball park?!? Wow!! It looked amazing! The many hours spent and the amount of effort wasn’t wasted.

So many men and women were celebrated that I couldn’t even begin to name them all but what a honor to get to see them all.

Enjoy the lovely details from such a wonderful evening.

April 9, 2024
We’re moving! | North Louisiana Photographer

Have you ever prayed for something and it felt like the answer never came? Maybe it wasn’t that the answer didn’t come or isn’t coming, but maybe the timing is different than what we think it will be.

David and I got married 10 years ago. We built on to a very small home and planned to live in that just a few years until we could save up to build something bigger. Lots of unforeseen things happened very quickly and that plan was pushed back for many years. Every time we would feel like we were close again, something else would happen to push it even further. It felt like all the odds were stacked up against us.

We now had two kids and our house was far too small. Only 800 sq ft. We were cramped to say the least.

In 2022, things started changing. The mountain that was before us began to fall, in chunks rather than grains of sand. The mountain was still there but it was getting smaller and smaller.

We were given a promise that more was coming. That things were going to continue to change for the good. We didn’t see anything happen for an entire year, but we believed none the less.

2024 started off like any other year, but it quickly turned into a supernatural year with blessings upon blessings being poured out. Our prayers were getting answered! We, in fact, hadn’t been forgotten.

March of 2024 we signed papers on a beautiful home and we are now in the waiting process for it all to be complete. Next week we officially close on it. The answer didn’t come in the way we thought it would but we are every bit as excited! We are in no way settling or compromising on our dreams. We are living in the very fulfillment of our dreams and it still feels so surreal.

If you are in a season of waiting, I want to encourage you to keep the faith. Don’t give up because of the amount of time it takes. God is not slack concerning his promises. When the time is right, nothing will stop the promises from being fulfilled. We are a testament of that.

I about two months we will be moving in to our new home on our 10 acres of land in North Louisiana. Until then, I wanted to share some images of it for you to see.

Disclaimer: these are not my images

April 5, 2024
Studio rental space in Shreveport for family and newborn sessions

As an in home newborn photographer in the Shreveport and surrounding areas, I realize that not everyone wants to have their newborn session in their home.

I pride myself in being able to create natural light looking images with flash when there is not ample natural light yet sometimes it’s just easier on everyone to go somewhere aside from the home.

Shreveport has a great studio that can be rented out by the hour. The natural light is stunning and the beauty that can be created is unlimited.

Raw the studio , a gorgeous studio rental location in Shreveport!

*Not my photo*
image of raw the studio

If you’re interested in a newborn session outside of your home, this studio is the perfect option! At booking, just let me know this is the location you wish to use and we will make sure it happens!

Book your newborn sessions here

March 25, 2024