“The saddest thing about life is you don’t remember half of it.  You don’t even remember half of half of it.  Not even a tiny percentage, if you want to know the truth.” -Donald Miller from A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I just picked this book up today and I haven’t even read the first page and I’m already captivated by this thought. Can you imagine how many things in your life that you actually FORGET!??  Things or events that at the time seem mundane, but isn’t that what makes up a life?  A series of random events that you are most likely to forget.  That makes me sad.  I want to remember the little things.

Today I was reminded of a little thing.  My daughter had to be picked up early from school today since she has mysteriously developed a sore throat and a fever.  So I brought her home and immediately set to work making her a bed on the couch.  I brought her pillow and blanket from her bed and her favorite stuffed puppy.  I put her favorite movie on t.v. and turned off all the lights and turned on the ceiling fan.  I gave her medicine and got her a drink to keep next to her makeshift bed.  Then I took a deep breath and I FELT a memory.  Not a specific event just the memory of all the times my mom did this for me.  I could practically feel the cold washcloth on my forehead.  Isn’t it amazing how quickly we forget these little moments in our lives?  Perhaps, this is why I am drawn to photography.  I am desperate to save these moments for myself and for others.

This past Saturday Saylor and I got together with some good friends of ours and we attempted to create a memory that we will all file away for the future.  I know that afternoon is one I won’t soon forget and I hope when they view these images they will feel the same way.  I will remember the laughs and the time spent with friends.  I hope they will remember how they looked when their family was just the two of them.  One of my most precious photos is of Saylor and I shortly before we found out our family was about to get bigger.  I look at that photo and I remember the moment vividly.  It makes me smile every time I look at it.

O.K.  Enough sappiness for a Wednesday evening.  Just found out my parents are making an impromptu visit and I have to figure out dinner.

Enjoy these photos of Andrew and Christine!

Some of my favorite repeat clients met with me at the Dallas Arboretum last Sunday.  Apparently ALL of DFW also got the invitation, because is was CROWD-ED!  With a little patience and a sense of humor we ended up having a really great time.  It was a such a beautiful day and the light at the end of the day was absolutely amazing.

Here are my favorites from our afternoon at the Arboretum.

As I get older I have realized that there will always be that handful of friends who drift into and out of my life, but they are always there.  Those friends that I can call up after it’s been a few years and it’s like we never skipped a beat.  It’s like the last conversation we had just picks up where it left off.  There is never an uncomforable “getting to know you again” time period.  We are always just comfortable and ourselves.  Holly is one of those friends.

Holly and I met 10 years ago.  Where did the time go?  We were both teaching at the same school.  Both stuck back in the furthest, darkest, most remote area of the building where they hide the (cue the scary music) ELECTIVES!   One thing developed back in that corner of the building and it was a small group of close knit friends.  I’m not talking about the students….I’m talking about the art/language department clique.  Those wonderful people helped me survive a job that I WANTED to love, but desperately hated.  Holly was one of those special people.

Holly is one of the most vibrant, positive and just plain FUN people that I have ever been around.  I am absolutely honored that she and Patrick chose me to be their wedding photographer and I couldn’t be MORE happy to see how in love they are.  I’ve only just met Patrick so I don’t have as many nice things to say about him yet, but if he can make my friend smile the way that she does then I know he is wonderful!

Congratulations to you both!  Can’t wait until December 12th!  I still can’t believe how lucky I am to get to photograph your important day.  Thanks!

Holly and Patrick had their first date at this particular Starbucks and it was a great location to start their session.

Then we headed out to The Harbor in Rockwall.  It was a beautiful location and absolutely felt like we had left the Dallas area.  Nantucket anyone??

The next one is my FAVORITE!!!

This family was an absolute BLAST!  They know how to have a good time together as you can see in this picture below!

Superstar!!!!!

I don’t even have the words to express how much I LOVE this couple!  I love when we become friends with our clients.  Molly and Taylor are so much fun and they know how to throw a party!

These are vendors that helped make their day fabulous!

• Wedding Coordinator: Valarie Maier  www.weddingessentialsbyvalarie.com
• Cake: www.paninicakes.com
• DJ’s: Dezi Vargas/Miles Goodpasture  www.themusicmaniacs.com
• Caterer: www.celebrationrestaurant.com
• Dress: Circle Park Bridal www.circleparkbridal.com
• Flowers: Fat Blossom
• Photography: Cindy Mills Photography www.cindymillsphotography.com

I love the next two!  The one on the left is Saylor’s view and the one on the right is mine.  TOTALLY worth it to have two photographers.  Especially when you get the guy’s point of view and the woman’s point of view.  And that’s just MY point of view.

Hope I didn’t go overboard with the pictures.  I just COULDN’T narrow it down anymore!  I have been looking forward to this wedding for what seems like forever!  Molly and Taylor are a blast.  They are still in the #1 spot for most fun engagement session EVER. ;)  They are going to be hard to beat!  I feel like all we did was laugh.  Which, is one of my favorites things to do!  I can’t wait until we get together again.

Here we are at the end of the night.  Molly and Taylor, Saylor and I both want to wish you all the happiness in the world. Congratulations!

Last Saturday at the Dallas Arboretum was a bit drizzly, but you wouldn’t know it, because Alison and Tim were glowing. ;)  Too cheesy?  Because they really were!  Check out how incredibly BEAUTIFUL their small, intimate wedding at the Arboretum was:

This was such a fun session.  Just hanging out with the girls!  A special session to celebrate 3 big birthdays, someone is turning 5 and you’ll just have to guess the number for the other two lovely ladies.

On Thurs. evening I had the honor of capturing the last moments of a young man before he officially left the nest.  Kevin was headed to begin his college career the next morning and I was truly honored to document the moment for his sweet mom.  I wish him the best at OC!  With a personality like the awesome one he has that boy, (I mean young man) is going to do great!  Some of you may know that I used to teach high school and believe it or not not EVERY teenager is pleasant to be around, but Kevin certainly is!    The moment wouldn’t have been complete without some photos of Sam, Kevin’s younger brother, he was a trooper and quite the model too!  It was a joy to capture these two guys laughing and smiling and enjoying each others company. I can’t help but smile as I look at these photos.   I hope that these photos will always bring a smile to Kevin and Sam’s parents faces too!

Friday was HOT!  REALLY HOT!  Brianna just contributed to the heat as she rocked out her Senior Portraits!  Believe or not this awesome teen is NOT a model.  Seriously!  I promise!  As a matter of fact she swore this was the first time she had taken any professional photos.  Brianna was a natural in front of the camera was a total blast to shoot.  She was up for anything and got super excited when I suggested we shoot in the lot with the tall weeds and front end loader.  Now that is my type of client!

I knew we were going to have an amazing shoot when she started off the session in these awesome heels!

Thanks Brianna for being so awesome!!

Clouds heavy with rain are not what you want to see on the morning of an outdoor wedding.  I was only a little worried, because I knew even if we had to move indoors it was still going to be a beautiful wedding.  God was smiling on us on Sunday because not only did it NOT rain, it turned out to be one of the most beautiful days of the year!  A nice warm (but not hot), sunny, gorgeous, Texas day in the country.  Usually a wedding is a bit of a stressful event.  There is almost always an important item that goes missing or someone is late and panic ensues.  At the very least the day falls behind schedule.  THIS was NOT one of those stressful events.  As a matter of fact Abby and Jason’s perfect day was probably the most relaxing, laid back wedding I’ve ever attended as a photographer.  Everyone there was relaxed and blissfully happy!

I had a very hard time narrowing down to just a few images for the blog so pull up a chair, sit back and enjoy!

Congratulations Abby and Jason!  Thank so much for making me and Saylor a part of your important day.  Hope you have a great time in Colorado!