for the first time in the 9 summers i've lived in seattle, my family and i went to see the blue angels! it was amazing! they closed down the interstate bridge where the jets flew across so hundreds of people were standing on the freeway. time to cross off on the bucketlist: walk on an empty freeway (not that it was ever on my bucketlist, but it's something cool) we were so hot and sweaty from walking far and standing in the sun so of course we ended it by jumping in lake sammamish and stuffing our faces with some yummy pizza. now it's really feeling like summertime around here!

i photographed a wedding and senior session this weekend too! i've finally got my new blog up and running and slowly updating my website. you can check out my recent images on facebook and my new blog!

i cannot believe it's almost here! in 2 weeks i will be on my way to Utah to become the Mrs. Andrea Brionne Mehner (pronounced May-ner) and i am one anxious bride-to-be! we finally have our invitations done and sent out (!!!) and now its down to getting all the bits and pieces together. yellow, chambray, corks, succulents, super cute shoes, etc. are some instagram details for the wedding- not to mention my wedding ring that i'm in love with.

being engaged while apart is good and bad. good that we both have focused on working and i havent been distracted with wedding planning. bad- kevin has been so busy with working this summer in california that we don't get to talk too much- basically just short skyping time every night. it's so hard because i miss him so much but it's comforting knowing that in only a few short weeks we will be married and together for eternity. 

there's something about the weekend that is so relaxing and you feel like you can eat anything, just because it's the weekend. so i finally made those jiffy blueberry muffins i was craving all week. and it was delicious.

ONE MORE MONTH UNTIL THE WEDDING!
obviously i'm stoked.
and i just had to get that off my chest. phew!


 

i can't believe how slow fast this summer has gone by! i can now say "next month!" when people ask when we're getting married. (!!!) saturday was my bridal shower-- i had such a wonderful time! i was overwhelmed with all the love and support of those who came. we had a yummy breakfast (complete with my favorites: chocolate croissants and chocolate milk) YUM. a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to the bridal shower!

i feel like now we're heading into the whirlwind of getting all the details and to do lists done for the wedding! luckily, i haven't been stressed, but i definitely wish there were more hours in the day.  
 

kevin and i spent a day at Balboa Island together (thank you kev for planning the date!). we explored, rode the ferris wheel, relaxed on the beach, ate yummy icecream and enjoyed each others company. i love going somewhere new and not having a plan. it's when i'm feeling spontaneous. we showed up and had such a great time exploring things around the island. i don't think i could ever be bored with kevin-- he always makes me laugh and smile, even though he doesn't think he's very funny...
i was so excited when we saw a photobooth! you don't know how long i've been wanting to take a photobooth photo with kevin-- so we counted up our change (thank you to the random boys at the arcade who forgot to pick up one of their quarters on the ground! it was for a good cause, i promise) so i checked it off my bucketlist (!!!) to take photos with my fiance in a photobooth-- i've always thought those were adorable.
i was a little disappointed of our kissing photo and my hair takes up half of the picture... oh well, what can you do... 

we had such a great time sight seeing, eating out at yummy restaurants, and shopping. i've never been to the famous Coronado Hotel- it was gorgeous! Any place with sunshine and the beach automatically is a check on my list of awesome places.
my mom was able to spend lots of time with her friends (in the jumping picture) and they are always a crack up and fun to be around.

i wish i could be back in california soaking up the sunshine again! maybe kevin and i will live there someday... hmm...

so many exciting things happening while i'm there!!
i'm looking forward to spending time with my man :)
i kinda realllyyyy miss him.
& i love him.

lately i've been wanting to change things about me to become like anyone but myself. in the most unselfish and humble way, i do love myself and am confident in what i believe in and the person i have become all these years. however, it's so easy to get caught up in others' talents than your own, or other things you may not have that you wish you did. i'm sure everyone has felt this way some point in their life.



photography is my passion and a way to express myself along with sharing my gift with others. making people feel good about themselves and helping them realize not only how beautiful they are in the outside, but how beautiful everyone is on the inside is so rewarding. although photography is my passion and one of my strengths, it's also a great weakness i have of comparing myself with others. it's been a struggle lately with re-branding and being SO indecisive on the "look" i want. goodness... what a process!



if there is one thing i have learned this summer, it's to never give up on your dreams. if you really want something, you can do it. make your dreams happen- take those baby steps. i'm so thankful that i have so many opportunities to learn and grow in the skills and talents i want to perfect in- but it sure doesn't come by sitting back and not doing anything about it. it takes work. lots of it. so get up and get started. 

just be yourself. it can be hard at times when you're still trying to find yourself, but us humans are ever changing, so don't give up. everyone else is taken.

shopping for sandals with no sunshine to share them with.
tears for missing kevin.
summer hats for those "bad hair days."
lots of ice cream and love from friends and family.
bunnies in the yard. all. the. time.
daily trips with the fam to gold's gym. 


my sister's graduation.
engagement photos in california with kevin. (!!!) seriously so excited for that...
being a bridesmaid at my best friend's wedding.  i can't believe we're getting married within just a couple months of each other! i remember when the movie Bride Wars came out and we laughed saying that it was her and i (annabel is brunette and i'm blonde, so of course it fit perfectly) in the movie getting married the same time. crazy how time flies!
yummy food, duh.
swimming at the beach and soaking up the SUN. (really needing my vitamin D!)
learning and growing in my photography with Jasmine Star. a dream come true.

this is what i woke up to this morning. well let me rephrase... my dog woke me up at 5:30AM barking to go outside and i had the pleasure of witnessing this gorgeous sunrise. it was a perfect way to wake up and start a new day (wish this happened more often! the beautiful sunshine, NOT the waking up at 5am in the morning...i'm not a morning person) i did however, snap this photo and go back to sleep.

i want to quickly say a huge THANK YOU to all my friends and family who have been so helpful, loving and kind. last week was not the ideal way of starting off the month of june. i was in a car accident last monday (rear ended and hit into the car in front of me). luckily i wasn't severely hurt- i got whiplash and had a lot of pain in my neck and back which caused my trip to the ER that night.  with lots of rest, icecream, and a few muscle relaxants in-between, i am happy and healed. unfortunately, my dad's prius was totaled (!!!) so saturday was spent car shopping. thank you toyota for giving us free cookies. otis knows exactly what to say.

* for those who have been waiting on my emails- thank you so much for being patient! i will respond soon. 

photographs are one of my favorite ways to remember moments in my life. starting when i was young, i loved buying a disposable film camera to snap photos of every trip, every camp i went to, and of my favorite places to go with my favorite people. i've saved all these old photos in my old reese's tin can. ever since i saw the parent trap (newer) movie when i was younger and she grabbed her tin box filled with photos, i wanted to do the same thing. so this tin can holds my memories of the past and every once in a while i love to pull it out and remember. sunday's seem to be my quiet time kind of day to go through old things.

i hope you have a relaxing and beautiful sunday today! 

i want to share how i started into photography. i'll try to keep it short and to the point. about 4 years ago my friend came to town and she had a digital SLR camera. we were both really into modeling and taking photos together. it was our thing we did every year. that's when i discovered my love for photography. i loved being behind the camera and taking portraits. (it helped that my best friend was totally meant to model, which made my job easier.)

i took one photography class my senior year in high school for my senior project. i bought my very own camera (started with a NikonD3000). i instantly fell in love... with photography. i'm not going to say i'm the most amazing photographer ever- nor did my photos look that great when i started out. but i yearned to learn more and grow. the rest is history. it's been 3 years since i started my photography business and i'm still learning so much! all i'm going to say is it took practice. lots and lots of practice.

my point is- don't give up. if you're wanting to become a photographer- go for it! if you're wanting to run a marathon- heck why not? (not saying i will ever do that) but all it takes is practice and a whole lot of wanting to succeed.

the biggest surprise happened on saturday the 21st.... the man i love got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. i couldn't be any happier than spending the rest of my life with my best friend by my side. he is everything i have looked for in a husband and i feel like the luckiest girl to have found him- and not to brag, he is quite the catch! the Lord truly had direction in us meeting and i feel incredibly blessed.

i'll have to write more about how we met and our love story, but for now, i'll get to the juicy details of the proposal!

before that saturday, my parents had told me that my dad got 4 free tickets from work for a fancy dinner and show in Seattle. my two sisters went to seattle to hang out with friends, so we got ready and headed downtown. we met up with my sisters at kerry park on queen anne hill (its the spot where they take the gorgeous postcard photos of the seattle skyline). down the street is Parson's garden where we stopped to kill some time and walk around before the show. i got out of the car and my sister had told me how gorgeous the flowers were for me to take photos of. so that's what occupied my mind! i was excited for the show, little did i know that kevin was waiting for me a few yards away.
i walked through the path and saw rose petals and a bouquet of flowers on a bench. the first thought that crossed my mind was "awh cute, is someone taking wedding photos?!" as i rounded the corner, i saw KEVIN standing there, dressed nice, holding flowers and smiling at me. (a couple of my friends were in the bushes recording- i saw anna but didn't even think anything of it!) then it hit me- OH MY GOSH HE'S GOING TO PROPOSE!! i started to get a little emotional, but the shock of seeing him IN SEATTLE, standing in front of me halted those tears. i couldn't believe he was there! i looked in his nervous eyes as he knelt down to ask me to be his wife and... well obviously, i said YES :)

one more state to check off my list of states to visit: oklahoma.
and it's a beautiful place! pictures are worth a 1,000 words, so instagram will give you some snid bits of my stay there. I'll definitely be sharing more this weekend!

we made it in 17 hours from utah to oklahoma. i don't know if it's just me, but as i've gotten older, i really don't mind long road trips. yeah, i despise sitting for long hours at a time, but i wasn't screaming in my head, "are we there yet?!"
we watched the sun rise together along with a gorgeous sunset (which i was driving at that time and made kev stick his head out of the window to capture as many pictures he could of the windmills). he's no photographer, but he proved me wrong with a few of them :) so i'm happy.

road trips really refresh your mind of how beautiful this earth really is. winding through the colorado mountains where armies of aspen trees lie then heading down into the valley and wheat fields of kansas, i am so amazed with the world we live in. how can you deny there is a God, when you can look outside your window and think about this beautiful earth he created just for us? its truly amazing and humbling.