That One Time We Moved Across Town

I’ve decided that moving from one house to another in the same city is harder than moving to a house in a completely different state. You might be wondering to yourself But Carissa, why would that be, when you are only traveling 15 or 30 minutes as opposed to 1500 miles? Great question! The answer? It’s BECAUSE you are only traveling a short distance.

Now, moving in general is just a pain. Period. But when you have to move far, everything needs to get boxed up and labeled and packed neatly into a moving truck, etc., etc. This a long and tedious process, it’s true. However, it saves you time in the long run. When you’re only moving a short distance, you figure throwing things in baskets and bags and boxes, stuffing them into your car, and making a few trips back and forth will do the job. WRONG. Not only does it end up taking a million and one trips back and forth, but you also end up with your stuff completely unorganized and randomly strewn about your house, making it extremely messy, difficult to find things, and much harder to unpack. (Yes, please forgive the minor pity party for one I am currently having.)

Anyhow, the point of all of that was to say, I’ll post more pictures of the house soon! I’ve got to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by how many of you expressed your excitement for us, and that you guys want to see more pictures! I mean, sure it’s a big deal to ME that we now own a home, but all your kind words and enthusiasm totally made it 10 times better :) So as a thank you, I promise that once we get a little more unpacked and it doesn’t look like a tornado rampaged through the house, I’ll post some pictures! But until then, here’s a shot of the entire outside, which you may or may not have already seen if you follow me on instagram

And I’m happy to announce that thanks to random.org, the winner of the Melting Pot gift certificate is Lauren Judkins!!! YAY Lauren! I’ll be emailing you shortly, so watch for that :) Hopefully this will make your Valentine’s Day extra sweet! And in case anyone was wondering, turns out the fan favorite was the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial, with the Dodge Farmer commercial coming in a close second. At least, according to all of you who entered the contest… Haha. Hope everyone has an awesome Monday!

Lauren - February 11, 2013 - 10:18 am

Yay! Thanks Carissa! :) I’ve never been to the Melting Pot before and I’m looking forward to a date night! Thanks again!!

Nachoooo - February 12, 2013 - 6:26 am

I can’t wait to see your new house roomie!!! :) So excited for you!!!

Sundance Resort Wedding: Morgan + David

She caught the bouquet that evening. Her friends laughed and cheered, because it was pretty obvious that Morgan was dating the love of her life, so it seemed appropriate that she should catch it. After all, everyone knows what it means when you catch the bouquet. But little did she know… Little did she know just how true the wives-tale was about to become. Just how perfect it really was. Because after the wedding, on that warm August night, David took Morgan’s hand and asked her to be his wife.

He watched her toss the bouquet that evening. While Morgan laughed and cheered for the friend who caught it, David couldn’t take his eyes off of the love of his life, appropriately throwing the bouquet because now it was her turn. Now she was his wife. And everybody knew… Everybody knew just how true their love was that day, how it always will be. And just how perfect they really are together. After the wedding, on that chilly February night, David took Morgan’s hand and they waved goodbye, driving away to begin their new lives, as husband and wife.

Married: Morgan + David

These two got married on a gorgeous, sunny day up at Sundance Resort! In front of a blanket of twinkling lights and surrounded by their closest friends and family, they vowed to love and support each other through thick and thin, and to always put God at the center of their relationship. David and Morgan, thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be a part of your wedding!! It was truly an honor to document your love… Not just for each other, but also for your families and for the Lord. I know He’s got great things in store for your new life together! I hope you’ve been enjoying the Caribbean, and that you packed some aloe! ;) Lots of love! XO

Venue and Catering: Sundance Resort / Florals: Calie Rose / Videographer: Forever More, see a teaser video from the wedding here! / DJ: Don Woodbury / Guest Band: The Coats / And I have to give a big shout out to Sarah Knight for second shooting with me!! You’re the best Sarah!

 

 

Val - February 8, 2013 - 4:48 pm

OMGosh!! These are amazing! Love them all Carissa!

jodi - February 8, 2013 - 4:57 pm

Amazing! You did such an amazing job at capturing all of the smallest details! xo.

Talia - February 8, 2013 - 5:40 pm

I’m in AWE…such beautiful photos, you’re amazing. They tell such a heartwarming story of the day!

Brad - February 9, 2013 - 1:28 pm

These photos turned out so great and Morgan and David are so photogenic and great to work with.

Juli Taylor - February 12, 2013 - 6:08 pm

Thank you for capturing this perfect evening Carissa! You and Sarah did amazing work together.

Barbara Shannon - February 12, 2013 - 6:59 pm

The photos from the Eseke wedding are magnificent ! The pictures capture not only the emotions of everyone there, but also capture the beauty of Sundance. The photos of Morgan & David are spectacular! Awesome job!

JOHN - February 12, 2013 - 7:05 pm

The essence of the day was captured in these photos……from the beauty of Utah to the beautifulness of the couple. Gorgeous photographs!

cindy parrish - February 12, 2013 - 9:13 pm

Captured beautifully. Everyone- every little detail is lovely.

Megan Shannon - February 13, 2013 - 8:09 am

The photos are absolutely stunning, as are the bride and groom!

Tricia McQuinn - February 13, 2013 - 10:09 am

Beautiful event and amazing photography!!

susan cabone - February 13, 2013 - 3:02 pm

WOW! Great photos to share with those that couldn’t make it. I almost feel I was actually there.

Joyce Roach - February 13, 2013 - 4:48 pm

What a beautiful reminder of a beautiful weekend! These pictures make me cry, especially when I look at pictures of Kary! He is such a sweet dad.

Evalee Freedman - February 13, 2013 - 7:52 pm

I love the pictures. They will always remind me of the beautiful weekend when my granddaughter married the love of her life. Great job.

Sandy Klein - February 14, 2013 - 10:41 am

The bride (Morgan) was beautiful. The wedding was spectacular. I really did enjoy the photo albums. Great job! Sandy Klein

Obie - February 17, 2013 - 7:02 pm

A very thorough and beautifully executed photo shoot of my Granddaughter’s wedding.

Laura - February 18, 2013 - 1:58 pm

These photos are so professional and elegant. Such gorgeous settings, classy details, and bride of course – I love the way you captured sweet authentic moments. These are very special photographs, looks like one of the most elegant weddings I have ever seen.

Laura
Evalee’s friend

Morgan Eseke - February 18, 2013 - 6:26 pm

You did such a perfect job, Carissa! Truly thankful for you! It was so such a blessing to have you near the whole day/night – you definitely helped keep David and I calm when things were getting a tiny bit stressful (or really cold)! :) And, of course, the pictures turned out fabulous! Great work!!

Wedding Wednesday: Engagement Sessions Part 3- Props for Thought

After talking about why engagement photos are important and what to wear for them, which you can read about here and here, the final installment of this Wedding Wednesday Engagement series answers the third biggest question I get asked about engagements: Should we bring any sort of prop? 

The answer: There is no right or wrong answer. I’ve had couples who bring lots of props, and couples who bring no props at all, and every session has been just as great! The key, however, is that if you’re going to use props, make sure you have a REASON to use them.

Props can be great because they give you something to do with your hands, they can add interest or action to the photos, and honestly props can be just plain fun. They can be anything from a bicycle, to celebratory champagne or wine, to an old polaroid, to a picnic basket and blanket, and anything in between. The sky is the limit! That being said, if you bring a prop just to have a prop, it can seem awkward and out of place. I believe it’s important to have some sort of connection between what you’ve brought rather than just having a prop for props sake. For instance, if the two of you never ride together, then it doesn’t really make sense to take pictures of you and your on bikes. However, if you both own beach cruisers and love riding together, those will make excellent props! Basically, props can be great… as long as they’re not forced. Here are some examples of props I loved from a few of my couples!

Colleen is super crafty and doing a lot of DIY projects for their wedding. She wanted to have her and Mark’s wedding date incorporated into the pictures, so she handmade this adorable banner! Loved it.

We went way up into the mountains for Alex and Andy’s engagement photos, so Alex brought a blanket along because it gets pretty chilly so high into the mountains. Very practical as well as super cute and cozy!

Liz and Charlie are quite the wine connoisseurs. They even had homemade wine at their wedding! So it only seemed fitting that they celebrate their engagement with a couple glasses.

So there you have it. Hopefully this series answers all your questions about Engagement Sessions! But if not, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email :) Happy planning!!

Chris Manning - February 6, 2013 - 11:19 am

I love the banner! Great idea!

The Super Bowl Summary and Chocolate Fondue

The Super Bowl is over, and the results are in! The Ravens came away victorious, Psy cracked some pistachios, the Showgirls won the coke, a clydesdale touched the hearts of millionssome elderly folks got a little craze, and Beyonce danced so hard the power went. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, like 8,000,000 lbs. of chicken wings were consumed. Not by me though. Nope, I stuck to the chips and guac. Though I might have splurged on a funfetti cupcake. Because really, if the Super Bowl isn’t a good excuse to eat a funfetti cupcake, I don’t know what is.

But now that the Super Bowl is behind us, it’s time to get excited for the next big event… VALENTINE’S DAY!!!! (Pretty sure that just caused half of you to get really excited, and half of you to groan audibly. For the latter, I apologize. For the former, YAY!!) It’s no secret that I am unapologetically a hopeless romantic. Anything remotely sappy and I immediately get all gooey and misty-eyed. So yeah, red roses, giant teddy bears, heart-shaped boxes with filled with dark chocolates, and a day devoted to celebrating love? Never gets old in my book.

Which leads to me believe it’s time for another little giveaway! How about $30 to The Melting Pot!! Fondue, anyone?! (I’m referring to chocolate fondue, although I suppose if you just really love cheese, you could get some cheese fondue instead! Haha.) To enter, simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite Super Bowl commercial was! You know, just in case I missed any good ones ;) Then I will randomly pick from all the commenters and announce the winner next Monday! Just in time for your Valentine’s Day dessert :) Ready…. GO! 

Whitney - February 4, 2013 - 11:21 am

The Dodge commercial about the farmers. I loved all the photos and secretly wish I lived on a farm.

Krystal Boxell - February 4, 2013 - 12:09 pm

The best commercial was definitely the Dodge, God made Farmers! :)

Courtney Howell - February 4, 2013 - 12:11 pm

The Dodge commercial about farmers!!!!

Lauren - February 4, 2013 - 12:14 pm

M&M’s was one of my faves!

Emily - February 4, 2013 - 7:10 pm

My favorite was the Budweiser one with the horse. Yep. Cried. :)

Ally - February 4, 2013 - 7:55 pm

I loved the Clydesdales, as always (:

jacqui - February 4, 2013 - 8:59 pm

Since I’m a horse lover of course it was the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. I was so anxious I even watched it early on YouTube

Angela Lopez - February 7, 2013 - 12:08 pm

I liked the one with Amy Poehler for Best Buy. She’s so funny! Thought it was a fun commercial :)

The Thur - February 7, 2013 - 12:23 pm

It seemed oddly perfect to me, that a man considers selling his soul for a car, made by the company that has their name on the stadium, where the lights go out during the Super Bowl! Mercedes-Benz!
Is your stuff really all that’s important, America?

Mallory Calhoun - February 7, 2013 - 12:24 pm

My favorite was the Goat 4 Sale Doritos commercial. It was hilarious!

Nicole - February 7, 2013 - 12:55 pm

Definitely the Calvin Klein one haha :). And the tide one was pretty funny.

Kacie Hanna - February 7, 2013 - 1:02 pm

Loved the dodge commercial. Growing up in a farming community you saw how hard they work. I loved the m&m commercial as well. Made me laugh

Alli Thurin - February 7, 2013 - 2:12 pm

All of the ones you mentioned were great, but I loved seeing the baby wolf puppy!! I want one (but I can’t remember what the commercial wad for, haha)!

Megan - February 7, 2013 - 2:45 pm

I loved the Clydesdale horse one too!

Marybeth - February 7, 2013 - 4:04 pm

The Budweiser Clydesdale one was my favorite! Followed up by the ram truck Farmer commercial!

Alex Moricca - February 7, 2013 - 4:51 pm

I liked the old people partying it up, for the Taco Bell commercial. So funny!

Amy Bradford - February 7, 2013 - 6:39 pm

The Doritos one where the little girl wanted her dad to stay and play with her. Then all his friends came over to play dress up. :)

Jason Zeiler - February 8, 2013 - 2:41 pm

The Cars.com commercial with the little wolf puppy, it was kind of quirky funny, along with the fact that the puppy was so adorable!

Ashley - February 9, 2013 - 9:04 am

My favorite was the Goat in the Doritos commercial. It was a crack up!

A Place to Call Home

After two years of searching, countless walk-throughs, a few unsuccessful offers, many a sleepless night, and loads of prayer, we finally found it… Our home!!

We’d been renting since we got married. Which isn’t a bad thing, don’t get me wrong. But we were ready to own. And while we loved the two houses we lived in and we were grateful that we could wait until we found the right one to buy, it was hard to be patient. Still, we waited. And hunted. And researched. And hunted some more. Until we found it. This home.

And now, even though I’ve been dying to share since the day accepted our offer, I can officially say it: We are home owners!! Sure, moving during the dead of winter in Park City was a little brutal. And being without internet for a week (yes, SEVEN DAYS) wreaked havoc on my social media upkeep. But thanks to a ton of help from our families, we are finally all moved in. And I can hardly believe God has blessed us with this awesome house. With this place to call home.

My dad came to drop off a snowblower over the weekend while we were busy moving, and I ran out with my camera to have him snap a photo, so that we could remember this crazy move forever :)

Talia - February 1, 2013 - 1:05 pm

Congratulations!!!!! It’s beautiful! And looks spacious! :) hugs!

Christine - February 1, 2013 - 1:44 pm

Looks lovely! More pics please! :)

Celia - February 1, 2013 - 5:12 pm

Beautiful – so happy for you both!!