Puerto Rico, Beach Session | Hernandez Family

When we started talking about taking a vacation when Cain came home from being away for those 4 months, Puerto Rico was the first place we had in mind because we really wanted to see and catch up with our friend Hernandez. The last time we had seen him was at our wedding 2 1/2 years ago! That day we said "we will come to you next!" we didn't know when that would be though! 

Everything fell into place for us to go in December and we were so excited to see him again! Hernandez is now married and has a beautiful baby girl. I wanted so badly to take their pictures and I got my wish!! I felt so honored to capture some sweet moments for them. We only had about 15 minutes because the sun was setting and it was about to rain! So it was quick but so incredibly sweet. 

The only bad thing was Mandley does not speak English and I do not know Spanish! But Manely was so wonderful and was so sweet to me even though we could not understand each other! Later on in the night we were able to use Facebook translator to have a little bit of a conversation (Thank you Facebook!) 

I promised to learn Spanish for our next trip there so we could talk to each other a little more! 

These are so dear to my heart because we love Hernandez so very much and getting to know his family was so special to us. We can't wait to go back and visit. 

Rex Cream, Aguadilla | Day 5

After visiting Gozalandia.... we were needing a little pick me up sweet stop. We remembered that my mom told us about an ice cream shop that was just a few minutes from our hotel. It was called Rex Cream and it was the best ice cream I have had in a really long time! It was a little more watery but just the right sweetest! 

 I wanted to take this time to thank my dear sister Lanie for helping me pack for this trip. I am known for being the worst "packer" I always pack for Cain and normally do great for him, giving options and making sure he has everything he needs for the time away. But when it comes to myself I fail big time! It was just a day away from leaving and I realized that the clothes I had sat out were a little too big for me (I lost a little weight while Cain was away those 4 months!) I started to freak out a little, realizing that I had no shorts or dresses that would fit me! I went down stairs to complain and cry it out to my mom when I saw Lane sitting on the couch. She has always been a size or 2 smaller then I so decided to just ask and see if she could help me. "Lane, do you have any shorts here?" Lanie: "Let's go up and see!" 

Lane had worked for almost 2 years at Forever 21 so I should have known she would have a pale full of cute things. She went through and started handing me shorts, shirts, sandles, shirts etc. I was so happy! She pulled at this white skirt and said it would look cute with my swim suit top (pictured below) seeing how Lane is more fashionably inclined then myself I trusted her and let her help me pack for this trip. 

So thank you, Lanie, for all your help! 

Skirt + Sandles :: Forever 21

Swim Suit Top :: Shein

Gozalandia, San Sebastian PR | Day 5

We are becoming waterfall chasers! Emily, our photographer, and friend highly recommend that we go and see Gozalandia in San Sebastian before we leave Puerto Rico. So we did that on Thursday morning and it was pretty awesome! We were a little sad about the crowd of people there. The last waterfall we went to was not a tourist site, it was more of a local spot that you had to find. This was clearly marked and had guys there helping guide people. 

After about 40 minutes of being there, it started to clear out though and we ended up having the waterfall to ourselves for just a short time. Then 100 college kids came on buses and that was a great reason to leave! It was fun, beautiful and was worth going ... our only wish is that we had it to ourselves longer!! 

vlog at the bottom <3

Survivor Beach, Aguadilla PR | Day 4

Wednesday was another amazing day for us! We started our day in search of Survivors Beach. We had to park at Surfer's Beach and follow a self-made trail through the woods/beach/rocks to find Survivors Beach! We made a new friend, Chan on our way. He also was looking for Survivor Beach and with all our heads together (okay, just them, I wasn't helping at all) we found the beach! It was breath taking and we all were so excited to be there! We had the beach to ourselves and I think that's another reason we were able to really enjoy it!! 

Later in the day, we headed to Rincon, PR to have our pictures taken! Our photographers Ricky and Em were the kindest most in love couple and we had one amazing evening with them. After pictures, they invited us out to eat at a local pizza place. We sat for a couple hours just chatting about anything and everything! I feel like we had so much in common and that we had found some new life long friends. 

At the end, I share a vlog of our hike to find Survivors Beach!! So much fun!!! 

Boca Loca + Playa Rompe Olas | Day 3

On Tuesday after we visited El Ultimo Brinco Waterfall we headed near Aguadilla to eat at Boca Loca. My mom was the one who sent us the many options for locations to eat so far she ws done great! We were very UNDER dressed but they were very kind to us and the food was amazing, the best food we might have had here yet actually (besides what Manely made us for supper on Sunday!) 

We then noticed that there was a beach just a block down so we went to check it out! It was very hot out and the sun was pretty strong so we did not stay long (we didn't want to get burnt before our pictures!) 

Amazing food, pretty beach ... just another day in Puerto Rico! <3 

El Ultimo Brinco, PR | Day 3

Yesturday started out with another advantage! We were on the hunt for El Ultimo Brinco waterfall aka "The Last jump" The directions we had were not spot on for the waterfall so we drove around the mountain up and down, turning to the left, to the right, back to the left, around and around. We stopped along side the road to ask for better directions and even though the man knew little English he got us to where we needed to be.... well, almost! We were on top of the waterfall over looking it. Knowing that we could not park along the road (The roads are very curvy and the width is very short! 

We were standing there thinking of our next move when a man and woman in a little truck came driving by and stopped we tried to explain that we wanted to go down to the bottom of the waterfall. We aren't sure what they understood because we didn't understand anything they were saying!! They sort of pointed to follow them up the hill we were on, so we did! We stopped just a ways down from there where there was a little trail to the left of the road. They pulled in and got out of the truck and I believe they were saying that our car could not go down there, but that they would go down first and see. We waited for them to come back up and yes, they tried and explained to us that our car could not go down .... but that he would drive us down in his truck. He opened the tail gate and we hopped on in!!! Call us crazy! Ha.

They took us down and we saw this beautiful waterfall. The kind lady took pictures of us and we then tried to give our thanks to the best way we knew how. We told them that we would stay down here for awhile and then we would walk back up when we were ready! 

We spent a good hour there taking pictures, getting in the water and of course Cain had to climb it. I wasn't too thrilled about that part!!! 

We made the walk back up to our car and were so excited we had found the waterfall! 

I shared a vlog on our afternoon at Crash Boat Beach plus our advantage of the waterfall below! 

Crash Boat Beach, Puerto Rico | Day 2

The second day in Aguadilla and it was amazing! We slept in, had a great lunch and then headed out to find Crash Boat Beach. We were following our map on the phone and it leads up to this cliff overlooking Crash Boat, not where we wanted to be but was an amazing view over looking the beach. It only took a minute to turn around and find the beach thankfully, the roads are a bit sketchy here so the less driving the better!! 

 It was amazing, so beautiful and the water was so warm! Cain's friend who lives here said the water was on the cool side, well not to us! It was just perfect. We didn't pack our swimsuits when we left because we didn't know how we felt about swimming today. It was amazing warm weather out but it's December and I think our brains still felt like we were in Indiana and swimming just didn't seem right! Once we felt that water though we decided we needed to go back and get our swim suits! It's only a 5-minute drive from our hotel to the beach so we went back and put on our suits and were back in no time and were in the water swimming until our legs gave out! 

It was a great second day! To think we have 7 whole days left on this gorgeous Island! 

Traveling + First Thoughts of Puerto Rico | Day 1

We left for Chicago Saturday evening, it had not started snowing in Fort Wayne yet but the closer we got to Chicago the worse the roads were. It was so bad that our 4-hour drive turned into 6 because of how slow we all had to drive. We passed 4 wrecks and it was a great reminder to take it slow and just get to the airport safe! We arrived and then waited for our JetBlue counter to open to check our bag for the flight! 

We didn't really sleep so once 5:00am hit we were just in a daze of sleepy excitement. Ready to be on the plane and sleep but sadly it took almost 1 hour for us to take off once on the plame, because they had to clear off so much snow/ice (we found out today that there were a ton of flights canceled Sunday night, thank goodness we flew out early!) 

It was a very long flight, on and off sleep, hungry, ready to be on the ground and get some food in us!

Once we landed and had our bags and then the long wait for the rental car we were on our way to Moca, PR where Cain's buddy lives. It was great to see a friend after that long day of traveling! The last time we had seen Herandez was on our wedding day! So there were lots to catch up on. His wife, Manely made us amazing Puerto Rican supper. We made it to our amazing hotel late Sunday night and we were greeted by the nicest staff I have ever meet in a hotel. I think they could tell we were tired yet excited to be there finally! Thank you Marriott for being so amazing to us! 

The room is amazing and we feel so blessed to be here staying for free!!! More to come on our second day in Puerto Rico! 

NOVEMBER 2016 | VLOG

It was the BEST of months. I will never forget my time in Texas with Cain, the moment he found out he past his Paramedic test and the face of Emma when she realized Cain had made it home. Those things will only get sweeter with time.

Our Next Adventure | Puerto Rico

When Cain was away for Paramedic school we started planning a vacation for when he was back home, just a little get away for us to take, seeing how we were apart for so long. We started to plan it and things really started to get exciting! We found out that Cain would have lots of points for free hotel nights after staying in a hotel for 4 months in Texas, we found great plane tickets and everything fell into place with dates. We booked our trip to Puerto Rico! We were excited about it when we booked it but Cain was still in Paramedic school and we were just focusing on him getting through and put the trip in the back of our heads, because we had lots of other things going on at the time. 

Bluffton, Indiana One Year Anniversary Session | Jay + Chelsea

I loved this session because Cain was home and we were able to catch up with Chelsea! Cain and Chelsea graduated high school together and we had not seen her for a couple years so it was nice seeing her and also getting to know Jay better!! They were celebrating their first year of marriage and it was a great session, they braved the cold weather and had lots of smiles! 

Bluffton, IN Autumn Family Session | Biberstein

I got to take Falisha maternity pictures back in July, now we have sweet Griffin here and we got to do family photos with him!! I have fallen in love with this sweet family and am so thankful that I have gotten to know them better and call them friends <3 

Roanoke, IN Autumn Senior Session | Carson

I always miss "Senior Sunday" my bad! But here are some of my favorites from Carson's senior session!

COMING HOME WITH .....

We are coming home! 

When Cain left in August he knew when he got home that he would need a new vehicle. He had big hopes that he would find a great deal in TX and purchase a truck. So while going through school he would keep a close eye on good deals here and there. They would come and go so fast he didn't have a chance to get to them. Half way through he decied though if he got a trcuk while in TX, I would fly there one way and drive back with him. 

We were getting pretty close to his coming home date and still, no truck. We started getting a little discouraged because we were both ready to be with each other again and if that meant getting a truck, the pressure was on for Cain to find one! :p

I was venting to a friend about our plans and discouragment in him not finding the right truck and having to wait the extra 3 weeks to see each other now (3 weeks might seem like no time at all, but when you've gone already 100 days without each other, every day matters)

My friend just said "Go to TX, if he gets a truck, cancel your fight. If not, go home the same day as him"

All of a sudden it hit me how easy she was making it sound, because it was that simple. 

That's why I have been in TX the past 2 weeks. I swear if she hadn't of made it so simple I would still be in Indiana missing my husband terribly! Thanks Jodi <3

Cain found this truck and we went and looked at it together just a week after I got here. The story of how we ended up with this truck, with our asking price is a great story that Cain will have to tell you. But long story short, we totally walked away from it because they weren't going down to our price. We drove off and said "that's alright, it wasn't meant to be"

10 minutes down the road she called back coming down on price and not even meeting half way but going to the price we offered! 

We hung up the phone laughing saying "That really works? The whole walking away thing?"

So now Cain will come home with a truck that we worked so hard for! I really believe he deserves it and so much more. I am proud of the man who works hard and saves for what he wants! 

We are coming home!! After a little delay on the Paramedic test schedule we are now leaving Tuesday evening for Indiana. 

Now I just have to pack up our stuff and also still try and get work done.... ahhhh the stress is starting to hit me! Now would be the time that my friend Jodi would say something so wise and make me feel better <3 

Trying to not focus on the "to do list" and just enjoy the last two days here <3 

WACO, TX | MAGNOLIA MARKET

When Cain found out he would be going to College Station, TX for a 4 month Paramedic school one of the first things I did was look up how close he was to Magnolia Market in Waco, TX. When I saw he was not going to be far, I was super jealous! At the time we thought I would not be going to visit him while he was away, so I made him promise he would go in my stead and get me something! 

Well, fast forward to this past weekend. I am here in College Station visiting Cain and we were able to go into Waco and visit Magnolia Market, together. 

What?! Is this real life? It was pretty much another moment for me where I had to stop because I realized that I was really living my life and getting to do this, something I had been looking forward too. 

Our great uncle Cook and aunt Kathy picked us up Friday morning at 8:30am and we were off to Waco. It was 70 degrees when we left and got down to almost 50 degrees when we got into Waco, it was just under 1 hour and 1/2 traveling time. I didn't know the temperature could drop so fast! And I was not prepared! I wore a dress like it was still summer time and it surely was not! The wind had picked up also so that was just a great combo with the dress I was wearing. 

Magnolia did turn out to be pretty amazing, it was such a great visit and all the employees were so friendly it made for such a great time. We didn't stay very long becasue it was getting pretty cold and the crowd was picking up. But we stayed long enough to enjoy our time and pick up some things to take home. 

After we visited there Uncle Cook and Aunt Kathy wanted to show us a famous brigde in Waco. We didn't stay long because it was so cold but it was very cool! We also found a wall that said "TRUE LOVE" of course I had to get our photo taken. 

We ate at Twisted Roots Buger place and it was AmaZing - oh so good! 

I can't wait to go back to Magnolia Market and hopefully get to go with more family <3 

We of course wanted to not just take still photos but we included video also, that's at the end! Enjoy our goofyness .... haha

Sunrise Autumn Family Session | McKinley

I was able to fit in this session just days before I left to visit my husband in Texas. We could not have asked for a better fall morning! 

Jacob had only been home for over a week after being away on a deplyment. I have found that these type of sessions will go down as some of my favorites becasue there is nothing like having your spouse home after a long period of time and finally feeling like a family again. The raw, pure love that you are able to capture is something you can't fake. 

For me to be able to capture those sweet new moments with Jacob and Liam was the best. Jacob did sadly miss out on some of Liam's milestones of the first year. But to be able to capture these moments of them together is so speical to me. 

I am so happy to see this family together again! I am a big fan and will always cheer them on <3 

COLLEGE STATION, TX | MARBLE SLAB CREAMERY

After spending the entire day working we (okay, I) needed a reason to dress up and get out of the hotel room. I searched for a local ice cream joint and found Marble Slab Creamery. It was like a Cold Stone where you could build you're own ice cream, but tasted so much better! 

We enjoyed our time together and even went and played some pool afterwards. Although Cain has a huge test at the end of this week I am so happy we have found time to do fun things together <3

Bluffton, IN Sunset Senior Session | Linnea

Linnea is a sweet soul. 

I have known Linnea's older sister, Hannah for quite sometime so I knew that Linnea was going to be a sweet soul just like her big sister. She was that and even a little bit more. I had just came off of a very stressful weekend with work and was missing my hubby so very much when we met for this session. Linnea was missing her boyfriend who is out of state also and I felt like we were able to bond just a little bit. I felt her pain of missing someone she loved very much. Even though we were both sad we were able to laugh about some things, I needed that so much. 

I think Linnea is beautiful, inside and out. I wanted to take some of her pain though, because I understand just a little bit of it. I love my job because I get to meet real people, some are happy and some are hurting but at the end of the session if we can connect, I feel like my job is not just about pictures but about being a friend. I love that about my job. 

Linnea, 

Keep smiling and shining no matter where you are at. Because your beauty can truly bring light anywhere you go. 

Much love <3 

Lanette 

Aggieland Tailgate Lovin

It's Monday and our work and studying have already begun for the day

but I sit here still smiling and have so much joy to be here with my

husband <3

Hello from Texas

Bluffton, IN Military Family Session | Park

The Park family! This was probably the biggest family gallery I have ever given!! I could not decide on which perfect little moment to give them, so I game them all <3 

I got to be there for JJ's homecoming last month and it was a once in a lifetime kind of thing. I will always remember it. To view that click here then come back to this session .... 

WARNING: There are a TON, like A LOT, like SO MANY photos ... so sit back and enjoy. 

Brookville, IN Maternity Session | Sarah

Zoe 7 Months

I'm not a completely a horriable aunt, it might have taken me a month to get to these pictures. But I finally did! Zoe was the cutnest little 7 month old :) She was a little sleepy too. 

Emma bakes with Meme

How lucky we are to have Miss Emma and Zoe Grace every Tuesday to play, bake and relax with. This has been one big perk of being home again. My mom loves to bake cookies and treats for people and her family and Emma is starting to enjoy it too. Or maybe she just likes eating the batter? 

I had my big camera out from the night before and felt like these were memories to be remembered. 

Bluffton, IN "everyone come together" session | McBride Family

I was looking forward to this session for a while! Brook and Ashley gave her mom a gift card to have family pictures taken (which is an awesome gift!) so when it was time for the session I was ready to give the best gift I could!! 

This family is just so great! They were relaxed the whole time. The kids were great listeners and we were able to get some great shots of everyone! This is not even close to all the pictures they got (there were tons!) but these were some of my favorites!

Enjoy the McBride extended family session aka "Everyone come together"

Fort Wayne, IN | Shank Family

This session was WAYYYY back in the first week of October!! Woah! I can't beleive I didn't blog this session sooner!! I have loved photographing this family through out the many years I have known Cory and Mackenzie. Enjoy all these sweetness!! 

Fort Wayne, IN | Brandon + CJ

I can not believe I took Cj's newborn pictures?! Why does time go so fast!!? I got to catch up with these two and their momma earlier in the month for some updated pictures!! It was a great session and I hope to be able to continue to watch these two grow!!! 

Norwell Basketball Senior Bluffton, IN | Kaylee DAY TWO

For our second day, (check out day ONE here) I met Kaylee at her school where we took some basketball pictures! You can tell how much more relaxed and chill she was with the basketball in hand.

We finished this session out pretty well, I couldn't have asked for a better two days spent with this girl <3

Good Luck this season Kaylee!!

Downtown Bluffton, IN Senior Session | Kaylee DAY ONE

I got to spend two days with Kaylee for her senior photos, it was the best two days EVER! Because we got sooooo many photos from those two days she is going to get not 1 but 2 blog post with her senior photos!!!

So this is from day 1 .....