Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone from our family to yours!!!

Enjoy,
Tessa

Happy Birthday to...ME!

Today is a big one, and I must be honest and say I'm not as excited about this one as I was with the last "big" birthday. Today I...am...forty. There, I said, 40! I guess I'm not as excited about this one because even though I'm in a wonderful place in my life, knowing how quickly the last 10 years went, 50 is just around the corner, LOL.

The great thing about 40 though is that I'm in such a better place in my life. I finally have figured out "what I want to do with my life", and am so so very blessed to be doing what I love, what I'm passionate about, and getting paid to do it. Another thing different from my 30th birthday is that I have Joel, Isabelle and Genevieve in my life. I am thankful for those three blessings everyday, and that we're all healthy, happy and able to travel (another thing I'm passionate about) and live our best life. I am surrounded by the most amazing friends, and we definitely have fun when ever the chance presents itself (which is often ;). My Mom lives only a mile away from our new house, and we're still as good of friends as we have always been. Though we sometimes drive one another crazy, she is one of the few people I know that loves me unconditionally and for all of my flaws, supports me no matter what, and my children are blessed to see her almost every day and to have her in their lives.

So, here's a toast to 40 and the next decade (which many, many of my friends (and Oprah) have said are some of the best of their lives.

Oh, and I forgot one the coolest parts of turning 40... what I bought myself for my birthday! It arrived on Friday, and we played together at Balboa Park yesterday ;)

Enjoy,
Tessa

Happy New Year!

As Isabelle & I were driving in the car yesterday she said to me "Momma, remember last year when I asked you when you were going to have a baby in your belly, and then you did"? This question got me thinking and I said to Belle; "it's hard to believe that one year ago Mommy & Daddy weren't even thinking about having another baby. And now, 12 months later, Mommy's already been pregnant, had your baby sister and we're now a family of four". It just goes to show how much can change in 12 short months, and this is why I try to appreciate every day (though some days are easier to appreciate than others ;)

So last night, as we sat down to dinner (Belle, Joel & I in our chairs at the diningroom table and Genevieve in her bouncy seat) I started a new family tradition. Every year during New Years Eve dinner, let's say what our favorite things about the past year have been... Mine were, the birth of Genevieve, going to Denver in June, going to Las Vegas in February for my first WPPI convention with the girls & making our house a home. Isabelle's were, starting Kindergarten, going to Denver and playing with Hailey and Trevor, playdates with Eva and all of her friends, her baby sister, and turning six. Joel on the other hand didn't have a "list" but simply said, my favorite things about 2009 are that our family is healthy and happy & that we still have jobs and a roof over our heads. Well said honey!!

My goal was to have my new blog & up and running ON January 1st, but as you can see that didn't happen. I'm hoping to start working on it again this week and have it done soon. Better late than never I suppose. I will also be making an announcement regarding Valentine's portrait sessions in the next week so be sure to check back often, or subscribe to the blog if you haven't already!

And because I can't have a blog post without any photos, I'll leave you with a picture of my favorite thing of 2009! Happy New Year everyone, may 2010 bring you peace, joy, heath, love and happiness!!!!!!

Enjoy,
Tessa

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas!!

A BIG THANK YOU to all of my clients for trusting me with your family's photos! 2009 was a wonderful year and I was incredibly blessed to watch not only my business grow, but my family as well. I look forward to getting back behind the camera in 2010, and will be doing some "special" sessions for Valentines, Mother's & Father's Day, as well as bringing back Playgroup Picture Parties in the spring. Stay tuned...

Happy Holidays,
Tessa

Baby G {One Month Old}

I just realized today that I haven't done a blog post in over a month (bad Tessa). I've been super busy enjoying my maternity leave and spending as much time with my family as possible! I've been very fortunate to have Joel home with me since G's birth, and that has been a HUGE help in adjusting to being a family of four.

I know this post is only 3 weeks over due since Genevieve is now 7 weeks old (ALREADY, I know!), but below are a couple of pictures that I took of her on her one month birthday. It still amazes me how much she looks like Isabelle, and I call her Belle often. Sometimes when Joel is holding her on the couch and I walk by, there is this incredible since of deja vu. It's amazing, and I wonder just how much they'll look like one another in a few months!!!

Enjoy,
Tessa

Sisters...

I have envisioned this shot since the day I found out I was pregnant in February.

I have to say that Isabelle is an even better big sister than I could have hoped for. She wants to come home after school to be with her family, she hugs and kisses her sister often and puts the binky back in Genevieve's mouth when it falls out. She helps me change diapers. She wants to hold her sister and kisses the top of her head while she does.

I have to admit that not too long after Belle was born I thought, "there's no way I can love another child as much as I love my first born". "Maybe we shouldn't have another because can you love two children equally"? The answer is yes, you can! And it is the best feeling in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy,
Tessa

Meet the newest fan of Grin & Share It Photography

It is with great joy that I introduce you to you Genevieve, the newest addition of our family. Our little pumpkin came into this world on Halloween, 8 days early. Big sister Isabelle is loving having her here, and it makes me so happy to watch them together. I'm actually feeling great, and am amazed how much easier it is the second time around. For quite some time I've felt as though someone was missing from our family, and now she is finally here!!!!!!!

Below are a couple of photos that I took at the hospital and on her four day birthday :)

Enjoy,
Tessa

My Baby Girl is a Kindergartener

I have been dreading this day for the last 6 months. Quite a few of my friends look at me like, "huh, why"? The reason is because I have spent almost every day with my little firecracker for the last 5 and 1/2 years. We go out to lunch together, shop together, have flown together from state to state just the two of us and also with Daddy, have playdates together (yes, they're playdates for me too since I get to visit with my awesome Mommy friends) and I just generally enjoy her company. I have watched her grow, and am so proud of the little girl she has become. Joel & I have prepared her as much as we can, and now she will be spending as much time away from the house during the day as she does in it.

Isabelle on the other hand couldn't wait for Kindergarten to start. She adored preschool and asked to go everyday (yes, even on the weekends). She loved picking out her new Hello Kitty knee socks, Mary Jane shoes and backpack. She was ready to make new friends and meet her teacher. She was ready to be "a big girl". She was amazing yesterday morning, and was full of "what happened at school today" stories when we picked her up. Some of the things made us laugh out loud, and both Joel & I felt very relieved when she told stories of her teacher and the things she was taught throughout the day. We got very lucky since we just found out that her elementary school is in the top 5% of all schools in California. We knew we had moved to a good school district, but didn't realize just how involved THIS school was with their students and parents.

Below are a few pics I grabbed before and after the bells rang yesterday. I wanted to start a new 1st day of school tradition, so my Mom and I took her out to our favorite frozen yogurt place right after we picked her up. Three generations of girls, chatting about our days. Love it!!!!!!!!

Enjoy,
Tessa

Where's Tessa??

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted a new blog post in quite awhile, and I swear I have a good reason... EXTREME MORNING SICKNESS! Let's call it what it is though, extreme morning, noon AND night sickness. This even includes me occasionally waking up in the middle of the night to throw up (sorry for the TMI). When we decided to try for baby number two we knew that I would probably be sick for awhile since I had pretty good morning sickness with Isabelle. Some of our friends said, "maybe this pregnancy will be different and you won't be as sick". I was hoping... What I never thought about was the possibility that I would be even SICKER with this pregnancy. The good news is that being this sick usually equals a healthy pregnancy, and all looked great at our first appt last week. I am now 9wks and 1 day pregnant, and my due date is November 7, 2009.

I want to take this time to apologize to anyone who's email I haven't returned recently, and thank my clients for their flexibility on rescheduling appts, and waiting for their edited photos. We are praying I start feeling at least a little better soon. I started acupuncture two weeks ago and while that seems to be helping a bit, I still spend most days on the couch or in bed. I just started taking a B6 supplement yesterday, and am hoping this will help too. My doctor wants to try to keep me off of drugs (as do we), so we'll see what the next week brings.

Even with all the sickness we are so very excited to be expanding our family, and feel blessed that it happened so quickly (especially at my age ;).

I hope to be starting up sessions again soon and will keep you all posted with my progress!

~Tessa

LegUp Personal Training

Many of you have heard that I have been taking weekly strength classes, as well as seeing a personal trainer on Monday nights. Both events are being taught by my fabulous personal trainer, Tanja Hsu, of LegUp Personal Training in La Jolla. I have already recruited a few of my friends (and even my Mom) to come and take the "Mom's Fitness and Strength class" with me, and they too have become addicted to the class. Tanja & Brian teach a mean class, but it's oh so worth it in the end.

A few weeks ago Tanja asked me if I could take some photos of her for her new website, and I was more than happy to oblige. The site is now done, and it looks incredible! Anyone who knows me knows what a supporter I am over mommy-owned businesses, and am a HUGE supporter of this one. If you'd like to join me for a fun, fast-paced, tough, rewarding, mommy/woman only class, or if you're looking for an affordable personal trainer, look no further and contact Tanja today!! Be sure to mention that you heard about her from me!

Enjoy,
Tessa

http://www.leguppersonaltraining.com/index.html

WPPI 2009

I'm back home from Las Vegas and words can't begin to describe how amazing my experience was. I was joined by 4 other wonderful women whom I met last May at a MeRa Koh workshop. We arrived on Sunday feeling electric and looking forward to our time there.

I attended 3 platform talks, including one by my very favorite photographer, Audrey Woulard. I feel like this was the talk that most spoke to me as an artist and I learned so much!!

The trade show was SO overwhelming and I wanted to buy everything there... but I was a good girl and only made a few purchases (including a new funky fun cover for my Shootsac ;) We went to the Mpix booth to see one of our favorite photographers, Carey Schumacher of Barefoot Memories Photography and grabbed a snapshot with her. Carey also taught at the workshop last May, and she simply an inspiration.

Below are a couple of photos that were taken while we were there. I will have some exciting announcements in the following days regarding Grin & Share It. Please stay tuned...

Finally, I have to give a shout out to the lovely ladies who joined me this weekend. I am so blessed to have met each and every one of you. Thank you for your honesty, you support, your laughter, your wisdom and your openess. I can call any of these girls at any time and ask them a question, knowing they will give me an answer without hesitation and will share their knowledge with me. I had such a wonderful time with all of you and will treasure the time we spent together. I hope to be able to join you again next year, along with the other friends we've made that couldn't be there with us.

Enjoy,
Tessa

WPPI

I'm off to Vegas in the morning, and I am SO excited! I'm going with 4 fellow female photographers for a long weekend of photography, girl time, food, gambling & shopping. It doesn't get much better than that! I am so thrilled that quite a few of my favorite photographers will be there, and I can't wait to hear their platform talks!

I will be out of the office until Wednesday, February 25th, and will return all email and calls when I get back.

And because no blog post is complete without a photo, here is one sneek peak from the maternity shoot I did this afternoon. Cindy, I promise to post many more when I get home ;)

Enjoy,
Tessa

A Rainy Day in San Diego

My daughter loves everything about rainy days... rain boots, umbrellas, puddles, thunder, did I mention puddles? Lucky for Belle it was quite stormy here in San Diego last weekend, and all she wanted to do was to go outside and play in it. Then finally, Sunday evening, it stopped raining just long enough for us to take a walk around our neighborhood. The sunset was absolutely amazing, and I just love how clean and clear everything is after a storm comes through.

Of course I just happened to have my camera with me on our little walk, and Isabelle, as always was her normal camera shy self ;)

Enjoy,
Tessa

Decorating Fun!

As most of you know, Joel and I purchased our first home in June of 2008. What most of you probably don't know is that from a young age I wanted to be an interior decorator when I grew up. I even applied and got excepted to art school when I lived in Denver, but ended up moving to California soon after that. Life of course took me on a different path, and I am so thankful that it did because I can't imagine doing anything else!!!

I've lived in many apartments, townhomes, and houses that I've rented, but decorating this house, this tiny 1,200 sq ft house, oh how it has been a challenge. Maybe it's because this time I actually own my home vs. renting it, but I've had a hard time committing to many purchases, and it took me 4 months alone to find a floor lamp I liked for the living room ;)

This brings me to window treatments. Who ever knew that they were so expensive?! I knew I'd have buy window treatments for the house in stages because of the cost, but I didn't expect it would take me almost 7 months to find curtains I like for our living room. Then one day last week there they were, waiting for me!!! And the best part, I found them at Target (I LOVE Target) after shopping at every home store in San Diego and online where curtains were three to four times the price. Yay for a great deal, and yay for finally being able to warm up our cold, bare looking living/dining room area. I finally feel like our house is becoming a home...

Below are some before and after photos, including the way our living room/dining room space looked before we even bought the house. The last step in my window treatment journey is to buy wood shutters for all of the windows in the house. This is going to have to wait awhile though because my oh my, they are expensive!!! Until then I can daydream about how great they will look under my beautiful new curtains when I finally get them??! Ahhh, it's the little things in life. Enjoy!!


The living room area before moved in (yellow sponge painted walls and all)

Soon after we moved in

Finished living room including my new buffet

Dining room before we moved in (we moved the ceiling fan to our bedroom)

Soon after we moved in

Living room/dining room area right before Joel hung up the curtains

Finished area (except for the shutters which we will eventually install)

Ahhhhh, so warm and cozy!!!

Tiny Dancer

A few months ago Isabelle started taking tap & ballet with a couple of her buddies, Eva & Koa. This has been a special treat for me since I also started taking tap, ballet and jazz at 5, and danced well into my teenage years. It brings so much joy to my heart to watch her shuffle, flap & arabesque across the studio, with this look of concentration on her face to get it just right. I've taken photos a few times during class, and am finally posting a couple of my favorites. Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas!

Here's hoping you are all having a wonderful Christmas day, surrounded by friends and family and those you love!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Tessa (Joel & Isabelle too ;)

My Baby Girl Turns Five

Where does the time go? I often ask myself that question, and this year is no exception. Come to think of it, it seems as though this year went faster than the ones that came before it, and Isabelle is a constant reminder of just how quickly time goes, and that we are all getting older. My Mom and I asked her just yesterday if she could stay 5 forever, but she just wouldn't go for it. After we were done celebrating her birthday on Sunday and I was putting her to bed she looked and me and asked, "Momma, am I five and 1/2 yet?". Oh boy, don't be in such a rush kid!


I never knew 5 was such a huge deal but she's been counting down for a month now. She was SO excited when she woke up on Sunday and announced that she was "a big girl". We started off the day going to my Mom's (Ghacki's) to make her cake. She really wanted to do it herself this year, so I let her pick out the flavor of the cake (marble), frosting (vanilla) and the color of the decorations on it (pink of course, duh!). After finishing her cake and opening her gifts from Ghacki & Papa Scott it was back home to pick up Daddy.



Joel & I told her we'd take her to Toys R Us to pick out her birthday gift from us this year, so we hopped in the car and braved Toys R Us the Sunday before Christmas (poor child, being born on the 21st of December does have it's draw backs). We had talked to her about getting a new bike for her birthday now that we own a house and live on a safe, quiet street, and so it was no surprise that that is EXACTLY what she went for. And not just any bike mind you, a "Barbie bike", complete with a mini-bike attached to the handle bars so Ms. Barbie herself can ride too ;)





Happy Birthday Isabelle, you'll always be my baby girl! Now listen to Mommy and stop growing would ya?!!!