I recently visited my grandma in Houston a couple of weekends ago. She's turning a whopping 102 this year! It's amazing to see how healthy and strong she is at this age. She no longer remembers me or a lot of other family members, but at least she knows that we're family. It's crazy to think of all the events that has happened in her life and in her lifetime.

She was born before television was invented and now we're living in a world where you can hold a computer in your hands. I let her play with my iPhone and she quickly learned how to flip through the pictures. She's so tech savvy!

Here she is checking out a photo of herself that I took on my phone two years ago.

This is the photo she was looking at:

She recognized herself, but then asked who the other two people next to her were. (Me & my mom!)

She is so adorable when she smiles.

I tried to count how many kids, grandkids, and great grandkids that she has but that task is just too daunting. There's probably more than 100 of us, so she is very much loved.

Melissa & Jude's wedding...where to begin with one of the happiest and heartfelt weddings I've ever witnessed? The love and energy emanating from these two and their family and friends were out of this world. I'm sure everyone there felt extremely blessed to have been a part of this unforgettable day. Watching Melissa & Jude was a great reminder to us all to love more. Because when you get down to the core of our this crazy thing called life, love is the most important thing.

And love is definitely what Melissa & Jude have. Lots of it. So many family and friends from all over ventured to Catalina Island to celebrate with them. No one seemed to mind the travels, especially when you get gorgeous views like this one!




Jude, helping out his best man and brother. Gentlemen, if you ever need help tying a bow tie, Jude's the man to call.


Melissa already looking beautiful. (I wanna say hot, but is it appropriate to call a bride hot?)








This man is so in love...










It was funny going through all their wedding pictures and seeing how many times Jude's hands were up in the air. Let's count, shall we? 1.


Getting some love from the boys.




2. Yes, I'm gonna count this one even though everyone else had their hands up too.


3 and 4.










These two are so madly in love and have so much chemistry that my serotonin levels soared during their bride and groom session. If I didn't have to carry my camera on me, I would've been doing the happy, happy, joy, joy dance with Balki Bartokumus in Perfect Strangers. (Does anyone remember that show?)


I love this one. Jude - 5. Melissa - 1.





The Casino Ballroom on Catalina is absolutely amazing. The history of it is quite fascinating, but I won't get into it here. What did strike me though was that this was never a gambling spot. Casino apparently means "gathering place" in Italian. So this was a place for the residents and visitors of Catalina to gather for events. Not to play blackjack and slot machines, though we all know where to go for that.




Back to counting Jude's single and double fist pumps: 6 and 7.


Jude: 8, 9, 10. Melissa: 2.


Doshus, a local band from Venice, CA gave an awesome performance. Jude's brother even came onstage and rapped a few songs!!!


Jude: 11.


Paying homage to their alma mater, TCU, Melissa & her MOH, Eleah -whose wedding can be seen here.


Can I count this move as a half point? Yes? Ok, Jude: 11.5.




Jude: 12.5. Melissa: 3. Wow! Not to say that Melissa wasn't as happy or excited on their big day, because she was, but Jude is the king of fists pumps that day!


The breathtaking night view of Avalon from the top of the ballroom.




Thank you Melissa & Jude for giving me the honor of photographing your wedding. May your love and spirits continue to shine as bright as it did on your wedding day. And a big thank you to Beki Dawn for doing an amazing job second shooting for me - you rock girl!

{Southern California Wedding Photographer} {Phoenix Wedding Photographer}

{Phoenix Arizona Wedding Photographer}

Melissa and Jude's wedding at the Casino Ballroom on Catalina Island was by far one of the best and most amazing weddings I've ever witnessed. So much love, so much spirit, so much positive energy flowing between everyone the whole day! I felt truly honored and blessed to have been a part of it.

Here's a few preview pics before I blast out with a ton more from this fabulous wedding!


More on this these two beautiful spirits in my next post, which I think may turn out to be an essay!


Awesome bridesmaids! Everyone wanted a piece of Melissa's veil so a group shot with the veil was in order. =)


I can't wait to put up the rest of the pics! To definitely be continued...

When Drew & I were back in California last week, we went somewhere I had always wanted to go to every time I saw a bumper sticker of this place: The Mystery Spot in the Santa Cruz mountains. It's a place where "your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned." -Mystery Spot website. Really, click on the link above and read more about it!

When we first walked into this room, several people started sliding down - not enough room for everyone to hang onto the handrail against the wall.


Here's our guide standing on a table and leaning very far forward without falling over. Physics was my worst subject in college, so can anyone explain?


Drew's hanging on a bar, but his body tilts to the side. But then again, everything else sort of tilts in that direction.


Me, standing on a slanted little ramp tilting forward while my dad, in the back, easily climbed the little steps -something forces your body against the wall there so he doesn't feel the slant that I did.


There were other weird physics phenomena of interest too, so all in all, well worth the drive and $5 for the 45 minute tour. (Though playing around in that house made me nauseous!!!) Not only that, but it's in a beautiful location surrounded by redwood trees. There's even a nice trail you can hike while you wait for your tour to start.


And I'll leave with a pic of Drew making faces. There were three in this series that I wanted to post, but I'll be nice to him and just post this one! =)