pure beauty - kaitlin o. [bryan/college station, tx, roommate photographer]

Oh, I love Fridays. There really is nothing better. This Friday is especially great, because I get to share with you some pictures I took of my friend Kaitlin.

Kaitlin is the third roommate, and some of you may recognize her. That's either because you know her in real life, or because I've photographed and blogged about her before. I tell you what, I am so spoiled to have so many dear friends with red hair and blue eyes. So gorgeous.

Little world, here's Kaitlin.


This girl has a fire in her like nothing I've ever seen. She is so passionate and spirited; she has this energy for life that doesn't take no for an answer. She is one of the most loyal and generous people I have EVER met.

This girl has had some really incredible things happen to her this summer and this semester. It is truly inspiring to see all the many ways in which God uses her as a vessel for His Kingdom. Her faith when He redirect her path and changes her plans is steadfast, because she believes the truth that His ways are higher than our ways, and it's so encouraging to watch her live out this faith.

Favorite.

Have a great weekend, friends! Enjoy your 4th of July! Next week I'll post Lauren, some group shots, and maybe Autumn!

love, love, love.

blog design: done! [personal.]

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope it's not too much of a Monday...

big news of the day: new blog design is done! at least for now, until I decide to start messing with it again. check out the about me page, it's brand spankin' new!

I'm visiting friends this week, which has been super great. I sure have missed them, and it's been such a joy to be here with them. That being said, I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on pictures [plus I've been working on the blog, thankfully it's finally done!] but hopefully this week I'll post some pictures. I've got some other stuff up my sleeve, but it's only Monday. I'll save it for later this week ;)

short post today! check back later this week :)

love, love, love.

granola bars! [personal.]

in order to make up for my lack of posts over the past couple of months, I'll try to entice my audience back with two posts in one day! this is a recipe I found/developed this afternoon. it was definitely an experiment, and it certainly didn't turn out like I expected, but gosh darn it, it was good.

I've heard of people making their own granola bars, but I was never really that interested until my mom came home last night with a new recipe. She made them, and they were good, but I just kept imagining how they'd be better if you added this, or this, or this. So I added them all, and this is what I came up with! Please excuse the crummy pictures, they were taken with the camera on my phone.

Start with 2 cups of oats.



add a cup of chopped nuts (I chose walnuts, but you could use whatever you like) and a cup of coconut.





as you can probably tell, I didn't use a full cup of coconut, because I didn't know how strong the flavor would be. I easily could've used a full cup and it would've been fine. or, if you don't like coconut, don't use it.

mix all that up, and toast it in the oven, stirring it every once in a while.

while that's toasting, mix honey,

brown sugar,

vanilla,

cinnamon,

and butter. heat them over the stove and stir until everything is blended nicely.

mix the honey mixture with the oats mixture, and then throw in a handful each or so (I'm really precise when I cook) of your favorite add-ins. I used chocolate chips, marshmallows, and raisins, which were all really good.

once you add everything you want, bake it again, and voila! you've got granola bars!

yum.

This recipe was a conglomeration of Alton Brown's granola bars, my mom's original recipe, and my own ideas.

Here's what I'd do differently next time:

I was impatient, and instead of waiting for the oats mixture to cool after it came out of the oven, I added the chocolate chips and marshmallows immediately, so naturally, they melted and became an ooey gooey mess. It was still really good, but my granola bars turned into something much closer to a decadent dessert than a healthy snack. If you wanted the chocolate chips in their original form, you'd have to wait until the oats cooled off. You'd probably have to coat the oats in the honey glaze either before you bake them, or do it when they come out of the oven, then allow them to cool.

If you wanted a healthier variation, you could easily omit the chocolate chips and marshmallows or substitute them for something else. Next time I make this, I'll probably leave them out and see if I can get something closer to an actual granola bar.

Despite all that, these were really good, and I will probably make this recipe again! Overall, I'd call it a success.


Here's what I did!

2 cups of oats
1 cup of chopped nuts
1 cup of coconut
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
a handful or so each of chocolate chips, marshmallows, and raisins

mix the oats, nuts, and coconut together. bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring every so often. combine the honey, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and butter. cook over medium heat until butter is melted and brown sugar is dissolved. stir into the oats, and add chocolate chips, marshmallows, and raisins. grease a square glass baking pan, and bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes. let cool and cut into squares. enjoy!


anyone have a favorite granola recipe they'd like to share? I know there are some pros out there, and this is new for me, so if anyone's got any suggestions, I'd love them!

till next time, friends!

love, love, love.

ps - I'm starting a new blog design. I don't know how long it'll take to get all the kinks worked out, but it'll be going up bit by bit, so please be patient! it'll be pretty again soon :) thanks!

pure beauty - monika l. [bryan/college station, tx portrait photographer.]

Happy Wednesday, friends! Today, I'd like to introduce you to Monika.

For those who followed my last blog, or know me in real life, this face might be familiar to you. She is one of my dear friends. I've known her for a year and a half or so now, I suppose. We really became friends over the summer, when we lived together for three months.

Let me tell you, I learned about sides of this girl that I had never dreamed existed.... like her passion for sponteneity and learning new things.... Over the summer, she decided she wanted to learn how to knit, so she just did! She bought some needles and yarn and made a hat. She also tried out making her own beads, for jewelry making, and they turned out AWESOME. Aaaaand she made the best apple pie I've ever had.

I learned about her sneakiness and creativity when it comes to prank wars, but in the same breath, her passiveness in staying neutral the entire time... When Stormie and I were at war with each other, be it through pranks or Facebook comments, Monika took both sides. When I was out of the house, she'd help Stormie put my shampoo bottles in the freezer, and when Stormie was gone, she gave me a boost so I could reach her light in her room to take the lightbulbs out.

So, interesting fact about this shoot... when we were shooting, we saw and smelled smoke coming from a tree. We went over to it, thinking there were people barbecueing behind it or something, but lo and behold, the tree was on fire!

It was one of those trees that's more like a large bush, where its branches touch the ground completely, and the grass underneath its branches was all on fire. Occasionally the flames would rise up and touch the branches, and I was kind of afraid the whole thing would just go up in flames.

It was actually a really small fire, but it was still a fire, so we called the fire department. It was actually kind of embarrassing, because they brought two fire trucks and a police car for one itty bitty fire...

I am so blessed to call this fellow chocolate-lover, animal-lover, and creative crafter my friend and my sister in Christ.

That's all for today, friends!

love, love, love.

sneak peek! [bryan/college station, tx, portrait photographer.]

Good morning, friends! I hope this Monday finds you well :)

I want to share with you some pictures I took yesterday afternoon of some dear friends of mine. I am not even close to being done with them, but these are my favorites so far, and I couldn't resist posting them :) you'll probably be seeing more of them in the future ;)

Like I said, this was just a sneak peek, so stay tuned, and the rest of these will be posted soon!

I hope everyone's Monday is simply wonderful!

love, love, love.

ps - I know this is probably quite a stretch, but if there is aaaaaanyone out there interested in scheduling a shoot with me, I suggest you do it soon! I have a limited amount of time before I leave the country for the summer, so if you're interested, better do it now! There's no time like the present! ;)

pure beauty - maggie m. [fort worth, tx portrait photographer.]

Ohh, happy Friday, everyone! It certainly is for me, for many reasons, but especially because today is the day that I can share these pictures with you!

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend Maggie.

Maggie and I have been friends for about a decade... about half our lives at this point, which to me, is pretty incredible. You don't find friends like that very often. She is the Peas to my Carrots (a nickname we earned in middle school because no one ever saw one of us without the other - we were basically attached at the hip.) Then high school and college happened, and our lives have taken us in different directions, we have still remained close friends.

I got to see her a couple of weeks ago, and we didn't even really plan on a legit photo shoot. We had a Chik-fil-a picnic in the park, and a couple of cameras, and it just kind of happened.

I told her to go stand on the rock, and this is what she did. Goofball.

Maggie is one of the silliest people I know, and trust me when I say, I know silly. But one of my truly favorite things about this girl is her genuineness (that word sounds funny, but I promise it's real.) She is so real and genuine and honest about herself, so she's one of those people you feel comfortable talking to about ANYTHING, which is awesome.

Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

I am so blessed to consider this "reardfon" my friend. Here's to another 10+ years, my dear. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

love, love, love.

ginni & alan [dallas, tx engagement photographer.]

Happy Wednesday, everyone.



I'd like to introduce you to some of my new friends, Ginni and Alan.



You see, as many of you know, I was an intern for Jessica Shae a few weeks ago, and Ginni and Alan were some of our fabulous models. Though they've been married for a while now, we pretended this was an engagement shoot. They're friends of Jessica's, and they generously offered to let us practice with them.



And I'm so glad they did.



I really enjoyed hanging out with these two (soon to be three!)
Alan is from my hometown of Fort Worth, and Ginni and I share interest in yoga and piercings. She's actually in training to be a yoga instructor - how cool is that??



Their love for each other was such a beautiful thing to watch while we were shooting. I love how gentle and tender Alan is with Ginni, and I love how she can't take her eyes off him. Is there anything greater in the world than a love like this?



I don't think so.



That's all for now, friends.

love, love, love.

pure beauty - kait s. [bryan/college station, tx portrait photographer.]

little world, meet my friend kait.



kait is a dear friend of mine. she reminds me a lot of sunshine. she always seems to have the cheeriest smile on her face, and it is simply beautiful. whenever she walks in the room, a grin always magically appears on my face. I don't know how that happens, I guess my smile just knows she's there because her smile is so friendly.
:)



fun fact about kait: she knows how to make balloon animals! is that cool, or what?? :)





yeah, all my pictures are stuck to each other today.



the field we were in had dandelions, and, just because she's cute and silly and likes to have fun, kait picked a dandelion and made a wish. and because wishes are good things. :)



beauty.

that's all, friends.

love, love, love.