I take for granted every time I make a meal for my kids just how easy it is. How easy it is to turn on my stove, heat something up in my microwave, or bake a cake. But did you know that there are still many of us, 3 billion to be exact, out there who cook over open flame for every meal? That means there’s “1 in 2 of us have to walk over 10 miles and spend over 30 hours a week to collect wood, spend up to 35% of our income on purchasing fuel, expose ourselves to harm and smoke the equivalent of 40 cigarettes a day according to the World Health Organization (WHO) just to cook. The WHO has also estimated that harmful cookstove smoke is the fourth worst overall health risk factor in developing countries behind malnutrition, unsafe sex and lack of access to clean water and sanitation. Killing 1.6 million each year, women and children are disproportionately the majority of deaths related to indoor cooking smoke. Surprisingly indoor cooking smoke is the number 1 killer of children under the age of 5 (that’s ahead of AIDS, malaria, malnutrition and water-borne diseases).” — The Paradigm Project.

There’s a company I want you to know about and how I hope we can partner together to help them reach their goal to implement 5 million stoves in developing countries worldwide by 2020.

I’ve changed my business model so that  with every portrait session we complete, we’re donating $40 (enough to give an entire stove to a family).  With every wedding we photograph, we donate $80 — 2 stoves to 2 families.

Please check out this company and get excited with us about this amazing mission – The Paradigm Project.

photo courtesy of the paradigm project

I look forward to giving you great photos AND partnering together with you to help get more stoves into developing countries.

Megan

My husband and I lived in Las Vegas for close to 5 years after we left college. In that time, we met some amazing people and among them were Andrew and Andrea. They are an incredible couple who at that time was along side us through a tough season in our life when we were having issues with pregnancy. They faithfully prayed with us and that turned into cheered us on when our first son Jonah, finally arrived.

We then moved to Colorado Springs and although I visit often since I have family still there, I hadn’t had the chance to meet their son in the times I had been back. It was so great and reminded me how quickly time goes by. I set up this special trip to just do family photos and we spent a lovely evening together. I adore them and wish we lived closer!

P.S. For those of you not from Vegas, you’ll have to get out beyond The Strip next time you visit and check out Town Square.  It’s a great place with lots of shops, places to eat and a great place for kids to play. There’s even a cool train.

Seeing that we’re moving into Spring here in Colorado, I thought I had better blog the beautiful winter wedding of Meredith and Nathan who were married at the Air Force Academy Chapel at the very end of December. Despite being cold, it was a beautiful sunny day and they had an incredible bridal party that didn’t care about being cold for outdoor photos, they just wanted them to be fun. A perfect mix.  Here’s the Academy Chapel in all its glory.

Some details.

The lovely women who were so wonderful to never say a word about how cold it was. I promised we’d move fast and they made my job easy. Love them!

There was snow covering the grounds of the Academy, so they were so smart and wore boots before the ceremony to keep warm. Brilliant!

Samantha photographed the guys and I think she did a great job. Such a fun group!

Told you they were fun.

Warm sun and snow. Happy couple. Perfection.

I couldn’t stay away from the red wall. Thanks for trusting me guys.

Their reception was a blast. Wonderful toasts by the best man and maid of honor, the deserts were beautiful, but the dancing was my favorite. Meredith and her dad tore up the dance floor with their dance. Singing out the words and including the audience. I loved it. And it made me miss my dad!

Nathan and his mom during their dance and a priceless moment caught by Samantha.

As the finale, Nate and his men had a surprise for Meredith. They teamed up and sang to her “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”. It was a great night.

One last one.

Thank you, Meredith and Nathan for including us in your wedding. We enjoyed it so very much and hope your marriage, year after year, is blessed beyond measure.

Cheers,

Megan

I have a beautiful friend named Sarah and she has a beautiful family. Three girls and a great husband and they asked me into their home to take some family photos now that their youngest daughter is here. These family photos make me smile SO much. They are bright and happy and these girls are so cute. There was lots of excitement as the oldest two girls loved on their little sister. There was the chaos of it being the first few weeks with a newborn. Again. But it was wonderful. And I loved being a part of it. These are my favorite types of family photos to take.  Thanks Sarah and Rob for trusting me with these moments.

Shannon and Ryan were married late June (I told you I was behind on blogging some great weddings!) here in Colorado Springs. When I first met Shannon, she was working as an electrician and had all her work gear on. I loved her personality instantly. She’s funny, witty and the two of them always have some joke that they are sharing. It’s fun to be around them and I was looking forward to photographing their big day. Speaking of big day, Shannon knew exactly what she wanted for her wedding and how she all wanted it to play out.  She decided on a classic look and was absolutely stunning. She’s not only super smart, she’s incredibly beautiful. Ryan, sounds like you have the best of both worlds with your bride.

They were married at the Shove Chapel and it was a perfect evening — no rain — just beautiful, warm sun, creating the perfect light.

Amber with Beautiful Expressions did an incredible job with the flowers, as usual!

They had their reception at the Dale Street Bistro with live music. Perfect for the beautiful evening!

Ceremony: Shove Chapel

Reception: Dale Street Bistro

Brides makeup and hair: Ulta at The Shops at Briargate

Florist: Amber with Beautiful Expressions

Photographers: Megan and Edi with Megan Hardre Photography