Written by Candace on January 5, 2016 | 2 Comments

A Real San Francisco Proposal
Scott+Andrea

It is officially engagement season! Every time I open my Facebook feed, somebody else is engaged. Tis’ the season! We thought we’d join in the celebration and share a real San Francisco proposal we had the pleasure of photographing last year. Looking through the images, I now wish I had photos of my own proposal. I’m so happy to know Scott and Andrea will always have these to remember such a momentous day.

The proposal images I see most often, you can tell the photographer is pretty far away from the couple in order to not ruin the surprise moment. But we planned a different kind of experience with Scott and Andrea. The day Scott proposed was his actual birthday so he told Andrea ahead of time that he wanted to have some pictures taken of the two of them for his birthday. This gave Vitaliy the opportunity to get up close and personal while still keeping a distance when Scott went to actually pop the question. We decided ahead of time to take some portraits and when Vitaliy found the best spot there was a code word so Scott knew Vitaliy was ready whenever he was. It worked perfectly! There were hugs, tears and celebration!

I helped with the planning, but opted to stay in the car with Rose during the actual proposal in order to keep it intimate. But I couldn’t wait to give my own celebratory hug once they were all finished! This was so special to be a part of. I hope 2016 will open up more opportunities to photograph real proposals! Especially with beautiful views like this one of San Francisco in the background.

Chime in or Share

Written by Candace on December 31, 2015 | 3 Comments

Two Thousand Fifteen

It’s the very last day of an epic year! 2015 will always be unforgettable.

It was hard not filling up every one of these squares with a picture of Rose. She was definitely the highlight of our year! But as we thought back over the last 12 months, there were many more things we’re feeling very thankful for today. Here’s a recap of our year!

9 highlights, accomplishments and blessings from 2015 from left to right, top to bottom.

Our sweet Rose was born on February 14, 2015. I love this girl.
This was a year we really had to lean into our friends and family more than ever before. And even on days we were too tired or sometimes even unaware of what we needed, someone would call offering the very thing necessary to brighten our day. Meals, baby care, clothes for Rose, painting and cleaning the new house, or simply offering a listening ear. We are surrounded by some of the most dedicated and loving people.
The freedom to stay at home and mother my child. Since becoming a mother, I am so in awe of women. All women, well, moms in particular. Whether you birthed or adopted your child, moms are incredible. The magnitude of what our bodies can endure blows my mind. God’s beautiful design never ceases to amaze. But on top of that, the strength, vulnerability and perseverance it requires to mother. I had no idea I possessed these qualities. Whether you are a working mom, a stay-at-home mom, or in my case both – I will be raising a glass to you tonight!
Vitaliy faced his fears and pursued many different kinds of photography outside of the wedding industry. This particular photo he was commissioned to travel to the East Coast and document the experience of Bolivian organic quinoa farmers in the United States.
Whole 30. Vitaliy and I did our first Whole 30 in May. We never felt better! We learned a ton about food, our bodies and ourselves. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a good plan after it ended and fell back into some old habits. So, we’ll be doing our second Whole 30 starting January 31 and finally have a game plan of going Paleo at the end. Anybody want to join us!? Send me an email – we’re trying to get a whole team of us.
We rediscovered the joy of family portraiture. I think Rose may have something to do with this and enjoying our own family photos. Looking forward to doing more family sessions in 2016!
This is such a small thing, but at the same time, it feels huge. We have been able to remain debt free even after having our first child. We did Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University two years ago and started using the cash envelope system. We’ve been consistently keeping a budget and using the system ever since and I am extremely thankful. Being debt free creates so much freedom in life and freedom is one of our important family values.
A new home! Renting a home in the bay area was not even a thought for us because it seemed utterly impossible. But God had different plans for us and provided a way without us even trying. We are so, so happy for the additional space. To see Rose crawling (almost walking!) around and playing in her own room. But more than anything, this experience has reminded me that with Jesus, the impossible is possible. A truth I need as I step into the new year with goals and ideas that feel impossible.
A trip home to St. Louis to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Seeing Rose with all of my family was the best! We created so many new memories that I will always hold dear to my heart.

Chime in or Share

Written by Candace on December 29, 2015 | 4 Comments

Christmas 2015

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas. Vitaliy and I spent the day at home in our pajamas celebrating Rose’s very first Christmas. My mom and Vitaliy’s sister joined us for the festivities. It was a glorious day! One that I spent mostly in bed.

You see, Christmas is also my birthday. And without verbalizing it myself, my husband knew what I ~~wanted~~ needed most for my birthday…sleep. So, with nudging and encouragement from Vitaliy and my mom, and knowing Rose would be well taken care of by everyone, I made my way to the bedroom thinking “I’ll just lie down for 20 minutes and then come back out for the Christmas fun.” I woke up an hour and a half later and then spent at least another hour eating lunch in bed with my most coveted Christmas gift – Stephen King’s book On Writing. As I mentioned, it was all very glorious, a true Christmas miracle.

A lot of people told me, sleep when baby sleeps. Which I often did early on and now have to force myself to on days when I can tell I’m starting to run on empty. But the other valuable piece of mothering/parenting advice a friend gave me was that I get a year long grace period for EVERYTHING. A whole year to fall short! I cannot tell you the number of times this has come in handy when I started getting down on myself about something.

As I write this, I still have a stack of Christmas cards to send out, but hey, I’m still in my grace year! I have another two months to fall short, permission to live perfectly imperfect. We scaled down on the number of cards we sent this year and are intentionally writing a note with each one. It’s definitely taking longer than usual, but it’s been so wonderful to reflect how each recipient has touched our lives this year.

And that’s the beauty of living a perfectly imperfect life. One marked by grace instead of perfection. Perfection would have told me to send the cards out before Christmas without a note. It’s better to look like you’ve got your stuff together. Grace says, be late, but send them with love. My grace period ends on February 14 when Rose turns one, but I’m thinking this might just be a better way of living. Our new normal.

A few shots from our end of the year family photoshoot, along with Rose’s 9 month photos. Here are a few others: 3 months, 6 months. She is now 10 months old and starting to walk!

Chime in or Share