Page Wedding, Part I

Okay, just prepare yourself for looking at pictures of some seriously beautiful people :) Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to take pictures of Rachael and Mike Page the day after their wedding. They had their official ceremony at the Mormon Temple in Illinois on Friday and drove back to St.Joseph, MO to have their reception at the church of Latter-Day Saints in St.Joe. We were able to squeeze in a few "formal" family portraits at Krug Park before the sun went down on us Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful, beautiful Saturday. Sunny, not windy and 58 degrees - not bad for late November in the Midwest! Enjoy the pictures :)

Rachael and Miss Martha - you women are beautiful! I couldn't resist to post this picture!
Rachael's bridesmaids were drop dead gorgeous! Great dresses! :)
Rachael and her maid of honor, and sister, Becca
Mike's groomsmen.
All the girls with the groom!
The wedding party. Check out that gorgeous wood wall we found in Krug Park! :)

You girls are pretty enough for a magazine :)

Wonderful little moment between Rachael, her sister and bridesmaid Nicole.
JUMP!
Here begins our portrait session for Mike and Rachael!

Girls, again, so pretty!
The dip!




I really love this one :)
A little series of 4 of many pictures we took in the middle of a downtown street right at sundown. These two are gorgeous and everything about this setting just makes me smile :)

Thanks again, Mike and Rachael for asking me to take your portraits! Watch out for another post later on with pictures from the reception and the awesome dance party!

Engagement: Jason and Beth

Jason and Beth met on February 27th, 2009, and 8 months later, Jason proposed to Miss Beth in beautiful Warner park in Manhattan, KS. (Same place they had their first date!) These two are so adorable, so in love and I couldn't help but keep saying "you guys are so cute!"

She is a lawyer, and he is helicopter pilot in the Army. One pretty serious power couple! I love Beth's sweet and sincere smile and Jason's love for her. When I asked Jason to tell me some things about himself, I knew right away I had met another fun client, because his response was, "I am a leo. I like long walks on the beach, romantic novels, sunsets and unicorns." Haha! It's great to work with people who have a sense of humor!

Seriously. You two are gorgeous!
Take a gander at this beautiful ring Jason picked out on his own! Nice job!

I think this is when Jason's sarcasm really came out - he saw a couple red berries and wanted to take pictures of him feeding the berries to her! Haha!
It sure produced some good laughter though :)
Dear Miss Beth, you are drop dead gorgeous! :)

For some reason I can't explain, this may be my favorite shot from the day (below):

Thanks so much for asking me to be a part of your lives! I am so excited for the wedding on January 23rd! You guys are beautiful and I can't wait to capture that love on your special day! :)

#12 - Host a dinner party

#12 on the list is to host a dinner party. Oh boy, oh boy, I was so excited about that one! Last night 3 beautiful women came over for dinner and laughter! I prepared some beautiful mashed potatoes (by beautiful I mean, I love mashed potatoes so they are beautiful to me!), some steamed asparagus some Chicken Saltimbocca and cheesecake for dessert :) I have posted the basic rundown of preparations with some instructions in case you want to make this at home ( it is delicious!) Enjoy!

Start with a big batch of golden yellow potatoes (they are prettier after they are boiled and by leaving the skin on you can get this really, really beautiful russet yellow potato that looks great on a plate next to a green vegetable!)

Thaw the asparagus (I like to buy it ahead of time, frozen - it seems to steam better.)
Garlic = yum. Sadly, most people don't know how to use fresh garlic. So I've posted the steps -
1) pull the garlic head out of the garlic bag :)

2) lay the knife on top of the garlic head and smash it (so much fun) and pull the cloves out individually.
3) make sure to pull all of the garlic "skin' off of each head before dicing it up into really tiny chunks (especially for potatoes).
After the potatoes have been boiling for awhile (15 minute or so - stick a fork in them to see if they are done), then drain the water, put them in a mixing bowl with some butter, couple squirts of lemon juice and all of your freshly diced garlic. I also like to put some fresh oregano and basil in there as well. Mix until fluffy :)
Ta-Da!
Now for the chicken saltimbocca :) (I forgot to take pictures of the marinade - I thaw the chicken and then marinade it for about 6-10 hours in olive oil, couple fresh diced cloves of garlic, parsley, salt and pepper - mix up the marinade and throw the chicken and marinade in a ziploc bag and stick it in your fridge until you are ready to work with it!

1) Dice up fresh spinach.
2) Put it in a handy little cup so your cutting board is cleared for the chicken!
3) remove the chicken from the marinade bag and place on the cutting board (face up). Place one thin slice of prosciutto over the top (gentle - prosciutto tears like wet tissue paper).
4) sprinkle some of your beautiful, fresh spinach over time and fold in half like a sandwich. Saute each side for about 1 minute in hot skillet with some olive oil. (This sears the outside of the meat so that when you bake it all of the juices do not run out.) Place chicken in a 9x13 (do this for as many chicken breasts as you have.) Pour remaining marinade over the chicken, then bake for 30 minutes at 375. If you have time, pull the pan out every 5 minutes or so and scoop up the glaze from the bottom of the pan and rewet the chicken - makes for a delicious, juicy entree when you are finished!
While the chicken is cooking, it's time to decorate! I found these beautiful cloth napkins and cute napkin rings and well...needless to say, I fell in love :)

Light a few candles and wait for the girls to come :)

Yay! Thanks, Lindsey and Lindsay! I had so much fun :) (Miss Melanie came for awhile, too. But I didn't even think to take a picture until after she had left!)