This week has been tumultuous, to say it kindly. Life has surges of big swells, and low tides. Just as Southern California Beaches have experienced its first big swell of the summer, so has life and business for me. You can do one of two things when the surf looks bigger than we can handle… stay on the beach and appreciate the view from afar…. or give it all you have in hopes of a glorious and fulfilling ride. I’m fighting for the courage to tackle the high surf and not allow myself to sit on the beach. I hope you have given this week all you have… and I hope you find that the challenge and your hard work yields many a “ride of your life.”
And to illustrate my thoughts, here’s a shot from a portrait shoot I did earlier this week….. Cheers!
My cousin called me this morning around 11am and asked if I could spare an hour this evening. I asked what for… and he said he was proposing to his girlfriend, Kate. I almost forgot to swallow for about a minute as he told me his initial plan for the evening and when he asked what I thought… I loudly gulped and said how AWESOME I thought the whole idea was. I told him I’d be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
As I stealthily stalked them on the tourist packed beach in Newport this evening, I thought how stinkin’ lucky I was, in that moment, to be able to share this with my cousin Scott and my soon to be cousin-in-law Kate. (Is that right? Cousin-in-law?) Anyways… I’m so so SOOO happy for them… and so proud that two such talented and ridiculously intelligent good looking people found each other and fell in love. Here’s some shots from the evening…
Scotty and Kate, I was so honored to be included… and I hope you know I love you more than all the sand in Newport. You rock my world, you give me something to strive to be when I grow up, and I hope you enjoy every second of your engagement. Lastly, Kate… take care of the name you’re marrying into… I’ll expect nothing less than excellence from the future “Katie Akamine.” 
Wedding Season is now in full effect for me, which means… well… that it’s wedding season. I’m currently packing my gear up for a mid-week wedding tonight, but I wanted to share some shots I took last week when I went on a short impromptu photo safari with my friend Becca. It was refreshing to experiment with inanimate objects and colors… here’s just a few shots…
On our way out for the evening, we ran into this gigantic bull dog, affectionately named “Beef.” He looked so sad… I had to take a picture. I showed it to him in the back of my camera thinking it would cheer him up to see how cute he looked… but I think it just made him more sad….
I hope these made your Tuesday afternoon more cheery… and I hope Beef made you smile… more weddings and portraits to come in the next few days! So stay tuned…
Today I did something I never do. I spoke at a women’s bible study at church. As I told them, I’ll tell you now…. I’m not really the public speaking type of person… it’s way more comfortable to speak from my blog where I don’t have to worry about saying “um” too much or stuttering. But I did it and I’m pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to work Keynote, pair a remote to my laptop, and connect the correct cords to make it project on a screen… all while talking about something (hopefully) remotely relevant to the audience of women.
A couple weeks ago, Christopher and I sat in the clubhouse at Forest Home talking about life and lessons and the challenges of living on the road less traveled… all pretty light a fluffy subjects (not). It’s a wierd season of life for both of us… feels sort of like a staging ground… or a change of tides. Do you ever have those season in your life? So who knows where the wind will blow or what He’s got up his sleeve for the next chapter of the adventure. I suppose I’ll know in all good time… and when I find out, I’ll be sure to keep you posted. 
But for now, here’s a few pictures from the same afternoon at camp with Christopher… we made a ship at the craft cabin and it’s my new favorite desk decoration! More weddings and fun shoots to share in the coming weeks!
