Chico | Family

I had the honor of shooting this lovely little family. You may remember Franki (the only little white girl in the photo) from my previous post. This is her father's family. Her 3 little gorgeous sisters, step mother, & father. They are an adorable little family. I had an amazing time with them & I was wore out at the end of the shoot. Franki, Noelani, Aida, & Arella from oldest to youngest. Such unique but gorgeous names. Aida kept running away & getting distracted. She also is very intelligent. Noelani loves to follow Franki around & you can tell she looks up to her. Arella is her own person. She has the cutest personality. Franki is just a ball of crazyness. She loves to be in the know of everything & loves to be the mother goose.

The family. Eunice, Neftaly, Arella, Noelani, Aida, & Franki.

Daddy with all his little girls.

Neftaly with his littlest girl, Arella.

The queen of the house. Eunice is the most sweetest gorgeous mommy EVER! 

Neftaly, the man of the house.

 

Franki & Noelani. They are so close & Noelani really looks up to her big sister. BTW Franki speaks fluent spanish! :)

Aida, Nolani, & Franki.

Aida & her sassy little self. 

Moving day | Bye Bye Virginia

February 24th my father, older sister, & little brother came down to Virginia to help us pack up our belongings & move to Michigan. It is a chapter closed in our lives that makes me a little sad. I moved to Virginia from Maryland in 2010 to be closer to my job. I got let go from my position & it was the perfect time to move back to where we are from. The good ole' state of Michigan. We had juggled around the idea of moving to Michigan for over a year. It was a go then a no then a go and then another no! Finally when the opportunity arose we jumped at it. My family was so supportive & willing to help us in any way. My family arrived Friday night & we packed over night & was on the road by 11am Saturday morning. My father was not having us lollygaging around lol. It was a great experience because I had to pay for gas for 4 cars, ride 14 hours with 2 cats, & deal with freezing weather. It was errr loads of fun! Here are a few photos from the move.

We picked up the budget truck & we got ripped off!!! I should have just went with Uhaul! Website said $320 for 4 days unlimited milage.....but I ended up paying $578 altogether!! Yea not happy!!!

My brother in a full truck!! Bye bye......

My father & brother loading the rest of the stuff in.

The hubby dumping all the trash & locking up.

Bye bye Virginia it's been real! A lot of good times. I made a lot of memories living down there & enjoyed it but now it's time to be with my family.

We are moving | Michigan

I am happy to announce we are moving! We have decided to move back to Michigan to be with our families. Well mine, Hardy's family lives in Georgia. I am so happy, nervous, anxious, etc; I am tempted to pick up & move NOW! There are several reasons for the move:

1. Money

2. Family

3. School

4. Army

I am way exited about this.

(Taken January of this year)

Even though we will be moving back to this :( (the snow) I will be able to see the man in the pic's face more!! My dad!!!:)

I am a little upset I will lose a few clients but I am happy I met them & my business will only grow. I have more opportunity in Michigan with more clients because I know a lot of people. That's an excuse haha I know people here too. I will probably blog on & off in the next few months only because I am going to be super busy. Sorry:(

I have a few shoots in February that I can't wait for.

(One of my first photos in Michigan)

Hello Michigan good bye Virginia. 

Foto Friday | Semper Foto

Hi long time no talky. 
I have some exciting news my photos will be on Semper Fi Momma every Friday! Yea you read that right!!! I will be over there every FRIDAY!! Laura is amazing & asked me to post on her site as a military wife. I happily excepted & at first I was going to write about fashion but who am I kidding my niche is definitely photos. :) I love to share my photos. I feel I work very hard on my photography & want people to enjoy my photos as well as me. So go on over there & visit Semper Fi Momma for military life tips, tricks, fashion, fotos, & more. I hope you all enjoy your weekend. 

Did you think you where going to get away with no picture? hmmm you don't know me then!! :) 

(Frozen swamp in Michigan)

Mundane Mondays.

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas & New Years. If you don't celebrate Christmas Happy Holidays & I hope it was amazing. We have been in Michigan for about 2 weeks now. We spent some time with my family. We are missing hubbies family very much so. I seriously have a case of writer's block right now. I was stumped on what to write! :/ I want to just update you all on my week. It has been amazing. I love the fact we got to be with family during the holidays. Holidays are not the same with out family. I've been spending time with my best friend & my God son. 

Here are a few photos:

Look at him. He seriously is the cutest little thang EVER!! He is so laid back & is going to be a romantical.

My BFF & God Son. He looks just like his mama.

Did you make any resolutions for the new year? What did you do for NYE? Be blessed & take care.

Woods & Sunsets | Mommy & Son

Nanu & I have been friends since 9th grade. When I found out she was pregnant with her son I was so excited for her. I knew she would make a great mother. Nanu is funny & loves to have a great time were ever she goes. When I came to find out her sister Erica had a son also, I was more thrilled then ever. When we went home to Michigan she had asked to get a few shots of her son & her. I offered to do a Christmas shoot for her mother. Get all her children & grandchildren together & take a nice photo to frame for her. Nanu loved the idea, at the time. When we read the forecast it said a high of 60's & partly sunny. We should have known that was not going to be the case because we are in Michigan!

We met at a well known park in Holland, MI named Kollen Park. It was freezing & windy. The shots we did get I was super happy with.

Above [ Nanu, her son, Erica, her son]

Thank you Nanu & cutie pie for letting me work with you! I had an amazing time & look forward to our Spring shoot. 

Jenda xoxo

November | Loves & Loathes

(Sisterly love....all I need are my sisters & my life is complete! From R to L Samantha, me, Megan)

You know how you always have bad news with good news & everyone wants to know the bad news first well here we go! ;)

Loathes:

• Driving to Michigan (It is so long a 12 hour drive) never thought i'd say this but i'd rather fly!
• Junk food because you  know what they say a moment on the lips, forever on the hips! That's so true. 
• Jealousy. The ugly green monster reared it's head! No fun!
• Living 12 hours from my family.
• Moving, packing, cleaning up your messy old apartment.
• dropping off keys to your old apartment :(

Loves:

• Nutella ( I saw a huge jar of it & had to run the other way)
• Pineapple Vita Coco mmmm if you've never had it your missing out!
• Family time
• Cuddling with my nieces while watching a movie
• Christmas music (oh yea I am that guy!!)
• UGGS (need I say more)
• Family photo shoots

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!!

xoxo

Flan & Family | Thanksgiving & Giveaway.**Closed**

Is there a special tradition your family has during the holiday seasons? That one dish you can’t live without at Thanksgiving? I am not talking about the obvious turkey, potatoes, yams, & pies. Our family always has a potato casserole that we never go without. This year Nestle LaLechera asked me to participate in a campaign with them & bring a new tradition to our holiday season. Coming from a Mexican family you would think I've had the dish Flan before. In fact I have never even tasted Flan or even watched someone prepare it. I decided to give it a shot since I am trying to cook & bake more. My family was excited to be able to participate in making this dish with me since we drove up to Michigan for the holidays. We ended up making it a Sunday night family night. My little brother, step father, mother, husband, & me all took part in making Vanilla Flan. I let my husband pick which flavor of Flan he wanted to make & he chose Vanilla. That happened to be the kind of Flan my older brother makes & loves. 

The 5 recipe cards included Vanilla Flan, Pumpkin Flan, Coconut Flan, Dulce de Leche Flan, & a card with introducing Nestle La Lechera. The cards tell you what you'll need & step by step of how to make your Flan. 

Kodak Camera (which is digital btw) & Flan molds. One of the molds broke so my mother happened to have 2 so I replaced them. In the end I used the pie pan because I had more people to feed. You may use the molds so your guest & family may have their own serving.

Nestle La Lechera sent me a gift basket which contained flan molds, Nestle La Lechera, evaporated milk, Kodak camera to photograph us making the Flan, a gift card to buy the rest of the ingredients to make the Flan, & 5 recipe cards. Since I own my own camera I decided to let the husband take photos with the Kodak disposable camera & I took the photos with my camera. I am kind of nervous to see his photos haha. 

I documented below each of the steps & since I have never made it before I just said word for word what I did. 
The husband stirred & kept an eye out on the sugar so it wouldn't burn. I also didn't know sugar could be made into liquid (I apparently didn't pay attention much in science class) 

My little brother wanted to work his new blender so he blended the ingredients all together & made a huge mess haha.

I just set the timer on my phone as we sat around the table & talked. 

So I read somewhere that if you have craters in your Flan is because the Flan came to a boil but they certainly don't take away from the taste. :)

Flan does have to sit in the fridge over night or for 4 hours but it is so worth the wait. I had it for breakfast before we headed on the road back to Virginia. 

My mother was telling me my grandmother used to make this dish all the time & she never knew what it was at the time. Nor did she learn how so it was nice to experience this with my mother. My husband has had Flan before & enjoyed it. He is the baker & cooker in our marriage & was excited that I was doing it for once haha. I think I did a pretty good job! 


Grab your loved ones because I will be doing a giveaway of the gift basket above! 


Rules of the giveaway:
1. Comment below on your families traditions during the holidays.


2. Like my photography Facebook page. 


I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving & didn't gain to much weight pfft who am I kidding I ate at 3 different places! Gym here I come!!!!


Disclaimer: I was giving the gift basket from Nestle La Lechera to make Flan & all opinions are my own.