After I got my first retirement ceremony under my belt I got asked to do another right after.  How awesome is that?  I was definitely flattered that everyone liked the pictures from the first ceremony, and was excited to get to photograph another monumental moment in someones life.  I got to meet his family, which were all very nice and had the sweetest southern accents.  I really enjoyed working with Chief Givens and was more than happy to photograph his ceremony.  

I have to say, one of my favorite parts of these ceremonies is the speeches that the guest speaker gives, and the one the retiree gives.  It’s awesome to get a short glimpse into the careers of these hard working guys and to see how much they care about the navy and this country.  You can see all the sacrifices they made in their careers flash across their face when their personal speech gets directed towards the wives and children’s that have stood by their sides during all the good and bad times throughout their career.  It takes a strong and courageous family to make it through a career in the military, and I feel so much pride and happiness for them all the moment they know they will never have to spend another night away or miss another precious moment with their loved ones.  

I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph a retirement ceremony, and I had to say I was pretty darn nervous about it!  Especially since it was for a Senior Chief that I work with, so being the perfectionist I am, I had to get it done perfectly.  I had only ever been to one naval retirement ceremony and I was just one sailor in a very large formation watching from afar.  I’ve only really photographed families before this so this whole concept was pretty new to me.  To my surprise I actually really enjoyed it!  I loved walking around and getting to be involved in the ceremony instead of standing at attention in the background.  My favorite part was getting to capture the natural expressions from everyone.  A retirement ceremony can be a very emotional time for both the service member and the family.  Having been through over 20 years of sacrifice and hard work (for both parties), for it to be finally coming to an end and get the chance to experience a “normal” life, I can only assume it to be a very overwhelming experience for everyone.  When you are a part of the military for so long, it becomes a second family to you.  It’s not only a nine to five job where you can just shrug off the frustrating person next to you and go home for the night.  You get stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with these people for extended periods of time and learn to really grow friendships and learn a new sense of camaraderie with your fellow shipmates.  Senior Chief Donald Miller has honorably served over 20 years of his life to this country and now will transition into the civilian life.  I’m happy to have served with him, and proud that I got the opportunity to capture this moment in his life.  

More military homecoming pictures!  This shoot was extra special since it was at my squadron so I knew most of the guys (and some of the wives/girlfriends back home) that were coming back home from their long deployments.  I absolutely loved the excitement that you could see in the faces of the families!  I really enjoyed getting to capture such a beautiful moment! These guys work super hard overseas and endure long working hours on very old aircraft that love breaking at all the wrong moments.  They spend months away from family and have to miss out on a lot of special moments in their families lives.  The ladies back home have to deal with many nights alone waiting for phone calls or emails, counting down what seems like endless days until their boyfriends/husbands come home.  They hold down the house, take care of children, deal with the every day stress that comes along with life and worry constantly about the safety of their loved one and hope they return safely and on time.  I have seen both sides of a deployment so I personally know the challenges of each, so I have the utmost respect for all military families.  I feel privileged to get to be a part of this country’s military service and to know and work with such a diverse group of amazing people. 

I haven’t had a chance to update much lately… so here is me catching up a little bit!  So about a month or so ago, the USS Stennis returned home after a long deployment.  The homecoming of an aircraft carrier is nothing like anything you’ve ever experienced… unless of course you have been to one yourself.  The emotions are so thick in the air that you can feel them radiating off of the crowds.  Family and friends who have spend months away from their loved ones anxiously wait for the sailors to step off the ship and back onto land and back into their arms.   I had the pleasure of capturing this moment for the beautiful Sautter family and enjoyed every minute of it.  You can see the love and happiness of this reunited family in the pictures in this special moment.  I loved the little sailor outfits the boys were dressed up in! They were so proud to be dressed like daddy.  Times like this really makes me love photography even more than I already do!

So I need to catch up on some posts!    My sister came out to visit all the way from Washington D.C.! I was beyond excited to have her and my beautiful one month old niece come stay with me.  AND I even got to take some pictures of her.  I had boughten this over-the-top vintage-esque bow with a birdcage veil that I was dying to have her wear…. and it was just adorable!  I was so happy how they turned out.  Both my sister and brother in law are in the military, so we also incorporated a little patriotic theme to go along with as well.  Though my niece was being a little stubborn and did not want to fall asleep, we took the pictures with her all bright eyed and bushy tailed.  Let me tell ya…. photographing babies are definitely work! It’s unpredictable and can get a little silly… I know that me and my sister had some good laughs…. especially when she decided to pee on my comforter! HA!  (Though I’m sure this is her just getting me back for all these pictures in the future… you know… when we pull them out during a visit with her future boyfriend!).  All in all I had a great time and the visit went by WAY too quickly.  I can’t wait to see them again soon and take more pictures since she is growing so darn fast.  <3

So I found this idea surfing the internet a few years ago when my sister was deployed…  Baked goods sealed in a mason jar! How cool/convenient is that?  This baked treats seal in air tight and are good for a couple months if the jar remains sealed.  Now my boyfriend is deployed so it’s time to make them again.  Here are the instructions if you would like to make some yourself!  

-Wash all the mason jars thoroughly  in hot soapy water.  (if you have a dishwasher then just send them through a cycle).  Let dry. 

-Whip up a batch of your loved ones favorite cake/cupcake/bread/brownie batter.

-I recommend making a test run in a cupcake tin so you can judge how high the batter rises. (you don’t want the batter rising past the top of the mason jar or it won’t seal)

-Place Mason Jars on a baking sheet and lightly grease the inside of the jars.

-Place a pot of water on the stove to boil, and set in the metal jar tops. (only the lids, not the rounds that screw down).

-Fill up your mason jars about half way (depending on how high your batter rises).

-Wipe off all batter that may have gotten around the edges (**very important! the edges must be clean for the jar to properly seal)

-Pop in the oven and follow the cooking instructions for whatever sweat treat you decided to make.  

-Keep an eye on the jars while they cook, and when the tops/sides start turning a golden color it will be time to take them out.  It is VERY important to double check the cake is done all the way through, since this can make someone very sick if any part of it is raw.  You can use a butter knife or wooden skewer to poke all the way through and make sure it comes up clean.  

-When done, take the jars out and set on counter. 

**Please wear two oven mitts for this part as to not burn yourself!**

-Carefully take the tops out of the boiling water one at a time (I use a fork to get them out), and place on jars, then immediately screw down metal ring as tight as you can. Repeat this until all of the jars are sealed.

-Set the jars aside to cool.  As they begin to cool you will hear a “popping” sound come from each jar which signals to you that the jars are sealing properly.  

-Each top should be smooth and should not pop or move when you press down on it.  If they do, then the jar is not sealed and is no good. (but thats okay.. you can always enjoy that one yourself)

-After fully cooled, you can decorate!  There are infinite options… I’ve used cloth squares and draped over top, then screwed down ring over to give it a country look.  This time I chose to print out circular labels and then tie bows around them.  

Now you are done! You can ship out with a plastic knife and fork for your loved one to enjoy!  All they have to do when they get it is check the seal is still intact, open and slide the knife around the edges to loosen up, pop out cake or bread and enjoy!   I’ve gotten great feedback with these, and you will be surprised how moist these turn out!  

After January 22nd my life will never be the same again!  I am now an aunt to the most beautiful little girl I have ever laid eyes on.  To say that I’m excited to be an aunt is the understatement of the year!  My sister, Amber, did amazing through the whole process.  I can’t imagine being more proud of her ever.  Through the toughest circumstances, she has pulled through and managed to make the best of life.  I can only hope that when I decide to have kids one day, that I will handle it as well as she did.  

Labor went really smoothly, even though Lorelei was very late.  (I guess I shouldn’t have been feeding Amber such yummy dinners! She was too happy in cozy in there! haha).  At 5:43 a.m. Lorelei Mary Ortiz made her debut into the world!  I was SO excited that I got to be there and be a part of the whole process, and I even got to cut the cord!  I was there for two days after to help out with the baby in the hospital, and I even got to take her to get some blood tests done all by myself which was really awesome.  The nurses said I did a great job with her, which was such a relief since I don’t have much experience with babies.  I didn’t get to take newborn photo’s like I had originally planned since I had to leave the day that we got home from the hospital (the unfortunate part of being in the military is not having much flexibility in your work schedule), BUT! they are planning on making a trip out to California near the end of her maternity leave, so I will get to do one month pictures which will be just as fun.  

One of the reasons I loved taking so many pictures of this little beauty is because unfortunately her daddy is deployed and did not get to be here for her birth.  It broke everyones heart, but that is one of the many sacrifices our service members have to make in their lives sometimes.  He only gets pictures, phone calls and Skype until May when he is scheduled to come home, so every little picture really is something special to him.  It’s something that really makes my passion for photography so strong… seeing how much of an impact that these images can make on someones life, and how they can look back on these special times for the rest of their lives.  

So I’m on leave for a couple weeks and flew out to Washington D.C. for the birth of my very first niece.  We managed to do an impromptu mini maternity session because we live on opposite coasts, we haven’t had an opportunity to get any good pictures before this.  This little gem is managing to drive us all completely crazy already and she’s not even born yet!  She is very late and doesn’t seem to want to come out, so we had to schedule an induction for tomorrow.  I’m beyond excited!  

This is a very special and sensitive time because my brother in law is currently deployed and not scheduled to return until May, so he won’t be here for the birth.  We are all very sad that he won’t be here, but I’m going to attempt to capture all of this amazing journey with my camera so he can experience it at sea.  Though I won’t be posting any of the pictures from the delivery room, we will be having a newborn session after we bring this little beauty home, and I’ll be posting some of those!  I cannot wait to start!  

Today I did a super fun family shoot for the Brown/Swain Family.  This just happens to be my uncle, aunt and cousins….. which just means they are super cool!  (pshh… if they are related to me they have to be! haha).  We went to English Springs Park in Chino Hills, CA and had a nice shoot in the beautiful sunshine.  It was awesome getting to photograph them because I’ve seen them grow as a family so much! Crazy how fast time flies…  

Took two weeks leave with my amazing boyfriend, Adam, to his hometown in Pennsylvania.  We had a blast!  I got to do SO many cool things including go to a NFL and NHL game, eat probably some of the yummiest food ever, watch my crazy boyfriend waterski in his undies right after it rained, experience a real fall where the leaves start to turn beautiful colors, get stuck in a torrential downpour on my very first motorcycle ride with Adam, and meet a lot of his family… who were some of the nicest and most accepting people I have ever met.  I felt like part of the family instantly!  It was great.  Hands down, the best vacation I have taken yet.