waking up early

 

it’s necessarily waking up that i don’t love, but just leaving my warm cozy bed that’s always hard for me. the morning of miranda & kyle’s engagements we planned on meeting at 7am, and it was in the 20s outside when i hopped into my car. since i was a kid it’s been drilled into my brain that you need to move to stay warm in the cold… but seriously?! move when it’s 7am and in the 20s… grrr! it felt painful for a few minutes, until we started moving, and until that first peek of sun came up from the hills. it was so beautiful! they were so beautiful with it in the distance behind them. i see the sun rise most days in the winter and it’s always beautiful, but something about being outside snapping pics of these love birds in the freezing cold, and the warm sun gliding over the hills, was the most beautiful thing i have seen in awhile! i can’t wait for their big day… it’s going to be just as beautiful as that morning… but hopefully a little bit warmer

xo.amanda      www.heartsandhorseshoes.com    facebook

{C + R} = <3

 

I love these two. They compliment each other perfectly and talk to each other so sweetly! It was awesome watching them interact and I’m so excited to be there on their big day… which is next month! YAY!!!

xo-Amanda         heartsandhorseshoes.com       Facebook

P Family Love

My most frequent family is also one of my favs! I get so excited to see how they’ve grown in the last 6 months… we’ve been doing these shoots since before they could sit by themselves… look at them now! This was one of those shoots where they were screaming, no one wanted to sit together (except obviously Shannon & Josh)… and yet when I looked back at the pics I would never guess. Another successful family shoot… filled with adventure

xo-Amanda         heartsandhorseshoes.com       Facebook

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Little Baby A

I love this family to pieces! I was so excited to meet this little bundle! I’m sure she will share her families crazy athletic abilities… after all her mom is back training when she is 10 days old… so what better place for her than on the bike, which ironically was THE only place she would fall asleep. Maybe when we are little we already know what makes us the most happy, besides food, love and warmth of course

xo.Amanda

www.heartsandhorseshoes.com

 

Wedding Wire

 

{Templeton,CA} – January 23, 2012 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding Marketplace, is excited to announce Hearts %26 Horseshoes Photography has been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for Photography!

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, Hearts %26 Horseshoes Photography was selected based on its stellar reviews from past newlywed clients.

Hearts %26 Horseshoes Photography is recognized as part of the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire local vendor community, comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The Bride’s Choice Award recognizes  the best local wedding vendors across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Hearts %26 Horseshoes Photography for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”

We are happy to announce that Hearts %26 Horseshoes Photography is one of the very best Photographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. Thanks to their positive feedback we were able  to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2012.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/hearts-horseshoes-photography-templeton/8ee6d9f4b06efd9a.html.

To learn more about the Bride’s Choice Awards™, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire™, the nation’s leading marketplace serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 reviewed wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers. WeddingWire also offers a comprehensive suite of online planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire is the only all-in-one marketing platform for businesses online and on-the-go. WeddingWire offers one simple solution to build a professional network, improve search visibility, manage social media and reach mobile consumers. Businesses that advertise with WeddingWire appear on WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Brides.com and Weddingbee.com.

What it means…

I recently switched cars with my dad so I could use his truck to get hay, and he made the comment, “Wow you didn’t have to clean it out for me.”  *enter sarcasm*   I spent the next day thinking how often we throw around that statement “YOU CAN TELL A LOT ABOUT A PERSON BY …this or that”.  And I wondered what can you tell about me because I don’t wash my car. Well some people might say that its gross and I clearly don’t care about my appearance. But my response would be, it gets me from point a to b, it takes my kids to school, it transports my dogs all over the place, I sometimes get hay in it, I move all sorts of stuff in it, so it’s it doing its job?! Why must it be sparkling clean to do those things? I see a car as a only those things above. I have it serviced when it’s due to be serviced… isn’t that more important than it being clean?  So can you really tell anything about me by how clean my car is? No not really, but you can tell my priorities don’t lie in it’s outward appearance.

Then I started thinking about how I see other people and how I probably assume the same things about other people based on their priorities. For instance I’ve seen someone dropping their kids off at school and think to myself, wow someone should’ve woken up and had some coffee before school, only to learn that they had just gotten off a 12 noc shift at the hospital, so instead I thought wow what a great parent that can do all of that and still bring their kids to school. We really don’t know what’s going on with other people’s lives, we won’t ever know. And though my story is petty about my filthy car (thankfully it’s raining right now) it’s meant as a reminder to myself that “you can tell a lot about a person by how they judge others” … give our fellow humans a break. Everyone has a different priority. Now you know cleaning is not at the top of my list.

{a + r} = love

April & Rodney got married at the Loading Chute in Creston, one of my favorite places. Because remember I secretly (not so secretly) want to be a farmer, and so I have a slight obsession with Creston, and the Loading Chute, and the Loading Chute Sunday Brunch.  What I loved most about this couple is that they were super mellow and just wanted to have fun. These of course are my type of people because yes there are many important parts about your wedding day, but if you aren’t having fun during the process you aren’t going to look back in fond remembrance of your big day.  One of my favorite things about their wedding decorations was the wall of photos of family pictures & pictures of them together. I love these two and wish them a million years of happiness… and I know that will come true!

xo-amanda       www.heartsandhorseshoes.com               facebook

 

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a + t = <3

My cute friends, and their cute dogs. Love them!!!

Martin Luther King Jr

One of the most noble things in life is standing up for what you believe in.  Especially when it’s controversial. Especially when it could be dangerous. It takes a very brave person to stand up for what they believe in openly when they know exactly what the outcome will most likely be. Martin Luther King Jr. knew how dangerous his voice was becoming, and it didn’t stop him.  He was a great man, who opened so many doors for others. His speeches and philosophies are still inspiring me today!

SIX PRINCIPLES OF NONVIOLENCE

Fundamental tenets of Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence described in his first book, Stride Toward Freedom. The six principles include:

1. Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is a positive force confronting the forces of injustice, and utilizes the righteous indignation and the spiritual, emotional and intellectual capabilities of people as the vital force for change and reconciliation.
2. The Beloved Community is the framework for the future. The nonviolent concept is an overall effort to achieve a reconciled world by raising the level of relationships among people to a height where justice prevails and persons attain their full human potential.
3. Attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil. The nonviolent approach helps one analyze the fundamental conditions, policies and practices of the conflict rather than reacting to one’s opponents or their personalities.
4. Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve the goal. Self-chosen suffering is redemptive and helps the movement grow in a spiritual as well as a humanitarian dimension. The moral authority of voluntary suffering for a goal communicates the concern to one’s own friends and community as well as to the opponent.
5. Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence. The nonviolent attitude permeates all aspects of the campaign. It provides mirror type reflection of the reality of the condition to one’s opponent and the community at large. Specific activities must be designed to help maintain a high level of spirit and morale during a nonviolent campaign.
6. The universe is on the side of justice. Truth is universal and human society and each human being is oriented to the just sense of order of the universe. The fundamental values in all of the world’s great religious include the concept that the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. For the nonviolent practitioner, nonviolence introduces a new moral context in which nonviolence is both the means and the end.

SIX STEPS OF NONVIOLENT SOCIAL CHANGE

A sequential process of nonviolent conflict-resolution and social change based on Dr. King’s teachings. The Six Steps of Nonviolence developed by The King Center include:

1. Information Gathering – The way you determine the facts, the optiosn for change, and the timing of pressure for raising the issue is a collective process.
2. Education – The process for developing articulate leaders, who are knowledgeable about the issues. It is directed toward the community through all forms of media about the real issues and human consequences of an unjust situation.
3. Personal Commitment – Means looking at your internal and external involvement in the nonviolent campaign and preparing yourself for long-term as well as short-term action.
4. Negotiation – Is the art of bringing together your views and those of your opponent to arrive at a just conclusion or clarify the unresolved issues, at which point, the conflict is formalized.
5. Direct Action – Occurs when negotiations have broken down or failed to produce a just response to the contested issues and conditions.
6. Reconciliation – Is the mandatory closing step of a campaign, when the opponents and proponents celebrate the victory and provide joint leadership to implement change.

We often view the Six Steps as a phases or cycles of a campaign rather than steps because each of them embodies a cluster or series of activities related to each of the other five elements.

Preview!

One of my favorite families!!! Can’t wait to share the rest of them

xo-Amanda        www.heartsandhorseshoes.com       Facebook