It’s been a busy few months lately and we finally had a break over the weekend. It’s nice to have this one little weekend to relax a bit before the busyness and craziness of life strikes back {this coming weekend}. Though somewhat short, we find time to always have a little fun; be it dinner with friends, going dancing, lunch at our back porch, long walks with Mumfie, ice cream on a hot day, or just milling around coffee shops to relax and just breathe. Life happens. And it can be crazy sometimes but it is the life we chose to live. I found these photos last night from our trip to Mexico last year. I shot them using an old Nikon film camera. Lots of fun light leaks. I always think of Mexico whenever I feel like I need time to just breathe in a day ’cause it surely was a fun trip. The food, the sun, the beach, and the margaritas…everything screams “relax and enjoy” to me. I’m hoping we get to go somewhere fun this year.

I also found this photo of me and Mumfie taken outside some store in Guthrie. This was earlier this year, perhaps January. He was still so small and I could still carry him. Today, he’s more than half my weight and it hurts when he steps on my foot! He could knock me over without a problem. Silly dog! But we love him very much. When life gets so busy or overwhelming, these are memories that I hold on to. And I’m glad that I could look at them over and over and over again and it brings a smile to my face each time. So however crazy life could be, make sure you enjoy and live every moment of it. We only get to live once right!? Have a wonderful week my friends! We’re headed off to the great state of Texas to shoot a wedding over the weekend. Can’t wait!

Happy Friday friends! How has life been to you lately? I hope it has been kind. We definitely could use some better weather here ’cause it’s been cold and raining non-stop for the last few days. On top of that, I recently received some not-very-good news. My college roommate’s husband just past away and at the age of 34! 34!? Too young and gone too soon. So she’s now left with her little boy to move on and face the world again. I talked to her the other night and reminded her that she was a strong girl and that her husband is in a better place now. She’s thousands of miles away from me but I somehow could feel her pain. She’s the spunkiest gal I know and such a very close friend of mine. College {in the Philippines} was never boring with her around! She had so much fun and energy and charisma in her. If it’s not too much to ask, please send up some prayers for her. She needs every bit of it right now.

Life is too short indeed. So live your life! Do what you love. Take chances. Love. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Try. If you fall, then get up and try again. Live in the Present. Be kind. Love yourself. Well, it’s Friday and we have a busy weekend ahead of us. I hope this Spring season brings you lots of smiles and good memories. Take care and thanks for dropping by! Think happy thoughts…

Hello friends! Can you believe that March is already here!? I seriously felt February just whizzed by too fast. Scott and I enjoyed a month off just improving our business in different ways, and relaxing and spending more time with each other and Mumfie. It has truly been awesome! But now that it’s March, our wedding season is here and it kicks off tomorrow. I am excited and nervous at the same time of what this season has in store for us. We’re delighted to be meeting and shooting new couples and even traveling a bit for some. I feel so giddy inside! I may sound like a broken record here but I want to thank you all {fans, friends, & clients} again for making this happen for us. We love what we do and we get to do it because of all the love and support from y’all! And I’m delighted to say that we’re open for bookings for 2014 Weddings! Yes, our 2013 is just about full so we’re welcoming any 2014 inquiries now.

And to celebrate the start of this season and in the hopes that Spring will come very soon {coz’ I’m not a big fan of this cold weather}, Scott surprised me with this wild mix of lovely and bright flowers. He truly knows how to make my ♥ sing. I wish you all a good day and a wonderful March ahead! And thank you for stopping by our blog, and do come back soon.

I haven’t really talked much about Mumfie on my blog, so I’ve decided that today would be a good time to talk about him since it’s Friday and his photos will surely make you smile! Lately, I’ve been trying to get better with this crazy asthma of mine. Mumfie is to blame…thank God he can’t read! I’m allergic to him and I just have to live with this if we want to keep him, which we will! There’s this everyday allergy medicine that I have to take so it won’t trigger my asthma which then won’t bring me into a downward spiral of acute bronchitis which I just recovered from. Oh boy, I hate meds! I wish I could get over this or get immune to this dog allergy somehow. Anyone know any traditional or herbal or homeopathic cure?

He’s so adorable. How could you give up this cute face!? The top photo is Mumfie on the day after we picked him up around New Year’s eve from a land far far away…no not Kansas, Arkansas. It’s still far away to be driving back and forth all in a day. But we came home happy parents {let’s not talk about having to wake up in the middle of night to let him out since a doggy door is just not possible at this point}. He’s such a bright dog and was potty-trained in a week. He just sits happy by the door to let us know he needs to go out.

And this is Mumfie last night. Happy as a teddy bear. He’s gained weight since then and his head his bigger. That’s pretty clear in the photos. He’s slowly growing to be a big puppy now. Last week he was 27lbs and this week, well I don’t even want to know. I swear he’s been gaining 5lbs every 2 weeks! He loves his monkey, Sweetheart, and his pink Victoria Secret stuffed dog. I say love because out of all the stuffed toys he has, these two are the ones that he handles with great care and sleeps with at night. Thanks for stopping by and visiting our big puppy Mumfie! Have an awesome weekend!

So very happy Monday to everyone! How was your weekend? Well, we finally picked up our first copy of the local bridal magazine ~ Brides of Oklahoma. We are so delighted to see that most of the photos used for the ad by the Dresser Mansion was Jeff & Maegen’s Wedding we photographed last summer! If you haven’t checked out their wedding, be sure to hop over and check it out! We love shooting at the Dresser Mansion and can’t wait to shoot more weddings there this year. If you’re looking for a venue in Tulsa, it’s definitely on the top of our recommendation list. The inside has so much character with beautiful wood trim and accented teal walls! Eeek! If you don’t know, we love teal. And the secluded yard in the back gives you the option for a beautiful outdoor wedding.

We actually haven’t really submitted anything to a print magazine before and tend to submit to online publications. But I have to admit that I love the look of our photos printed. So we may look into some magazine submissions in the future. Have an awesome week!

Aaaah! We finally finished revamping the site and the business side of things! It’s just a tad change on backgrounds and layouts and portfolio updates and pricing {we now offer several wedding packages!}, and ironing out some bugs and kinks. We like it better now! Baby steps. *two thumbs up* We just had so much stuff going on these past weeks and had just been using every break we get on updating our webpage so please feel free to look around. We hope navigation and searching for information will be easier this time. Big thanks to Sandra of Little Blue Pencil who shared her talent on our 2012 website…her lovely camera drawings gave it more life. This time we opted for a simpler, cleaner, still fun look but keeping our original love of Polaroids.

There’s a lot of exciting things in store for us this year. Lots of awesome weddings, lovely couples, and new friendships. We feel so grateful. So blessed. So if you know anyone getting hitched, well, send them our way. :) We might be the best buds you’ll ever have! Happy Monday!

Happy New Year everyone! It’s funny how it feels like last year went by so fast and yet when you look back on it month by month, you realize that you packed a ton of stuff into those days as they whizzed by. Other than all the weddings, engagements, and special events we experienced with our clients, the biggest milestone this year was Scott going full-time on our business. This helped 2012 be an awesome year for us, and as we think back on it, we are even more excited about what 2013 holds for us! Anyway, while we looked back on all of our shoots this year, we pulled out some that sparked our memories or gave us a smile and we want to share them with you! Big thanks to all our clients, fans, and friends who never stopped believing in us! This is what we love to do and you all made it possible. We are so honoured you picked us. Thank you, thank you, thank you…you all are amazing! ♥

Dear Blue Ely Friends,

Christmas is here! My favourite holiday! What’s even more awesome is that it’s supposed to snow here tomorrow – up to 6 inches of snow fall. I love playing in the snow! So we are indeed having a beautiful white Christmas. It all seems perfect but I feel so homesick. It could get a tad lonely not being able to celebrate Christmas with my family – it’s been 8 long years. Too long. But I’m thankful that Scott & his cooking gets me through each birthday or holiday season. Friends, make sure to give your loved ones a hug even if it’s the only gift you can give them, it would mean so much. I know for sure coz’ I could really use one right now and I know it would make me feel better. I miss the times where my family would gather around the tree, open up presents, eat to our hearts content, and laugh the night & early morning away. When you come from a close-knit family like mine, or a country where Christmas is the biggest celebration, there’s just pure happiness in the air regardless whether you are rich or poor. But hey, maybe in a year or two we might be able to save enough to go home so Scott can experience Christmas in the Philippines. It’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before! If you’re a traveler at heart and happen to be in the Philippines around September to December, you will know what I mean. The loud Christmas songs everywhere, the colorful lanterns, joyful caroling of kids, and all-night-all-morning festivities up to Christmas day are things that I grew up experiencing. Still, I am very grateful to be alive and content where life has taken me. Scott and I may be alone here in the US but we’ve met so many kind people, friends, fans, clients, and the like who are thoughtful to us and we definitely feel truly blessed. We wish everyone all the fun and laughter with your family and friends this joyous season. Happy holidays to you all!

Lots of love ♥ ~ Kristine

Is everyone ready for another weekend!? I am! Yes, I know it is still Wednesday but I can dream right!? Anyway, it’s been awhile since I wrote a personal post and I’m quite overwhelmed on where to start. These past two weeks just went by like a blur. I’ve been caught up with work so much that I forgot that I had to have a surgery at some point. I really don’t like hospitals, the smell of it makes me sick. I know the smell is just some bleach or cleaning solution but the thought of being in one just gives me chills and makes me nauseous. Well, it was my first time to be hospitalized two weeks ago. The last time was when I was born. So I was totally freaked out and I think I passed out in the operating room before they even gave me anesthesia! Ha! On the bright side, I am okay now. The about-2-inch incision on my breast is healing for sure but will take 6-8 weeks to fully heal. I got news that the big ugly cyst that they removed is non-cancerous. I gave out a huge sigh of relief upon hearing it from the surgeon. I asked how in the world I got it and she just said “Bad luck!” I don’t want any of that anymore, for real!

On another note, Scott is extremely happy that after 5 years of living together we bought our first jar of Peanut Butter! Yes, I know, you will think I am crazy but I tasted the peanut butter here in the States years and years ago and never wanted to be around it ever again. The ones I had in the Philippines were way tastier and creamier. But Scott tried to convince me last night to buy one and told me that perhaps the one I’ve had before was a bad jar…Suuuuure! He made me a peanut butter sandwich for me today and I have to admit…it wasn’t bad. So yes I finally ate my first peanut butter sandwich in 5 years!
Oh and for the record, I never took any of the pain killer pills that my doctor gave me even though she said I would need them. Nope, I didn’t need them! I went for the more natural way. Instead, I resorted to a glass of Margarita whenever I couldn’t take the pain. Yes, Margaritas were lining up fast and that did the trick! Happy Wednesday y’all!

Happy Halloween! When I was growing up, we really didn’t used to celebrate Halloween in costumes or go trick or treating. I say used to since times have changed and some Filipinos had started celebrating Halloween the American way now for the past few years. Kids nowadays there go trick or treating at the malls to get their fill of candy! But there are still some who celebrate it just how I remember it. Way back in my grade school or high school days, we celebrated this time of the month or week in preparation for All Saints Day and All Souls Day. This is a 3-5 days holiday for us there.

So how do we celebrate? It involves camping out at the Cemetery. Yes, you heard me right, sleepover at the cemetery! Families visit their departed loved ones at the cemetery. They offer flowers, light candles, pray, or hold a short mass at the grave site. We sit around to some good ol’ ghost stories, eat a feast, sing songs, drink and be merry. Families sleep there for the night then you do this again the next day if you want. It varies for every family but our family sleeps there at least for 2 nights. So yes we camp out with our open tents, chairs, and sleeping bags, flash lights, and folding beds if you do have a mausoleum. Not spooky at all since everyone does it. If you don’t feel like cooking well, food is available in the area, just name any fast food chain that you’re craving for ‘coz most likely they are parked at the cemetery entrance or exit gate, 24-7 at your call.

So this is how I celebrated Halloween growing up. And my family still does the same tradition until now. They actually emailed me last night letting me know that they were off to make some good food and will be camping out and sleeping over today and tomorrow. My late grandpa and grandma won’t feel lonely then knowing the family came to visit to pay respect and spend time with them even if they’re gone. It may be wacky to you guys but this is how we do it Filipino style. Have a wonderful week. This Halloweeny wedding is coming to you soon, so stay tuned!