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So I’ve been going back and forth about writing this post for a couple of months. Part of me wants to shout it from the rooftops, and then there is another part of me that wants to keep it to myself. The rooftop shouter won out, as she so often does with me. That’s right, I’m making a person! A little boy to be exact who will be joining us sometime in July. While we are SUPER excited for him to come live with us, he was not what I would call “planned.” I mean, do wedding photographers plan to have babies in the middle of the summer? The answer to that is no, no they don’t. But planned or not we are excited for this new addition to our little family. I mean, hello! Look at this face! What’s not to love?

I’ve never thought of myself as someone who liked being pregnant, but I must say this one has been pretty darn easy. No sickness, no weird cravings (though I am HIGHLY susceptible to suggestion when it comes to food), not even feeling too crazy tired. All and all it’s been a pretty awesome experience and I’m really over the moon. I’m shooting weddings right up until the end, but luckily I’m getting lots of help from my wonderful husband and my really amazing photographer friends who are shooting along with me in my final weeks. I can’t tell you how blessed I feel to be so supported by my partner in life, my dear friends and my sweet clients. Thank you all for being so awesome during this time. I’m taking a short maternity leave after my July 1 wedding and will back in action for fall weddings. We have three spots still available for 2010 so feel free to send us an email if you’re still looking for a photographer.

Tags: my family, my kids, personal, pregnancy, Sarah Maren Photography

That up there, that is me and my best friend Jill. She and I have known each other for a LONG time… since 2nd grade actually. I remember the first time I met her… I thought she was really pretty and then I found out that she was a better reader than me and it kinda pissed me off. I was the best reader in school and then she just came outta nowhere and was all smart AND pretty! What the what? But, as the years went by we just ended up loving each other. Don’t get me wrong, there were some tense moments in our tween years but by the time high school started our friendship was pretty much set in stone. Along with that friendship came her awesome family who became like family to me. I didn’t have living grandparents, and Jill had a lot of them so I kind of adopted them. I didn’t have an older sister, she did though, so I did too. I didn’t have younger brothers to pack around on my hip, but Jill did and so they were my little brothers too. Jill was my rock. She was always the one who told me I would be great. She was (and IS) also the one who tells me when I’m being an ass. I don’t know where I would be without her, and I’m glad I don’t have to know.

Last week Jill’s great grandmother passed away at the age of 98. Monday was her funeral, and I made the trip up to Foresthill to be a part of the celebration of her life. It was an honor to stand with generations of her family who loved her, cherished her, and flat out adored her. I can only hope that my kids and grandkids will like me half as much as everyone loved Grandma J. One of the best things about the day was all the family pictures that everyone brought to share. It was incredible to see these images laid out so lovingly and with such care. It made my job just seem that much more important to me, and made me so grateful that I had been able to photograph families and events in people’s lives. It means the world to me that my job is to witness families be formed, grow and change. It humbles me to know that an image I created helps someone remember the love of their family. It is an honor to have that be my job.

Thank you Jill for being my BFF, and for treating me like family. It means everything to me.

In the fall of last year, when things were crazy and all I wanted to do was throw my computer out the window I called Dustin in the middle of the day and said, “We are going to Disneyland next month. I’m booking it now.” He kindly didn’t stop me and I booked our very first family vacation. Dustin and I went to Disneyland on our honeymoon, but hadn’t been back since Lauren made her way into our lives. We were so excited because Lauren LOVES all things princess and she loves Mickey Mouse and The Castle. We made the mistake of telling her we were going WAY earlier than we should have, and it was all she talked about for WEEKS AND WEEKS! Finally, the day arrived and we made our way from the Disneyland hotel to the Magic Kingdom. Lauren RAN all the way to the Monorail station.

Here she is on the monorail! So excited to go see all her “friends.”

I honestly wasn’t very good at taking pictures on our trip because I was having a little too much fun, but I’m so glad for the shots I got. Lauren LOVED the rides, and loved the characters. We loved being there as she experienced it all for the first time. It was really, really awesome.

She LOVED meeting Mickey and Stitch at California Adventure and watching the High School Musical 3 parade. She LOVES HSM3 and knows ALL the songs by heart and sings them A LOT. I thought she would have been jumping up and down and singing during the parade, but she was absolutely shell shocked by the whole experience. It was really cute. After the parade we were off to Ariel’s Grotto for lunch with the princesses. Of course, she wore her fabulous Snow White dress.

The other cool part of our vacation was that on day two my BFF Jill and her adorable family happened to be at Disneyland too, so we got to spend some time with them and it was such fun. It also ment that Dustin and I got to go to the Haunted Mansion because we had tried the day before with Lauren and she would NOT have it. We had to use the wimp exit… sad but true. Here is the ONLY picture of my and Jill… again, not so good with the picture taking.

We had SUCH a great time with our friends, and such a great trip. Lauren loved all the rides. She was JUST tall enough to do Star Tours and Splash Mountain and she loved them. But she REALLY loved the Rockets and the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. She also loved the snacks I packed.

And we both loved having our faces painted… they did a really awesome job!

Disneyland did just what it was supposed to - helped us have a lot of fun and spend some much needed time together. Lauren STILL talks about it every day. She talks about the Castle and the Pricesseses and The Spinny Cups all the time. I love that we got to make these memories with her… and honestly, I can’t wait to go back with her again.

Tags: California Adventure Theme Park, Disneyland Park, Lauren Jillian, My Best Friend Jill, My cute husband, my family, my husband Dustin, my kid, personal, retro blogging, Sarah Maren Photography

My friend Gwyn inspired me to do some retro blogging today… and since the trip I’m retro blogging happened to be to see her it only makes sense, right? Back in August 2009 I made my way from Sac International to Boston International to see my internet friend (now real life friend) Gwyneth Colleen and shoot a wedding with her in Maine. G-Love lives in New Hampshire so getting to see so much of New England was wonderful. The wedding we shot was lovely, I was only torrentially rained on once, and on my final day in New England we went to Boston early so I could get my Freedom Trail on. It was fabulous to see the sights with beautiful Gwyn!

We went to some seriously iconic Boston places as well for a little grub and a little drink. We had a cannolli at Mike’s Pastry and it was nothing short of life changing. (Also Gwyn is so cute!)

Then we happened across the Cheers Bar, and Norm’s seat was open so there was only one thing to do!

Boston is a BEAUTIFUL city, and I enjoyed the short time I spent there. I hope to go back someday soon and check out even more of one of the most historic cities I’ve ever been to!

Thanks Gwyn for being an awesome hostess and for showing me the sights in New England, taking me to eat my first (and last) lobstah, and being just an all around lovely person! I’m so glad I know you. And thanks to Jet Blue for getting me home to my super cute family.

Tags: Boston, Cheers Bar, Gwyneth Colleen, personal, retro blogging, Sarah Maren Photography, travel