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February 27, 2012

WPPI 2012/P31/Showit United. . .A week we will never forget!

Emily and I just returned from six days in Vegas attending an amazing photography conference.  We are exhausted, our brains are spinning with new ideas and we are so excited to see what God has in store for our future together as mother and daughter photography team.  **On a side note–please excuse the quality of the pictures. . .I know they should be a bit more impressive due to the fact we were at a photography conference, but all of these were taken on my little point and shoot or my iphone! :)

I guess the first thing that comes to mind is feelings of overwhelming blessings in my life.  If someone would have told me even two years ago that Emily and I would be in business together and spending a week in Vegas at WPPI, I would never have believed it.  I am overwhelmed by the new friends we met, the things we learned and the opportunities that opened up to us while we were there.

Let me start with the BEST!!  Walking into our room on Saturday afternoon, we had never met our roommates. What we knew of our them, we learned by facebook stalking them and chatting a bit online. :)  I knew we would get along, but I had no idea that we’d all become the best of friends. I have prayed for years for a friend for Emily. . .someone who would encourage her, keep her accountable, someone who would understand her quirky sense of humor, someone who would make her laugh. I never anticipated that God would bless her with lifelong friends while in Vegas, of all places! Chrissy and Elizabeth Ann– -thank you for such fun memories! We look forward to a lifetime of memories to come! :)

 

A year ago when I attended WPPI, we had our first P31 (Pursuit 31–a group of Christian women photographers who are striving to be a Proverbs 31 woman) get together. If I remember correctly, we had 17 members there. This year, we had morning devotionals and an amazing women’s soiree with at least 60 in attendance.  In the past year our group of ladies has grown from 100 ladies to over 1800. . .I’m not sure how many were there, but I can tell you that I was blown away by what a bond we had created online beforehand and how much I enjoyed meeting them in person.  Some will be lifelong friends. . .

Worshipping Jesus in the middle of all the craziness of Las Vegas is pretty amazing. . .especially when you have Brain Wurzell and Katelyn James leading worship and Albert Tate speaking.  I wish I had pictures of this amazing event!  Right before while we were waiting for UNITE to start, an awesome couple came up to Emily and Chrissy and handed them two tickets to a private Ingrid Michaelson concert.  Believe me, I was jealous, but also very excited for the two of them! While they were enjoying the concert, Elizabeth Ann and I enjoyed a fun P31 PJ Party in our room!!

 

MY (Kristin’s) Highlights:

– Tuesday we were reunited with some of our favorite people ever for a For the Love Reunion lunch!  Spending time with The Hollingsworths, The Youngrens, Ginny Corbett, Keary & Justin, & Sarah Van Martin as well as meeting other alumni was so special for us. We truly feel like they are family.

– Attending Tasra Dawson’s Master Class  (with Wendy Cunningham) at WPPI was not only eye opening, but also incredibly inspiring.  My heart’s desire is to be involved in teen girls lives, so this class truly impacted me.  You can see Tasra’s work at www.teenidentity.com.

– Attending multiple classes by Zach and Jody Gray and getting to talk to Jody about our upcoming Pursing the Light retreat.

– Hearing Mike and Rachel Larson’s hearts, passions, ideas and wisdom is probably the most valuable class for applying to not only photography, but also my life. Thank you, Mike and Rachel!! Plus, a highlight was that Mike chose my card and I won an awesome Sunbounce Reflector!! Can’t wait to use it!! :)

 

Emily’s Highlights:

Oh, where do I start..

– Chrissy and ElizabethAnn, you two blessed me more than a blog post could ever really say. Really. I love both of you so stinking much! 

Nick and Stephanie Williams, OH MY GRACIOUS! What to say. After running around all day with Chrissy trying to find tickets to Ingrid Michaelson, you two WALKED over and GAVE them to us! Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Jackie Gannon, modeling for your Senior Breakout Experience shoot blessed my socks off. I had the BEST time with y’all! 

Holli True, Toni Lynn, Stacy Childers, and Naccarato Photography, modeling for you all made. my. week. How often does a girl get to dress up and feel beautiful!? Thank you so much for having faith in ME and allowing me to be a part of such an amazing experience. 

– SUSHI. Period. Chrissy and I decided to take a break from all of the noise and overwhelming teaching from Showit and WPPI and enjoy Vegas. We took the monorail to mini-Paris and walked through all the shops and found a sushi restaurant. Mmmmm.

– Candace Wright, girl, I just LOVE you. You had me in tears laughing so hard. Miss your pretty face! 

– UNITE – worshiping in the middle of Las Vegas, Nevada blessed me soo much. I LOVED being surrounded by so many believers loving Jesus. 

– Meeting Promise Tangeman! For sure. I love her heart, her style, and HER! 

Julie Story – you’re amazing! I LOVED learning from you! 

 

– Meeting Kelly Moore Clark and thanking her for donating a bag for the retreat.

– Meeting fellow Washingtonians, Latasha & Toni!! :)

– The joy of meeting, Alora! She is precious!! She will be attending our Pursing the Light Retreat in April. . .it made me even more excited about our retreat as I can’t wait to hang out and get to know her even better!

– Hearing Jasmine Star for the first time. . .she is as amazing and sweet as I thought she would be! :)

– And having Emily being asked to model for two different sessions. . .

Thank you, Samantha Smith, for the above pictures of Emily!! :)

 

 

 

– What a small world!  In January, we had the pleasure of taking wedding pictures of a bride from Ontario. While we were at WPPI, the bride’s sister wrote on Emily’s facebook wall and told us that their friend from Ontario was also attending WPPI. With over 20,000 photographers in attendance, I knew the possibilities of meeting Brandon and Jessica were slim.  While sitting in class, they held a drawing and Brandon’s name was drawn. . .he and Jessica were sitting right next to us! :)  What a huge treat to meet them. . .I LOVE their work and hope to meet up with them again in the future!

– We were up at 5:00 to say good bye to our sweet roommate, Chrissy. After hours in multiple airports and a couple flights, we arrived back in our little town to be greeted by Connor. . .what a fun surprise and treat!  He is so incredibly thoughtful! Not only is Emily blessed by Connor, but our entire family as well!!  We had such an amazing time together and are looking forward to keeping in touch with all our new friends and putting into practice the things that we learned!

 

Coming home was bittersweet. Saying goodbye to new and old friends, and knowing I was boarding planes to come back home had bittersweet emotions. After hours of traveling, two flights, long layovers, and little sleep, I stepped off my second flight only to find my best friend waiting for me. His sweet surprise made the whole trip to Vegas (even the goodbyes), so worth it. Seeing my best friend waiting for me and believing in my passion and pursuit for wedding photography means the world to me. Saying goodbye to precious friends who live across the country left little holes in my heart, which just means I’m already looking up flights to see each other! ;) Vegas was once in a lifetime, amazing experience and left me so excited for what 2012 holds for our business! 

  1. Julie Story says:

    I SO LOVE you girls! SO amazing to get to spend a little bit of time with you! BIG HUGS!

  2. Emilia Jane says:

    Love you two!!!!!!

  3. Emilia Jane says:

    Love you two!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. Jillian Tree says:

    it was such a BLESSING meeting & talking with you both, I’m so grateful for the chance I got! Love that I got to be in a pic on this blog post!! :) Connor’s sign at the end is so stinkin’ cute! And its funny, Brandon & Jessica were actually the models at the workshop I did on Sunday…they are amazing! I so look forward to someday seeing you both again <3 <3

  5. Holli True says:

    Emily!! :) Working with you, girl… made.my.week!!! Seriously! You are absolutely beautiful, both inside & out! I only wish we could have spend more time together last week in Vegas- next year for sure, I hope! :) I would LOVE to do another shoot with you next year- we can plan something AMAZING! So happy I was able to meet you! Thank you so much for everything!

  6. Layne says:

    What amazing ladies! It makes my heart smile to see that you had such a great time and learned so much!=) I absolutely cannot wait to see what the future holds for the two of you! Loves, loves, loves! xoxo,
    Layne

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