Elliot | Boise Newborn Photography

Two weeks ago I was in the beautiful foothills photographing Launa's maternity shoot. Yesterday I got to meet Launa and Nate's little 4 day old Elliot. I love how my job allows me to share life with people and be part of some really significant times in their lives! This is just so amazing to me, what a blessing. Little Elliot is about the cutest thing you have ever seen, she is just teeny tiny with this little button nose and blue eyes. I got to capture some moments of her napping and her hanging out with her mama in her dream-of-a-nursery. Welcome to the world little Elliot!

Tell your Story each Year | Photo Book Idea

The other day my friend Misty was telling me that she has a mountain of unorganized photos from 2005 to 2012 that need to be organized. Man, I can totally relate with that. Time flies by and things like scrapbooking, journaling, organizing...they can just get left behind. So I told her about this idea that I came up with two years ago... drumroll please...
A YEARLY STORYBOOK of your Life :)
Raft Media is all about telling your story, but there are so many everyday photo memories that I'm sure you have as well. So this is what I've done. I have a big folder on my desktop [on my computer, not an actual folder!] that I keep my favorite pictures from the current year. So whenever I upload new photos if there is a great shot I'll copy it to this folder. So when December rolls around I have a handful of photos that I use to make a hardcover photo book online. Then I give it to my husband at Christmas. We love, love LOVE, looking back at the year and everything that we did. We also record our favorite memories in it on the last page.
I would love to have a million photo books logging our engagements, our wedding, our first biking trip etc, but I found if I keep it simple, like everything we did that year, then I'll actually keep up with it!
So here's my challenge to you! Go to your computer RIGHT NOW, make a folder, take an hour or so going through Jan-May of this year and finding your favorite photos and then stay current with it. You will appreciate this later when you have a beautiful collection of photo books logging the last 30 years of your life AND your favorite memories from that year :)
So how does this help my friend Misty who is years behind? Well, it doesn't! Sorry Misty. But it will help her not to get further behind! Then in her free time she can catch up on years past. If you are saying to yourself, that's me! I'm behind! Take baby steps, get manilla folders and organize your old photos by year. Then next time get the albums you just slip them into. Then if you have more time, you can scrapbook them and make them pretty!

Tell your Story!

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Kaitlin & Alyssa | Boise Senior Photography

Meet Kaitlin and Alyssa, talk about a breath of fresh air! These girls are so much fun. They wanted to do a Best Friends senior shoot along with some individual shots. I had this idea to do a fun-loving summer shoot with them drinking Coke. Turns out they LOVE COKE. After we about broke a set of keys trying to open the bottles, they let loose with the fun and laughter. Then they turned vogue, talk about models. These girls both love fashion and hauled around about ten sets of shoes for their different outfit changes. Turns out they're pretty good at climbing heels in sky-high heels, there's a skill for you. What sweethearts, this was such a fun shoot.

I'd love to hear what you think of this shoot! Feel free to comment below.

Alyssa | Boise Senior Photography

Meet Alyssa! She is one of Raft Media's Senior Reps from Rocky Mountain High School. She is a joy to be around, always laughing and just loving life.

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Shelby | Boise Senior Photography

Every now and then you meet someone who is a breath of fresh air. That is Shelby. Throughout the whole session she was humming a happy tune with her beautiful voice, or laughing with her mom. What a lighthearted, fun, gorgeous girl! We picked the perfect night in Boise. The trees were blooming, warm sunlight flooded through the branches and lit up her rich auburn hair and I'm pretty sure the birds were singing. Goodness I love my job. So happy that she asked me to do her Senior photos. Congrats on graduating Shelby and thank you for brightening my day!

Emina | Boise Senior Photography

Dark clouds threaten to rain on us but luckily Emina and I had awesome weather and escaped the storm! She is a total sweetheart and her warm brown eyes and golden hair turned out stunning in photographs. She braved the ice-cold water to take some fun river shots and she totally rocked this nature shoot. Thanks for choosing Raft Media to take your Seniors Emina, it was so much fun hanging out with you and taking your photos. Congrats on graduating!

A Choate Weekend

I hardly ever post photos from my personal life so I thought it'd be fun to let you have a little sneak peek into a Choate weekend. Not only do I have a passion for photography, but I have a huge passion for people! I was lucky to spend time with not only my husband and family this weekend, but also one of my best friends, the "other" Audrey, at a friend's wedding, and also my huge Student Venture family. I've been a leader for a high school ministry the past 3 years and every year the kids never fail to steal my heart. Here's a little look into my life :)
The photo booth strip on the left is from the wedding. When's the last time you squished into one of these little booths? SO funny!
For everyone out there reading this I encourage you to surround yourself with loved ones and invest your life in relationships and things that really matter. So often it's easy to just find your comfort zone and to stay there. Make a difference, take steps of faith every day trusting that God wants to use you. One of my favorite quotes in life is, "Don't be afraid of failure, be more afraid of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter".
Laugh easily, don't less stress weigh you down and truly enjoy life to it's fullest. Have a wonderful week everyone!

My husband Matthew and I got to hang out with his grandparents from Colorado. Here I am with my Mother-in-love. Matthew is hugging his grandma goodbye in the one below. So sweet.

 Here are our Student Venture Seniors with the rocks they picked out to paint. It's a tradition to take it with you to college to remember where you came from. "On this Rock I will build my Church"

Here's my best friend Amanda and I. Or "Jamanda" as I call her. When your parent's names are Jim and Jan it only makes sense right? I love her.

 This is a pretty accurate representation of the Student Venture Staff. We are silly, and we love the heck out of each other!

 Some frisbee on the side of our house. BJ and Andrew are pretty much frisbee experts, watch out!

 I love the tiny rock Paul painted with the heart on it. In the background is our campfire waiting for smores!

 Here's some of the rocks that got painted. How impressive is the earth that has all the continents on it? We have some artists on our hands! Hope your weekend was full of loved ones and memories~

Launa | Boise Maternity Photography

Meet Launa and Nate. They are absolutely adorable. Little Elliot is due in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to meet her. I think it's safe to say she will be a stylish little girl :) Launa showed up in this beautiful vintage looking dress, a cream colored flower in her hair and heels, yes, heels. We had so much fun traipsing through the woods, creating mini clotheslines, blowing dandelions and chatting about the little one to come. They are such an awesome, fun couple, little Elliot is going to have some amazing parents. I can't wait to take Elliot's newborn photos when she arrives in June! Congrats Nate and Launa.
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