i’m here to learn. i don’t know what exactly i’m here to learn. but that is why i’m here. the people i am around in this season have something to teach me, whether that be in the classroom, while working at a homeless shelter, during my internship, at my new church, or just while i am out in the city. i don’t want to fall asleep at night without learning something, no matter how big or small that piece of knowledge may be. that is my goal.

this weekend i was glad to take some time to escape my apartment. it was a weekend full of adventuring around this new city. eating frozen yogurt and sushi. going to church (which i love!). just taking some time to hang out with new friends and learn more about them. we walked around and saw some of the monuments and explored into a smithsonian museum or two.

in all of this i learned that you can get the best fro-yo at mr. yogato, and i could honestly eat it for every meal. the people here are friendlier than i remember. they have a story to tell. and something to teach me. i’ve learned that i still have a lot to learn and a lot of life to live before i can do the things i’ve always hoped of doing. so that i can have a story worth telling one day.

and i learned that the jefferson memorial is the best place in dc. especially at night.

I’ve known Amber since she was in grade 7, and met Tyler a year or so after that. And now they are both headed off to college. She will be at SPU (whoo!) for pre-med. He is heading to University of Washington for some genius science program which I can’t remember the name of. Needless to say, they are both incredibly smart. I mean really, they build robots at school and enter them into competitions. I love how they are nerds together. It’s just great.

We walked around Duvall for the afternoon exploring the park, venturing into the used bookstore, and stopping for something cold to drink. Fun adventure in the hot summer sun. With two friends and a camera. This is what came out of it…

I can’t help but love this one.

{Amber + Tyler} Thanks for spending the afternoon with me and letting me photograph your beautiful faces! You two make me laugh.

after months of planning and praying and packing (and panicking), i’m in dc. my bags are unpacked, i’m all moved in. i have 5 new roommates who are all just lovely. and i can see the capitol building and library of congress from my window.

i live in washington dc. i LIVE here. weird. not sure how i feel about that quite yet.

before i left dc, my sister and i took a trip to target where we came across a cute sock monkey. we decided that we couldn’t pass him up because really sock monkeys are just too cute. so we brought him home and named him mortimer (if you can catch the reference that links a sock monkey to the name mortimer, you get a gold star). it was then decided that mortimer needed to become our travel buddy. so now mortimer is in dc with me. yes, i am a 19 year old college student with a stuffed animal, i’m just that cool. you’ll probably see pictures of him on here occasionally.

i told my dear family and friends that i would be blogging once a week about my adventures in dc. knowing me it’s going to be hard to keep up on it and write something entertaining enough. maybe i’ll just post a bunch of pictures of dc and call it good. and don’t worry, i’ll be posting other things besides life in dc.

there’s not much to say about this week. but i’m here. and i’m alive. the first few days were a lot of unpacking and trying to wrap my head around this new living situation. it’s definitely an adjustment. but i think i’m liking it so far for the most part. i don’t feel home when i think about this place. i’m sure once we get into the swing of things i’ll start to like it better and not want to leave. but it’s temporary, and i’m okay with that.

so that’s all for now.

love, mandie. (and mortimer)

this is mortimer in his new home. (yes, this was taken on my very high-quality point-and-shoot)

i’m supposed to be in colorado right now hanging out with my lovely friends from school for a few days before jetting off to dc. instead i’m at home alone and i haven’t moved from the couch in hours.

after packing up my life until 230 in the morning, i woke up at 5 to head to the airport and felt so sick i could barely stand up. the next 45 minutes were spent on the phone with the airline canceling my flight and rerouting it. perfect. so now no denver and i’ll be heading straight to dc on wednesday morning.

my mom and little sister have headed to california for their vacation. so it’s just me at home alone. and while i would so much rather be spending the afternoon hanging out with friends, i’m sure that resting up is probably for the best. i have a day or so to rest, edit wedding photographs, and finish reading the sixth harry potter book. and also prepare more for dc. so this two day detour of forced resting might be a good thing.

i am however very very excited to cull through my sister’s wedding photographs from this weekend! it was absolutely amazing. i was totally blown away by the details and i can’t wait to share more with you and tell you all about it. my sister and her maid-of-honor planned a fantastic event.

here’s a little sneak peek!

okay, isn’t my sister GORGEOUS!

my duffel bag is still in the garage. i have a half-written packing list. and an even longer to-do list that needs to be accomplished…like yesterday. my sister’s wedding is saturday and the whole house is insanity. we are in wedding mode to the max.

i still can’t wrap my head around the fact that i will be living in washington dc for the next 4 months, studying global development and interning at world vision. it’s going to be a good experience. lots of learning. especially because i don’t entirely know how to do what i’m supposed to be doing for my internship. but they want me anyways. go figure!

i’m trying to figure out how i’m going to fit everything into my duffel bag. it’s going to be one fun life-sized game of tetris.

tuesday night, 7 of my dear friends and i went out for indian food, watched the sunset from volunteer park, and then finished the night off with molly moon’s. the best way to say goodbye to my beautiful city and celebrate this next season of life.

i’m going to miss this view…

and i’m definitely going to miss these girls…

a week from today i’ll be unpacking and settling into a new apartment with 5 new roommates. in washington dc.

just hope i’m ready for it. and that i can manage to line up my ducks quite nicely before getting on that plane come monday morning.

here we go. time for a new adventure.

I was psyched when she sent me a message about her senior portraits. We had to reschedule once due to rain and silly Seattle weather, but I’m so thankful we did because the sun decided to come out an join us at 9am on a Wednesday morning. And the light was beautiful! We walked around Kirkland by the boats chatting about new things in life. And laughing.

After a bit, I suggested that we head over to the used bookstore in Redmond. Christina’s reaction: “I love books!” As always, the bookstore is one of the funnest places to shoot. Add in the train tracks and field, and you’ve got a great start to the morning. In our 2 hours together, I may have taken a few too many photos.

So here you are: some boats, a few books, and the beautiful Christina!

A new favorite…

{Christina} Thank you for spending the morning adventuring around with me. I so enjoyed just hanging out, talking, and taking a few photographs in between. So excited to show you the rest soon! : )

a couple of weeks ago my mom and paige, steph’s maid of honor, threw her a bridal shower. and it was pretty much the coolest bridal shower. ever. no, really it was. i mean, seriously, garden tea-party themed bridal shower at our friend’s house on the lake? yup. not to mention steph, paige, and my mom are all masters at creating, decorating, and planning.

most guests came wearing dresses and hats (we had a hat competition). we played some games, ate cute finger sandwiches and little tarts, and sipped at iced tea and lemonade. all with some of steph’s closest friends and family members.

after looking through these images, i can’t wait for the wedding this weekend! congrats steph!

steph’s friends from england were in town, so they taught us this game called “pass the parcel.” there is a prize wrapped in many layers, and as you unwrap each layer there is a task or question you have to complete. then the parcel is passed on to someone else. the person who gets to the last layer wins the prize. such a fun game! i think i’ll play this at my next birthday party.

steph opened some pretty cool gifts. including this one from paige. two matching shirts that said: here come the newlyweds…stephanie + steven lentz. august 21, 2010. to infinity and beyond.

yes, steph and steven are going to disney world for their honeymoon. ; )

me with the bride!

and there was a hat competition. a few people came with some very unique hats.

here were two of my favorite hats…LOVE laura’s hat on the right.

mother of the bride…

little sister, tara.

and of course the bride, herself.

and to finish it off…favorite frame from the day.

Lauren is a University of Washington student and attends Generation Church, so we have a few friends in common. We spent the morning driving and wandering around Fremont and the U District talking, laughing, and snapping photographs. Lauren told me about her year living in Spain. She is a Spanish major at UW and would maybe like to go into some kind of non-profit work eventually. Lauren has such a sweet heart. After a few hours of wandering around together, I feel like I’ve made a new friend.

Oh, and she is gorgeous and great in front of the camera. Just see for yourself.

I noticed Lauren’s shoes the minute she got into my car. How cool are they?! She picked them up while in Spain. Lauren says she thinks shoes should be the center piece of an outfit. When it’s shoes like these I happen to agree!

Always like shooting outside of Theo’s Chocolate in Fremont. Smells amazing!

Seriously Lauren?! You’re beautiful. Love this!

Definitely a favorite. Laughter is always the best.

{Lauren} I’m so very glad we got to spend the morning together. It was great hanging out with you and just talking. I hope to see you around when I return from DC if you are still in Seattle. : )

to make up for it, here is a frame from this week’s portrait session with the lovely lauren. full post coming soon!

i’m off to photograph a wedding with miss michele waite. be home in about 15 hours. yikes! so until monday…have a lovely weekend.

love, me

I spent the morning with Lauren and her bridesmaids as they got ready. I heard all about how Lauren + Mike met. We laughed and talked. It felt like we were friends just hanging out. Then we headed to the church where Lauren put on her beautiful white dress and did the finishing touches on her make up. Lauren + Mike’s first look in the sanctuary was so incredibly sweet. The ceremony was simple and full of family members and friends who have played important roles in Lauren + Michael’s lives. Outside in the church courtyard was the reception, with lots of details and perfect sunshine. That was followed by some bubbles as Lauren + Mike drove off. We then got to spend some more time with them at the park taking photographs. Ending it all with a private dock, the water front, and some sweet sun-flare.

Sunday morning I woke up and rolled out of bed, still completely exhausted from 12 hours of work from the day before. But no matter how tired I was, all I wanted was to play Saturday all over again. That is how much I loved photographing Lauren + Michael’s wedding and being a part of their special day. Pretty sure I have the coolest job ever.

Here are some of my favorite frames from the day! And don’t forget to stop by Tanner’s website here.

I’ve decided that first looks are definitely my favorite part of photographing weddings…

Lauren + Mike’s wedding was full of details galore. I loved it. But I might have come home with too many photographs of details. Oops!

Or maybe my favorite part is seeing the bride right before she walks down the aisle. I love that too.

I’m so glad we took a few minutes to photograph in the library. Beautiful light!

Their getaway car…a Bentley!

And don’t forget to add in some bubbles…

After the reception we headed to the park for some more portraits. They also brought a stereo along so that Lauren could dance with her father.

Lauren + Mike took some time to dance in the park too. So sweet.

Favorite frame of the day…