Congratulations to everyone who worked so selflessly on the 2009 event, Images for a Cure! Our wrap-up video has just been completed thanks to one of our fabulous IFAC sponsors, In Motion Video Productions! I’ll be posting the 2010 Teaser video in just a few days, too!

It’s Friday night, about an hour before Halloween officially begins! Yay! And I’ve finally finished up editing my last Images for a Cure session!

Melissa and Sean have been so patient with me as I got these done, and I really wanted to thank them for that! I had 4 sessions that day, which means I have to be an editing Superman…. everything about their session was perfect (except for the heat and impending storm), so I was really excited to finish these up for them. They’re both so beautiful – and have such a great heart to donate to our Images for a Cure event.

You can read a little bit more about Melissa and Sean on their Images for a Cure interview on our website! Just visit this link: http://www.imagesforacure.com/personal-stories/we-make-a-life-by-what-we-give/

I have been stressing over this blog entry.

The entire heart of Images for a Cure is from women like Jessica. An avid supporter of Breast Cancer research and awareness, Jessica’s family has been affected by the disease for generations. It has never hindered her, but made her passionate and willfull to find a cure. I owe a lot of the success of the event to her, for her own silent battles, and for motivating me to be a better person.

I can say, with the most confidence, that no one knows Jessica and Tim quite like I do.

I met Jessica in college, when she pledged Kappa Delta. We became fast, and close, friends. We just always seemed to get each other, and I knew from the moment I met her that she had the most amazing heart. We went through a lot together; our first apartment, sharing stories of boyfriends and horrible first (and last) dates, my 2 crazy cats, failed relationships (mostly mine), scary medical hallucinations (lol), the death of a friend and her parent’s divorce. She was always there for me in those hard times, and for that, I’m beyond grateful. Her friendship meant the world to me, and for whatever reason, we found ourselves on 2 different paths and slowly grew apart.

I met Tim the year after I met Jessica. He was a new freshman, and I was a senior in college. I wouldn’t say we were fast friends, but he ultimately won me over with his goofiness. We spent late nights rounding up Heidi and Acurry for a challenging round of Chicken Foot, and spending weekends at the beach (Heidi, Tim and I shared a car. Heidi from Mass., me from Ohio and Tim from New Hampshire were elated to find a “beach” right off the Causeway. The car carrying all the Florida girls laughed as they realized we weren’t actually at Clearwater Beach, but at some crazy gravel pit near the water where we watched a mass-baptism. We didn’t care.) Actually, most of my good stories of Tim involve bikini tops and high heels (which, um, Tim – I found the bikini top picture! I won’t post it…yet). But I won’t share those, so he can have a little dignity left on my blog.

I can’t remember the exact moment that I introduced Jess and Tim. I think Tim told me he thought she was cute, and I wasn’t wanting to get involved (having just set Jessica up with another friend over the summer, that became a massive failure – I wouldn’t be held responsible for this one, too). I think it wasn’t until a little break when I was going home with Jessica for Easter that we invited Tim to come, too. We spent the weekend on the boat, eating pancakes and enjoying Southern Florida. Whatever happened, worked – and Jessica and Tim have spent the majority of the last 6 years together.

I don’t know that I would have initially put them together – although they have always seemed to be a great compliment to each other. Tim is grounded, a financial guru and practical – but with this funny kid-like demeanor and good spirit. Jessica, traditional but a dreamer, brings him back to earth. She’s managed to bring out the romantic side of him, though – which has been quite impressive for us on-lookers. He proposed at his family’s cabin in Maine, on the beach with chocolate covered strawberries flown in from San Francisco and champagne.

One thing I’ll always have faith in, is that no matter their paths, they will always find each other’s hearts. Some people just belong together, and it has been a privledge watching their love grow and blossom over the last 6 years together. I love them both, no matter how far apart we are, and I hope they remember that

They drove all the way out to Oviedo from their home in St. Pete to spend some time with me. They were even interviewed by In Motion Video Productions for our documentary and Jillian Caro did Jessica’s makeup, her time donated as part of her Images for a Cure sponsorship.

And because I couldn’t write this without showing some of our best moments….

Sharing a Tall Cake at Ruby Tuesdays

Jessica and I going to the beach with Amanda in her sweet little Molly!

Jessica, me and Amanda at some function for school.... it was important, but I can't remember what it was

Tim and I at some Greek event

Tim, sticking his head out of the sunroof on our way back from the infamous beach trip!

Easter, with Jessica's family in Englewood

On the boat in Englewood

Jessica and Tim!

Ok, so now, on to their engagement pictures!!

During the uber fabulous Images for a Cure event, I got to photograph 2 of the sweetest kids – Skyler and Weston! It was sooo hot outside (I mean, really – over 95 and mid-October? Yay, Florida! – sarcasm…) and the kids were super troopers through it. I’m actually hoping to get them back out for a little “make up session” now that’s it getting a bit cooler out. Being a model is hard work!

I wanted to share some of the great shots that we did manage to get – heat and all.

In my last post, I mentioned how Ryan Poirier shadowed us on Sunday at the Images for a Cure event, well he took some amazing behind the scenes photos and I’d love to share them! All the credit for these images goes to Ryan, who not only gave up his Sunday to hang out with me – but was just a super sweet guy and fantastic photographer! My clients loved him and will love his photos!

You can see more of Ryan’s work at http://www.ryanpoirierphotography.com!

The team of the day – Christina and James from In Motion Video Productions, and my 2nd shooter, Reema!

My first session was with Jessica and Tim, recently engaged and so much fun!

My girl, Reema – rocking out her Canon!

Christina and James

Eye-level with my second little clients of the day, Sky and Wes!

My assistant, Angie, helping Wes

Wes is “popped-collar” cool

Ryan really got the essence of their session in this shot. Wes made that face all day, and Sky looked like a little angel

Oviedo is known for their chickens, which, yes – run rampant all day.

I should make a note not to hunch over when I shoot sitting down. In my defense, I was about to fall backwards down that hill.

I’m not sure how Ryan thought he’d get out of this one… I had to share the end of the session – Ryan made a new friend

Yes, I did a quick wardrobe change due to the insane heat for my third session, Melissa and Sean. I actually love this shot of us

Here’s my view of Melissa

I <3 Ryan for capturing this. It’s gorgeous.

My shot

Look how much fun we had! Melissa’s face says it all