our wedding: featured!!

dudes... our wedding was featured on

utah bride blog

yesterday!!!

holy, how cool is that??!

check it out here.

i love packages tied up with string.

so it was a long day of work.

and then some time spent with some family of mine i haven't seen in weeks!

and some sytycd.

and then some scouting for locations to shoot tomorrow.

i found perfection by the way.

it's going to be sahweet!!!

and after all of that lovely stuff i came home to find a package in the mail for me.

from my lovely blog friend erin.

i photographed the beautiful erin and her beautiful sister, anna, last summer.

and now we are OFFICIAL blog friends.

well, let me tell you a little secret:

erin is like freakishly talented.

and the package in the mail was these beauties:

yes, i know, i should have photographed these in better light, but i couldn't wait to show you!

when i approached erin about drawing my wedding dress, i couldn't decide which one (my mom's or my own) to have her illustrate, so i did both!

i am seriously stunned.  they are absolutely beautiful!

and she wrote me the nicest note (with possibly the most beautiful handwriting ever too).

so i think you should probably reap from her talents and have her draw your dress too.

so i mentioned she was talented right?

if you're looking for a florist, she is a very talented one.

i'm thinking her and i need to collaborate in the wedding industry?  yeah?

speaking of weddings...

did you all see the photo on my photography blog yesterday?

if not, you must hop over there are swoon with me.

happy happy weekend!

BAM designs.

meet my friend, brady:

photo by me.

brady is my friend from high school.

and he is like EXTREMELY talented in like five hundred ways.

really, he's just one of those people.

you see, a few months ago we did a swap.

i took pictures of him and his designs because he was applying for an internship.

and he totally got a sweet one in LA.

yay, brady!

so in turn for me taking photos, he offered me one of his custom paintings.

(yay!)

and i LOVE mine so much, that i decided i need to promote this talented guy on my blog.

here is the one he made for me:

"chubby bird" in acrylic 

oh gosh!  it is just perfect in our room.  i LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

brady is so cool that he's offering a 10% discount on all custom pieces to everyone who mentions "as she thinketh" when you place your order.

and this is good until the end of the year!!

so you have a whole 7 months to jump on that deal, friends.

you can view his other work here on his blog.

or here too. 

contact him here:  bradymathewsdesigns(at)gmail(dot)com

another one of my absolute favorites is  "orange leaves" in acrylic":

 

i might just have to purchase that one too!

what do you think?

shutter buddies.

happy thursday, friends.

today i'm doing something a little out of the usual and reviewing a product for you.

i know, exciting! right?!!

leora contacted me last week and introduced me to her etsy shop,

shutter buddies.

i loved her idea and creativity.

leora makes fun little "buddies" that hook on to your camera lens to help grab the attention of little ones you are photographing.

i think this is a brilliant idea, since i am constantly snapping my fingers or talking in a high-pitched voice to get them to look at the camera.

i love all the fun colors and designs she has come up with.

and the best part is, most of them come with squeakers in them, so photogs... you can save your voice.  no more high-pitched baby talk.

not only does she sell the "buddies" in her shop, she sells adorable hats and bracelets.

i love these hats.

monkey:

and koala:

love!

pssst... she makes them for adults too!

she was even so kind to donate a few of the bracelets to our dear friends who lost their baby last week.  and they buried a couple with her.

this is what leora said about her shop:

I have my Etsy store to keep me busy while my husband is gone with the Army.  He's been gone over 2 months and will be gone at least 5 more.  I have three kids.  Claire is 4, Randy is almost 2 and Jane is 4 months.  Between Etsy and my Littles I stay pretty busy and I like it that way.  It makes the time my husband is gone go by much faster.  I thought the Shutter Buddies would be a good idea since my own kids won't pay attention for pictures that long.  I'm not a photographer myself but like everyone else, have seen thousands of pictures of kids refusing to look in the direction of the camera.  Aside from my Shutter Buddies I have a lot of other fun stuff in the store.  Next to the Shutter Buddies, the baby bracelets are definitely the most popular.  I originally made them so my own little ladies could look extra cute and then discovered they look fantastic as photo props and the pearl ones have been requested several times for weddings.  The hats are just something really fun to do and wear. They look cute in pictures too!

i admire her so much!

so go ahead and check out her shop.

AND if you like Shutter Buddies on Facebook, there will be coupons!!  wahoo!

famous.

feeling pretty famous today since my face is on utah bride & groom blog today.

haha!

more from the gumball inspired wedding shoot

over here.

p.s. i LOVE my mom's wedding dress.

i modeled.

check it out!

it's me!

a few months ago, lyndsey asked me to model for her.

i am not a model, but i said okay anyway!  haha

plus, who doesn't want to get their hair and make up done by enizio?

the dress i'm wearing was made by my mother in 1964.

she's kind of amazing, i know.

good thing it fit me like a glove.

it was so fun to wear her wedding dress.

thanks, lyndsey, for letting me be a part of your idea!

the return.

holy moly, how time flies.

did you even notice i was absent for over a week?

we returned from oklahoma two nights ago and haven't stopped running around since.

monday was work.  yay.

and tuesday we attended the beautiful wedding of these two.

she was probably one of the most beautiful brides i've ever seen!

and i also probably cried like 52 times during the day.

like for real BEAUTIFUL wedding

and i just really love them.

weddings are the happiest thing ever.

anyway,

so last week we went to visit lincoln's family in oklahoma.

much to my surprise, i really really liked oklahoma.

except i don't know if i could handle all that tornado and softball sized hail business.

(and yes, there was a crazy rain/thunderstorm while we were there and tornadoes in surrounding states.)

it was really really great to see family.  like really great.

we have missed them so.

if you don't remember, lincoln's parents were called to preside over the oklahoma city mission as mission presidents for the lds church.

they serve for 3 years and took lincoln's two youngest brothers with them.

we shipped all the other siblings out there too and celebrated a (late) christmas and hung out all week.

i'll have to dedicate a post to it later once i have time to upload all the photos.

anywayyyyyyyyy....

what i wanted to share with you now is the photos from this little giveaway we won a couple months ago.

elise is so cool.  we loved hanging out with her.

and we really love the photos she took of us.

here they be:

 and yes, i will be blowing this one up in giant form

because my husband looks so so so handsome.

and here is her blog post of the shoot if you would like to see more.

featured.

our photog jessica kettle featured us on her blog today.

go check it out here.

featured.

our e-session totally featured!

over here.

check it out.
you have to scroll down a bit.

wahoo!!!!!!!!!!

engagements

we were blogged about today.

go here.

and tell me what you think.

i'm off to take a final.

featured.

do you all know kate?

she's just the loveliest lady.

plus, she's super funny.

she featured me over on her blog today.

check it out.

thanks, kate!

proust over at AEIP

the lovely jasmine featured me on her blog An Experiment In Poverty today!

(i love this picture of her)

 

she's pretty much awesome, don't you think?

i always look forward to reading her adventures with her sweet boyfriend, Levi.

she's so kind-hearted, beautiful, and amazing.

i just love her.

and i think i want her to become my adopted big sister.  :)

thanks, jasmine!

it was fun.

go check it out!

looky there

So, I entered this little contest over at little sussy.

And I'm thinking you should go vote for me.


I would love you forever.

And ever.



You can find my self-portrait in the middle-ish area.

This is what it looks like.


jalene bouwhuis is my name.
(in case you didn't know)

:)


So tell your friends!
family!
anyone!

And click here to vote.
You have until Friday at midnight!
(you have to click on the link to vote, not just by commenting)


You guys are the bestest!!


Loves.

30 days

{photo from my Mexico vaca a year ago. I want to go back soooo bad!}

Remember this?

Remember how I slacked off and didn't include some great lists?

Well, here's a final purge of some of those awesome-sauce lists.

You are great.

And I loved reading your ideas.

Thanks for all who participated.

30 days {by Kelsie}

Why, I think I would...

1. take pictures of every little thing i adore in life.
2. give each goodbye a little more thought and a little more time.
3. buy myself a bouquet of forget-me-nots. (even better: receive a bouquet of forget-me-nots.)
4. read all of ee cummings as if it were my first time. "then laugh, leaning back in my arms for life's not a paragraph. And death i think is no parenthesis."
5. spend weekend nights sitting out on my roof with all my closest friends; waiting for the stars disappear and the sun to rise.
6. spend all the time i had with my dad, my mom, and my sister looking through pictures, and watching home videos.
7. say i love you...a lot more.
8. pray...a lot more.
9. live off of pink lemonade and turkey sandwiches.
10. write one last letter to all my loved ones.


30 days {by j.peri}

1. paint a masterpiece.

2. drive a car on the open road. {mind you i'm only 13.}

3. tell everyone i know how much i admire them.

4. spend all of my money.

5. search for those who are friendless.

6. go to australia.

7. have a movie marathon.

8. bungee jump.

9. go scuba diving.

10. make a music video.



30 days {by Jessica}

If I had 30 days to live, I would

1-Play all our family games with my family..all the time; scattergories, scene it, scrabble

2-Ride my tandem bike with my sister everywhere

3-Go to a Taylor Swift concert

4-Live at Lake Powell

5-Play Kick the Can every night

6-Have a heart-to-heart with my dad so he could answer all my questions about life

7-EAT, I'd eat everything in front of me

8-Camp with my best friends

9-Watch the sunrise every morning

10-Ask the city to put on fireworks for me, every night (after playing Kick the Can, of course)

featured

I was featured
over here.


check it.

30 days {by Carla}

(image stolen from her blog)

i think this couple rocks!
not only do they have great style, a beautiful house, and vespas...
they also love Harry Potter!
hop on over and read about their adventures on flight of the thorups.

here is Carla's list of what she would do if she had 30 days:

* never leave my husband's side

* visit spain

* give more kisses and hugs to my family and friends.

* go on a night hike and watch the sunrise the next morn

* be more thankful

* get those dreadlocks i've always wanted

* pray more frequently and more fervently

* eat sweets for breakfast or lunch or dinner

* go to Disneyland

* sleep in and stay up much too late

* visit the Temple and share my sacred feelings of Christ more often.

Thanks, Carla! My favorite one was the dreadlocks... awesome!

30 days {by Mandy}

I'm sure many of you know this lovely lady over at FAMOUS.

here are the ten things Mandy would do:

1. Take long walks with my mom every evening.
2. Have a sleep-over with all four of my sisters on the same bed, the way we used to on Christmas Eve.
3. Say I am sorry to the people I have hurt.
4. Have one last first kiss.
5. Throw a party and invite everyone I know, where we will dance until dawn under twinkle lights.
6. Pray more.
7. Hold hands with my niece.
8. Fall asleep under the stars.
9. Read poetry with my dad.
10. Say "I love you" more.


She also shared this very brilliant (and fitting) quote with me that I love.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." --henry david thoreau

Thanks Mandy! I love your list.

30 days {by Katrina}

meet Katrina.

*stolen shamelessly from her blog*

Katrina is an amazing, beautiful, and talented girl. I love her blog and positive, fun outlook on life. You may have seen her featured on teamboo recently. I love her style, photos, and admire how much fun she has all the time. Check out her blog here.

If she had 30 days to live she would:

1. learn to play the guitar

2. write love letters
3. pray more

4. climb a mountain
5. make friendship bracelets with my nieces
6. go to the happiest place on earth :]

7. read the bible cover to cover
8. sail the Caribbean with my parents

9. have a dance marathon

10. paint a masterpiece

I love it! (and I might add that she wrote me the nicest email with her list. I think it made me cry a little.) Thanks Katrina!




Katrina's friend, Kelli, that was also featured on teamboo in the video can teach you LOADS about life. Unfortunately for us she on a blog-hiatus for 18 months while she serves as a missionary for the LDS church. But you should go read her blog, because she will change your life. Seriously.

30 days {by Lindsay}

This girl and I have been friends for a long time, as you can see she is all over my blog. She's probably one of the most talented people I know in the art department, photography department, singing department, and rockin-best friend department. And she's probably one of the most beautiful people on the face of this planet. I could go on and on about how amazing she is but here's her list:

If I had 30 days left on this Earth I would (in no particular order)...

* Hold my n&ns longer and hug them tighter (n&ns = nieces and nephews)
* Never miss an opportunity to tell my friends and family how much I love them
* Talk to perfect strangers about how to find true happiness
* Try every kind of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory
* Draw a picture of the Savior
* Hold a bald eagle and watch it take flight
* Write and illustrate a children's book dedicated to my n&ns
* Watch the sun rise and set everyday
* Forgive more quickly
* Laugh more deeply
* Dance crazier
* Sing louder
* Love unconditionally

Thanks Lindsay! Visit her blog here.

Everyone, keep the lists coming!

Don't know what I'm talking about?
Go, here.