I’m Stephanie, a wedding + lifestyle photographer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Warrenton, Virginia. Whether I’m by the mountains of Colorado or Virginia, my soul feels at home, surrounded by rural living and the raw beauty of nature. I genuinely love what I do, and feel so passionate to share the enthusiasm and joy of these celebrations with you!

DOCUMENTING LOVE'S UNSCRIPTED CHAPTERS FROM COUPLES & FAMILIES IN COLORADO + VIRGINIA

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August 16, 2022

Coffee Talk Mondays

Coffee Talk Mondays

I remember the days when I blogged almost every day of the week — “Coffee Talk Mondays” kicked off the blogging streak on a weekly basis. Lately, it seems like blogging has been put on the back burner. And I haven’t shared a “Coffee Talk Mondays” post in MONTHS. I really enjoy blogging, but I know in order to move the needle forward in my business, I needed to prioritize editing, emails, pay taxes, etc. Now that I’m caught up with editing just in time for a wedding this Thursday (my first Colorado wedding *EEEEPPP!!!*), I want to share a personal update before I dive into sessions I’ve photographed.

Since hustling to get our basement Airbnb up and running back in June, I told Alex I wanted to take a break from Airbnbs so I can focus on myself, our family, and my business. This break was EXACTLY what I needed. My mind is refocusing on my values again, and it’s refreshing!!! I cannot really blame our side hustle, but it was occupying a LOT of our time on top of the crazy traveling earlier this year. We are attending church again, connecting with our local friends, working out, and so much more! Routine is the key word and it’s finally taking shape! 🙂 I’m sure we will find ourselves in another project here shortly, but I’m enjoying this season! I also attended a mom photographer conference last week and it was so motivating listening to other mompreneurs!

COFFEE TALK

MOCHA MOMENTS
THE SWEETER MEMORIES FROM THIS SEASON

1
REAL ESTATE INVESTING

If you’ve been following our journey, you might know that we are into Real Estate Investing (thanks to my husband — He’s the analyzer and I’m just the visionary one)! After all of the hard work getting the home situated, it’s so rewarding seeing the reviews and knowing that we are providing a unique experience to our guests! 🙂 I know Alex is anxious to get the next deal rolling, but I’m grateful he was willing to take a break for a couple of months for our family to refocus!

2
FEATURED!

And I’m not sharing a feature my work was published in… On the flip side, ALEX was featured! We are so proud of the man he is and the Doctor he wants to be in the future!!! We have NO idea what our future has for us, but we know the God will provide! Read this amazing article HERE!

Coffee Talk Mondays

3
FAMILY VISIT!

My parents came to visit Colorado for the first time, and it was a TREAT! They were here for about 1.5-weeks and it was fun-filled almost every day! Alex and I are especially grateful for the home projects they helped us with around the house. From replacing the outdoor stairs to the doors around the house to so much more… They were a huge help! And they gave Alex and I a date night out which was so refreshing and fun!!!

4
SEATTLE

Alex and I made a work trip into a little adventure! Or I guess a big adventure since we had Jack to chase around. Haha! It was a little tricky because his routine was all out of whack, so we had some hard nights with him, but we managed! And I’m glad we have these memories to look back on because it was so fun checking out another National Park together! 🙂

5
SUMMER TIME

I cannot BELIEVE it’s the middle of August… Where did this summer go? I’m excited for the fall colors, clothes, drinks, food, adventures, and everything pumpkin, though!!! 🙂 We’ve been soaking in these family moments this summer and living it up as much as we can while Jack is this fun age!!

6
ALEX’S 30th BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

This past weekend was one of my FAVORITES. We celebrated Alex’s Birthday, and it was one for the books!!! We kicked off the weekend with a One Republic + NEEDTOBREATHE concert in Denver! Since we had floor seats, we were fortunate enough to be in a prime spot that we got to shake hands or high five the lead singers from both bands! SO COOL. Alex was stoked! It was the best night!! <3

What he didn’t know was that I had a surprise up my sleeve on Saturday… He thought we were going on a hike and dinner with friends… BUT all of his friends and I had an “Amazing Race” set up for him all over Colorado Springs! Each friend came up with a challenge for him that led him to a surprise Birthday party – Check it out HERE!!! It was so much fun!!!

ESPRESSO MOMENTS
THE BITTER MEMORIES FROM THIS PAST SEASON…

1
GARAGE DOOR MALFUNCTIONS…

Since buying our home, we had issues efficiently opening and closing our garage door. Just before our home warranty expired, we had them come and fix it back in June. It was a LOT better than before, but there were a couple of times I noticed that it would randomly stop opening or closing in the middle of the job. Unfortunately, I was caught by surprise when I clicked the open button, hopped in my car, looked out the back of my car to see I was clear… but then to only back up and find that the door didn’t completely open… It stopped about 85% of the way up which caught the top fin of my car. $400 damage to the garage door and about $70 to my car. So the moral of the story? Don’t trust the garage door. Just don’t! HA!

2
ALSO, DON’T TRUST TODDLERS AND THEIR SCHEMES

While I was getting ready for the day, I heard Jack in the bathroom up to something… He’s showing signs of readiness for potty training which is exciting! However, because he’s playing with the toilet so much, I’m finding that he’s also misusing it. Like finding an entire new roll of toilet paper inside the toilet… HA! I was hoping to avoid the toilet baby proofing gadget and just baby proof Jack, but I might have to buy it… That little stinker! 😉

I look forward to being more present on the blog and sharing all of the eye candy with you soon!!!

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