Wideman Family

Stephanie was one of my volleyball coaches for a few years of club volleyball when I was in high school, and I always looked up to her and respected her so much. Then I was able to coach a U-14 team with her when I was in college, which was a blast! I love how Stephanie and my relationship has come full circle -- from coach-player, to coach-assistant coach, to FRIENDS! Stephanie is one of the most thoughtful people I know. She always sends me sweet messages of encouragement about my photography and life in general; and although she's a busy lady, I know she would always be there for me if I asked. One of the things I have always admired most about Stephanie is her amazing work ethic. Not only does she work full-time and have a great career, she also is a mom to two adorable kiddos, Gavin and Lexi. She makes being a career woman, a mom, and a wife look SO easy!

Stephanie recently wanted to do some family pictures, and I was so excited to spend some time with her and her adorable family! She wanted to take advantage of the fall colors in Spokane, so we did something a little out of my normal routine of locations and went to the Finch Aboretum. Check out a few Flat 4 favorites of the Wideman Family!

Stephanie also hired us/referred us for the Photo Booth for her company holiday party in December at the CDA Resort -- thank you, Steph! You are the best!!

Our Vacay!

We got back from our vacation late Saturday night and as much as there was a little added stress from getting home and having to catch up on everything, I think we finally felt rested. I don't think either of us have felt that way for a long time.

We flew into Atlanta and it was so great to finally be reunited with Bekah! Once we got settled in their cute apartment, we went out to a great restaurant bordering a huge park that has a great skyline view of the city...

Bekah and I have always been able to pick up right where we left off, no matter how long it's been since we've talked. I love it. I guess that's what happens when you've gone to pre-school through college together. :)

The main reason we went to Atlanta was so I could take Bekah and Matt's engagement pictures. We did that the next day and it was a great way to hang out and see Atlanta -- stay tuned for their AWESOME photos, coming soon! Or check out the "Sneak Peek" album on the Flat 4 Photography Facebook fan page for a preview. :)

One of the main highlights of the Atlanta trip was eating at Mary Mac's Tea Room, a famous restaurant in Atlanta known for their traditional southern cooking! If you have a minute, you've got to check out their menu... dirty good!

Just to give you an idea, my meal consisted of the best fried chicken I've ever had, whipped potatoes, macaroni & cheese, and a roll that I might trade one of our dogs for. Yummmmmmmm!!!!

On our last day in Atlanta, we went downtown and decided on a whim to ride the 80-story glass elevator to the top of the Westin to overlook the whole city. Bekah is not a huge fan of heights (okay, she HATES them!), but we all made it and it was a beautiful view. Atlanta is huge and really spread out!

It was definitely hard to say goodbye to Bekah and Matt (and their two cats, Ralph and Hank), but they are moving to Seattle soon and we are excited for them to be much closer! They were such great hosts while we were there -- thanks guys!

We flew into South Padre Island (the second leg of our trip) on Sunday night. One of Jordan's co-workers graciously let us stay in her condo for free while we were there! It was a block from the beach and gave us a great "home base," allowing us to cook some meals and just have a great place to hang out.

We didn't waste much time... day one we were out to the beach!

It was usually between 78-85 degrees most days we were there, which felt so amazing! It's hurricane season down there right now, and although we didn't experience any hurricanes or much rain, it was pretty windy most of the time. A positive side to it being hurricane season was that we pretty much had the whole island to ourselves! :)

The first day was really hard for me to wind down and just relax... I know it sounds crazy but I was having some serious anxiety at first with not having anything specific to do! Weird, I know. After the second day, I was finally able to let go and just RELAX and enjoy doing nothing, which is exactly what we needed.

A few highlights from our week in South Padre Island include:

- a lot of long walks on the beach

- sleeping in every morning and even taking some naps during the day!

- opting out of deep sea fishing (mostly because of the crazy wind) and deciding to use that money toward 90-minute massages instead :)

- being able to make our own breakfasts and lunches -- banana and Nutella pancakes and BLT with avacados for lunch... Yummmmmy!

- reading in the sun/laying in the sun/the sun in general :)

- eating at some fabulous restaurants, one of which we saw dolphins in the ocean from our table!

- enjoying many amazing sunsets

All in all, it was just good to finally let ourselves relax and be in a place that was not only warm but was "away from it all."

By the end of our trip, we were ready to come home and see the pups. The 40 degree drop in temperature wasn't that exciting, but nothing beats the feeling of being home. :)

Chris + Beth 8.20.10

It is so much fun shooting weddings when you know the couple personally. I try to get to know all my brides and grooms before their big day, but you just can't beat actually having a history with them... it makes the day so fun and comfortable!

Beth and Chris are one of those down-to-earth, real, fun couples who I've had the privilege of working with numerous times! Remember this post with Beth and Chris's daughter, Megan? Or this post of their super fun engagement shoot at Green Bluff? Beth played volleyball with my sister all through high school and has remained a friend of our family ever since. From day one of working with her and Chris, I have just loved how the two of them interact together -- they are goofy together, real with each other, and just have a level of comfort with one another -- I know they are going to have a long, loving marriage!

Ah yes, the wedding... :) Chris and Beth got married at The Davenport Hotel, where they also had their reception. This wedding was beautiful, classic, and just plain awesome. After they got ready and we did their first look, Beth and Chris wanted to do some photos at The Blue Spark, which is where they met! So fun!! We made the rounds downtown and had so much fun. Check out the slideshow below of this beautiful couple...

Not only did Chris and Beth have me photograph their wedding, but they also had our Photo Booth at their reception! Click here to see all of the Photo Booth pictures from Beth and Chris's wedding!!

A Lot of Good Things

We have had one of those weeks where things just seem to be falling into place...

First and foremost, JORDAN PASSED THE BAR EXAM!!!!!!! I truly could not be prouder of him! Not only did he pass on his first try, but he was also working part-time while he studied and working every one of our Photo Booth events to boot. What a STUD!!! This is such a huge weight lifted off his shoulders (and mine!) and it is just such a relief to know he won't have to go through that again!!

I wanted to take a picture of him holding up the letter he got in the mail telling him he passed, but he wasn't too fond of that idea. So here is Plan B for a photo (taken with my iPhone up at the property)... doesn't this look like a victory pose?! :)

A few days after we found out he passed the Bar, Jordan randomly stumbled upon an amazing deal on a car on Craigslist. Let me preface this by saying that we were NOT even looking for a new car, I promise! This deal seemed way too good to be true -- the seller needed a certain amount of cash by the weekend and was asking $2500 less than Blue Book price!! So we checked it out the next morning and by the end of the day we drove home a "new" car. So random, I know. Other than needing new tires and a few cosmetic issues with the interior, everything checked out great on it and it was more than worth the peace of mind knowing Jordan will also be driving a reliable car... finally! He has been driving my 1990 4-Runner that I've had since high school -- nothing against "Old Blue" as he calls it because it really has been a great car, but it is about time he is driving a car that doesn't have over 200,000 miles on it. :)

Okay, you probably noticed, I'm stalling. I haven't told you the kind of car it is. Before you read the next line, you have to promise you'll still be our friend...

We got another Xterra. Bahahahahaaa!! I told you this wasn't planned and it was such a good deal and we love my Xterra... okay... I know, we're lame for both driving the same car. His is a 2003 and mine is a 2004. His is black and mine is silver. So they ARE a little different!

Maybe the "Tampien Tandem" thing is getting a little out of hand... ;)

The last piece of good news might be the best news of all... we FINALLY get to go on a vacation! We are in desperate need of a break, not to mention a vacation. I was thinking about it today, and we literally have not had a break since summer started and we haven't taken a vacation since summer of 2009. It might sound like I'm complaining... okay, I'm not gonna lie, I am. :)

Our vacation plans are as follows:

We fly from Spokane to Atlanta on Friday where we'll stay with my best friend since pre-school, Bekah! She just got engaged and her and Matt (her fiance) offered to pay for my flight down there to shoot their engagement pictures... um, YES PLEASE!! I am so stoked to see her and Atlanta -- I haven't seen her since before we went to London, which was about two years ago! Way too long!!

We get to hang out in Atlanta until Sunday night when we will fly to South Padre Island off the coast of Texas. Random? Yes. I had never even heard of South Padre Island until Jordan came home a couple months ago with the great news that one of his co-workers owns a condo there a block from the beach and offered to let us stay there for free... umm, YES PLEASE!!! So we will be doing a lot of nothing in 80-degree weather until Saturday night when we fly back to Spokane.

Ummm... YES PLEASE!!!!!

I know I will be doing some work (aka: editing pictures) while I'm there, but that's just fine with me! I have a stack of magazines and books on my night stand that have been neglected for the last six months and some long overdue time to relax with my hot husband. :)

And perhaps best of all, I will FINALLY have something to post about that will include pictures of Jordan and I. ;) Wooohoooo!!!

GIVEAWAY!!

I am usually really sensitive to crossing over between my "personal life" and stuff with Flat 4 Photography. I hate the idea of spamming my friends... but I feel like this is something that can hopefully cross over since it is for a good cause and gives you a chance to win a sweet prize; a prize I would want to win if I wasn't the one doing the giveaway. :)

As posted on the Flat 4 Photography blog:

We’ve all seen the NFL football players sporting pink accents in their uniforms this month. Or people changing their Facebook profile pictures to be highlighted in pink. And of course, the pink ribbons are everywhere. Does it all really make a difference?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and we believe it makes a difference to spread the word. Too many people have fought breast cancer and lost the battle, and even those who’ve fought and won, well, it’s still too many people fighting. I saw this quote today and it made me realize the importance of this month:

“The more you know, the less you fear.”

With that said, Flat 4 Photography is doing a giveaway for all of our Facebook fans in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Here are the rules:

1. 1. If you are not already of fan of Flat 4 Photography on Facebook, you need to be in order to participate. CLICK HERE to become a fan!
   

2. 2. We posted a slideshow of some of our favorite Photo Booth pictures on our Facebook fan page. Find it. Under the slideshow, there are options. Click the “Share” option.
   

3. 3. This will bring up a box that will ask to post our Photo Booth slideshow to your Facebook profile. There will be a box where you can write “What’s on your mind?”, which is basically giving you the option to add a caption to the slideshow. In that box you need to write something along the lines of: I support Breast Cancer Awareness and the Flat 4 Photo Booth! Okay, that’s pretty generic, but you get the idea. Mention something about Breast Cancer Awareness and something awesome about the Flat 4 Photo Booth -- be creative, or not, it’s up to you!
   

4. 4. Click “Share” again in the bottom right-hand corner of the pop-up box to successfully post the slideshow to your profile!
   

5. 5. Leave a comment under the Photo Booth slideshow posted on OUR Facebook page letting us know you posted it to yours. This is all based on honesty -- we probably won’t have time to check up on everybody to make sure you really did it. But keep in mind that cheaters and liars wet their beds. Just sayin’...
   

6. 6. You’re done! Unless you want to be really cool and post it more than once. :) We will draw one lucky winner chosen at random on FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22nd at NOON! You can post the slideshow once per day until then for an extra chance to win, so up to five chances!! Just follow the above directions for each post. Please don’t post it more than once per day though... your friends might hate you.
   

Ah yes, the PRIZES!

The lucky winner drawn at random will receive... drumroll, please...

A pink, long-sleeve Nike Dri-Fit shirt (size Medium) and a $25 gift card to Victoria’s Secret!

You may be thinking this is a not a very “gender neutral” prize. Well... okay, it’s not really. But I bet any male out there can think of a lady who would LOVE to have this prize as a gift. So we better get some guys participating too!

NOW GO ENTER TO WIN!!!

A Busy Year...

Every once in a while, I like to look back through our blog at random old posts. I usually end up looking at posts from our travels in Europe, but today I decided to look at what we were doing at this time last year.

HOLY LORD. We've been busy this year...

Just to give you an idea, at this time last year, I had just announced our business name and logo, Flat 4 Photography, on the blog. From then until now we have:

- photographed numerous families and random humans

- got Max, our crazy, incredibly feisty puppy

- bought our Photo Booth

- Jordan graduated from law school and took the Bar (he finds out his results next week!)

- bought our 10-acre property in Chattaroy

- photographed 10 weddings from spring to fall

- done over 20 Photo Booth events

- been featured multiple times on local bride blogs for photography and our Photo Booth

- gotten over 600 fans on our Facebook fan page

I realize most of what I just mentioned was about our business, but quite honestly, our life has pretty much revolved around that for quite some time. And obviously there were many things I didn't mention to fill in the gaps throughout the last year... but I have to say, I am pretty proud of our little business that isn't quite so little any more. :)

Jordan and I were talking about it the other day and I asked him, "Did you ever think when we started this business, it would be where it is now... just a year later?!" When we really think about that, I'm pretty sure we had no idea what we were in for. At this time last year, I truly thought this would be a nice little side business that would earn me a few extra bucks so I wouldn't feel so guilty about buying lattés from Starbucks. And don't get me wrong, it's not like we're totally breaking the bank or anything, but let's just say we never would have been able to buy our property without Flat 4 Photography!

God is so good.

Here are a few random pics I dug around on Facebook and found since I was tired of doing posts without any pictures of us. The first one is of me shooting a wedding in Chewelah and the second one is one of my favorite Photo Booth pictures of Jordan and I at our Grand Opening Party in the spring.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us -- and put up with us -- in the last year! Even though I can say this has hands-down been the busiest year of our lives, we have been blessed beyond belief.

Hopefully next year I'll be writing another post like this one... :)

Jenny + Cameron 7.31.10

There are some couples who should just be in magazines. Plain and simple. Jenny and Cameron are one of those couples.

Jenny and I actually worked one event together at Beacon Hill when I was bartending there a couple years ago, although we didn't actually figure that out until after her and Cameron booked me as their wedding photographer. Crazy, small world! I love this couple for so many reasons... not only are they smokin' hot and super fun to photograph, they are high school sweethearts and Whitworth Pirates! And not to mention, they are just incredibly down to earth. I really don't think I've ever seen a bride as calm and collected as Jenny. I'm pretty sure I was more nervous than she was. Oh, and did I mention her parents were moving that weekend? Literally, as she was getting ready in their house?? Yep, moving vans and all. Talk about a stressful weekend, but you truly would not have even known.

When Jenny contacted me to shoot her and Cameron's wedding in Chewelah, I have to admit, I was dragging my feet a little. Chewelah?! Ummmm... I WAS SO WRONG. I met Jenny and all of the girls at Jenny's parents house where they got ready and where Jenny and Cameron had their first look. Then we headed over to the Chewelah Golf Course for some fun photo ops, and before the ceremony, Jenny, Cameron, and I went up to the beautiful mountains surrounding Chewelah. One word: breathtaking! I honestly felt like I was in The Sound of Music. Their ceremony was at St. Mary of the Rosary Catholic Church followed by a reception at the Chewelah Golf Course.

It was so hard to narrow down my favorites from this wedding, but I did my best! Check out the slideshow below to see some Flat 4 favorites! And remember, you can scroll over the slideshow and click on the box-like icon in the bottom right-hand corner to see the slideshow in full screen.