Minnesota State Fair

Ahhhh, it's that time of year again...

The Great Minnesota Get Together

(the 2nd most attended state fair in the country mind you!)

And finally, this year, I live in the Cities

so I can go whenever and as many times as I want!

To sum it up:

delicious deep fried food,

best people watching EVER,

and an all out great time. 

We considered creating a website
"the people of the MN State Fair"

just like the people of walmart site

because the people that you see at the fair are THAT good.

anyways, went last weekend

and ate everything we are told not to

including: cheese curds, deep fried COOKIE DOUGH,

and beer on a stick.

yes I said BEER ON A STICK!

the miracle of birth barn!

so. many. people.

FRESH FRENCH FRIES

thanks  for the french fries Dan!

beer on a stick!

Summit had beer on a stick!

classy.

Tracy enjoying a pronto pup!

"Wiener Dun in the Bun" ... self explanatory... 

the Giant Slide!

Brad's Fresh French Fries booth

mmmmm, deep fried reese's

Princess Kay of the Milky Way BUTTER HEAD!

Dusk at the State Fair!

So I may or may not be heading back to the Fair tonight...

Can you blame me though, Eric Church is playing at the Grandstand!

We'll be trying to get tickets...

flower me pretty

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.

Life gets busy and time seems to disappear.

Lucky for you, I have a week off of work

and plan to scratch off some things from my bucket list.

I also have another huge announcement...

I ordered a NEW lens! 

I had trouble deciding which lens I truly wanted, 

but after being asked by two of my co-workers 

to take their child's photos (I know, right??!!), 

I decided on one that would give me some sweet bokeh, 

because it looks so neat/professional in portraits!

(for those of you who don't know what that is, I've included 

a proper definition, but basically it's how blurred

the background gets in portraits, 

and kind of depends on the lens you get 

or more or less how capable your lens is of producing it!

See this post by the pioneer woman.)

I bought the Tamron AF 25-75mm f/2.8

(picture found here)

Anyways, look for new pics with that lens soon,

it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow!

I wanted to leave you with 

some photos of flowers I've taken randomly

over the past couple weeks. 

I just love flowers, and especially photographing them. 

love the Bokeh in this one, and it was taken with my kit lens!!

my absolute favorite, and my best bokeh EVER.

these puppies bloomed right outside my window, felt like I was in Hawaii or something! 

Also, a special thank you to a friend from High School, Paige,

who has a food and cooking blog called

Everyday Food Challenge

and gave me a very sweet mention in one of her posts!

This photography business has been challenging, expensive

and yet I'm in love,

so it's wonderful to hear that at least some people

are enjoying it too!

Cheers!

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Martin

Last weekend, I had the absolute honor of

participating in one of my best friends and former co-workers

wedding day.

Tessa Lampe became Mrs. Andrew Martin

on Saturday August 6th, 2011.

She was the most stunning bride,

and despite the fact that I didn't know many of the bridal party,

I was welcomed with open arms 

and had such a blast!!

I have to give special thanks to my boy, Pete Snyder,

for being my photographer throughout the day, 

(therefore I can't entirely take all the credit for these pictures!)

Tessa and Andy,

I could not be more happier for the two of you.

You have found true love and I wish you many,

many, MANY more years of happiness together!

So I'm proud to share these pictures with you.

I chose to do most of them in B&W, or sepia,

because it just seemed fitting.

Maid of Honor, Thea, getting her make up done

Mimosas!!

Cait getting her hair did.

The BEAUTIFUL wedding ceremony site,
the Monona Terrace in Madison, WI

Jade getting her make up done

The Bride getting her make up done.

Jaclyn's finished product!

Tessa getting her eyelashes put on.

one of the flower girls, Kylie

Tessa, the bride, getting her hair did

finished product! SO GORGEOUS!

the back of her dress

our pretty flowers!

Here comes the bride... 

You may kiss the bride!

Pictures up at the Capitol
Madison, WI

the flower girls and ringbearer playing Marilyn Monroe

The whole Bridal Party

For more photos from Tessa and Andy's big day,

check out my facebook page!