{well look at me looking all crazy and what not. Photo taken my Amanda Aucoin}

Being a photographer is more than snapping pictures for money. It’s engaging in the lives of your clients. It’s making them feel beautiful like no one else has before. It’s capturing the perfect in-between moment, right before a kiss and right after. It’s about showing the love of a couple through the eyes of your camera. It’s showing the personality and joy of your client to the world. Being a photographer is more than just saving an event on file. It’s capturing memories for a lifetime. Every time someone looks at his or her senior portraits, engagement session, or wedding album-you will be thought of. Thoughts about the way you interacted with the client and how you worked as a photographer, but most importantly your image will be in front of them.  Being a photographer is not just printing an image. It’s capturing the perfect angle with the perfect light most flattering for the client. It’s giving your client a product that will make her smile each time the she views the image. It’s about daily challenging yourself to bigger and better things, furthering your business in what others may view as risky. It’s becoming the best of the best.

What will make you stand out as a photographer?

Can you say J. Crew spread?? The fashion choices of this couple were out of this world!!

Onto the more casual dress..

I can’t get over all the gorgeous colors!!

Wow, Wow, WOW! Both of them are so fierce

and to end the shoot with PERFECT lighting. Thank you sun:)

When I was younger, I rarely daydreamed about a prince charming coming to scoop me up. I don’t recall ever wanting a husband or children of my own. The only childhood crushes I can think of were Leonardo DiCaprio via Growing Pains and the blonde teenager from Barney circa 1995. It’s not that I was a man hater, that’s not it at all.The older I became the more I envisioned myself living in a loft in uptown New York. Not changing diapers or cooking dinner. I wanted to establish myself as an artist/business woman. At the age of 13, I dreamed of being a fashion designer, but I look back now and realize I had ZERO taste. That dream was shot down fast. When I was a sophomore in high school, something in me changed. For starters, I began following Christ whole-heartedly. Through that change He began to soften my heart. I had a desire to have a family of my own one day. I was finally having a desire to find a husband, my one and only. I would read the story of Adam and Eve and instantly come to the conclusion that God wanted all people to be married. I quickly found out that wasn’t the case. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7 that it is a privilege to be single. Christ was single and He was able to serve His Father whole-heartedly. There were no distractions to pull his attention away. When I read that passage, my mindset changed…again. I was back to being pro-single. At least, that is what my mouth was saying. My heart continued to daydream about what marriage really is like, how my wedding would look, and what it would be like to chase around my very own children. Why was this happening when the Bible states that being single is a privilege and to embrace it. Here’s my theory. In Genesis 2, God refers to Eve as Adam’s helper.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.  Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.  The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Genesis 2:21-23

They helped each other. They challenged and loved each other. They walked with God together. There weren’t any cars, houses, or bank accounts distracting them. They were simply doing what God created them for. Today’s society, myself included, has such  twisted view of marriage. Girls want guys with big bank accounts. Someone who can “provide” for them. Whether that be a new vehicle or a shiny diamond ring. Marriage is a blessing from God and should not be centered around temporal things. I’ve realized in the past year that God desire’s for a man and a woman to be in a union that represents the relationship between Christ and the church. Undying love. He wants a couple to challenge each other and push each other further in their walk. No doubt He wants the man to provide, but speaking from a females perspective we sometimes have a warped view of what provisions actually are. As a woman of God, I am supposed to desire a man that seeks God before me. Not his job or money, but God. After all, that’s all that will stand in the end. When everything fails- job, money, and eventually good looks; God stands.

here I am, s t r i p p e d

I have this bubbling feeling that is rising in my soul. It wants me to further my business and stretch my photography. It’s causing me to have urgency in things that I’ve not been urgent about. I’m having a real world perspective for the first time in months. I don’t understand it, but I know that He has a plan for me. Jeremiah 29:11 is tangible to me. I understand it fully right now. I have to remember that it’s His timing and not my own. My life is not my own. I must follow after Him selflessly and faithfully. If I go on my own accord I won’t be resting in the life God has for me. I’ll be the pilot when I should be the back back BACK seat passenger. I can’t see my future but God can and I have confidence in Him. This may not make any sense to you as a reader, but it’s the only way I can describe my heart right now. Just know I’m in safe hands.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

to view more from their session, click here

i’d have wild life adventures to share about.

i’d be fully rested after a solid 8 hours of sleep.

sugar would be healthy and vegetables would be the devil.

reality says i’m very wrong. reality proves that I may not blog daily. Reality says life isn’t always going to be like the movies, full of wild adventures and care-free days. reality says I will be tired even when I give myself the rest I need. reality says that my body was not made for the junk i’ve been putting in it. it was made to be loved and cherished.

i’m sad that i’ve neglected my blog for so long, but you know what? AMAZING things have been going on. For starters, I FINALLY got a business website (applause). It’s taken me three years to work my business up and to realize I need a professional face to it. I started from scratch and finally published it after 3 weeks of fixing it up. i’m a huge fan of it and I have a feeling you will be to. check it out at www.kristensoileauportraits.com!

the roommates and I decided to go sugar-free. before you call us crazy let me just add it was NOT an easy decision. trust me, we don’t like the torture we’re are going through right now, but our bodies do. we were talking about it for a few days, but it wasn’t being taken very seriously. on monday, I had a freak out and threw away all the sugar in our pantry. I dumped the chocolate chips in the trash, chip by chip just so we wouldn’t be tempted to pull them out of the trash. don’t act like you wouldn’t do it! I poured the sugar and honey out. seriously, NO sugar. the first day was rough. I had ridiculous headaches and wanted to cry because of the lack of delicious sugar. but I was encouraged because I knew I was doing something right. my body began to recognize that I wasn’t feeding it sweets every few hours. it was crying along with me. i’m only on day 4 of no sugar and it’s been a lot better.

here are a few projects i’ve done for my letterform class

For the first piece, we were required to find a typographic quote and base the piece off of the author’s artwork.

for the second piece we had to make concrete typography based on a word.

1) Cook for yourself! That is one of my top favorite things about living in an apartment. I love knowing what goes in my food, rather than buying processed or pre-cooked. Since my roommates are vegetarian, it is easier to eat healthy meals and snacks. Our meals often consist of brown rice, black beans, yummy salads, sautéed veggies, sweet potatoes cooked in any way, and other yummy recipes. Now don’t go thinking that we don’t have a sweet tooth. Quite often we have nights that we splurge and eat a whole box of cookie dough. Did I just announce this online? Okay well don’t take my advice on that one the results are good. Take my word on it! Since I only claim to be vegetarian by association, I often grill myself a chicken breast or a filet of fish. I don’t eat red meat very often if not at all, but I love my white meat!

2) Eat frozen yogurt rather than ice cream! Fro-yo as we call it is a stinking delicious alternative to ice-cream. I probably take away any nutritional value from it since I add cookie dough balls, Oreo crumbs, and those God awful Reese’s pieces. I still suggest the alternative though, you may have more self-control than I do! Plus, we have collected tons of coupons towards fro-yo bars. We save money and calories at the same time!

3) Drink tea over coffee! This has been the hardest change I’ve made. I survived on coffee this summer in Prague. I had at least two cups a day, black with one packet of sugar. That habit transferred over to my apartment. I started to depend on coffee again. Going from crash to crash; filling my caffeine take back up again. Because I was seeing the negative effects it was having on my body, I decided to stop drinking it. I could tell I wasn’t giving my body the natural energy it deserved. I upped my vegetable intake and began making all natural vegetable smoothies. I like to them my little green monsters. Green because there are apples, cucumbers, and spinach in it (among other veggies and fruits). Monsters because once the smoothie is done blending it looks like something you’d find in a sewage. I can’t lie to, it looks horrible. In fact, the first time I made them me and my roomies were disgusted by the look of it. It wasn’t until we tasted it that we realized we discovered a treasure!

4) Exercise, exercise, exercise. Walk around the lake, run around the block, go up and down your stairs, have a dance party- I don’t care what you do, but just get your body moving! Alexandra and I have taken up yoglates. It’s a mix between yoga and Pilates. I feel great after doing an hour of that. I don’t feel like I’ve completely worn my body out, but I feel like I’ve pushed it to it’s limit. The class we attend doesn’t use AC while working out so the temperature gets to about 90+ degrees in there. It’s awesome! I sweat out any toxins I took in that day. I’m already seeing results, and I like it:)

{All pictures are from Alexandra’s 20th birthday night!}

5) Eat humus as a snack rather than potato chips. Alexandra has taught me her recipe to a yummy humus. We eat it so often that it saves us money just to make big jars of it rather than buying the 17 oz. container at the store. We use it on our wraps, our veggie burgers, and plain with pita chips. We also try new ingredients out in it like spinach, cumin, and paprika. Yum!

That’s all I got for now. I hope this helps and encourages any freshman out there thinking they haven’t had a true college experience until they gain that freshman 15. We kept it off and had a blast along the way.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

The God I know and experience is a God of love. He is a God of hope, joy, and freedom. He walked with the wicked, drunks, and liars. He pursued them with all the love He could show them. Not only did he pursue and fight for them, He laid his life down, selfless and obedient. Not even cursing the very people that were killing Him on His way to the cross.