Chicago Engagement Hollywood Beach - Tommy and Travis

They met on a dating app. They went for coffee. The rest is history. <3

Home is Where Love Resides

Today I watched the movie Brooklyn, which is a beautiful classically romantic story of love. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it got me thinking about life and the people we call family and the places we call home.

Have you ever met someone, or perhaps you are related to someone, who would choose to ignore your happiness to get something they need? A so-called friend who would spread a rumor about you just to have something to talk about? A father who would rather you stay close to the “family” because it would make him happy over seeing you go away to school? A husband who would have you earning less than him to satisfy his own ego?

Do you know people like this? Do you call them family?

In the movie, the main character, Eilis Lacey, an Irish immigrant confronts people, culture, and a community who would like her to live a life to suit them and make them feel more comfortable. In contrast, her sister who loves her very much, seeks out opportunity to help her on to a better life.

“The persistent feeling that this movie so beautifully creates is that even when the world is bestowing blessings upon us, it’s still at the bottom a sad place, and the key to an emotionally healthy existence involves some rooted acceptance of that. The movie ends with Eilis having made some substantial steps to that accepting place, and also determined to move purposefully forward.”  – Roger Ebert review quote

This film reminded me that sometimes we must go against our family, our culture, and our community to do what we know is right for us. We often find ourselves pressured into doing what others would like us to do, and we forgo the life we’d imagined for ourselves. I hope that this film inspires people to find a path for themselves, over one that is selected for them. The film, Brooklyn, is a must see – a story filled with old-fashioned romance interwoven with sage advice.

It’s nice when you know that the people who support your choices are standing right next to you out of love, and as a result they become your family, blood related or not, and home is cultivated with the family you purposefully create.

My family is my ever supportive and loving husband, and our sweet dog Molly. They are where I feel most at home. May you always find yourself in the company of the kind of love that wishes to see you succeed, not hold you back.

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Amelia Muntean, Born November 2015

After completing the Daria & Alex Muntean's Maternity session earlier in the Fall, I was honored to meet Amelia and take her first professional portrait just three weeks after she was born.

Newborn sessions can be challenging because you cannot pose these little ones until they are in a deep sleep, and you must be patient to get them sleeping and cozy enough to not be fussy. Amelia was, as her mom said, "not in the mood for modeling that day."  However, we did capture some very sweet moments while she was dosing and between mother and daughter.

She is a sweet, beautiful, princess. Precious little hands and toes. Like all children, a blessing to the world.