Nadya + Alex La Munequita Ranch Engagement | Mission, Texas

I met Nadya at a local Starbucks back in late May to discuss her June engagement session. My home office, and home for that matter, was a complete mess and in the middle of a re-flooring debacle. This floor debacle has kept me away from my main computer for much of the past three months but since the flooring and furniture have all been replaced, I am back at my chair ready to blog. Nadya and Alex's engagement session has been on my queue log to share. 

Nadya and Alex are both not local to the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. They are also both in the education field which is how they initially met. I have recently learned of their finalized plans to celebrate the start of their marriage with a lovely wedding in central Texas. Texas seems to be fitting for this couple and, specifically for their engagement session, as one of Nadya's requests was to have a rustic location where she could wear her favorite cowboy boots. La Munequita Ranch in Mission, Texas provided the perfect backdrop for their lovely summer engagement session. Photographed late in the day, practically early evening, the light was absolutely beautiful that day. The ranch and it's pretty pastels provided for a serene backdrop to a nice pop of red. 

I haven't photographed many engagements this summer so to say this was a favorite would be unfair. But it is certainly one of my all time favorite engagement sessions I have photographed. Nadya and Alex were so effortlessly easy to capture in photographs and the conversation never ceased flowing. Cheers to the happy couple!

Congratulations on your engagement Nadya and Alex! You were an absolute pleasure to meet and photograph. Happy wedding planning!

My newest endeavor, a baby boy!

I've been rather busy since the start of this year, mostly running after my little girl. Once she learned to walk, she really picked up the pace quite fast. Add growing a baby, a very big baby, into the mix and you may be able to understand why it has been difficult for me to keep up with the blog. There has been many favorite images I have wanted to show and share but, ultimately, spending time with my growing little family took most of my free time. I'll be honest, it's been a struggle finding the balance between motherhood and entrepreneurship all while being a wife. Did I mention I am still actively a daughter and big sister to three growing young men? Rightfully so, I am no different than any woman out there; I have a few things I need to learn to juggle. I am just starting to find my routine, and keeping a balance. 

Last evening my husband and I were discussing my inability to focus on the computer and catch up on the business side of photography. Being a photographer, for me, is so much more than merely  snapping pretty photos and printing them. I need to be involved and lately I feel like I haven't been. In discussing possible options to find my balance, my husband simply out of tiredness giggled at me. There I was, sitting on the nursery floor and still in my pajamas, writing out a massive to-do list. The only problem was I couldn't find the time to make myself do any of it. I was trying to find a scapegoat, something to blame my lack of enthusiasm for my business. I searched and came up empty handed. The only one to blame was me. I, myself, had fallen off the excitement wagon that so effortlessly made my job easy. I now found it tiring to step into my office and simply work. 

But excuses aside, the birth of the newest addition to our little family has made my mobility, so to speak, much easier. While healing from a caesarian has made recovery much more annoying and admittedly difficult, I feel like I can physically work now on finding that balance. I feel the creative juices flowing deep within me again and a drive has certainly been reignited. I should note that I partly need to thank my brother Michael for a very inspiring pep talk yesterday afternoon. I also need to thank him for always bringing Abigail and I lunch when my husband had to return to work. 

It is because I am surrounded by amazing and loving people that I am able to do what I do, my children included. Four weeks ago, my husband and I welcomed our son - a healthy and beautiful baby boy! Our little girl is now a big sister and we are now a family of four. My excitement to create, and share with my children as they grow, inspires me. I want to be the best because they deserve the best. Most importantly, I want to be the best because my family believes in me. 

I was looking through my husband's baby book and found the following quote handwritten by his mother about the day he was born.

“Joshua, your dad is a very good man. I hope that you grow up to be as kind as he is. I hope that you will take an interest in your wife and your children - even from the beginning!”

— Janet Roten

I found these words quite profound and immediately felt like reminding my in-laws of the wonderful son they raised. Joshua, my dearest husband, has grown up to be kind. He is so ceaselessly interested in our children and so very much in love with me from the day we first met. We were meant to be together, he and I. It is because of his love and support that I have been able to be both a mother and photographer from the comfort of our little home. I just want to spend time with my little family! However, as my sister Sofia once said, I need to continue with what I set out to create. The excitement that photographing people deeply in love showed me has manifested in my own personal life. Over the past two years I have been on a ride looking to find my role in our household as a wife, mother, and business owner. The journey will be long but I am so thankful to have the journey to travel. I am re-focused, and ready to create, again - and again, until I can no longer re-invent my craft for myself. 

So because my blog has always been a tad personal, here is our little boy... Finnley Dalton :)

God is good. 

Thank you for reading, thank you for always reading. 

**A special thank you to the best clients ever.**

Marissa Villa de Palmas Bridal Session | San Juan, Texas

Marissa and Greg were married in the middle of April and I had anxiously been wanting to share her bridal photos since before the wedding day. Then wedding season went into full mode for me and blogging took a definite back seat to my workload. The worse part, my computer was pretty much inaccessible for so long with all this house remodeling that I just couldn't find the time or the energy to sit down quietly and prepare these images to blog. I finally found my laptop last week and began working on some beautiful blog posts to share with you. So today, after the floor has finally been installed in my office, I have an empty room with a semi-clean desk and my computer. I can finally blog comfortably again!

So without further ado, here are some of my absolute favorites from Marissa's bridal session in early April. Marissa chose the Villa de Palmas located in San Juan, Texas as the backdrop for her session and I couldn't have picked a better place. It was my first time visiting the private residence and I absolutely fell in love with it. The home, available for event and photography rental, is classic and a breath of fresh air here deep in South Texas. 

Marissa had her sister and close friend join us for the session and the four of us women got to learn a little more about each other while enjoying a lovely spring evening. We literally took a stroll throughout the property and admired Marissa in all her bridal beauty. Sometimes I think bridal sessions are my favorite. Sometimes I think engagement sessions are my favorite. Then, sometimes I think the wedding days are my favorite. Ha... I think I just really love my job and all things wedding photography related!

You are beautiful Marissa!

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

2014 © Marisol Izaguirre

More on Marissa's wedding day soon. Have a great Friday friends!

Update.

Wow, I completely failed to blog the entire month of May - yikes! I had every intention to begin sharing with you all of this season's wedding and engagement work. Somehow I let the month slip by and here I am today, in the second week of June, eagerly hoping to catch up. In all fairness, my office space is still awaiting its floor to be installed (more on this later) so it is a complete mess. Having my office in a complete mess makes me hate being in there because I feel so uninspired, blah!!!! I have, however, kept busy with engagements, bridals, and weddings all while overseeing the remodel of half our home, keeping up with our 18 month old baby girl, and reaching the end of this second pregnancy. Whew, that was a long sentence and these past few months have felt so long yet so short. Where o where has the time gone? 

Anyway, I am making a goal this week to catch up on this blog and share with you all the prettiness I have witnessed this wedding season. Right after today's blog post I am hitting the laptop and preparing some photos to share, wahoo!! 

07.03.2014 Taking a break during an engagement session

So I am nearing the end of this pregnancy and very much into my 2014 wedding season so I am struggling with finding a balance between home, motherhood, and work but I am somehow managing. Mostly with the help of my husband, our cooperative little girl, and my family. Seriously, I have the best job ever and an amazing support system.