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Five Years of Loving Every Minute

I met him at the beginning of February 2005. I was a sophomore in college not necessarily looking for love. I wasn't opposed to it but I wasn't actively searching either. Then, one day, my friend asked me to go to Shaw Hall where some of her friends lived. In college I would do anything, we were always looking for a good time, so without hesitation, I went.

That's where I met him for the first time. Did sparks instantly fly? No. When I walked into the room he was wearing a headset and playing Halo - along with his friends. Did I think that this guy was going to end up being the love of my life? Far from it. I thought I was just going to another party and meeting some fun new people.

It wasn't until the following few days that I thought anything of him. We would have long conversations on AOL (into the wee hours of night) and literally ask each other hundreds of questions. For Valentine's Day he brought over three roses. One for myself, one for Erin and one for Ann. That day he also asked me out on our first date.

We went to dinner and a movie (Sideways). After that we shopped around Meijer's (I should have known then that that was one of his favorite places to shop). He was a perfect gentleman. Open all the doors for me and paid for both the dinner and the movie.

We didn't have the relationship conversation until a week after that and on February 25th, 2005 we made it official.

I've never had a boyfriend before him. I didn't know what to expect out of the whole thing. I didn't know what he wanted from me but I soon found out that he is perfect for me. The only thing he ever expects from me is to be me. Of course there are things about the other person that annoy or frustrate but I honestly believe that we are perfect for each other.

Five years have gone by and I couldn't even imagine my life without him now. He's my constant, my one and only, the one I come to everything with.

I guess I would have to say that I'm one lucky girl (but it goes without saying that he's one lucky guy too J).

Pictures through the years...

The Generosity of Photographers

The generosity of fellow photographers honestly baffles me. I started wanting to make photography a side profession of mine about six months ago and to be completely honest; I didn't know where to start.

I knew I loved capturing moments otherwise unnoticed but I needed a better camera - something more than a point and shoot. So after a lot of going back and forth, I bought myself a Nikon D40. It was about the cheapest digital SLR I could get and I figured that the camera doesn't make the photographer. I was in awe of this camera and the photos that it produced (compared to my Canon point and shoot). Soon I begin wanting to invest in better lens so I bought myself a prime lens and a telephoto lens. I am EXTREMELY pleased with both of these.

After I got my equipment I began getting obsessed with other photographer's blogs. I studied everything about them. They, like me, started small but grew their business into something of an empire (to me that is). And the greatest thing about all of it is that their willing to share everything (besides the money of course). They tell you their secrets - they give you advice - they give you free products. They are constantly GIVING.

I cannot wait till I can be in a position where I can give advice and give someone else hope that they too can do this.

FYI - I am currently saving for a new camera. Although I don't think that the camera makes the photographer, I do think it's a smart idea to always have a back-up.

Because every post is better with a photo, here is a photo of my beautiful niece. All post production done in Lightroom 2.0.

Baby Session - Cami

Here are some of my favorites from Cami's session last week!!

Bad Blogger

I have been a bad blogger this week and for that I'm sorry.

This weekend I am hoping to blog about my photo session with Cami. For those of you that don't know, Cami is Adam's beautiful niece. She will soon be three months so Jen asked me to come over and take some photos. I don't think she imagined "some photos" turning into over 450! It was just TOO hard to STOP taking photos. This baby was a perfect subject, always smiling, always being too cute for words.

I usually don't take THAT many pictures especially for one subject but Cami wasn't upset and was totally going with the flow so there really was no reason to stop.

I'm really hoping to get a blog up of my favorite pictures by tonight or tomorrow. I have only gone through about a 100 of the 450 but I am going to scan and check out my favorites.

Sorry for the delay!!

Reaching Goals and a Birthday

Well I started two big things on my list yesterday - losing 20 pounds and running straight for five miles. This is going to be hard.

I'm not a good dieter. I don't eat a ton of junk food but I don't eat healthy all the time either. This is going to be the challenge. Running is a challenge as well but I don’t think it's as big a hurdle as the whole eating right thing. Maybe I can eat the way I want but run and the pounds will just melt away?

Anyways, the sad thing about being away from running for so long is the fact that I can only run one mile. At my peak I was running three miles comfortably and five miles if I felt lucky. I NEED to get back to this. After running yesterday I had so much more energy and I had a good pain - you know what pain I'm talking about. Well my goals have been set and are in motion - we'll see how it turns out.

On a side note, it's my mother's birthday. I want every person to know just how much this woman means to me. It's like God made the perfect mother and gave her to me. I feel so blessed to share every day, every thought and every moment with her. I hope she has an enormously wonderful day and I can't wait till I can get home and celebrate with her.

Senior Preview: Christina

I finished Christina's pictures!!! I am SO happy with how they turned out. Since I gave you the overview in the blog post before this, I'll just sit back and let everyone enjoy the beauty that is Christina.

The following is some (not all) of my favorites from the day.

Go Spartans!!

Love this.

One of my top favorites.

I seriously think she could be a model.

Another favorite.

She has such beautiful eyes!

Sneak Peek: Christina Senior Session

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking a few photographs of my boyfriends cousin Christina. She is a senior in high school this and just recently got accepted into Michigan State University (best school ever).

When I saw Christina over Christmas a conversation came up about her not having any senior photos. I just could not allow this! Instantly I told her I would take some photos of her, although she was pretty apprehensive, she allowed.

A few weeks later Adam and I went over to Christina's house (on the biggest snow fall of the year) and took a bunch of pictures of the beautiful Christina.

Not only is this girl beautiful on the outside, she has a heart of gold. I mean that sincerely. She could possibly be the nicest person I know. She is always wanting to do for others - as I kept reminding her during the session when I could feel she didn't want to take anymore.

I can't wait to work on all this photos but today was my brother's 29th birthday and we spent all night playing bananagrams and cards.

Christina, thank for for allowing me to capture the beauty in you that everyone sees. I really hope you love this photo because I do.

Hopefully lots more will be posted this weekend!!

My 2010 List

I am not calling this my new years resolution - not even close. This is just a list, a list of things I want to happen in 2010. I won't be broken hearted if all of them don't get done. That's life. I am going to be happy no matter what - actually living each day.

Without further ado, here is my 2010 list:

1. Lose 20 pounds

2. Run 5 miles without stopping

3. Double my blog traffic

4. Attend a photography workshop

5. Double my income from 2009 (photography)

6. Write thank you notes for little things

7. Shoot a photography session in a city I haven't been

8. Send out advertisement cards for my business

9. Print out 8x10's for my Portfolio

10. Clean out my closest and get rid of things I don't wear (if it hasn't been worn in a year, it's out)

11. Take a vacation somewhere I haven't been

12. Get Adam to second shoot with me

13. Volunteer somewhere

14. Read at least 50 books

15. Save 90% of what I make for one month

16. Buy a flash for my Nikon

17. Learn to cook three different dishes from my mom

18. Have a stylish dinner party where I make everything - for my family

19. Try and have lunch/dinner with a friend every other week

20. Don't let anything hold me back

21. Take a road trip (at least four hours)

22. Go camping

23. Have my pictures done from one of my favorite photographers

24. Get engaged

25. Change my blog - make it new/fresh

26. Saying yes to something I would normally say no to

27. Start a book club

28. Photography someone I admire

29. Babysit Julia/Gabi one entire day/night so their parents can get some time to themselves

30. Attend a formal event

31. Do a free shoot for someone who deserves it

32. Move in with Adam

33. Get at least 100 followers on Twitter (http://twitter.com/LAOrnekian)

34. Do something unexpected for a friend

35. Be a better person

36. Get more personal with people - facebook isn't everything

This list will forever be changing - things will be added and others will be subtracted. This is a rough outline so don't judge me, even if you do - I don't care.

Here's hoping that 2010 is a fabulous year! I'm sure it will be whatever I make it out to be.

PS- I already did #31 - they will be posted later on!

A Year in Review

Junk food is out of the house, relatives are back to their respective homes, nail polish chipping off my nails - this could mean only one thing. Break is now officially over.

I am now sitting in my cubicle (on break of course) thinking of how fast 2009 was. It almost felt like a blink of an eye. There were so many great things that happened that honestly felt like they just happened yesterday.

This year I was introduced to Lady Gaga, who in my opinion had an amazing year, and Owl Eyes. I have seen some of my favorite movies which included The Hurt Locker and Avatar. The year 2009 is when I ended up giving in and reading the Twilight series - and thank goodness I did. God bless you Stephanie Meyer.

Besides entertainment, I turned 25 and I decided to make photography my life. What was first an obsessive hobby had turned into something of a business. Although I have not yet had too many sessions, I feel very confident about 2010.

Instead of taking a photo, today I decided to put up photos that sum up 2009 for me.

Let's start from the beginning…

In February Adam and I celebrated four wonderful years together. To celebrate, we went to Frankenmuth for the weekend!

March Madness! In March our Spartans made to the final four and moved on to the finals. To watch the final four Adam and I went to a local East Lansing bar and had a blast!

In April I had a bachelorette party for one of my favorite people - Cindy! We bar hopped around Novi and stayed the night in a hotel.

May is when the wedding of Cindy and Adam happened. What a wonderful day - filled with happiness!

The first weekend in June Erin and I headed South to Ohio to visit Michelle. It was a great trip that will most likely be happening again this year!

July was Julia's second birthday. And boy was it a party! Family and friends convened to celebrate the wonderful life of Julia Ornekian. I am blessed to have her in my life.

At the beginning of August the girls side (on my mom's side) headed for a weekend trip to the cabin in Manistee. There was plenty of girls talk that will last us until the next trip!

In mid-August Adam and I took our big trip. We drove out East to Cape Cod, Gloucester and New York City. I couldn't have imagined a better trip with a better person. I will have memories from this trip for a lifetime.

End of August/beginning of September was Jen's baby shower! I was so happy that I was finally able to introduced my mother to my second family. :)

October brought a new addition to the Thomas household. Derek and Jen had a BEAUTIFUL baby girl named Cami. Couldn't love her more!

In October Dikran came for his second visit of the year. There was trips to the apple orchard and of course, Halloween!

In November I bought myself a lens, which I loved, and photographed my family for their last family shoot until baby G makes her arrival.

November 14th was Adam's 24th birthday!! We celebrated in style and got a hotel room at the Greek Town Casino and went out and about in downtown Detroit.

On Thanksgiving weekend a bunch of my friends and I went to Lucky's to celebrate my birthday birthday. I turned 25!!

The actual day of my birthday brought my lots of family time and a MSU Snuggie!!

In December Dikran and Kellie came back to MI and to Kellie's surprise, Dikran proposed! Here are the two families joining together!

December 31st, 2009. The last photo of the year - with the love of my life.

I had a WONDERFUL 2009. Thank you to everyone who made it perfect.