Paul and Brooke

One of my favorite weddings to date was Paul and Brooke in 2010!

I met Paul while working in Alaska for the summer.  I was freshly graduated with my art degree and thought, "what should I do now??? ... hmm... think I'll move to Alaska for the summer!"  Part of the way through the summer he started working part-time at the little one-hour-photo/rafting-photography-tourist-trap as me.  He was a ball of energy and positivity and I immediately knew we would get along great!  He met his gorgeous and talented actress/singer/yoga instructor (trifecta, right?!) girlfriend while he was there the year before and they were inseparable!  We kept in touch after that summer and I saw him once or twice the following year or two in Kansas City when he played/sang at a local dueling piano bar (did I mention that he is also an amazing musician?). * Shameless plug: check out  www.paulseiz.com *

And was I ever surprised -and very excited- to get a text from him one fall night asking what I was doing the following April!  When I asked him why, he said something to the effect of "matrimony" and "we need a good shutterbug" :)  To which I replied "OMG yay!  OF COURSE!  I'd love to!" ...or something like that.  Lucky for me, Brooke is from Kansas City where I was planted at that time!

The early April day was warm and sunny, the venue was beautiful, and what a phenomenal and fun couple!  The wedding party was playful and hilarious.  And, in good Paul fashion, he donned a plastic splash guard for the cake smashing and a headlamp to find that pesky garter!  The two of them sang several duets and they and their guests nearly danced through the floor that night :)

And so, it being a little over a year since their "matrimony", here is a sampling of the pictures from their wedding.  I'll try not to stick too many in here, but there are so many great ones to choose from!

Video Games, Anime, and Anime Video Games

I had the pleasure of spending two hours in my Art Room at work today with a group of 5 teenage boys who eat, sleep, and breathe all things anime and video game related.  It was interesting to say the least, but not unpleasant.  I was pretty well confused the entire time but they seemed to be enjoying themselves and were being well behaved, so I let them do their thing :)

Today we were making armor.  Paper mache armor to be more exact.  I have been struggling to find ways to include the boys in more of my art projects and decided to target a group of kids who get really enthusiastic about battles of epic proportions.  Since we cannot make anything resembling weapons, I thought, "How about armor??"  So there we were, making paper breastplates, complete with artificial pectoral and abdominal muscles, while they contemplated the intricacies of new and old anime shows and assorted video games, hah!

Highlight of the conversation (or more accurately, the only part I could ACTUALLY follow):   how unrealistic it is for a short plumber dressed in red, who only eats mushrooms, to need an oxygen tank in order to go under water but not need any protective gear to fly into outer space.... and why on earth would a plumber be assigned to save a princess???

On that note, here are some kids who will hopefully make you smile like mine did today!

Starting Anew-ish ;)

There are lots of changes happening in my life right now- most of them wonderful things, but a little disconcerting nonetheless!  And when things in my life seem to reel around me, I turn to the one thing that has always been a constant to me: my FAMILY!  So it seems only fitting that in my first test-run of this whole bloggy thingy I should post some photos of my beloved family. Not to worry, there will be more to come, this is just a taste of some E. Jensen Photography portraiture. Please enjoy!