Star Wars Christmas It Was.

The older I get, the more I really appreciate having family close during the holidays. I remember being younger and having gifts and presents consume my mind and dreams. But now, just having family and friends around is the most important thing in the world. I can't imagine how fun Christmas will be when we turn my parents into grandparents, but don't worry there's plenty of time for that in a couple of years. Some exciting news happened right before Christmas too...I finally graduated from Dallas Baptist University! Took long enough huh...but hey, better late than never. MORE exciting news would be that Andrea Rogers Photography will be seeing some big changes soon, can't wait to disclose! But for now, my lips are sealed ;)

Back to the Christmas talk...most of you know that Stephen and I are big nerds and LOVE Star Wars. So I thought of a genius way to get him more involved with the decorations this year, take a look!

Storm Trooper Nutcracker: Hobby Lobby

Bobbleheads (C3PO, R2D2): Target

Ornaments (Darth Vader, Darth Maul, R2D2): Target

Tie Fighter Ornament: Kohls

R2D2 String Lights: www.thinkgeek.com 

California Vacation 2012!

I thought I would share some of our vacation photos from Napa/Sonoma, Carmel/Monterey, and San Francisco! We crammed way too much stuff into 7 days (I'd say 5 different hotels was a bit excessive). But the view was breathtaking at each stop :) Some of our favorite places were the Cardinale Winery, the Winchester Mystery House, and the Francis Ford Coppola winery and shop. Our favorite hotels were the Carneros Inn in Napa, the Hyatt Carmel Highlands, and the Fairmont in San Francisco. Here is our trip in photos!

Bye Bye Summer

This summer is FLYING by! Is tomorrow really August? Madness I tell ya. This summer has been extremely busy but really fun! And hot. VERY hot. One way I have been beating the heat is making my own Passion Tea Lemonade! The Starbucks tea bags even have the recipe on the back of the box. Keep it low-cal by not adding sugar to the hot brewed tea and by using low-cal lemonade! So so good.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to photograph so many beautiful people this summer. More weddings coming soon, and I'm gearing up for Fall Family Sessions! This has been a great year of learning and falling in love with photography. I can't believe that I am lucky enough to do what I love.  Stephen and I are continually praying about our future and wondering if I should start giving this 100% and making a career out of it. One thing I do know, is that I have such amazing and supportive people in my life.

This summer has also been full of birthdays and baby showers! And thanks to Pinterest, party planning is way too much fun now! Here are some photos of my Aunt & Uncles 25th Anniversary party and my cousin's adorable son Joshua's 1st birthday party! Looking forward to my last semester at DBU, the booming photography business, and of course...more parties! :)

(Click for full size)

(Click for full size)

Girls Weekend. Creepy dolls. Exciting News.

Time to update of you fine people on what's been going on!  This past weekend we had our annual Girls Trip, and it was SO fun. Not all of the aunts and girl cousins could go, so we ended up with only 8. But it was still so great and amazing to have quality time with my Meemaw, mom, sissy, aunts and cousins :) We went to Fredericksburg, TX for a weekend away. 

On the trip there we made a detour for Gruene, TX (pronounced "Green", who knew?). In that cute little town there are cool antique shops, a nice place to eat lunch (The Gristmill), and the BEST cupcake shop! The Gruene Flour Cupcakery was so incredibly yummy. 

(Click image for full size)

While in Fredericksburg, they had their Trade Days that same weekend. Some booths and areas were packed with cute, fun, and creative things to buy! And some areas...well, I thought they would be a perfect setting for a horror movie. And in case you need proof...

But of course, it was all fun! I feel like I should warn everyone of something, though. When eating out with my dear cousin....let's call her "Tina", you have to have your wits about you! Because she WILL tell the waiter that it's your birthday, for 2 main reasons. To embarrass you, and to get a free dessert (duh). The first victim was Meemaw, who told us that she prayed for forgiveness for accepting it haha. And if we would not have had such horrible service at a particular German restuarant then I am sure Tina would have pulled the same shenanigans there. So the next victim was my aunt, at Mamacitas. I pity her because she had to endure a sombrero, singing, and an encore. But hey, we got sopapillas. Now, I do not condone this behavior...but I also do not condone turning down free dessert.

I LOVE my Meemaw :)

And now, on to the exciting news! I am shooting my first wedding tomorrow night! I get to be a second-shooter for Open Window Photography for a wedding at the Frisco Heritage Chapel. I am beyond excited for this opportunity. Wish me luck and stay tuned to my Website and Facebook Page for Sneak Peeks of the wedding next week! :)

Maternity Session

If you know me, you know that I LOVE to sleep.  If I don't get my 8 hours of beauty sleep a night I can be a teensy bit...cranky. So if something causes me to not be in bed at an exact time to ensure that 8 hours gets met, it must be something important.  I mean, it has to be very important. Yesterday I had the honor of taking my dear friend Fanny's maternity photos. Our friend Iza even did her makeup beforehand, it was such a fun time.  I was giddy with excitement after looking at each shot because I just knew they were absolutely gorgeous. Fanny makes it easy to get great pictures, this girl knows how to work the camera! I told myself that I was only going to edit one and then before I knew it, hours had passed! I had to force myself to go to bed, which is usually never a difficult choice. My heart gets so happy when I see the results from a shoot and even more so when the client loves them too. It truly feels like a high that I don't want to come down from.  And to feed that fire I'm attending another workshop tomorrow! Scott Kelby's "Light it. Shoot it. Retouch it. Live!" I'm super excited. But for now...off to edit :) Enjoy the pics of this gorgeous mama!