I’m tired, my jeans are wet up to my behind, I have sand in my socks…but I had a blast with Mark & Jill today.  They worked me so hard!

Mark & Jill are getting married in August in their home state, but wanted some engagement photos of where they live & play now.  So we headed to trusty ol’ Downtown Annapolis.  It’s the first super deliciously warm weekend in a bit, so everyone and their dog was out too.  After we found parking spots – which is a big deal in Annapolis – we headed down some side streets for more privacy and pizzazz.  If you’ve every been down these streets you’ll know what I mean.  The houses are literally dozens of different bright and glorious colors. Not to mention the city has so much character.  Then we headed over to Jonas Green Park and got some sweet shots in the evening sun.

Enjoy your preview Mark & Jill!  I can’t wait to finish the rest…

Well, even though I HATE having my photo taken, I let Bethany snap some shots of my new ‘do while it was fresh and lovely.  I wish I could say the same about my face.  I realized that when people hire me, they may not know what I look like.  And that’s kind of scary….driving to a place and meeting a random person who  you’ve never met, who is supposedly a photographer, and you have no idea what they look like!  So, to proove I am real, and legit, and a goofball, here are some photos of me.  You can also friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter…but only if you want to hear my daily, hourly, and minute-by-minute rants about life in general.  I’d love to meet ya.  Oh yeah, and I have a Mandy Sroka Photography fan page on Facebook as well.  (I put little specials on there from time to time too, just for my FB peeps)  So, thanks for looking (or laughing) at me.

Oh, and if you too are craving a new ‘do…may I highly suggest Bubbles Salon in the Annapolis Harbor Center and the wonderfully talented stylist, L.C.  She was great!  And fun to talk to as well.

Yesterday was my husband Josh’s and my sixth anniversary!  Can you believe it?  It seems like just yesterday that he was daily changing the color of his hair, contemplating his next tatoo, and adding his fifth earring!

I have been blessed with such a loving, faithful, understanding, patient, godly example of a man.  Now, this isn’t to say that Josh is perfect, and neither am I by any means.  And I don’t mean to give the impression that marriage is a walk in the park, because it isn’t.  However, I know that my marriage to Josh is worth the time, the tears, the effort, and all the love.  He is my soulmate and I am his.  And I just wanted to take this post to brag on him by showing you how he proposed to me seven years ago on a picnic.

Let’s set the stage:  It was May 24th, 2002 and Josh had planned a picnic for us at Downs Park.  I knew it was coming, it wasn’t a surprise, and I also didn’t expect the “gift” at the end.  Josh packed us peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, canned lemonade and I don’t remember what else…all inside a great picnic basket from his mom.  I had just finished my junior year of college along with some student teaching and I remember specifically having Josh help me on a lesson plan that involved Laura Numeroff’s book If You Give a Pig a Pancake.  So, when I opened the picnic basket and Josh had some more Laura Numeroff books for me, it was a pleasant surprise.  However, the next book he gave me was hand-made by him!  Here is that book…

And here is where I finished reading the book, and didn’t have a clue what was going to happen next.  Josh gave me the ring box, I opened it up, and finally got it!  Well, to speed things up, I said yes, we were married the next year, and have been together ever since.  Here’s to many more wonderful years, Josh.  I love you!

Yesterday Greg, Sandy, and their little ones invited me to follow them to Cape St. Claire Beach for some shooting and sand.  When I told Sandy I was participating in the Photography Fundraiser for Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer, she wanted to help out.  And since she’d been meaning to get family photos done, she thought this was a good excuse.

We couldn’t have asked for a more mild, beautiful day.  The temperatures were just right, the light was just right, and everything was perfect.  Well, except maybe for the large, partially buried rockfish on the beach, but he didn’t bother us too much.

We started out by taking some group shots on the beach – all of them in their barefeet, and me in my socks and tennis shoes!  (If you know me, you know I’m not a beach person)  Then we decided to let the kiddos play while Greg & Sandy had some alone time (+ me).

Overall I think we had a great time.  People who wanted to get wet did, and people who wanted to stay dry did (ME).  Thanks again Greg, Sandy, and family for having me out with you and for your donation to Breast Cancer.  I really enjoyed myself!

Here are the rest….

Okay, let me first preface this blog post by saying these are not Bethany’s online dating profile pictures…puh-leez!  She doesn’t need any of that.  However, if she meets her dream man due in some part to my post, she’ll be obligated to hire me as her photographer for every future life event.

I forced Bethany to let me take her out (after we got killa haircuts!) and get some photos for her upcoming missions trip to China.  I don’t know much about what her trip is about, except is about spreading Jesus and teaching English…what more is there?  She’ll be starting a blog soon and I’ll be sure to update you on that.

What I DO know is that Bethany is probably one of my most difficult photography subject.  Just kidding!  It was a little challenging though because Bethany has this weird trait:  She can’t NOT smile!  She just can’t do it.  If you try to get anything but a smile, she doesn’t look like Bethany.  So, in order to get a “natural” smile, I had to just be super funny and make her laugh a lot.  And to punish me, Bethany made me get my picture taken at the end…but we’ll save those photos for later.

So Bethany, my dear, I had a blast with you yesterday.  I enjoyed every minute of every little silly story I shared to make you giggle.  Our entire family will really miss you and everything we share…Settlers, Rock Band, LOST, Heavy Weights, WH?AT, and so much more!

Enough already before I cry….here’s Bethany!