This is my last post...

On this blog!!! That's right I have a brand new blog. Lose this address, update your readers and bookmarks and be sure to follow me over at:

www.amandaraeblog.com

That address should be much easier for people to remember! What are you waiting for? Click that link and see the little surprise I have waiting for you over there! And don't forget to let me know what you think!

I haven't posted in awhile.

So weird.

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I’m a HUGE fan of a photographer, Jasmine Star. I think I’ve mentioned her once or twice on my blog and when I talk about her with my husband I refer to her as “My American Idol.” He doesn’t like it when I say that, though, cuz he gets confused and thinks she was really on American Idol. She wasn’t. She’s just a really amazing photographer and has gained in popularity in a short period of time. Not that I am eager to gain popularity in this sea of photographers that are out there, I really just want to gain a living doing something that I LOVE not something that I LOATH. I’ve read through J*s old blog entries before but they seem to take on a new meaning the more I learn about photography and the more I learn about the players in the industry.
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I had a hard weekend of feeling like I’m not good enough and who do I think I am that I can go out and buy a camera and be a photographer just because J* did it. So I started browsing through entries on Craigslist for something that would be a more creative job just to get out of what I’m currently doing. Something preferably to do with photography but maybe something with photoshop or some other leg of photography just to get one step closer to my goal of what I want to be when I grow up (I never thought I wouldn’t feel grown up at 26 but I still feel the same as I did at 18, I don’t know if this Peter Pan Syndrome is good or bad or if it will ever go away. I digress…). There are never any good Craigslist postings for Ventura County so I started perusing Los Angeles County. I’m willing to drive in the horrendous traffic if it means doing something that will fill my soul and not keep draining it. I found a couple of listings that sounded interesting but of course they don’t pay anything near what I’m currently making at my job but again another sacrifice I’d be willing to make in order to be happy throughout most of everyday. There was one listing to work for a photographer that I hadn’t heard of but he looked like kind of a big deal. So when I started going back through J*s entries today to map out EXACTLY the route she took to get where she got so quickly I noticed that one of her first entries ever on her first blog was a meeting she had with the same EXACT photographer. In the scheme of life I guess it’s not that crazy considering I didn’t actually send in my resume or otherwise contact this guy to try and work for him. But the message in her entry was “I got something better: The belief that I will succeed. And I won’t succeed by being someone’s apprentice, but, rather, I’ll do it my way.” The message just seems so much stronger since I was thinking about bowing down and just being someone’s apprentice AND I was thinking of being the apprentice of the guy that helped her come to that realization! And now she’s helped me come to the realization: I’ll do it my way!!! It’s perfect for me too because doing things my way has always been my favorite way. ;)
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Okay I’ll stop now. On to other news. My logo is not here yet. Still working on it. I was talking with a friend about it today and I showed her the options and she stopped and said “Whoa that one looks like FedEx. It says: We’ll get you your photos on time!” Made me laugh :)

Meet {Melissa & Scott}

Melissa and Scott, cutest couple ever, got married at the end of 2008. Jen Harris invited me along to second shoot this amazing wedding! Make sure to hope over to her blog to see her perspective...amazing!!!

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I particularly loved this wedding because it reminded me so much of my own! It was in a little old Victorian house, not too big, not too small...even a similar dress as mine!

On Jen's blog you can see the way she shot the following picture, mine is shot through a window!

This is Scott and his soon-to-be brother-in-law. They were so cute fixing each other's boutonniere (and yes, I quickly googled boutonniere to check the spelling...my first try was WAY off, in my defense it's a long word! And apparently French)

Introducing Mr. & Mrs.!!!
The end: :)

Me on My Birthday

That's me on my birthday in an ice skating rink for the first time ever! Mikey surprised me by taking me to do something I've never done before and we had a fabulous time. And we didn't even fall one time!!! Even with all those clothes on I was still freezing!

This is us trying for a self portrait. It was the last image on our memory card so it was our only try. I'm happy that even though you can see straight up our noses you can't see any boogers! My nose was running all night and Mike REFUSED to let me wipe it on his sweatshirt!

And here is a short 6 second video:

Birthday Skate from Amanda Bordonaro on Vimeo.

These last two are from earlier in the evening. BB had her birthday party on my birthday so we stopped by to give some love and gifts. I'm clearly stoked to be giving:

Proof that it's always a good idea to give others something that you also love; they love it every time!

Merry Christmas to all!

WARNING: Cutest kid EVER alert!!!

I've been promising my sister some updated pictures of her son and while in a hotel room the other day I played around with the light coming in from the window and captured a few shots of the cutest kid to ever live!!! I might be a little biased but not much.

Playing and laughing with cousin, Tiara:

Meet {Melissa & Jerrond}

Last weekend I second shot with Jen Harris once again. We headed down to Pasadena to meet with Melissa and Jerrond who will be getting married next year. We had a fabulous time shooting around city hall, then we ventured on to the Santa Monica pier. It may have been one of the longest days of my life (shooting is HARD work!!!!) but it was such a blast. Jerrond later admitted that he hadn't been looking forward to this but we made it so fun that he really enjoyed it!!! I love that! These two are a lot of fun and are so sweet together! :) I love shooting people...

I Do {Tammy & Jason}

A few weeks ago I had the incredible honor of second shooting with the fabulous Jen Harris! This was a very exciting wedding for me because um hello it was my first wedding EVER!!! I'm hooked :) And this wedding was the PERFECT wedding for my first time. It was a small ceremony with immediate family only which is so great because they really only need one photographer so anything I took was just icing on the cake = no pressure for me!

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The evening started with getting ready at a cute little inn and then we went on to a beautiful park in Dana Point, CA that overlooked that ocean.

The flower girl's dress was too precious:









We found a cool spotlight at the reception and got a GQ moment with the groom:

Then we went for the serious dramatic look with both bride and groom:

What a fabulous experience! Thank you Jen for allowing me to tag along!

iPhone Picture Gallery

I was just scrolling threw my iPhone picture gallery and I wanted to share a few things. I don't always have my massive, huge, honking camera with me and the iPhone does a pretty good job of capturing the moment!
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For starters, this weekend Mikey surprised me with a little trip to Santa Monica. Over the course of our marriage, with his job, it is rare that we get to spend A WHOLE DAY together. We were going to start our Sunday riding our new bikes for the first time. We waited because when they were shipped to us the tires were flat. He went out and got a pump and we were itching to go ride on Sunday only to find that the tire on mine wasn't just flat it was totally busted! I'm not sure why everything with me has to be an ordeal, but it will make the first ride monumental once we are fully functional.
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So we scrapped the bikes (that are now just living room sculptures...for the last month) and headed out to Santa Monica. We went to one of my FAVORITE restaurants Real Food Daily and had a delicious meal. Then we headed down to Third Street Promenade. I hadn't been there in forever and ever, I used to go down all the time. I didn't know that there is now an H&M and that the Forever 21 moved from the mall down to the promenade and is three stories! Mike only let me go into three stores but it was for the best. The fewer stores you visit, the more money remains in your pocket :).
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After that we headed to the pier. On our way over we stopped in a cute little cafe that only sells green tea things. We got green apple tea. It tasted a little bit like feet. But we sat and enjoyed the atmosphere. When we got down to the pier we played some air hockey and skee ball and after that I felt like I needed a shower...if I have kids I'm going to be the mom that has hand sanitizer chained to my belt loop. Then we decided to go on a ride! I have not been on a ride since I was 15! And he and I have not ever been on a ride together. He picked the one ride ($10 for both of us!!) and it was the one that is like a boat pendulum and I'm thinking no big deal, it just sways back and forth. Well I forgot that it leaves your stomach waaaaaaaaaaay over on one side when your body is waaaaaaaaay over on the other side. It was a fun and gentle reminder that I am no longer 15. This is a picture of us sitting on the ride right before the mayhem began:

This is the sunset from the pier a few minutes before the above picture was taken:

After the pier fun and a churro on the way out, we got on the PCH and took it all the way to it's northern ending point in Oxnard and went to my favorite Asian restaurant. It's a little whole in the wall Thai/Chinese place that doesn't look like much in the way of decor, but makes up for it in taste and community. By community, I mean this place is a real life Cheers! The owner knows EVERY customer by name. We haven't been there in like a year and we were welcomed with "Mike! Amanda! It's been like a year!" So cute! How much better would the world be if more places like this existed? Places that value you as a person and not just another sale.
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Last week was my mom's birthday and we had dinner at CPK. We waited FOREVER for a table so by the time we sat down this little guy had been in his carseat for way too long so we let him crawl down the length of the table. I think he thought it was pretty cool to be at eye level with all his favorite people!

And then he helped her open her presents:

And last but not least, this is a cat. She finds her way into my phone pretty regularly: