Michael + Megan are certainly a couple who can roll with the punches. When it was below zero for their scheduled Christmas-time engagement session, they said “We’ll come visit you when the weather is nicer.” When I found out Roughlock Falls was still closed for the season, they said “That’s okay, you can pick a new spot for photos.” When I brought them to my new-found location and we had to tip-toe through mud and slush, they continued to hold hands and smile for my camera.

Thanks, you two, for traveling all the way across the state and trekking around in the forest with me! :-) I am so looking forward to your wedding in a few months!

February packed a punch! House guests, polar vortexes mixed with 60-degree days, new experiences and re-living my past – here are my favorite things from February! :-)

1. Mom + Dad came to visit! Trust me, they were excited to visit, it was just super cold outside when I *needed* to get a house guest photo before they left! We went thrift shopping, tried out a couple new recipes, watched bull riding at the Sutton Rodeo and enjoyed the Super Bowl commercials.

2. My sister-in-law + nephew came to visit! Robin came to town to represent her company at a career fair and brought Isaac with so that my brother could get to work on building some bookshelves. Apparently woodworking is hard to do with a 3-year-old needing constant attention. :-) Isaac had fun playing ball, fixing puzzles, coloring pictures, playing hide and seek, etc. All in all it was a fun realization that I very much enjoy quiet time. Whew! Cheers to all you stay at home parents out there!! :-)

3. Banff Mountain Film Festival – When my friend Halley asked if I wanted to go to Banff, I said “Canada? Sure!!!” But this was pretty amazing, too. And more time/cost effective. :-) I was impressed with the athleticism in these videos, but I was blown away by the films they created! My favorite from the night we went was “Nordfor Sola” where two Norwegian guys spend a winter on a beach North of the Arctic Circle, build a cabin, ski, surf, and clean up debris washed up by the ocean. How the two of them survived in the cold for so long *and* produced an award-winning film is seriously impressive!

4. Girl Scout Cookies – They sure do make it hard for this girl to focus on editing! Thank goodness Lent is coming, because good ol’ Catholic guilt in addition to willpower are the only things that can keep me away from sweets!

5. Pink depression glass – With my husband’s latest interest in thrift shopping, I’ve developed a slight obsession to pink glass – and jadeite, but I haven’t come across any of that yet. Now I just need to figure out how I’m going to display these pretty pieces.

6. Practicing piano – When my parents came to visit at the beginning of the month, they brought my full-size keyboard from home. I finally plugged it in yesterday to learn a new song – after I had to re-learn the notes (yes, I did have to draw them out, and yes, I do say to myself “Every Good Boy Does Fine”), but I got through the first page of “Skinny Love” so I’m pretty excited!

What was your favorite thing about February?

These two are absolute troopers!! I’ll be the first to tell you I was concerned about the snow coming down sideways earlier in the day. Since Jeff and Lindsay were only in town for a few days, we just had to make this weather work!! Now, I’ll be the first to tell you I am so glad we braved the weather (the snow in the hills was absolutely magical) and had pockets full of hand warmers!!

Jeff + Lindsay – Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy week, braving the cold+snow, and for showing me your love. I can only imagine how much more radiant you will be in September!! :-)

I am thankful that Nick met Samantha, ‘wooed’ her, and asked her to move with him to South Dakota.

I am also thankful that Nick had a plan to propose on a rock (ahem, cliff) overlooking the part of the forest where he grew up – and even though Samantha knew he always had this plan, she was still surprised when he actually proposed!!

I am *most* thankful that Nick + Samantha found me and asked to take their engagement photos on his childhood playground. The rocks, the trees, the ghost town – I didn’t want to stop playing taking photos with these two!!

Back to the rock (ahem, cliff) comment from earlier… Samantha told me they got engaged on a rock in Nick’s parents’ back yard. I’m thinking of something like the granite boulders in the Black Hills that pop up out of nowhere and have sparkles and green fuzzy growth. I show up, ask about the famous rock, and they point *up over there* (in the right photo on the upper right side). Ummm, you mean that cliff way over there?! Awesome!!! Not quite what I had envisioned for photos… but we made it work!!

*This* is more like what I had in mind when I thought of ‘engagement photos on a rock’

Nick + Samantha – Thank you so SO much for inviting me out to where you got engaged. Thank you for being so beautifully in love and goofy at the same time – I absolutely love you guys for making snuggling and giggling look so dang good!! :-)

Hello!!! Welcome to my first 2014 edition of ‘Laura loves” – where I share with you what I’ve been enjoying for the past month. It’s been a cold and quiet month, but enjoyable none the less. :-)

1. Merry Christmas!! My husband and I spent Christmas with his family and the tradition there is to take family photos before Christmas Eve mass. Here we are all dressed up – don’t we clean up nicely? :-)

2. BREAD!! We received a bread machine for our wedding, and I’ve been intimidated by it ever since (a whole 16 months). With the help of my dad (who *always* has a homemade loaf on hand) and a recipe from Pinterest that didn’t require powdered milk – I made my first loaf and I have been hooked ever since! I have learned, however, that I must make bread in the evening. If I make it too early in the day, it tends to be all I eat. I heart carbs!!

3. Office vignettes – During wedding season, I’m too busy staring at my computer to make my office look nice (ahem.. keep it clean…). Since one of my new years’ resolutions is to keep a tidy(er) house, I decided to cover all of my business books in kraft paper. I haven’t read them in years, but I don’t want to get rid of them in case someday I feel like re-reading them (I might be a mild hoarder), and now they look *so* much prettier!

4. Black Hills Bride Magazine – Lucas + Lindsey’s wedding was featured and Andrew + Meghan‘s lovely faces appear on my ad! For those of you planning your Black Hills wedding, make sure to pick this up as it has *lots* of tips and vendor lists for you to help plan your wedding. :-)

5. Black Hills Woman Magazine – I had the pleasure of photographing and getting to know President Heather Wilson and Leona Zastrow – both featured as ‘Fabulous Women’ in the Jan/Feb issue. This magazine can be found all around the Black Hills, or you can click here to receive a digital copy and read about all the women featured in this issue!