If I could choose one word to sum up April, it would be… refreshing.

Refreshingly good-weather days allowed my husband and I to take several after-supper walks, and also get a bit of yard work done. (Soon we will not have a rock pile in our driveway – hooray!!)

Not only was the weather a breath of fresh air (literally), but so was getting to spend a relaxing amount of time with family (without my camera). “Without your camera?!” Yes, without my camera. You see, my 3-year-old nephew would rather take pictures with the ‘big camera’ instead of acting like his cute self in front of the camera. I’d rather watch him be his cute self. :-)

Anywho… here are my favorite things from the refreshing month of April!! :-)

1. Location Scouting –  My husband and I took a few evenings to drive + hike around various locations in the Black Hills in search of some breathtaking new backdrops for engagement sessions. Sure, repetition is great for my workflow and bookkeeping, but when it comes to keeping my creative eye sharp, I sometimes need a fresh perspective or a new challenge. A brisk walk to this location (and others) was just what I needed. :-)

2 & 3. I was able to spend a couple days with my brother and his family and that meant spoiling & loving on my nephews. :-) As I mentioned earlier, it’s difficult to get photos of them being themselves because after they hear the shutter click, they want to see the photo and then take more photos. So these were about all I was able to get of my nephews – putting their Lego set + puzzle together.

4. My cousin and his wife had a baby, and they asked me to come take pictures!! How could I say anything but, “I’ll be there as soon as I can!!” I couldn’t. And I was. Little Everly was just 12 days new when I photographed her and her loving parents at their home in Bismarck. Sometimes I’ll browse through their gallery and just ooh and ahh at how tiny and adorable she is. :-)

5. We spent the last weekend in April with my husband’s sister in Minnesota going to thrift stores and spending some quality time together. Again, my camera stayed tucked away. But check out this gold-rimmed milk glass dish set I scored!! $6.50 for 6 dinner plates, 6 lunch plates, 4 cups + saucers, and a sugar bowl and creamer set. The apricots are just what I’ve been savoring since we got home – hooray for warm weather fruits!! :-D

What have you been loving lately? Shorter sleeves? Open windows?

Sunshine, surprises and sappy sitcoms – here are my favorite things from March!!

1. Lance’s birthday – earlier this month, I surprised my husband with a super-fancy laptop bag for his birthday. It’s hard to order things for him online since he gets email notifications from UPS and FedEx sent directly to his email, so I had to be very very sneaky. It worked. :-)

2. Lemonade and Lenses cover contest honorable mention – L&L is a beautiful magazine for photographers with excellent articles. Twice now I have submitted images for their cover contest, and both times I have received an honorable mention, which is so very exciting since every other image considered for the cover is *so* lovely! It is an honor to be mentioned among so many other wonderful photographers.

3. SUNSHINE!!!! – Winter has mostly tapered off here in the Hills. We do still get a snow shower here and there, but nothing that sticks around for very long. Hooray for extra hours in the day and temperatures warm enough for outside photos!! :-)

4. studio lb Instagram account – I’ve had a personal account for a while (@laurabcatron), but I wanted someplace to sneak peek my pretty photos from engagement sessions and weddings. For the past week, I’ve been filling up the account with photos from the past and I’m now caught up through 2010. If you’re on Instagram, follow @studiolb to watch the past three years appear, as well as first looks at my upcoming weddings and sessions! If you’re not on Instagram, you can still check out the images by going to instagram.com/studiolb.

5. craft + bake day with Halley – My friend needed some help putting a quilt together, and since I have limited knowledge passed down from my mother, as well as a sewing machine, Halley came over and we spent the day tying, sewing, calling my mom for help along the way, and baking cupcakes! The cupcakes we made were Lavender with Vanilla Bean Frosting – although I was hesitant to put real bits of lavender in the actual cupcakes, so we steeped the lavender in the milk, and then couldn’t even taste it in the cupcakes. Maybe next time I’ll leave some in. I’m just so afraid they’ll taste like soap!!

6. Hart of Dixie – Do any of you watch this show? I know it’s super corny, but I think Rachel Bilson is simply adorable – I wish I had her hair, her style, and her ability to walk across town in heels. I’m also waiting for Zade to happen again, but we’ll see what the writers decide. ;-)

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?

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!

The 2014 issue of Black Hills Bride is out and I am so excited to share a little sneak peek of what’s inside!!

Lucas + Lindsey’s wedding was selected as one of the featured weddings this year (p75) along with a handful of other lovely Black Hills weddings.

For those of you planning your wedding in Rapid City, Custer, Spearfish, or anywhere within the Black Hills of South Dakota, make sure to pick up this magazine for all kinds of planning ideas, as well as a list of some of the best wedding vendors in this area. :-)