Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite days of the year. Its not about gift giving, its just about giving thanks and being together. I have been doing a daily "I am thankful for" on Facebook and Twitter but decided that these special people couldn't be summed up in 140 characters.

Today, and everyday I am thankful for my boys, the two that are here, and the one on the way :) My family is the most important thing to me and these boys just bring me joy every day, even those less than perfect days. They are my strength and while my world is centered so much around family life , they allow me to be me, love me unconditionally, and support me in every way. So today and everyday I am thankful to have these beautiful and amazing people in my life and looking forward to the next one (who is still nameless) to join our family.

To all of you I wish you a beautiful Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

You mean in tents? That was the most common question that I got when I told people we were going camping. I have really fond memories of going camping as a child, both with the YMCA, and The American Red Cross in my teenage years (although we didn't sleep in tents with the Red Cross). It really gave me an appreciation for the world around me and attributed to some of the best summers of my life. I know its not for everyone so I'm not going to try to change your mind if you hate camping. I think it's one of those things that you either love it or hate it. Luckily for me I love it and couldn't wait to go with my own family. Its a nice getaway from the TV, cell phones and the internet. I'm not gonna lie that last one was not easy for me I felt really disconnected but was so glad we had no reception the entire time so I couldn't cheat.

This year we decided to go to Kings Canyon in the Sequoia National Forrest and one of the things i quickly realized was how much there was to do! They had a Junior Ranger program for kids so Alex was given a booklet that he had to complete to earn his Junior Ranger badge. He took this VERY seriously! We had a river close by so Alex spent a lot of time swimming in the river which he really enjoyed. There were tons and tons of trails and if you like to hike this is the place for you! Nick and Alex hiked up to Moro Rock and I was so proud of Alex for finishing it and making it to the top. I was suppose to go, I had every intention on going, and even went up a little ways but the second I looked down I nearly passed out. There are only railings on each side and when you look down on either end its a straight drop of rock. The Ranger at the visitors center assured me no one has ever fallen off but being as clumsy as I am i would surely be the first. I thought I was doing OK until Nick handed me the camera and asked me to take a picture when I felt the entire planet shift off its axis. NO THANKS! I turned the heck around and said have a great time. Apparently I have a fear of heights.  Good to know.

This was really a special trip and such a great family time. From our time at the river, to roasting marshmallows, and making smores around the campfire in the evening, it just couldn't have been better. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. 

Nick got this one of the visitors we had every morning.

At the top of Moro Rock. Clearly I did not take this picture

Getting his Junior Ranger Badge.

I cant leave out the ranger that took us for our twilight hike. Nick caught this picture of him and it really sums up the hike. Ill let you draw your own conclusions lol

We stayed with him to watch the stars into the evening and he was serious about his star gazing. He even brought a map, and a bat detector and a bat in a case. You cant make this stuff up.

It's Mother's Day, and while we can say that its just another Hallmark day to get us to buy cards and flowers I appreciate it. I dont often tell my mom enough how much I love her and how proud I am of her. Sometimes for people like me, well, we just need a "day".  I dont think I could randomly do a post like this any time, but I have this day.  She is my "ma" and my friend and I am proud beyond words that she is the woman who raised me. Thank you. I love you and Happy Mother's Day.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us.

Its done! I have to say I'm a little nervous but so excited! When I decided I needed a new blog and new branding I never thought how involved it would be, but I knew I needed something that better represented me, and my style of photography. I consider myself pretty outgoing and as much as I love social networking sites like Facebook, and Twitter, the blog has felt like a scary place, so I needed to make it a little more cozy for me :) I admit I'm not a writer, I rely heavily on spell check, I overuse exclamation points and smiley faces, and sometimes I have to google a word because I'm not sure that it even exists! I also type how I speak, both of which require some restraint and filtering on my part! All of this has caused me to go back and forth about making the blog more personal, leaving it strictly business (this does not work for me) or combining a bit of both and now I've  decided to just roll with it. Seriously its just crazy to worry about that sort of thing, so I'm not :) What I will do is start sharing some inspiration for weddings. There is so much more out there now to help in the planning process so every now and then when I'm browsing Ill share.

I definitely didnt do this blog on my own. My blog was designed by my design department aka Nick. aka Husband. :) He did an amazing job putting this together and I am so happy with the outcome! Its definitely more my style and I thank him for putting up with me through this process (even though he said I was the worse client ever at one point lol thanks).  The blog would also not be up and running if it weren't for Cody from CDC Designs. He worked tirelessly to code the design and incorporate elements I really wanted, like the image slide show. He was patient with all my changes and I'm loving his admin panel that is ridiculously easy to use! props for simplicity! I will be working with both of them to create a new main site and so excited about that!

Thanks for stopping by and now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

I've really wanted to go out and do little photo projects recently, to keep me inspired and challenged. Its always fun to try new things and challenge yourself to go beyond what is comfortable and safe. So a while back Nick tells me of this idea he has that he wants me to try to shoot. He wanted to do a shoot that was inspired by Noir films. My first reaction was to freak out as I have no clue what he's talking about (this tends to happen a lot! lol) I knew a little about some of the films he talked about but not nearly enough to try something like this, but I thought why not. It turned out that this weekends gray skies worked in our favor so we set out to to do the shoot and really I had the perfect subject. It was so much fun to hang out and share ideas, every now and then glancing at the back of the screen to check out a shot, and bursting out into a simultaneous DAYYYYYUMMM! Those around us Im sure were a little curious what we were so excited about. Here are some of my favorites. Thanks for stopping by! Disclaimer One: I in NO way think I am a Noir photographer. That is a gift and a talent and truly an art of its own. Disclaimer Two: Nick does NOT smoke and that is a cigarette lol He just did it for me for this shoot. He also coughed for the next 5 minutes and spit at least twice. Smoking is gross and bad for your health. We started out by shooting around the city so ya this is not even close the look we were going for but he looks hot. (hes going to kill me for saying that and ask me to remove it. I wont) Then we went to an old train station.

I hope everyone enjoys a beautiful Thanksgiving surrounded by family, and friends.

Hey everyone my site is currently down because my hosting company failed to tell me that my hosting was going to expire. Thank you very much. This means my site is not working and also means I do not have access to my email. If you need to reach me for any reason or you are a client please contact me at araxi@me.com Thank you and so sorry for the inconvenience. David Jay and Show It Sites her I come.

I have mixed emotions about the first day of school. We have had so much fun this summer going places and hanging out. I loved not having to rush through our breakfast and inhale our food like a Dyson vacuum cleaner. It was nice. It was also nice to have some peace and quiet and it's really amazing what you can accomplish when you're not dragging a tired and cranky four year old around. So it was with those mixed emotions that I dropped him off at school today. He was eager to see his friends and meet his new teacher. He ran right into the class room to settle himself next to his friend and have his breakfast. I waved goodbye and off I went. He reminded me that I need to put his pictures up on the "bikuter"............now the kid is demanding blog time. So here are a couple. He made it a point not to tuck in his shirt because he felt "its not cool" lol whatever. His reason for waking up this morning.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July I know we did. We spent most of the day hanging out in the pool, then went to the local high school to watch a spectacular fireworks display! They did an amazing job and despite the fact that they changed some of their rules about having a picnic on the field we still had a great time (well except for Grumpy who does not adapt well to change). Here are some pics from our day. Air time! Showing off some mad diving skills courtesy of the YMCA! Word! Grumpy Not so Grumpy. At some point Nana's head turned into a drum set. She's a good sport.

He's growing up. Tonight before his shower he said politely "mom I can shower myself and dress myself...I dont need your help" At least he was polite about it. I hope everyone has a great weekend and all you dad's and soon to be dad's have a wonderful day on Sunday. I'm sure Ill be posting some pictures from our day on Sunday. Looking forward to some good ole family time.

So on Friday Alex had his final big performance (we call them a Hantess) for school and I was seriously nervous. He has had several performances this past year and lets just say he was acquired a reputation for being pretty unpredictable. Unfortunately when you have an almost 4 year old boy, who hates to sing, and has to stand there for a good 30 minutes there is bound to be trouble. In previous performances he has, nearly knocked over the flag, sat through an entire performance (while the other children stood and sang in delight), made his way from the last row of bleachers to the front row only to grab the mic and belt out a loud "HI MOM!!" or on a separate occasion yelling out "THANK YOU GOD" into the microphone. So my time there was usually spent in the audience giving him dirty looks and grinding my teeth in the "if you are not going to sing you better just stand there and be standing there" look.So needless to say when we found ourselves at the final performance of the year I was not expecting him to go all Star Search contestant on me but he DID!! I nearly fell over (camera and all) when he was not only singing, but singing in Armenian and not fake singing he was actually saying the words and doing the dances that he learned. I could NOT believe it! I was so proud of him and he looked so cute in his traditional outfit. I just kept looking at Nick and saying "omg hes singing, like really singing!" LOL Can you tell I was excited about the whole thing? Anyway I thought I would share and post some pictures of him because I've been getting some mail about my lack of posting especially when it comes to Alex. Check him out so serious.

Ill be back to regular blogging tomorrow.

I wanted to extended a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle we held for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! It was big success and you helped raise $600 awwwweee yeahhhhh!! I am so proud of what Bucket has accomplished and all the hard work she has dedicated to the Team in Training program. Her marathon is in June so wish her luck! The winner of the raffle was Nancy Dulin! Cant wait to meet up with you again! You can catch Buckets video of the drawing here. She just cracks me up with her videos. It means a great deal to me that so many of you participated thank you so much for all your support!!

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society needs your help. Bucket, my friend who is amazing and kind needs your help. I need your help. I can not give in the way of running a marathon (maybe one day) but I feel like photography is what I have to offer. Bucket has been an amazing friend and I am so proud of the work she is doing for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Not only does she train like crazy but she spends an incredible time fund raising which is no easy task. This foundation means a great deal to me, having lost a friend at a very young age to Leukemia is something that I will never forget. I know that so many of you out there have been affected in some way by this disease. To help raise some money for the society and for Bucket who is gearing up to run 26.2 miles (shes nuts), I am going to raffle off a session! I am so excited about this and I want so much for Bucket not only to reach her fund raising goal but to surpass it! I definitely believe she can do it. So this is what the winner will receive: - A one hour portrait session with me. - (3) 8x10 prints of your choosing from the session - A DVD Slideshow from your session (comes complete in a leather case and a 4x6 print) - A disk of all your images! I will travel up to one hour from the Pasadena area. So all you need to do is make a $10 donation between April 14-30 and that buys you an entry into the raffle. Every $10 gets you an entry so donate $20 and get two entries. It is simple and the money is going to such a worthy cause! If you can't donate we ask that you just spread the word. If you don't want the session you can always give it as a gift! Here is a link to Buckets site where you can make your donation! http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/give2thebucket Thank you!

Ok so I have been wanting to get family portraits done forever. The last time we actually had family portraits was when Alex was about 2 months old. I know it's a long time and if that's not bad enough the portraits were done at a department store which I won't name. So basically it looks like everyone elses family portrait that showed up that day. To me family portraits are so important and really tell a lot about a family. It's also great to have someone capture your family in a way you don't often see them. A couple of months ago Brian Khang posted on his website that he would be generously giving his services in exchange for a donation made for his friend, who will be running a marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I jumped at the chance.. I knew this would be a worthy cause and to be able to get family portraits? That was a bonus. On Sunday we met up with Brian in Newport Beach and had a blast shooting with him! Alex was in lala land as per usual. This kid has an imagination that just doesn't quit! My favorite part was hanging out with Brian and Helen for dinner after the shoot. We went to Nick's parents restaurant and introduced Brian to some killer Armenian food! Brian thanks again for capturing my family so beautifully! I stole a couple to show you you but you can check out his blog for the rest. Oh and while we are talking about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society my dear friend Susan (we affectionately call her Bucket) is holding a raffle to help raise some money for the marathon she will be participating in. If you are a scrapper and want some great stuff check out her site for more details on the raffle and her stamps on Etsy (which are totally adorable) All the proceeds from her store go to this very worthy cause. Im so proud of her and know she is going to do great! Girl I will see you at salsa class next week (I will explain this later but dont expect pictures of me salsa dancing) This is my favorite!

So every morning I check my stats to see who's stopping by. Really it's just a way to see if Im talking to myself, but I've been pleasantly surprised to see that I haven't been for a while, so many thanks! Ok before I really digress here, I came across a site that I was not familiar with so I clicked on it and was excited to see that our friend Gill (Nick's college buddy) started a blog. Sweet! Not sure if he will keep it up because I know he is busy but his first post is rather amazing. He is a gifted artist, and he did a painting of the great Jimi Hendrix and had his 3 year old daughter help him. He documented the progression and it is simply amazing! So check it out and if you have time leave him a little feedback. It would be kind of cool to bombard him with comments and have him wonder where the heck they all came from! lol

I don't even know where to begin. As you can see it has taken me a few days to post and I still have not recovered. This was my first time attending the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Convention and let me tell you it is an experience like no other. I am on total sensory overload right now. Nick and I both came back completely inspired and I am excited about some of the things we have in store for the future. I say we because without him I couldn't do this. I learned so much while we were there from some great photographers. Two people that really stood out to me and really inspired me while I was there where David Jay and Kevin Kubota. Kevin was smart, funny and aside from being a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens he has the coolest shirts ever. I have almost all his products and he could come out with a new and improved potato sack and I would buy it. Why? Because everything that has his name on it is well thought out, makes life easier and workflow more efficient so I know that I would be getting the best potato sack on the market. I thought Kevin wins the award for kick ass marketing though. He actually had a live super hero walking the showroom floor. If you know his actions you know what I am talking about. I must have past him about 4 or five times and each time thought "that is GENIUS!" Who isn't going to pay attention to a guy wearing tights and a cape? David Jay was amazing as well. He was just so sincere in his passion for what he is doing and was so well spoken. He was so calm and collected, spoke clearly and slowly like he had been doing this his whole life. When he answered questions after the platform class he looked at you as if you were the only one in the room and let me tell you we were NOT the only ones. There were people backed up like the 405 waiting to talk to him. I am really looking forward to Showit Sites! Its going to give photographers the power to design and create their own websites! No more templates! Nick and I have already been brain storming and have some really cool ideas, but I have so many questions so if anyone knows David Jay personally can you ask him to email me? LOL The overall experience of WPPI is something you cant quite wrap your head around unless you are there. Its overwhelming and exhausting but so worth it. Heres a few things I learned from this experience and my to do list for next year. - Wear sneakers (forget about the pedicure you got the day before and throw on some socks and sneakers) I had a cute pedi but I didn't give a crap at the end of the day. - Sign up for Master Classes, and more workshops. - Do not take my camera unless taking a workshop where I need it or unless I have purchased a point and shoot by then (can you believe we dont have a point and shoot?) I did not take a single picture! I can't imagine what I would have taken a picture of? The Kubota super hero maybe? - Plan a meet up with photog friends BEFORE the convention. I missed out on seeing some friends I was hoping to run into. -Walk away from the roulette table when we are $400 up ughhhhh! Anyways it was a great experience and I was so excited to meet some new people. This is a great industry and I am so happy to have a small part in it.

Nick and I are headed to Vegas for the WPPI Convention! Not only am I really excited about meeting and hanging out with other photographers but I can't wait to see all the latest and greatest products, and meet face to face with some of the vendors that I have been working with. Its going to be so much fun! Three days of networking and photography and doesn't hurt to be in Vegas for St. Patrick's Day either! So if you are going to WPPI and you happen to see me come on over and say hi! I know I'll be on the lookout for some of you too. These next few days are going to be a little crazy so if you email me I will try to respond if I have internet access, otherwise I will get back to you first thing Thursday! Take care and if I do have internet access I'll try to post some updates from the show. Can't wait!
I was tagged by Serena a few days ago so Ill leave you with this.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

- Planning a trip to Vegas for my 21st birthday.

Things On My To Do list

- Pack for Vegas (its now 11:54 and Im screwing around on the computer edit: its now 12:14)

- Soak up as much info as I can at WPPI

- Drink a Murphy's Red at Nine Fine Irishmen

- Eat Crepes at the Paris Hotel (they are to die for)

Bad Habits

- I procrastinate (hence the packing issue)

- Im stubborn

- I stay up way too late (especially lately)

Places I have Lived

- Malta

- Italy

- Los Angeles

Things Most People Don’t Know About Me

- I hate birds.

Im suppose to tag some people but Ill leave it open to those who want to do it! See ya when I get back!

Last Friday was my 5th wedding anniversary and I was lucky enough to spend it in Maui with my two favorite people in the world. On our honeymoon Nick told me that in five years he would bring me back to Maui and we would be with a little boy. Sure enough five years later we found ourselves in Maui, with our little boy and in the same hotel. Can you believe that? There was even the same parrot there named Alex that was there the first time and we always said we would name our son Alex and that he would love that parrot if he was still there. The parrot was there and Alex thought it was so cool that he talked and said "Hello Alex" how perfect! There was something so magical about this trip, and I swear I am going to do everything not to cheese ball this post but if it heads that way don't hold it against me lol You really feel something special when you are Maui, and Im not sure if I was me being from an island myself, that it brought me back to Malta for just little bit? Even though they are vastly different there is something about the lifestyle that is so similar. An inherent quality in the people that I recognized and loved. There is so much to tell about this trip that I cant even find the words right now. Imagine me without anything to say? My friends and family are freaking out as I write this. I will get my thoughts together and post more about our trip but I will leave you with some pictures first.Side note: If you are having a destination wedding in Hawaii I DO travel! Just drop me a line. His hat sums it all up. I love this picture because he is growing up so quickly that compared to the sky and the ocean he still looks like a baby. At this time of the year in Maui the humpback whales are migrating to mate and give birth! Can you believe they gotta come all the way from Alaska for that? Here is a mom teaching her baby some tricks. This was such a treat to see! Honestly I hope Brian can get a better face out of Alex than I can! I gave up asking him to smile now its just "LOOK NORMAL!" This guy served up the best smoothies EVER! As you can see Nick enjoyed it,. These are some of my favorite taken at a luau. I could honestly watch them all day. You can feel the culture and the tradition oozing out of these men. These are all straight out of the camera. The lighting was red and I thought it suited the mood perfectly. Nick took this larger picture of these last three. I just love it! More pictures to come....

He is so ready to go to Hawaii! So am I! But HE has been practicing snorkeling. I have picture to prove it. He looks nerdy but he is so cute to me. I just love him and I cant wait to take him on this trip with us!

One of my goals for this year is to network and take workshops, and yesterday I had the chance to both at Mike Colon and Bob Davis', Master Your Craft Workshop. I will start by saying that my head was going to explode yesterday from all the information they shared. I was up until 2am working because I couldn't sleep I was so excited. To me spending a whole day away from my son and husband has to be worth it. For one it takes an organized army to figure out who is doing what (school pick up, dinner, bath etc) that sometimes its just easier for me to stay home and do it, but my mom and Nick came together to help me out on this one and all was well with the world.Mike and Bob put on an awesome workshop, they were fun, smart, and so willing to share ideas and information. They were patient and answered many questions. I love the direction that photography is moving in, where people are sharing and working together. It makes this so much fun! If you ever have the chance to take one of their workshops do it!
Here they are hard at work. Who knows maybe they were just checking their blog stats lol Bob Davis came in with some treats to give away. I have met so many cool people in just the last few weeks and I am so excited about where this journey is going to take me. My next stop is WPPI! Vegas baby!! Who else is going?Got me a picture with Serena and Wayne. Serena is a fellow Priscilla Ahn fan and Wayne and I share the same wedding photographer stories (dont get me started)! I have to get a link to everyone else I met yesterday because they are some awesome photographers that I know I will be staying in touch with and working with in the future! Shawn, Mali (I dont think she has a blog yet), and Joel! I hope to see everyone soon!
Not sure what was going on with me in these pictures must be the head about to explode syndrome.

So yesterday I got an amazing opportunity to hang out with some really cool photographers. We had a relaxed lunch at Bucca Di Beppo put on by none other than Jasmine Star. I will start by saying she is hella cool. How she is on her blog is exactly how she is in person, except that I cant image she types as fast as she talks. LOL I mean that in the nicest way. Her enthusiasm and her passion for what she does is sooooo contagious! It just oozes right out of her and I felt blessed to be there to hear about her journey and some of the stuff she had to deal with along the way. She is a wealth of information and was so open and willing to share with us. Who knew one could become so inspired over lunch! Jasmine thank you so much for a really cool afternoon!
To Serena, Kymberli, Ann, Sara, Kat, Micah, Molly, Danielle, Jasmine Star and Jasmine Chow, I hope our paths will cross again in the future! You all were awesome!

These were taken from Jasmines blog.Check out who else showed up for lunch! The waitress told us this has actually been stolen a few times. Who the heck steals the POPE????? Seriously!
Here is the lunch crew ( what a nice looking bunch!)