I guess this means goodbye...

Hey!  I'm alive after over a month of blogging hibernation! I actually decided to quit writing my blog when we started getting busy photographing full time.  It just became too much to continually write and take & edit photographs for this blog and our photography website.  So, I made myself put my camera down one day, somewhere during our week in Maine, and told myself to just enjoy the last 3 weeks of our road trip and our new home in Charleston without journaling every move.  But, I figured that after writing nearly every day for 4 years, I should probably give this place a final farewell. 

 Before I officially say goodbye, I'll give one last Osteen update for ya!  We've been living in Charleston now for almost 2 weeks and renting an awesome house that's 0.2 miles from Folly Beach (oh yeah!), we have a lovable 8 year old 100 lb dog named Cash who wakes us up every morning by moving his big fat body up next to us so we can all spoon together, we officially own a business now and work from home - sometimes in our PJ's!  We have breakfast together and make coffee in our new Kourig in the mornings, we take walks on the beach with Cash every night after dinner (and sometimes go for a lil swim, since the ocean feels like a bathtub here!!!) and we just bought adorable beach cruisers, so now we go almost everywhere on our bikes!  We're busy, everyday, setting up the business, creating business cards, designing the website, finalizing our logo (Thanks Keri!)...updating our Aaron Nicholas Photography Facebook page and ANP Instagram pages (which we'd love for you to "like" and be a part of if you're not already), meeting with business tax guys, having coffee with wedding planners and other wedding photographers, and enjoying every single second of it! (Weddings are definitely on the brain these days.)

So, I may not be updating here on my beloved blog anymore, but I will however continue to update my personal Facebook and Instagram accounts with photos around town and on future adventures, so feel free to follow me there. :)  Let this not be a goodbye, but a see ya around instead!

www.Facebook.com/JillHoppyOsteen

www.Instagram.com/JillOsteen

Love, Jill

The big apple and wedded bliss!

If there's any regret I have about my 4 days in NYC, it's that I didn't take more photos!  I blame it on the rain that we had the last day and the fact that I didn't wanna carry a bag around!  The first night, however, I had my camera right there with me to document a special reunion I had with 2 of my best high school girl friends, Jess and Kat, who I hadn't seen since graduation almost 14 years ago!   How cute are they?!   

Jess is now a celebrity hair and make-up artist (She's currently working for the Morning Buzz on VH-1 and does the host's make-up every morning before the sun rises!) and Kat is an off-Broadway actress and incredible beauty photographer!  They recently started their own business, "JessKat" that's pretty incredible! We met them for dinner at Yum Yum, a Thai place on 9th Ave near Times Square.

Before dinner though, Kat and Jess met Aaron and I in front of the Nederlander Theater to enter the Broadway Lottery to hopefully win tickets for The Newsies at a small fraction of the regular price!!  As luck would have it, Kat's name was called and she was able to buy 2 tickets - one for me and one for Aaron!  It was so exciting and we were so appreciative for her and Jess coming to help us win the lottery!!    

I L.O.V.E these girls!  It was as if no time had passed at all!

Just wish it didn't take us 14 years to get together again!

I can't explain in words how magical, breath taking, exhilarating, and professional this show was!  It was the 1st Broadway experience for each of us and we were completely blown away.  It was so good that it made me cry twice, just because I was so overwhelmed at how incredible the dancing, singing and acting was!  Seriously cried - tears rolling down my cheeks with a giant smile across my face!  Best $60 we've ever spent!

We stayed at my sister's place in Brooklyn while we were in NYC! It was so fun to catch up and spend some sister time with her!  She recently started a juice cleanse and had bought a coconut, hoping that Aaron and I could help her open it when we came home.  What should have been an easy slice of the top turned into quite the extravaganza, including a flat head screw driver and a hammer!  These two are lucky they didn't accidentally chop each other's fingers off!  

Hoppy sisters! :)

On Sunday, we photographed a really cool wedding in Brooklyn with Kat (my HS friend above)!  The bride (a Broadway actress and celebrity trainer - S.J.P. is one of her morning clients!!!) and husband (portrait photographer) are friends of Kat's and were so fun to work with... and their cake was mmmm mmmm delicious!   

You can check out the whole soot here our photography blog, but here's a little sneak peak of a few that I snapped after the ceremony.  These two were so in love with each other, it was permeable and lit up the entire room - and city!

I love Broadway, my sister, high school reunions and beautiful NYC weddings!  The last 4 days have been a blast!  Thanks New York!  Can't wait to be back in June for round 2!

Anyone have any recommendations for us for next time we're in NY?!

Family photo shoot!

While we were in Arizona last week, we had the opportunity to shoot a family session with one of our favorite lifestyle photographers, Andrew, from Andrew Jade Photography!!

Back to Cali!

Well, we've been back in the states after an overnight layover in Hongkong, a 24 hour layover in Korea and then one last 24 hour layover in Shanghai.  We had plans to get out and see Korea one last time and check out Qibao in Shanghai, but I was sick as a dog and spent 48 hours in bed.  Luckily that sickness went away as soon as I stepped on American soil at LAX almost 2 weeks ago and we've settled right back into life in the good ol' US of A.  We bought phone contracts the same day we arrived and started car shopping a couple days later, then there were visits with lots of friends and quality family time with my parents sprinkled in between.  We didn't take our camera out as often as usual, but here's a few photos of our last 2 weeks.

We saw Jess, Carlos and baby Joa while they were spending a 24 hour layover in Los Angeles.

...and we got to meet Carlos's cousin Eddie and his adorable girlfriend, Jessica!

We spent the whole afternoon basking in the sun and rubbing our toes in the grass, which is obsolete in Korea!

We loved Griffith Park...

...and getting to spend time with this little schmooch before he flew away to Chicago!

 

Does Aaron look like a natural or what?!

Aaron and I took a little side trip up to Griffith Observatory and to see the Hollywood sign, which is tucked into the mountain behind me.

We had a 4 1/2 hour dinner and closed down a restaurant with one of my closest college friends, Stephanie, and her husband Adrian. 

I spent a lot of time with this guy, which is always great! :)

One of my closest friends in High School contacted Aaron and I and asked if we would come over and do a photo shoot of her new baby boy Roman!  We jumped at the chance, especially for me  to see and hang with her again!  Doing a photo shoot of her ADORABLE baby was just icing on the cake!

We even got to meet her husband as he was leaving for work... Now, is that a GREAT looking family or what?!

Introducing baby Roman!

I made the mistake of accidentally waking him up when we got there, so instead of sweet, serene, sleeping baby photos, Liz got "the many faces of Roman" shots, which ended up being pretty funny, like this one here!  Luckily she loved them, and so did we! 

We've spent the last 2 weeks hanging at Main Street in Huntington, shopping at South Coast Plaza, eating lunch on the grass at the park, dining at Wahoo's Fish Tacos in Laguna Beach, driving Pacific Coast Hwy, eating dinner at our friends Rick and Sherry's place, going to my old church, meeting friends for Coffee, driving back and forth an hour out of town car searching, test driving at least 10 cars, eating WAY TOO MANY donuts, shopping at the Asian Market, cooking at my parents, having lunch dates with A and my dad, eating dinner - catching up - and watching sports/movies with my parents, playing catch with the lemons off my moms lemon tree, hanging at the dog park in HB and enjoying HGTV again!  Man, I love that channel.  It's been a week of relaxation (I love waking up without an alarm), frustrations (I hate car dealers!), indulgence (my mom's made 2 pecan pies!), and a little bit of California sunshine to top it all off! 

We're staying in CA till next week, waiting on the title for a 4runner that we love!  I don't wanna jinx anything, but hopefully early next week we'll be proud car owners!

Tomorrow we're off to Disneyland, thanks to my dad, who coerced us into staying longer by offering us a free day at Disneyland!  He knows us well. 

Dave and Meagan at Beomeosa!

We've completed our final photo shoot of the year and can not wait to see what 2013 brings our way!

Introducing Dave and Meagan

Bobby + Jestine

I am so excited to reveal our engagement photo shoot with Bobby and Jestine from a couple weeks ago!  They were so much fun to work with and were complete naturals in front of the camera!  I think my friend Katie Olson said it best when she said, "I'm in love with their love..."  They really are the sweetest!

Gary and Sharon!

Aaron and I have been super busy, every weekend, building our photoraphy portfolio for when we come back to the US next year!  Last weekend we did an engagement shoot for a darling Irish couple named, Gary and Sharon!  Check it out!

 FULL POST HERE

My co-teacher's family!

Check out the photo's that Aaron and I did of my co-teacher's neice and nephew at a park on Yeong-do a couple weeks ago!  I'm pretty sure Korean kids are some of the cutest on the planet!

Full post here:

 Aaron Nicholas Photography