{special giveaway}

This is officially my first CONTEST GIVEAWAY and I am so excited to do it! It starts TODAY and I will be drawing the WINNER at random in two weeks...on November 25th. I will be posted the WINNER on MY PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG and posting other giveaways in the near future, so be sure to check it often.

You must be a Utah resident living in Salt Lake, Tooele, Davis or Utah Counties to WIN, unless you are willing to travel. Please still feel free to add my button to your blog(s), become a fan of my Facebook Fan Page, or subscribe to my Photography Blog. There will be other CONTESTS and GIVEAWAYS at later dates in which everyone can take part.

{What you will WIN if your name is drawn}

- one FREE Portrait Session with up to 2 hrs. of shoot time.
- one FREE high resolution CD with 20-25 artistically edited images.


There are 3 ways you can enter:

{ONE ENTRY}

- Add my "Photography Button" to your own blog(s). Then click on my "Photography Blog" link on this site. Check out my photography blog and leave a comment to let me know you have been there. Then feel free to come back often to visit. Be sure to leave me your blog address within your comment and your email because of course I will be checking.

{ONE ENTRY}

- Subscribe to my "Photography Blog" by clicking on the link and then check out my blog. The subscribe button is in the menu bar.

{ONE ENTRY}

- Go to my "FACEBOOK FAN PAGE" and become a fan. Leave a comment to let me know that you were there. Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1137260782#/pages/Bekah-Jean-Photography/100971406373

You must be a Utah resident to WIN this giveaway. Please still feel free to add my button to your blog(s), become a fan of my Facebook Fan Page, or subscribe to my Photography Blog. There will be other CONTESTS and GIVEAWAYS at later dates in which everyone can take part.

{day of amazement}

Okay so let me just start out by saying that today was an amazing Sunday. :) At first, I was just excited that it was fast sunday because I was planning on sitting back and enjoying the spirit that is felt when others bear their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ as I usually do. That all changed VERY quickly and I found myself at the pulpit blubbering like an idiot. :) Something happened today that I didn't see coming for quite sometime from now. Braden leaned over to me and said, "Mom can I bear my testimony?" Can I just say that I had to pick my jaw up off the chapel floor and then told him "of course" as I wiped the tears away from my face. :) As Braden got up BY HIMSELF and walked towards the pulpit...Ben asked me where he was going and I told him that he was bearing his testimony. Then after Ben picked his jaw up off the floor he simply said, "WOW". For those of you that don't know Braden, he is a very fun loving and energetic boy, but when it comes to asking him to stand up and do anything in public he has always curled up in a little ball and refused. Today was a milestone and quite a break through and it knock both Ben and I for a loop.

It has been quite awhile since I have shared my testimony in sacrament meeting and I could not hold back today. I am kinda embarrassed that it finally took my 8 yr. old to get me back up there. But I am so glad that I did! :) It really is silly how scared we can allow ourselves to get over something like this. We know that our ward families love us and still we hold back ourselves and the blessings from sharing our beliefs from them. If you haven't shared your testimony lately I challenge you to take the next opportunity you get to do so. Nothing bad can come from it! :)

I am so grateful for the true gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and the peace, knowledge and blessings that come from living it. I know that our Father in Heaven and His son Jesus Christ love us and are always there for us, if we will but take time out of our busy lives to make it a priority each day to have some quiet time where we can truly stop and listen to His still small voice. :)

{okay so i'm back}

So several months ago in my last post I said that I was going to get rid of my family blog and just combine my personal and professional posts onto my photography blog. Well, after several months of trying to keep track of friends and families blogs without the quick links on my sidebar...I was lets just say "going crazy". So I have updated the look of my family blog to blend well with my photography blog and hope that you will enjoy checking back often for updates on both. Life is crazy right now but good! :) I was recently called as the 2nd Counselor in the Primary Presidency, right after a ward split. The majority of our primary leadership and teachers are now in the other ward so we had to start off from scratch. I am over baptisms and cub scouts, which has been insane but things are started to mellow out a little now that the main part of the cub scout leadership has been put into place. Did I mention that the WHOLE cub scout program came to a complete halt with the ward split because the entire leadership is now in the other ward also. Yeah! I've been busy! :) Even though things have all been crazy and I am trying to continue on with my photography business amongst all of this too... I am loving the calling and the opportunity to serve. I love the other members of the presidency and have really enjoyed working with them so far an learning from their examples. It's amazing what each individual brings to the table and how all of our ideas just seems to mesh together.

As far as my photography business goes... things have slowed down a little since I got this calling but I am still continuing to take on shoots and weddings and loving every minute of it. I am in the process of saving up for a much better camera and some lenses. I am a little frustrated because I always want things RIGHT NOW even though I know it takes time to accomplish goals that you set. I am amazed when I sit with Ben and talk about the beginnings of my business. We often look through old images that I took when I first started and reflect on how far I have come. I still have so far to go when I look at where I want to be... and sometimes get very frustrated that it's not happening faster, but then I look at other photographers work and feel so inspired to keep learning and growing. I a so grateful for the talent my Father In Heaven has blessed me with in the arts and try with each shoot to improve and share that talent with everyone I can, whether it be by capturing their family in images to keep forever or simply sharing information or techniques I have learned with others that share the same passion as me.

{so long...}

Very soon I will be unveiling my new photography website so my current professional blog will be turning into a collection of both personal and professional updates, so I will be shutting down this personal blog. You can view update on my family etc. by going to: http://www.bekahjeanphotography.com. I will be sharing moments from my life, my love for my children and my love of capturing special moments in their lives through photos and hopefully some words that inspire. There will also be sneak peeks from sessions with clients and upcoming specials or deals. Feel free to add the address to your blog list or even subscribe to my blog so you can check back often and see what is going on in our lives. My email address is still the same: bekahtowers@gmail.com. Look forward to keeping in touch! :)

{new house}

Okay so I have gotten off posting on my blog lately and I am having issues with my design of the blog also. So don't get thrown off by the weird look of the design of it. So there has been a lot of you who have been asking to see pictures of our new place. We finally got the yard put in and everything, so I finally took pictures. We will eventually be adding the nice stamped/designed curbing all around the flower beds which will finish the whole look off. Ben's brother and I did the whole laying of the sod and planting of the flower beds in one day together. Was a lot of fun but hard work and I hurt for a few days after. I'm starting to realize that I am actually getting older and my body doesn't handle things like that as good. :) Enjoy the pics. I'll take some of the inside and add them also very soon.