The New Blog…………..

aekstrom — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:01:45 +0000

Come on over! NEW BLOG

If you have me in your favorites or bloglines, etc….then make sure you change your link to the NEW link!!!!

See ya over at my new place!!!!!

Update………..

aekstrom — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:05:06 +0000

Sorry I haven’t posted lately, but I am finishing up on my new blog. Waiting on the finishing touches before I post so stay tuned

Wedding Wire 2009 Bride’s Choice Award…………….

aekstrom — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:30:44 +0000

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Oakstream Photography has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Oakstream Photography is one of the very best wedding photographers.

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

Oakstream Photography would like to thank our past clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!

WAHOO! This is what I woke up to this morning. This is a GREAT way to start off the day Thank you Wedding Wire & THANK YOU to my most wonderful awesome bride’s I work with! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fun.real.stylized.

High School Senior Class of 2009……………….

aekstrom — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:03:09 +0000

Don’t let the cold stop you!!!! If you’re a winter/snow bunny..or dude there is still time to get your senior pictures taken. I have only a few dates available for you seniors that graduate in 2009. If you want FUN, FUNKY, UNIQUE senior pictures that show your personality & STYLE that you won’t find anywhere else then be sure to call NOW to book your date.

As a reminder to all my 2009 senior reps…the senior who refers the MOST seniors to me you will receive your AWESOME prize in May. Times a tickin…lets keep clickin!

I’ll leave you with this beautiful face………………

She graduated last year, BUT I was just going through some senior pics to put on my website & I had such a blast with her!!!!!

fun.real.stylized.

Britt & Ben Engagements ~ Ogden, Utah

aekstrom — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:27:14 +0000

I met this wonderfully awesome couple down in Ogden the other day & we’re soooooo happy the weather was WONDERFUL the day of our shoot cause it’s been raining/snowing since then. We went all over 25th St & the Union Train Station in Ogden. They are SUCH a wonderful couple to be around. I can’t wait to meet the mom of the bride because I met grandma at the bridal consultation & she was hilarious. Everyone so far is absolutely FUN!!!!!

Can’t wait for their wedding in April & their bridals in March. Can’t wait for you all to see what we’re doing for their ‘ART…..STYLIZED’ idea. It’s gonna be GRAND!!!!!

Feel free to let me know what you think…have ?s..that’s fine too..just ask!

fun.real.stylized.

Until next time…………

Five Important Lessons……………..

aekstrom — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:24:53 +0000

Remember I said I will be sharing more about ME..MY LIFE..well here is how I’m feeling today.

My husband sent me this & today of all days is when I really really needed to read something like this. Sometimes…ok well LOTS of times I get caught up in myself about things that are annoying the heck out of me, not going right, etc. Whether it’s my kids, my husband, my photography, my friends, my family…you name it…there are days that I am sooo annoyed I just can’t stand myself. You ask..how can I have such a bad attitude when my life is so good? I have the most wonderful, condsiderate husband, 2 very healthy children, family who love me, a job that I love to do & better yet get to stay home & work. Well somedays are just not great. I’m having one of those days. I am blessed with everything in my life & so happy with everything in my life. Why am I down then? I can’t really give you an answer. Today is just not a good day for me. Maybe I need some sunshine

After reading these five important lessons it has made me stop & think…to be THANKFUL! I wanted to share this with all my family/friends/clients/photographers/blog stalkers cause everyone has a bad day & if reading these five important lessons makes you have a brighter day….then I am very happy I could brighten someone’s day.

I am editing this engagement session & when I came across this image…it really made me smile. Looking out into the world to be loved…to be in love! This is a happy joyous moment & I have a happy joyous life….thank you God for my life!!!!!

1 – First Important Lesson – Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:

‘What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?’
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

‘Absolutely, ‘ said the professor. ‘In your careers,
you will meet many people. All are significant They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say ‘hello.’

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy.

2. – Second Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway
trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had
broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a
knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached.

It read:
‘Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway
the other night. The rain drenched not only my
clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying
husband’s bedside just before he passed away… God
bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others.’

Sincerely,
Mrs Nat King Cole.

3 – Third Important Lesson – Always remember those
who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,
a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in
front of him.

‘How much is an ice cream sundae?’ he asked.
‘Fifty cents,’ replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.

‘Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?’ he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the
waitress was growing impatient.

‘Thirty-five cents,’ she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

‘I’ll have the plain ice cream,’ he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had
to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 – Fourth Important Lesson. – The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did
anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder ha d
been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The
peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve
our condition.

5 – Fifth Important Lesson – Giving When it Counts…

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, ‘Yes I’ll do it if it will save
her.’ As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed
next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing
the color returning to her cheek. Then his face
grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, ‘Will I start to die right away’.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Most importantly…. ‘Work like you
don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been
hurt, and dance like you do when nobody’s watching.’

NOW more than ever – Peace

& God Bless -

KUTV 2 News…………

aekstrom — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:26:05 +0000

If you watch the morning weather news on KUTV then you will recognize this gorgeous face! Debbie gives us our morning weather & what a fantastic job she does at that! I had the wonderful pleasure of hanging out with her & her family down in Salt Lake City. OH MY her girls are sooooo darn cute & funny. I LOVED how she dressed her girls. So sassy & stylin They totally worked the camera for me & it was a BLAST! They were sooo fun & I’m totally having a hard time narrowing the proofs to NOT be a gazillion!!!!!

Thanks soooo much Debbie for having me capture your beautiful family & all the personality. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the overload of pics, but I LOVED the personality in these!

Totally seranading me…haha…what beautiful voices they have!

I completely love this shot. Her pouty little face with those shades on…oh so cute!

Let me know what you think……………………

fun.real.stylized.

Until next time………………….

fun.real.stylized.

Until next time………………..

Happy Anniversary……………

aekstrom — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:29:17 +0000

To my wonderful husband & I!!!! Yesterday we celebrated our 9 year anniversary. Whooohooooo we’ve almost been married a decade Let me say though it hasn’t been all peaches n’ creme. I think the first couple years are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hard!!!!! If only you all new what we’ve been through, but I can say that it has made our marriage stronger & we as a couple have grown so much closer together. When my hubby reads this he’ll say yeah..we have boxing matches..haha..well pretty much our only argument is over finances! Well what married couple doesn’t argue over finances. I can not STAND finances..when the topic comes up my skin just crawls & my heart starts beating fast. I almost have a heart attack. The other day I was talking to my sister-in-law about it…she can calm me down…help me see realization.

My husband is actually the best husband on the planet…I know alot of you are saying..NO MY HUSBAND is…well MY HUSBAND is..hahahaha! I know I’m not an easy person to live with because my patience….well it’s pretty much non existant. Yip..I have NONE! He puts up with a lot from me & right now I am taking this time to tell him….THANK YOU! THANK YOU for ALWAYS being there for me. You are my everything. Without you I’m pretty sure my world would not exist.

Tonight we are going to dinner & a movie. We don’t get alot of date nights together & so I’m way excited about tonight!!!!!

I have to say one of my new goals for 2009 is to post more on my blog about ME, MY LIFE, MY FAMILY. I have LOTS & LOTS of readers & I really only talk about my clients. That may get boring to some, so I decided to start writing/posting more about who I am. It’s pretty sad cause I don’t take a lot of pictures of my kids, my life, my husband, my family, our trips…NOTHING really cause I just work too much & I don’t want to take the time to take pictures & then not do anything with them. Well hopefully this year that will change! We’ll see how it goes

Here is a few pics of my attempt to take some family pics while we were in Colorado celebrating Christmas. I do have lots of just snap shots of our trip sledding, ice fishing, x-mas, etc…but I still haven’t downloaded those pics yet..haha..see…I slack on my family!!!! My sister-in-law is always on me so I better hurry & get goin on these!!!!

I am bummed though because I bought my nieces these funky cute outfits for our ‘picture day’ together & well…that day STUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we didn’t get to do what I wanted to do. The wind was blowing MAUCH ONE & it was FREEZING……so does FREEZING WIND & CHILDREN mix??? UM….heck NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They cry, they don’t cooperate, they get mad…THEN what happens to mom when the volcano errupts???? YEAH we get mad too…hahahahaha! Oh well…guess I’ll just have to go to Texas to re-do their shoot where the weather is warmer & we won’t have a freezing wind chill!!!!!

My hubby’s parents & their 4 grandchildren.

My family

My husband’s brother family. They live in Texas.

Our family……………………..

fun.real.stylized.

Until next time………………………….

Family Time……………

aekstrom — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:12:48 +0000

This couple car pools with my hubby for work so they wanted me to do some family pics.

This guy is a football player for the Logan Stampede’s. So of coarse we headed to the Logan football field to throw the football around Thanks guys for a great time!!!!

Let me know what you think!

fun.real.stylized.

Until next time…………..

Sky View High Senior………….

aekstrom — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:22:00 +0000

I had a great time with this gorgeous senior, her boyfriend & her friend that came along too. Her poor friend…she froze while hanging out with us!!!!

REMINDER SENIORS:::::::: The senior who refers the most seniors to me gets some MULAH in May when you graduate! So keep spreading the word. You can spend this MULAH on ANYTHING you want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So far a senior at Mt. Crest High is in the lead so come on…keep spreading the word!!!!!! You can refer the class of 2010 too cause they will need senior pics as well!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t be shy…leave some blog luvin

fun.real.stylized.

Until next time…………………