Captured Moments of Beauty

I was looking through my photos tonight and decided to post some of my favorites of warm/sunny days, mostly from 2009. We've been lacking sunny days lately, so I thought I'd bring some of them back for us to enjoy.


The sun setting on my way home from work one evening last year. It was an absolutely amazing sunset to see, I had to try to capture a piece of it.


This is a beautiful, sunny day at the River Walk in San Antonio. There were so many gorgeous flowers there.

Of course, I have to include one from our warm and sunny honeymoon. This was taken in the Bahamas and this sign expressed our thoughts exactly.


This photo was taken at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens on one of my trips to visit Nick. This was another beautiful place we visited last year.

A pretty and peaceful sunset taken from the interstate (No, I wasn't the one driving :))



Wonderfully beautiful flowers Nick sent me for my adoption day in 2008. Who would've known that would be the very day we'd be married to each other exactly one year later.


There's nothing better than reading a great book under the sun on a beautiful summer day. This was taken when my mom and I went fishing last summer. Well, she fished (and caught a few fish!) while I read and soaked up the sun.

Looking back at all of the places we traveled and memories we had in 2009, it was really a year filled with joy. There were difficult times for sure, but the good always outweigh the bad if you set your mind with the right perspective. We're thankful to have traveled to the places we have and were able to see and capture all of these beautiful moments. That's one of my favorite things about photography- capturing an amazing moment, hoping to share that experience with others. There is beauty everywhere around us, we have to keep our eyes open to see and enjoy it.

Christmas 09

We hope you all had a great Christmas this year. Ours was great and a bit adventurous. Weather conditions were not on our side, but thankfully we made it to most of our Christmas celebrations with family. This Christmas was especially meaningful as our first as a married couple. Here are some photos:

Here we are at the Smock Christmas in Decorah.


The youngest of the Webb girls, Isabella. Taken at the Gonzalez Christmas. She's adorable.


Enjoying Christmas with my mom and dad. We cozied up by the fireplace and played Would You Rather, Golf (card game) and Cribbage, and also ate great food!


I took the two above photos on our drive from Des Moines to Omaha a few days after Christmas. What a beautiful winter day we were surprised with! It was really the calm/beauty after the winter storm we had over Christmas. We saw many vehicles in the ditches along that stretch, a few that had crashed upside down. We were very thankful we made it to our destinations safely through that same storm.


Another "Winter in Iowa" shot (taken from I-80).
Ice is weighing down the branches of some of the trees in this one.
I really felt like I was in Narnia or a winter wonderland with the trees covered in ice.


Cubby anxiously awaiting the opening of his gift. He was hilarious following that present around once he had a clue of what was inside. We had a great Christmas in the Smock home, with another great meal, Monopoly, more games, football and catching up with a few friends.

We are thankful to have had a safe and enjoyable Christmas, we hope you had the same.
Happy New Year!