To My Mother...

"Motherhood is not for the faint-hearted. Frogs, skinned knees, and the insults of teenage girls are not meant for the wimpy." - Danielle Steel


Hopefully my mom won't totally kill me for putting these on here! :)
When I was a little girl, I remember thinking my mom was the best. She was smart, funny, and I loved spending time with her. Once I got older, the teenage version of me didn't think my mom was so cool, and of COURSE I thought knew much more than she ever could. At some point in my early twenties, I wised up and realized that my mom was right, about almost everything. How could I ever have thought otherwise? I guess all teenage girls do at some point.

Now that I'm older and wiser, my mom is one of the greatest women I know. She's creative, opinionated, and always has great advice to dispense whenever I need her opinion. She's built her own business and is a huge inspiration (and support) to me. I can't imagine life without my mom - so I just wanted to take a minute to wish her a very happy Mother's Day. I love you Mom!



Last two photos are credited to the always fabulous Mindy Myers.

A-List

Every year KCRG.com has a contest where people can vote for their favorite area businesses. Of course, Jen Madigan Photography is listed (feel free to sign up and vote HERE - voting goes until May 14th!) but I wanted to take a minute and mention some of my personal favorites from some of the categories (mainly food, lol).

Best Hair Salon - Michael Tschantz Salon
This is hands down the best salon I've been to in the area - I love this place!

Best BBQ - The Pit Smokehouse
The Pit won this category last year and it's no surprise. They have the best pulled turkey sandwich, although their cheeseballs are my kryptonite.

Best New American - Lincoln Cafe in Mt. Vernon
I am obsessed with this place, I only wish it were closer!! I have had some of the best meals here and go every chance I get (I still haven't made it for brunch but their lunch is as good as their dinner).

Best Sandwich Shop - Her Soup Kitchen
If you haven't heard about this place, you better head out the door now. They have incredible sandwiches, yummy salads, and of course ...soup.

Florist - Heaven Scent in Coralville
We had our wedding flowers done here and they were so beautiful, I would definitely recommend them as a florist to check out.

I also wanted to take a minute to say thank you to all of you that have voted, and thanks to everyone for their continued support! And, because every post is better with a photo - here's one that makes me laugh every time I see it. Happy Friday - make sure and check back next week because I have two sessions this weekend and so far it looks like the weather is going to finally hold up (*knock on wood*)!

The Wolfpack

When I go to my parent's house for a holiday, the house can get pretty chaotic. How chaotic can it really be? Imagine a house with two parents (mine), 6 kids (theirs), two spouses, one boyfriend, and four crazy dogs. It can get a little nuts and none of us kids even have children of our own yet! Although it's no weekend at the spa, it's always fun to go home to see everyone and there is never a dull moment. Since the puppies are the only "grandchildren" at the moment (my parents must be so proud), I took a minute over Easter weekend to take some photos of the four of them. Allow me to introduce you...

Ella (aka Ella Bella or Missy Ella) is a miniature schnauzer and belongs to my brother Sam. He tells everyone constantly that she is his "best friend". My parents bought Ella at the request of my sister about 6 or 7 months before Sam was born, so she's been a part of his life since day 1.


I'm sure by now you all are familiar with Einstein (aka Einer, Einey, Bubba), who makes regular appearances on the blog. He wasn't feeling especially into having his photo taken but even models have off days. :)


Next we have my sister Abby's cairn terrier Rudy (aka Rude Dog or the always popular Mufasa) who is playful and rowdy, much like his owner.


And finally there's Herky (aka Turkey or Herk), who is a Yorkie like Einstein but bigger and with more energy.

So there you have it, the gallery of grandpups! I definitely have a new respect for pet photographers - it's not as easy as it looks (I wish I had photos or a video of Josh and I behind the scenes, it was pretty comical I'm sure!). Einstein is used to me shoving the camera in his face, but the other dogs weren't too sure about the whole modeling thing.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! I've got some great sessions coming up in May and I can't wait to share them all with you. Keep your fingers crossed that we have some warm (sunny) weather!

Also, if you aren't already connected with me on Facebook - you can see my page HERE. This is a great place to find out about session openings, specials, products, etc that I may not post about on here. Another thing - I have been having some issues with email so if you sent me an email and didn't get a response within 24-48 hours please call or try to resend (see my contact info HERE). I always try and respond to inquiries as quickly as possible, so please don't think I have been ignoring you if you haven't gotten a response - unfortunately it seems a few emails have been disappearing into cyberspace recently.