But one just stuck out at me.

So with much happiness and love, I’d love to announce the winner of the “Love never fails…” photo contest.

Bryan Hamilton!

And this is his entry:

I guess the best place to start anything is from the beginning, so that’s where I’ll start our story. Angie and I were introduced by a mutual friend. Our friend had been trying to introduce us for a while but never actually told us she wanted us to meet. We ended up meeting at a birthday party and I knew immediately I had my work cut out for me if I wanted any attention from her. You see, in my eyes Angie is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I still remember not being able to stop staring at her smile that night. I explained to our friend that I had to see Angie again and I needed her to set it up because I was too busy staring at her to really talk to her that night. Not long after that the three of us met for happy hour and after a short time there, our friend suddenly had to get home to her child which left just Angie and I to talk and for me to finally get her number. After a couple dates Angie and I became almost inseparable (maybe she wanted to have a little more time alone but I was loving every minute of her company J ).

To list everything I love about Angie is simple, everything. It really does seem like I fall in love with her more and more every day. She takes the time out for the little things that show me how much she cares and make me love her more. She can have had a rough day but she always takes the time to kiss me after coming home from work and makes sure to tell me “I love you” before she drifts off to sleep every night.

All relationships that last seem to have a few things in common. The first thing is consideration. Both people have to be considerate of the other. Angie is an amazing example of this. It seems as though everything Angie does has me in mind. The second thing a relationship needs is surprises. It’s the little things that mean the most. Surprises don’t need to be gifts or anything big but they just go to show your better half you’re thinking of them. It can be a simple text saying “thinking of you” or “love ya”. It could be one of my favorite things to do, flowers for no reason. It could even be as easy as just telling your spouse you appreciate them. The third thing a relationship needs to last is time. To take time to appreciate your spouse and let them know what they mean to you. Take the time out from a busy day to go for a walk together just to hold hands and talk. Take the time to make your spouse smile. Take the time to make things easier for your spouse. The last thing is the easiest, love. If you do all the other little things for your relationship love will be the easiest thing you do all day.

To tell you what I would like from a photo session is easy. I want a chance to show my wife how much she means to me and to have proof when I tell her how beautiful I think she is! Angie and I are about to start a new journey in our lives together as we are expecting and due in July. When Angie and I got engaged I asked her by creating a slide show of photos we had taken throughout the time we had been dating. I put them to music and the last slide said “you make me laugh louder and smile bigger” and asked her to marry me. I would love these photos to start our new journey and show this new baby how much we love it from even before he or she is born.

Thank you for taking the time to create this contest and if we don’t win, at least I got another opportunity to realize how much I love my wife!

Sincerely,

Bryan Hamilton

Congratulations Bryan and Angie!  I can’t wait to plan out our photo session together!

For the other 16 that entered the contest, don’t you fret.  I have a gift for you too!  Be expecting it in your email by the end of this week.

Much love to you all!

P.S. I just found out that Bryan and Angie know if they’re having a little boy or little girl at their 20 week ultrasound today.  How exciting is that!!?!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I would love to show my appreciation to my clients and my growing fan base on Facebook by giving away a complimentary couples photo session to one lucky couple in love.

How does this work? It’s actually pretty simple…

First, you have to like my Facebook page. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably done that already. If not, what are you waiting for?!?!

Second, you’ll need to send me an e-mail or Facebook message telling me a little about yourselves. How you met, what you love about each other, what you think makes a relationship last… I would also love to know what you’d like from your photo session.  A theme?  Something you saw on pinterest that speaks to you?  It’s that easy!

Third, include a cute photo!

This contest is open to all couples, married or not, engaged or not, young and old, new client or previous client.  If you’re a couple in love with an interesting story or photo session idea, you have a chance at winning.

Entries must be received by 11:59pm PST (midnight) on Tuesday, February 14th.The winner will receive a custom themed photo session with maricar lianne photography to be held at the location of your choice and a disc of 20 mid-resolution images (a value of $325).

The lucky couple will be announced on my Facebook page and on my blog at 12:00pm PST (noon) on Wednesday, February 15th and the photo session will take place on a weekday late afternoon, early evening in the Spring.

Show me your love!!

Miss Layla was full of adorable expressions. 

Mommy and Auntie Christina were armed with the cutest outfits in the world.

And we just had to use a quilt that Layla’s great great grandmother made.  Precious in blue!

I dare you not to smile at this little swimsuit and sandals.  She’s ready for summer!

Here’s Layla and her beautiful mommy.  Sarah, you are just gorgeous.  I also thank you for your sacrifice.  You are strong beyond words.  Us military mommas have to stick together.

So family and friends.  Here’s a challenge for you!  If Layla and Sarah receive 25 comments on their post, I will gift them with an adorable custom gift!  P.S.  If you don’t see your comment right away, don’t fret.  I need to moderate them before they show up! 

Here are the images I wrangled from that night!

I don’t like to beat around the bush so here we go!

First off, here’s the winner of the randomly drawn comment from the contest blog post.  We ended up with 146 comments you guys!

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Congratulations to CORY!!

Gooooooo CORY!!  I will contacting you in the next couple days. I’ll need to mail you your $500 mlp gift certificate!  Yippee!

And now for our mlp client from 2010 that garnered the most votes from friends, family and blogfriends…

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Congratulations QUINN!!

I will be contacting Quinn’s family soon so they can receive their $500 mlp gift certificate!  Awesomesauce!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day!  See you again real soon!

I have numerous things to be grateful for right now. My husband is returning from military deployment soon, my girls are thriving in school and at their dance studio and the amazing growth of my business last year. Thank you for all your support, encouragement and referral love over the past 3 years! mlp is nothing without you. I love being able to capture all your precious memories.

So on with the contest!

Pretty please read ALL the instructions for entering BEFORE you begin!

Each person can enter 5 times. Seriously, yes. You can enter 5 times. For each task you do below, you get 1 entry.

You need to post a comment here FOR EACH one you do. So if you do all 5, then post 5 individual comments.  Make sure fill in your email address when commenting.  If you win, I won’t know how to contact you! 
The contest starts Friday January 28, 2011 at 7pm PST and will end on Awww!! Valentine’s Day Monday February 14, 2011 at 7PM PST.

Here are the 5 ways you can enter!

1. Post this note on your FaceBook wall, twitter feed, blog, or any social network site: “maricar lianne photography is having an awesomesauce contest! You could win a $500 gift certificate! Hurry and enter to win before February 14th & say I referred you! http://maricarlianne.com/blog/2011/01/24/mlps-giving-back-some-love-contest-2011/” Make sure the link to the contest is in the note. Post a comment to let me know where you posted the note at here!

2. Send an email out to all your friends and family telling them about the contest. Add a link to my BLOG AND FaceBook page. Post a comment to let me know how many people you emailed here!

3. Tell me your favorite places to shop for clothes, accessories and shoes. This answer could be for you or for your kids. Post a comment with the link to your favorite stores here!

4. Refer a friend or five to maricar lianne photography and give them a link to my website. I’m always looking for new portrait clients and new wedding couples! Post a comment to let me know who you shared the love with here!

5. Go to my FaceBook page, check out the mlp 2010 client photos and find your favorite one. Post a comment with the number (there is no photo #1, consider it a cover page) of your favorite photo here!

See? Easy! And how cool is it that you can enter up to five times to win!  Very very important, if you don’t comment here when completing each task you don’t get entered in the drawing so don’t forget to comment!

THE PRIZES!

I’m giving away two… TWO!… $500 gift certificates!! One will be given to a randomly drawn comment from this blog post using random.org after 7pm on Awww! Valentine’s Day Monday February 14th, 2010 (See #1-4 above). The other will be given to a client from 2010 with the most comments selecting their image (See #5 above). The gift certificate can be used towards an upcoming portrait session or wedding.

If you can’t use the prize, you are encouraged to win for someone else and give it to them as a gift. Please do not post other comments except for the ones specifically for this contest. I will be deleting all posts not associated with the contest or duplicate posts. If you have questions or don’t understand the instructions, please contact me through email maricarlianne@gmail.com.

ALL comments are MODERATED and will need my approval before you see them. So please don’t post twice because you think it didn’t show up. Give it some time. If it doesn’t show up within 12 hours, please post again.   I will  be back online tomorrow morning after 1am (unexpected night shift) to moderate your comments.  Thanks for being so patient!

Again, I’d like to sending much thanks to all my wonderful clients and friends of mlp over the 3 past years! And thank you, cute person reading this blog post, for entering to win! Good luck!

xoxox,
Maricar

Things I loved from the session?  Little Campbell’s strong arm while walking.  Her big smiles.  Pointing to every dog and bike that crossed our path.  Having her mommy and daddy kiss over and over again just for the photos. 

Enjoy your special blog post Akers family!

And here is your special super dee duper blog challenge!  Have 25 family and friends to comment on this post and I will gift you a cute little 3×3 accordian brag book with photos from the session!  Good luck!  <3

She loved to laugh and point at the camera.  Didn’t care about toys but would rather touch my camera lens.  She’s a techie in the making I’m sure!

This family is full of love and smiles and giggles. 

The day after our session was to be Claire’s FIRST birthday so of course I had to run around the house and take photos of details for the party.

And little miss cutie pie Claire had two cakes.  One for her birthday party and one for her to smash into and taste for the session!  She loved the cake but wasn’t too fond of the fondant.  Haha!

Seriously.  Cute right?!?!?

The biggest giggles came from her when we went on a little walk in front of her home.

Thank you so much B family and thank you so much Claire.  I hope your first birthday was fun!  Do me a favor okay?  Try to get 25 people to comment on this blog post so that mommy and daddy could get a little brag book full of your smiling face m’kay!?  I know you can do it!