Sneak Peek @ Baby E. {Mountain Home, Idaho | Newborn Photographer}

Here is a sneak peek at sweet little baby E. She is just 8 days old. There are more photos coming soon! :-)

Justin. {Boise, Idaho Portrait Photographer}

You had a quick look of Justin's photo shoot last week in Boise. Here are a few more of my favorite images! :-) Have a great weekend!!

A Little More... {Mountain Home, Idaho Child Photographer}

I thought I would post a few more of the images that I got of my boys during my {14 Days of Love}.

My big helper A.

My goof-ball G.

My sweetie C.

What does your money jar look like? {Mountain Home, Idaho Photographer | Boise, Idaho Photographer}

Good quality photos are a necessary item when keepsaking your precious memories for years to come. We understand that times are tough right now. Brandi Jo Photography is just about to release a new pricing system that will help you design a custom package every time! A package that is just right for your needs! Prices will be announced on Facebook soon! So become a fan to get updated with all the latest that BJP {Brandi Jo Photography} has to offer, You!

I also was super excited to see our new add in the new imPact! directories for the Mountain Home, Idaho area.

{14th Day of Love} Mountain Home, Idaho Portrait Photographer | Boise, Idaho Portrait Photographer

Happy Valentines Day!!

My 14th Day of Love is dedicated to my valentine and sweet husband, Justin. We will actually be celebrating our 8 year anniversary in just are few weeks. I first met Justin when I was 17 and he was 20. It was a brief meeting. We later ran into each other 2 years later. Our courtship was fairly quick and we were married after only 6 months of dating. It truly was one of those moments where we both new we were meant to be together. He is not only my husband, but we truly are best friends. I love that he likes to make me laugh. :-) I am grateful for all the he does for our family. We are truly blessed to have him as a husband and father. I love you hun... Happy Valentines Day!

If you have been following the BJP blog through the whole 14 days... congratulations! We did it!! We made it to the 14th day. I hope that you have enjoyed the ride!! I would love to hear some feedback on the {14 Days of Love}. Send me and email or leave a comment below.

My husband whisked us (the family) away for a weekend away. I am sitting in a hotel room as I type this post. I took some photos of him earlier today at the park to share with you. I just have one posted for now. I'll post more from his photo shoot later next week. So stay tuned!

{13th Day of Love}

What is the irony of the Olympics airing during the same week that I am doing my 14 days of Love?? I am happy to be able to send some blog love to the USA Olympic team this week. I know I am not the only that is going to be fixated to their television for the next two weeks. I actually opted out to sit at my desk top to type this post. I chose to sit in my recliner with my lab top so that I can watch the Olympics and get my day of love posted ON TIME today.

It is so amazing to watch these individuals push their physical limits with each WIN. Every Olympic season the records continue to be surpassed. It just goes to show that our (well, their) bodies have amazing abilities. NBC is currently talking about how those individuals choose to put their own safety aside to compete in the sport for the Olympics.

So, as I am sitting back in my recliner, eating a bowl of yummy peach ice cream... my heart is for Team USA!! Let me know what your favorite sport is for the winter or summer Olympics!! :-)

I am off to finish watching the Luge competition. May God be with Nodar Kumaritashvili's family and friends.

{12th Day of Love} Mountain Home, Idaho Child Photographer

I have been so excited to do this post since I started the {14 Days of Love}. However, I was just barely able to get out today and take some pictures of my boys. They hold such aHUGE part of my heart. They sure know how to make me smile!

The weather was PERFECT today (for a winter day in Mountain Home). It was in the 50's, the sun was shining and NO WIND (that had to be the best part!)!!! So, here are a few photos of my boys. They loved holding the rose... until it was beaten to death. Currently, it is in pieces in the parking lot down town. Ah... Oh well... That is why I only purchased one rose instead of a dozen.

So check them out!! I might be a little biased, but they are super cute!!

My sweetheart, Aiden.

My Little heart-breaker, Gavin.

My sweet Baby, Carson!

{11th Day of Love}

Heart Smart Part 2.

On this 11th Day of Love... we are looking into the specifics of Heart Health.

Heart Disease Risk Factors

Risk Factors You Can Control:

-High Blood Pressure

-High Cholesterol

-Being Overweight

-Amount of Exercise

-Smoking

-Alcohol Consumption

-Your Stress Level

-Diabetes

Risk Factors You Cannot Control:

-Your Age

-Your Sex

-Your Family Medical History

Know Your Blood Pressure

Category Systolic (top #) Diastolic (bottom #)

Normal <120 <80

Pre-Hypertension <120-139 <80-89

Stage 1 140-159 90-99

Stage 2 >160 >100

The Heart-Healthy Diet Reduced Saturated Fat & Cholesterol

Foods to Choose

-Canola or Olive Oil

-Non-Fat of 1% milk, non-fat or low-fat yogurt

-Fresh Fruits and Veggies

-Whole-Grain breads, cereal, pasta, pretzels

-Fish, white meat chicken and turkey, tofu, beans, lean meat

Foods to Lose

-Coconut or Palm Oil

-Cream, Whole Milk, Powdered Creamers

-Olives, Coconut, Avocados

-Doughnuts, Muffins, Pastries

-Hot Dogs, Bacon, beef, Sausage, Liver, Bologna, Salami

Manage Your Weight

-Eat foods with less fat, salt and sodium.

-Try to eat 5 times a day.

-Make breakfast or lunch your main meal meal and eat a light dinner.

-Limit sweets, and eat fruits instead.

-Eat if your hungry... not for emotional reasons (I need to make that one a goal for me!)

-Don't skip any meals. If you are not hungry, still eat something. Just eat something small.

Regular Exercise

You don't need to stress yourself with a HUGE exercise program. Start out small. That fact that you are doing it counts! All you need is 30 minutes a day!

Benefits from Regular Exercise

-Better muscle tone

-Lower blood Pressure

-Stress reduction

-Improved cholesterol levels

-Controlled Diabetes

Simple 3-Part Program

1. Warm-Up (5 minutes)

Remember to slowly raise your heart rate and do some gentle stretching.

2. Aerobic Exercise (20 minutes)

-must use large muscle groups

-raise your heart rate

-must be rhythmic and steady

-you must be able to do it without stopping.

3. Cool Down (5 minutes)

Slowly lower your heart rate and give muscles a gentle stretch.

Stress Busters!

-Keep a journal to write your thoughts or feeling in.

-Talk to a trusted friend or counselor

-Do only one thing at a time.

-Give yourself "free time" to just relax, write a letter or read a book.

-Plan ahead.

-Use progressive relaxation techniques, such a yoga or slow breathing.

-Give your self a 20 minute break in the middle of the day.

Have a Happy Valentines Day and please remember to take care of yourself!! :-)

{10th Day of Love}

Trying to blog everyday has been a little bit of a challenge for me this past week with some family health issues we are running into. However, I am trying to stay on track. You'll just be getting 2 posts today!

The {10th Day of Love} is my yummy treat I have been promising you, my Great-Grandmother's sugar cookie recipe. They are so delicious! They are the ones that are nice and thick with the thick frosting on top. Mmmm....

Now, the recipe is one of those dump ones (meaning there are no measurements). With that being said, I tried to keep track of the amounts that I added to give you a measurement that is close.

Sugar Cookies

2 cup sugar

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of baking soda

4 tsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. of vanilla

1 cup of milk

Mix wet ingredients together, and then mix the dry ingredients in. Add flour. (Yes, that is all the recipe states... add flour. I add approx. 5 1/2 to 6 cups. You don't want the texture of the dough to be sticky. See picture below.)

Then you roll out the dough to about 1/2 an inch thick and cut out cookie's with desired cookie shapes. Bake @ 350 degree's for approx. 8-10 minuets each batch. You want to pull the cookies out right before they look like they are done. If they are golden brown, then you left then in too long. This will give you a soft chewy cookie instead of a hard one.

The frosting I use is another one that I just dump ingredients into. It is similar to the White Frosting Recipe found HERE. The thicker the texture of the frosting, the higher it will pile on your cookie! If it is too runny then is will just run off. Add either a little more powder sugar to make it thicker or milk to thin it out. Let the frosting sit at room temperature to dry before placing on a plate or in a bag.

Yum... look how thick they are!!

If you want to add sprinkles to your cookies, little conversation hearts, or any other candy... do so when the frosting is wet. When it dries it will set the candy in place better.

Sugar cookies are a lot of work, but so worth it! I usually like to give mine away to friends or neighbors. I had got a few plates together after taking some photo's of my hard work...

...then my two year old found them. Apparently, he wanted some too! :-)

{9th Day of Love}

Last night, my husband and I both went to Urgent Care with our oldest son making a total of 2 separate trips. Today, I had two additional doctors appointments, no coincidence with the first, with my other two younger boys. On the way out of the last appointment I saw this little table in the foyer with "Heart Smart" info in tribute to Valentines Day. It did, of course, catch my eye as Valentines has been on my mind a little more this year with the {14 Days of Love}. So, I stopped and grabbed a few of the pamphlets to take home for review.

I thought it would be a great tribute to the {14 Days of Love}.

Day 9, Heart Smart {Part 1}.

I have decided to cover this in two parts. The first part will be about the more obvious prevention, while the second part will be a little more specific.

"Heart and blood vessel disease kills over 950,000 people in the U.S. each year. By comparison, cancer claims about 530,000 Americans each year and AIDS claims about 16,000 lives." (Hope Health, www.HopeHealth.com, NO. 113-6)

Hope Health gives us, "The Seven Best Ways to Help Prevent HEART DISEASE."

The 7 risk factors we can control...

1. High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

The biggest problem with high blood pressure is that it usually has no symptoms.

2. Tobacco Smoke

If you smoke, you double your risk of heart disease.

3. Overweight

If you are overweight, you are more likely to develop heart disease - even if you don't have any other risk factors.

4. Undesirable Blood Cholesterol Levels

Healthy adults should have their blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels measured at least once every five years.

5. Lack of Regular BRISK Exercise

Regular exercise can greatly reduce the risk of heart disease.

6. Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes tends to appear in middle age and among people who are overweight.

7. Stress

Everyone has "stress," but because we feel it in different amounts and react to it in different ways, it's difficult to define and measure.

**ACT FAST! In the event of a Heart Attack for you or loved one, DON'T WAIT LONGER THAN 5 MINUTES BEFORE CALLING 911.

Most of this information was gathered from, www.HopeHealth.com. Feel free to go to their website to get more detailed information.

Part 2 will be coming soon, with an action plan!! :-)

{8th Day of Love}

Oh Happy 8th Day of love... look what just arrived in the mail!

Yes, that would be my Shootsac! It has made my heart all happy and warm! Oh the ease of carrying/changing my lenses now on a photo shoot. Just their packaging is amazing! It makes you excited just to receive their box, let alone the bag.

Below is the cover I chose. I decided to stick with the green for now to go with my logo.

My yummy Day of Love was postponed today. Let's see what tomorrow brings!

{7th Day of Love}

My 7th Day of Love is about 2 of my favorite people... My Mother and my Grandmother. They decided to drop in Saturday around 4pm last minute. It was such a treat to spend the last 24 hours with them. We had to stop and take a 3 generation picture for the record and this was the best shot we got (if this is any indication of how much fun we have). This is us! We all have a ridiculously good time together and laugh non-stop.

My mother and I have a special relationship. We are best friends. I would say the same with my grandma. So anytime we get together, it is hands down, a blast! There is usually chocolate involved and a late night of card games. That does not go with out the occasional, "we almost peed our pants- from laughing so hard" scene.

I was sad it was such a short trip, but so glad to see them, none-the-less.

Until next time, Grams and Mom, Love you!

Thanks, Aiden, for taking the picture! :-)

{6th Day of Love}

I have to apologize for getting behind with my "Days of Love." Thanks for the kind reminders! :-) I do have good excuses! My husband got into a project that left us with one vehicle temporarily, as well as running back and forth to Boise Friday and Saturday. Then I got a wonderful surprise from some very special people Saturday. That story will be for another day.

So, on to the 6th day of love. This one is simple. I am a simple girl.

The way to my heart...

That spreads a smile on my face larger then life, and is way better then flowers! :-) Nothing is better then a good Dr. Pepper and some Dark Chocolate!

Enough Said.

{5th Day of Love}

The {5th Day of Love} is to learn about loving yourself. This is such an important part of being happy and enjoying life.

One of the first things that you should do is sit down and write a Top Ten list of things that you love about yourself. This might be sort of hard, but try to be sincere. Don't just write ten things down to get it done. Really try to think about 10 things that are unique, that make you special.

Second, write down a Top Ten list of things you Love. This is important because you should also focus on things that make you happy. It can be hard to find true happiness when you don't ever spend time on yourself. This can be hard if you are a full time parent, dedicated employee, or a care giver of a loved one. I am sure I am not the first person to tell you this, but you need to take care of your self before you can truly give yourself to others. So, do it! Write down your list and post it on your bathroom mirror. It is good to read it often to keep in mind who you are and what you want from yourself.

Although I will keep my Top Ten list of things that me special, I thought I would share my Top Ten list of Things I Love:

1. Snuggle up and read a good book.

2. See my boys sincerely laugh.

3. The feeling of a good workout.

4. X-treme Sports: Wake boarding, Motocross, Snowboarding...

5. Being handy, starting and finishing a project.

6. Going on a date with my hubby!

7. Talking with my Mom everyday on the phone.

8. Good Mexican food, good sea food, good BBQ food, OK- just GOOD FOOD!!

9. The feeling of being spiritually fed.

10. My job! Capturing those special feeling that people have, in an image.

Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you love to do! {6th Day of Love} coming up!

{4th Day of Love}

Today, I have decided to share with you my love for my camera! I have just recently upgraded my camera, and will soon be upgrading my lenses. Since I will eventually be all new with my equipment, I figured now would be the time to make a camera brand jump!

So, here is the BIG question... CANON or NIKON? I get asked that all the time. So, I decided to start doing some research. I have been researching for MONTHS now!! And what I have found out, is that they are both great cameras!! Sorry, I know that is something that you probably didn't want to hear. BUT, if one camera was really that much better then the other, then one would have been out of business a long time ago. The two companies seem to play leap frog with who has the "best" camera for the moment, only to be passed up by the other when their new model is out.

So when you have two great camera companies, then how do you make your decision? I would then look at the company because that is what you are utilmately buying is your relationship with them. Some questions you should ask your self is: How will they treat you with warranty issues, customer service, product replacement? Do they offer all the products I have on my wish list (if you are a photographer then that will always be an on going list :-)? What are their prices in comparison to the other leading brand? What will be my ultimate price be in the end? These are all questions that I researched in looking for a new camera, and which ultimately brought me to my decision.

I did go back and forth on the two brands for some time. There are things about Nikon that are really awesome that Canon does not offer, along with Canon offering some awesome features that Nikon did not. I had to weigh out all the options. I spoke to many camera shops (which I found out that every person has their own preference and will try to talk you into theirs), and tested each camera. I also had a great friend *wink-wink* (Jamie!) that gave me some great advise, "When you can't make up your mind about two different things, you are always best to go with your initial choice." She was absolutely right! Your first intuition always seems to be what is best for you.

My decision is to stay with what I am comfortable with, and what would be the least expensive for me in the long run. I wouldn't have to upgrade my flash, a few of the lenses that I will keep, my remote, along with a few other things. I decided to stick with my Nikon. It is hard to find a non-biased opinion when searching, but like I already said, they are both great camera's. Go with what you feel works best with you!

Here are a few pics of my new camera! I have been having so much fun getting acquainted with it!

Here is the camera straight out of the box.

Much love! The {5th day of love} is just around the corner!

{3rd Day of Love}

The third day of love is going to be dedicated to the meaning behind Valentines Day. There are a few different versions of the "true" meaning behind Valentines Day, and who the real Valentine is. There were three different St. Valentines that all happened to be martyred around the 14th of February. However, the version of the story that I liked the best is found HERE. It goes on to explain how Valentine lost his life and how the first Valentine note was delivered.

Another fun piece of information I found was the meaning of different rose colors:

RED rose means romantic love.

PURPLE rose means that the giver has fallen in love with the recipient at first sight.

ORANGE & CORAL roses represent desire.

YELLOW rose is for friendship or joy.

PINK rose is for gratitude or appreciation.

PEACH rose can signify sympathy or gratitude.

WHITE rose is for humility or reverence.

Enjoy the information, and stay tuned for Day 4!

{2nd Day of Love}

On this 2nd day of Love, I bring to you a very special offer! Please read details listed below. There is limited space available, so book your session soon! Just sending some love your way!

{14 Days of Love}

1st Day of Love

(I apologize for not getting this out to you yesterday, as planned. So you'll get an extra post today... stay tuned!)

With February starting and kicking off the count down to Valentines Day, I am bringing you the {14 Days of Love}. Each day between now and Valentines Day, I will share my love with you! Weather that be an awesome Photo Shoot Special, nifty tips, unique facts, or just something fun and funky... you will be feelin' the love! Oh, and don't be selfish, you can pass my love along. Share this blog with your friends!