Portraits!

Did some fabulous portraits today! They turned out so cute!

The POWER of the iphone

love it Tori!

Just FYI I am going to Montana for some skiin'! I won't be posting anything for about a week, so don't worry, I will be back!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! IT'S 2009 TIME!

Christmas Time!

And a Merry Christmas it was! ummm Mexican Train anyone?!

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and Happy New Year!!

The Graduate!

He did it! Hooray! I'm so proud of you!

Where I spend most of my days...

Working in Tempe five times a week for many hours, it can now be considered another home. I don't think I've ever really taken the time to see Tempe, or much of the valley, in a different way. Phoenix has been home for so long, yet there is plenty that I have missed. Through my viewfinder, this is what I see.

Homemade!

Let's face it. The economy sucks right now! As Christmas slowly approaches are people still going to be buying, buying, buying? Will companies still give out those cans of popcorn, boxes of chocolate, or restaurant gift cards to clients, or is it time to cut back on spending? The company I work with is definitely cutting back on spending money, however we still have a little gift for our clients. Homemade cards and Keane Cowboy Christmas calendars. It took quite some time to get 40+ calendars wrapped and more time for cutting, pasting, and tying. Look how cute they turned out, and filled with nothing but Keane love! Our clients will love us even more now!

Oh, and let's not forget to check out some of the great photos!

Angels We Have Heard on High!

How is it already the middle of December! I can hardly believe how fast these past few months have gone. Now that our holiday decor is up, I sauntered around the house seeing what I could photograph!

I absolutely love angels.

The stocking that I've had my entire life!

And making my own decor in...1st grade?...Even I'm an angel! :)

Let the Stationery Begin!

Straying from the photo aspect, I would like to introduce something new and fresh from the graphic design side!

I am now designing personalized stationery! Yes, that's right stationery with an E! It may sound quite silly, however I did just learn that there is a difference between the words stationAry and stationEry. Think about it! Whoever knows the difference first gets a prize! Anyways, here are some things I've come up with thus far...I'd love to get feedback, or even orders if you like what you see! January 2009 will be the debut!

Here are some of the first designs...


Simple and cute with great colors! Also tons of writing room for anything and everything you would want to put in your note!

And if you didn't figure it out yet, I LOVE using browns in my color palette!

Have a magical day!

It's beginning to look like Christmas!

Christmas is certainly here! Today it is probably the coldest day yet! Winter in Arizona has finally arrived! Dad and I put up lights outside on Saturday...

Here's a view from my office! This was what it looked like yesterday. Cloudy day in Phoenix anyone?

The Photo Gallery!

Hello hello hello! Now that I am doing family portraits, I have a new gallery site for portraits that I have done! Client albums are password protected! I plan on making a little portfolio album as well so that some of my work can be viewed, in addition to my photog blog! My friend Max has been such a great help with this! THANKS!

Here's the site, lizmagura.com/photos.

Tis the Season!

Share this with everyone..

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Wandering around Scottsdale during the Christmas Season!

Grammy is 89!

The beautiful sunset I got to see on my drive home from work today! I just had to get a good photo.

And the most important part of today...my Grammy's 89th birthday! What a woman!
Did I mention Cathy's Rum Cake is a staple to family birthday gatherings? It's DELICIOUS!

More Portraits!

Today I did another session of Holiday Portraits! Papago Park was the destination, and a great decision! I think they turned out great!

Thanksgiving Traditions!

Thanksgiving for this family has a few traditions that ha've been going on for as long as I have been around! Aside from my sister not being able to come home for the holiday, it was a very fun day!

Today started with a wake up call at about 8:30am to go on the annual Thanksgiving Day hike up Squaw Peak. Family and friends meet for coffee, photos, and the climb! When reaching the top...well let's just say it's always a party. Champagne, snacks, more photos, and more champagne! Luckily everyone seems to make it down the mountain all right. From my experience, talking and being on the tipsy side makes the climb down way shorter!

This years hike was very different from all of the previous years I remember, not only was it missing Emma, it was incredibly cloudy and overcast! Once the drink and food ran out on the mountain, we headed down and over to the annual football game!

The football game is never anything too formal. Like all other years, it was old guys vs. young people. The old guys somehow always manage to win, but only by cheating, that's just how they play.

After being active for the first half of the day, it was time to eat eat eat! There were lots of yummy Thanksgiving dishes!

Here's a little recap of the day!

Camelback mountain!

Downtown!

Preparing to cook the bird!

My first glass of Dom Perignon!

Papa carving the turkey!

Thanksgiving dinner!

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and took a moment to give thanks for all that you have in your life!