4 more days...

What a very special time for this very special couple... 
Deana and Matt are getting married in FOUR DAYS!

Chad and I know Deana very well from our time together at Carthage College. Even though we don't see each other very often, she has been an amazing friend over the years. (For example, since we've known her, I don't think she's ever failed to send either of us some form of birthday card on our birthdays.) We definitely value her friendship!

Deana has found her perfect match, no doubt—we couldn't be more excited for her and Matt to get married on Saturday! Here are a few photos from their engagement session...

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EngagementsAmberKenosha, Petrifying Springs Park, Theme, engagement session, Engagement StoryComment
our leap
It's February 29th: Leap Day!
This got me realizing something... Yes, Chad is particularly good at leaping. But more than that, this IS a leap year for me and Chad—a year in which we are taking leaps. Leaps in our business, in our lives, and in our ministries. I want to fill you in on one of those recent leaps.

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Chad & AmberAmberministry Comments
recognizing his voice
Anybody remember what it was like to answer telephones before we had "caller ID" or saved contacts in our cell phones? When your phone would ring, you'd answer with anticipation. If one of your closest family members or best friends was on the other end, you'd recognize them by their voice before they even said their name. In the same way, you can easily zero in on one very familiar voice in a room full of people.

Lately, God has been reminding me of this concept. He wants more face time with us than just the 30 seconds before we eat dinner each day. He wants to know us personally, so much so, that when he speaks to us, we would recognize his voice like that of a best friend or a family member.

Sometimes it's easy for us to read the Bible and think that God spoke to people "back then" but that he doesn't work that way anymore. Miracles happened "back in Bible days" but not today, right? I was in that same boat of skeptics until I started hearing God's voice for myself and witnessed real miracles firsthand.

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Chad & AmberAmberinspirationComment
smile search 2011
Chu Orthodontics in Racine, WI is in the business of making beautiful smiles. Dr. Gary W. Chu and the whole "Chu Crew" hosted a special event called, "Smile Search 2011". It's purpose was to promote the importance and intrinsic value of showing a great smile. They asked their patients and friends to submit photos to their contest website that presented their best smiles. The entries were then voted on by the public. The top eleven entrants were featured in the 2012 Chu Crew Calendar.

I was honored to shoot the personal photo sessions for each of the winners as well as design the calendar that featured them. Here are some of the behind-the-scenes details and photos, as well as the final 2012 calendar portraits.

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DesignAmberprint, Racine, Business, photo shoot Comments
a standup senior
Pierson Kaye is currently finishing up his senior year at Christian Life School (Kenosha, WI). He played baseball and basketball, was involved in student government, youth group and community outreach. Chad and I have really enjoyed getting to know him over the last few years and want you to meet him...

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SeniorsAmberChristian Life School, Kenosha, Racine, Petrifying Springs Park, High School, High School Senior Story, senior session, Senior Story Comments
cheers to the years
Today is our fourth wedding anniversary! We definitely have lots to celebrate. We still feel like newlyweds, and that's our wish for every year to come. Cheers to many, many more! Last night we found ourselves reminiscing some of our favorite memories together. Hope you enjoy these photos...

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Chad & AmberAmberpersonal, anniversary Comments
ready for a change
Talk about a girl who's got it going on… As she rounds out her final year of high school, Emily Berry, a Bradford senior '12 (Kenosha, WI), has quite a bit to be proud of. She made tons of friends, played volleyball, was on the Homecoming Court, and was involved in community outreach. Pretty soon, she'll be packing up to head out to UW Oshkosh, but until then, she's got some fun memories to share with us and some great advice to give. 

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SeniorsAmberBradford HS, Kenosha, Wolfenbuettel Park, Senior Story, High School, High School Senior Story, senior sessionComment
news for 2012
The last half of 2011 was extremely FULL for us…we were busy little bees, learning SO much, completing all kinds of cool graphic design and photography projects. Outside of that, Chad and I did our best to spend as much meaningful QT with each other as we could while also remaining active parts of our areas of ministry, good friends to our friends, good family to our family, attending some workshops and—oh yeah, thinking about growth ideas for our business. Phew!  

Thankfully, the holidays were very refreshing for both Chad and I, giving us plenty of time to catch our breath, travel, visit with family, and to collect our random thoughts & aspirations. We're brewing up all kinds of fresh, new ideas for 2012! We've got some new business goals, some new life goals, and some exciting things we want to share with you.

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Chad & AmberAmberLanghoff Design, personalComment
christmas travels

Chad and I (and Sock Monkey, of course) were traveling machines for the holidays! We traveled via car, Metra, and Amtrak to get to Jackson, Michigan and Blackstone, Illinois to spend time with our  families. By the time we returned to Kenosha, we had taken 6 different trains and 6 different car rides in just under 9 days. The original intent was to avoid the unpredictable wintry weather. Ha, unpredictable indeed: we didn't end up with ANY wintry weather. When was the last time that happened in the Midwest? Regardless, the relaxation, reading, snacking and movie-watching on the trains were SO worth it. It's our favorite way to travel.

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Chad & AmberAmberfamily, sock monkeyComment
family fun

In October, Chad and I had the honor of hanging out with the Johnson family for a couple hours. It was a gorgeous fall day...a little chilly, but the boys (4 and 6 yrs old) were definitely keeping us all moving to stay warm! They were so much fun!

...And are the eyes of every person in this family not GORGEOUS??

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Chad & AmberAmberfamily portraitsComment
it's a girl!

Two of our best friends, Charlie & Amanda, had their baby on Sunday!

They welcomed little Kaylee Ann Staniger into their family at 1:10am on 11/13/11. She weighs 8lbs 4oz and is 19 inches long. Her fingers and toes are very long and she has lots of dark brown hair. She's quite the little sleeper...so far anyway. Precious!

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Chad & AmberAmberfriendsComment
museum & games

On Saturday, Chad and I took the opportunity to go to the Lake County Discovery Museum with four other people I met through my photo club. The museum had multiple photography exhibits there, but were currently featuring some of the work of Ansel Adams, which is what we were all most excited about.

We couldn't take photos in that part of the museum, but it was so incredibly breathtaking that I highly doubt we will forget what we saw. It was the first time for both of us to see Ansel's work in person.

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Chad & AmberAmberpersonalComment