Tonhya Kae Photography / Wedding & Lifestyle photographer based in Seattle, WA. »

As I get older, birthdays become such a strange thing. It’s no longer the day I go around telling everyone how old I am. It’s no longer the day I brag to all my friends that the decorations at my birthday party will be Power Ranger themed. And it’s definitely no longer the day I wish I was turning a couple years older than I actually was. As each year goes by and my birthday rolls around…I find myself thinking about everything that happened that year. From the exciting moments to the fearful moments, the sadness to all of the joy, the setbacks to all of the wonderful blessings, and the tears to all the smiles. This past year has brought me so many blessings and I’m so grateful for everything the Lord has provided me with and for all the loving people who surround and support me. I’m especially grateful for the wonderful family I have, I know it sounds so cliché…but I honestly wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have their love and guidance to keep me going.

I’m so excited for what this next year of life has in store for me and my business. But if there is one thing that I have taken away from this past year…it is that I should always pray for today. Today is what I have, today is what I am blessed with, and today is the only day guaranteed for me to love. And yes, I do set goals for the future and make plans for next week, but learning to live for today has brought so much joy into my life. So thank you to those people in my life who have supported me and loved me through my good days and my ugly days. And since it’s my day of birth I thought I would leave you with a couple of bible verses that inspired me today…because all we can do it live for today.

1Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is Love.

1Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Now I know this post is a little more personal than everyone is probably use to, but HEY it’s MY birthday so I’ll cry if I want to! And because every post is prettier with a picture…here is the awesome cake my friend Alison baked for me!

I’m not gonna lie…I’m pretty stinkin jealous of all the people who are going to Vegas for WPPI this year. Reading all the blog posts, tweets, etc about how fun it’s going to be…well it’s driving me a bit crazy! Unfortunately this year I won’t be able to attend, but next year I will go for sure. For those who don’t know about WPPI, it’s like the biggest photography convention in the world hee hee. I know…I’m a total nerd.

Well about a week or so ago I came across this contest that BluDomain was putting on! It was their Day 20 Contest and it’s deadline was March 1st. The winner of this contest would win one round trip airfare to Las Vegas for the WPPI convention PLUS a 3-night stay at the MGM…which is right where the convention is being held. The contest was to take a photograph of yourself with a suitcase in one hand, make a sash to go around you that reads “I LOVE BLU”, and to wear your favorite attire. I love that BLU has these strange requests for contests, it really brings out the creative side in people. Well knowing the competition was going to be fierce, I took that challenge as not only competing for a ticket to Vegas, but as a chance to have some fun and get creative! I brought my great friend Ai along with me so I wouldn’t look like such an idiot taking pictures of myself at Kerry Park.

So this is the image I submitted! So dorky, yet so fun! It was such a beautiful day!

And here is an image that we took together! I love this picture of us.

Now despite the fact that I didn’t win, I still had a lot of fun participating! I’m so anxious to see the winning photo!
I hope all you photographers out there have a ton of fun at WPPI this year!!! Have a drink for me!