Today I booked all my final sessions as Ms. Monica! The next sessions I book will be for after June as Mrs. Monica Esquivel, AND I’ll be based out of Sunny Phoenix, Arizona!

Thank you to all my fellow Texans that pushed and supported me to follow my dreams! I will ALWAYS be a TEXAN at heart, no matter what my Drivers License says!

I’ve come to the conclusion that Alyssa can not take a bad photograph! I mean really!!! I could have shot her all day if the weather permitted. Alyssa gets major credit for this photo shoot since she was in that dress on a 40 degree windy day!

This young lady will be 15 soon, and I’m looking forward to all the fun that will come with her Quinceanera next month! Happy Birthday Alyssa!

This is my absolute favorite! Can you say FIERCE!?!

I couldn’t imagine being an only child, or having only one brother, or having a sister. It not what I had ever known, but that is what makes us all so unique. Every sibling relationship is so different. Every situation in our childhood shapes that and molds that special relationship. Personally, I have two brothers, but in four months I will officially have a sister!

For last Fathers Day I had the honor of capturing a sibling relationship I hold close to my heart. My future husband and his sister.

Hello all. Yes I am still alive and kickin’. It’s been quite a busy month… or two. I’m finally getting back into the swing of things and crossing off some things on the infamous To-Do list. Because it hasn’t been wedding season, and it’s been FREEZING, I haven’t had any sessions to post but I hope you’ve enjoyed my personal posts! More photos to come, promise!

For now I leave you with a fun pic I took of my amazing fiance, while we were browsing for center piece items. We’re both huge fans of Tea!

My Christmas is definitely here early! Mark is home! It doesn’t get any better than that. Yesterday could not have come faster. It’s not that the long distance has been hard, it has been surprisingly simple, but who wouldn’t prefer their loves personal company! We have so much planned for the month ahead. Lots and lots of wedding planning!

As if seeing Mark after a couple months wasn’t enough, he gave me an early Christmas present. A camera that fits in my purse! I have been wanting this for so long but I never wanted to ask because I have a huge camera. Why would I want a simple one, right? Oh no, there are so many occasions when my huge D90 is a bit too much and my phone camera… well that’s not even worth mentioning… but now I never have to miss a moment I want to photograph!

Of course it’s Nikon! What else would it be??

Check out that LCD screen!

Ivette and Johnny are getting married in February 2011. Yep you read right, 2011! Talk about being on top of things. Even as a photographer I am highly impressed. Mark and I have been engaged for 12 months and 4 days (but I’m not counting) and we have done nothing in the realm of pictures. We will have something by January! Even if it never gets above 45 degrees all month!

But what’s really important in this post is the amazing couple Ivette and Johnny! There were so fun to photograph! I’m so sad I will not be able to shoot their wedding, it’s guaranteed to be a blast! They are so easy going. And seriously, their love just gleams it’s impossible to not capture it in every frame! Ivette and Johnny thank you, THANK YOU! You guys rock and I’m so happy for you two!

Can you say FIERCE! I love this shot! If I had a permanent studio I would definitely have this as a 16×20 on my wall!

And to bring back an old classic… I use to always take a “lower leg” mostly shoe photo… Why?… Couldn’t tell you. I just love the way it comes out! So when I saw this I knew I had to capture it! In Johnny’s words, it truly captures their personalities!

I frequently have people ask me if I have a sister, “because you look just like this girl I know”. I’ve come to blow it off by saying I have a familiar face. Which I honestly believe I do, there really isn’t much that makes me “unique”. And I know that it is possible for people to look alike even without relation. My dad once told me he met a an older lady at a bar once that swore up and down he looked just like her son. Blowing her off as I do to others, because he too always got this comment, she pulled out a photo. He was he was blow away because it was like looking at a picture of himself. I always loved this story, but could not truly appreciate that feeling he described until yesterday.

I’ve often wondered about my Indian roots because as we all know every Mexican has one. It also helps that I have strong Indian features and my youngest brother looks like he could live on the reservation. Making a long story longer, this week I am signing up with my future sister-in-law and some of her in-laws to do a Jiggle Butt Run, a women’s only 5K, in January. We are all Guerrero’s, which means Warrior; so naturally our Team Name is Women Warriors. I was trying to look for an image for use to use so I googled imaged, “Apache Indian”, and this is the photo that came up:

“It was taken in 1903 by Edward S. Curtis. The picture presents Indians of North America.”

Some readers may not be familiar with my face, but if you wanted to imagine me as a child just look at this girl’s face. My jaw literally dropped. I could not believe the similarity. It has really peaked my interested in learning my history. My future brother-in-law, LaRay Guerrero, is still very active in the Native American culture and has agreed to help me find my geneology! I’ll keep everyone updated on what I find!

I was told yesterday, by a faithful reader of mine, I need to get on this blog! My sincere apologies! Well the holiday season is in full spring and I guess almost half way through. Boy has it been a busy one, but I’m loving every moment of it! There have been so many beautiful Church services, I LOVE DECORATING for Christmas, I love spending so much time with friends and family! Best part of all Mark will be home Thursday! We have been so blessed this year. Yesterday was exactly one year since he proposed!

Hopefully, I will have some sort of engagement session of ours to post in January. We love taking photos just not when we’re in front of the camera.We will be married less than 6 months now! That is mostly the reason I have been so absent on this blog. We have our own ongoing blog on the wedding site we created. Feel free to check it out, I’m very proud of our little creation, MarkandMonica.info.

More updates will come soon. For now I’m going to finish watching It’s A Wonderful Life because it truly is!!!

Oh Natalie! I had the pleasure of photographing her when she turned one and now a year later here we are again. Kids change so much so fast! She has always had personality but she is just a plain hoot!

I usually post my sessions the same day on my blog, but man has this been a busy week… or two! I shot three session in a weekend. A one year old, two year old, and engagement (coming soon ). Seriously it took me almost two days to recover! THEN I got sick! I do not know what it was but it seemed everyone in the DFW area could not handle the surprise snow because everyone I know was under the weather! One of my sessions had to cancel. What a week, but I’m better now and ready to go!

So with all that said, here’s Natalie. She made the cutest expression which gave me so many great photos it was hard to choose!

She absolutely loved the slide and the results that it created in her hair was awesome!You can’t fake static like this!

Can you see her shirt? It says “Terrible Two” and her mom made it! I loved it!

Oh almost forgot… you can’t mention Natalie without mentioning her little brother Bentley! Neither one wanted to stay as still as they were last year when I got the most beautiful shot of both of them together but I like the way they both look so “grown up” in this picture!

By the end of the session Natalie was quite comfortable in front of my camera. She really let her personality shine!

I caught this shot right before the sun was too low to give enough light… she is just too cute!

With the 2009 Wedding Season finished I’ve had lots of free time on my weekends to travel and spend with family. So when my cousin Crystal asked me to take pictures of her little one I was elated for the opportunity. He was a little shy at first but warmed up to the camera quickly. I just adore his smile! He’s going to have the ladies lined up!

Boys are so fun! It amazes me how different little girls and boys are. My niece is so picky and hates getting dirty. Jacob on the other hand spent quite a bit of time on the ground rolling around during our fun session. What better way is there to break in a brand new outfit with a few nice grass stains?!?