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the only central illinois photographer that helps you wake up & reclaim joy in this little thing we call life!

more people are sleepwalking through life than living it.

We wake up to the same monotonous routine. Wake up, get kids ready, get ourselves ready, drop them off, go to work, eat at noon, work some more, pick kids up, go home, cook dinner, do chores, put kids to bed, scroll through social media for an hour and then go to sleep. Then the next morning, we wake up and do the same routine.

A routine void of excitement and inspiration. Our highlight of the day include watching our favorite TV show, having a glass of wine (or 2 or 3), and going to bed.

this isn’t living!

If we’re being honest, this describes many of our lives. We look like we are awake, but we’re not. We walk and talk and move and breathe without ever having actually been fully awake. Meanwhile we are missing out on the beauty that life actually offers.

which is why Anxiety levels are at an all-time high at both work and home.

We tell ourselves what kind of parent or partner we are going to be and yet every single day we wake up and repeat the same old patterns we always have. At the end of each day we can’t even remember what actually occurred in the past 24 hours!

We are so overwhelmed by all of our responsibilities that before long, we surrender to this life of numbness.

Telling ourselves lies like:

“it’s just a season…”

“everyone’s just trying to survive.”

stop what you’re doing and listen to me…

it doesn’t have to be this way….

my story

hey there! I’m ariel!

I photograph busy parents and partners who struggle with staying awake in the hustle and bustle of every day life! by providing an opportunity to pause, be present, and see the beauty all around you!

As a single mama to three very different little girls, who also runs my own business while healing from my own past of trauma… I know this struggle! I’ve lived it.

the beginning.

That girl right there is 23 year old me me holding my first born. I loved her to pieces. More than I’ve ever loved anything before. But when I look at this picture, you know what I remember?

the struggle

I remember hating my body, sleep was a distant memory, and anxiety was my best friend. I remember not knowing what to do with this motherhood thing. And honestly, I remember rolling my eyes at the advice of others to “treasure every moment” or “soak it all in” because all I could see was the MESS of motherhood. All I could see where my overwhelming imperfections. My overwhelming imperfections. And, all of those overwhelming, imperfect moments made the good ones fade.

but then…

I got a camera, learned how to use it, and poured myself into hours and hours of education. And I started taking pictures of my life.

Want to know what happened?

I found inexplicable beauty & joy!

Through photography I was able to embrace the mess, laugh at toddler tantrums, and truly cherish every single good, bad ugly, and amazing minute!

9 years later… ]I’m helping others do the same through…

With the help of some AMAZING mindfulness-based marriage and family therapists, I am proud to say I have a one-of-a-kind process that challenges each couple and family that books to look inward, to remember, and to see!