| A Thanksgiving Tradition from my momma | Pumpkin Cake Recipe |

The first year I made this solo was hard. It was quietly hard. I’m not sure if I cried (I was making it a good memory for my own baby after all) but I can still remember the feeling of being right on the edge. Of it being all wrong, making my momma’s dessert without my momma. I could steal a corner out of the fresh batch without a playful scold of ‘heeeeyyyyyy don’t do that!’ (which we both knew she never meant as it would be followed by, “well then give me a taste”).

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This is the dish I associate with my momma and Thanksgiving, one of her favorite holidays. A holiday for family and food (her two favorite things). I continue to make this because it IS her now. It brings her as close to our holiday tradition as I’ll ever be able to. We talk about Grandma Patty as I make the dish with my girls. This year B, our oldest, will actually be able to do a lot, if not most, of the work while I likely just try to reign in the chaos that is O, our youngest, who I’m sure will just be trying to stick her hands in all the things!

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I shared this recipe once before on our blog, that first year I made it without my momma (you can see that here) because it is no secret family recipe and it would bring me (and my momma) great joy to know it warmed another home this holiday season. Pro “Grandma Patty” changes to this recipe which I recommend 100% (and didn’t do this year just as a test to see if her version really was better … spoiler alert IT IS!). Up the sugar by 1/2 cup (1.5 cup total) & quarter or leave out the nutmeg entirely for a pumpkin base that’s a bit sweeter with more subtle spice.

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Oh btw, I’m never not going to eat this FRESH and warm from the oven so if I’m bringing this to your gathering it’s coming with a slice (or three) gone… just deal.

| Tara | Argenta-Oreana High School Senior Model Influencer | Class of 2020 |

Ready to check out another of our lovely senior models today?!? Tara is up on the blog and I’m so excited to show off all her favorite images with you all!! We’re starting a little out of order because this series of images of her in the yellow flowers might be some of my favorite we’ve done all year and I cannot even wait until mid-blog post to share them so here you go…..

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Our senior models get ‘pop up’ sessions throughout their senior year to not only create a variety of images for them in all kinds of seasons and weather but also to create fun experiences shooting in new/different locations, with unique props, etc. If you’d like to join us as a senior model and influencer you can apply now. We’ll start interviews again in January and our team will be completed by spring, don’t wait, we’d love to have you join us for an unforgettable and impactful year!

| Kerper Family | Decatur IL Family Portraits Fall 2019 |

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I got to meet Joanne and her absolutely lovely family this fall for their family Limited Edition session. How perfectly did they coordinate their outfits. Joanne took our few tips to ‘coordinate, not match’ and ‘mix in 1-2 colors throughout everyone’s looks’ and ran with it!

They were a joy to photograph and I’m so excited to see how the images Joanne selected for her walls look in their space.

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Do you know about our Limited Edition sessions?!?! We now do most of our family sessions each year as part of our Limited Edition line. These work so well for immediate family sessions. They are short… your choice of 15 or 30 minutes which keeps both dad & the kids happy!

We suggest the longer session for families with little ones but for families with older kids like the Kerper’s 15 minutes is perfect. These sessions are (as the name suggests) Limited! We only offer these 4 times a year and we’ll open up booking for 2020 sessions after the first of the year. To get first dibs on these sessions dates DM us on social (www.instagram.com/sjanephotography or https://www.facebook.com/sjanephotog/), text 573.590.7427, call 217.330.7012 or email mail@sjanephotography.com! We’d love to create for your family in 2020 whether it’s been a year or 10 since your last family portrait.

| Brittney | Warrensburg-Latham High School | Class of 2020 Senior Portraits |

Hey again! Today, I got to talk to a group of young future CEOs (high school entrepreneurship co-op came to the studio today!) and while showing them one of my amazing time management tools (go CoSchedule whoopwhoop) and we talked about how it helps me stay on top of my blog even during the busiest times of the year…. THEN we talked about how even with all the best tools you’ll sometimes be failing in one aspect of your business. Like me not blogging for the past month, oops!

Oh well, I’m back in the saddle again here and let me tell you I have so much to share with you starting today with the amazingly talented Brittney of Warrensburg-Latham High School. I believe she has the most ever metals we’ve done for the metal pose and she survived it like a true champion (holding those metals is NOT easy even for a minute).

I hope you enjoy everything we created for her in the studio, around town and at the high school. She was a joy to photograph and I’m in love with her canvas collage and album design too.

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I love it when seniors incorporate their sports, interests, hobbies, friends, pets, etc into their session…. these images are about WHO you are, not just what you look like. They are about who/what you love right now, at this moment in time. It will change, of course, but that’s why we are creating these images now. When you’re on the cusp of that major change from a child into an adult. If you’d like us to help you create, not just take, your senior portraits get in touch, we’d love to work with you!