Tomorrow morning at 6:02AM I will turn nineteen.

Birthdays have always been close to my heart. I love that somebody decided long along to celebrate the day an individual came into the world. I believe in being spoiled on your birthday and spoiling those you love on their birthdays. I also think it's very important what time you were born in the day. You have to celebrate at the right moment. It's more fun. Mind you, I'm usually asleep at 6:02AM, but I'll never forget my seventeenth birthday...

We were on a three-week European vacation. I woke up the morning of my birthday in Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. Oh what a beautiful place. Photos from Switzerland hang right above my computer and I can glance up there and look at the great big valley in between two mountains where we slept that night. During the day of August 1st, we drove five or so hours to Paris where I got to celebrate my seventeenth birthday in style at Montmartre. Due to the time difference, it was actually 2:02PM that I was born in Paris, so I made sure I did a countdown to "feel" myself changing from sixteen into seventeen.

Most years, nothing really feels different. Eighteen felt different. At eighteen, I was just coming into my dreams. I was graduating, shooting weddings left and right and up and down, traveling and meeting other wonderful photographers, truly learning who I really was. Nineteen will be a continuation of that, without a doubt. I'm jumping up and down inside with excitement at the future God has for me. As me and my girlfriends say, "Nineteen is close to TWENTY which is the decade most people get married and have kids and--Ahhhh!" then we scream and laugh in a mixture of overwhelming fear, excitement and silliness.

I'm writing this after a glorious week off--okay, a week of half-work days. My hair is blowdryed and straightened, I'm wearing my new pink Banana Republic skirt, a black tank top and cute earrings. I'm shooting a wedding all day tomorrow, so tonight we're having a birthday dinner at the beach with my two best friends: Mom and Dad. My mom surprised me this afternoon with two dozen white roses and a beautiful card. Who needs a man when you have a mom to spend a whackload of money on ya? ;) Thanks Mom, I love you! Life is wonderful and for that I have only Jesus to thank! Have an amazing weekend everyone.

Get in touch with Jamie or view her online portfolio.

I'm fortunate enough to be a part of one of the most wonderful churches in the world, Southgate Church. I've attended Southgate for the past five years (since the start of my teenage years) and I adore it. I've come out of my shell--blossomed, if you will, hah!--in the past two years: & I owe a lot of that to my business. If not, all of it. However, if we rewind to Jamie Delaine as a 14 year old, she was not wonderful at jumping into new situations with new people. It was crazy difficult.

When I joined Southgate Youth, I also joined a Lifegroup: basically a group of similar age girls or guys that met once a week at a youth leader's house. My lifegroup helped me get connected so much quicker to an awesome group of girls. I was with many of these girls in Lifegroups every year until I graduated last year: plenty are still close friends. Lifegroups have been vital in my spiritual growth as well as great fellowship with girls walking down similar paths as me. It sucks being a teenager sometimes.

My beautiful friend Kelsey along with my friend Lindsey are the lifegroup leaders of this amazing group of girls. Their group is just Grade 11 Girls and oh mannn, do these girls have some amazing potential. As a youth leader myself, I've had the opportunity to pray with a lot of them at Friday night worship services and I love their hearts. So excited to see them loving each other, loving other people, loving God with all their hearts and I can't believe they all graduate in one year! Love you girls, enjoy the photos.