May

Friday it's May- I can't believe it!  The months have flown by and now I'm in the heart of my busy season.  I don't have a free weekend until June!  And I only have one free weekend in June.  ::sigh::

Weekend of May 1-3: Summit of Awesome

Weekend of May 8-10: Two engagement shoots, one lifestyle shoot for Little Heroes Project

Weekend of May 15-17: Home in Chesterton, two engagement shoots, two lifestyle shoots

Weekend of May 22--24: wedding

Weekend of May 29-31: engagement photos in Blacksburg, VA (weekend trip)

Weekend of June 5-7: Kate visiting (YAY for fun!)

Weekend of June 12-14: Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, VA- taking a class there

Weekend of June 19-21: Wedding

Weekend of June 26-28: Joe's Family reunion in Michigan

Of course this doesn't include any of the meetings, shoots, etc I have during the week.  It makes me tired just looking at this, but I know it's a good thing.  So many of my friends are out of work and looking for jobs after finishing up grad school, etc., and are having a tough time.  I should not be complaining about how busy I am.  But it's making my head spin thinking about all this stuff.

Not only that, but I've finally started doing albums on a regular basis.  While I looooove them, it's tough balancing my everyday work and shoots with designing, etc.  I am not a trained designer, but after taking that week-long InDesign class last year, I feel pretty confident in what I'm doing.  Regardless, it takes a lot of time and effort and sometimes it's tough.  But again, no complaining!

On top of everything else work-related, wedding planning has actually started.  We got the caterer's proposal today.  I almost fainted.  ::sigh::  we so don't want to spend a lot of money on the wedding, but food is expensive!  Luckily we're cutting corners in a lot of other places, like flowers.  Flowers don't excite me at all, and I might not even get a bouquet.  I just don't care about it.  I also don't really care about my dress.  I'm not doing the bridesmaid thing.  I don't want fancy shoes.  I basically don't want anything over the top.  Does that make me a bad bride?!

Luckily a lot of stuff at my wedding will be cheaper/free because of people I know- like makeup and coordination!  So that is exciting.  But seriously, if I spend more than five minutes picking out what tablecloths and china I want at my wedding... that's five minutes too long.  I just don't care.

I'm looking forward to this weekend and going to Summit of Awesome and also getting to see Kate and hang out with Joe.  About time! 

That's all I've got.  Ta ta!

Frankie's XRays

So a little over a week ago, I noticed Frankie was acting weird.  He was crying, not staying still (he's mostly a lazy bum), and also some blood in the litterbox.  I was going to wait until Monday to bring him in, but Sunday morning it was obvious that something was very wrong, so I brought him to the emergency vet.  They gave him three different medications (one for pain, one antibiotic, and one anti-inflammatory) and we were thankfully on our way.

Now it's been eight days and although he's not acting as strange, something still wasn't right.  So yesterday we were off to our vet.  They ended up doing xrays and still can't figure out what's wrong!

There were four vets looking at his xrays and they noticed a white mass they didn't understand.  So they were submitted to a radiologist who told us the mass was a benign cholesterol mass.  While that is a relief (it was taking so long, I feared the worst- cancer, etc.) we still don't know what's wrong with my little guy.  I'm hoping he gets better soon- for him and for our bank account!

Here are his xrays... I had them e-mailed to me so I could email them to Joe's dad, who is a vet.

It's Summer!

today's high: 97!  Goodness it was hot!

Before it got too steamy today, I spent a lot of time outside.  I got up at 6am with Joe and went for a two mile walk with the pup, did my Wii Fit, and dried some laundry outside.  Hooray for Mother Nature :) 

I took a few pics while I was out and about.

Our front porch- we have A LOT of work to do!

Gordon being cute and drinking from the hose

Easter Photos

Totally forgot about these cute photos on Joe's point and shoot!  Here are Ethan and Grace being super cute in Frederick when they came for the day before heading on to Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa.  

And a very short video of Ethan chasing a duck... I wish I had the whole thing on tape!

Happy Birthday, Joe!

We've had a great weekend so far!  Here's some photos... the rest are on Joe's point and shoot

Joe's cake... German chocolate... mmm!

marinated veggies on the grill- delicious!

Joe and his parents out where our wedding will be

The Thorpewood- can't wait to have our wedding here :)

Where the actual ceremony will be- YAY!  

some beautiful magnolias

Everything is about to bloom in the mountains here... because it's so high up in elevation, this part of our town is about 2-3 weeks behind in blooms/weather.  

I love being in the mountains :)

Birthday Gifts :)

Joe complains everyday that our knives suck, so I got him a new set.  

They were on super duper sale at Macy's :)

And the sentimental gift :)  A shadowbox frame with some of our favorite stuff :)

Happy Birthday, Boos :)

Tomorrow Joe's parents fly in from Florida.  We have a special White House tour set up on Friday, and fun things planned for the weekend- yay!  :)

Birthday Preview

Joe's birthday isn't till Friday, but this gift was too awesome to not give him today!  I opened it up the second FedEx delivered it and immediately hung it up.  When Joe came home from working out today, when he started walking up the stairs he saw it- he loved it!  YAY! :)

I am so lucky to have incredibly talented friends who can do awesome doodles. :)  I had it made into a canvas wrap and I loooove it.

More birthday surprises soon :)

Office!

Look how pretty my one office wall turned out! :)  Sooo happy with it!  More photos soon, but I am SO BUSY with work stuff I don't have time right now!

Update in iPhone Photos

I got a HUGE amount of stuff done yesterday and today.  I feel so relieved.  I'm basically caught up, with a few things left to do.  Whew!  

Tomorrow I have an event to shoot, Saturday another, and Sunday another... at least I was caught up for one day! :)

So here's a little update with iPhone photos!

Joe and our nephew, Ethan, last Friday.  Look at those Cherry Blossoms!

Adorable!

Yesterday I was in DC and I got to see Marissa!!!  She was in town with her dad.  We went to Raku for sushi (helllloooo volcano rolls!) and then I had to take her to Firehook bakery- yum!

What I did yesterday and today!  Whew!  Etsy custom orders, albums, DVDs, a baby shower gift, and a lot more.  Whew!  Feels good to have it all sealed up, and I can't wait to bring it to the post office tomorrow!

Lounging in the living room :)

Lazy Easter

Well, Joe had to work and so did I, but there were two furry guys in our house who did get to relax yesterday... check out how silly they look!

No time to write about anything else, I am incredibly busy and have quite a few tight deadlines.  But enjoy these!

Summit of Awesome

Lately I've felt a little lost with my "crafting."  I take photos for a living, it's my full time job.  What that means is that taking pictures is now less of an enjoyable craft for me and more of a job.  

Over the last few months, I've been trying to take photos when not "on the clock" and just trying to enjoy it.  I've also been painting furniture, doing polaroid transfers, and a few other crafty things.  I enjoy it, but I want to learn more...

which is why I signed up for this!  I am so excited it's in DC, the great people that will be there (the Etsy CEO!), and all the things that I'll learn!

Excited!

Easter Baskets!

Just finished Ethan and Grace's Easter baskets- yay! :)

[iPhone]

some photos

I am so crazy busy editing and working on other photo stuff that I haven't been able to do an update in awhile.

My friend Kim is in town, my friend Leslie is staying here Wednesday night, Joe's sister and her two kids are coming on Thursday/Friday, I have two photo shoots on Saturday, and on Sunday Marissa will be in town! Holy cow that's a lot of guests! I'm excited, but it leaves very little time for blogging.

So since I can't do a proper update, I'll try to do it in photos!

I won't go into too much detail here about this because I talk about it on my photo blog, but.... YAY!  I picked up a copy of TheKnot today and saw me in there- aaaand I got three stars (highest rating) woo hoo!  I am so excited.  I bought a few copies and will be scanning my page very soon.  It's a national magazine, so you can find it anywhere :)

Joe put up some shelves in the dining room and they look great!  I really need to take another photo with all the frames on the shelves- they look fantastic!  We also put the curtains up in the living room and our bedroom.  Tonight we'll put up the ones in the guestroom.

This morning I made scrambled eggs and added in green and red peppers and onions.  Joe insisted we top them with cheese, so we did.  :) YUMMMM.  I love his new schedule!  We get to eat breakfast together and then he comes home at 5:30!

I made Gordon a big blanket last night during the basketball game.  Fleece was 50% off, plus Gordon keeps chewing our blankets, so I made him his own.  I really need to buy a fabric scissors, though, because my right hand is killing me.  But hey, it's cute! :)

OK, I gotta get back to editing!  I have SEVEN sessions in my queue!!!

My Booth!

My booth was AWESOME today.  And it wouldn't have been nearly as awesome of a booth if it wasn't for Joe.

He built the PVC backing for it.

loaded the cars.

unloaded everything at Brookside.

built everything.

brought me coffee and lunch.

called to see if I needed anything.

broke it all down at the end.

packed it back up in our cars.

texted me on our way back home: "I'm so proud of you" ::tear::

and unpacked it at home.  

A few of the other vendors there told me how jealous they were of my guy and how helpful he was.  Yeah, he's awesome. :)

If ever there was a day when I realized I had the man of my dreams, the one who I wanted to be with forever, it was today.  Truly.  That is super dorky and sounds silly, but when I think about how much work he did for *me* today, even though he didn't have to, I tear up a bit.  I adore that man.  :)  Now he's asleep on the couch :)

Here are some photos of the booth! :)

Best Friends :)

It's been a crazy week for me, but definitely an enjoyable one. I don't get to see my friends as often as I'd like, but on Tuesday I got to see almost all my favorites in one place, and I was so stinkin' happy about it!

To celebrate Jaime's birthday, our buddy Quinn, who is an amazing artist, doodled Jaime and her best friends. Jessi had it made into a canvas wrap- it looks amazing!

I had to share the doodle!!!

Here are the stats:

Jessi Ringer: 5 rings photo :: www.5ringsphoto.com

Kimmy Seidl:: www.kseidlphoto.com

Jaime Windon: blonde photo :: www.theblondephotographer.com

Quinn Peyser: quinnep doodles:: www.quinnep.com

Mary Kate Mckenna :: www.mkmckenna.com

I *LOVE* this! I actually had a print made myself and now it's in my office :) I adore all my friends, but these guys are so special to me, and I love this doodle of us.

Back to work I go!