A Lovely Saturday

Today was pretty great.  I woke up around 6am and just hopped in the car.  With two stops, it takes about 4 hours, 15 minutes to get home from Blacksburg.  It was such a beautiful drive this morning- there was fog rising around the Shenandoah Mountains and the sun was folded neatly between the ranges.  Soooo gorgeous!

yes, I totally took this while driving- hee!

I loved Blacksburg and the drive, but it was so good to be home!  

Tonight we grilled out and I loved seeing the birds at our new feeders :)

And our dinner- YUM!

Wedding Updates

Lots of stuff is finally happening here on the wedding front.  This is what we have done:

+ Venue & Date- The Thorpewood, June 19, 2010

+ Photographer- Azul Photography

+ Deposit down on my dress (yaaaay!)- HK Designs

+ Almost have all the addresses for the Save the Dates (only two are missing)

+ Save the dates are done, just need to be addressed and sent out

+ We booked an officiant who is wonderful- Father Tom

+ We finally have a guest list- about 160 invited, but we're hoping that about 110 come

+ I secured a calligrapher- Swoonoverit

+ We have a day of coordinator- Wish Special Events

+ Wedding website is started, but not finished (I'm making my own, not from a template)-

+ A bridal party- just kidding!  No bridal party- not doing this to our friends! :)  But we will have Joe's nieces and nephews do the ring bearer/flower girl thing... but they can wear whatever they want, so they don't have to buy something new.

I'm actually not a big fan of all this stuff... I mean, it's fine, I don't hate it, but I'd much rather be doing something else, you know?  

I am positive we will have a wonderful and budget-friendly wedding, but man, it takes awhile to plan!  :)

And here is a sneak peek of our calligrapher's stuff... I think we're going to use the "London" style, but that's not for sure yet.

15 Things I Love

1) Joe.  And everything he does for me.  

Yesterday I came home from a rather stressful grocery trip (don't ask, but it was crazy) and there were two glasses of red wine on the counter, and he had dinner started.  Love him!

2) Our furry creatures and their sweetness.

Each one of our little guys has such a personality.  Gordon is a total lovebug, Lilly is sassy, and Frankie is very sweet and loving.  They bring so much to our lives and I am so lucky to have them around.

3) Our Living Room.

We rearranged the furniture a few weekends ago and now it's so open and nice.  I framed some photos and Joe put the shelves up, and now it looks great.  A very livable room!  Very happy with it.

4) Twitter.

Twitter has helped me meet soooo many people in our new town, including some non-profits I'm going to be doing some volunteer work for, and it even helped me join the Chamber of Commerce- so excited!  I've also booked a wedding through Twitter, so yay :)

5) My Canon 5D Mark ii.

Oooh man.  Last Saturday I shot at 5000 ISO.  No joke.  Such a beautiful thing!  Can't wait to edit those photos... gotta do that soon!

6) My Office!

Now that it's done, it's so comfortable and I love working in there.  Gordon sleeps on the couch and the kitties sleep on the top of the couch and watch the birds out the windows... it's perfect :)

7) Paying off credit cards.

When I first started my business 3/4 years ago, I put a ton of stuff on my credit cards (cameras, lenses, etc) and I am still paying those cards off.  But last week I totally paid off two cards, and it feels great.  Eat that, APRs :)

8) Our patio.

A grill.  Cute furniture.  A puppy.  It's great. :)

9) Being busy.

Sometimes I hate it, but it's nice waking up every day knowing you have stuff to get done.  And getting checks.  I like checks :)

10) Making albums.

I avoided this for years (literally years!) but now I kind of enjoy it!  Being able to give my clients something tangible after their wedding or photo session is awesome.

11)  Sugar Free RedBull.

Oh man, this gets me through that 2pm hour... that's when I'm really dragging.

12) Friends!

I got to have a sushi night with Jaime last week and I looooved it.  Not only the good food and all the stuff we got, but just being able to chat with a friend, face to face, about business, our guys, everything.  Tonight I'm headed to a happy hour with a bunch of my girlfriends, and I'm excited.  :)

13)  My Wedding Dress!

OK, I don't even know what it looks like yet, but I know it's gonna be awesome.  I met with the designer last week and I am soooo excited.  She is the best!  And it's affordable.  Woo!

14) NPR.

I've been listening to NPR for awhile, but now I listen to it streaming on iTunes and it's perfect to listen to when I'm working in my office.  I also am subscribed to the "This American Life" podcast and wow, I love the stories.  Some are sad (I was sobbing at my desk last week about an adoption story!) and some are so funny (more tears, but happy tears) and some are fascinating.  I try to listen to one a day to catch up.

15) Lunch with my honey.

I love that Joe and I get to eat lunch together most days. It's usually just a sandwich or soup, or maybe Subway, but it's nice.  It helps break up the day and I love getting to see him :)

There's my 15. :)

Office is Getting There...

It's not quite done, but it's getting there!  I hung up my magazines and canvas wraps yesterday, and Joe hung up my sign last week- looking cute :)

The last magazine isn't in there yet... that's because it comes out next week- The Washingtonian!  

I am sooooo excited!!!  I've set this up so I can add more if I get published more. (hopefully!)  You can also see my huuuuge to do list (on the green clipboard) that I am currently taking a break from- I'm doing good, though! :)

The other side of my office- I can't think of anything else I want to add- 

this is my place to package things up, be crafty, etc.

OK, this isn't in my office, but this is what's going happening on our top deck- since we're experiencing a monsoon right now, the birds are taking refuge up here- so cute!

iPhone Update

And again with the horrible iPhone photos, but I'm too lazy to unpack my cameras from Saturday's wedding...

when I left on Saturday this is what my living room looked like:

and now it looks like this:

I *really* should get my camera out because then you could get the wide angle view of the room- the shelves look great. Joe put them up while I was gone- thanks, honey :) I added the photos today, and I think it looks pretty good.

We went to Home Depot today and got some shrubs for the front yard... those need to go in tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll post something. I also cleaned up my office and hung a bunch of things, so I need to take photos of that, too.  My to-do list tomorrow is about a mile long, so I'm not sure if I'll get to it.  This week is another crazy one, which ends with me in Blacksburg, VA for the weekend, shooting engagement photos at an airport... for real! :)

Memorial Day

To every American who has served: THANK YOU. Thank you for your brave service and your selfless dedication and sacrifice. This includes my high school and college friends, and my dad and of course my honey Joe.

Joe is actually at work today, ironically. But he's doing his job and I couldn't be prouder!  Plus, a man in uniform = wooo hoo :)

Today I'm planning on cleaning the house and getting some nagging photo & home stuff done. Album sheets, taking photos of products, finishing up my new Etsy site, printing photos for our shelves in the living room, and cleaning my white couch that is FULL of cat hair.

Tomorrow I'll start editing my two weddings from last week.  It's going to take me a long, long time to get them done.

I also plan to sit on my deck and enjoy the sun, because I hear it's going to rain later this afternoon!

Yay yay!

After about two months of looking and price shopping, Joe and I finally found a set of patio furniture- yay!  

I also put up our little corner unit that I got from my mom's house that holds all our herbs and plants, and put together the shepards hook and light, which we put citronella candles in.

We grilled and ate outside, and it was a perfect Friday dinner... I think I could get used to this...

A Day in the Life

I've been wanting to try this for awhile now, and originally I wanted to do it for a week, but that would be waaaaay too hard.  So here it is, a day in my life.  This is from the 18th.  I thought it would be fun to try and document a day at work for me, something to look back on.  It's actually really hard to remember to take photos!

I actually get up at 5:50, but I forgot to take a photo...

Taking the pup for a walk

breakfast with my honey

reading my e-mails

making my to-do list for the day

quick read of the newspaper

realizing that I have a lot of crap from my trip to put away

Also realized it was recycling day

Time for the gym

Then time for a shower

And when I get out of the shower I realize puppy had an accident

Time to respond to e-mails

burning DVDs and filing them away

more backing up... so important!

A little snack

Lilly helps me get mailings ready

Getting lunch ready

Yay!  Joe came home for lunch!

calling people back- so many calls to make

printing out photos for photo boxes

A little Facebook time

photo boxes are done!  time to mail 'em out

FTP-ing photos to Pictage, and backing up files to my externals

yay!  parents albums came in the mail!

fun time- cutting out dresses to show my designer :)

Listening to my fave podcast: This American Life

A little play time with the pup

To-do list isn't done, but a good chunk of it is!

time to relax with my favorite boys! :)

Engagement Photos At Home

Got to do some super fun e-pics while I was in town with an old friend... doing her wedding in Indy this summer!

Myles Meets my Parents

Lindsey brought baby Myles over today to meet my mom and dad- two weeks old and everyone loves him! :)

I thought it was so sweet how they interacted with him... but I told them not to get any ideas!  I have things to do before that happens!  :)  Give me four or five years... so baby Myles will have to tide them over... or Kevin & Rachel's baby that's due in November!  SO EXCITING!!!

I'm off to bed... it's midnight here and I am exhausted after a long day.  I did some really awesome and fun engagement shots today in Chesterton... will post when I get back home to Maryland tomorrow night!

Baby Announcements

My first birth announcements!  I love 'em!

They are 5x5 (but got 5x6 envelopes so that they don't cost extra to send) and on linen paper... just ordered 'em!  :)

front

back

Baby Myles

Words cannot express how happy I am to have met baby Myles today! He is the son of one of my very dearest friends, Lindsey. We met playing basketball in 5th grade! Myles, you are so very loved, even at 12 days old!

We love you and promise to be a part of your amazing life!