New.

Just in time, with 10 days left...
New blog is up and ready to go.

It's very cute :)

Need the address?  Send me an e-mail or text.

kthnx.

Proud.

Yesterday I drove to PA to watch Joe graduate from Warrior Leadership training.  This is the last thing he needs to do before becoming a noncommissioned officer.  

After two weeks of him gone, I was sooooo happy to have him home.  At the same time, I am so proud that he worked so hard at this training school and did so well.  I am so proud of my soldier.

He also got a special little award after the ceremony with two other soldiers.  Yeah, I'm a proud girl  :)

Married!

SUCH an amazing weekend.  Couldn't imagine a better day.  

So honored to have been a part of it.

Love you, Kate + Nic!

Two Weeks.

Well, Joe is gone for two whole weeks doing "warrior training" for the Army... whatever that is.  While I am super sad I won't see him for 15 days and he can't come with me to Kate's wedding (which is this coming weekend!  I can't believe it!) I know it's only going to lead to good things for him to do this course.  Plus, it's giving me some time to do things I don't normally get to do...

+ Working extra.  I went in to the office from 10-4 today.  Joe wouldn't be happy that I worked on a Sunday if he was home.  But I finished editing my last wedding.  I am completely caught up!

+ Being girly. I've been doing masks at night, going tanning (I got a month unlimited so I don't burn in Hawaii),

+ Extra work outs.  Aside from my training 4 days a week, I'm also doing extra cardio on my own.  It feels good, gets my mind off all of the things I have to do, plus I can be a buffer bride ;)

+ Eating Clean.  I've been reading about it for a long time, and my trainer has been pushing me to try it, but I haven't done it yet.  I've only been doing it for 2.5 days.  It's not a diet, it's just a different way of eating.  Even though Joe and I don't eat junk food or fast food (only with Jessi in TN!) and I haven't had soda in three months, there's still some things I can change in my diet.  Eating Clean is big on drinking your coffee black- that's been the hardest.  Also, I never drink enough water, and I have to drink a lot of water for this.  So we'll see how this goes.  Tonight for dinner I grilled up some red peppers and zucchini and had a sweet potato.  I'm going to do it for two weeks and see what happens.

+ Sleeping more.  Joe gets up at the crack of dawn (4:15am) so it's been nice to "sleep in" till 6.

+ Get weddings stuff done! I have a lot of little things to wrap up, so this quiet time has been great for that.  Escort cards, table seating, programs... all getting done.  I'm happy about that. :)

+ Reading magazines.  I have a HUGE stack of magazines to read- Real Simple, local Frederick/Maryland magazines, Psychology Today, Harper's Bazaar... so so many.  I've been reading them in the evenings while lounging with the pups :)

Yep, that's my life for the next two weeks.  Keeping it simple and quiet... I hope :)

ONE MONTH!

One month till the wedding!

AH!

My office!

I've worked in my office all week and I've LOVED it!  It's so nice to have creative people around all day!  I also get a lot more done because I'm not stopping to do laundry, dishes, play with the dogs, etc.

It's been and adjustment, but it's great.  It was a good move.  I feel comfortable and happy when I work here.  I'm going to have a lot more free time because I will come here and work, and then just relax at home.  Joe is thrilled with that- he hates that I'm on my computer 24/7.

It's not done yet- I need some shelves, my light still has to be installed, and I need to do some things with my walls, but it's a great place to work and I'm giddy about it :)

I'm so glad I'm done painting and spray painting things!  If I never see another can of paint, I'll be happy!

My 30x30 canvas wrap!  Looks awesome!  

And my light that needs to be hung.

My desk with my Macs.  I have a lot of work still to do in this corner

My favorite area!  Storage for business stuff (labels, paper, DVD cases, etc)

and on the walls are some of the thank you notes I've received in the past few years-

I love seeing them every day- lets me know I'm doing something right :)

I'm off to Knoxville this weekend to shoot a wedding- excited to shoot with one of my dearest friends, Jessi!  Not only is she an amazing photographer (and self taught and only shooting for two years!) but she's a momma of three incredible kids- she's a super mom and I am happy to see her in action (at home and at the wedding!) in her hometown- I always see her here in Maryland.  It's going to be a really fun weekend.  I'm sure there will be wine involved :)

Finally, all our RSVP's are in!  Final count: 74 adults, 4 kids, 3 babies.  Love it!  That's a perfect number.  With just about a MONTH to go (OMG!)  things are happening quickly.  I have a lot of little things to do- make programs, order a few little things, put together the welcome bags, make escort cards.... just little things.  Oh, and pay vendors.  UGH.  Weddings are expensive!

Hoping next week I finish editing the last wedding I have on my plate and then can focus a bit more on our wedding.  I have SIX shoots next week, so uhm, that might not happen!  Then the week after is Kate's wedding! YAY!  So pumped! I'm keeping that whole week wide open, though, so I can get caught up on editing and work on wedding stuff.  Excited :)

Wedding Mail

LOTS of great wedding stuff came in the mail today.  It really is around the corner now.  A little nervous , but excited that this is all actually happening :)

Cute totes I ordered on Etsy for our ring bearer and two flower girls- how cute are these?!

10 piece pot and pan set from our registry!  YAY YAY!

THE MIXER!!! Ahhh! So pumped.

Even after a rough day, in which he gets a concussion and breaks a toe, he is wonderful and kind.

I love this guy. :)

It's Happening...

I'm so excited to say that even if everyone who hasn't RSVP'd yet says 'yes' we'll still be under 100 people.  I am pretty happy about that!

I've always wanted a wedding with 75 guests, and I might just get it!  Every wedding I've ever been to with 75-90 guests has just been awesome.  You get to talk to everyone and everyone feels like they are a part of the celebration.

If I don't hear back from people this week, I'm going to have to start bugging them for their RSVP, which I'm not looking forward to, but hey, it has to be done. They were due on May 1st, people!

Shower!

A few photos I've stolen from friends off Facebook :)  I was so happy to see so many of my dear friends on Saturday.  My photog friends all had weddings, so they couldn't make it, but I was glad my other friends good.  SO grateful to have them in my life!  Thank you, thank you!

And a huge thank you to Kate for putting this together and making some delicious food!  Especially that lemon cake with strawberry sauce! YUM!

Joe came and brought me flowers :)

Me and Christine!  I've been on many adventures with her, 

including traveling to Thailand and Burma.

American University Alum!  Christine, Kate + Nic, me and Haley!

Everyone!  Thank you for coming!

Joe's mom, Christine, Haley, Kate, Marissa, Quinn, me, Joe

Shannon, Anne, and my momma!

Wedding-Palooza!

Goodness!

Now with less than 50 days to go, things are all-wedding all the time!  Some things to report...

According to MarthaStewartWeddings.com and the great guest list manager they have:

40 guests said yes
14 guests said no
90 guets haven't responded

Also, my shower is tomorrow! Joe's sisters couldn't make it but they got me some great gifts!  Julie got me the Battles family cookbook, Andrea got me a beautiful serving tray, and Sara got me a set of our dishes.  So fun to get all these presents in the mail :)

I'm excited to see my mom, mother in law, and a bunch of friends tomorrow- should be so much fun.  I'm humbled that people flew in for this event.  And thankful to Kate for throwing the shower! :)

We even got a wedding gift yesterday from someone who can't come to the wedding- so sweet!

Keeping track of everything (vendor lists, guest lists, hotel lists, gift lists...) is getting increasingly more difficult by the day, but I like the online organizers and I hope that keeps me from forgetting something.

The next thing I need to do is figure out details for the rehearsal + rehearsal dinner.  It's going to be immediate family only, but we'll have drinks with anyone who is in town afterwards.

Oh, and look what my good friend made for me!  SO CUTE!  I love it!

In other news, I finished painting my office today- thank the lord.  A coat of primer, three coats of paint, painting the ceiling, and painting the trim.  I hate painting.  The floors get resurfaced tomorrow and I can move in all my stuff on Monday!  So excited and giddy about that :)

So yeah, things are awesome right now.  Crazy, busy, sometimes stressful, but awesome.  Also, according to the scale this morning, I'm down 21 pounds from November 18th.  Booyah!

Happy Friday, friends!

Bridal Shower

Got a dress today for my wedding shower.  $150, marked down to $50, then with my Macy's card + a coupon it was $37.  Awesome :)

Can't find it on the website, but it's cute :)

Hair + Makeup Trial!

love love LOVE it!

Getting so excited now :)

The Office: Before

Some before photos... working really hard on my office and will have more photos soon!  Painted yesterday and today.  I need to finish up a few things so I'll take some photos then.  It's all so exciting! :)

Things ordered for the office...

I *love* this light!  I'm going to spray paint it white.  From Overstock.com

Don't know if this will go behind my desk or somewhere else, but I love it :)  From Target.com

 Storage cubes from West Elm (on sale!) for under the console table

 Console table... from Target.com

And I have an awesome antique hutch!  I'm hoping the only other thing I'll have to buy is a rug.  Since they are hardwood floors (from the late 1800's!) I need to cover them, especially because they are being resurfaced on Saturday- so exciting!  Other than that, I'm using my desk from home

They power washed the outside yesterday and are painting the outside of the building for us soon.  Painting has sucked.  I primed the walls and have done two coats of paint already.  It's gray and I love it! But, I have to do one more coat, paint the ceiling (the worst part) and then paint the trim.  Oi.  It's a lot of work but it's worth it!  

I cannot wait to move in!  Hopefully after the floors are sealed on Saturday and dry on Sunday, we'll be able to move the rest of our stuff in.  I'm hoping to move my iMac over there on Thursday or Friday- hooray!

Been a busy week, but I love it :)

Happy Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my Joe, who is 27 today.

I'm sad I don't get to spend the day with him, but that's how it goes sometimes.

In 55 days we'll be celebrating all the good things in life... and then a day later we'll be off to KONA HAWAII for a WEEK where we'll float down the lazy river at our hotel, climb lava formations, drive our rental car all over the island, swim with the dolphins (cannot wait for this one!), sleep in, take lots of goofy photos, eat amazing fresh fruit, and just be together.

I love you.

mwah.

My Birthday Boy Joe!

It's Joe's birthday tomorrow!  We're both working tomorrow, so I got him a teeny little cake and a present for him to open tonight :)

But in honor of Joe's birthday, here's a little survey about him!

tell us about the first time you met and your first impression of him/her:
Well, in high school he was a goof ball.  In college he was a frat boy, but still my good friend :)

what’s a weird habit or quirk that he has?:
He will not drink or let others (even me!) drink from a cup he has- he will freak out.

what makes him/her happy?:
Sunny days, walks with the dogs, playing video games, enjoying a beer, watching a movie

what makes him/her sad?:
cold + rainy days, not being able to fix something

what makes him/her angry?:
not understanding something, bad drivers

what excites him/her?
A good meal, vacations, presents

tell us something funny about him/her:
Joe absolutely adores our 10 ten pound mini doxie, Gordon.  They are ridiculous together.  Joe is always snuggling up with him, carrying him around the house, giving him little kisses.  It is hilarious and super cute at the same time. :)

what’s s/he like at home?:
Depends.  Mostly he just likes to relax after his 12 hour shifts and watch TV and play video games.  But he also gets in these crazy clean moods (I chalk this up to the Army) and has to clean up and pick up everything.

what’s s/he like at work/school?:
In school he never tried, but was super smart.  He could ace a test and never study.  Jealous.  At work I'm told he's one of the only guys who knows what he's doing.  

describe his/her room:
Well, his "man cave" is very plain but he likes it

what’s his/her best friend like?:
His friend Chris is a hilarious goofball but very kind and sweet, as is his other good friend, Cameron.  They both are very thoughtful and  nice, but also very "hooah" and Army.

do you know who s/he hates the most?: He's like me- dislikes more people than he likes :)

have you met his/her exes?:
Nope.

do his/her parents like you?:
Yes and I like him- woo hoo!

what would s/he do in an emergency situation with other people involved?:
He usually can take control quickly and deal with it

which shop would s/he spend the most time at in a shopping mall?:
Best Buy

what would s/he have for a typical breakfast?:
Raisin Bran and OJ

where would s/he want to go for dinner?:
He loves this hole in the wall Mexican place near our house and would probably eat every meal there if he could.

what kind of movie would s/he choose at the cinema?:
He likes a mix, but anything military-related and he's hooked

describe his/her taste in music: Stoner music.  Led Zeppelin, Dave Matthews, etc.

what item in his/her wardrobe would you like to burn:
He has this ugly blue t-shirt that I call his "homeless shirt" yeah. that one.

what is s/he good at?:
winning conversations. :)

what is s/he totally horrible at?
golf! :)


what’s something about him/her that is annoying/infuriating?:
he's great at thinking on his feet- even in arguments.  Grr. :)

what’s something that you two fundamentally disagree on?: 
karma- I believe it hardcore, he doesn't.

what’s something that you two agree whole-heartedly on?:
nothing is more important than family.

is s/he possessive?: sometimes.

what is the coolest gift that s/he has ever given you?: some bling :)

what is s/he obsessed with?: Call of Duty and Survivor.  Ugh.

what does s/he avoid at all costs?: seafood

what does s/he spend the most money on?: going out to eat + to the bar. he also loves iTunes.

describe his/her typical sunday: depends on if he's working or not. but usually video games, video games, video games.

tell us about a time s/he looked absolutely gorgeous:
When we first went to go look at suits he tried one on that fit him perfectly.  My heart was flipping out!  I couldn't believe how amazing he looked.  I was surprised that I was so taken by him putting it on, but man, I was a happy lady :)

what’s something about him/her that would surprise all of his/her friends?:
he is not as quote as he pretends to be!

what do you love most about him/her?: The way he gives in to me. The way he treats little kids and animals.  The way that he doesn't complain about doing extra things because my job is crazy.

the biggest lesson you have learnt from loving your partner:  listening is good and sometimes there isn't a wrong or right answer.

Joe!

We went to pick up Joe's suit the other night- he looks SO GOOD!  So proud of him- he's lost almost 40 pounds.  The tie looks great with his suit.  Now the pants need to be hemmed and he'll be all set!

Ow ow! :)

Update...

Things are NUTS here.  It's been a busy and rough week.  Lots of editing and wedding stuff.  Very tired.

But one of my March couples (and my photo!) were in the Washington Post on Sunday!

And- I sent out our invites!  On exactly 2 months before- whew!

The office downtown is coming along! They are going to seal + re-sand the wood floors for us (over 100+ year old!) and we are painting on Friday! They are also painting the outside of the building, putting in new flooring in the kitchen + bathroom, and we get to pick our own lighting for our offices- helllloo pretty chandelier! :)  So that's exciting!

And I'm teaching a class!  Last Sunday went really well- can't wait for this coming week!

Other things... May 1st is my bridal shower!  Both my mom and Joe's mom are flying in!  Wow, so nice.  A few other friends are flying in, too.  I even got a shower present in the mail today- so sweet!  There will be NO games or silliness.  Making a bouquet out of the ribbons? Noooo.  But I hear there will be cake!  Thanks, Kate! :)  I'm sort of excited about that now :)

Other than that, just returning tons of e-mails, editing weddings (I have one this weekend, too) and prepping for my new office space.  So many things going on at once!  It's very overwhelming, but it's all good things, so I can't complain.

I've also had a few weird dreams.  I've had one wedding nightmare and another dream where it was all in Japanese.  After taking classes for 8 years (but haven't studied it since May of '06) I thought that was funny.  Guess I've still retained some of it. :)  But my dreams are getting wackier and more strange as June 19th approaches.

Time to edit.

Garter Launch Party!

A photo of all the people who made the Garter Launch Party happen!  Woo!  That was a FUN night!

(also, I am very, very short! LOL)

TWO MONTHS

Two months from TODAY the celebration will be here- whew!

And when we can go to KONA HAWAII!  We've got our honeymoon tickets and we are ready to rock 'n' roll!

Today I'm planning on putting together the invites... hopefully getting them mailed on Wednesday!

Woo!

Hutch

Went to an amazing tag sale today- it was outta control awesome- I could have been there ALL day!  I bought this hutch and a chair for the new office space.  Together they were $250.  I am SO excited!

I don't think I'm going to be buying much else for the space.  The rest of the things will be what I already have- my desk in my home office, knick knacks I have here (and I have so many!), etc.  I might have to buy a rug or two for the space, but we'll see.

Looks like we're going to paint on Wednesday!  WOO!

Sample

Our calligrapher sent a sample photo to me last night- LOVE IT!  Woo!

Things are really happening now- so crazy!

I Can Spill the Beans Now!

I GOT AN OFFICE DOWNTOWN FREDERICK! :)

I am sooo excited!  I went "in" with a few of my fave ladies who also own their own business (two own a  PR firm, one is an awesome graphic designer) to get a building right downtown- there are 4 offices, a kitchenette, and a full bathroom.  It was built in the late 1800's.  It's awesome.

We get keys TOMORROW.  Ahhh :)

I can't wait to get decorating and moved in.  We should be "open" on May 1st, in time for my bridal shower! :)

Welcome/Hotel Bags

While I wait for our wedding invitation envelopes to come back from the calligrapher (sometime next week!) I've started to think and get stuff for our Hotel/Welcome bags.

I think I've thought about them waaaaaaay too much lately, but since everyone is from out of town and staying in the hotel, we want to make sure they are comfortable and have some goodies and knowledge of Frederick.  Since most guests haven't ever been to Maryland I tried to get lots of MD stuff.

So far I have:

-bottled water
-Baltimore's famous caramel creams (so good!)
-Utz's Crab chips
-MD postcards (to tie onto the bags)
-Destination Frederick Magazine (they were so nice and gave me 50 copies for free!)
-Downtown Frederick maps + brochures
-personalized playing cards (Joe's family loves playing cards)

That's what's sitting in the guestroom right now... it's starting to get cramped in there.  I'm thinking of getting some other local goodies- like Catoctin Mountain Orchard's apple butter and Ralph's Cookies to finish off the bags... anything else I should include?

Time get get a move-on.. headshots in an hour and a wedding tomorrow- busy busy!

Plus, next week I get to make an exciting announcement :)  Probably on WEDNESDAY :)

MK

Things I'm working On...

I made these CD cases today for two of my wedding clients and I think they turned out awesome :) I ordered them this afternoon and I can't wait to see how they look printed up... I did them in their wedding colors.  Should have them by Friday :)

I really never learned how to use photoshop so this was a feat.  Time and patience!

When work + home collide...

While doing a fun product shoot this weekend in my backyard, Gordon just had to explore.  I love working from home, and this is why :)

Buuut that's all changing soooooon.... (now there's a big hint!  Having a baby was WAY off the mark!)

Hint...

Workin' it

This week because of schedule things, I'm working out 4 days in a row- I am so sore and I still have tomorrow.  But it's good.

They measured me for the first time since I started going there in late November- I've lost FIVE inches in my waist.  That's kind of amazing to me!  I'm very happy with that.  I still have some time to lose more weight + inches, so hopefully I do.  Joe has been kicking my butt with his working out- he's been going twice a day!  He's hardcore :)

In other news... I have a secret "project." :)  I am excited to officially announce it in a few weeks, but I'm not supposed to say anything just yet.  My friends + family know, though. :)

Other than that, I have just been super busy.  I edited a wedding this week, but I have two others to go.  Not complaining, because working is good!  I love being busy.

Proud :)

Joe is getting promoted.

So proud of him and how hard he's worked!

:)

WHEW!

My laptop bit the dust earlier this week- ahh!  So it was time to get the iMac I planned on getting at the end of June... so I just got it a tad earlier than we expected.  My laptop may not be completely dead- Apple sent it in and it is possible that they may fix it, so we'll see.

Luckily I back up my stuff religiously so I didn't lose anything, just a lot of headaches- downloading everything again, remembering all my passwords and log-ins, loading up all my photos back into Lightroom, getting all my bookmarks back together, etc etc.

My iMac came this morning- she's a beauty!  27 inch screen!  Holy cow.  Going from a 17" laptop to this is quite a change... but a change I can totally get used to :)

I have it set up downstairs while I get everything on there, but next week I'll put it up in my office- that will be a change, too.

The Dress I Didn't Pick...

I can't show you the photo of the dress I picked, but here's the one I didn't... please ignore the very silly look on my face ;)

I showed this to Joe and he really liked it... I hope he likes my actual dress even more! :)

Wedding Ties

So we're not having a bridal party, but we are having the guys in our immediate families (dads,  my brother, Joe's nephew and brother-in-laws) wear the same tie.  It was Joe's idea and I think it's great.  I love that they will all have something that's the same but wear different jackets/outfits.

So I wrote a silly little poem, printed it out on peach paper and they will all be shipped out tomorrow, except one, since we still have to find a tie for Ethan.  We looked for one today when we stopped by the outlet mall in Leesburg, but Joe and I were so uncomfortable in the kid's stores!  It was kind of funny.  Guess that's another sign we're just not ready for that yet! :)  

So I think we'll go to Macy's tomorrow and go in the boy's section there to find one.

One more thing off the list.  Oh, and we had a meeting with our officiant today to go over what we wanted for the ceremony- went well.  It will be short and sweet and perfect for us :)

The McConnell Family Joins Us Again On the *really* Big Island :)

It was soooooo great to see Deanna and Tom on Friday!  Aaaand, their newest edition, little miss Maggie!  Oh man, she is CUTE!  And sweet.  And has the best demeanor.  I could go on and on.  I love that kid! 

I hadn't been able to meet their baby (or see them for that matter) in YEARS because they live in Hawaii now.  I am slightly/terribly jealous that the North Shore is a short drive away for them, but glad they are doing so well.

They came up to Frederick on Friday and sadly, it was mucho sucko raino, but we did get some pretty good photos despite the weather.  I haven't gone through them all yet, but here are a few that caught my eye...