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.

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!

:)

Catching Up

So much going on here!  All good, but we're so busy!

On the wedding front... we've booked our rehearsal dinner, decided on a menu for the wedding, my dress is done, I have shoes, blocked off rooms at a local hotel, and I'm making some signs in my woodworking class.  We've got about four months to go!

Also, I've been making things for Kate's wedding- so much fun!  I made her bridal shower invites and finished addressing them this afternoon.  They will go out tomorrow.  I'm also making a few other things, but those are secrets for now :)  Since Kate's a big runner (she qualified for the Boston, people!) we're running a 5K on the morning of their wedding- fun!  Joe and I are actually looking forward to it!  It's been awhile since I ran a "race."

On the business front, work is jammed.  I am booking lots and lots of weddings.  I've decided to only do 15 this year and I already have 12.  Kind of crazy.  I have THREE next month.  Wow.  I really thought February would be a quiet month, but it's totally not.  I have sessions and meetings and will be designing a ton of albums.  In the past week I've designed three guest books and two coffee table books.  I also started accepting credit cards and while I was told that it would increase my business, I had no idea how much.  Awesome.  I also got a few more sample albums in- I'm in love!  I'm still very behind on blogging, but otherwise I seem to have everything under control.  I got this new booking software that really does a lot of work for me- the inquiries, e-mails, contracts, payments... all done quickly and effectively now... no one has to wait on me for a PDF, etc., so my business is more streamlined.  Loving it so far.

It was nice being home for a few days last week.  Got to see lots of my friends, lots of babies, and it was nice to spend some time with my family.  The Indie Wed bridal show went REALLY well and I was so happy that so many of my friends came!  One of my couples came all the way from Indianapolis just to see me- how sweet is that?!  I have good friends.  I met some of the nicest vendors there.  It was a really good wedding show and I'm glad I did it, even though the prep-work was mega stressful.

Aaaand while I was home I got my hair cut and colored.  I even got BANGS.  While it's a huge change, I think I like it.  I always enjoy changing it up a bit.

On the homefront, we're gearing up for ANOTHER huge snowstorm tomorrow afternoon.  Like, 16-24 inches.  We've been slammed so much this year- winters in Maryland just aren't this harsh typically.  Everything in Frederick has been cancelled for the weekend, including the awesome conference I was supposed to photograph tomorrow and my small business class at the local college.  Oh well.  I'm hoping to just relax, read a huge stack of magazines, watch some movies we have piling up, and organize our closets, which are totally out of control (all my fault!)

With all this snow, I'm glad we're headed to Florida at the end of the month.  Should be a nice trip.  Will be happy to be in a warmer climate for five days and take a little vacation before all my weddings in March.

And, maybe the most exciting news for Joe and I... he lost 11 pounds last month and I lost 9.  We're really proud of that because we're working super hard!  The big thing has been planning out meals, getting all the ingredients at the beginning of the week, and sticking to that plan.  Of course, we both work out 5 times a week, which helps a lot too.  We're determined to live healthier lives, and I think we're making a lot of progress.

Joe started a new schedule- 6pm to 6am.  He leaves at 4:30, though, to go work out before his shift.  It's a crazy schedule, and I hate it, but what can you do?  The Army is the Army.  He's on this for two months.  Oof.  I'm just now getting the hang of *my* schedule- it's hard when he's sleeping and I'm working at home, but for now it's OK.  And the local arts center gave me an office three days a week (I'm doing all their website photography in exchange) so I always have a place to get work done if it really needs to be quiet here.

Wow, wrote a lot more than I thought I would, but there's a lot going on here!

iPhone wrap-up...

Here we go ;)

wrapped 25+ gifts on Sunday.

Broke down yesterday and made a wedding binder... ugh.  

Wedding planning isn't my thing.

Organized my office closet. This is just one side, but it's lookin' good!

Two days after the big snow storm that dumped 24 inches of snow

backyard was a mess

mini 4x4 leather albums came in the mail today!  So cute!  

Already sent them to my clients :)

Marissa made us cookies!!!

Gordon on his way to the vet- he sprained his paw :(  But he's OK now.

Business Christmas cards- over 120 went out!

This guy, a Congressman, ordered 4,500 Christmas cards!

My bookshelf lookin' cleaned up

Sent out 30+ packages in the past week!

Vacation- Lost River, WV and Updates

Our vaca:

Sooooo much fun. Was sad to see it end. Lost River, WV is a great place to visit.

...and then I shot a gazillion engagement shoots and weddings. And then...

...meet Molly.

Yeah, I found a dog. At a Sheetz gas station near our house at midnight. Only me, right?

Well, she's super cute and lovely and Joe loves her, so we're keeping her. I couldn't be happier- I love her, too! :)

so two puppies, weddings, editing, emails, and keeping this place clean is all I do these days. I'm hoping one day to be a sane, lovely girl. One day!

Updates...

What a week/weekend!  My parents were here, Kate was here, and we had a great time.  We grilled out, I made lemon pasta, and for dessert we had strawberry & rhubarb pie and apple crumb cake.  Oooh so good.

Today I'm attempting to pick up all the pieces and put my life back into some sort of normalcy.  I have a lot to get done before I head to Indy on Wednesday or Thursday (haven't decided yet) for Crystal and Matt's wedding.

I've done the laundry & dishes, picked up the house, and put away everything but I have a lot of work-related things still to do.  I went to Starbucks today and got A LOT done, but there's still more, of course.  I'm hoping I get tons done today and tomorrow- it's possible!

Here's one thing off my list- cute little 5x5 cards for Crystal & Matt's wedding- I'l put them next to their guestbook so guests can see all the images.  :)

Off I go!

Guests!

After being home only a few short days, we're having company- my parents!

They haven't seen our new place, so I'm excited to have them come up for the 4th of July.  There is lots going on here and I'm glad I finally get to show them around our adorable little town.  Plus Kate is coming up on Saturday to grill out with us- yay!  I'm also gon

na make lemon pasta again- soooo good!

Anyway, I am frantically cleaning and getting everything ready.  It's hard to believe how messy and dirty this place gets so fast.  I can't ever keep up.

Aaaand, I get to pick up Frankie from the vet today!  Poor kitty has

 been there since Friday.  He got to come home just for the night last night and then I had to bring him back to continue his IV fluid treatment.  But now he should be all good and I can't wait to have all my family back together :)

Other than cleaning and getting ready, I have a lot of things to edit, design and work on.  I really hope that after the holiday I can get back into gear, but next weekend I'll be in Indianapolis for a wedding so there goes my schedule again... one day it'll be back to normal... right?

On an ending note, I saw this ceremony shot this weekend and loved it (minus the horses) and think that maybe instead of renting chairs, we could do this!  I think it's adorable and perfect for the setting/theme.  :)

The Weather

This weather = not so fun.

This isn't from today, but I took this recently in our backyard.  We've had some extremely nice days recently, but today it is so humid and rainy.  It makes me feel lazy, and I can't be lazy because there is too much to do before we leave on Monday morning.  

I did get two sessions edited yesterday which is good, but I *really* want to get this one wedding edited before we leave.  Like, reaaaalllly want to.  I have some errands to run with Joe this morning, and then I will hopefully get a lot of work done this afternoon, even though he's not working today.  He's in total relax mode already, and I am so not there!  

I have a wedding on Saturday, so maybe after that I'll be a bit more relaxed... we'll see.

Off we go!

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!

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 :)

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!!!

Moved In!

I'm back!  And we're moved in!!! :)

I'm really loving spending quality time with Joe putting together the house.  Today was one of my favorite days together ever :)

The move went really well.  Movers showed up at 8am on the dot, packed everything up by noon, weighed in, moved, and put everything in our new place by 5!  

Joe and I started putting everything away the minute boxes started coming in.  We got the kitchen done first, followed by the living room.  Our goal was to have zero boxes in the downstairs, and we accomplished that, minus one box that is full of frames/decorative items that we're not dealing with just yet.

Then we had to do the guest room, because we have to sleep in there until our mattress comes tomorrow.  We passed out right away and all I remember is waking up to a trumpet at 6am- welcome to living on base- I'm going to hear that and taps every single day!

Today we cleaned up the old place- patched up picture holes, etc.  I'm going to miss it, but we had such a good opportunity here.  I'm glad we moved.  

We also finished our new master closet and most of the master bedroom and bathroom.  When I finally unpack my real photo equipment, I'll have to take a picture of it with my wide angle lens.  It's insanely huge- we have plenty of room in there even with a dresser (in the closet!), and me hanging up way more of my clothes than I did in the condo.  Crazy awesome :)

We also put the bed together which I looooove.  Joe loves it too.  He calls it a "big kid bed."  And yeah, he's right, it's awesome.  We also built the night stands and Joe is currently putting together the lights for them  :) 

We also picked up all the animals today.  Gordon likes the new place, I think.  Frankie is meowing for no good reason, like "when are we going home?!"  It's funny.  

I made some spaghetti tonight with a salad... I love the new kitchen because I can make food and still watch March Madness :)  It's really feeling like home!

We're both exhausted, but are going to power through tomorrow!  We both have to work on Sunday and have busy weeks ahead, so we gotta get a lot done tomorrow.  The mattress gets delivered, I'm going to finish the upstairs closet (it's so darn big that we just threw all the boxes that we didn't want to deal with in there), and *maybe* start on my office.  

As a girl who has a name that's so Irish that it hurts, I love me some St. Patty's Day :) I remember Irish dancing every year from first grade to 10th or 11th grade at different events on this day- some of my greatest memories!

Sadly, I'll be "celebrating" by meeting with brides allll day. But hey, I'll celebrate if I book them :) I'll in Alexandria, DC, and end up near AU for my last meeting of the day. I'm kind of excited, because I'm going to hang out in my old digs at The Davenport- the coffee lounge I used to work at, in-between meetings :) I have a lot of photos to edit, so hopefully I get some done.

Also- moving so soon I can't stand it! Two days!!! :)

Not that I'm keeping track or anything...

Joe and I are *so* ready to move!  

We love the condo we're in right now, but waiting around to move stinks.  We're ready to go.  I'm excited to have a garage, for Gordon to have a yard, to have a huge office, to bring groceries in the house and not have to climb three flights of stairs, and to not have neighbors below us. (so I can use my Wii Fit and not feel like I'm annoying everyone!)  

We are pumped to live on base and just be settled in.  

I know it's only two weeks away, but can't it be today?!

A New House, Some New Stuff

With the new house comes a lot of things we didn't have here, but will need in the new place.  For example- shower curtains!  We have glass doors here.  So curtains, plastic liners, and shower hangers, etc. Lots of little things are coming up!  But then there's the good stuff!

While I love my bed, Joe doesn't.  It's only a full and admittedly, the mattress is on its way out.  So the one thing we're for sure getting is a king bed.  Woo hoo!  We found one online (we looooove Overstock.com!) and I'm excited to have it in the new place!

And of course, with a new bed comes new bedding! :)  We picked this out- not too girly, but it's modern and sweet.

And this the couch we want- we just found out today it's being discontinued, but we're hoping it's still available when we are ready to get it in two weeks!

It Gets Better!

We had to go into the "Transportation Office" today to fill out the last of the paperwork for the few place- this time for the actual move.  As if them packing up all our stuff and moving it for us wasn't great enough...

they UNPACK for us *AND* take all the boxes and paper with them!

Holy Cow.

I like the Army now :)

Floor plans

We signed the papers today for the new place- ahh!  Crazy!

We get to actually see inside on the 26th, but until then, we have floor plans... better than nothing, right?!

downstairs

upstairs

So there it is!  I am still in denial that:

1) I am moving... again! 

2) That I don't have to pack a single thing!

I have quite the urge to get boxes and start packing, and it's crazy that I don't have to!

That's all that's going on in the Battles-McKenna household.  Looking forward to getting settled in there March 19th!  In the meantime, Joe has a board for the Army, has to pass his range test, and I have my few weddings- crazy!

We 're Moving!

Our new house as of March 19th!

Sorry that these aren't the greatest quality, but I took them while Joe was driving out my window with my iPhone.  We just found out today that we're going to be moving into Army base housing March 19th!  Ahh!  That's in a MONTH!

The good thing is that the Army comes over on the 19th, packs up everything (NO boxes, NO tape, NO nothing for us!) and then moves it all over to our new place.  I think that is awesome!  I haaaaaated packing and taping up everything when I moved out here, so I am so happy about that!

We don't know too much about the place yet other than that it's three bedrooms, has wood floors, a balcony, and french doors to the yard, and was just finished being built.  So, uhm... yay!  

While I love this condo, walking down two flights of stairs to walk Gordon multiple times a day stinks, carrying groceries and my photo equipment up the stairs stinks, and having that extra bedroom will be heavenly- when we have friends over they don't have to sleep in my office anymore! :)

So, we're excited, but it's also CRAZY that we are moving so soon!