...and they lived happily ever after

I'm FINISHED!! After a lot of hours put in at the computer this week, the wedding photos are printed, put in the album, and ready for Ryan and Deena to pick up today. It's been a learning experience, but I'm glad to be done so I can focus on something else for a while. I just hope they are happy with them! Eeeks!

The amazing Miss Cheryl stopped over for an unplanned visit today. She needed some help with her camera and I needed some help in photoshop. I have this amazing program, but no clue how to use it. Everything I can do with it I've taught myself. Cheryl taught me just a few more things - like how to make fun collages, tips on how to enhance my photos a little more, and how to scan/stitch 12x12 layouts so I can start submitting them to TwoPeas and maybe even a magazine or two (if I get brave!). So....of course I had to play last night...and look what I made. It's my first attempt, but I think it's pretty cool. I'm going to give it to Ryan and Deena today when they come to pick up their photos (It looks like it's just floating on the page because I left a white border around it. I printed it out to 8x10 size and framed it in black...it looks much better framed!). My head is already spinning with the possibilities for using this or something similar (Brenda...I definitely see some in the making for Carsyn and Payton's photos)!! HAPPY WEEKEND!!

The end is in sight....

I finally finished proofing the wedding photos tonite. I still need to burn the photos onto CDs, get the proofs printed, number each proof, and put it into an album. Then I will be all set to give the photos to Ryan and Deena. Phew!!! I have a little over 650 proofs for them - WOW! (and that's after going through and deleting a lot of photos) I can't wait to see the look on the face of the people who work where I get my photos developed when I tell them I have that many prints to make.

A Sneak Peek

I still have a ton of work to do with these photos....but here's a sneak peek at a few of my favorite photos from Saturday's wedding. I'll try to post some more in the next few days.

CONGRATULATIONS RYAN AND DEENA!!

Miss Jenna

I mentioned it in a previous post....but Jenna absolutely loved being around Cheryl when she came to visit and scrap on Thursday. She hung out with us most of the time and wanted to help Cheryl use her paper trimmer everytime Cheryl went to cut something. When we were outside taking photos of us together, Jenna wanted Cheryl to take some photos of her....and this is what she sent us in an email today. I absolutely LOVE it. We're definitely printing this out for her room. THANKS CHERYL! You're the best!!

I survived!!

I survived my first wedding as the solo photographer. I had to be at the church at 11:00am and by the time I got home at 10:30pm my camera battery was almost dead, I had filled all my memory cards (over 600 photos!), and my feet were killing me. I went non-stop all day except for a quick break between photos and the ceremony and again at the reception when I sat down to eat. I was really nervous in the morning when I first started out, but as soon as I got into it, I was much more comfortable and at ease. The whole thing seemed to go pretty smoothly. I'm anxious to load the photos onto my computer and start playing with them later tonite. Keep checking back...I'll be sure to post some of my favorites on here.

PS The Astros lost the tournament championship game 7-4 and came in 2nd place in the tournament. Jacob was okay with it...and really excited about his new 2nd place trophy!

Go Astros!!!

On Saturday Jacob's baseball team , the Astros, is playing in the championship game of the tournament. He's really excited. Unfortunately I have to miss it - I am photographing my first wedding on Saturday (say a little prayer for me...I'm really nervous and hoping this goes well!) . I'm really upset that I have to miss it...it's hard to miss out on important events your kids are involved in. Luckily, Jacob is very understanding and promised to call my cell phone after the game so I know how they did. GOOD LUCK JACOB....and GO ASTROS!!!!

We're going to miss you, Cheryl!!

I have had the opportunity to meet an awesome person and become quick friends with her. Cheryl and I met through Two Peas and started emailing once I realized she lived in Paulding. After many emails we finally set up a time to scrapbook together over Spring Break. I was so excited to finally have someone to scrap with - especially someone as talented and creative as Cheryl! We scrapped again in May and I took Jenna along to play with her niece, Shana. They had a great time together. Jenna also loved Cheryl! Today she came to our house and we scrapped the afternoon away. We had so much fun doing challenges and just chatting. She is such an easy person to talk to and open up with - she is an amazing person with an incredible story to tell. She has a way of making you feel so comfortable and is so positive and encouraging. On top of that, she is so much fun just to be around! Jenna spent most of the afternoon around us scrapbooking and just talking to Cheryl, too. She is following her dream and leaving for Chicago soon to become a nanny. She will do an awesome job....the family she is going to be working for is incredibly lucky to have her. Unfortunately, Chicago is just a little too far for us to get together and scrap. Hopefully we will have some more opportunities in the near future to get together again. We'll miss you Cheryl! Thanks for coming to play with us today.

Brown Eyed Girls

Look who is finally on the other side of the camera....ME! My friend Cheryl was at our house today and volunteered to take some photos of me for a change. I love these photos of Jenna and I. I definitely need to try to be in photos more instead of always behind the camera (I'm a lot more comfortable there though!).

Mr. Baseball

Jacob absolutely loves baseball. He has had so much fun playing this summer. The regular season ended tonite (they start the season in early May and it's over by mid June). They were tied for first place going into tonite's game, but ended up losing - so they finished in second place in the league. Tournament starts tomorrow. He'll play again on Saturday, but I'll have to miss it. He's going to be so disappointed to see the season end. Last night he had a great game. He made a huge catch - a pop fly right to him in left center field. He was beaming after he caught it (but I didn't have my camera ready!). It's been fun watching him improve. He would truly play baseball every day this summer if he could. Hopefully he'll still have some opportunities to play a little longer this summer. If not, he and Dad will be out in the yard playing. Here are a few photos from his games last night and tonite.

S'MORES!!!!

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is have campfires at our neighbor's house. They supply the fire and then we roast hotdogs, marshmallows, make s'mores and sometimes pudgie pies. YUM! Last night was our first official campfire of the season. It was short and sweet - but we got s'mores (and that's the best part!).



















As I was getting ready to take one last picture of Jenna she made the "I love you" sign. Too cute!

NYC - part 3

I think this is the last of the NYC photos - at least for now. As I was looking through the photos I took, I noticed how many photos of signs there were. Apparently I was slightly fascinated with NYC signs on this trip.

NYC - part 2

A few more of my favorite photos from our NYC trip.

Near Rockefellar Center - just a neat little park in between two skyscrapers.














St. Patrick's Cathedral



















Little Italy - Mulberry Street...we ate lunch here and then went to a little italian bakery for dessert. YUMMY!














Chinatown - Canal Street....where we did all our bartering for purses, watches, sunglasses, and jewelry. FUN! Doesn't the weather look wonderful?!?!?




















The "Naked Cowboy" in Times Squre (he stands in the middle of Times Square with his underwear, cowboy boots, hat, and guitar and plays/sings)



















View of 8th Avenue taken from our hotel room (on the 14th floor)

I Love New York!

Our trip to NYC was so much fun!! Mom and I flew out of Cleveland and Brenda and Jill (my sisters) left Dallas, TX on TUESDAY morning. We arrived at LaGuardia Airport in NYC within 30 minutes of each other, got a cab, and headed to our hotel. Our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we checked in, had them hold our luggage, and headed across the street to a pizza place for NY style pizza and salads. After checking in we started the sightseeing - Rockefellar Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, 5th Avenue - complete with a stop at Tiffany's to try on jewelry (Brenda even tried on a $110,000 bracelet - GORGEOUS!) and Trump Tower. Then we walked through Central Park and headed via subway (their first subway experience) to the Empire State Building. Later we went to Times Square and ate at Hard Rock for a late dinner.



















WEDNESDAY morning we woke up to depressing gray skies and rain. We ate breakfast at a little diner and then made our way downtown to the financial district - World Trade Center site, Century 21 (bargain shopping), Wall Street, Staten Island Ferry (great way to see the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, skyline). Then we hopped on a subway to CANAL STREET. We ate lunch at a great little italian restaurant in Little Italy and then the fun began...bartering for purses, watches, sunglasses, and jewelry in Chinatown. We all ended up with at least 2 purses (some of us with more ....Brenda!) and other goodies. Because it was so rainy and cool, they weren't doing as much business as usual and we were able to get some bargains on the "big name" purses.. We even went to some of the secret little hidden stores for those. I came away with a "Coach" and a "Prada" (or at least that's what the tag says) , "Dolce and Gabanna" sunglasses and a lovely knock-off necklace. We then took a small detour to Brooklyn (the SUBWAY QUEEN momentarily got disoriented and I had us get on a DOWNTOWN train instead of an UPTOWN train. Ooops!) and headed to Macy's and H&M for more shopping. Afterwards we went to our hotel to drop off all our bags and then went to the Stage Deli for dinner and cheesecake - YUM! We then did more shopping (Wow - we sure did a lot of shopping) in Times Square and then headed back to the hotel to collapse! It rained NON-STOP all day - yucky!














THURSDAY morning started out looking okay, but ended up being rainy off and on again. Our original plan was to go to the TODAY show bright and early, but we didn't want to stand in the rain. Instead we got there around 9:45 and were able to still see a small part of the show - and even got to stand in the front row. We then headed back to 5th Avenue for some last minute shopping for the kids at Build-a-Bear and Disney and then made our way back to CANAL STREET for yet more bartering in Chinatown. Brenda and I each wanted a "Rolex" watch for Chris and Scott and were able to get them along with a few other last minute goodies. Then we went on to Grand Central Terminal, Central Park, and Times Square (where we got to witness the "Naked Cowboy"....interesting!) before heading back to the hotel to get ready for our evening out. We went to dinner at a great italian restaurant called Da Marino on 49th street. We were a little shocked by the $4 iced teas, but the meal was wonderful. Then we walked to the theater to see HAIRSPRAY - it was awesome!! Afterwards we headed to Roxy's Deli in Times Square for dessert (tiramisu and Heath cheesecake) .














FRIDAY we woke up to blue skies and no rain...terrible timing considering we were flying home! We grabbed a quick breakfast and then took the subway to Greenwich Village where we walked around the village for a while. On the way back we stopped at Times Square one last time for a stop in Toys R Us and a bakery. We grabbed some NY style pizza to go and headed back to the hotel to check out. We then all piled into a cab to LaGuardia and said goodbye. We had a great time, despite the yucky weather. I am ready to go back! What can I say....I LOVE NEW YORK!!

Nine years old!!

I can't believe Jacob is NINE years old today! Yikes - the time goes by way too quickly. We celebrated yesterday with family and had a cookout and DQ ice cream cake. We bought him a Venus flytrap (he did a research paragraph on them and is completely into them right now) and a pitchback for practicing baseball. He loved both of them. Later we went to the Peony parade and then a cookout at Becca and Ryan's. Tonite we are taking Jacob and three of his friends to Fort Wayne for dinner and putt putt golf. Should be fun!!
HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY JACOB!!

Oh baby!

I had the opportunity to take photos of a friend's 5 week old baby this week. It was so much fun! My friend was really happy with the photos...which made my day. These were the first photos I took with my new auxiliary flash, and I could really tell a difference (good to know that it wasn't a waste of money - ha ha!). I really think baby/kids photography is more my thing than adults. I'm totally stressing about the upcoming wedding I'm photographing, but I never seem to stress about baby or kid photos. Anyhow...here are a few of my favorite photos of baby Meah. She was the first baby I've ever photographed that I had to worry about fixing her hair. The last two are my favorites - especially the feet photo. There's just something about feet pictures!