Done with a Senior

Well, I planned on being done with all my work before traveling to Iowa for Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen. I have been hard at work, especially today. And I have finally finished one Senior of the two I have left. She is a good friend of mine and it was awesome to work with her. She has quite the creative side and we had a lot of fun experimenting. It was hard narrowing down which ones to edit and include.
Iowa was a fun and relaxing trip. We stay at a Girl Scout lodge out in the woods (the ideal scary movie setting). My husbands parents and siblings all stay too. We get to see a lot of family that we usually only see 1-2 times a year. We stay up too late, play games, watch movies, and eat a lot of food. We actually have to come back from vacation and recuperate from all the late nights and activities.
This year we decided to try our hand at the day after Thanksgiving day sales. WHAT A MISTAKE! Well, not really, but I don't plan on doing it again anytime soon (unless there is a really really good deal ;))
We didn't even go to bed because we had to drive an hour to get to a big city that had the stores we wanted to shop at. We went extra early because my brother-in-law wanted to try for a laptop at Best Buy. YEAH RIGHT! We got there about 3 hours before they opened (5am), and the line went around the side of the building and into the parking lot. We asked the people in front what time they got in line- 10am on Thanksgiving Day!!!!!! Sorry, but not worth it to miss out on Thanksgiving all together!
We had a ton of fun, though. We made up a lovely song on our way to the stores and we all got some really good deals. The slap-happy levels were very high. Everything was funny! Quite an experience!
Hopefully will be posting more often, I'll try anyways!

Delayed Halloween debut

I know, it's a little late. But here is our Halloween pictures. We shopped for pumpkins at a cute little place on our way home from visiting Shelly and Rob (in Auburn Hills). Even though the lights were on, no one was manning the register. So we just left our money in an envelope on the table.

The boys wore the same costumes as last year, with the exception of Noah. He grew too much to wear the froggy costume again. He absolutely loved the tiger costume, and was making roaring sounds.

I have two Senior photo sessions left to edit. I am on a mission to get them both done this week. We'll see!

The cloud is lifting

I still have work left to do, but it's a whole lot less than a week ago. I still have two seniors that I have to work on. I got a new laptop and it makes work a whole lot easier. I can take work with me where ever I go. At first it was a little bit of a distraction- a new toy to play with. But know it's awesome!

I had been so busy, school was put on the back burner. We missed a few days last week, but picked right back up this week. I shouldn't be busy like that for awhile. Actually, I've had conflicting thoughts about whether I ever want to be that busy again! I absolutely love photography and love what I can do for people. But I spend a lot of time editing pictures and working on sessions. A lot of busy time not spent with my family. I love what I do, but I'm not sure I want to be as busy as I am.

That said, here is a collection from a few sessions from the Detroit area.

Last wedding

Well, I am finally done with the last wedding that I had to work on. I have not completed all of my work, by any means, but I am at least a little closer to the finish line. Then I will have time for non-work related things (like posting Halloween pics ;)). But for now- here is Kelli and Adrian. Her and her family are practically part of our family and it was a joy to be able to be part of their day.

Done with another wedding.

So, it is absolutely pouring outside and I am loving it. It was hailing for a little while. There are tornado warnings in Lansing and Indiana. It's awesome! Ethan had another soccer game tonight, and unfortunately they didn't win. He wasn't as aggressive as he usually is. I think he was tired. No....I know he was tired considering the fact that he is curled up in the chair in the living room at 9:10pm - sleeping! I wish they would win just one of the last two games he has. They've only won one so far.

This wedding is of my brother-in-law and his new wife. I was in the wedding so couldn't take the pics of the ceremony, but did the before and after. I will be making a hard cover bound book for them for a wedding present, which will come a little later. I am now on to the next wedding and then some senior pics. Thanks for looking!

For you readers out there!

I've had a hard time getting work done because I've been into a really great series. So for those of you that enjoy (or have the time) to read, I've got a must-read for ya. It is co-authored by Karen Kingsbury and Gary Smalley and is called the Redemption series. There is 5 books in the series, and I'm on the fourth. The third book was my favorite, this one, the fourth, is my least favorite so far. Hopefully they'll hit a home-run with the last one, Reunion. They all have different names but it starts with Redemption. So check 'em out!

My new favorite guilty pleasure, YOUTUBE! I love search different topics and watching the videos that are available. So informative! I did a recent search when I had one of my creative urges- I so want to try this.

This user also has other interesting videos.

Click here

I love this weather!

It's about 60 degrees and rainy. Perfect weather for doing what I love most- sitting and working on the computer or reading a good book. No reason to feel guilty because I'm sitting indoors. Looks like maybe the cold is here to stay- which I couldn't be happier about. I'm ready for fall weather. I can't imagine living in a place where they didn't have a change of seasons. The in between stages are my favorite- fall and spring.

In school today, we made fish out of coffee filters. It was a fun project and the boys really enjoyed it. (Noah did too) They colored them with markers, then I sprayed them with water so that the colors kind of mixed together, almost like a watercolor painting. Then we cut them out in the shape of a fish and added the finishing touch- GLITTER!

Noah is loving the routine of school and he likes to participate in the first part of what we do for school. We go over the calendar and what day it is, and we sing a days-of-the-week song. Noah likes to try to sing along. We also say the Pledge of Allegiance, which the boys have to stand on top of our little fold-out table to say. Noah has to join in, of course, and stand up with them. When we are done, he always asks "One more?" while holding up his little index finger. He would repeat it all day if I allowed it.

These are pictures of a senior that I did a little while ago. The session was very easy going and comfortable. She is from the east side of the state, so sunset pictures at the beach was a must. She is my sister-in-law's sister-in-law :)