HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JON!!!
He's 30 years old today :)
I had a party for two for him with his favorite peanut butter & chocolate cake. Our days have been so full with this & that lately, so it was nice to have some quality alone time :)
Since I was working all day on Tuesday, I wasn't able to do anything significant for Earth Day, so I made up for it today :) I planted 192 vegetables, herbs & trees by seed (a total of over 500 seeds!) including 48 Paulownia trees. This tree, nicknamed the "Phoenix tree" due to it's awesome ability of regenerating entirely from it's root system when it is harvested, is an extremely fast grower (some species can be harvested for lumber in as little as five years at a whopping 75 feet tall!). Not only is it SUPER awesome as a timber tree, but this baby is BEAUTIFUL in the spring time! Big, blue, yummy-smelling blossoms fill it's branches, and the fruit it produces are packed full of thousands of seeds that are SO easy to grow! Once I get them to harden off, I'll be giving them out to family/friends to enjoy.
I also started the 3-4 month cold stratification process for my Japanese Maple seeds. So, they'll be in my fridge waiting for exactly the right time to sow.. probably around our wedding day :)
And last, but not least, I started to scarify hundreds more seeds of beautiful plants, including 100 passionflower vines! We LOVE passionflowers. We love them so much that they will be a part of our wedding... more to come on that later!!! Tomorrow, I'll get to set up another greenhouse area in the backyard, and plant all the pretty stuff :)
Oh... one more thing: everything is being grown organically this year... at least for now :)
As some of you know from an earlier post, my Uncle Ronnie lost his very short & harsh battle with cancer late last year. The Warren County Relay for Life is coming up in June, so I wanted to do something in his memory. He loved all three of his children so very much, and I thought that it would be nice to make a donation from child portrait proceeds coming up. So, if you have been wanting to have your child's portrait done, but have been procrastinating for whatever reason, DON'T wait any longer! I will be donating 50% of all child portrait proceeds from now until June 6 to Relay For Life. This can include newborn sessions, babies, toddlers, small children & teenagers (don't forget senior portraits for the Class of 2009!). I have LOTS of ideas, and I'm always open to yours. I will spend 1-2 hours with your child in the location of your choice. No cheesy backdrops, no scary old men or mall rats trying to make your child "pretend" to be happy. Just natural, genuine emotions that you have grown to love and cherish :)
I don't have a goal, but I will keep everyone updated on the size of the donation as it grows!
On the way to a wedding I shot yesterday in Lovettsville, I passed by this & had to post it :)
I've got some posts to catch up on, so I'll start out tonight with an adorable baby boy!
**EDITED*** Blogger's giving me problems, so the post will have to wait until later :-(
Just so everyone knows, I'm still alive :) I'm just buried in a huge mess! It's that horrible time of year that I dread so much, and consumes every last minute of extra time I have. That "T" word that rhymes with "RELAX"... yeah right! It's really not that bad usually because I'm usually super-organized.
Usually...
Last year my business grew so much that I got messy. Being busy was a great thing, but now I'm paying the price for being messy. Jon felt so bad for me that yesterday I came home to him taking up where I left off in my receipt-sorting duties. He had the day off, so he spent the ENTIRE day taking some of the weight off of my shoulders. He's the best :)
This year I have a better plan to make sure I'm not spending next April in another pile of receipts! As soon as we're done with making sure everything is in perfect order, we'll post what I've been dying to post since we left Vegas!
I said that I'd post more Vegas today, but I lied ;)
How awesome was it in the Shenandoah Valley today?!? The warm weather took me back to my childhood days, sneaking out to the barn at my grandma's house with all my cousins to climb the rafters. I couldn't get enough of it, and I certainly didn't want to work on Vegas pictures.. sorry! The breeze was perfect, just like it is in Hawaii, and so I dug back in the archives to the shots from my last trip there a few years ago. I really haven't done much with any of them, but that's about to change. I'm going to be displaying some of my work at a fine arts festival soon, so I'll be using a few of the Hawaii shots in the show. Here's one that really matched my mood for today... mellow :)
Aloha!
We've just been running in circles since we returned from WPPI, that I haven't had a chance to even think about Vegas. This first post is just some shots around the strip, since this was the first time for both of us. Tomorrow I'll post some images that we took of each other, mostly so Jon could practice directing his subjects more easily. I have something way cool to post after that (for me anyway). And the next day, I have something even cooler to post for Jon & me. But we're not there yet...
Tonight, I'll show you some shots we got while being tourists :)
We stayed at Excalibur. I love this place!
Yeah, I know I'm a dork! I don't care though, we had fun!!!
Definitely "Sin City"...
I'm anxious to see what kind of awesome hotel this becomes next year!
We went to lots of parties & met so many great photographers, but we were having so much fun that we forgot to bring our cameras most of the time! Here's a shot of us after coming back from a super-fantabulous party with all my favorite photographers at 2AM... (and we still made it to the first class at 8:30 the next morning!)
We are both so looking forward to next year's event! We learned so much, and we are so hyped up for all of this year's weddings coming up! This is definitely going to be a great year for us & all our brides! Remember to check back over the next 3 days as I post more from Vegas!!!
Later!
We're heading out the door to start our adventures in Las Vegas for WPPI!!! Be patient, because as soon as we return there will be new sessions to post as well as some shots from our trip! We will return all emails and phone calls when we return on March 24. See you soon!
Jon & I just came in from freezing our toes off watching the Moon slip into the shadow of the Earth. As many times as I've seen this, it's always amazing to see it again. And to see it with him just makes the whole experience pure magic!!!
Speaking of the magic in the sky, we have officially set our wedding date for August 16th, 2008... yes, that's THIS summer!!!! It will be a late evening ceremony on an organic farm in Luray, VA, and we will be celebrating with our family & friends under a 12-hour full moon with the mountains of Skyline Drive as the backdrop! More details to come!
As we warm up on the couch together, I am booking all the final details of our Vegas trip next month. For those of you who don't know already, we are making the trek out west March 14-21 for WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International), which is the best photographers' convention/tradeshow/workshop line-up ever, as some of my mentor's would put it! I am SOOOO insanely excited, and I can't wait to meet some of the photographers that I have drooled over the past few years! Not only that, but I'll be coming back with so many new ideas to try out on my 2008 couples, and new products that will ROCK this area!!! Can you tell I'm cheezing bigtime?!? Jon is sitting here giggling at my excitement, but he's really excited too. He's been wanting to become a bigger part of this business for so long now, and this is really going to boost his confidence. We will be attending lots of classes/seminars taught by some of the top photographers in the world...
...okay enough of my chatter... we're going back out to admire the fiery glow of the Moon, and the great view of Mars (directly overhead)! GOOD NIGHT!!!!
Since this is the first post of 2008, let me say "Happy New Year" to everyone who may be tuning in! I hope everyone had a safe & memorable New Year's Eve!
As for me, I am finally all moved in to my new home, and I'm loving it! I never thought I could miss having a kitchen all to myself so much! I also want to thank everyone who has emailed me or left comments here congratulating me on my engagement. I appreciate all your kind words & thoughts :)
The next several weeks will be very busy setting up appointments with brides of 2008/2009. I will still be posting however, so don't forget to check in every now & then. As a matter of fact, hopefullly by the end of this week I will be posting a really unique group senior portrait session that I think you'll really enjoy... That's all I'll say, so you'll have to come back to check it out!
Since 2007 has been such an awesome year for me in some respects, I wanted to do something cool to end the year out on my blog. I came up with a slideshow dedicated to all my super-fantabulous couples of 2007. Originally, it ran over an hour, so I had to cut out a TON of pictures! Actually, I am showing the entire slideshow at the Blue Ridge Bridal Showcase tomorrow with all the fancy transition & motion effects included... oh, and better music too! For the purpose of the blog, however, I've shortened it just a bit :)
I have the BEST man in the entire world :)
The Christmas Plan: Jon & I finished all the wrapping of presents 2 days before Christmas so that we could enjoy Christmas morning together. This year my Grandma was set on cooking Christmas dinner. I had helped her with a few things on Christmas Eve along with my Uncle Steve so that it wouldn't be so much of a burden on her come Christmas Day. We were going to my grandma's around 11AM so Jon could spend a little time with my family before he had to go to his mother's for dinner at 1PM.
The Christmas Reality: We woke up at 7AM at his mother's house and started prepping the 24-lb turkey for Christmas dinner. His mom came home at 8AM from her family's house in Charles Town & suddenly realized that there was so much she needed done that we had to help (wrapping more of the grandchildrens' presents, sprucing up the pool table room & the tv room downstairs, straightening up the front porch, and all sorts of other things). We never had a chance to enjoy the Christmas tree & unwrap presents, so I went ahead to my Grandma's house while Jon stayed and helped his mom with the rest of the list of things to do. When I got to grandma's, my dad was already there along with his wife & my little brother. A good portion of the rest of my dad's family was also there waiting for dinner to be ready. Once we ate, I kept wishing Jon could be there since this was probably going to be Grandma's last big dinner that she made for us.
The Heart-Stopper: All of a sudden a knock came at the door, and Jon walks in with that big smile of his that is so infectious! My dad let out a loud laugh that I didn't pay attention to, because I was distracted by how Jon was acting when he was walking toward me. He was sweating & then looked like something was wrong, & he walked right past me and said "I have to go to the bathroom". I immediately became worried that something was wrong at his mother's house, because they were supposed to be eating right about that time, and he looked like he had just went through an awful ordeal. I heard him in the bathroom breathing really loudly (the walls are very thin) & I kept hearing water splashing. Then I remembered dad's weird laugh when he saw Jon, and I thought for a second "Oh my God, is he going to ask me to marry him?"... but that thought was gone in an instant because Jon has a huge problem with being in large groups of people. In fact, whenever I would want to go out downtown or into D.C. to a bar with some friends, he would have to drink a couple beers just to be comfortable enough to go out... needless to say we don't go out anymore unless it is a very special occasion, which has turned out to be a very good thing (we're much happier at home with eachother anyway!). So, I knew he wouldn't be desperate enough to drink on Christmas Day in front of my family, so there was no way he would be asking me to marry him. Absolutely NO way. So, then I thought that something really must have gone wrong & I began to worry. He never argues with his mom, so it couldn't have been that; everything was almost done by the time I left, so he couldn't have forgotten anything really important for her dinner; the only thing I could think of was someone was hurt & he wanted me to go to the hospital with him. That was it. That was the only logical conclusion. My heart started pounding & my brain started going in circles hoping that whoever was hurt wasn't hurt too badly... & then he comes out of the bathroom.
The Good Part: I was about to stand up to give him a hug, and he stood in the way so I couldn't move & looked down at me with his big blue eyes wide open & notably scared. I noticed his whole body was shaking & then he reached in his pocket as he came down on one knee. He pulled out a very familiar box that we received on our last trip to Georgia from a sushi chef as we were eating a romantic meal all alone in the restaurant. We had talked about so many things during that meal, and the staff kept giving us more things to try & then they gave us this neat little box with two origami cranes inside (a symbol of longevity & prosperity in Japanese culture): one was blue for him, and the other pink for me.
"Will you marry me?" he asked as he looked so brave while opening the box to reveal the most perfect ring I would ever imagine having as a token of our love. I am not the kind of girl who likes to wear a lot of jewelry, and rings are especially hard to find for me because my fingers are so ugly & bony. So many beautiful rings look atrocious on me, but he managed to find a gorgeous ring that actually makes me feel beautiful wearing it. And if fit perfectly! I immediately said "Yes... YES!!!" while failing miserably to hold back tears. I gave in & just started crying along with him. I looked up, and I could tell half the people there were trying to hold back tears as well. My dad had a grin on his face a mile wide, and then he said "I was wondering when you were going to show up!". I was suprised and asked "You knew?!?".
Of course he did... I shouldn't have been surprised. Jon knows how important my family is to me.
Thoughts: This past year or so has been awesome because I have been able to see my family more often & Jon actually encourages us to visit them as much as possible. I've never had a boyfriend like that, and now I can't believe I ever lived without someone like that before. I am so lucky :) It's so funny that we are engaged now, because my entire adult life I always imagined being with someone for several years before plunging into this world. But, this is just so right. Nothing has ever felt better than this relationship. And I still can't believe he asked me in front of 3 of my most favorite people in the world (my daddy, my brother & my grandma). I feel bad my mom couldn't be there to see it, but other than that it could not have been more perfect. I could not have planned a proposal any more romantic than this one (and trust me, I've daydreamed about some pretty romantic proposals over my lifetime!). My Grandma was so happy, and I have Jon to thank for giving that happiness to her. Before we left, she took his hands & said "God bless you, Son, God bless you!" as a tear came rolling down her face.
Nothing could ever top this...
Of course, he continues to amaze me all the time :-)
Well, you know what they say... death always comes in threes. The past month I have been to two funerals of people I care about, and now just yesterday my Uncle Ronnie passed away. He was diagnosed with cancer last month, and unfortunately his cancer was way too far gone to try to stop. Ronnie is the 2nd child my grandma has had to bury, and I really can not comprehend having to go through that kind of pain at 90 years old. She sure is one tough cookie :) I remember once when i was really young, she stepped on a big rusty nail that went right through her foot. She couldn't pull it out, so she packed all of us grandkids that she was babysitting at the time (including Ronnie's son), and drove down to my daddy's job to have him yank it out with a pair of pliers without even making a sound! Ouch!!!
Here's a picture of Uncle Ronnie & Uncle Donnie (his twin brother), both standing, and my grandma & daddy back in 1986. My family are such hillbillies, & I wouldn't have it any other way :) I wish I had all the aunts & uncles in this one, but I guess it was hard to fit everyone in one shot.
Oh, and yes I took this picture, but you can't critique my photography skills since I was only 9 years old at the time...
I love you Uncle Ronnie, and you know I will ALWAYS remember you :)
The other day Jon & I had a rare experience that I wanted to share with everyone! I was outside watering my veggie garden, when I noticed two buds on the passion flower vine that were about to bloom. I knew that once they begin to open, it doesn't take long for them to fully bloom. So Jon got the camping chair out, and I got the camera and we watched them bloom in 30 minutes. We were both betting on opposite flowers to win, but what was strange is that they both popped fully open at the EXACT same time... very sneaky little things! If you've never had a passion flower vine, I must say you need to get one. They grow so fast, and they are my all-time favorite flower. I first saw one on my first trip to Hawaii, and knew that I'd have to have one. When I came back, I found out that they are hardy in our zone in the warmer months, so i was thrilled! This vine grows on an arbor that Jon placed right outside my bedroom window, so I get to see it when I wake up every morning :)
