We shot another wedding this past weekend and, if I say so myself, we totally rocked it.  I’m making pretty good progress on processing the images already, too.  It was such a pretty day, though, and pretty darn near a wedding photographer’s dream.  Beautiful weather, not hot, not cold.  We didn’t have to do split shooting before the ceremony, I did a few of the bride getting dressed then we shot the ceremony and did family pictures at the church before getting our wedding party all by themselves at our session location.  Beautiful lighting there, too.  Then to the reception where it all went great, including our backdrop set-up.  This is the second time we’ve done this now, having done it at a wedding we did in August.  Last time we used our black and white damask backdrop which fit perfectly with that wedding’s theme and colors.  This time we had a soft brownish backdrop with a sort-of damask pattern, though daintier, but as per the bride’s wishes, we set up a lot of things with it: straw bales, pumpkins, mums, corn stalks, etc.  Actually, she just wanted a couple of straw bales, two pumpkins, and an extra centerpiece she’d done, but we kinda went whole hog.  It was a lot of fun.  My only complaint was a lighting issue with the backdrop that I just couldn’t figure out, but to think about it now, I think I know what went wrong and it was an issue out of our control.  I also think I can fix the majority of the problems.  However, Stacey keeps telling me I’m being too much of a perfectionist and it’s not a big deal so don’t worry about it.  lol

Also speaking of the world of photography, we are very busy.  Weddings are on a hold for us at the moment now, but we’re busy everywhere else.  Newborns and children and families and seniors, oh my!  Lots of fun!  In between my kiddos and regular life stuff, it is all keeping me very busy.  And with more photography has come a new addition to our website.  We finally bit the bullet and bought a real shopping cart program geared towards photographers.  It’s totally amazing.  So many things you can do with it and it looks so much better than what I was using before.

I’ve also got some photos I’m totally itching to post… but I can’t… alas, and woe is me… they’re for a Christmas present for some people so I am forced to wait.  83 days!!!

Such a sweetie.  We’ve only did a really quick session with her so far, and I need to design the birth announcements, maybe here in a minute.  But soon there will be actual family pictures for them.  We’d better get with it, I’m anxious to fill the three frames I got for them…

This wasn’t our first family wedding, but it was the first from my side.  It was also the first family wedding that I got a babysitter for!  That really did help out.  Shooting weddings can be complicated enough but add family to the mix when you are working and it really complicates things.  Not that I would not do a family wedding again, by any means, if family is in need of photos, no reason we shouldn’t both help each other out!  But it really can get complicated.  In all cases, I’ve also gone over and beyond what a photographer does, often being part wedding coordinator or planner, too.  Scheduling things, booking things, doing invitations, directing rehearsals, etc.  Then the previous times (pre-babysitter) I also had to be MOM.  For the most part it’s fine but every time when Steve and the kids have shown up and Kayleigh has seen me, she’s cried because she’s wanted me.  I’ve had to be distracted with children from “will you hold her for a minute” to “Mom, Mom, MOM, can I have a piece of cake?!”  Since my kids weren’t immediate family or in this wedding, getting a babysitter (aka the in-laws) was the best idea ever.

Not only all of this but I need – and want – to greet our extended family.  So I have to be hostess, too.  I’m blessed, though, on both sides I have a decent amount of family, I feel like we’re not real small but we’re not real big, either.  I know people who don’t even know the names of their great-aunts and uncles, yet I’m lucky enough to know every one of them except those that died before I was born.  Heck, I even know one of my great-great-aunts.  That’s pretty darn awesome.  It’s just too bad she lives in California so I’ve only gotten to see her twice now.  Then, of course, there are my mom and dad’s first cousins (they would be my first cousins, once removed!) and my second cousins.   So it’s great to see all of them, too, even if just for a little bit since my time is mostly spent working!

But this wedding is all said and done and it will probably be the last family wedding for a while.  I guess you never know, though.  Now it’s time to edit the photos.  Always a fun part, ha.  Shouldn’t take as long as some of the others, though, as due to various circumstances, there just plain aren’t as many photos to start with.  She’s still going to end up with several hundred, though!  That and if I say so myself, aside from some face merges I know I’m going to have to do, these photos largely don’t need much editing.

I also have to say that I love, love, LOVED the bouquets at the wedding.  The one pictured above was the tossing bouquet and you can see a pine cone in it.  The bride also had pine cones in hers and the bridesmaids’ were all pine cones and crystals.  Maybe this is more common than I think but I haven’t seen it before, I thought they were quite unique.

A weird thing with E’s, too, the doctor prescribed 10 days but there was only 8 and slightly less than a half in there. Called the doctor’s office and they said call the pharmacy who, I know, is probably thinking I’m an idiot who didn’t dose it right. I know I did it correctly. They were like well we put as much water in there that it says (so they couldn’t possibly ever be wrong) so if the doc wants him to have another day and a half he’s going to have to write another scrip. Ugh. So the doctor’s office said well just forget it got now but if E had more eat pain we’ll do that.

Stacey and I are getting ready to shoot a wedding this weekend. It’s going to be interesting because it’s a bit unorthodox, but I think the weather is supposed to be nice enough that we can do some outdoor pics. Also unorthodox… for February.

I’m excited because we have scheduled several for this year already and have just experienced an influx in inquiries, too!

The last two weeks I’ve been doing my best to get up and work out around 5am. Then I spend some time with my Bible and in prayer, then a nap most of the days. Been going good so far. I think I’m going to take it easier on the weekend, last thing I need is to get burned out. It can be hard to do this so early in the morning and then to chill out and get a nap, but this is the best time. I found out the first day that if I were to try and do any exercising at all during the late morning, it was too much of a distraction for Elijah during school. So to the early mornings we go, at least on school days. So far I’m told I’m down a couple of pounds, but I’m not sure how accurate that is. I’m also trying to quit soda… again. Some days I do really well, other days I fail miserably.

Part of this getting up early thing, too, is going to bed earlier. I’ve actually been doing well with that, too. My goal is to stop everything by 10:30 and be in bed by 11. In between approximately 11 to 4:30 then 6:30 to…?… I should have enough sleep. The schedules of my family members make it impossible for me to get a straight block of 8 hours anyway.

I failed with this the other night though, and was up until 1 working on mine and Stacey’s photography website. Of course, that found 4:30 nearly impossible and I only managed a weigh-in and body test before crashing again.

Speaking of photography, we now have 4 weddings for 2011 booked with another possible and a possible 2012, even. There was a 5th, but they canceled it last minute due to “military complications,” it would have been tomorrow. I know 4 doesn’t really sound like a lot but I think that’s pretty good considering we only really set this business up in September. We’re also booking other sessions and events, too, including the local women’s health fair in February. That will give us a chance to get our name out locally and start a customer base here. We didn’t think we were going to get into the fair at all, due to loyalties to this town’s one existing photography studio, but Stacey has quite the charm, and we’re in. So yay! :)

And just a little fyi, I am getting very tired of comment spam that tries to guilt me into approving comments! No, dearest spammer, I am sorry you have no page rank and “desperately need help,” but you’re not getting your junk comment on any site that I control!

Getting nervous about the surgery, it’s less than a week away. Had some nightmares that something went wrong during surgery and we lost her. I’ll probably be a total wreck next week.

Getting a urine sample is never fun, either, but thankfully this went better (for K) than it did last time. For us, it was a pain. The nurses were setting up to do it and K peed all over the table. Back to the drawing board. We had to wait twice and try for a sample twice. I was also (frivolously) disappointed to have to change her clothes, not to mention I looked like a bad Mommy because while I had extra pants and a onesie, I have never thought to carry extra socks (never needed any before)! However, it wasn’t until we got home that I realized Daddy put her clean onesie on backwards. :P

Thank goodness for spare clothes, though! Marie and another friend recently gave me some for K. Good thing, we were getting low! K is finally starting to get past that 12 month size and slowly going towards some 18 months. E needs new clothes, too. I’ve realized that all his jeans are short in the ankles! They grow so fast. I got him 4 pairs of jeans at Goodwill (hey, can’t beat $8) and they look brand new. Two pairs are 6′s and two are 8′s. He needs a belt with the 8′s and they’re only slightly long. The jeans he was wearing that I’ve finally had to take away were size 4! One of those pairs is a light sand-like camo. He was really upset when I took those away this morning.

Stacey and I shot another wedding on Saturday and had a blast! I’ve been through a few of the images but hoping to really get started on them here in a little bit. Had some other sessions to go through first. She has several from her visit to Oklahoma to do, too. This wedding was interesting, though, in that while it was on a gazebo like the last one we did, we couldn’t get close to it. The gazebo was out on the water in a large pond (little lake?) behind a private residence. It’s at least 10 feet from the shore to the front part of the gazebo. So we stayed back on the shore with zoom lenses. From what I’ve seen so far though, we did well.

And again, I started this post hours ago and got distracted, so… :)