::Engagement Shoot: Gabriel and Abigail::

Or Gabi and Abi, as they are affectionately known.

Gabi is my brother-in-law (that is, he's my sister-in-law's brother, so I guess we're kinda related? We say we are, and that's what counts XD), and he's officially getting married on the 22th...

(On a side note: WOW. Where did that time go? O.o)

...to the lovely Abi Morse. They asked me to take their engagement pictures while I was down in Florida last November, and of COURSE I pounced on the opportunity. Thus, the following is their official engagement photo shoot. I've been waiting for MONTHS to get this up.... :3 *rubs hands together*

Oh yes, everything's after the jump!

November in Florida

So as I mentioned last month, I spent all of November in Florida. Since I haven't done a single post concerning that yet, I think we are far overdue for something more than a little recap, yes? Yes. So let's do this thing!

 

As I may have mentioned before, my brother and I drove down to Florida on November 4^th. It took roughly 24 hours and 3 (4?) tanks of gas to make it, but make it we did and I had an absolute blast helping take care of my nephews and seeing them for the first time in 7 months.

I taught Wade to say that his name is Bilbo Baggins, and Ben was starting to say 'Baggins' when I left, so I consider my work there complete. XD

Wade loves his bear and horse...when I arrived the first thing he showed me was that horse. I sent it to Ben from Colorado (obviously Wade commandeered it instead), and I'm not sure if Wade made the connection that it was from me, but it would be pretty awesome if he did. :D

Also, Ben is freaking ADORABLE. I mean...they both are, but look at that face!

STAHP IT.

Oh yes, and Ben loves his thumb too. It's what keeps him sane when he's about to lose all composure. (Immediately beforehand he had been wailing about something...but the magic thumb cures all emotional injuries!)

Wade may or may not be slightly camera-shy...he likes for me to take pictures of his things, but not of himself. XD

 I did get lucky here though!

I took LOTS of video of the boys, and may or may not turn it into a full-fledged video in the near future. It's in Adobe Premiere waiting for editing...so we'll see about that. 

Even though they can't reach the sink very well they try hard. And usually they end up grabbing a cupful of water and slinging it across the sink...but they're adorable and I don't care. 

Wade also loves his monkey backpack (or 'munkee papack', as he calls it).

He got a haircut too!

And he smiles on command. 

This was after a super-long day with no naps...Isaac brought him in, laid him on the floor, and Wade INSTANTLY fell asleep. I kinda want to get this printed and frame it.

Over Thanksgiving I took family pictures for everyone, which involved going to the Acevedo's house and wandering around in a nearby nature preserve whilst looking for the perfect photo ops. I also took did an engagement shoot for Gabi and Abi (Lydiana's brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law) the following day, but that's for a future post.

There's Ben going all gangstah on us...

Contrary to what it may seem, they don't mind being carried like sacks of potatoes. XD

Wade and his Tio Obi!

Wade thought that Tio Obi needed a hat too.

And Ben looooooves his thumb.

EMILY! I hadn't seen her since last March at the wedding, so we were long overdue for a visit. ^-^

And she's PREGGERS! It's kind of a strange feeling, to be honest...I mean, we grew up together, and she's younger than me, and...and...yeah. Just a little weird. XD

Planking?

Wade: "Climb?"

Next post: engagement pictures for Gabi and Abi. They turned out AWESOME. :D

The Great Florida/Illinois Transfer

Other known as.... ROAD TRIIIIIIIIP!

When I drove down with Isaac to Florida, I knew that I was going to have to find someone to drive back to Illinois (because there was no way in heck that my family would let me drive alone for 2 days). I thought about the various people I knew down there, sorted the married/engaged people out from the single ones (SO MANY PEOPLE GETTING MARRIED HOLY COW), and narrowed it down to the only logical choice: Jean Marie.

I hadn't seen Jean since January 2012, pre-breakup. She was one of the few people that stayed in contact with me after stuff went down, and our friendship has continued over the past almost-two-years. So when I asked if she wanted to drive with me back home, the response was "YES PLEASE" and we planned the entire trip while I was in Florida.

The tricky part was that we both had lives during this planning. So while I was chasing nephews, going on grocery trips, doing photo shoots, and visiting friends, she was starting her photography business and doing photo shoots and basically overloading her schedule. :P

Friday, Dec 6th: I drove across the state to her house and entered to a form of controlled chaos: Jean had a piano recital that night and may or may not have been wigging out a little bit. (Okay, maybe a lot.) Combine that with 'haven't seen you in years' excitement and the controlled chaos elevated slightly. We attended the recital, went back to her house, and I was in bed by midnight. I had an unexpected bedfellow briefly in the form of Lucy Mae, resident dachshund, and then woke up at 6 AM to Lucy Mae on my bed again. It's a good thing she's cute and that I wake up quickly, because I otherwise might have been inclined to panic. Heh.

The stakes were elevated in the form of a winter storm moving through the same day that we were to be driving. Saturday looked good but was supposed to turn icy and nasty at night. Therefore, much planning was required to figure out how to bypass the storm and keep Jean's parent's fears allayed.

Saturday, December 7th: We loaded up the car with snacks (something like 3 dozen cookies, 2 huge bags of oranges and grapefruit, apples, peanut butter, various chips, and almonds. Miraculously we didn't spend a single dime on food for the whole trip) and hit the road.

Jean took the first shift driving from 7 AM to 1-ish, just south of Atlanta. An hour into the drive we were stuck in traffic on the interstate due to a horrific crash between a semi and who knows how many other vehicles--all three lanes of traffic were closed, pushing everyone to pass the accident via the outside shoulder of the road. Needless to say it /was a sobering start to our trip.

I would like to add, though, that I checked on the wreck later, and only 2 people were injured. Talk about a miracle, because the aftermath was AWFUL.
 

By the time we reached Atlanta the weather had done nothing aside from drop some rain and get us a little wet. I took over and drove from Atlanta to Clarksville, TN with only a couple of stops along the way. During that time, the temperature dropped from 83 F (in Florida) to 20 F in Clarksville. Every time we stopped Jean would go "IT'S SO COOOOOLD" and I would go "I KNOW ISN'T IT WONDERFUL???"

Originally we were going to stop in Clarksville, but we ended up driving another couple of hours to Carbondale, IL. A friend of mine from this summer lives there, and he managed to find us an amazing hotel with an equally amazing deal to stay for the night. And the weather was supposed to turn nasty in Clarksville, so we thought that by going north a bit we could get past the worst of the ice and rain.

(This turned out to be a good idea, because upon looking up the weather the next morning Clarksville was covered in ice, and Carbondale had a nice thick layer of snow. I'll take snow over ice ANY day.)

While driving we oscillated between the giddiness of being on a legit ROAD TRIP and the seriousness that comes from catching up and covering some difficult topics. We knew that we needed to discuss some things, but they weren't things that could be successfully discussed via Facebook or Gmail. I think by hashing them out, though, that our friendship has reached a depth that was otherwise unattainable. And that, my friends, is a very good thing.

In Carbondale we stayed at the Fairfield Inn, and OH MAN. It was SO comfortable, and after driving for 9 hours straight it was a wonderful respite. David gets a shout-out for recommending such a great hotel. XD

Sunday, December 8th: The next morning we met David at Cracker Barrel, and since I hadn't seen him since October it was nice to (a) see a ranch person again and (b) catch up a bit. And then he paid for our breakfast, so he gets another shout-out for being a gentleman. XD

It was another 5 or 6 hours home; I drove the entire way because Jean isn't used to driving in snow or ice, and I wasn't about to give her a crash course (no pun intended). Miraculously, St. Louis was almost clear of traffic and once we got out we were home free.

In Hannibal, MO I did run a stop light, but I swear it was by accident. See, it had been snowing on and off by this point, and the road, while not icy, was a bit slick. I came down the road towards a traffic light, and while driving about 40 mph I applied the brakes. The anti-lock brakes kicked in, and instead of stopping we kept sliding. I pumped the brakes, but we kept sliding.

At this point the light turned yellow, and I was too close to stop. Fortunately all the other people waiting to go politely watched me as I slid through the red light, and Jean and I had a good laugh about how stupid we must have looked. XD

I regret to announce that by this point I had taken a grand total of zero pictures. *hangs head* Jean more than made up for me, but still. Sigh.

We arrived safe and sound, if a little tired, and spent the next few days playing in snow, sliding on ice at the lake, and trying not to go crazy at the gym. I had to work there in the evenings, and there were some people that liked to come in and play loud, obnoxious music. O.e

Tuesday, December 10th: After working at the gym we went to see a dear mutual friend, Shelby C. Shelby is a great friend of mine, and I go to see her probably once a month or so (she lives an hour away). Jean is also friends with Shelby, but they had never actually met aside from seeing each other on Facebook. So...with that said, it was a reunion to remember. :D

I don't have any pictures of the first meeting...but here's a few that we took afterwards.

(I would like to take this time to point out that either I'm insanely short, or I have really tall friends.)

I don't even know what was happening here.....

*This post interrupted to point out that Jean has some of the prettiest, most photogenic eyes I've ever seen. Period.*

I don't know what was going on here either. XD

ELK!

Jean with Shelby's younger sister Michelle...

...and her other sister Morgan.

But all good things must come to an end...and on Thursday the 12th Jean flew home and I went back to working more or less full time. Sigh. I wouldn't have traded that trip for anything, though. It was an absolute blast and has instilled within me the desire to travel. A LOT. The next few posts (should I ever get them up *despairs*) should outline some of that. :D

Home Again, Home Again

As the title says, I am now home! There's been a LOT of stuff packed into this trip, the drive home, and wrapping it up while at home, so have a recap list thingy until I can get my act together and post pictures.

 

1. I took family pictures for two families and did an engagement shoot over Thanksgiving weekend.

 

This means that I have a ton of pictures. Fortunately, I've got them all edited and organized on my computer at home; unfortunately, I'm now at work and separated from my laptop. (For those of you that may be concerned that I'm slacking on my job, all it consists of is cleaning and answering the phone. Since cleaning is done, I'm sitting next to the phone awaiting phone calls with bated breath.)

 

The engagement shoot was for Lydiana's brother Gabi and his fiancé Abi. Let me just tell you now that they are freakin' adorable and I can't WAIT to do the post for them. We went to a reserve a couple of minutes from the Acevedo's house, and it was an absolute pleasure to shoot. I'm just waiting for Abi to get the 'save the date' stuff selected and posted on her end before I start throwing pictures all over the place.

 

2. Thanksgiving was spent at my brothers' in-laws, which was strange and fun at the same time.

 

I say 'strange' because for as long as I can remember my family has spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with my grandparents down the street. Since they're both gone as of last February, this means that we're having to create some new traditions that don't involve seeing close family.

 

I say 'fun' because my best friend Emily Rose is married to my brother's brother-in-law, and the other brother-in-law is the one who had the photo shoot, and everything was delightfully mixed and I got to see people that I haven't seen in months/years. I also stayed with Emily and Obi, took pictures of them, went to Mount Dora (which is a whole whopping 107 feet above sea level!), and generally had a blast.

 

3. After Thanksgiving I drove to see my friend Tricia on the East coast of Florida.

 

This meant driving all by myself the breadth of Florida, and aside from the excitement of getting to see Tricia for the first time in a year I had the strange feeling of freedom and independence that comes from driving to an unfamiliar place alone.

 

Seeing Tricia was AWESOME. She and I have kept in contact via letters and occasional phone calls for the better part of three years, and she is that brutally honest friend that is so gentle and sweet about the way that she unfolds that brutal honesty that instead of off-putting it's very endearing. My biggest regret is not getting any pictures of her, because she was 37 weeks pregnant. There was a moment of trepidation where the baby dropped during my stay, and I wasn't sure if there was going to be a surprise early baby. Thankfully that did not happen, and she's still trucking along towards 40 weeks.

 

We basically spent the whole visit drinking tea and talking. I think both of us needed the opportunity to catch up. XD

 

4. On my way back across Florida from Tricia's, I got a phone call about another pregnant friend of mine.

 

Emily Rose's sister in law, Emily Lynn, went into labor around 5 AM that Sunday. By the time I got back to Isaac and Lydiana's place at 10:30 AM, she had delivered a baby girl at 33 weeks. Both are doing great, and I got to see both of them yesterday, but for a few hours it was pretty tense because we didn't know why she was going into premature labor. We still don't, but by the looks of things they will be going home in a couple of weeks.

 

5. Wade and Ben kept me crazy busy.

 

Enough said? XD

 

6. I started watching a new TV series (like I need another distraction in my life).

 

I've made it through 1 2/3 seasons of Once Upon a Time within 2 1/2 weeks. I've been truly too busy to pick it up again since coming home, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

 

7. The trip home was shared with another friend of mine, Jean Marie.

 

I hadn't seen Jean Marie for almost 2 years, and all I have to say is: THAT NEEDED TO STOP. Seriously. I never realize quite how much I missed her until I saw her last Saturday night, and it was like 'you fit a perfectly Jean-shaped hole in my life please don't go away'. Ya know what I mean? And while we have exchanged the occasional letter and comment on each other's Facebook posts and keep in contact that way, nothing replaces actual, face-to-face, REAL communication. I can't even describe it.

 

The whole trip home and consequent visit will have to be another post, because it was definitely an adventure in itself. Mwahaha.

 

You know, I'm liking this adventure-taking side into which my life has been morphing.

 

8. I've recently started working at the gym again.

 

I started Monday, as a matter of fact. A week or so before I came home from Colorado Mom called me to say that I had been offered the evening hours at the gym. Since I had nothing else lined up, I jumped on it and am now officially employed. Between cleaning houses and the gym, I should be set before May rolls around again.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

I think that wraps up the list-making...I'll be back with more posts and pictures later, but tonight/tomorrow will be my last days spent with Jean Marie and Shelby before Jean goes back to Florida, so don't expect anything before then. XD

Florida Again

 (Like my new blog template/color/everything? It was time to brighten up and not be so dark.)

Once again, I'm in the sunny state of Florida. This came something as a spontaneous trip when my brother told me about how Lydiana has been having awful morning sickness (really all-day sickness) that prevents her from being able to do very much around the house. She has the nausea from her 8th week of pregnancy to around the 20th week, and it's triggered by anything from a scent to a motion (riding in the car is NOT good) to claustraphobia. Suffice to say, it's pretty awful.

There was talk of her going to stay with her parents for a while, simply because she couldn't take care of the house, and I volunteered to come down for a while just to help out. So, on November 4th Isaac flew up to Peoria, I met him at the airport with my car, and we drove down to Florida.

I probably didn't NEED to take my car, but I love the autonomy that it gives me. Should there be an emergency or anything like that, I'll have it on hand. And I just wanted to road-trip, dangit. Do I need an excuse? XD

I'll be here til the first week of December, and then my friend Jean Marie and I will be driving up together. I haven't seen her for almost 2 years, so I'm excited to see her *and* have the time to truly catch up.

The road trip was a lot of fun, actually. Isaac and I road-tripped back in 2010 from Arkansas to Florida (a couple of months before he met his wife, actually) so it wasn't a foreign concept to us. We were prepared to pull an all-nighter as well; Isaac took the last leg of the journey and we pulled in right at 6 AM. Talk about exhausting...but it was totally worth it. I've now got the traveling itch. Sigh.

Florida has been pretty good to me this time around...it's not hot, and it's not cool. Going barefoot and wearing shorts is perfect and I love it. Though my experience with the season over the last month or so has been odd: October in Colorado was like mid/late fall, in Illinois it was like the beginning of fall, and in Florida it feels like late summer/early fall. (And now it's snowing back at home. Go figure.)

The boys are pretty dang cute too--last time I saw Ben he was crawling, and Wade wasn't saying much (at least, not much that was understandable). Now Ben is walking all over the place and Wade has a huge vocabulary that grows every day...I'm hoping to make a video of them soon, because pictures really don't do them justice.

In other news...when I go back home I'll be working at the gym in the evenings for sure. At first I was going to start in January, and the guy I'm replacing left a bit sooner than expected. If I wasn't here in Florida I'd be working this month...but oh well. The beginning of December works too. Gym-wise I'm toying with trying to do some heavy lifting training just for the heck of it, but we'll see if anything actually comes out of that.

And I'm obsessed with popsicles again. There's nothing like a homemade popsicle to dent hunger or a munchy mood...yum. 

With that said, I'll be back soon with pictures and (hopefully) a video. Here's another video that I made for transition practice a couple of weeks ago.