New week

Ahhh, the start of a new week. Last week my nephews wore me out. Saturday I was able to tackle the disaster that had taken over our house. Yesterday the committee I'm on ran a concession stand at the truck pull, rescheduled after being cancelled Jubilee Days weekend. It was a long... loud day.
Today is Monday. Today I'm watching eight month old Emily. There just might be photos of her posted later this week.
I can't believe it's almost JULY! Very exciting.
It's going to be a jam-packed month. Or rather, there's one very full weekend. I'm photographing a two day corporate event at the Iowa Speedway in Newton July 9-10. Family photos first thing in the morning July 11 followed by a wedding in Cedar Falls that afternoon. I'm really excited.
In the meantime... I'm still on the job hunt. Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Monday!

Gatorade, a cough causing tooth, and diaper paranoia

On Sunday we celebrated the birthday of our favorite just-turned-three-year-old nephew. Calvin has been obsessed with music for at least a year, which is forEVER when you're that little. For his birthday he got a pre-loved authentic snare drum. Talk about great parents. Sacrificing their hearing for the passion of their child.

This week I'm watching our nephews. Just helping out while their sitter is on vacation. My ears are still ringing. I kid. The drum came with a handy dampening pad. God bless the man who included that little piece of sanity.

Here are the ramblings of a three-year-old from today:

1. "My daddy said I can't have gaberade (gatorade)," as he hands me the bottle and asks for some. When I said no he said "but my daddy's not here!"

2. He informed me that I had a cough, and he was the doctor. He looked in my mouth and exclaimed, "I see your cough! It's coming from a tooth." Later when I'd been diagnosed with a stomach ache I asked him what was wrong. After shining his flashlight on my t-shirt he said, "You have a tooth in there too."

3. "But I'm afraid of my diaper!" After going through three pairs of 'big boy' undies and shorts in the course of half an hour (I kid you not!), this was his retort when I suggested putting on a diaper instead.

How stinkin cute is that!

Pops

He taught me how to saddle a horse and ride without looking like "a wet noodle". He showed me how to change a flat tire and check my oil. He instilled in me an appreciation for a hard day's work and struggles to understand my "hard" day of work behind a desk.



I can thank him for my eyes and stubborn streak. He's the first one to help, and while often unsolicted, I know it's because he loves me too much not to.



He spent decades at a job he hated to make sure we never went without. And when he came home, he worked from dawn til dark all over again.

But occasionally there was time for some fun. Getting thrown in the water tank after bailing hay. Listening to him play the harmonica around the camp fire. Bringing us stuffed animals from the claw machines at truck stops. A stupid hat or a goofy laugh.

Happy Father's Day Dad! Hope you're enjoying your weekend camping. Love you.

Uggg!

I just dropped a bottle of liquid fabric softener on the floor. The cap shattered, and softner went every where. I was barefoot. At least my hands and feet smell like "mountain rain" now. Oy. Time to go back to bed I think!

Jubilee Days

I slept until 11:30 am today. Haven't done that in YEARS! It was a long weekend. Jubilee Days is our town's summer festival, and I'm on the organization committee. Ran around all day Friday getting ready. We were supposed to serve food at the street dance, but it started raining at 1 pm and didn't let up until well after 8 pm. As a result the truck pull was cancelled too.

Saturday was the big day. Up early and went hard all day. The parade was the first big event.


There was a lot of activity in the park; a mechanical bull, dunk tank, water fights, and four huge inflatables for the kids (or kids at heart).

This little guy was so cute. He ran from one end of the water fight puddle to the other a million times.

This year we held a sidewalk chalk decorating contest. Orignally scheduled for Friday night, we were hoping their artwork would be on display all day Saturday. But with the rain we had to post pone to Saturday afternoon.



The Cambridge 1941 fire truck, lovingly referred to as "Whitey".

After my part was done, I watched as the fire department put on an awesome fireworks display. We hung out with friends around a bon fire until the wee hours of the morning.

It was a long couple of days, but totally worth it. Time to start thinking about next year!

Photography Adventure

Yesterday afternoon my good friend and I headed west to the covered bridges of Winterset. The area is most known for the 1995 Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep movie "The Bridges of Madison County". I had never been before, so I was really excited to check it out.

Apparently a lot of people have this dumb urge to write on these bridges. Most were built in the 1800s. Seriously?! Who would do that? But I have to admit it made for some interesting reading.

After touring a few bridges still in tact where they were originally built in the country, we headed into town. My friend's dad, who grew up in the area, helped move one of the bridges into the city park when he was in high school.

We drove through the park on a narrow, rough road. Kinda wished I had four wheel drive at the time. We came across a cool tower, also built in the 1800s. As we went to leave I tugged the handle. Locked. Checked my pockets. No keys. My friend saw them dangling from the ignition. UGG!

My cell phone was locked inside, as was my friend's phone. Thanks to a very nice woman who took pity on us, I was able to call the Winterset police and a very nice officer got us back into my car.

It was quite the adventure. At least I got some neat images from it all!

Engagement: Jen & Andy

At 9 am this morning I was excited. It was about 65 and partly sunny. Perfect for the engagement photos I had scheduled with Jen and Andy. By 4 pm that excitement deflated when the radar showed rain. Ugg! We'd already had to reschedule twice, and now we were going to get rained out.

But lo and behold! No more than a half an hour later the rain quit and the clouds started to break up. We met at the Des Moines Art Center. I'd only been once before and didn't see much of the grounds. It was fantastic!

As were the models. Jen and Andy joked about not being the "picture" kind but they were awesome. I had so much fun with them. They laugh. They joke. They tease. They were naturals.

Jen and Andy - Glad you didn't melt! Can't wait for your Aug 29 wedding! Hope you enjoy...

Rejuvenate

Nothing says rejuvenation like red toes! My first day at home was refreshing. I started it off with a good run followed by getting my hands a little dirty pulling weeds. Today has been much the same. It feels good, but I can see bordeom looming on the horizon.

I'm scheduled to take engagement photos this evening. Just caught a glimpse of the radar, and I hope the big green blob breaks up before it gets much closer.

Random side note: The guy that comes to check our electric meter just stopped. Freaked me out when I saw someone walking across the backyard through the kitchen window. He didn't see me. I was surprised when he stuck around for awhile to pet and play fetch with Gus. It was nice.

P.S. the left side of my left foot isn't deformed... it's a shadow!

The next step

For the first time... I don't know where to start. Usually my fingers can't type fast enough to keep up. But tonight I'm very familiar with the delete key. It's been a long couple days.

The company I work for full-time was required to restructure, which resulted in eliminating positions. Mine included.

Afterward I had a good long cry. I took a 'lil ride on the proverbial roller coaster - fear, pain, relief, anger, fear, excitement, frustration, more fear, apprehension, hope. I willingly let myself get lost in Ryan's hug, where I stayed. He is my rock star.

Today was it. Today was my last day. As I took the picture my niece drew off my cubicle wall and packed up my photos, it turned to sadness. It was real. And when I was finished I had to say good-bye. I moved slower.

I turned around and there was nothing left.

At that point, my cubicle neighbor of three years turned to me with tears in her eyes. Slowly others stopped by. There were hugs and more tears. It was harder than I imagined. I was grateful there weren't many people around at 4:30pm on a Friday.

I had a positively incredible experience there. Learned and grown so much in the past few years. I'm sad to being leaving a job I enjoy and people I respect. But at the same time I'm excited for the new opportunities that await me.

Hopefully more photography... let me know if you're interested in scheduling a session in the coming weeks!

Here's to the next step!