Whew! We're Melting!

The Dweeb and I made it back from our wonderful little trip to the Northwest for our 25th wedding anniversary. I'd say it was nice for just to the two of us to get away, but it's always just the two of us now! I still reel with how time slips by so quickly. It was a great rest and slipped across the border to Vancouver to visit a fellow photog. I must admit, you better have answers when you hit the border to Canada now. It was NEVER difficult to get into Canada. Now they seem to want blood from your first born to get in. Why? Seriously. It's CANADA! After an intense grilling, they decided we weren't much of a threat and let us proceed to Vancouver.

The wedding. Ah, the wedding. The dress is being ordered now. We waited a month before we put enough money down for it to be ordered to make SURE it's the ONE. And it is! Mission accomplished. Beautiful dress. Sorry, guys, cannot post. The date has been changed though. There was a bit of a glitch at the church, so it has been moved a month later. So... the big day is July 24, 2010. Wow. It's really, really sinking in now. Banquet hall and church confirmed along with their scheduled appointment with the priest. We'll see if they pass the test! Just kidding.

It's difficult with her so far away. I could not see the church or help get glitches remedied. I have no power in Chicago! But, Sarah has handled everything wonderfully. I will get to see the church in August when we trek to Chicago for my sister's 50th birthday bash and Sarah's 'who cares it's my birthday too' day. All the sisters will be attending. All six of us together for a partay! I just hope there is no video. That could cost me.

It is sweltering here. Heat index hit 106 today and will be worse tomorrow. Humidity is stifling and not a breath of wind around. Hopefully it will break by end of the week. It's too early for this weather! This is August weather! Good reason to stay indoors and watch movies, I guess. Maybe Tom will lend me his Wii to keep me from becoming bored.

Anyway, that is all around here. Nothing much else. Everyone stay cool!

My Nephews Graduation!

25 Years and Counting..

This is going up early because the next week is going to be so busy! The Dweeb and I are celebrating! It is our 25th Wedding Anniversary people! WOO HOO!! I have never stuck with anything so long in my life! He must be a pretty good guy, eh?

We are headed to the northwest. We have never been there, so we thought "what the heck, sounds good". Seattle is the destination. Hopefully we will make a day trip to Vancouver to visit my favorite Canuck, Sabrina! I met her a year ago in my photography classes. It was a virtual friendship until this past February when I was in Tampa for the workshop. We finally met in person. I still like her! haha. I'm very excited to get away for a few days with my honey and hopefully get to Canada to see Sabrina and see for myself why SO many photographers live there. I keep telling them they need to take a sabbatical in Kansas City to keep me company for awhile, bu they just laugh... out loud!

No more news regarding the wedding other than the engagement pictures have still NOT been taken due to time constraints when they are in town. Good thing we have a year to get this party in gear! They are busy with so many of their own friends getting married right now, it's difficult to work on their own. We shall attempt to plan more after things die down a bit.

The sistas and I have decided to get Bron, the Au Pair extraordinaire, and her cohorts together one evening soon. We shall bribe them with alcohol and food. Then we will force them to teach us girls who only know the '70s dance (the shifting back and forth from one foot to the other kind of thing. Really lame these days) some new moves. New moves within limits though for the wedding reception. I can see by baby girl horrified at her mom and aunts grinding on the dance floor. Just picturing it in my head is frightening actually. But, we need to get more 'hip'... more 'with it' in preparation for this PARTAY!

I am sad because Bron will not be making the wedding next June. She is very homesick, so will be heading back to South Africa next fall. She has become a member of the family and she is going to missed terribly. The kids will miss her most. The just LOVE her!! But, I can understand why she wants to go, she just has to accept to fact that we will all be giving her sh*t from now until she leaves about it!

If you want to see some of the cutie patooties I have been shooting, check out my other blog at Sue Ables Photography.

Seems I have been shooting more toddlers lately which is good! I've lost a few pounds CHASING them! They like to run. But they are so fun! Upcoming, I have several girls who will be Seniors. These girls will be featured on my website. I'm very excited about these girls because they are up for just about anything in the way of location and ideas. I'm sure they will have ideas of their own, which is fantastic! I love their input.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all and have fun!

I'm Gonna Cry... A Lot!

Yesterday was the full day of bridal gown shopping. It seems times have changed and you must make an appointment to see and try on any bridal gowns these days. The Maid Of Honor did a fantastic job of scheduling our day!

It began at 8 am when we met up to drop off Russel at my sisters. He wanted to play with his cousins (Mimi, Princess, and Izzy) all day while we were busy. That little dog was so excited! Holy cow! I thought he was going to mow me down running inside/outside, one yard to the next.

Anyway, I digress. We went to several bridal gown shops as Sarah tried on probably five dresses at each place. My niece Lindsay, who is a bridesmaid, met up with us at the second stop when she arrived in town from college. Every dress my little girl put on... it just all became so real. She looked so beautiful. Some dresses were better suited for her than others, but all were so beautiful.

By 3 pm, we were standing in a parking lot. We had an hour until the last appointment. Sarah just looked at me. "Mom, I know which dress it is. Why bother?" I knew which dress it was also. It was the fourth dress she tried on AT THE FIRST STOP! Of course. It's always one of the first ones you try that you fall in love with. Lindsay had not seen this dress, since she was late arriving, so we trekked back to the first place. They were great. They allowed Sarah to try that dress again.

She walked out of the dressing room and the floodgates opened. That was it. I knew that was the dress. She was stunning. Lindsay and Monica both agreed that was the dress. Well, at the point, Sarah didn't want to take it off. She wanted to dance around in it. Fine with me.

I'm watching my little girl in this beautiful dress and imagining her wedding day... in the church. Her dad is going to cry like a baby (in 25 years I have seen him cry TWICE!). Hubby to be is going to see her walk down the aisle and he is going to go weak at the knees and HE will probably cry, but try not to show it. Then all bets all are off. I will lose it. I must prepare. I must get the tear ducts disciplined. Crap. My baby girl is really getting married.

I wish I could show you the dress, but.... lots of eyes out there in the internet world, but it was bought at The Gown Gallery in Kansas City Missouri.

Next up will be the bridesmaid dresses. We did not have such good luck yesterday with that, but I will keep you posted. Since I cannot show you the dress, I will show you Russel Wallice, my granddog. (some consolation, eh?)

You Know It's Spring When...

Yes, the tornado sirens have begun another season! That is good! WINTER IS OVER! We had a weekend of crazy weather which included tornadic activity, but we are good. Once again, it went towards the airport which is northeast. What a lightening show though! If it wasn't raining buckets, I would have been out there trying to catch it for you. Maybe next time.

The homestead has been buzzin'. Of course, the hubs and I have been busy with our own thing (the picture is of his rock band 'FLUX'), but more importantly we have a wedding being planned. C'mon, we have our priorities! Princess comes first. We know that. We love that. Date has been set. June 26, 2010. Whew! Gives us a little time. Banquet hall has been booked and it's a beauty! Sarah is so excited about this place. She and her honey visited The Belvedere in Elk Grove Village (north of the city) and she knew this was the place. We will have the reception here, their bridal suite, hotel connected, and sports connected (for afterwards). This worked perfectly since our entire family will travel to Chicago and we were concerned about young crowd drinking and then trying to get back to hotel for the night. This solved our problem. AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!! The menu looks delicious! We can all take a deep breath now. One of the most difficult decisions is done...

Now for the dress... dress shopping is in two weeks. I'll let you know how that goes.

Sarah is in town this weekend for one of her girlfriends weddings and I'm so excited to see her. It seems like forever, yet it's only been 2 1/2 months. I will probably be seeing quite a bit of her over the next several months as we try to get as much done as possible before winter. Her maid of honor is moving to Dallas in July, so this could be quite the juggling act. What did we do before texting, facebook, cell phones? I don't see how we survived!

So far so good. Nothing real juicy yet. I'm sure it's going to get fun once we get to the nitty gritty things. Save The Date magnets will be going out hopefully by July 1st. When that is decided, I'll post it for you to see. Both Sarah and her honey are in town in a couple of weeks and we hope to get their engagement photos done at that time. If successful, you can bet you will see a few. Probably is a good thing she doesn't allow me to take too many pics of her. That would be all you people would see here and get so sick of her, you would scream. But, we are all like that with our daughters... right? Yeah, that's what I thought.

I Haven't Forgotten!

Man, has this past month or two been busy! I have been working full steam ahead and trying to get my photography business going. I have been doing it for friends and family for awhile, but it's time to stretch my wings, jump of the cliff, and try to soar. We'll see if that actually happens though. haha.

So, this week I had the immense pleasure of taking Jackson's pictures! This little two year old was a hoot! He is a master at feeding geese and jumping! I am going to post a couple of the pics here, but I have a new place also for you to keep up on the photography side. I have decided to start a second blog for the photography since I talk to so freely about my family on this one. For those who don't know us, could be scary. hehe.

So, if you go to sueablesphotography.blogspot.com, you will find a video of Jackson's shoot. I will post images in the next day or so. I am also on Facebook, which is mandatory with a business these days. (I must say Blondie (Sarah) was horrified at first, but I've managed to be good and not humiliate her... yet.) If you are on Facebook, look me up and be my friend. I have a photography group there also trying to get the senior high kids. They are THE MOST FUN TO SHOOT!!!!!!! I swear, if I can make money at this, I will be heaven!

Now, onto more important things... the wedding!!! Date has been set! June 26, 2010. Whew! Gives me over a year. Things are moving very smoothly! The banquet hall has been reserved and I have to say here that Sarah (let's use her real name now... she is an adult now!) is doing a fabulous job at finding discounts and still getting her dream! Not only that, she is working her butt off and will be more than doing her fair share in footing this bill!! A mom couldn't be more proud! I have a winner people! I knew before, but this... the only thing better will be seeing her as a mom. I.cannot.wait!

Anyway! Banquet hall has been booked (more on that later... lots of time). She will be in town in a few weeks. Her maid of honor (okay, might as well use her name too!), Monica have been friends since about 6th grade. So Monica made the appointments and we are spending an entire day at wedding boutiques. We are going to force Sarah to try on every single dress in her size that day. I know she has one in mind that she is stuck on, but you know girls how that goes. Sometimes, you put it on and your body completely rejects it!

So that is the update. Check out the other blog if you feel like tearing up. Jackson's mom is also one of Sarah's oldest friends and is a single mom now. She is a GREAT mom and has quite the little man. Oh, these kids grow up TOO fast!

ENJOY!

CHECK. IT. OUT.

Two posts in one month! Can you believe it? I have not accomplished this in such a long time. I am so proud of myself. Such discipline, I tell you. Who would believe I used to post every single day?

It seems this blog is going to become two things. It will contain photography and family. How can leave my family out of this blog? They are so bizarre. There is ALWAYS something happening.

Which brings me to today's topic. Today we shall focus on family. Surprisingly it is not Drama Queen! We shall save her for a later update. Today it is all about Blondie.

To recap: December, 2007 Blondie graduated from the University of Kansas and abandoned her loving mother for the Windy City and her boyfriend whom she loves very much. She found a good job with a national company within short order. After over a year, she continues to work and live in downtown Chicago with 'the boyfriend' and LOVES it! (too bad for me)

Today: We must find a new name for 'the boyfriend'. He became empowered on February 12th. After they had dinner and quietly in their apartment (Blondie hates a fuss), he got down on one knee and asked "the question". He's always pulling pranks so she thought he was joking until... the box came out of his pocket and he opened it up. He tells us she her mouthed dropped and the first words out of her mouth were "SHUT UP". Yeah, that's my little girl. Always knows what to say at the right time. Of course, she said yes, cried, and gave us a call.

We are all very excited for them. Blondie is so happy. But now 'the boyfriend' is being renamed 'the fiancee' for the next year. The wedding is going to be in Chicago and not in Kansas City, so this is going to be very interesting planning. My connections are all in Kansas City. The next year could bring some very interesting stories as this progresses and we attempt to put on a Chicago wedding on a Kansas City budget.

Pictures posted are of Blondie, 'the fiancee', and a new member of my blog 'maid of honor'. It just grows and grows. This could get out of control people. Be prepared for the roller coaster ride.

One added note: Happy 3rd Birthday to Baby Reece, our little angel in heaven. Many of you remember.