Michael Jackson impersonator that apparently sucked that night but was good other times.
The infamous clap at Chichen Itza. The Mayans perfected acoustics at this site.
For now check out the pictures I uploaded. The good camera pictures haven’t been touched yet.
We are trying to plan the rehearsal on Friday June 6th so that we can eat by 7. If we need to adjust that to 7:30 we will, but I know that not everyone lives in Kokomo and it’s hard to travel on a Friday. If we could try to be up there by 5:30 or 6 that would be great (we’re shooting for a 6p start time). Our ceremony isn’t going to be long but I want to make sure we can get it together. I’ll probably be in Kokomo most of the day/afternoon, so if you arrive early you can help me decorate! 
Please let me know if any of this poses a problem for you and we will see what we can do.
Attached is the menu.
I haven’t blogged in awhile, but mostly that’s because I’m crushingly busy.
Photography
I’m pretty sure I didn’t post any pictures of the wedding I flew out to California for. I had lots of fun out there with Teresa and Jase (and extraneously Jenny and Steve) and it was good for me to photograph the days up to and after the ceremony/party. We even got to do a Trash The Dress on the coast which was really good practice and a ton of fun.
I think weddings will always be a learning experience for me because there are so many different ways that things can play out and how people act that it’s almost impossible to plan for the same type of picture for everyone. You can always try, but sometimes those differences make a better picture.
I tried a new model in Mirinda in October. We learned that a bright sunset does not go well with shadows and sun in the eyes, but the sky color is killer with the polarizer in the right place. We also tried some tricks with the studio, and I’ve gotten a different experience with Photoshop editing with those shots.
I spent nearly 24 hours photographing the birth of my first cousin once removed in November. I had not yet experienced a live birth so it was both a great experience as a photographer and again as a cousin, friend and future potential mommy-ness (!!). Soon I’ll get to take photos of the new baby at home settled in.
Last weekend (December 8th) I had a photo session with Leslie. We did her maternity photos. I can’t stress enough how much I love working with this girl, and not just because I’m trying to be nice. She is so fun and even though she “works it” for the camera, she has a great imagination and an artist’s eye. I think part of it is that she knows what looks good, but then playfully tries new poses to mix it up. I rarely ever have to point out poses for her or to have her repeat a pose for long. We had some excellent shots and I’m really excited to edit them. With her permission I will repost the ones she OKs.
Work
Same crap I will always talk about. Blackboard is always acting like a big baby and although I’ve been the admin for 2 years on it, sometimes it just doesn’t make any sense to me. It feels like I’m lost and the fact that it is constantly going down or screwing up and on top of that support is close to nil, it makes me just want to scratch my eyes out. One day everything will be perfect but I’m not going to hold my breath for that day. Also, NOT HAPPY I have to work over the entire holiday break. Please please can I get out of it? 
Life
I have been putting my Palm to good use and put a calorie tracker on it. I have to either save the packaging for everything I eat or find it online to put in all the nutrients. It’s helpful that it also tracks my workouts and mood so that I can get a good overall picture of my weight loss goals. Which brings me to the last topic of
Wedding Planning
I finally bought the dress. I really didn’t want to buy it from Posie Patch which I have outlined previously, but I had no choice. I did give other bridal shops a chance but either nothing had everything I wanted, it just wasn’t my style or it was way out of my price range. I don’t think I’ll ever have a dress that is 100% perfect and I can find a few faults with this one, but overall it has everything I asked for (p.s. *this* girl isn’t having a white wedding).
I agonized over getting the dress size I can wear right now, or getting the smaller size in anticipation of my weight loss. After what felt like 15 minutes I finally let Mirinda talk me into the smaller one. I feel like if I keep up with my calorie counter and going to the gym 4 times a week like I have been, I should be down to my high school weight by February.
Within the last month we’ve narrowed our guest list, finalized the invitations we wanted, bought the dress, planned and bought our honeymoon and smaller things on our to-do list. Well, whether Andy admits it or not, I pretty much do all the planning and then ask for his opinion. Our opinions are pretty much the same so it’s usually ok, but really… Sometimes I feel like I just want to have the parents, brothers, sisters, Chata and Andy be the only ones with all the stress over money and crap that goes on (no offense to any friends not mentioned). But then I think about how friends and family really shape who you are as a person, and I would love to have them all around us having a good time.
It seems like we’re having a much bigger wedding than we intially wanted, so we may or may not pare down the wedding party and total guests invited. I guess it just depends on how we feel in the next month or two. Honestly if we do, it’s not a slight on anyone, it’s just that we are well aware on how much a wedding costs and to put the burden of gifts, bridesmaids’ dresses and groomsmen tuxes on people sometimes seems a little unfair. Mirinda tries to convince me that it is MY wedding and I can do what I want, but you all know me, I aim to please. 
Well I guess that’s all. Look for a Year in Pictures whenever I can get another chance to settle down for a blog again. Happy holidays everyone.
1) The wacky dresses are the ones that usually look the best
2) A lot of boutiques won’t let you take pictures, and they’re the ones that are usually quite expensive.
3) Bridal consultants usually have no fucking clue what you want even after you describe it 8 times.
4) Bridal Superstores by Posie Patch needs to disappear into the biggest time-warp-black-hole ever. They’re rude, they don’t have crap, and I had to wait in line for a half hour to even get checked in, and then wait another 30-45 minutes just to get a consultant to help me. And it ended up being the old bat that didn’t ask us if we needed help but rushed over to help someone who just walked in the door 30 minutes late for an appointment.
5) Two dresses in a size 6, 8, 10 and 12 by the same manufacturer will not fit the same.
6) I still have a huge ass after the 30 some pounds of weight loss.
On another note to my bridesmaids:
I bought your gifts already. I hope you like them but you won’t get to see them for another year from now. HA! (But I get plenty of time to pay for them all, and it will take a good while to actually do it.)
Our wedding date is set for June 07, 2008. Get it? 06/07/08. Hurf durf.
I decided on that date because I wanted to get married in the springtime with lots of flowers and green. June is late enough in spring that it won’t be raining all the time and I can have my outdoor wedding. 6-7-8 falls on a Saturday which is probably the most convenient time for everyone and let’s face it, it’s pretty damn easy to remember.
The bridal party right now is Jennifer, Melissa, Trish and Chata. I say right now because you know things happen and all that and someone may have an emergency. I don’t plan on kicking anyone out if that’s what you’re inferring.
I think I’ve picked out a dress, but I’m keeping my eyes open for something else. I do have quite a bit more time and I’m looking at dresses up to 2007. I have the 2008 dresses to look forward to as well. The sticking point right now is bridesmaids dresses. I want something fun, light and flirty for spring. My mom and one of my bridesmaids want something elegant. They get all angry eyebrows when I ask them to try on something that isn’t flowing and crap. The main problem is I have two relatively short girls and two tall girls in my party. Two of the girls aren’t going to look right in the dress depending on the length, so the search goes on.
I think I’m going to use a lavender purple for the main color. I love purple roses. This could change but that’s what is the front runner right now.
No clue on the ring bearer or flower girl. I don’t really know any kids and the kids in my family I’d pick are in California or who knows what. Officiant? Right. I’m going to let Andy pick that one out because I don’t belong to a church and I’m not letting my mom pick one out so she can have the guy make me say I’m God’s faithful follower and I will do whatever it wants.
I haven’t picked a location yet. GOD everything is so expensive. I can see a couple thou on rental of the facility, but everyone wants minimum of $5000+ on catering. The Indianapolis Museum of Art wants a minimum of $8000 on catering with one of their locations. What the fuck. I’m not some rich princess here and come on, what kind of rich princess that has daddy pay for her wedding even knows where the MOA is?
I’m doing a photo shoot right now and I have some pictures done but I’m not sure I want to post them yet. I have some I want to shoot again with different models, but I like where they’re going so far.
That’s it for now.
Here’s what I’ve put off posting because A) I’m lazy B) it’s hard to take a picture of your own hand.
There’s nothing like a ring box next to your chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese and Cheetos to make a sickness feel better.
Yeah my fingernails need some work, I said I was lazy, ok?
It’s actually a 9 stone ring. Three in the center and three on each side, all round cut, in white gold. I hate yellow gold and Andy picked up on this. He also picked up when I mentioned a certain ring on an advertisement was pretty (same ring I have) and went with that.
No date set yet, but we’re shooting for maybe sometime in 2008.
