The weekend

Did a really cool engagement session. I just love the "I love Jesus" spray painted on the wall. Cracked me up!




This is Vickie and her son. Vickie makes really super cool hand made beads. They are all glass and she does an awesome job. She traded out a photo session for some jewelry. I'm always happy to barter for something I really want!!

Annacaye

Newspaper dress! White pancake makeup from Ben Nye. MAC black pigment and Verushka lipstick. Jewelry from estate sale. Feathers from estate sale. Styrofoam ball in her hair to make it big!!!

She was a freaking blast to photograph. I can't wait to do another shoot with her! Our doll idea didn't happen but I'm glad we ended up with newspaper!

Buuuuuuuuuusy!

Wow wow! April has been busy. I love it! I've got 8 boudoir shoots this month alone! I also got to photograph the lovely senior Jessica! I get to photograph Annacaye tomorrow, working on a doll theme. I think Amelia may become part of this project.

Tomorrow morning my classmates and I are "filming" our spanish movie. Should be funny!

I went to my eye doctor appt. today. My left eye is 20/25. I'm not 100% healed yet but I go back in 4 weeks. I should get my right eye done at the end of May. It can't get here fast enough. I am more than thrilled to have this near perfect vision in one eye. Everyone keeps asking what it's like with 20/25 in one eye and then lord knows what in the other. I reply with "it feels like a drunken buzz" I'm not sure how to describe it. It's weird.

I scored outdoor furniture for our deck today at an estate sale. I also got a huge jewelry armoir and a bunch of costume jewelry for the studio.

We close on our house on Friday the 24th. It's going to be craaaazy busy cause into May I have 5 boudoirs already set up, an egagement, senior shoot. That means I've got to get my studio set up asap!!!

Kristen and friends are coming at the end of May for riverfest. I can't wait!

So yeah........whew!

and on top of that...finals are coming....my brain could explode!

Pretty Senior Girl

I did a senior portrait yesterday. She was really cool and had a lot of fun! These were done in studio and in my yard. We were dealing with rain so we didn't want to go to far so the yard was the next best thing!

No house updates ... just waiting to move basically! I'm ready...have boxes people....let's get this going!

I had the surgery!

I had eye surgery on Tuesday. I was scared out of my mind but the doctor was AMAAAAZING!!! Best eye doctor on the planet. She kept me calm and her staff was excellent. She did my left eye. I finally took off my pirate patch. I go in tomorrow morning at 8am and they will take off the contact bandage. It's driving me crazy. I don't know how people wear contacts! This would drive me insane if I had to wear contacts everyday! I've had fun saying "arrrr matey" and saying "I have pirate booty!!" Gotta have fun while wearing an eye patch.
I am able to open my left eye and I can already tell a major difference. My left eye will be blurry for about a week. After that I'll get an eye exam in my left eye and get a new lens for my glasses. In about 2 months I will get my right eye done. WAY exciting!!! I can't wait!!! It will be just like having 2 brand new eyes.

The house got inspected on Wed. I was there but I don't really remember it. I laid on the floor and fell asleep. The pain pills were hardcore. But the inspection went awesome. Nothing wrong with the house except for a few windows that won't stay open on their own. We close at the end of the month. I'm so ready to move! Onward to being a home owner and painting walls! Good times! I just cannot believe how big this house is. The inspector said it was more like a 3000 sq foot house because of all the crawl space and attic space. I kinda felt bad for him since he had so much to inspect! eeek! He was soooo thorough! He was there from 2:30 until 6pm. I slept thru most of it. But hey, the carpets smell good! I laid on them for hours!

House offer accepted!

Here's a pic from last night. Sara and I got dressed up and sat on the tree that fell in the yard. Wigs, material, a studio light....and ta-da! Fun!

They accepted our offer on the house! Now I have to go get a home inspection. I guess I should start collecting boxes for our move in about 30 days or so.....I'm so ready to move out of this current dump that we live in. UGH! I hate it!

Hey Kendrick - I will photograph you - no problem ;-)

House

We made an offer on a house yesterday. So now we wait to hear what the response is.

I hope they accept and we can get the ball rolling! I'm ready to move out of here. The big tree in the yard fell over last night and is now on top of the barn. ugh!

The house we offered on is awesome! It's 3 levels. It has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. One of the rooms has it's own bathroom on the lower level which I would convert into the boudoir studio. The rest of the bedrooms are upstairs. The master bathroom is the size of 3 bedrooms. It's the biggest bedroom I've ever seen! We fell in love with the backyard, too. The deck is multi-level and there is a swingset in the yard. The house is so close to the community center which has a massive pool and waterslides.

....like I say....ready to move!!!!!!! Fingers crossed!

I joined the living!!!!!!!

These are the pretty roses Doug got me!

Finally...finally! I'm still not 100% but I'm there enough! Whatever came around, it was hardcore!!! YUCK! Glad to get it over with.

Last night I went ahead and sat thru the WWE at Alltell arena. It was LOUD but I made it through the noise. I wasn't feeling my best but I went & watched. It was quite the experience. I think I had more fun people watching then watching the actual wrestlers. It was pretty neat to see them live in person, though! Very cool. I took a few snapshots but that's what they were...snaps!

Today we went to the zoo. We fed the fish which is my favorite part. The coy fish are HUGE and they are fun to watch. I had more fun people watching yet again...the zoo was full of all kinds of people today.

Doug and I are back to house shopping again. Looking at 2 more houses over in this area and then moving on to other areas of the Rock. Possibly Maumelle?! I guess we'll see.

Come on already!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd rather be doing this but instead I'm laying in bed feeling like crud!

Spring break is here and I'm now 6 days in bed. Woof! Come on already! I'm soooooooo over this.....I can barely stand it! The flu or whatever crap should only last 24 hours and not longer. This is insane!!!!!!!!!!! I had thought about going up to Fayetteville but I don't think that is going to happen.

Have 3 tickets to WWE wrestling tomorrow but looks like Doug may have to take someone else because I just can't fathom sitting in Alltell arena listening to 100's of people screaming at the wrestlers.

I was just SURE I would wake up 100% today....nope. Still weak and tired. I'm getting better but I still feel like I've been hit by a truck! I feel like I can barely function. SO SICK OF TV and that bed!!!!!

Waaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Been hit by a truck

Ok, not literally hit by a truck but good grief I felt like I was hit by a truck! Got sick on Sunday. We were out looking at houses with the realtor and I told Doug I was feeling so awful. I wake up Monday morning and I feel like I could just die....I was sooooooo sick. Doug took care of Amelia, got her to school and made arrangements for me to go to the doctor. The doctor gave me the flu test and it came back negative but he still treated me for the flu. Well I was taking that tamiflu crap and it wasn't working. I ended up back at the doctor again yesterday and now I hear "oh I *think* you have bronchitis." Ok, is it bronchitis or is it the flu? Frankly I don't care - just make me better!!!!!!!! So I get a shot in the arse and a z pack. Today is the 1st day I have been able to get up on my own and I actually don't have a fever!!!!!! FOUR days of fever and feeling horrific. I thought it would never come to an end. Honestly!

Doug has honestly been the most supportive and wonderful husband ever!! He has taken care of me and Amelia. He has kept the house going while I laid in bed having my "pity parties." He even came in there and had pity parties with me while he would rub my back or my legs. And the crazy thing is ... he is on day number 8 of no cigarettes and you would think he would be into major withdrawal "bear" city but he's been so calm and sweet.

So I missed an entire week of school. I'm devestated. I LOVE school and to miss just one day is awful. Missing the whole week is horrendous!! My instructors have been so freaking awesome. My math teacher told me not to worry ... math would be there when I got back from spring break! So I've had to put my own spin on things....2 weeks of spring break! One week of sick "hell" and hopefully next week will be better. I'm just happy not to have a fever and I'm able to sit up and not fall over from being dizzy!

Doug and I found a house....but now I'm having 2nd thoughts. Buying a house is scary! Such a commitment. I told him I wanted to look at some more just to make sure that it was the one. It's cute. Really cute and probably perfect but I still have to make sure. Doug feels the same way.

Much better and what's a girl to do?

My baby is SO much better. We were at that doctor's office within the hour of her fever and she is on some hardcore antibiotics. That crap was $100 before insurance! OMG! But it WORKS - it could have cost more and I would have paid it!! She says it tastes HORRIBLE but I told her it was that or suffer! I feel so bad because I have to put it into a shot glass with OJ and the meds and tell her to down it. OMG...I think I'm teaching her too young. "Take a shot of OJ - down it!!" There really isn't any other way to get it down but quickly!

So that is gooooood news for sure!

My sweet hubby brought me 2 dozen roses a few days ago. I've been thoroughly enjoying them. And this evening he gave me a sterling silver bracelet with 14 karat gold settings with diamonds in it. I'm not sure how to describe it! Guess I need to take out the macro lens and take a photo of it. What'a a girl to do?? Smile and giggle! It is my birthday tomorrow ... he treats me so well!

So tomorrow we will venture out for a birthday lunch and some house shopping. We are going over to see my top pick. Big house with guest apartment (perfect for a studio) a pool, gazebo and lots of deck! It's our top fav. but never can tell until we see it in person. Then Justin & Silver will come over for mashed potato Sunday. Can't have a Sunday without mashed potatoes!

And thank you colleen for making Amelia's day!! She was sooooo excited to see the little get well gift in the mail! All those little pink skull tattoos just got her soooooo excited!!!

My poor baby :-(

She has influenza 2. She's got 102.5 fever and is sooooooo sick. Poor thing. She's on an antibiotic because her fever started today so the doctor said we can prevent most of the yuckiness.....so I hope she gets better REALLY quick!!!!!! Right now she's wrapped up in blankets and we are trying to break her fever. The quicker it breaks, the quicker she'll be better.

Well...she was going to go and visit her dad this weekend but after an e-mail battle and the "do not communicate with me" emails....I guess it has been determined that he doesn't want to take her this weekend. I'm glad. I didn't want her riding in the car for 3 hours and then infecting his whole family. I offered a different weekend and he responded with more "don't communicate." WHATEVER. Good times. (hear my sarcasm?)

I was going to have the 80's prom night with my friends this weekend but we have postponed for an April date. Warmer weather, take photos outside, etc etc. I told them that my baby is more important and they agree. They are the best friends ever!! I love them! Thanks girls!!!

I guess Amelia and I will just cuddle up all weekend long. I know when I was sick as a kid, I just wanted to cuddle with mom.

On the hunt again

Pic of me & D!

Looking at 5 homes tomorrow in Little Rock. Got our pre-approval for the home loan and off to look again. Last time we looked we were still living in Fayetteville. We had found a house but the realtor and loan officer were entirely too shady for us so we backed out. Thank goodness because our lives took a major turn and it brought us to Little Rock. We'll be settled here for a long time....if not forever. Who knows.

I am celebrating a big birthday this weekend with Colleen & Shawn. All 3 of us have birthdays on the same weekend. We're doing prom dresses at walmart and photoshoots on Saturday. Should be fun!

The following weekend we are going to the WWE wrestling match ...oh my!

And on March 31st...I get some eye surgery to correct my vision. I hope to be off of eyeglasses!!!! I hope.

D got married at Magnolia Gardens

One of my BFF's got married over the weekend in Fayetteville. I of course brought the camera...who else would do the photos? *grin* In the 10 years of knowing D.....this is the 1st time I've seen her truly exceptionally happy. I tell her "welcome to the club of happy!!!" Congrats D!

Are you calling me a liar?

McAlister's in Little Rock on Hwy 10 can go to h*ll.

I went in at 12:30 and ordered a veggie sandwich to go. I said "NO PEPPERS." I can't stand peppers plus they give me heart burn!! I waited until 12:55 and still...no sandwich. Well I had to be at work by 1pm. I work 3-4 hours on Fridays helping out at an insurance office. So I asked the lady if I could have my money back so I could get to work. She said "no no no....the sandwich is almost done." So I get the sandwich with about 4 minutes to spare and I start driving. At the stoplight I open the sandwich and it's covered in peppers. COVERED I tell you! So I stopped at Sonic to grab some fries so I could have some kind of food! I called my boss and told him I'd be about 5 minutes late. He didn't care.

So I call McAlister's and the manager is RUDE.....VERY RUDE. I told her I'd like to come in for my money and she says "there are NO peppers on that sandwich. I saw them make it." I told her that there were peppers. She argued and I finally said "Are you calling me a liar?" She said "I"m not calling you anything." I said "you're implying that I'm lying about peppers!! I know what they look like!" I said "what happened to customer service?" And she said "customers are not always right." I said "I have to hang up now before I call you a name."

So I ended up calling the head manager of all the McAlister's and said "I want my money back." I told him what happened and he is sending my money back. He was very nice to me but I'm still upset about it.

So I just photographed all the freaking peppers on the sandwich. I'm going to print them out and mail the pepper photos to the manager at McAlister's on Hwy 10. I'm going to let her know that I'm not a freaking liar!!!!!!! Is it worth the $1 that it will cost to print and mail it to her? Yup. LOL

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

shopping. torture?!

I guess I'm not like many other girls....I don't like shopping. It's a form of torture, in my opinion. I need some new clothes and I completely dread going to the store to buy new clothing. I need new shoes. I need new bras. I need new everything but oh man....I dread the idea of going to the store or even worse - the mall!!!! I'm pretty sure I'll be in Fayetteville this weekend so I hope to make a stop at Cheap Thrills, I can handle that place any day of the week. Maybe I can find everything I need...well not the bras but everything else that I need. HA

Doug and I want to get a king size bed and give Amelia our queen....sigh....again...more shopping. Doug and I haven't spent a dime on "other stuff" in well over a year - heck, the last time was when we bought the car, I think?! I'm a firm believer in hoarding money.....saving like a crazy person. The whole thought of spending money just makes me want to bug out. Same for Doug. He had to buy new shoes for work and I think he spent almost 3 months pondering the "gotta spend money" for shoes thing but he is very happy he finally bought some GOOD shoes.

Why is shopping torture?? Am I the only one out there that hates it? It's the best way to stay debt free and to keep yourself from getting in trouble by over spending....

My little ham

My little one always wants to play dress up but this time I told her we should do photos, too!

Dirty rotten dogs.

Cheaters should all be put on an island together...then they can all cheat with each other.

What happened to the sanctity of marriage?

What happened to I will be faithful to you?

Seriously people. Where are the morals today?

1st my good friend, married - husband cheating. Now I hear from a family member, husband cheating and with a married woman with 2 kids. Sounds awfully familiar to me.

It just makes me sick to my stomach. I just want to puke on the cheaters. It's taking everything out of me not to call this dirty dog up and tell him what I think. To tell him how it destroyed my family once upon a time and how he has now destroyed his family. If they "loved" their children & wife, they would never cheat. They would break it off before then. I mean...why have children if you're going to end up putting your pecker in someone else? I went thru multiple cheats with my ex and I stayed - WHY? OMG, why? Because I thought it would be best for my daughter. But you know?? Best thing I did was leave that dirty dog. My daughter is better off and has the best step dad ever. My husband that I am married to now - he went through the same thing with his ex-wife. He and I are both against cheating - hardcore. I just want to picket the courthouses when people get their marriage licenses....I want to say "think twice before you get married. make sure you're going to keep your pecker in your wife and not in other women!!!!"

Oh man it just gets under my skin. This is like an epidemic - seriously. I've heard of several aquaintences going thru this - "husband cheating." If you can't be faithful - DON'T GET MARRIED.

Society makes it ok and it's not. It's NOT OK!!!! It ruins families. It ruins children. It doesn't set example to them. It shows them no morals.

Pinnacle Mountain

so.....Justin called me yesterday and said "let's go to Pinnacle Mountain!" And I said "to do what?" And he says "Let's climb the trail" and I say "ok!"

OH man......little did I know. Doug and I threw on some good shoes and followed about 8 college students into the trail. We finally get to the mountain after about 20 minutes of walking....I look up and I say "SERIOUSLY???????" There is no trail. Just lots of BIG rocks and boulders. Some of the rocks have big red dots on it so you know where to go. They were huge. I was having to climb up them. Well it took Doug and I about an hour to climb all those rocks. It was scary and HARD! My knees took a beating. They are completely bruised up. I almost wanted to give up but I made it -- to the freaking top!!!!! It was AMAZING! I have never been at the top of a mountain like that before! After getting to the top....I thought "duh...I forgot my camera!" Oh well, whip out the phone and snap a few.

So the way down was worse -for me. It was supposedly the easy side. And it was. Mainly steps going all the way up/down. Nothing to climb. Nothing to kill your knees on. Lots of families going up that side. We killed ourselves going up the hard part and the way down was all cleared off. I was having such a hard time going back down....my knees were like jello ... they were so wobbly!! I had to keep taking breaks on the way down. How funny!

I made it to the top of Pinnacle Mountain!!!

Poof

You ever hear gossip and think "good grief, really?" *shakes head* Dang.

Anyways....

It has been great 7 months in the Rock. I'm looking forward to tomorrow...I'm going to explore Little Rock with my camera....and I'm happy about that!

And hey Kendrick - thanks for stopping by the blog ;-) -- I'm glad things are going so well...next time I see you - I'm gonna pick that brain of yours!!!!!!!!!!!