Sandy....oh Sandy!

Those who live in our neck of the woods saw it! Big old fluffy wet snowflakes in October! Dory, my system measured 11 inches in her front yard. We had 12 1/4 on the back deck....I remember October snows as a child. I remember trick or treating while the snowflakes flurried, but..I do not remember it ever being canceled because of snow. Looks like trick or treaters will have to hold on until Thursday.
There are plenty of areas northeasterly of us that got it earlier, and just as much if not more. We got up Tuesday morning and "POP" out went the electric. Surely it would just be temporary. That's what we thought. It looked soo pretty...see:




















Our poor Lulu didn't like it so much...




Its kinda strange to look out the kitchen window past my scaredy cat & see snow everywhere!




Tuesday was long and a little chilly. David was suppose to head to the North Carolina coast, it was delayed because of road conditions between here and there. I have mastered charging my phone in the car and our grill is the best investment we made! Boiling coffee water, baking bagels and getting warmed by its radiant heat is wonderful. Our sources say we should have electricity by midnight!
Wednesday morning, no electric and it was much colder. David decided to head on out, off to a warm Carolina Hilton's shower. I don't blame him for leaving me and Emma to our own defenses, I would've bolted too. Sources say maybe by midnight TONIGHT! Last night we got some rain and it melted a lot of the snow. There were several highlights to this day. The gas man came and hooked up our gas...we could now have gas log heat! With a little help, I got the fireplace going and it was warm and toasty, until, the carbon monoxide detector started beeping. Maybe a dying battery? Off to buy batteries and stop for hot brewed coffee! Early dinner by fireplace...quite lovely, until, the detector with the new battery started beeping again?!
Sources rechecked..Now they are saying maybe by Saturday. That was it! Enough of this madness! I cleaned out the fridge, my food can't last until then. It is dark, cold and I am tired, with a headache, which could be from the carbon monoxide, but is more likely from the stress, I gave up! Logs off, pilot light off, gas to logs valve shut, I packed me and Emma a bag and headed to Dory's! I have showered, been fed, i am warm, toasty, and now sleepy. So good night...I hope we get our electric back on sooner and if its not tomorrow, I pray we don't get egged, I'm not sure if I could clean it up in this coldness.
Wait...I forgot!! It IS HALLOWEEN!!! Officially...so Happy Halloween!!

Editing can cause brain freeze!

Admission...I took over 3000 pictures at the Clendenin rehearsal/Wedding/reception, 15 maternity shots of the beautiful Rachelle, total family photo's from the trip equals 125, birthday party pictures equals 110, the marvelous sunsets,well that was another 22, my sharing my trip thru my lens...well another 315.
Crazy isn't it?! Someone said to me recently, "I don't remember us running around after OUR kids with camera's, capturing every moment!" True that! My reply was simple..."This is the digital age! When OUR kids were growing up, you had to have a really nice,expensive camera, you had to buy film, the send it off to Mystic and wait for it to be developed, then returned in the all too familiar envelope. And, you had to pray they were good shots! Most of the times you got 3 out of 10 good ones, and we didn't want to waste. So we saved pictures, and film for special occasions!" Remember that?
Today I can shoot almost 3000 pictures, save them and spend my quiet cold evening going through them and editing them to perfection!! I must say, I LOVE this aspect of the digital age. It makes me long for when OUR kids were small....I wouldn't have missed a moment.
That being said, I have been an editing fool. Mind you, it's not about altering, it's a out making it perfect. Cropping out the fool picking his nose in the background of your cute grandson costume picture at kings island, the big red truck in the corner of the GYNORMOUS family photo of 30, or simply softening the edges to send your eyes in towards the subject matter. I am not one of those people who completely changes the picture..I want everybody else to see what I see....I just want it perfectly captured as I see it thru my lens!
SOOO, my eyes are crossed, the red glare of Christmas lights that won't dim without completely darkening the fiancé's face, and tilt shifting the cool larger landscaped shots has gotten the best of me tonight...I feel like I have brain freeze, so I am stepping away from the computer for the evening.
Here are some of the things I have been working on this evening!




I normally would've cropped Emma out too, but it's cute how she's peeking back at them & when they see it they will remember that on this trip Emma tagged along & stayed in the Kings Island Kennel while we were having Hallowfest fun!












Their very first ride without an adult..and how about that, they snagged the front car!!

Home...why does it always smell soo good?

After a week of Arizona fall weather, which means temps in the high 90's.




The cool 70's and an open sunroof when I finally got home, was more than refreshing. By no means does that mean I was ready to leave my family. That was the sad part. Just when we were all settling into our routines and getting comfortable and I had to go home.
The highlights of the trip would include: Spending time with my family!




Attending Malia's Cop & Robber's themed 7th Birthday party!








Check out the FBI get up Aunt Judy wore....hilarious!




Finding and savoring my very first In & Out Burger!








Which by the way, took the Number One spot on my Ultimate Burger Quest top ten list!
Catching an awesome Arizona sunset!




Gathering ALL 30 members of the Hudson Clan together for their family picture....you gotta wait for Christmas to see that.
Capturing some candids of Joe's Andrew & his girlfriend Ashley!




Shooting, hopefully, the best shot for CJ & Nick's Christmas card! As well as some shots of Aunt Judy, Uncle Gene & Scooby!




And the big honor of getting to shoot Mike & Rochelle Clendenin, my Cousin Frankie's oldest sons beautiful wedding! Their day was beyond words and I got some awesome shots for my website and portfolio! I can only pray they know how grateful and appreciative I am for this opportunity.












The early morning ride to the airport was bittersweet....it's hard being away from my Arizona family. I catnapped just about all the way home. On the first flight, I must've crashed and burned, because I yelled out, "JUST EAT!" in my sleep. it startled me awake, but it frightened the poor guy beside me even more! He was enjoying is coffee and cookie, until I yelled, and I'm sure he thought I meant it for him, because he immediately turned away from me and finished off the cookie. I was embarrassed, but, was too tired to worry about it, so I just closed my eyes and drifted back off. Remembering my week long visit and missing them all already, but, this girls got responsibilities and appointments to keep!
Emma was excited to see me after her week of total spoiling with Dee, JD & Bailey. We hurried home, I slid into my flannel Jammie's and kept smelling my home! Why is it when your gone it always smells soo good, comforting and calming? I love that!
After finishing up editing wedding photo's, delivering Tristan Alexander's mini shoot pics and getting the website caught up, we spent the morning with Haleigh, Trenton arrived @6 and tomorrow we are off to Kings Island with Dory, JD, and Bailey for Trick or Treat and Hallowfest fun! So I am off to bed!

Why I love family and my very FIRST wedding shoot...

This weekend was a whirlwind! Rehearsals, family time, THE wedding, and a Birthday party! I'm gonna need a vacation after this...joking, I think.
Can I just tell you guys how grateful I am to have such a loving and generous family? Seriously, Aunt Judy & Uncle Gene gave me a whole room of my own for a week and all the extended family fit me in to their busy schedules and most of all, a very beautiful Bride, named Rochelle and her groom, my 2nd Cousin Mike allowed me to second shoot their wedding. Then my presence was requested at Malia's 7th Birthday with a cops and robbers theme.
We went to the rehearsal on Friday evening and I was fine....THEN, I woke up Saturday morning with panic! Oh my, I was getting the opportunity to shoot a wedding..my first! After I showered I text'd David...."Ok Team Milam Captain, talk me through these nerves?!" and then the phone rang. "What are you nervous about?" Just do what you always do-"Capture their Memories thru your lens"-you will be fine! After 40 minutes of talking me down from my anxiety and panic, I was ready.
The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome and the weather was beautiful! What an honor and a privilege!! Here's some of what I captured....whatcha think?






























































































































































I am an editing fool!!!! There are 863 total photography's....got lots of editing to do, but my OCD has kicked in, so I should have them all done in no time. If you see me at the airport tomorrow or in Atlanta for my layover and I ignore your you will have to excuse me, because I want to give this to Mrs. Michael Clendenin ASAP!! Thank you again for letting me do this....words just aren't enough. It was a wonderful first experience!
As for the rest of the weekend, give me until tomorrow, when I need a break from editing I will blog about the Bday party and our last family dinner, I promise! (Plus, I have some of those pics to share with you :)