I told you....

...no promises! :)

I have spent the whole day cleaning and catching up on my Christmas stuff. I still need to work on Christmas cards tonight. But only after T and I pop some popcorn and watch a Christmas movie! :)

Maybe tomorrow..... ;)

Peek-A-Boo

Once again I have abandoned the blog. :) So sorry! Sometimes...well....life happens.

Since I last posted I have taken probably 5,000 photos. Ok...maybe not literally....I have no idea how many it was. I do know that I have done 14 photo shoots since Thanksgiving. INSANE!! Some were here, but most were on-site sessions. Factor in a couple of sicknesses that went through the house and a couple personal days and boy was it a busy month! I've had to turn down a few people because there just wasn't enough time to do it all....but I still have some fun photos to do Monday and a few more orders to get out! Never a dull moment. :)

But today is a "free" day. G is working, so it's just T and I. T is excited to be out of school for the next couple of weeks and is enjoying all this time he has to PLAY! I'm going to try and wrap our Christmas presents....finish up with Christmas cards so they can go out on Monday...and hopefully get a little cleaning done. And maybe somewhere in there I can sneak on the computer and give you guys a few update posts. No promises....but I'll try. :)

Honeymoon Day One

The morning after our wedding was an early one for me. G's brother had to be back in NY that day, so since G isn't an early riser I got up with his family to see him off. Before I could head back to my room...there was Trent. :)

Before too long everyone was awake and ready to go. My dad was making coffee and my mom was making breakfast. Now do you see why I brought them along? KIDDING! :) Once someone was up and could watch Trent, I went to my room to shower. Our room was on the floor with the kitchen and living room....above all the other bedrooms. We thought it would give us a little privacy. But when I came out of the shower that morning and there were 3 adults and 5 children racing around the room and jumping on the bed...I knew we had been wrong. :)

So it's Monday... the sun was shining and we were able to take T to see the water for the first time since we arrived at the beach. We couldn't walk on the beach because the tide was still too high, but the sun was a welcome sight after all the clouds, wind and rain!

See how yucky the beach looks??? ICKY! So many places had suffered damage from the storm. When we watched the news we saw where several beach houses had collapsed. Scary stuff.

Monday was a low-key day for us. We spent most of the day hanging out at the house and cleaning up from the wedding. My aunt was able to arrange things at her job so that she could work on the Outer Banks that week. It was neat because she would come and hang out with us after work and stay until she was ready to check in for the night. On this particular day the girls went for a walk and looked at all the houses in the area while the men stayed at the house and played pool. We did so much talking and so much laughing! THIS is why we invited everyone on our honeymoon. :) THIS is the good stuff.

And speaking of good stuff.....this last photo is just awesome to me. By the Master Artist Himself. :)

Food, family and fun.

Sounds like a wedding reception, huh? :)

Our reception was just what we wanted....simple, relaxed and fun. Me and G along with my parents bought and prepared most of the food.....saving us boo-koos of money on catering. We ended up with SO much food!! And we ate reception food all week. :)

We took more photos, cut the cake and before we knew it....the day was done.

The day went by SO FAST. One minute they were telling me it was time to walk down the aisle....the next minute we were hugging people as they walked out the door.

But the fun was only beginning. We still had our whole family....in one house....staying the week with us. Honeymoon....here we come. :)

So who's gonna take your pictures?

I can't tell you how many people asked me that while we were planning the wedding. And until about a week before the wedding....I said "I dunno". We had asked some family members to help us out....thinking I could do the editing and end up with what we wanted....but then I decided that any good photographer would hire a great photographer. So that's what I did.

I did a search online for OBX photographers and went to every site....looking for someone who shared my same style. I found Ginger. Everyone loved her! She was so fun....she fit right in...and I barely knew she was there (unlike some photographers who stalk you and get all up in your face). She was awesome!! So many people have commented on how much they liked her!

You can check out her work here: http://www.gingersnapsphotos.com/

Isn't that just the CUTEST business name??

And here she is....in action. :) I can't wait to see the photos she took! I promised her I wouldn't aggravate her constantly about them, so I'm waiting patiently. And checking her site. Daily. :)

The Story of Us.

Ok...so life happened again. :) Trying to pick up where we left off. Here are some photos G's brother-in-law took alongside our photographer. The wind was insane, but I REALLY wanted some pictures outside. Oh well....

But this is the story of me and G and how we met and ya da ya da ya da.

The story could begin in 1998 when a bunch of the 'locals' in town decided to convince me to ask G to my senior prom. Yes, normally the guy asks the girl....but if you know G....you know that ain't happenin'. But this story ends with me asking him and him saying 'no' and both of us going away to school and never seeing each other again for 7 years so we'll move along to the important stuff.

Fast forward about 7 years....January 2005. I was living with my parents when I re-met G. My first husband had passed away in November of '04, so T and I were staying with them until we were ready to go out on our own again.

If you've ever moved back home after being gone for awhile, you know it ain't easy. It wasn't bad...and it was definitely what we needed at the time....but this time around I was a mom and had a been a wife and was used to doing things differently than when I was only a daughter. However, my first marriage was very difficult and left me scarred. So by January I was really starting to become a hermit. I didn't watch TV....I only went out of the house when I had to....and I really didn't feel a connection with my own son who was quickly approaching his first birthday. A close friend of mine suggested that I pray for a friend to come along who could pull me from this dark side. The next day I met G.

The day I met G was cold....like 20 degrees cold. I had just finished doing door-to-door outreach with my church. I remember my hair was pulled back into the famous bun and I was wearing one of W's old hooded sweatshirts....one that I also wore when I was 9 months pregnant. I looked pretty scary. When I got home, G was standing on the doorstep. He had come to help my parents put together their first website. At least that's why he *thought* he was there. :)

Call it what you want, but my computer had alerted me a couple days before that I had a virus. How nice that this computer dude just happened to be there. So I asked him to come up to my room and check it out. The first thing I asked him was, "Do you remember when I asked you to the prom?". He laughed and that was the end of that. I remember G had poison ivy that day and that he joked me about the room I was staying in. Remember....I was being a hermit and hadn't bothered to add my own taste to this room....or to even bring up a TV. But that was it....small talk....and he made sure my computer was no longer infected.

But he would be back. Every week. It started with him just coming in to help my parents, but he was always helping me with something, too.....picking out a new scanner....buying Photoshop...helping me pick out my first REAL camera. I changed my room...bought new bedding and made it look "cool". G even brought my TV from my house and put it in my room...so I could rejoin the 'real world' and not the Amish world his brother thought I was living in. :) Then we started hanging out....shopping together....watching movies together. But it was totally on a friendship basis. He had a girlfriend and I was a weeping widow. :) But those few days here and there turned into weeks of us spending day after day together. He would come visit with me after I put T to bed and we would watch movies until the wee hours of the morning.

I don't remember us ever talking about dating very much. Any time our relationship would teeter in that direction a wall would go up and he would remind me that he had a girlfriend. Afterall, he was what I had prayed for, right? A friend.

Several months later he finally came to his senses. :) He asked me to be his girlfriend. But nothing really changed as far as our relationship went....but it meant we would have to make some changes. He had to break ties with his "ex" and I had to force myself to move on with my life.

G and I have never been this mushy-mushy couple. He doesn't bring me flowers, he doesn't sing me love songs....and I'm totally cool with that. Through the years we have perfected our friendship, so the rest really isn't a big deal. We've learned to be confident in our relationship with each other....not relying on romance or any of that silly mess. :) So it was MONTHS before we ever even admitted our true feelings toward each other and even longer before anyone ever uttered the "L" word.

Through the years, not a lot about our relationship has changed....but we have changed. G has become more responsible and has accepted and succeeded at the role of "Daddy" to T. I have had to learn to relax and not worry so much....two things I still work at.

After almost a year of living with my parents, I decided that I needed to step out and try life on my own. I thought I could go back to my original home...just me and T....but it didn't work. So G and I worked night and day on my house....trying to change it so it wouldn't constantly remind me of "before". Even then...the nightmares, visions and panic attacks would sneak in and I just couldn't do it. So G...once again....stepped in. And moved in.

It has always been a sensitive topic with some of my friends and family, but we had to do what was right for us. He was my Elijah....he moved in to take care of this widow woman and her son. Even when we became engaged and knew we would be married, our physical relationship didn't change. We remained pure and we are both so grateful for that.

So after over three years of being "me and G and T"....here we are. And G and I are still really good friends. We're working on the married stuff, but just as before.....not much has changed in our relationship....but we have changed. And we'll continue to grow and change. Together. The three of us.

When nothing else matters....

I think there comes a point at every couple's wedding when you reach the point where nothing else matters but making it down that aisle. Everything that can be done is done and everything that isn't done will have to be omitted.

The septic issue and the delayed shower were minor. Not having a beach wedding and having to set up in the living room of the house was the last thing on my mind. When people started coming to my room telling me that there was smoke in the kitchen and the fire alarm was going off...I didn't flinch. I think I growled a little when my uncle started playing with our MP3 player that was set to play for the wedding and when we were ready to walk out and G's parents informed me that G's brother-in-law was still in the shower....but deep down I really didn't care. I would have gladly walked down with no music and I really didn't care who was there and who wasn't. All I wanted to do at that point was marry G.

Here are a few photos I took before the photographer arrived. You'll have to wait and see the ceremony photos she took. :)

Oh Glorious Sunday.

Saturday night was a rough night. A nor'easter was hitting the coast and the wind blowing against the house was so loud. I was on the third floor with my sister's girls and could actually feel the house moving with the wind.

Early Sunday morning, G's mom went out on the porch...thinking someone had left their sweatshirt. What she was seeing was me hanging over the balcony taking photos of the sunrise.

Wouldn't you?

As beautiful as it was, it was troubling to see that the beach was underwater and the dunes were washing away. We would have to go to Plan B. Oh the best-laid plans...... :)

Slowly everyone started coming out of their rooms.

The groom doesn't look too nervous on his wedding day. :)

We had asked my dad to have a devotion with all of us Sunday morning. It was nice...but trying to keep all the kids still and quiet was interesting. :)

Remember I mentioned the septic system in an earlier post? Well, when everyone went to get showers we heard this loud alarm going off. The septic system was full and needed to be pumped. As people were arriving for the wedding, they were greeted by a sewage truck and a not-so-sweet aroma. YUCK! I was finally able to shower around 2:30....the photographer would arrive at 3:00....wedding at 4:00. And the tank was pumped just in time. As G always says, "It'll all work out".

Arrive. Unpack. Prepare.

We pulled into the driveway, followed by my parents who also had my grandma with them. T was riding with G's parents so we had a few hours to unpack before he would arrive. My original PLAN was to check-in at 4:00, assign rooms and then my mom and I would do a grocery run. However, I didn't realize how long it would take to unpack and before we knew it it was getting late and we still hadn't been to the grocery store.

By 9:00 PM everyone who was staying that night had arrived. G went with his mom and dad to the grocery store...carrying my list of about 100 items. :) My mom and I spent most of the night unpacking and making food for the reception.

T was in heaven with all of his cousins....all 5 of them. Here are a few photos from our first night together.

The best-laid plans of mice and men....

If you know the quote, then you'll probably guess how this story goes. But this is the beginning of our wedding story. I'm not sure how long it will take me to tell the story from beginning to end....there are 4 memory cards of photos to incorporate...but here we go:

In February of 2006 G swept me off to Charleston, SC where he proposed to me (you'll get the 'how we met' story later). The PLAN was to present the ring to me on the balcony of the hotel where we were staying. But in keeping with the title of this post, there happened to be two older women playing Scrabble on the balcony and I was in my room running a fever and feeling pretty darn close to death. So the next best thing he could do was plant the ring in my makeup bag....knowing that I almost always wear makeup when we go away. It worked...I cried....and forced myself out of bed and we had a wonderful day in Charleston. I'd share photos from this trip, but that was almost 2 years ago and we're talking about last week.....

So we started planning a wedding. At first it was to be a big wedding....150+ people....in the backyard of the Jernigan House Bed and Breakfast. We struggled through the planning process.....not really getting anywhere and not feeling very excited about the whole deal. During our vacation to Duck, NC this year we picked up a vacation home rental book. One day G came to me and proposed the idea of a beach wedding. It would be a private wedding....family-only...and we would rent an oceanfront home where we would have the wedding and then stay for our honeymoon. For the first time in the planning process, we were both excited.

Our original wedding date was Saturday, October 18, however due to check-ins being on Saturday, we would have to move the date to Sunday, October 19. My parents' preacher agreed to marry us and drive the distance after morning worship to do so.

We researched and toured several houses until we found the "perfect" house. In selecting a home, we quickly learned that only the larger homes were approved for special events due to septic capacities (a little foreshadowing here). So we decided that if we had to rent a 7+ bedroom for a week we could invite our family to honeymoon with us. Afterall, we already had T in the picture who we didn't want to leave behind for a week. What's another 16 people?

So on October 18, 2008 we checked in at the Beach House II in Duck, NC.

Hitched.

Stay tuned for details.....

It's Blue!

Same guy from yesterday....just not so sleepy. :)

This is Devin. You may remember him from the session we did in August. He is so much fun and I was thrilled when his mom said she wanted to have photos done of him in his Halloween costume! When she said that he was going to be Blue from Blue's Clues I knew I had to go in search of a Blues Clues chair! And can I just say....his mom MADE this costume!! I was so impressed....I can't even sew a straight line.

Enjoy!

And a couple of him as a fireman...

Done.

I love it when I get the chance to take pictures of children. They are so fun to work with! You've seen this little guy before, but he came in again this week for some Halloween photos. We got some really cute photos, but once he was done...he was DONE! And like most kids...he let me know. :) Keep checking back for the cute photos. Until then, I couldn't resist these. They crack me up!! :)