Diagnosis.

Thanks to all of you who lifted up a prayer this last night or morning. While sitting in the waiting room after David went back, I was nervous- couldn't concentrate on the book I had brought to pass the time, couldn't even pay attention to Regis & Kelly on the television. I wanted answers. I needed to see "my baby" again.

After the procedure David's doctor called me back and explained what he found. I was praying it wouldn't be colon cancer- I wouldn't have been prepared to hear that my 25 seemingly in amazing health by his great shape year old husband has cancer. The doctor informed me that David has Ulcerative Colitis. Although this isn't great news, I am thankful that it wasn't cancer. By that time I still hadn't seen David since he went back. (why do doctor's offices do that? all I wanted to do was sit by him and hold his hand--I know he's an adult and didn't "need" me but still- can you imagine how it will be when we have children?!)

Speaking of children, there is a possibility that it will be passed on, but we have many things to get through before we worry about that. From 25% to almost 50% of ulcerative colitis patients have to have surgery their colon removed, but I can also be thankful that we are not at that point right now.

We (meaning as in he) has some medicine to try- I went to fill the prescription and it is $100 for a one month supply! Of ONE medication! That is WITH insurance--Government insurance at that(aka really good). I couldn't imagine facing the almost $400 monthly prescription without insurance.

Prayer Request

[how can anything ever be wrong with this sexy hunk?!?]

Please pray for David.. He has been having a lot of problems & will be having a procedure tomorrow that will hopefully help us get some answers.

Book Recommendation

Plain Perfect
By: Beth Wiseman

At just a few pages shy of 300, I started and finished this book this evening as it was that good. Despite the fact that I am smitten by the Amish ways, I adore a book that I can truly picture myself in. It was so good that I didn't skip to the end to find out how it ended, I just wanted to read in the moment..which, never happens! I laughed and cried-it was just that good. ..without giving too much away, as I was reading her heart turn more towards God it created a new spark within me.

It made me want to get rid of all my "earthly" possessions and move to the small Amish community near my home.. but then I realized how much I truly enjoy those earthly things (AC, Car, AC, AC, Electricity, AC, wedding rings, jeans, heels, AC..the list is truly endless)Plus- my hair in this VA humidity? Whew, let's not even go there.

Precious moments

Business seems to have picked up, and I am completely embracing the fact that I just may be able to pull of this full-time photographer status. I am going to focus on it this summer, and see just how much I can learn and accomplish in one summer. I have been praying constantly that God would open the necessary doors and lead me in the right direction, and it seems, at least for now, that photography is it.

I had two shoots in the past two days and although both of the days were absolutely gorgeous, boy were they hot!
While I was taking his sister's picture, Brevin was playing in the blocks I had brought. After a few minutes he runs up and says, "look Daddy I spelled your name!" of course I had to get a picture of it-- he was so proud.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There are few greater joys than seeing the miracle of a baby. This little man is DEFINITELY going to be a soccer star. At 11 days old he was SO active and didn't sleep the whole 3 hours I was there!

[sweet summertime]

I know that it's springtime, but this past weekend we had some glorious summer weather with temperatures in the high 80s to mid 90s. Did I tell you that from Saturday-Sunday our AC was broken? At night it was so hot that we pretended we were camping and had so much fun. Ok, I lied- I am a total AC freak and was NOT in a good mood. I even took a sleeping pill so that I could fall asleep. (that is how much I hate being hot!) Needless to say, I was delighted when it took the maintenance man all of 5 minutes to fix the AC. (I might have preferred that there was a huge earth ending type of disaster to our AC and not that he had to go tinker around and fix it in 5 minutes) It left me wondering why I haven't trained David in AC repairs?

Saturday & Sunday were spent lounging at the pool, the freezing water was refreshing to the blazing sun. In the heat of Saturday I took a "nice long run" and was sohotabouttodie that I stopped. Once I got home I jumped in the car to determine the distance, knowing that I had run at least 3 miles.... how about 1.5 -->Total. Definitely blaming that one on the heat--that was pitiful. However, by the sweat on me & the redness all over I had a good workout--even if it was such a short distance. I couldn't have made it to "at least 3" if I tried--at least not without passing out first :-)

Because I don't know who else to ask..

Trying not to go in too much detail here, but has anyone else used NuvaRing? I "started" it a few days ago, and have felt dizzy off and on. I had to switch from the pill because I was having spotting problems, and I obviously want to be on some form of BC, but haven't found the right one--needless to say I do not think NuvaRing is right for me--it's making me feel weird.

Has a certain BC worked for you?

[hopefully we can all be adults here- if you think it's rude for me to talk about my BC, then sorry!]

Cause sometimes I embarrass myself.

Why is it that the few times I forget to make sure the toilet paper is in the holder when i'm using a public restroom--that it's then that it is always EMPTY!? Not only that, but there's no one else in the bathroom! So, do I wait and see if someone will come in? Sure, for about a minute--then I and do the drip dry and run to a different stall to get some fresh 2-ply, only as soon as I come out of the stall I exposed myself to the older lady who also had to use the restroom.

Why is it that whenever I go to the store I always get the broken cart? Seriously, today, it was a workout just to get around the store because the wheel was messed up. To make it worse I refuse to go back and get a different cart so by the time I leave the grocery store i'm sore and winded AND embarrassed.. although if the lady saw me again in the store she wouldn't have recognized me without my pants down.

Fair

If you are in the VA/DC area
check the post below
if you would like to schedule a session
for the next boudoir marathon in June!

I LOVED this shoot. Brittanie is one of David's coworkers and was up for anything which made the shoot go so well. Ahh..I am in love with these pictures..

June Marathon Information

I have just finished editing all of the photos from my first boudoir session this weekend and have already started planning a new one. :-) I am excited to say that I think I will be specializing in boudoir. Contact me if you'd like to book a session.

-More Boudoir

This client contacted me a few days before the marathon after finding my information (thanks free listings on craigslist!), luckily I had one session left (the 8AM one..eek!) Although it was earlier than I like to get up, it was the absolute perfect lighting. Can you believe this lovely lady has 5 children!? Those red lips & lashes--oh my..perfect boudoir photo appearance!

Friends

A friend is someone who understand your past,

believes in your future,
and accepts you just the way you are..

I had gotten an e-mail from a girl who said her & a friend were interested in the boudoir sessions. Anything is more fun when you have a friend with you, and the session itself is so much more relaxed, especially when you have your friend saying how great you look in a particular shot! These two girls were so much fun to shoot!

Lovely Lady

This is my sister, Amy.
We kept laughing so I am happy that we were able to get such good shots! Here are a few of my favorites..

Answers to your questions..

Did we decide to cancel the wedding? Yes. As soon as I learned that I am losing my job next month, that was my first decision. We are already married, and even if I was wearing a cute little dress and not a wedding dress, it is still special to me. We could have still had the wedding if we wanted to, but in trying to be wise about the uncertain future, we're going to save the money that we would have had to spend to make it happen.

Am I sad about not having a wedding? Yes and no. I am sad that I wont get to "experience" it..but it makes our marriage no less important or strong by not having one.

Am I going to look for a new job? Undecided. David said I could try and focus on photography full time for a while and we'll see how that goes.

How did my boudoir marathon go this weekend? AMAZING! Definitely my best work ever! I am starting to edit, have 1/8 edited now..the rest of the week in posts will be showcasing some of my favorites..

Weekday Woes

Decisions, decisions, decisions.. who likes those? As many of my blogging buddies have gone through this, and my heart hurt equally for each of you-- I am very close to joining the unemployment circle. I was talking to my boss this morning, like I always do, to go over the projects I was working on and to see what projects he needed done today, when our conversation became ugly. Not ugly in the fact that tempers arose, but ugly in the sense of reality. We're a small company fighting for American jobs, but really- how many are there left? There are not enough family-owned manufacturing companies to support our cause (this can be seen my looking at the 'Made in Japan, China, Korea, etc.' sticker on countless items in your house.) He said the President (of our company, not Mr. Change Obama) wanted to speak with me soon (although I would LOVE the chance to talk to our POTUS). Me wanting to brace myself, asked Alan if it were likely I would be given a termination date. As you can imagine, "more than likely, yes" was the answer.

I have known for a while that our company was likely not to survive to see the end of 2009..but right before the ceremony? Right after I just upgraded my camera? Right after we just bought a car? All the while still not being paid a penny back from the $15,000 my Dad owes me. (Yes, you read right- $15,000- meaning I have no buffer, no savings, nothing.)

We have a lot of decisions to make. I haven't finalized things with the caterer, florist, or cake lady, so David & I are going to have to talk about whether we want to go on with the wedding. As much as I want it, I don't think it is wise. Because of things with my Dad, I don't have a savings. David works for the government, his job is very secure, but there's no way I would want to pinch pennies enough to have his salary cover the both of us. I have to put some serious thought into what the future holds for me. Obviously my photography right now is not going to carry me through to what I am used to making--maybe in a year or two, but not right now.

Things I wonder..

Why do people post TMI before a meal on Facebook?
Example (WORD for WORD minus the names, I changed that to the "titles"): Daddy is anxious for baby's arrival. Mommy just called and said her mucus plug came out this morning, so baby will be here soon.
Thank you for making me sick to my stomach and allowing me to skip lunch today- who wants to eat anyways? I love that her hot pocket is about to explode, but seriously.

Next. Why do people blog if they want to be so secretive? If you're in the Witness Protection Program perhaps you shouldn't have an online blog. Maybe it's because I have a business and I use my name for the business, I'm not asking to know your last name--but to go by code names ALL the time is a little weird to me.
Example: I am Mrs. Peeptoe and am married to Mr. Peeptoe and we love our 2yo Wedge, 5yo Flat, and 10yo stiletto.

Sweet as CaNdY

I am very excited about this for our favors: A colorful candy bar

credit

I went overboard at Wal-Mart [you know when you go in for bread & peanut butter and walk out spending $200] last night and bought all of the candy I need..skittles, M&Ms, gum balls.. and I can't even remember the rest..how bad is that!

I also bought a new comforter set. I'm thinking we may get a super nice one for our wedding, but the one I bought last night is surprisingly of really good quality and very comfy! Knowing that David didn't think we needed a new one and should just wait until the wedding I told him it was a giveaway... I paid money for it and they gave it away..

5-Years

Brenda Eckhardt Photography

I came across this picture while browsing the photographer's blog page.. and it stopped me in my tracks. She built a studio right beside her home and has made her way to my #1 inspiration. My goal is to in 5 years I want to have a studio just.like.this. It's so.. fresh, so creative, so delicious!

As far as the boudoir marathon that I posted about--
I have all but 1 slot filled. How. Exciting.

What a crazy world..

You know it's bad when you spent as much at the Clinique makeup counter as you do buying both you & your husbands wedding bands.. eeek!

at least I'll be super hot for the wedding. <3>

Scattered Thoughts

The house is so empty this morning without Sadie. I could have taken her in any time from 7:30-9 and I waited until 8:50 to leave the house..I just wanted to cuddle with her a little longer. The vets office is super nice, I love all the ladies that work there--All the ladies I guess except the morning ladies. No sooner as I had finished signing my poor puppies life to them did they whisk her away and I couldn't even say goodbye. Okay, not goodbye forever..but I wanted to pat her little head and watch her head turn slightly as I talk to her before she went to surgery. I also had a little toy for her to cuddle with when she got out of surgery, something familiar to her because she'll be in a scary place, but it was in my purse, and I didn't have time to grab it before they took her back. I left and tears started streaming down my face. I've never been attached like this to any dog before--but that girl has my heart.


....and because I don't want to leave on a "sad" note, here is a funny picture from the maternity shoot I did this weekend.. I'll show others in another post:

Another Change

I decided since it is spring, I didn't want all dark colors. We're still having the black and white, and instead of red roses- we're going with hydrangeas, orchids, and white roses.

This is the cake I want for the reception:

Surgery

This cute lil girl has surgery on Thursday.

I took her yesterday because she's had a mark on her since we got her, but the vet thought maybe she had just irritated the area after she got fixed, which was right before we got her from the SPCA.. but it has not gone away. The vet is not sure if it is a "foreign body" or a tumor.. just praying it is nothing serious.

Seriously, Vets are EXPENSIVE!!

But we are fortunate to be able to help her where we can.
Obviously we aren't going to go to the "poor house" on surgeries, but this is the first time and it is needed for a healthy & happy life.

Spring Time

We had wonderful Spring weather all weekend, only to have a terrible lightening storm this morning. Poor Sadie has been scared and hiding under the bed for most of the morning. I'm just happy she's a good guard dog incase someone ever breaks in.. Guess i'll just have to use my guns. (And by guns I mean muscles, although I do want to purchase a real gun.)

Saturday was my first trip to Maymont. It was beautiful! I definitely am planning on packing a picnic and taking David there soon.

I did this couple's engagement photos there, and i'm excited to be shooting their wedding in September!

Are you there, Jesus?

We're watching Josh [David's nephew] this weekend and today he had a half-day so I went to pick him up at school. On the way I passed 5 WRECKS! 5! [It's a 30 minute drive that took an hour due to the wrecks--eeek] They had to all happen around the same time. I'm like, What in the WORLD!? I mean, how does that even happen. All within 5-7 miles of each other. All on the side of the highway I was driving on.

So then I started to freak and think, "What if the rapture happened and Jesus forgot me?!?!?"

And then I called my Mom.

Thankfully, She answered.

'Cause I know that if Jesus came back, he'd definitely take her.

Jesus,
Please don't forget me.

Yes, he did.

Sadly, this is a true story.

David
Me

"Megan, come quick I found a bump on Sadie and I can't see it"
"Where is it?"
"Right here where my pointer finger is"
"David, that's her boob"

And then I died laughing.
Ohhh Boy.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

A bit childish, but I get giddy every time I look at my "little garden" and see how much its grown. Yesterday, there were only a few growths in the tomato pale.. and now--they're all over! (See how little I know about gardening, I just called them growths) I never "grew" anything as a child and when I saw this "complete do it yourself" kit in CVS, I just HAD to snatch it up. I got both the Tomatoes & Sunflowers one :0) I hope to have a nice sized garden one day for my own fruits & veggies..but we'll start with these two pales. :)