Our House, In The Middle of Our Street, Our House...

As of August 1st, I have a new house. I will take you through as good of a virtual tour that i can manage. But first, i will give the low-down. It is about 1150 square feet. three official bedrooms with one unofficial bedroom in the basement. two and a half baths, four car garage, two driveways and a finished basement. Erin and i will be having a house warming party to show our families the house.

The lot we have is a corner lot. On the left side of the house is half of our yard that continues to the other driveway. In the corner of the lot is a big evergreen.

The other driveway leads right up to the patio and back door. The back door is a huge Anderson glass sliding door. It feels like it weighs a ton.

On to the inside. The front door leads into the front room. Please don't mind the mess, we were still unpacking during the picture process. Then while walking down the wall way is two bedrooms, full bath and the master bedroom with an attached

half bath.

If you would walk through the door way that leads right (on the above pic) then that is our kitchen and attached dinning room, the stairs to the basement, back door and door to the garage (see below).

The stairs lead to the basement where the fireplace is. then that is in the large family room. The other half of the basement is a 'bedroom', full bath with a spa tub and our laundry room.

The garage is a four car garage and is my favorite part of the house. i am going to make a work area so i can fix/make stuff. Finally on the right side of the house is our other side yard.

Check out our pics here.

.

Matt and Tanya's Wedding

On Saturday the 18th, Erin and I went to be the photographer for my buddy Matt (whom I also took their engagement pics). Erin and I got there at about 8:20 to take pictures of the outside of the church. Then the guys got there at 8:30 and I went over to the changing room to get some pics of them getting ready. Shortly after the ladies got there at 9:15 to get dressed and do their makeup. Erin was over there getting most of the ladies getting ready. Then when i was done with the guys i got some pics of the pre-wedding ritual of the ladies.

.

Then at 10:15 the wedding started and as you will soon hear about, the sun also came out. All was well for the procession. Then as the couple got to the front of the chapel the sun moved just right to land on the bride and not the groom. This either washed out the pics with no detail or made the picture too dark except for the sunny areas. But luckily, some clouds came and i got some great photos of the ceremony.

.

Matt and Tanya then were greeted by bunches of bubbles outside as they got in his Corvette. Then after they had a short drive, they came back to have the post-ceremony pictures taken. Erin and I had fun getting some fun poses but we had some time restrictions with the reception starting at noon. Then we took some pics in the studio type room in which they met and then some pics with the Corvette.

.

The reception went off without a hitch. The good news is that the florist was a friend of Tanya's and liked my work. She said that she would refer people to me since she had no other photographer to refer. I am going to make some business cards and make a portfolio and give them to her to help attract some business. This was great news for Erin and I. But now we are having some trouble with our business name to put on the card. Please leave your suggestions in the comments.

.

Then after the reception, the location pictures were taken around the Embassy Suites (where the reception was). I did some contemporary poses and pictures. I staggered the wedding party on the stairs and then took some pics from one floor up. then i got some final photos of the couple going up in the elevator to their room.

.

This was a great wedding and congratulations to Matt and Tanya.

.

To see the pics click here.

.

Mark Twain 07

For the record, this years family gathering was the hottest EVER! The temperature was at least 100 degrees every day. On Sunday when we left, the thermometer read 106 on the way home. Thank god for the AC in the car.

There were many new things this year:
-Audrey
-Meg
-Blake
-No Greg H
-Skeet shooting
-Bryan's new look (see pics)
-deep fried turkey
-i was in charge of the family pic
-Mojitos
-A drinking age Bryan
-Catch Phrase

Skeet shooting was so much fun. Dad brought his two shotguns to the lake and he made reservations for Saturday morning for Uncle Leo's birthday. But unfortunately Uncle Leo did not hit one clay bird. Jean hit one, Blake hit four, Ted hit 5, I hit 8 and the winner: Dad shot 9. He hit the last one to break the tie. I had a blast (literally). While we were shooting, the rest of the guys went golfing and the girls went antiquing. When everyone returned, we cooled off at the pool. We got back in time to make the water balloons and have the 'toss right after Jean was done deep frying the turkey. We had repeat winners of Ted and Doris. We then hung out until the babies were asleep and we were able to eat dinner.

That night i got out the camera and flashes and played around with Anne, Kate, Bryan, Erin & I. Then i let Kate play around with the camera and she had fun, then it was passed off to me again and i saw Bryan all posed so i got some good shots of him. Then Anne got the camera and took pics of Kate flossing and brushing her teeth. Sarah & Blake had enough of the camera and then left the room. Then we rapped it up with Erin & I posing.

The next morning i was in charge of the family picture. I quickly and efficiently got all the groups done. I will add those pics and more to the album shortly. Afterwards Erin & I quickly packed before it got too hot. Then we hung out the the family until about noon. Then we headed home. This was yet another awesome weekend at the Mark Twain Lake.

See the pictures here.
.

An afternoon at the Zoo

Saturday was a nice day to go out. So first thing in the morning i was thinking i would call up my cousin Kate and see if she wanted to go to the zoo. I looked up the time the zoo closes and other details on the Internet. But i remembered i had homework and started to do that and did not pursue the zoo any further. Then around four o'clock my friend/coworker Dan called and asked if i wanted to go to the zoo. I quickly finished the last bit of homework so i could go.

I met Dan at his apartment and met his Friend Jamee. We went to the zoo and figured we wanted to see the giraffes, apes, elephants and cats. Half way through the Wild Country area of the zoo we met up with Leana (sorry if i misspelled any names, Dan told me the spellings). Then we were able to see the apes and to our enjoyment we stumbled on some pictures of the apes. We had some fun by trying to replicate the expression of the apes. Then as time wound down to closing, we quickly went off to see the giraffes and bears before closing. Almost all the animals were out and visible - a great time to go to the zoo.

Then we walked to our cars and then tossed a Frisbee around for about half an hour. The girls wanted some ice cream and i suggested Ted Drewes since it was near Erin's place and i was meeting her after she got back from the Fox with her mom. We enjoyed some great frozen custard and tunes from a street singer who was playing the harmonica, guitar AND singing. We ended the night by looking at our pictures and laughing at the apes pictures.

See my pictures here.
.