Aiming higher

The foyer....

So...  For the longest time, my foyer looked like this.

 Notice it?  That one frame?  Mocking me.  The unfinished project that I just never seemed to get to?  It was embarassing.  I joked with people that this was the frame waiting for their photo....  Not funny.

 Well.  After shaming myself every time I'd go past it, I FINALLY stepped up and actually did something about it.  Now the foyer has all new photos and all new mats and best of all....

All nine frames have photos in them.  It's about time!!!  Geeeesh!!!!  As ridiculous as it sounds, I am so proud of myself for this small accomplishment.  Now...  I'll go finish something else in this house.  :)

Life

Life...

I've been meaning to write this post for quite some time but honestly...  it's a pretty intimidating one to write.  So I did what lots of normal people do.  I procrastinated.  But lately, things keep happening that urge me to write this...  And over the last year of my life, this lesson has surrounded me.  It's the kind of lesson only maturity and difficulty in life can teach.

There are no promises in life.  You can't take a single person, moment in life or relationship with a loved one for granted.  

When we're young, we assume our parents will always be there.  We see them as these strong and invincible pillars of our life.  Then, we watch them age and in my case...  I watched my dad wither away battling a nasty disease until finally, the disease won and my dad was gone.

We have best friends...   You look at your best friend and you think this person is going to be my friend when I'm old and gray.  She'll always be there for me.  She'll always have my back.  You think you'll raise heck in the nursing home together.  You think the friendship is unbreakable.  But...  life happens.  sometimes you grow apart or you go to different schools or move to different parts of the country or maybe an argument tears you apart but it happens.

We have boyfriends and girlfriends.  We think they are the love of our life but they turn out to be someone on the road to someone else.  We get married.  We hold hands and we promise to love each other until 'death do us part' but sometimes...  the death referred to is the death of the relationship.

When we're younger, we never think of our own mortality.  We think we'll always be whole and healthy until we grow old enough or mature enough to realize that our bodies are breakable.  Our knees aren't as strong as they once were or our eyesight begins to fade.  And we know...  we're getting older.

I think one of the times in life that this lesson came into sharp focus was when I was pregnant after Aidan.  I took for granted that being pregnant automatically meant I was going to have a baby.  Only...  I didn't get to the baby part.  That sweet little life force that I was so excited to meet and hold never got to be born.  I miscarried...  Then, I miscarried again.  Those losses made my pregnancy with Devin so much more precious.  When I finally got to hold her it was the most magical moment.  I knew how precious her life was.  How precious life is for all of us. If only I could ALWAYS carry that feeling....  but like most people I eased back into the routine of life, the routine of taking life for granted until the next time life shakes me up and once again reminds me that life is precious and needs to cherished.

Gia did that for me.

Gianna's parents are one of my favorite couples.  Michelle and Will came to meet me and I adored them from the start.  Will was talking of his new job adventure.  They were moving to England right after the wedding and they'd start their life together there.  Michelle beamed at him as he talked.  They are the kind of couple you always want to be around.  There's lots of laughter.  On a visit home, I got to sit with Michelle for a bit.  We talked of how they wanted to started a family.  When I told her she was sitting on a couch that had been sat on by many former brides who morphed into expectant moms, Michelle wiggled her behind into the couch and said "C'mon couch!"  We laughed so hard!

A short time later, I got a simple email that said only "The couch worked."  More happy laughter!  Then I heard that sweet Gia was born.  By this time, the family was in Atlanta so not everyone got to meet her.  But I did.  On a visit home for Christmas, we took some wonderful photos of this absolutely darling baby girl.  I teased Will about being wrapped around such a tiny finger.  I loved watching Michelle giggle with her baby girl.  I got to hold her and play with her and Andy got to do his favorite baby activity, rub her sweet little feet.  It was Christmastime and I was so busy, I forgot to blog about our session.  I kept meaning to but just never seemed to do it.  It stayed on my to do list for months...

About six months later, I was told that Gia had passed away.  I went to the funeral home and did all I know how to do.  I gave big hugs.  Since then, Michelle and I have emailed a few times.   We've talked about how hard it is and that there really are not words that work at a time like this.  One of the things Michelle said that has really stuck with me is that people don't talk about Gia anymore.  Out of fear of causing more pain, people stopped talking about this little person who brought so much JOY in her short life.  I told Michelle I was kind of guilty of that.  I still wanted to blog about her but wasn't sure it was the right thing to do.  She told me "You are welcome to blog about her, as I know she has affected your life as well and I know you'll be honorable."  But, out of fear of not doing it right, I procrastinated.


Then, yesterday, a very dear woman I love very very much had a really difficult surgery (the surgery went as well as can be expected) and it all came into focus for me.  There are no promises in life.  You can't take a single person, moment in life or relationship with a loved one for granted.   It's difficult to live that way every day but today at least....  Try.  Honor Gia.  Honor the people you've loved and lost.

Tell the people you love just how very much you love them.  Reach out to heal a wounded relationship (even if it means risking rejection).  Love someone just as they are...  even if you can't have a relationship with them.  Forgive an old would because you are a warm and loving person.  Recognize your own imperfections and love yourself anyway as you work to fix them, to become a better you.   Then tonight as you lay down to sleep, make a mental note to try and do it all again tomorrow.  Who knows...  Maybe we can all make it a habit.

Just listen to what Michelle said to me in one of our emails ...  "Without our families and love we are nothing and have nothing. Life is love love love.  When I ask myself "why?" "why this existence?", "why are we born just to die later and be forgotten?", the only answer I can think of is love. To bring love into this world is the only original thing any of us can do. This is our purpose. "  Michelle, I couldn't have said it better.  


What touches my heart most of all is that Michelle wrote this to me when Andy and I were preparing to renew our vows.  She had no way of knowing what life held in store for her but her words were prophetic.  Take a moment to really think about that.  I get goose bumps every single time....  


Michelle, much love to you and Will always!!!  And I pray that I was honorable and did your beautiful baby girl justice.  

L.A.

Yesterday, I told you all about my visit, photo shoot with Cristy and Aaron on Saturday. I finished up with an obligatory sunset photo on the beach.

On Sunday morning, we woke up and decided to do the 5 cent tour of LA. One of the first things we saw was the statue of Saint Monica.

I had to laugh when I looked her up. She's the patron saint of: abuse victims, alcoholics, difficult marriages, disappointing children, housewives, mothers, victims of adultery, widows, and more... In other words, she's the patron saint of EVERY soap opera character who ever lived! This woman is a hard worker!

Anyway, we headed to LA. We saw the Hollywood sign. I was a little disappointed in that. The only angle we could find to photograph it had a TON of electrical wires in it so I'm still trying to remove those. Ugh!!! We saw what they meant by Hollywood Hills. It was crazy. I think some of those roads were really mountain goat paths .

When we came back down to what felt like normal Earth, we saw Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Governator's hand and footprints. We hit the Walk of Fame. And strolled by the Kodak Theater where the Oscars are every year. I don't want to ruin it for anyone but I'll just say that it wasn't as glamorous as I expected.

After our quickie tour of LA, we headed over to Vegas to prep for the convention. I am very excited to tell you about all I learned, saw and want to do with my awesome clients! Make it a great day!

Whew!!!

That was amazing!!!! Andy and I went to LA and to Las Vegas. In LA we did a little photo shoot with Cristy and Aaron (photos to come), had dinner and did the mini-tourist version of LA. Then we headed over to Vegas for the WPPI convention.

Yikes. I've been back for a week and I'm still exhausted! We packed a lot into just a few days. Anyway. I wanted to share a few pix w/you and there will be more later.

Our Hotel: The Georgian.

It's a beautiful art deco hotel. The manager, Gene was from Ohio and we loved talking to him. He even bought me a nice beverage. Thanks Gene!!! We had a great time and would love to come back and visit you and your hotel again.

For these photos, I really don't want to get into a political discussion. The war we're in is a very heated topic for a lot of people. When we found this display on the beach, for me, it wasn't about the war but about the true, real people that are giving their lives for this country.

I've never lost anyone I loved in a war. I just can't imagine. I can't help but think about Austin. He's not that much younger than a lot of the people giving their lives. I got very choked up at the thought of it. Look how many crosses there are! Being there was really emotional. It made the war very real for me---and very sad. But... I really love these images, the first one especially.

My white Irish toes in the Pacific Ocean.
And a pretty palm tree. This is just a small sampling. More to come! Including photos of Cristy and Aaron's West Coast e-session!

The view

Those of you who have seen my 70's decor have probably wondered what possessed me to buy this house AND have the nerve to call it my dream house. Well. This is what I see when I look out the windows.

I love the view!

By the way, if I haven't said it lately.... Thank you for reading, commenting, subscribing, etc... It really means a lot that you are interested in what's going on with my business and my life. Beause of you, this is my 100th post! I'm kind of stoked about that. If you see things you like here, please share the blog with friends and family. I'd love to increase readership in '08! Thanks again!

dk

Welcome to the library.

Now most moms would go to the ends of the Earth for their kids. Last night, I felt like I really DID go to the ends.... Austin is in the Drama Club at Scioto High School. They are currently putting on Beauty and the Beast. The show is Feb. 22nd, 23rd & 24th as well as Feb. 28th, 29th, and March 1st. (For exact dates, times and ticket information send an email to Sciotodramaclub@yahoo.com )

At any rate, set building was a bit behind so I stepped in to help. I was asked to create the library. I had some advanced art in high school but since then, I've only used a paint brush as a home decorating tool. I started at about 9:30 pm and finished at about 3:30 am doing two different walls of books. The photo above is one of the "flats" I made. I'm kind of proud of it so I took a picture with my phone. I had a lot of fun but... those were some rough hours. I much prefer to be in my bed by midnight. Have a great weekend.

Donna

Valentine's Day was a big day here. There were lovely presents and some pretty tulips (I had a white tulip wedding bouquet.) But. The big thing of the day was from Miss Devin. She watched big brother Aidan signing his name on the Valentines for his classmates and wanted to do the same.

So. I wrote her name in my notebook and let her copy it. LOOK!!! She did such a great job! She's not even 4 years old yet.

And yes. You are allowed to make fun of me for my inspirational notebook. ; ) I have this weird attraction to all things "notebook and pens". It must go back to when my mom would take us shopping for school supplies. I just LOVE journals and fun pens. Anyway. Andy got it from Nationwide and knew I'd put it to good use.


And. Here's a little taste of spring in the form of a tulip. Have a great day! It's supposed to be warm tomorrow. Spring is coming soon------isn't it? Tell me it is!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just snapped......


I couldn't take it any more. I looked at my Brady Bunch kitchen and I just snapped!


Andy and I have started to look into a kitchen re-do. But... it's more money than we thought so for now we have to live with Carol Brady---sort of. After I realized I couldn't have the kitchen of my dreams yet, I decided to have the "it's ok for now" kitchen.


I went in to see if that icky striped wallpaper would be hard to peel off. I pulled a little corner and it came off easily. I wondered if that was a fluke or not since every other time I've had to peel wallpaper it was a nightmare, so I peeled a little more. Before I knew it, all the wallpaper was in a pile at my feet. Woo Hoo! No more icky stripes. Then it hit me. More yellow was underneath. Ugh.


So... I decided I would paint. I painted the walls a nice, neutral khaki color. Oh. Nice clean walls made my old brown cabinets look really awful. So.... Out came the white paint. Fresh paint made our handles look disgusting. So... Back to Home Depot for new handles. Ok. So my little moment of wondering "what if" has turned into a full out project. I'm midway along. I think it's really shaping up. What do you think?


I haven't been able to decide if I'm working on photos between coats of paint or painting between photo jobs. ; ) I'm not gonna lie. I need encouragement. I'm running out of steam. It's a lot bigger project than I expected but I'm trying to power through it in the next few days. Wish me luck! Here's a little before and "almost" after action for you.

Before... (See tiny Dev?)

Almost After....Before.....Almost After...

Too funny!!!

Now I admit that my sense of humor can be a little odd at times but this totally struck me as funny. I went to Kroger this morning to get my morning dose of suburban wife crack a/k/a Starbucks. I strolled over to the magazine section for a copy of The Knot. (I keep debating on whether or not I should advertise with them too or just stick with Columbus Bride.)

Anyway. I pick up my magazine and head to the checkout. The scanner scans the magazine and up pops the word "comic". Not magazine. Not "Knot magazine." Comic. I thought that was pretty darn funny. Someone in Kroger's computer department has a rotten and possibly bitter sense of humor.

Anyway. Yesterday was a good day. I received a contract in the mail from Carly and Michael for their wedding. YAY!!! They're getting married in July at The Four Seasons. I met them at Mike's sister's wedding 7-7-07. I'm really looking forward to their big day. Thanks for picking me!

And... I heard from another couple that wants to book for April 26th. Plus, it's the season for brides and grooms. I don't have many summer Saturdays left and the fall is starting to fill quickly as well. If you think you want to use me, please contact me soon so I don't get booked for your date. ; ) Have a great day!

dk

Happy Birthday to me.....

So... Today is a pretty big day. It's my birthday. No.... you don't have to send presents and I'm not trying to fish for greetings either. Just sharing the news that I made it through another year.

I thought I'd try something. Since I'm 41 today (yup. I'm THAT old), I Googled "41" and "forty one" for images. Here are my two favorite images from the first page. I did not allow myself to go digging for images. It was tempting, though. This photo comes from http://www.jayski.com/ I have to be honest, I'm not a Nascar fan but I liked the breast cancer "branding" on this car. And pink is always nice too.

The other photo, though..... I LOVE!!!!

It is totally a photo I would have taken. It's taken from a blog. Curtis Edmonds is trying to walk 400 miles before he turns 40. Good luck and thanks for posting such a great photo. Wish I could buy it. Have a great day everybody.

dk

Happy New Year

As I've said before, I love the fresh start feeling. New Year's Day is the biggest fresh start of all. The possibilities for 2008 are endless. Imagine your best year ever and go for it!!!

For dk, 2008 is really looking to be a great year. So far, we have 22 fabulous couples who we'll be sharing our time with. I'm looking forward to each and every wedding. We've got some great locations to work with too. I know it will be incredible. I can't wait to share images from these events with all of you.

This coming weekend is the big bridal show for Columbus at Vets Memorial. I always love meeting girls and hearing their "how we met" and "how he proposed" stories. I'm always so excited for all of you. After all, a wedding is a fresh start too!

At any rate, I've gotten my '08 brochures back. I want to share the cover photos with you. Congratulations to all of you pictured on the cover: Sara, Ben, Rick and Stephanie's "reservoir dog" wedding party, Amber and Larry, Brittany and Jason, Katie and Marc, Carrie and Nasser, Megan and JT, Melissa and Jason and Micki's bouquet. Megan is also gracing the back cover.

It was sooooo hard to choose. I could have made 10 completely different covers, I swear. But... Here's where I ended up. I hope you like it. Have a great '08!

dk

(photo is part of Time Magazine's Santa series photos)

Merry Christmas!

Hope you were able to enjoy the holiday with your loved ones. We did---not exactly as planned, though. Saturday for my family gathering, I was sick. I started to feel better on Sunday when Devin started feeling yucky. Then Andy got sick. Poor guy. He got the worst of it. So... Cincinnati with Andy's family was postponed until we're all healthy. We stayed home and our Christmas dinner was macaroni and cheese. It wasn't exactly a greeting card holiday but it was peaceful (except for my trip to CVS to get Andy's prescription). Tee hee. Hope your holiday was everything you hoped it would be.

10 years ago today, I went on a first date that changed my life....

OK. I started to write this story and it felt like the beginning of an autobiography. So... I'll just give you the short version (assuming a chatty chick like me can keep it simple). Andy worked at Nationwide with my best friend Laura. She introduced us. Technically, I'd say we met at least a half dozen times at various functions but the official time was on a softball field. I was dog-sitting and brought my friend's labrador with me to watch the game. Sadly, Andy noticed the dog. ; ) We met again at a pool party and a Halloween party. But, it wasn't until December that we had our first date.

I know we both needed prodding from our friends. I was content at that point to be a divorced, single mom. If it weren't for Laura, Stacy and Lynn, we may never have gone out. The three of them really "encouraged" us to go out on a date. I remember Laura telling me I should go out with Andy because he was a nice guy who had "pretty eyes."

When Lynn and Stacy finally convinced Andy to ask me and Laura convinced me to go, we went to Gibby's on Riverside (LaTavola now). I remember we ate crab cakes. I remember being nervous. If you ask Andy, I talked a mile a minute and he couldn't get a word in. Then we went to see what turned out to be a really bad movie.

Here we are ten years later. A lot of life has passed in those years. We got married and had two kids. We bought our first house then moved to this one. We got the studio on High St. then gave up the studio on High St. because working from home was better for the family. We had two very sad miscarriages and the worst of all, we lost my step-dad, Tommy. Good times and bad. Happy Anniversary Andy. Thanks for being with me through the good and the bad. I'm very grateful for you and the positive things you bring to our life together.

Christmas is coming!!!! Please order all photographs you would like to have by December 8th.



Santa Claus and his wife made their annual Dublin appearance last night & it really made me realize how little time is left until the holiday. So... Get those orders in asap! Thanks.



dk

OK. OK. OK.


I've not posted any gift ideas in a few days. I got sidetracked by the very busy holiday weekend. After that zaniness, I could use some R & R. (I know. It's not coming for me until after the bridal show in January.) But... Here's a little spa in a gift basket.

It contains: Bath/Shower Gel, Bath Sea Salts , Nourishing Hand/Body Lotion, Healing Whipped Shea Butter, Massage/Body Oil, Aromatherapy Soap, Herbal Bath Teas, Spa Towel, Exfoliating Bath Glove, Pumice Stone, Tension Relieving Wood Massager, Aromatherapy Candle, Wellness CD, - Spa Fragrance Therapy - Incense Set and it's all packaged in a beautiful bamboo tray. It retails for $125 from Blissful Balance.

On a personal note, I received some very sad news. I've been photographing Meadow Park Children's Center for many years and it's where my Aidan and Devin currently go to school. Mr. Walter has been a janitor there for many years and I just learned of his passing. Mr. Walter was a kind and gentle person who always had a smile on his face. He was so wonderful to all the children at the school. I know my kids love him very much and will miss him dearly. I would like to offer his family my sympathy and prayers during this difficult time.

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I spent the day at home for a change. It was quiet (except for my little darlings). Andy cooked the turkey and I took care of the rest. Mashed potatoes, broccoli cheese casserole, cranberry stuff and rolls. When feeding a bunch of people, I'd make a lot of different dishes but with just the 5 of us, we kept it pretty simple.

I put a little thought into today's gift idea. A whole day with family can be stressful even though you love them. And... you eat yourself into next week. So... What better than yoga? A little exercise, a lot of relaxation and it's all good. Get the dvd at Gaiam for $15.00.

At $13.57 on Amazon, this book is a great, inexpensive gift. I actually bought this book for myself. It's a book that people always tend to pick up when they see it. I think most people love the idea of travelling to exotic places. The problem is most people don't get the opportunity to actually do it. So... Give the gift of a little inspiration. Pack your bags and head to whatever is on page 373 (Timbuktu). Or if local travel is more your speed, there is a US and Canada version as well.

Don't forget. Email me your most creative gift ideas.

dk

11.20.07


35 days to Christmas.


With only 35 days until Christmas, one's mind automatically turns to gifts. What should I give my mom? my best friends? my kids? What will Santa bring? It's a lot to think about. So... I am going to TRY to post a gift idea every day between now and the holiday. Some BIG, some small: I hope to post gifts of every size.


And... since I have been a good little photographer who has been working very hard, I'm starting with the biggest thing on my wish list: the new Nikon d300.

It hasn't been released yet but I am very anxious to get one in my hot little hands! This camera has a feature that I think is incredible. It cleans itself!!!!!! If only I could teach my kids that cool trick. ; ) It also allows me to take photos in darker conditions. That is a great feature for wedding photography. I'm looking to do more photos with only the light that's already in the room. This camera will help me with that.

OK. I just got an idea. A contest. Email me with your most creative gift idea under $50. I need at least 25 entries (preferably from 25 different people). I'll pick the top 5 and post them on Sunday. Then, you all can vote for your favorite. The winner will receive a $15 Starbucks gift card. This is a great opportunity to share this blog with a lot of people. Let's see how many people we can get involved! Have a great day.

dk

So little time....

OK. There are only 36 days to Christmas. Yikes. It is fast approaching. If you couldn't tell by the lack of blog entries, I'm spending most of my time taking care of client orders. So sorry for so few postings lately. I did manage to take a day off not too long ago to enjoy the company of my family. It was so much fun. Now, why did I choose this day to take time off? It was Andy's birthday and I'd have gotten in trouble if I worked. ; )

So. Here's some photos. Di (the sister God gave me when I got to college) and James a/k/a JB. He was checking out my camera and snapped a few pics so I had to include one here and give him credit. His initials looks almost as good as mine. ; ) Anyway. I think he did a pretty good job.