a drawer full of Grayson

Oh my its late. But here I sit doing a little editing. I had a nap and a few sodas today so I’m good. I just started thinking about all of the work I had to do and wanted to get some done.

The disarray of the house is really starting to get to me. Just ask Shane. I don’t think I was so fun to be around tonight. As much as I tell myself it will all get done and I can’t expect it to be all put away right away, it is driving me nuts. I need like a week of no work and no monkey pants to get things in order and that is not going to happen so I just need to shut up about it and enjoy life here in this new place.

Tomorrow is a sad day because Shane’s night law classes start up again. Boo. That means less help around here, long days with monkey, and some lonely nights. This time next year it will be all over though. The end is in sight.

The soda is wearing off so I must go. But before I do this one is for you Jodie. This is my favorite at first glance. He’s adorable.

pimpin

Well, I am currently online in my own house. Its a miracle. But sadly its not over yet. We still have to ditch Charter and go with AT&T this week. If you have emailed me and I haven’t gotten back to you, please don’t hate me. I’ll get back to you soon.

I had a photo shoot with Jodie and her new baby this morning. Then after that I got to feeling a bit like poo so I layed low while Monkey pants and Shane did fun things together. The house is coming along slowly. We really didn’t get too much done this week. We did pimp out our closet though. Shane and I have a closet to share but it was just a big empty space so we got some shelving and stuff and now we are set. This, I have decided, means I am officially old. When you are young you pimp your ride, or your locker or something. When you are old you pimp your closet. I'm not even sure I should be allowed to say the word pimp.

I spend a lot of time staring here. Staring at all of the stuff that needs to be put away or hung up and staring at my computer at all of the photos that need editing. Its really overwhelming so I just stare because its hard to know where to start.

I did get some editing done this week though. Fahrenbachers and Costellos stay tuned. I am uploading your photos for viewing as I write. And I started editing the wedding I shot last weekend. Here are my 2 favorites so far... Oh that little face! She was one of the flower girls. And this is Sarah, the bride. I made her stand in front of this window for a probably annoying amount of time trying to get the perfect shot. I love this one.

Its way past my bedtime. Goodnight!

Charter

Dear Cable man,

You are a very nice man and I can tell by your work boots that you mean business. It appears that you are working fervently on getting us cable and internet, but you have been here two days in a row and there is none. Also, I waited around for you all day but you came in the evening. You see 9:00 am is not the same thing as 6:00 pm if you can believe it. Have you ever been stuck inside monkey wrangling all day long? You would not like it. Please I beg of you, try to find a taller ladder and wrap this deal up.

Mrs. Duggin

The Jens

This weekend was a busy one. Full of photography, fun with monkey pants and Shane, and lots of unpacking.

I shot a wedding on Friday night (sneak peek coming tomorrow) with my friend Jen Wiemer. Jen is a friend from when I used to live in K-ville. She just graduated from Truman with a degree in art this spring. So, while she's figuring out what is next for her I snagged her up to be my wedding photography assistant. She drives in from Columbia to help me out. And help she does. She is a great photographer and keeps me calm in the midst of wedding chaos. She also has a way of getting hit on by guys at the receptions, but thats a different story. If you are in the Columbia, Mo area and are looking for a photographer or graphic designer check her out http://www.jenniferwiemer.com .

The other Jen is Jen Hahn. Jen is my friend and now x-neighbor. Boy do I miss having here two doors down. What am I going to do when I need to borrow an egg? Anyway, she is an incredibly talented artist. If you haven't already seen her photo announcements on my site check them out.
She used to work for a well known St. Louis artist and now she is out on her own. And she should be because her stuff is amazing.

the adventures of bean and nug

This is Bean and her friend Nug. Or Monkey and her friend Nugget which ever you prefer. Nugget is my friend Beth's little boy, his real name is Weston and he is the famous baseball glove baby. I'm so glad I grabbed that glove at the last second on my way to their house.He's chunked up quite a bit since then, hence the new nickname.

Anyway Beth and I are trading kids a few days a week so we can get work done or run errands, or take a shower like normal people. Beth is also my new name collage assembler extrordinare. I have been getting so many sign orders that I was in over my head and Beth wanted a side job so she could be with nug and make a little dough. So, she is my new independent contractor. If you own a small business then you know what I mean.

I imagine that Bean and nug will have many adventures together in the days to come. Today they decided to have screechfest 2008 while we tried to box up some collages to ship out. This also involved Bean trying to smother Nug with a pillow and Nug spitting up chunky barf style all over the wood floor. Beth and I just looked at each other like remember the old days when we used to paint eachothers toe nails and go to Target just for fun? Sigh.

Somehow we got some stuff done and signs are coming to you if you ordered one!

woops

Oh my gosh. Last night when I got home from the coffee shop I realized that I forgot to mention some really important people that helped us with the move. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the friends from our church! You were so helpful with lots of helping hands, welcoming words, and yummy food (thanks Edwards!). And thanks to little Eliot for moving that bucket for us. And a special thanks to Frank. We are so frankful for the moving hookups! I didn't forget all you guys did. I think I was just a little delirious.

Today I headed to the park for a little exercise first thing. It felt good to get out and I love the park near us and love the fact that it is 1 block away! That means I have no excuse not to exercise. Crap.

Then I pawned Marlie off and got some stuff done around here. Sorry Bean! But, I unpacked your room so you can't be mad at me.

I have a wedding to shoot on Friday so I need to gear up for that tomorrow.

And now, bed time. Good night!

6 days

Oh man, this may be a long post so grab a drink and put your feet up. We still don’t have internet at the new place so who knows when I’ll be back here. So much has happened in the last 6 days that I can’t even sum it up. There were boxes, and there was rain, and there was a call to the police and there was a leak and there is a hole in our bathroom. But there was also wonderful movers, a beautiful house, a new washer and dryer that sings songs when it’s done, a monkey who loves to run in her new space, a supportive family helping, a husband that is always optimistic, and faith that this will all work out. Maybe God is just reminding me that it isn’t about the big place, and the things, but about my little family and sticking together? OK God, I get it now. Really, no more surprises OK?

Moving on…

Happy Belated Father’s Day Shane! He kinda got the shaft this year with all of the crazyness. But man I love that guy. I love the way Marlie laughs at him. I gave him this photo framed for his gift. The second I took it a few months ago I knew it would be his Father’s Day present.

Believe it or not I have had 2 photo shoots since we moved. WHAT? That seems nuts and it is nuts, but its true. Here is a sneak peak of the Fehrenbacher family shoot. Such a sweet family…

And yesterday I had my first shoot in my new studio space! This little man, Colin, was just a week or so old when he came for a visit.

And lastly, today I was feeling a tad down and worn out from all the house issues and Marlie was looking at me like enough with the sad face mom. So, I got out the crayons and paper for Marlie for the first time and let her go to town and then I got the camera out. Yes, I realize that she should have been playing with crayons by now I just kept forgetting to get some. And yes I realize I am artsy so I should have things like crayons around. My MIL got her some finally. Isn’t she the cutest? I put her little table and a few other toys in the studio and it makes for some great photo ops of her. This is her classic "oh no, she's got the camera out again" look.

Alright, thats all I got. I'll try to pop in the next few days. I said that last time didn't I? Well I said try.

Goodbye Odell

Today is moving day. The movers are packing things up as I type. This has been such a great house for us and has so many wonderful memories. This was the first house we owned. The first place I had a work space to grow my business. This is where one night while talking in bed we decided Shane would go back to law school. Most importantly this is where we had our first baby.

It makes me tear up to look at Marlie's empty room. I remember being so pregnant and painting her monogram on the wall. Wondering what she would look like? how long would this be her room? And imagining reading books in the corner chair. Why does life have to go so fast?

I was getting pretty sad last night about leaving and Shane said "Erin, this is what life is about. We have had a great time here and we will in the new place too. Don't be scared because you aren't alone. I'll take care of you and Marlie and we'll have so much fun together." I could imagine God was saying the exact same thing to me.

I may not have internet for a while because you know how that goes when you move. But, I'll try and pop in with a post here and there. On to the next adventure, here we go!

Binghams and Bean

Ok, so I finally learned how to add new photos to the recent gallery on my website. I added an album from the Bingham wedding so go there if you want to check out more photos.

Today was full of running around getting errands done and signing papers. But also, a nice little girls lunch with my mom and Butter Bean, a chat with friends, and a going away drink with the neighbors tonight. I still can't believe we are moving. Well, until I look at all of the work I have left to do, then I remember. I'm so tired I can't think of much else to say. Here is a photo of Bean when she was a tiny baby and you can see how she got the nickname. A little tiny green bundle of a bean. She liked to stick that one leg out though. Like when you are in bed and your scared so you want to be all under the covers but then its too hot under there so you sacrifice one leg to the monsters to keep cool. What? That's just me?

boxes schmoxes

We are moving in t-minus 4 days. Holy cow we are not ready. The house is full of boxes and things waiting for boxes and things that don't exactly fit in boxes. I mean what the heck is all this crap? Marlie is enjoying herself though. She loves to come in behind me and unpack the box that I just packed. Seriously it took me forever to pack up her room cuz that little stinker kept pulling all of her toys and clothes out before I could tape the box. Now, don't worry I left some toys out for her to play with. But, poor little munchkin she is probably pretty confused about what is going on. I have a couple of errands to run and more packing to do. I hear a monkey screeching instead of sleeping so I better go!

Weddings

In the past few years I have photographed a handful of weddings each year. I have never really advertised that I do weddings until now and always just got jobs by referral. But, I have decided to try and do more this year. SO HERE’S THE DEAL. If you refer someone to me that decides to use me as their wedding photographer then you my friend GET A FREE PHOTO SHOOT AND DIGITAL PROOFS. That’s right. Refer someone and get a free one hour shoot of up to 5 people and the digital proofs. So start thinking of some happy couples that you know and spread the word. Click here to view my wedding photography prices.

I’m not gonna lie, the actual wedding day is stressful for me. It’s a long day, I want to get every shot, and people are generally sick of me taking their picture before the night is through and they start giving me the stink eye. But, what I love is getting home and uploading my photos. Its like Christmas. I get so excited when I see the great shots I got and look forward to getting them edited and to the couple because I know they’ll love them. So last night was like Christmas only like a really long late tired Christmas. I was up to the wee hours of the morning, but I got my editing done.

I had the honor of photographing Katie and Brandon’s wedding last month. Such a cute couple. Here are some of my favorite shots. They are both so photogenic it is hard to choose. Isn't she beautiful? Her eyes are amazing. If you know Katie and Brandon and know their event code click here to view all of their photos.This one of the girls is one of my favorite shots ever. I love it!

Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Punkin butt and I have a lot of packing to do today. And I'm gonna need some serious caffeine to make that happen. Happy Friday!

Terri Stipo

Hello all. Today was a kick butt sort of day. I got so much done and it feels great. Went grocery shopping, finished name collages, packed a bunch, bought more baby gates, and even managed to take a shower! And now for my next trick I will finish editing the Kerber/Bingham wedding tonight.

But first, I want to tell you about Terri Stipanovich. I met Terri through church and she has hired me over the years to do lots of different projects. Family portrait, murals, etc. Here is a photo from the latest shoot I did of her sweet family...

Thats right, she is a mom of 6. Thats amazing if you ask me. And now Terri is doing something else pretty amazing. She has started her own business making photo slide shows with music for people. You know, the kind that would be great for weddings, graduations, birthday parties or for a gift. Now I have seen my share of DVD slideshows and Terri's are really good. Check out her website to see some examples and for her contact info.

I'm off to edit!

This is going to be long, get comfy people. But first, look at this.

I love it when she sticks her tongue out like that. I want to bite her cheeks. In fact the other day I took a small nibble. You know what she did? She bit me on my cheek. HARD. What was I supposed to do tell her not to bite? Lesson learned.

I am feeling a tad bit overwhelmed today. I am up to my eyeballs in work since I was gone last week. And we are moving a week from tomorrow. Now don’t get me wrong, I am very excited about this move, just overwhelmed at this point.

If you would have asked me 6 months ago if we would move soon I would have said “Heck no, Shane has one more year left of law school and we have a puddin pop who is keeping us busy these days.” Well, then I started dreaming about a place after I saw Audrey Woulard’s website. A magical place with a light filled space that I could use for a natural light studio like she has. This place would also be in an urban environment so I could take awesome photos with in the shadows of tall interesting buildings. Oh, and would also be near a park so that I could take green parky type photos. AND it would be a great place for our little family to live. I told Shane about my dream and he being a dreamer indulged me. We talked about this area of St. Louis called Lafayette Square. An awesome community in the middle of a major restoration for our magical place.

Then our home church announced that a group of people would be planting a new church in that area. Hmm, we thought, is God nudging us in that direction? So, we started praying about it and casually looking at places in that area. Just trying to gauge if this is where God wanted us and if a place that met our needs for our family and my business was even plausible. We found a few places that had potential but they all fell through. But we still felt led to keep searching. I have to confess that I was getting a little annoyed. God why are you taking us on a roller coaster ride? If you want us there just get us there faster.

Then one day there it was. We happened upon it while looking at other places. The more we talked about it the more obvious it was that it was perfect. It has a great light filled room for a studio and still has room for a monkey to run. It has been totally rehabbed unlike some of the other places we were looking at. It has the great urban setting I wanted. We get to be a part of an awesome church plant in the community. And did I mention it is ½ block from the park? Unbelievable.

I’m still in shock really. Its been so up and down that I don’t think I really believe it until we are moved in. I don’t know why I’m so surprised. We had been praying for this place. Its like I didn’t think God could ever really give us something so good. Me of little faith.

So, once we get in there I’ll post some pics. Can I tell you a secret though? I’m kinda terrified. I mean, its one thing to dream and another thing to actually do it. Sometimes I freak out and think “What if no one comes to my studio? And what if I decide want to have more kids and not do so much photography? And what if I really stink at this and people are just too nice to tell me?”

So, I have to take a deep breathe and just be thankful. Thankful for the opportunities God has given me. For my business continuing to grow and change. And for a dream coming true.

Tonight my wonderful friend Lauren came and helped me pack and so I feel like I can breathe a little. There is no way I can get any done during the day as Monkey Pants has decided to live attached to my leg. And now, editing, editing, editing. Don’t let them bed bugs bite people.

photog girls

My friend Jodie who is also a photographer came up with an idea for a kind of girl photogs night out. So out we went. Jodie, her friend Emily and me. Last month, I think, we went and took some fun photos at the grafitti wall downtown and then out to dinner to chat about photography, our babies, and life. When I took these photos I was thinking man if I had a blog I could post these. So here are some of my favorites.

Here’s Emily. Check out her blog. She has a great tutorial on using digital frames with photos.

And here’s Jodie. She has a blog too. Actually she is the one who convinced me to have my own. She is super talented and about to have a baby any second.
And the three of us together. Am I really that short? I must be standing in a hole or something right? Lets just pretend.What a great idea. We need a name though. Any suggestions?

Today I had a sitter for a while and got a little work done. I hated having to have Marlie with a sitter today since I just got back last night. But, I have a lot of work to do. A wedding to finish editing by the end of the week. And packing to do. We are moving next week. Did I mention that? Its bonkers, but exciting. I'll talk about the details tomorrow. I'm off to edit!

back home

Shane and I had a great time in Oregon. Its absolutely beautiful there. Why do people live in Missouri again? Here’s me jumping for joy that we are on vacation.

Our first full day there we got a little adventurous. Here is our lunch spot and my dashing husband up on a cliff above the beach.

We took a trail down a ways from this cliff but then the rest of it wash washed away. No fear though, there was a rope. As much as I am not excited about this view I had to post it because it is not everyday I do this sort of thing. Mommying doesn’t usually require rapelling.

It was worth the effort because at the bottom the beach was so cool. The tide was out and we got to walk around and look at all the stuff in the tide pools. It was just the two of us on this big beach with tons of little crawly beach creatures. This was when we both admitted that we are secretly scared of sea crustaceans. We had vivid visions of a large star fish making a slurpy type of sound and suddenly attaching itself to our face. When we couldn’t handle the creeps anymore we skedaddled outta there. Well, not so much skedaddled as stared at the rope wondering how we thought we could get back up where we came down. But, we made it.

What else? The hotel was amazing. Not fancy schmancy, but perfect. Soft sheets, a fireplace in our room, a basket of breakfast goodies dropped at the door every morning. Hotel Cannon Beach, I miss you so. Also, there was a nice little fire on the beach and a beautiful sunset.

Being without Marlie was painful at times. I missed her and I kinda forgot how to be me without her if that makes sense. It was good for all of us though. Once I got off the plane I could not get home fast enough to see her. She was happy to see me. Studied me like wait a minute, just where have you been? I am looking forward to squishing her legs all day tomorrow. She’ll be sick of it after the first squish but she’ll humor me.

driftwood

E: Look a piece of cool driftwood. Oh, but it has nails in it.

S: Yeah maybe its from a schooner. Yep, I think its from a schooner.

E: Did you just want to say the word schooner?

S: Maybe.

E: Because we are on the Oregon coast?

S: Maybe.

S: Ah, the mysterious mysteries of the sea.