Tag: photos

Reminiscing

I know most brides want to look at photos like crazy after their wedding. But I am enthralled by the videos of the music from our wedding. If we had a play count for the Ave Maria that my friend sang to start the Mass, I’d be probably close to twenty at this point. And I’ve only had the video since Tuesday night. It’s Thursday night right now. She just sang it so spectacularly and with so much love… it’s hard not to listen to it on repeat… and to play it for everyone I know. (I already played a clip of a practice recording she had sent me the other week for one of my classes… This recording is even better than that.)

I was a little worried when a lot of the photos didn’t turn out. I was very worried when the Zoom sound wasn’t set right, and I found that none of the music had registered on the computer at all, and so the recording of the Mass had no genuine music in it – just blips here and there of random sounds that make it sound like maybe music was playing somewhere in the background… or something? However, I expressed my sadness and frustration and let it go.

And then God blessed me.

My brother truly took to heart that I wanted the music recorded on my man’s phone. I only made him confirm that he would do a recording of the Ave Maria, but had expressed that I truly wanted all the music recorded, if it were at all possible and feasible. And he had made it happen. I was crying in relief watching all the videos he had done. He had basically gotten the entire service that had to do directly with us or with songs. The only one he missed was one that probably wouldn’t have turned out great anyway, as my cousin had been too far from the microphone for it in the first place. ::shrugs

But I accept happily – with immense joy, really – the videos my brother did get. And, as a special bonus blessing, he also got most of the photos I had truly wanted, too. I think my cousins got in their heads about what wedding photography was “supposed” to be, and didn’t remain present to what I had specifically requested. I’d given them a list of about twenty photographs I wanted, and they were extremely open to interpretation, but were clear and easy to make happen. But, like I said, I think they got in their heads and created a stress from pressure that didn’t actually help them do the job requested, and they missed the majority of the opportunities for the photos I had wanted. The few they did get were not of very good quality as a photo – meaning not something high enough resolution etc. that I could print for the wall… which was what I had specifically requested for these photos. So, I was saddened greatly by their photos, and also disappointed. They both do great photography usually, and this was not at their par.

However, my brother seemed to nail it on a good handful of those photos I had requested. Not just the photo framing and contents, but also the quality and resolution. I haven’t gone through them all specifically yet, but I definitely saw a handful that were just what I had hoped to get. So, we might only have five good photos, but we actually have them now, which is beautiful.

Thank you, God, for this unexpected blessing. Help me to release this depression and stress I have carried with me lately, especially around my job and finances. Help me to see clearly and to take my next step in fulfilling your will as I take care of my family. Keep us safe, happy, healthy, and holy with you. Thank you for this life and for my husband. Thank you. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Believe it or not…

I’m still sick. Still with the same nasal infection. I now can barely talk, even with a terrible rasp. And, when I do talk, I almost always break into a terrible coughing fit that not only sounds terrible, but feels dreadful in my throat and in my abdominal muscles. Add on top of that that we had to do photos in the near-freezing weather this morning for karate, barefoot and just in these thin uniforms, for an hour and a half, and you get an even worse situation than anticipated for today. Now, I have volunteering out in the cold all morning tomorrow, from six AM to one PM. I can’t talks I cough a lot, even without the talking attempts, and I feel miserable. Ugh…

God, heal me, please. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

Belly…

And sometimes you have three cones of soft serve with dinner… each, of course: two as an appetizer and one as dessert on the way out.

Ah, the blessings of Mexican restaurants with self-serve soft serve… the fact that it is by the door still cracks me up. We actually went one evening just to see if we could have some soft serve. My man went inside to ask if he could buy the soft serve. He didn’t quite manage the question, but he still ended up with permission to take some ice cream for us both, even though we weren’t dining, and so was just waiting in the car! Score, for sure!

So, having three cones tonight was another bonding event for the both of us. I feel best eating paleo, yet, here we were, scarfing down ice cream on cones and chips with salsa and chile con queso… some Friday nights, it seems, just call for Mexican food and ice cream, it seems.

Afterward, as we walked to the car, eating our third cones, we detoured to the stadium across the way, because there was a game happening. We ended up getting a perfect picture of me with the stadium’s scoreboard, which happens to have my family name on it in big letters (though I’ve no idea why). We’d gone by on the bikes one day, but couldn’t get inside the fence without breaking laws. Tonight, however, the freshman or JV football game inside was free of charge to attend, and you got to walk on the track (only way for visitors to get to the other side) on the scoreboard side(!). Thus the awesome photo! Yippee!

Also, my man, naturally, spilled some ice cream on the bottom hem of his shorts while walking to the stadium. Good thing I grabbed napkins on the way out (specifically with him in mind, mind you)! But, when we were waiting for a play to end, so we wouldn’t be so ridiculously obvious taking photos by the field – keep in mind that we already stood out, our being the only white people in a stadium of mostly black and some Hispanic people – I started helping him identify spills and cleans himself up. Fortunately, the only one on his clothes was the shorts hem spill. It was a small drop. So, I figured a little moisture could go a long way to help out the chocolate spill on the khaki shorts.

However, let’s think about this for a second. We’re standing under the edge of the bleachers, down at the far end where no one is sitting anyway. I lean down and suck on the hem of his shorts a few seconds… meaning that I have my head down quite near his groin, though actually well below it… how bad does that look from a distance?!?!?! So it goes, I suppose… w broth cracked up as we both realized it at about the same time, and I said it allowed. 😛

Anyway… it was a great time, and it, surprisingly, wasn’t too hot. I even had on long sleeves still, and a scarf, from the restaurant. Very decent weather tonight.

Thank you, God, for such a lovely and silly evening and night. Help us to sleep well, please, that we have the energy and attitudes to pursue your will and share your love tomorrow. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Albums

When you’ve gotten behind by a few months in that digital photo album – aka social media – what do you do? Go through and upload everything, just majorly off-date? Or skip it all, and start with whatever happens next?

But, if you take the latter, would you regret it down the line, when searching for photos from the skipped significant events?

Actually, that answers it for me – I most certainly would be upset about it down the line. Post-dated, out-of-time photo posts, here we come!

Post-a-day 2022

Bluebonnets, Baby

Today, we drove out to a small town northwest of Houston in search of bluebonnets. We stopped at a large gas station for a bathroom break after about SJ hour, then turned off on a local road and headed away from the highway. Within minutes, we found a lovely spot along the side of the road, and hopped out for some family portrait fun. And, truly, it was a lot of fun.

My friend and I both loved the photos I’d gotten of them, dog solos included, as well as the few photos she’d snapped of me with the baby – they were gorgeous and adorable photos. And I ended up looking like both a goddess and a mom, which was new and, in its lack of surprise, surprising – it just looked natural and right…, which was awesomely bizarre.

When we first hopped out of the car to get things started

Thank you, God, for that unexpected blessing, and for the wonderful ‘family time’ we had today. In your name, I pray with gratitude. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

I Am Woman

Today, I wore my brand new leather corset. I told a friend about it and how I looked fabulous, and how I hoped that brightened his day a little bit. He replied that, if there are no photos of it, it didn’t actually happen. So, I had my girlfriend take a few photos of me in it, and, not only did I share a photo with the original friend who requested the photos, but I shared them online. And that is really exciting for me, because they are fabulous: even though I am laughing and being silly in the photos themselves, that corset looks amazing on me in them.

Proud of myself for being bold and being proud of who and how I am physically, and for sanding up for that sexy woman I truly am and work to be every day.

Post-a-day 2021

Sunday in the skatepark

My mom and I went to a skatepark yesterday, as a sort of anniversary for when we had gone with my brother and his trick bicycle two years ago, just before the park opened officially. We had done sunrise photos, and they were awesome.

So, now my mom is preparing for a 20-mile ride we’ll do later this month, she rode her bike to the park, we took some fun sunrise photos in the skate park of her on her bike, and then, as I followed her home in the car, I blasted “Eye of the Tiger” with my windows down.

It was a spectacular start to our Sunday.

Check that drop-in! ;P

Post-a-day 2021

Old much?

I went down the rabbit hole of my photos on the computer tonight, and it felt like it lasted forever. Sure, I had a blast from the past in there – and a mostly very good blast -, but I went down that hole deep.

And so, it must be close to two a.m. now, right?

I check the clock. It isn’t even ten fifteen…

Man, I operate on such a different level from where I was a year ago. 😛

Post-a-day 2021

Feel it

Yes, it is feeling uncomfortable in just the right, exciting way. I have trusted the feelings and pulls in a certain direction, and it has been wonderfully terrifying so far, and in many, many ways. I started karate again, because I wanted to be more like Hanna, from the Amazon series. She is utterly bada**, and has major skills on the battlefield, so to speak, and I wanted to train myself for many of those skills (but just have zero desire actually to destroy people). But it was through a series of other minor events that I ended up re-finding karate. I reached out to the head of the organization, and now, only a few months later, I seem to be fully involved in it, and not just by doing karate.

I have become an unofficial official photographer for the organization now, as well as copy-editor/copywriter, and I Love them both. Plus, I’ve been practicing for upper level belt tests, because I’m going Goggins, as I call it, and am planning for the hardest stuff, and doing more training and preparation and effort than is necessary, normal, or, even, reasonable. And I’m loving that, too.

I see where I can step up my game, and I am working toward making those improvements happen effectively. And I am delighted.

Post-a-day 2021