Ben and Erica are getting MARRIED!!

Erica and I were "suitemates" in college (she was in the neighboring room, and we had a shared bathroom)- and we have kept in contact since college. Her Fiancee, Ben, was in Choir with me at WLC, and now plays piano and trumpet in the productions I sing in with Mike Westendorf. It was really a great time had by all when we got to just hang out, and take pictures at the same time.
We had intended on going to the Mitchell Park Domes, which I have done shoots there SEVERAL times before, but this time the lady at the front wouldn't let us in unless we paid the additional $65 fee....so we left.
And instead went to the same spot where Ben asked Erica to marry him. Much more romantic in my book, but also much, MUCH colder. Since it was 15 degrees, with a good chill coming up off of Lake Michigan. How cold was it? The lake was actually quite frozen. That's how cold it was.
But, they managed to snuggle up close, keep warm, and I got some great shots of the two!

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~Em

Jonah's EB auction

In the coming weeks, you will be hearing more about Jonah's EB auction , since I have something donated to help raise funds....here's a clue:

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~Em

A boy and his cat.

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When I was pregnant with J man, I became a little wary of how well my cats would adjust to him. There was a scary moment for me when my friend, Diana, came over to do my final maternity photo session. She brought her son, Sam, with her, and while we were taking pictures, he suddenly came screaming to his mommy, with two scratches on either side of his face.
Now, Sam is one of the most gentle little children that I have ever known, so I know he wasn't tormenting the cat. Diana thinks he was just giving the kitty a hug, and that freaked the kitty out. The cats are great around big people- in fact, the most social cats many people have ever hung out with. Really, the cats will come to any random person (as long as they are not a child) and snuggle with them. I mean REALLY snuggle. But they just don't like kids.

Needless to say, I was worried that the cats would be territorial with the baby. There was no question that if they got violent around him, they would be given to my parents or another home, but that would be difficult.

My worries were unfounded. This little boy LOVES the cats, and will come up to their sleeping spots, put his head down right on top of them, thumb in mouth, and "sleep" with the kitties. And he plays with them, and they play back. Usually. They will still run away if he gets too loud, but I'm perfectly happy with that.
They are good buds, and that's more than I could have ever hoped for!

~Em

Photo Challenge #49

This week's challenge was to find faces/expressions in inanimate objects.
To see the guidelines of the challenge, to enter, or to browse other entries, please click here.

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I had a lot of fun with this challenge, but now I'm seeing faces everywhere!!!
Comments are more than welcome :) Have a great day!

~Em

Weekly Photo Challange #48

The Challenge:

Do a Photo Demo

Rules:

1.) Feel free to demo any normal thing that you do throughout your day, or if your adventurous you can do an activity for the sole purpose of using it for this challenge. (Hint for those of us with children: if this seems a bit overwhelming just capture something you do with your kid..or for your kids.)

2.) Please try to limit the images to no more than 10.

3.) Tweaking is fine if you'd like to display the images differently.

4.) Have fun!


How to take a weekend vacation:

pack well.

leave on time.
(or a minute late)

stop for gas.

watch the landscape slide by.

make sure the one-year-old is happy.
ridiculously happy.

pay toll.

work on crossword puzzles together.

enter the hotel.

find your way to the room.

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follow ridiculously happy one-year-old down hallway.

enjoy the quaint features of the room.

watch the traffic outside the window.

walk into the waterpark.

play with daddy in water.

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to see the other entries of this weeks challenge, click here.


Have a great week, everyone!

~Em

A Simple Portrait of my Little Brother, Josh.

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The title says it all.

Sometimes Pooh is better than None.

I had a short photo shoot at my house (short as in 3 minutes)So I had to make sure that the settings were right on my camera and the lighting was good and all that fun stuff. Problem was, I had no model. So I had to be a little creative.

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But really, some Pooh is better than none.