Shannon & Lincoln are getting married!

Shannon and Lincoln are quiet possibly the funnest couple I’ve met in a long time.  They invited my husband and I up to their Keystone condo for a night of fun and drinking.  Seriously how could we pass that up!?  The next morning we went and did their engagement session.  I love these sessions, the pressure is low and you just walk around looking for interesting places to take photos.  The photos may look like it was a beautiful warm day, but when we started at 8am, it was 4 degrees!  It did managed to warm up to about 20 when we finished a couple hours later.  Shannon and Lincoln did great though, bearing their thinly clothed selfs for great shots.  And I have to say I don’t think they minded snuggling up to one another!

This is my favorite photo of the two of them.

And did I forget to mention Lincoln drives a Hummer.  You know we had to take a photo of that!

Shannon and Lincoln are getting hitched March 29th, so check back for wedding photos!

Ashley and Thomas Continued…

It was really a blast to be able to photograph Ashley and Thomas with no added pressure.   Living with Ashley for three years we got to know probably way to much about each other.  I saw her through 3 serious boyfriends before she started dating Thomas.   When they first started dating, Thomas would do such sweet things for her.  He made a card for her after their third date, just to say how much fun he was having and how much he enjoyed his time with her.  Yea she went crazy after him.   Needless to say it didn’t take long for Ashley to start talking about rings and a wedding in Mexico.  In Thomas’ defense he is pretty great guy, and he definitely makes Ashley the happiest I’ve ever seen her.  I wish you two the very best in your future together!

And Ash I had a phenomenal time at your wedding, but I’m a little disappointed it wasn’t in Mexico!

Ashley’s something borrowed was her sister’s veil.

I love this shot of Ashley’s sister Heather.  Or maybe it’s just the coat she’s wearing that I love?

What flower girl can resist running up and down the pews?!

I just love the movement in this photo.

Seriously can he be any cuter!  I love the little choo choo train sweater!

This Old House

On this episode of This Old House we’re putting the finishing touches on our loan responsibilities.  In order to get financing last fall during all the fallout of the mortgage industry we did an FHA rehab loan.  Which require ridiculous crap.  We had an appraisal before we bought the house, then wrote up a list of things we were going to do with the rehab money.   Then at the end you have another appraisal to make sure you did all the work.  So we spent the last few days doing things like trim and building a door frame.  We also got rid of the pile of Sh*t in the back yard.  Since the second day of owning the house all the construction and demo debris has been put on a blue tarp in the backyard.  And this weekend we FINALLY  put it into a dumpster and hauled away. YEA!  This was by far the biggest weight off my shoulders thus far!  And it makes a huge difference in the backyard too!  Before….

…After

And I found the oddest thing ever in the pile.  I’m still mystified how it got there.  And it still gives me the creeps.  I found a FISH!  And a pretty big one at that!  How in the hell did a fish get in the yard?  A cat?  Our creepy neighbors?  A cat would have ate the fish right?  Anyway, here’s a photo of our creepy fish.

Gross isn’t it?!

And you’re maybe wondering what happened with the bathroom window?  Well I did finish it.  It only took two weekends to finish it, but it’s done.   I don’t think I’ll be stripping any other trim anytime soon.  If someone has a better way of stripping lead paint I’m all ears!  And we’ll be doing something about the not so attractive view in the spring.

And last but not least.  A photo of trim I was pre-painting in the basement.  And if anyone is putting up trim paint it first, it’s sooo much easier.  Then once it’s up all you have to do is touch up the nail holes.  No mess all over your brand new floors.  (I wouldn’t do something like that!

That’s the update on the house.  Baby step by baby step!

Decor

Yea I can finally put things on the walls!  We’re finally at a point where we can stop working on putting trim up or building a door, and I can really put our stamp on this house!  And make it look like some with a little style lives here.

The hand-me down sofa from grandma is going to the basement and we’re getting a new FULL size sofa!  I’m so excited!  Cody doesn’t like the idea of sitting so far away from each other, but likes the idea of not having to curl up into a ball just to lay down.  And if anyone has met Cody, his 6′4″ frame needs a lot of sofa to accomplish a full lay out.

Anyway, I thought I would share the sofa before it’s delivered.  It’s a total 1950’s style, I think just about everyone can say they, their mother, or grandmother had a couch like this.   But I LOVE it!  Especially the buttons. 

I’ve also been looking for art ideas that don’t cost a bloody fortune.  And came up with wrapping wood frames with fabric to make  ‘art’.  I came across this great website in Finland.  www.finishgifts.com  They have awsome fabric.  Some kinda have a retro feel to them, and others are just great prints!  I love that it’s large prints so it looks more like art then just fabric.  This is what I decided on for the dining room wall.  I seriously can’t wait to see it up on the wall!

And for a little more eye candy some more inspiration ideas I’ve found.  I seriously love decorating my OWN house.  It’s so much more fun when, A. I know I’m going to be here more then two years, and B. I can paint the walls!

I mostly love the images on the left in this room.  It’s such a creative way to display tons of photos!  I wish I could take the credit, but alas I have to give it to Laura Novak.  And she’s an amazing photographer too!

Ashley and Thomas 01.25.08

Ashley and Thomas got hitched in the middle of Minnesota in the middle of winter! The cold weather didn’t stop them from heating the party up though! Ashley is my college roommate and good friend. I wasn’t the official photographer, but that gave me the chance to have a little fun too!

It has been a crazy week and it’s only going to get crazy, so here’s a little sneak peak at Ashley and Thomas’ wedding. I promise more to come!