I'm so happy my family trusts me to do their portraits for them. They support me to the fullest and knowing I created something that will be seen for many many many years and beyond my years, is really cool. The latest pics belong to my cousin Chris & his wife Rachel...just posted part of their session over on my photo blog.
That's what I sound like when Justin asks me to call and cancel an appointment with the personal trainer...
It's kind of like when I was young, me and my sister were cheerleaders for the peewee football teams in Rockdale, Tx. Every Saturday after the games we would go to McDonalds for chicken nuggets and sweet n sour sauce. I ate so many chicken nuggets that the mere thought of them right now makes me a bit queezy. We'd be at the table preparing to eat when I'd say "I need ketchup." Mammaw always said to just go up to the counter and ask for some. But...but...but... and I'd be quiet as I just stared at the ground and my bottom lip would start to quiver. My sister was two years younger, but she had no problem taking her squeaky voice to the counter and asking for some for me. I don't know what was wrong with me.
And I still don't know what's wrong with me. I hate cancelling things like that. Or maybe I don't mind cancelling and I just don't like having to come up with a reason for actually cancelling. I stutter. I go silent. I start shaking with nerves. I'm aware it sounds kinda pathetic.
But none the less... Thanks Sarah for getting all my ketchup for me when I was younger. I love ketchup. Here's me and Sarah last year on the way to Dave & Buster's.
Well, last week's B&W Wednesday was "1"... this week it's "2"!
My niece Rylie just turned two! I'm just glad she's finally got hair. And is starting to look more like my sister. I grabbed a couple shots under the tree before she got dirty and put her swim suit on, and the rest are just snap shots...but I have so much fun capturing things like this for the family. Rylie loves baby dolls! And she was excited about books this year too. (You may need to click on photos to make larger...it's cutting the right edge off for some reason. boo :( )
My cousin Chris married his longtime sweetheart, Rachel, this past Saturday evening. I posted her bridal shower here and on the knot also cause it was awesome. I like to post wedding related things here when i can, because i still post over there from time time, so this might help someone in the planning stages. Pretty soon, ill be posting as i help my best friend print and put together her invitations for her wedding in April! Yay!! But back to Chris & Rachel for today :) Their first choice for photographer was Akil Bennett, but he ended up being booked on their wedding day. I wish i knew who he referred them too so I could link to her as well - I'll ask Rachel when they get back from their Vegas honeymoon! But Akil did shoot Rachel's bridal portraits and the large display she had was gorgeous! The wedding took place at Northwest Forest Conference Center in Cypress, TX. Id never been there before, but it's a neat place. They were married at the gazebo, La Terrazo, and judging from the website, the reception was held in The Courtyard. Here's a few photos from my seat on the far edge of the groom's side.
That's what her cakes said! My great grandma just turned 90! How awesome is that? To have lived for so long and seen so much...change. That's gotta be amazing. She's seen the first flight of airplanes. The first movie with sound. The invention of the car radio. The invention of the copier and the ballpoint pen! The microwave. Then all the cool video games and electronics we have today. And look at the evolution of cars. and tv. and 8-tracks to blu-ray! Her son got her a computer once. she never turned it on. She does have a dvd player. And a cd player, but her record player still works fine. She outlived her husband, all of his sisters, and all of her brothers except 1. She's been through world war 2...and granddad fought in it. They got married so so very young, and were married their entire lives. To be with someone that long, and not know any other way, i cant imagine yet. Grandad passed away in February 2003. I remember being at UIL competition for poetry & prose. I had already halfway finished competition and was sitting at the table rehearsing. I was talking to my coach/teacher about possibly changing my last poem at the last minute, because one of my classmates from our school was doing the same one. And then my phone rang. Grandad had passed away. I still had to finish competition, and i kept my original poem. I ended up placing. My teacher tried her best to get a bus to go home as soon as possible so i could get on the road and head out of town. Mammaw Ray is the strongest lady i know. She holds our family together. I dont even want to think about what's going to happen when she's no longer here. She was rushed to the ER for low low low blood pressure the night before last and now has to give herself insulin shots. The medicine for her diabetes is effecting her kidneys. She attends a super small church called White Rock Baptist Church. It's outside of Bremond, TX. It's pretty much all elderly folks, with an occasional kid or two. I think the membership count is about 12. But they're the best. Justin bought some trumpet music for us - some Christmas duets - and im hoping to go play at Mammaw Ray's church for the holidays. We always talk about it, and ive done it once before. We're also having Christmas lunch at Mammaw Ray's house this year. I think she thinks it's going to be her last one. But i dont want to think about that. Right now i want to celebrate her life. Her wonderful life. I hadnt seen alot of the pictures of her younger years on display at her party...she's a beautiful woman inside and out. Here's some pics of her 90th birthday party - which was a complete surprise to her! :)
Entrance with her oldest daughter:
Hugging her only living brother after walking in - my favorite picture of the night.
We all know it's Thanksgiving this week... but as you're celebrating over food and delicious desserts and laughing and thinking about Christmas a few weeks from now...just remember that this isnt a joyous time for everyone. Life doesnt stop it's circle just because a holiday arrives. The most glorious day of the year for you, could be the most devastating for someone else. This week's going to be a little rough for my family. Both sides of it.
We just finished celebrating my great grandma's 90th's birthday. That was a great time, and ill feature her on a blog post all of her own. But just a couple days after, my wonderful Aunt Jan (great grandma's 2nd daughter) went into surgery to have a cyst on her ovaries removed. It turned out to be a cancerous tumor. I haven't been updated to the status of tests run on it yet, but she was in bad shape, having to eat and use the restroom through tubes. On top of that, her husband (Uncle Charlie, who walked me down the aisle at my wedding), isnt having the grandest time with his body either.
Thanksgiving day is my cousin Jeremy's birthday (great grandma's only son's youngest son). He was killed in Iraq in December of 2007. I'd like to write him his own blog post too. He was a handsome young man, and I am so very proud to be related to him. He always made a point to talk to me at family functions too. It was so much fun to catch up. And when i got older, we could talk about cars, and music, and school, and the future. He left for Iraq on his dad's birthday. His casket returned home on his mom's birthday. He was only gone for a month. I dont think this time of year has gotten much easier yet, as this will be year 2 without him. But i was at Aunt Debbie's house a few weeks ago and saw her hallway devoted to Jeremy. It was beautiful. It was overwelming. And while i was there celebrating a joyous occasion (a bridal shower for my cousin's soon to be wife), I wanted to cry. I have no bad memories of Jeremy. My husband never got to meet him tho. He went to his funeral just the same. I know they'd have gotten along so well. We are blessed to have Jeremy in our family. Anyone that knew him would say the same.
Those folks are on my mom's mom's side of the family, but let me tell you about her dad's side.
My pappaw passed away this past Saturday. I think the funeral is today. I wouldnt really know for sure, as i havent seen him since '95. My grandma says she and mom and aunt laura are having a private graveside ceremony tomorrow. They want me and my sister to go. My pappaw left mammaw in '95 for my youth choir director from church. Classy huh? I think the lady is nuts. Like psycho ward nuts. Pappaw's had a few strokes and had a limb amputated and got 2 forms of cancer I believe - and i'm pretty sure she brainwashed him. After he passed away, she wouldn't even give the pastor the names of his children (mom and aunt laura) or grandchildren (me and my sisters and aunt lauras daughter) to be read at the funeral. The pastor got them anyway. I imagine from Pappaw's sister - his own family wasnt even that close to him in recent years because of his wife. But i guess the hurt is all the same after his passing. Everyone says to remember the good times. I was young when he left, but i was raised by him and my mammaw. I dont even remember that much. I remember being mad and sad, because mammaw was mad and sad. And I remember being scared when his wife tried to throw my mom in jail on fake assault charges, and mom was out on the town and mammaw was at the house, and the cops showed up to take her in (the same cops that used to work with and for him - he was chief of police of our little town!), and we called mom and said dont come home! -and pappaw did nothing to stop it. Like he'd lost all sense of being a man, and let her run his life. I kinda feel sorry for him. Kinda. But he did it to himself. The whole town saw him change and pretty much ran him out and laughed at him. He showed up to the city pool one day while my sister and i were swimming - and we wouldnt even get out and hug him. That's what i remember. He was dead to me a long time ago. I forgive him for leaving - my life wouldnt be what it is now if he hadnt left - but I grieved THEN. I got over it THEN. I moved on THEN. I'm not sure mammaw ever did.
And id like to shoutout to my friends Amy and Brandy - they both lost their mom's this year. Brandy's from cancer - and Amy's from a horrible car accident. I didnt get to talk to Amy about it much, and facebook was being funny, so im not sure if i caught everything or not, but it was a reckless careless idiot driver, and he didnt get anywhere near the punishment he deserved. This is their first holiday season without their parents, and it's going to be a tough one. I think they're spending Thanksgiving together so they can lean on each other, and be there for each other, like only they can do, because they are feeling the same things.
Most of you reading this, probably arent going through this right now. You might know someone who is. You might know someone who's got it even worse, as im sure many people do. I dont ever forget that. It can always be worse. Please keep them and us in your prayers this week. Please count your blessings and be thankful for what you've been given. It can be taken away any second. Tell your friends and family you love them. Don't sweat the small stuff. You've heard it all before - but life is truly wonderful - and precious. If it wasnt, we wouldnt grieve so much when life was taken away from us. Smile y'all!
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