Happy Birthday to my Wonderful Husband

I wanted to take the time to wish my husband a very Happy Birthday!!

We had a great dinner last night and it was really nice to get to spend some time with him. You see, December is without a doubt the most hectic months of the year for our family. His birthday is today, RJ's birthday is the 22nd and then we have Christmas and all the holiday stuff that comes with that. On top of that, Ron is in his 3rd year of law school and is in the midst of finals, so he's really busy with that.

Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining. I love the holidays and all the festivites and time with family and friends. And this has been a time of great reflection for me. I've spent a long time reflecting on the year and planning for next year.

We have put up our tree and decorated the house, so we are very much in the holiday spirit. And to make things even more festive, we got an inch of sticky, beautiful snow last night. It has covered the earth in a beautiful white blanket and looks just great. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I hate the cold. I am legitimately allergic to cold - my hands blow up like balloons if I don't keep them covered. BUT I love the look and feel that a beautiful inch of snow can give. So I brought my camera out and took a few images to share.

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Take some time today to ponder what you are truly thankful for and be sure to tell the ones you love how much you love them. We are all truly blessed to know each other. Thanks for reading - now get back to your pumpkin pie!

With love,
Jen

Catching up is Hard to Do!

Hi everyone!

I must apologize to everyone - I have not had a chance to blog at all this month! Things have been so (wonderfully) busy. We have done and witnessed so much since the last time I posted, it's amazing!! I am just going to give you a brief synopsis now, but I PROMISE to follow it up with detailed posts and images throughout the weekend.

Here is what October has been for us:

• I started October editing the images from Brittany and Brian's AWESOME wedding. It was SO much fun! (I'll post some images for you to see).



• I had two e-sessions (engagement sessions) with two wonderful couples that are getting married next year. They both happened in great locations and were so much fun to do. (Again - images to come soon!)



• We made a last minute decision to attend the PDN- PhotoPlus Expo in New York City. It is a huge photography expo full of great vendors and tons and tons of cool photographers to network with. It was no where near as big as the Imaging USA expo my dad and I attended in frigid San Antonio in January, but it was really great! (I'll share more details in another post - oh, and images, too!)



• Because of the location of the expo, we decided to make it a family trip and see as much as we could in the process. So, we planned on going through Long Island so we could tour Sagamore Hill, which was the summer/retiring home for President Theodore Roosevelt, one of Ron's favorite people in history. What an amazing experience!



• Lastly and MOST certainly not least: THE RED SOX ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!! (And won game one in spectacular fashion!) Dustin Pedroia's amazing home run that started the 13-1 win. Photo credit to photographer John Wilcox. (I'm thinking he had to have the world's longest lens to pull this shot off - how cool is that?!)

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month Promotion

I always wish I had the time/money/energy to give to thousands of very worthy causes. I'm the kind of person who always wants to do more, but never finds the time or means to. I'm also the kind of person who cries everytime I see the Jimmy Fund ads before movies - you know the one with the construction workers who wrote the kids' names on the steel cross beams? Yeah, I cry EVERY time.

So instead of just sitting by this year wishing I would do more, I decided to become a bit active in one cause that hits near and dear to my heart: breast cancer. Today I am taking part in a local walk to support a woman who is currently going through chemotherapy. I (of course!) will bring my camera and hope to post some images up tonight or tomorrow.

In addition, I'm running a promotion for the entire month of October. I will donate 20% of all deposits received in October directly to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I would really like to get a great donation together to send over. When October is over, I will proudly announce how much I was able to raise for this very worthy cause.

Red Sox clinch the AL East!!!

Last night the win by the Red Sox and loss by the Yankees helped the Red Sox clinch the AL East!!!! Playoffs here we come! Check out this picture, taken from redsox.com. The team went into the locker room to celebrate, but then took the champagne back out to the field and showered the crowd - how cool!!!!



Full photo credit goes to Elise Amendola/AP. <-- What a job, huh?!




In a related, but silly story, I'm in a nail biter contest against my husband in the Fantasy baseball league we are in. We both made it to the playoffs and the score has been back and forth for the whole time. Right now I believe we are tied, although he has many Red Sox players who did well last night, so we'll see. I think I can win it, though!!!!


Well, I'm off to go get ready for the wedding we are photographing this afternoon. What a gorgeous day for it!

Payback

It's now MY turn to wish a wonderfully happy birthday to my "big" little sister. Last month she saw fit to post up some images of me for my birthday, which, in case you didn't see it, here it is.

I haven't had the chance to give her a call yet, but I will. And I certainly wish I could be there with her for her birthday. This one is extra special for her (isn't it??!). I do hope I can see you real soon. But in the meantime, as promised, here are some photos of her when she was little (actually, I picked out ones from the only time in our lives when I was actually taller than her!!!)

I love you!!! Happy HAPPY Birthday!

Maddy's First Day

With RJ's first week of school down, now it's Maddy's turn to have her first day of school.

She's attending a 3-day preschool a few houses up the street from us. She was so excited to go - she asked me every 10 minutes from 8:30 until 12:30 when we finally went!!! I'm glad she likes it so much.

Not to hijack her post, but RJ is loving school now, especially the new specialty classes he gets to go to - Art, Gym and Music.

Back to Maddy...here are a few choice images from her first day. Note: Another one of RJ's "smiles":

I have to share what went into this last image because it is just so cute and so indicative of the kids' personalities. Maddy wouldn't look at me so I could take her picture. What you can't see in the frame is all the other kids and teachers going into her school, so she was very preoccupied. So RJ decided to help and stepped right in front of me to try to get her to look in my direction. Of course, his shoulder is the blurry blob you see in the lower right corner, but I had to leave it in...he's just so sweet. Aren't they the BEST??!