Pro Pics, Part 7: Just Us

After the bridal party photos on the hill, we stopped at two more locations that the photographers chose for pictures of Michael and me. We got out of the limo to do pics, and our bridesmaids and groomsmen stayed on and partied. All was right in the world. :)

At the reception, Michael and I were served our dinners first. As a result, we were also done first. Our photographers grabbed us to take a few more photos outside in the evening light. We started on the deck, and then went out to the golf course.

Screeching Halt

I have been agonizing over this decision for several weeks now. Even before the wedding, I had thoughts about, "What will I do?"

But now I realize what I have to do. I have to stop.

For all of you who have e-mailed me and have not received answers... I apologize. But I just can't keep up. I get sooo many e-mails. And unfortunately, it pains me to say: I can't accept your orders. I can't answer all of your questions. It's just too much for me to handle.

I would love to be able to help all of you. Really, I would. But I have a full-time job. A house that I've noticed is often a huge disaster. Things that I want to do for myself that I have put off. And you know what? I want to relax.

It's a shame, because if I ever wanted to start my own business, now is the time to do it. I often think of how nice it would be to work from home, spend my days painting and being creative.

But the fact of the matter is that I am not brave enough to quit a steady job and start doing this stuff full time, and I'm not strong enough to do it all on top of another full-time job.

I want to cook more. I need to clean more. I want to have hobbies. I want to live my life.

I already have a long list of orders I have accepted from people, and I will fulfill those orders because it's the right thing to do. If I'm being completely honest, I am seriously lacking the motivation to get even those ones done. Just taking care of them is going to keep me busy for quite a while. And the truth is that it's daunting. It's daunting to look at my long list, and it has been killing me to watch it grow. So I have to put a stop to it... it can't grow any larger.

As of right now, I am no longer accepting orders. I am SO sorry.

I will try to catch up on the e-mails that are sitting in my inbox, because you all deserve some kind of response.

I will certainly post about this again if something changes. But looking forward, I can only see my life getting busier. In September, aerobics classes will start up again during the week. Football begins. Friends are having babies. We have stuff going on most of the weekends. My workload at my job will pick up again.

I hope you all can understand.

Pro Pics, Part 6: Bridal Party Photos

After our family photos outside, we spent a little time indoors with the bridal party, taking pics like these:



By the time we were done, the weather outside had completely cleared and it was--once again--a beautiful day. We were so happy that we were able to spend the rest of the photo time outdoors.

Our photographers scouted photo locations prior to our wedding day. They tried to find interesting places that were en route from the church to our reception site. The limo followed them to each location. When we pulled up this one and saw the huge hill, we were all wondering what the heck was going on. But it was a fun location, and we ended up with some pretty unique pictures there.

Look at that sky!

After they did the whole "lifting Michael" thing, they insisted on doing it with me, too. By this time, they had all had a few beers, so it was a little more scary than it should have been!

Trying a new header on for size...

I think it works.

Pro Pics, Part 5: Family Portraits

Immediately following the receiving line, we took a few more bridal party portraits on the altar inside the church. Once we were finished with that, the photographers said the rain was letting up outside--enough so that they wanted to attempt to take our family pictures outdoors, on the steps of the church. We got dripped and drizzled on a little bit, but it was worth it to have the pics outside in the natural light.

With our nephew, Brendan. He had a three-piece suit on. It was hilarious, and one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

With Michael's family.

With my "little" twin brothers. They are two years younger than me, and I bullied the hell out of them while we were growing up. Unfortunately, they outgrew me around the time I was a senior in high school. They then proceeded to spend the next couple years executing their revenge on me by torturing me on a regular basis. Yeah, that sucked. Luckily, the three of us came through it all unscathed, and we are really, really close. I was so happy that they were such a big part of our wedding as members of the bridal party.

My mom, grandma, and me. They both looked so beautiful!

With my family.

With Michael's family again (minus Andy and Brendan).

With Michael's grandfather ("Poppy").

Michael with his two sisters, whom I adore.

The two of us with my grandma.

Michael with his grandma at the reception. She didn't get the memo about staying at the church for pictures after the ceremony, so Michael and the photographers were able to catch up with her later in the night. I'm glad we ended up getting this photo of her.