Dear fellow brides to be,

One piece of advice that I wished someone had shared with me prior to my engagement, is that when you share your ideas for your wedding with others, you open the door and invite them to share their opinions of your ideas.  And also, to share their own ideas for your wedding.

What I never realized is exactly how many women have been planning my wedding for years. Many of these women were at it loooooonng before they had ever met me.  Some had every detail ironed out, even before I myself was prancing around my parents' home with a pillow case on my head, envisioning the magical day that I would one day walk down the aisle toward my very own Prince Charming.

And ladies, let me tell you, the weddings they've planned in their minds are not any where close to the day I'm envisioning.  Not close at all.

Now, if you are the kind of bride-to-be who needs a little help (or a lot) then you have a bevy of women who are already a mile ahead of you to lend a hand with the planning.  You can breathe a sigh of relief.

But if you're like me, and have even the smallest detail planned, this "help" can come as quite a shock. 

I know that my engagement and early wedding planning phase would have been so much more pleasant and enjoyable if I had only known what I was getting myself into.  If only I had been aware of the number of women who were ready and willing to plan my day for me.  That there were even a few who expected me to let them plan my day for me.  Which for me, is not what I wanted.

And so ladies, I hope your experience is very different from mine.  I hope no one ever tells you your ideas are bad or wrong.  I hope you never recieve "no" as a response to your "wouldn't it be great if...".  I hope your family/friends/future in-laws are supportive and encouraging.  But if you think you might recieve the responses that I did, I encourage you to keep the details between you and your wedding planner (if you have one).

E-Session

Its not very often I get a chance to be in front of the camera.  Its even less often that Chris and I are both able to be in front of the camera at the same time.  

For this reason, I knew that the most important part of our wedding planning process would be finding the perfect photographer to capture our story.  I didn't even mind if this became one of the largest parts of our budget.  After all... when all is said and done, all you have left are the pictures to remind you of your big day.

I searched and I searched and I was worried I was just being too picky.  I've done my share of modeling and the last thing I wanted to look like on my day was a model.  

I didn't want vogue.  I didn't want high fashion.  I didn't want editorial.  

I wanted real life, captured for us "on film".  I wanted the feeling and the emotions of the day.  I wanted to look like a real bride, overjoyed to be marrying her best friend.  Not an impostor playing a role.

This seemed to be a tall order here in Virginia Beach where it seems everyone is trying to break into modeling or photographing models.  

That was, until a previous colleague of mine mentioned Amanda Hedgepeth.  Once I saw her work, I fell in love.  It was exactly what I had in mind... the lighting, the feel, the emotion, it was all right there. I praaaaaayed she wasn't booked!

When we were finally able to meet, it got even better.  This little ball of fire is FULL of ideas!  And excitement, and enthusiasm, and passion for what she does.   And let me tell you, she is ammmmmmazing!!!  I cannot say enough wonderful things about her and since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let a few of hers speak for her themselves.

And these are just a few!

We managed to squeeze in what is probably a half-session before the skies opened up and it down-poured.  Despite the clouds and the whipping winds, she was able to capture amazing shot after amazing shot.  

Seriously, if you're looking for a life-style photographer in the Virginia Beach area, she is it!

And she can be found at... http://www.amandahedgepethphotography.com/  and http://amandahedgepethphotographyblog.com/

Dwarf Meyer Lemons

I ordered two Dwarf Meyer Lemons from Park Seeds in February-ish 2011.  Last winter the trees attempted to produce fruit.  It was a rough winter, however, between the spider-mites, scale, and low lighting in my house, and all the teeny fruits dropped off the trees.  

This summer, the trees flowered again.  I didn't give much thought to the success of this round of flowers, especially since the trees sat at my house while I've been spending most of my time at the fiance's.  

Well, I'm happy to report, there may be hope for my trees to bear fruit this year!

This lemon is about the size of a golf ball, or maybe just slightly larger.  

The same tree is flowering currently.

This little guy is on the other tree.  He has seemed to explode over night and doubles in size weekly.  I've moved the trees to the Virginia Beach house and they seem to love the blazing sun that this house provides.

Such a pest...

Poor Molly, I don't think Rex's cuteness makes up for his relentless tormenting...

Well, maybe not quite relentless...

T-Rex

Our newest monster has been making himself right at home...

When we first brought him home, he was small enough to "tunnel" through the grass in the back yard.  He was loving every minute of it.

It took him a little while to get up the nerve to play with Miss Molly, but once he started, he hasn't stopped yet!  He torments her constantly now.

That is until he runs out of steam...

Our Newest Monster

Meet Rex!

He's a Baldwin Feist out of a litter my dad raised.  Isn't he precious?!  

Since my dad is the breeder, he let us have him at 6-weeks rather than waiting the usual 8.  This was good because otherwise, we would have waited to get him until nearly labor day when he would be almost two and a half months.  

Chris is over-the-moon excited about his new little man.  I'm thrilled as well but I'll be even more in love with him after the puppy phase is over.  He's pretty darn cute, but Miss Molly McGee was a horrifyingly bad puppy and I swore I'd never get another one this young.  I'm hoping Rex is much better than she ever was...

New Inlet, OBX

Surfer's cars parked in lines along both sides of the road the road

New Inlet, created by a hurricane last summer.

Part of a sunken ship that has washed ashore.

Who says we don't have waves on the east coast?

Tomatoes!

My first of the year!  Two Nonna's Prize and one Brandywine.  I will definitely be planting these varieties again next year.  They are both deliciously sweet without a high acid taste.

Finally!

A previous colleague of mine did some work - some major work - to try to get another year or so out of my 6-yr-old macbook.  As a thank you, I made a few things for his new baby girl. 

Can I just say how nice it is to finally sew a little pink fabric?!  I love all the little boy stuff I've made, but a little pink is a nice change of pace.

Isn't this just darling?! I love the white trim.  I was really just cheating to get myself out of a rolled hem and the bias tape was such a compliment to the pattern, I decided to leave it showing.

This is Simplicity 4243.  Its labelled as an easy pattern and I can definitely agree that it is.  The only thing I changed was to switch out the zipper in the back for snaps.  I thought a zipper might be a little rough for the baby to lay on...

I will definitely be giving this pattern a lot more use in the future!