Get well soon

The sad day has finally come. After putting it off for as long as possible, I have given up and shipped my MacbookPro off for repairs. It's not that I don't want it fixed, it's that I don't want to be without it for a week. However, now that it's gone, I'm kinda hoping the repair goes something like this:

Repair guy: Wow, you are one of the original MBPs. You're two and a half years old!

MBP: Why yes, yes I am. I am hoping to retire soon.

Repair guy: Really? This early in your career?

MBP: It's been a tough life. I did some college work in there, and I handle lots of photography. And my owner- well, she has a six-year old iMac as my partner. I mean it is cute and all, but doesn't have the speed or capability to keep up with me. I am just tired. Why do you think I overheat and crash all the time?

Repair guy: True. Well, I tell you what. Why don't I just tell your owner that you had "irreparable damage" or something like that. I'll send her a brand new MBP, and send YOU off to Mac paradise. You can spend the rest of your days on the beach sipping cool drinks.

MBP: Well, I would miss her... but not enough to turn down an offer like that. Retirement, here I come!

Anyway, I guess we'll just see how that goes. In other news, I'll be at a conference in Las Vegas next week, and without the laptop to travel with me, will not be able to blog. But hopefully I'll come back with some cool pictures. 

And by then I should have an update on my MBP status!

Ode to Mr. Ri Ri

Riley is one of the funniest dogs ever. Dylan and I could spend hours making up stories about what he is thinking or trying to say. He entertains us to no end. I mean, what do you expect with a grin like this?

So, in his honor, I have written a poem. Let's all keep in mind that I was not a poetry major.

Riley, or Mr. Ri Ri, as you are commonly known,
I love to see your furry face when I get home!
Your ears go flat and your tag wags with joy,
You are such a happy boy.
You make my life bright and bring me big smiles,
Thanks for being my running partner all those long miles!

I am sorry that we must start brushing your teeth,

I know this process will bring you grief.

Your smile is big and we love it so,

but the vet said you have tartar, and that has to go.

So please forgive us, and don't stay mad,

Your pearly whites will be so glad!

Well, there you have it. Time for bed.

I LOVE these curls

When I was little, all I wanted in the whole world was curly hair. I would constantly sleep (if you can call it that- hard to sleep when you're being jabbed in the head) in those sponge rollers, with hopes of beautiful cascading curls in the morning. Usually I ended up with half-wavy, still damp hair that looked like I hadn't brushed it in weeks. My hair just didn't hold curl. And my mom never gave into my begging for a perm in third grade (for which I am now eternally grateful.)

Anyway, I had a lot of fun last weekend shooting Brennen and Paul and their daughter Emily, who just turned 2 and has GORGEOUS curls. She is such a sweet girl and loved showing off for the camera.

Brennen and Paul have done some really cool landscaping in their backyard, so it was the perfect place to do their family pics.

I mean really, do you get any happier than this?

Such a cute family

For whatever reason, this makes me think of Alice in Wonderland

Someone loves her daddy

Ok I love this one A LOT (which is probably evident since I put it on the homepage of my web site!)

Love them!

julia gulia

Happy 19th birthday to my sister!

Enjoy all the cakes mom made you. Clearly, she loves you best.

Family river adventure

We spent last Sunday at my parents' house hanging out with Jonathan before he moves to ATL this week to start his fancy new job. Chris even came in from Greenville. Julie of course was unable to make it since she's in Mississippi this summer eating crawfish.

Picture this: seven people, three kayaks, two canoes, three cars, an odd assortment of life jackets, and paddles from my dad's college days. It took us two hours to get the cars loaded, unloaded, and rearranged between the put-in and the get-out. Lo and behold, it was time to begin the family river trip. Which is when the thunder started exploding from the dark, scary clouds that we had been so cheerfully ignoring as they rolled in. Nevertheless, we hopped into the river (as all the other people at the park scurried out) and began paddling furiously away from the storm.

I could see my mom gritting her teeth, really not sure if she wanted to the the "responsible parent" who made my super excited dad park his canoe, or the parent that let us all get struck by lightning.

I was leading the pack, mainly because I haven't kayaked in ten years and the faster I paddled, the less time I had to be nervous that I was going to flip over and get eaten by a fish. We got a good twenty yards before the rain started and my dad's common sense got the best of him and he yelled, "Hey let's pull in and give it a few minutes."

We huddled under a tree for twenty minutes in a torrential downpour before deciding that this rain delay was going to interfere with our cookout. So with that, we loaded up all three kayaks, two canoes, three cars, and seven soggy muddy people and headed home to grill ribs and chicken.

All loaded up. (Still sunny.)

Excited dad

Excited mom

Excited boats

We had about 30 minutes to kill while the rest of the family shuffled cars around after dropping the boats off.

The longer we waited, the more creative we got.

Some of us did not get creative.

The threatening cloud. Eeek.

Sadly, I do not have any pictures after the storm started, nor do I have any of half the family under the canoe teepee while the other half of us picked up the cars. But rest assured it was funny.

Sonvenir, anyone?

Seriously. Seriously? I spent last week in D.C. at a conference. On our afternoon off we were walking around the city and happened to come across “The House Where Lincoln Died” right across from Ford’s Theatre. Conveniently located next door was a Lincoln “sonvenir” shop. I didn’t go in (I was too busy gawking at the sign from the middle of the street), but I did kind of wonder what kind of souvenirs you can sell from an assassination.

I really couldn’t turn down a picture of such a blatantly ridiculous public typo, so I’ve included that below along with a few other interesting sights around the city.

I'm back

Ok, here I am. I started the blog and then went MIA. I have actually been trying to get my website up and running (still coming soon) and was checking into some other blog options, but this works for now.

Anyway, as someone who spends WAY too much time reading other people's blogs, I know just how annoying it is when someone doesn't post for months on end. And while I doubt anyone is that addicted to my three-post blog, please accept my sincere apologies.

I hope to do a better job staying on top of things now.