End of August already???

It's amazing how quickly weeks seem to be passing this year. It's already the end of August! This weekend we are going to Pittsburg for Guy's cousin's wedding. Guy is planning on wearing his kilt to it, which obviously means I need a new dress... :) So that's one more thing to accomplish today.

Lately things have been going ok. Guy's work is still pretty stressful, but mine has calmed down a bit... Or at least I stopped doing someone else's project and am now able to do my own work a little more.

I'm kicking into gear with the wedding photography. I shot a wedding last weekend, which was very fun (and VERY HOT!). I only went for the ceremony and formals, which actually aren't my favorite part of wedding photography. I love the getting ready shots and the reception shots... But it was still awesome. I'm doing prenatal portraits with my sister, and setting up two engagement portrait sessions with friends around here for experience. One of the friends has already asked me to photograph her wedding as well next spring. So all I need to do is register my business, figure out a developer, get my website set up and set prices... not too hard, just the business side of things... that I'm not all the familiar with. And I need a better lens.


I also finally got the CDs from my wedding, which means I can now print whatever pictures I want!

Sculpture park and weekends

A few days ago we went to Sculpture Park, which is actually just a bunch of fields that these people decided to put random sculptures in sometime in the 70's, and which has now turned into an extremely modest tourist attraction, for those in this area that know about it... And are able to find it. It's down a bunch of back roads, misleading signs (at one intersection it tells you to turn both right and left to get there, with the bigger sign pointing to the right, but you have to actually turn left or you'll get completely lost), and then you come to what looks like another driveway, except there is this very large structure of crates piled on top of each other in the shape of an oval. That is how you get there. Then you wander around these fields full of statues. No maps are handed out (indeed, no one is there to even tell you it's open or closed... payment is on the honor system). There are some maps on plaques around the park, but not many... and some of the plaques don't even have maps on them. Regardless, the maps that are there don't help all that much... unless you are there with someone who has been there before, which I was!

Naturally, I took pictures... here are a couple of my favorites:

I'm having a problem uploading the rest... so more to come :)

I also photographed a wedding on Saturday and will be putting them on my wedding photography website, which is in complete "in process" stages and I haven't had the time to fix it up the way I'd like to... so take it as a practice and not as all I've done or am able to do... RSG Photography

Oh, also - Andrew and/or Don, you may or may not read this, but it will remind me later - I need your expertise, advise, wisdom and help (yes, all four of those)... should I mention I love you dearly?

happy house hunting

I searched the web last night. I found cheap houses! Foreclosures are happy things (...when it doesn't happen to you). They lead to cheap housing... mostly in need of a little TLC, but Guy and I actually want to give a house TLC. We want something to pour our sweat in tears into... We may change our mind on that when it comes down to it, but right now getting a decrepit old house and turning it into a cozy home sounds a little bit like heaven.

So after work I got home in a very anxious mood (not sure why, but everything was taking too long and frustrating me to no end). I told Guy about the houses I had found online, and he offered to go for a drive and look at them. So we packed ourselves and our dog in the car (Chief can never get enough car rides) and drove to a small, partially country town. I have decided that we are going to live in that town. Something about it makes me feel welcome and like I belong. Strange feeling for a girl that has never been able to settle. But I can see springs, summers and falls passing by there. I cringe to think of the winters, but that's how WNY is... Winter makes you cringe. But you live through them and come out on the other side and have a greater appreciation for any sort of warmth and sunlight. Maybe I'm just looking for reasons to love it here. People always try to say that one of the great things is that you get four seasons here... The thing is, I grew up with only three and didn't mind it all that much. The few times we'd get winter (i.e., snow), we were insanely appreciative of it. It was our christmas wish and the times it would come through was magical. Here you don't have to wish for snow... it happens every year, for several months. But I don't mind not having four seasons, so I can't use that as something to cherish about this place. Anyway, we went and drove around the town we are going to live in (there's even a Kazoo museum there! It's the first place to manufacture Kazoo's in America ...and if that's not enough to make you fall in love with it, I feel sorry for you). We found an adorable house for sale, that I fell instantly in love with. Alas, it's about $20,000 too expensive. So we found the house I had found online... Indeed, it needs TLC. But we could make it work. And for the price, it's worth it.

Then this morning we went and got pre-approved! Surprisingly, we found out we actually can afford to buy a house!!! Yay! One gigantic step closer to actually buying a house. Next is to find a realtor! :)

Guy's bday...

This is us (with Missy and Duane) on the ferris wheel when we went to the fair for Guy's birthday (last Tuesday). The quality isn't the best, since it was taken with my cell phone...

Rainy mornings

I suppose it's been awhile since I've updated with anything real. Quick clips and phrases don't go far for explaining life.

The last two weeks have been just as stressful as the previous week I posted about, for several reasons. Guy's work has been horrible. Mine has been insanely busy and stressful. Our house has been slowly looking more and more like a disaster area, which has stressed me out even more. If our house was a bit messy or disorganized, it never used to bother me. But lately I just want it clean and organized. Not OCD-like or anything, but somewhere that we can come home from our stressful days and relax in. Somewhere that doesn't make me feel like I should be doing the dishes or the laundry or vacuuming whenever I sit down, instead of just letting me relax. It's getting there, slowly but surely. It just has needed a good spring cleaning, and it hasn't been happening. So last weekend I spent time cleaning, and this weekend I'll hopefully get to do some more.

We've put our house hunt on hold for now, since we really can't afford one. So we're looking for a house to rent instead of an apartment... A house, where we don't have to worry if we're vaccuuming at midnight because the lady upstairs might be asleep, because there won't be a lady upstairs. One where our landlord will let us paint the rooms or fix up the place... Our landlord is great, but is a little obsessive-compulsive, so things have to stay how he had them when we moved in. But I want somewhere that the landlord really doesn't mind if we make changes, because he's getting his rent. And somewhere that I feel safe walking around the neighborhood alone at 10 pm in the rain. Not that I do that all too often, but I do it. And where we're at, I don't feel safe doing so.

Otherwise, I've applied for a new position at my work. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be a good career move. I want to move away from Buffalo, but am realizing that isn't going to happen this year. We are needed here for many reasons. We're looking for a better job for Guy... somewhere that he'll be happy with what he's doing, even if it's not his dream job.

I'm looking forward to the weekend, dreaming about a day with nothing planned, hoping for rest and relaxation... but also hoping to get things done.

I need to work on my photography website more.

TGIF

... and thankfully, another weekend begins.

A reminder

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails."

End of the Week Escape

After the week from hell, we decided to de-stress.

For Guy, this meant cruising in our 67 fairlane...

For me, this meant going my favorite park in the whole wide world and forcing Guy to pose for pictures with me....

We swang on the swings....

Then we walked for a bit...

We kissed for a bit...

(the picture is meant to be fuzzy...)

I'm not sure if this one us us kissing or kung-fo fighting...

Then we took lots more pictures of us....

Then Guy told me it was time to go home...


So he got to cruise again...


We also went for dinner at a sushi and steak hibatchi place, which is possibly the perfect combination. I got amazing sushi (my current addiction, which Guy isn't too fond of), and Guy got steak and (cooked) seafood. Happiness is.