Happy Anniversary

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary. I look back and wonder how in the world it's been that long...I remember the girl I used to be and the woman I am now...I think of how full of hopes and dreams we were and how playing house seemed such a great thing...and then reality hit...

Some of our hopes and dreams have been realized, some we are still aspiring to. Playing house turned in to a lot of hard work. Marriage wasn't some fairy tale.

Two people with different personalities trying to make a life together and then throwing children in to the mix is a lot of negotiating, a lot of swallowing pride, a lot of compromise. People don't tell you that when you are young.

On our wedding day one of my in-laws walked up to us at the reception and said to us "I don't give it 6 months...you guys are fools."

Well, every anniversary I think HA! We made it! And, we have. There have been challenges galore.

Both of us, even though young when we came in to this marriage had our own set of baggage that needed to be dealt with but that we both attempted to hide away in a closet and ignore..., we have had the births of our children, the premature births of our youngest two, long hospitalizations for them, surgeries, a horrifying ordeal with our oldest child and a family member, my husband fighting cancer, the birth of our grandson....some of these things were bad, some good, some were horrible at the time but brought us out on the other side stronger than we were.

I thank God that we were put together somehow and that we have, by his grace, and our willingness to submit to a little crow eating and putting aside of pride, stayed together.

Happy 19th Anniversary to us!

Holy not a sinus infection batman!

Good morning. It's been a bit of a crummy week! I woke up Monday morning with a raging headache, a nasal drip and in general feeling a bit lousy...but there were doctor appointments from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. so off we went....first to Cody's Cardiologist: He checked out well, the gradient of blockage from the pulmonary stenosis has increased, but is still below the line that would make surgery necessary. Then,  Brendon's Cardiologist (same guy as Cody), He checked out well, the gradient has increased in the years since his heart surgery to correct the pulmonary stenosis (2001) but it's still looking good!

After these two appointments in Rockford we went to the pet store to blow off some time, I played with a puppy who was the sweetest little thing.

Then it was Bob's turn to see his Oncologist, all clear - recheck in September.

We had lunch and came back to town where it was then my turn for a mammogram (those aren't fun) and a few ultrasounds...waiting on results...but these were all routine.

Finally made it home by 6:30 p.m. and felt pretty crummy, so I went to bed early.

Woke up Tuesday morning with a very sore throat, throbbing head and just general aches and pains. Went to work anyway...what a bad idea. I felt like crap all day and finally left at 2...came home and slept. Began running a fever in the evening.

Yesterday I stayed home from work, slept most of the day, was generally grouchy but by late afternoon/early evening was feeling mostly better as long as I kept taking a couple asprin every 4 hours.

Today I am up and ready to go. My girlfriend is working the floor today so I am riding with her instead of waiting for Cassy....so, I am up, medicine taken, and looking pretty good regardless of still feeling a little iffy...however, I can't imagine wasting an entire week of work...today will most likely be a 10 hour day.

*Bonus to riding with my friend....Starbucks Chai Latte's :o)

Have a great day! Try not to get sick...it's the pits, and if you can enjoy the great weather with a bike ride outside...my bike and I need to become one again! SOON!

Photo Shoot with the incredibly stunning Ashlyn!

Yesterday I was thrilled to have been hired to do the photo shoot with Ashlyn for her Junior Prom pictures.

This young lady is very talented, sweet, compassionate, funny, engaging, intelligent and just all around an amazing young lady!

She chose a vintage dress for the event and she was a step above her classmates.

My daughter, Cassy, did her hair for the evening and I was in love with it the moment she walked up~ although it seems to me she is the kind of person whom you could take pictures of even in a burlap sack and she would look stunning!

Below are a couple of the pictures.

Cassy and Gaven's Birthdays.

Cassy turned 20 on Friday! It's crazy for me to think that 20 years could possibly have gone by already! I look at her and I am amazed and so proud of the person she has become! I have been so blessed to have her as my child!

Gaven turned 14 on Saturday! He is growing in to such a handsome young man and on the one hand very capable and responsible and on the other hand so full of child like boy mischief. I am so grateful to be his mother.

My two oldest children are  6 years  24 hours and 6 minutes apart.

What an incredible journey it is to be a parent and to watch our children grow up. I pray that they always find success in whatever they do and that they never choose to be followers but cut their own path through this world.

Happy Birthday Cassy & Gaven!

This is what weekends should be like

Happy Mother's Day to all the under appreciated mom's out there! I say under appreciated because when I was a stay at home mom a lady in the school district office said "what's your occupation?" I said "stay at home mom" she replied "so you don't have an occupation." That tweaked me (it seems that isn't something that is rare). So, to all mom's Happy Mother's Day!

Today I received a beautiful necklace from my oldest that has two heart shaped diamonds connected inside a sterling silver circle and that says something about mother's and daughter's having two hearts connected as one.
The rest of the family got me a new nonstick griddle (apparently telling me they don't like waiting on pancakes from a skillet).

Late in the morning we headed out to Bob's great aunt's house in the country. They have a huge property and lots of places for everyone to wander and explore. I took my camera, of course, and took some pictures that I'm very happy with.

This was a great weekend and a wonderful end to the weekend! Now I'm waiting on the hamburger meat to cook (hubby is handling this job) and then we will have taco's for dinner. My daughter's boyfriend, Kyle, is finally here (He had car trouble that made him get here 4 days later than expected).

I am very thankful today for the opportunity to be a mother to my children and a grandmother! I am also thankful, that even through the rough times, my family has managed to stick it out!

 My daughter and grandson. 

 Another of the two of them!

 I am absolutely in love with this picture of them. The way they are both looking at each other just makes me smile! 

 My eldest child, my baby girl...who will turn 20 in a few days and who has amazed me with her gentle heart, her capacity to accomplish her goals even when faced with so many challenges.

This is Cassy's best friend Jeff, who is also Caiden's Godfather, and who has become since sometime in high school one of my own, if not by blood or name certainly by love :) 

Sewing...

is not something I do very often. But, I had leftover fabric from the camera bag and then when I was in the craft store getting more supplies for making my photography cards I found another material that I just loved...I have a thing about polka dots!

So, today I decided to  use the tutorial from the camera bag and modify it a bit (this was a bit stressful since I don't sew on a regular basis and certainly not anything more difficult than hemming up a pair of pants). I added a band around the top and left out all the foam of course. I also added a pocket on the inside as well as straps to hang the bag from your shoulder.

All in all I am pretty happy about the bag...

Here's the thing though. I don't need another bag...I don't change bags, I use the same bag until it damn near falls apart...and then I move on to another...the only time I change bags really is to go to a concert in which case I carry a tiny one that fits my aluminum wallet and before I quit smoking my cigarettes. So...the question is: Is this bag good enough to give as a present? I can't decide just yet. I will deliberate for a while and then make a decision...if so it will go in the rubbermaid bin that I am using for keeping gifts that I purchase or make ahead of time. :)

Update on Patty Pixx Photography

Tonight I finished 2 sets of cards for a person who requested that I come up with 2 sets of cards, one from my beach pictures and another set from the cemetery shots (this seems morbid to me if I think too much on it...yet I am always excited to find a new cemetery to shoot at and apparently there are many people that find it just as intriguing). Perhaps I should call them religious statue cards :)

Anyway, these are finished. I have 2 orders for posters of a couple of my prints as well! Very excited about this.

I also have an engagement photo shoot, a prom photo shoot, a newborn photo shoot and 2 family photo shoots scheduled. I'd like to get more bookings, but honestly I am thrilled for the business I'm getting and hoping it continues.

Sheika

Very sad to report that my mother in law's dog Sheika has passed. She has had a kidney disease for the last year or two and considering she was probably about 14 years old it was really starting to wear her down. She had begun retaining fluid and was very swollen, to the point that it was difficult for her to walk. Today my mother in law carried her down the steps to go inside and walked away to do something and upon returning found her lying on the ground, with Chewey (the other dog) sitting beside her nuzzling her.

She took her in and had her put down :(

Camera Bag Insert...

I purchased through the company Thirty-One a very cute Messenger Bag  to carry my camera and lenses in. I really hated the bag that I had (Nikon Camera Bag that was purchased with the camera). I happened to come across a tutorial when I was scrolling through some Do-It-Yourself projects on Pintrest. The blog that had the tutorial had it in PDF form so I could print it out. The instructions were simple enough that even I could follow along. I do not sew, I know the basics but haven't sewn a true pattern project since I was in Jr. High.

After printing out the instructions it was off to Hobby Lobby to looks for the items I was going to need. Aside from adhesive spray (that stuff is a pain in the rear end), and foam I also needed to pick a material for my insert....

Here is the material I chose...I ended up picking up an extra yard and a half because I really liked the print and I figure I can make other stuff (I have had my eye on another tutorial for a really cute bag).

I picked up the foam and the spray adhesive while there and then it was back home to dig my sewing machine from the craft area (I promise I do not use it very often). 

I am very happy with the finished project...even if I had to redo one of the bags because I didn't pay attention and forgot to sew the velcro to it BEFORE sewing it up...and even though it is not perfect...I had a lot of trouble cutting 1 inch foam with my scissors (is there a tool for this?)...it is mine, I completed the project in very little time and with a minimal amount of self-doubt. 

The biggest HURRAY of the day...it all went together and fit inside the messenger bag just about perfectly and functions EXACTLY as I needed it to! WOOT! 

 Here is the Messenger Bag with the idea that I would use it as my camera bag.

The PATTY PIXX tag on my bag.

The finished product. It is also very light weight and this messenger bag is SO much easier to carry around than the big bulky square camera bag I had before. 

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Last night was the final show for Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb. My friend Jeff played Frank (and did an AMAZING job). I was asked by Jeff to come take some shots of him last night. Below are a couple, which are posted on www.facebook.com/pattypixx.

Official Photographer for the Rocky Horror Picture Show this season was Charles Lucero @ Gotcha GotchaPhotography. These pictures were simply taken as a favor for a friend.

Baby Afghan - the latest and just in the knick of time.

Last night I finished the baby blanket for Cassy to take to Michigan for Kyle's sister, Sam's, baby shower.

We had some trouble because the color she chose, I only had two skeins of and then she had difficulty finding the same color, finally we were able to get it at Michael's on Monday evening...anyone who has ever made an afghan knows that is a lot of crocheting to finish in just a couple of days.

It was accomplished though and for that I am thankful!