{Forgive me. . . }

. . .for not being around. I have quite a few things ailing me. Figuring out a couple things (just yesterday we found out two) and still awaiting the other (next Thursday). Nothing to be worried about. Believe me, I'm relieved that I finally know what's partly wrong with me. I was so so so so worried. I know worrying doesn't get any of us anywhere, but it's really hard not to worry when you have a family that you still have to take care of. I was so exhausted and wasn't managing that well.

What I have made time for is my photography because, as I told some friends, it's really one of the only things that brings me comfort and joy, other than my family of course. I have found some great photography support in the flickr community, so I spend a lot of time there just looking for inspiration to improve my own work. Here's a recent fave of mine, which has also been a fave of my flickr-ites:



Before I started not feeling so well, I did have a couple sorta big accomplishments. I saw that my 2nd billboard was up (!) which was discovered as Neil, myself and the kids were driving back from my cousin's wedding (which myself and my friend, Patty, photographed) in southern Illinois. I wasn't paying attention and Neil said "is that yours?" really calmly. And so I look up and uncalmly I shrieked, "YES!! Turn around!!!" So he turned around and I got out on the highway so I could take a picture. He was a little embarrassed by me, but hey, nothing new with Val :c)

So the wedding went fantastic-o. I still have not proofed them because I was busy finishing up some other sessions (of some cute adorable little people which you can see some of here), and then I started feeling crummy. But I'm hoping to begin working tonight on that wedding. Finally.

And then last weekend was Heather's bridal shower which my mom and I threw for her. It was a huge success in every way. We all had a blast. Afterwards mom and I packed up some of our stuff and went to Heather's for the evening alone, just the girls, watching movies and snacking on the leftovers from the shower :)

Speaking of Heather, she and Lee closed on their house yesterday, the one which I showed you all a little while back in this post. Soooo exciting for them. Their first home for both of them! Congrats you guys!

I feel like I've lost a lot of bloggy readers and that makes me sad, but I totally understand. I just don't have time for it as much as I want to have time for it. I haven't had time (or energy) to blog and haven't had time (or energy) to read the words of my dear blogging friends. Please forgive me on this, too. One day I will be back full-swing.

I leave you with this:

You are built to pull a cart,
to lift a heavy load and bear it,
to haul up the long slope,
and so
am I, peasant bodies, earthy, solid
shapely dark glazed clay pots that can
stand on the fire.

—Marge Piercy

Slacker, me. Amazing, Ally.

I know I am wayyyyy behind. Way way behind. Behind with my work, behind with putting my house together, behind with doing everything on my to-do list (which thank God I found, Leann!), behind with reading blog entries and behind with writing in mine. But, hey, such is life, right?

I just got my desk top computer back up on Monday. I couldn't do any work until then because my laptop just cannot hold all the memory each one of my pictures take up. It would take such a slooooow time to just bring one up in Photoshop. I couldn't work all weekend long last weekend because when they (the Mac people) reinstalled the hard drive onn my desk top, they didn't tell me the password for me to install my programs, like Photoshop, to do my work in. I was so flippin' mad. But that's fixed now. Phew.

Neil took off last Monday and Tuesday of this past week so I could begin working again. I proofed just one wedding in two days, but that's mostly because it took me almost one entire day just to download pictures from CD's, to install (all over again) all my programs, to callibrate my monitor, etc. Took forever. I now have one more wedding to proof and then I can get on to the smaller orders that people have so very patiently been waiting on me to do. (Huge thank you's go out to them!)

Anyhow, I am almost done now with the 2nd wedding on my to-do list (from back in June). At this wedding, one of my good friends, who also assisted me in my weddings a couple years ago, came home from her job in South Carolina to visit her family. She also made time for me and spent an entire day reliving her working-with-Val days and we had a blast! Such a great time. Here's a picture of Ally and I from that wedding. Ally is the best. I so love this chica!Ally is my amazing friend who flies C-17's for the Air Force. She is a pilot to these powerfully huge planes. Here's a picture of her plane loading the President's Air Force One. Every time I see pictures like this I think to myself "wow, how lucky this girl is to do this and see the things she does".

Ally in her get-up on her plane.

Yes, she flies these planes that carry other planes and automobiles (and other things, people and equipment). She has also flown injured soldiers in the war to the hospitals in Germany. She has had to make journeys literally all over the world. In the fall she is changing bases and beginning work out of Alaska. She is really really excited. I am, too, because our hopes are to go visit her up there. Too bad she couldn't just pick me up, but she isn't allowed to make civilian stops. Darn it :c)
This is the view she sees with her own eyes almost every day. She has blessed us by allowing us to see what she sees. She gets to see the world in such a beautiful way . . . I love it how she is always taking pictures of it. I would be, too. Isn't it amazing?! (By the way, those mountains are Alaska.)
I swear you can see the roundness of the Earth. Absolutely breathtaking.
Here she shot a picture of what she sees while landing. She had another one that was right before they touched down. I was thinking "shouldn't your hands be somewhere other than the camera?!" She tells me about how she reads and takes pictures all the time while "driving". That just astonishes me!Some of her crew on the C-17.

Anyhow, hopefully as I get more and more work projects done this week, I can find more time to post. Until then, I wanted to say how much I miss you all and how I can't wait to get back into the "norm" again. (Question is, will it ever be normal again??) Take care and talk to you soon. xxoo