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View Full Version : Hi! *waves* (a Jessica and JD update)


saltyveruca
08-04-2009, 09:48 PM
It's been a while, I know. I just wanted to stop by and say hello!

JD and I have been up to our eyeballs in weddings. It's been our busiest season yet, and so much fun! We've had some really great clients to shoot. Things are winding down a bit until the fall, but we are going to start pushing for senior photos and family portraits more...and of course before we know it we will be buried in tulle and lace again like we love to be!

Our new house is so wonderful. I have been swimming in our swim spa almost every day, I am so spoiled and loving it! With all of the weddings and life in general, we've barely had time to finish unpacking boxes. At this rate, we'll be having our housewarming sometime around...maybe Christmas? Some day we'll be done!

We went back to Ireland. You may remember we went for our honeymoon, and we loved it so much (and it was such a great deal this year) that we had to go back! It was such a great time to blow off some steam before we came back to buy the house and got wrapped up in full blown wedding season. It was so lovely. You can see my full set of photos from the trip here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12698507@N08/sets/72157621008857283/ You may notice that JD is a lot hairier now!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/3701093345_8442deb78c.jpg

Our dog, Puck, almost died. We were at an out of town wedding and our neighbors (who are awesome) were taking care of him. We came home to find him suffering from bloat and had to rush him to the doggie ER. Many hours and thousands of dollars later, he was OK and he's doing really well now! You can read more about the whole ordeal here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12698507@N08/3660021619/in/set-72157606573449664/ Here he is with his stitches (you may recognize his signature contortionist move!):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2461/3660021619_7f947a11ef_o.jpg

One of my photos is going to be in a book about Hurricane Ike. It's called Houston, It's Worth It: Ike (http://houstonitsworthit.com/) and will go on sale on Ike's anniversary in September. I am so honored and excited! The photo is this one of JD reuniting a lost dog with its owner.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3286/2861088758_a1ee3457dc_o.jpg

We have a trip to Denver planned in late September. We're going to visit JD's dad and while we're there, go to the Great American Beer Fest! We're such beer geeks, so this is like a dream come true for us.

After that, JD and I are going to be in a local photo show together in October. We both submitted images, and we were both accepted! It's another great honor. I am displaying a HUGE print of this photo I took after we finished a bridal session at Mercer Arboretum in Houston.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3483/3461259733_3aebb92d1a.jpg

We were finally able to get maternity coverage on my health insurance, so when we get back from the Great American Beer Fest, somewhere in this mess of busyness we will be...getting busy making a baby!

I think that's it for now. We have been crazy busy, but also crazy awesome, and we have a lot to look forward to this year!

gwenshack
08-04-2009, 09:53 PM
Oh wow, glad to see you around here! :) I'm glad your dog made it through the ordeal. Welcome back!

WebLady
08-04-2009, 09:54 PM
Hey! Great to hear from you!

Sorry about Puck; glad he made it through that ok!

All your pictures are great! Congrats on being accepted in those shows and the book thing! Good luck with all that and the rest too :)

Welcome back :frogg:

FutureMrsWilson
08-05-2009, 12:00 AM
Hiii!
I don't know you - but I like you :)

My dog does the exact same cotortionist move! Except she's a bloodhound so her big ears and lips flop all around.. and she sometimes does it with a toy between her feet.

I'll have to get a picture of her next time I'm home.

FutureMrsWilson
08-05-2009, 12:02 AM
Also, I haven't TTC, but I would imagine baby-making busy is much easier to deal with than other forms of busy! Good luck!

MrsDM
08-05-2009, 12:39 AM
Welcome back...glad to see you around!! I glimpsed at the pics of the progress on the house and its looking good! Glad to hear you've guys been keeping busy and your dog is doing good! How scary that must have been!

brendalin
08-07-2009, 11:30 AM
Welcome back! The pictures are great as usual!

Nekochanpurr
08-10-2009, 08:42 PM
Welcome back! You've been busy! :D

Heywie
08-13-2009, 01:21 PM
Oh my gosh! You have been busy!!!

You must have been so freaked about your poor pooch! I'm so glad he's okay! Bloat is so scary!

Welcome back! I hope you'll have time to pop in now and then and update us on all the fun you're having!

KMS
08-18-2009, 09:38 PM
Jessica! It's wonderful to hear from you. Things look like they have been going so well for y'all, other than the puppy close call. I wish that we would have been able to do that trash the dress session, but it never worked out with us. Sometime in the future we're going to manage to work together! That is a beautiful Ike photo. I know it's on all of our Houston area minds as hurricanes are starting to be spotted out there in the gulf. *sigh* What an awesome honor to be in that book.

What photo show are you guys participating in??

saltyveruca
08-26-2009, 02:33 PM
Thanks, everybody!

Yeah, our close call with Puck was pretty frightening. You never know just how much you love your dog until you have to spend thousands of dollars to save his life...that was fun. We just took a trip to Vegas and it was hard to leave him behind (it was our first time since The Incident) but all was well. We are so lucky to have great neighbors that are totally in love with him!

I just went and picked up my copy of the HIWI: Ike book yesterday and it is really great. It's such an amazing piece of citizen media. It's really cool to be able to see how other people in the area experienced Ike and I am so so so proud to be a part of it-and to have a photo published to show how sweet and awesome my husband is!

Keely! I totally understand about the pictures. We're here when you guys are ready. I hope you've had more time to hang out together! The show is 600 sq mi: Hidden. Houstonist is putting it on at the Xnihilo Gallery. You guys should come see it! The opening reception is October 9th.

JD and I just got back from a quick trip to Vegas (his dad had a crazy idea for all of us to meet there and visit for the weekend). While we were there, we went to the Neon Boneyard and did a photo shoot starring...me in a cute polka dot dress and red heels. It was sooo awkward being on the other side of the camera. It was 110 outside that day, no shade, no clouds, in a lot full of dust and broken glass. And it was in a not so great neighborhood. It was pretty WTF. Towards the end I was a little afraid of passing out. Thank goodness I had some water! But it was so fun and I think we got some good stuff. I hope so, anyway! It will be a while, but I will be sure to post some photos when we get to them! And no, we didn't strike it rich. We are both terrible at gambling...but that doesn't mean we didn't try to win!

We are just over a month away from Project: Mini Merritt! You have no idea how hard it was to *not* tell my father in law about our plans while we were all fawning over my adorable 2 year old niece! :bbmrgreen:

saltyveruca
08-28-2009, 12:03 PM
So, I just bought a 1974 electric purple VW Beetle (with the number 37 painted on the side). I saw it when I went for a walk on Wednesday, saw it Thursday, am picking it up on Monday. Definitely an impulse buy, but I am so darn excited! And JD and I share his Jeep, so it will be nice to actually have my own car again! And we already have a bride who wants to use it for a Trash the Dress session, lol.

What do you think I should name it? I think I'm going to try and get vanity plates. I am thinking Violet (if it's available), or something German like Helga or Klaus.

gwenshack
08-28-2009, 01:13 PM
I love it. I think every car should have a name. :) My friend has a German car named Hans...

saltyveruca
09-10-2009, 05:12 PM
I finally got around to taking a camera phone picture of the beetle! Here it is:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/28905051.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1252618057&Signature=yGlG7aTTsc3uG8TvMg%2BZzJube7w%3D

:happy: