What a crazy couple of days.  We are in the process of getting everything off of our hard drive.  The transfer started this morning and was still going through the evening.  We are hopeful that we will be able to save everything...which is wonderful since we have put so much time into the information on our computer.  This has been quite the learning experience.  :)  The problem turned out to be a dying hard drive...which is the reason for the long transfer.  Thankfully, we found someone who came highly recommended.  Once the transfer is complete our imac will be heading to the apple store for a complete fix..thank goodness for apple-care.  We should have it back ready to go as soon as we return from Europe.  So, even as crazy as this was, 2 days before we left, we are thankful that it will be worked on while we are away.  

Enough about that...  :)  Below is a sneak peek from Greg and Betsy's wedding...much, much more to come when we return.    

I had to include this shot...this sums up our day with this incredibly, fun group of people.  This is only the beginning... By the way, this was completely his doing.

And, Kevin and Carly, who will be celebrating the birth of their first little girl in May.  Stay tuned for more...

And, we're off...Paris, Rome, Florence and lots of places in between...here we come.  :)  We will be out of the office until April 13.  We will have limited email access, but will try to respond as soon as possible.  Thank you, again, for your patience.  We look forward to sharing these moments with you when we return.  Blessings to you...  

Do you ever have one of those days?  One that you wish would never come?  Well, we had one of those today.  I want to start off by saying that I am not complaining!!  :)  I have heard a lot of sad stories lately, random stories, that break my heart.  Our economy is struggling and many are hurting as a result of that.  Lots of things happen on a daily basis that is much worse than what I am going to share with you, but our situation did bring a damper to our day.

As you know, we are leaving for our trip to Europe on Wednesday.  The kids are packed for Grandma's house.  We've been to the store for our last minute things.  Laundry is done...all we have to do is pack.  As for as the business side of things go, we are almost there.  That is...we were almost there.  Prints have been ordered, packages sent, still a handful of emails to write, but for the most part we were there.  I had a maternity session that I wanted to share with you along with Greg and Betsy's wedding from last week.  The plan was to have those ready to post first thing Monday morning.  That was the plan...   You see, Jeremy and I tend to be planners.  If you know us, you know that is true.  We try to fly by the seat of our pants, but that doesn't happen very often...we like to know what's going to happen.  ;)  

So, what's the problem?  The problem is my computer, my poor desktop MAC computer...the computer I send emails from, the computer I edit and design albums from (Jeremy uses the laptop which I am currently on), the computer that I order products from, the computer that allows me to communicate to this crazy internet world...including facebook :), the everything computer...is not working!  I was doing some editing this afternoon and the screen went gray and that was the end of it.  Jeremy was on the phone with the Mac representative and they came to a conclusion as to what the problem was.  This side of the computer is out of my league...I have no idea what is wrong with it other than the fact that it is not good.  All I know is that I am headed to the Mac store in the morning saying a prayer that our computer can be saved or at least the items on it can be saved.  No, we don't store client files on our computer...thank goodness.  However, there are still some important things on there that I would prefer to not lose.  Things such as forms, some pictures of our little ones that haven't had a chance to be backed up yet, tax forms that I worked so hard to have ready for our tax guy before we left, and some random things that I would rather not lose.  So, if you are willing say a little prayer for us (and the computer) we would appreciate it.  I know everything will work out how it needs to, but this sure happened at a crazy time.  No time is a good time in situations like this, but at least we could have been around to communicate with the people at the Mac store...not to mention I still had some things I wanted to finish up before we left.  I'm still amazed that this problem has taken place.  We have not had this computer very long and am still shocked that we can't even get the thing to boot up.

All of this to say...please be patient with us. I know a lot of you are anxious to see pictures.  I honestly don't do a lot of editing from the laptop...it's kinda a his/hers thing.  I use the desktop and Jeremy uses the laptop.  :)  However, as you can see there are not any pictures on this post for obvious reasons.  Once I find out what is happening with our computer tomorrow I will move on to plan b...which will be to prepare a couple of posts from the laptop.  Keep in mind...they may be shorter due to the time frame I am now working under plus I have a conference (OSP Indy) that I will be attending for a bit of the day tomorrow...another reason why I had hoped to have the posts finished by tomorrow.  :(

Also, please be patient with email...starting tomorrow and lasting through our trip.  My computer had the main email system on it...told you...everything was done on that computer (well, almost) and we had to get it going on the laptop.  Well, we have had a crazy amount of emails come in because our blocks are not set up, so it is going to take me awhile to sort through all of them.  Plus, I color coat my emails that need to be addressed and at this point...they are just a bunch of emails.  Grrrr.....  While we are in Europe I plan to check and respond to email as quickly as possible.  However, a few of our stops will not have internet access...we will get back to you as soon as we can.  

This post has become long enough...maybe all of the words are beginning to form pictures for you.  ;)  Thanks for listening to my drama story and thanks for your patience while we figure this situation out.  We truly appreciate it.  Technology is an amazing thing, but there are times that even it fails.

Have a wonderful start to your week...Mel

I thought it was about time for a follow-up from an earlier post about our upcoming trip to Europe.  The time has flown by...I can't believe we leave next Wednesday!  Aaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!  So much to do and share before we leave...  Anyway...

A couple of years ago, Jeremy and I took a trip to Germany to visit my cousin and her family.  To say that we enjoyed ourselves would be an understatment.  We absolutely fell in love with its beauty and the more "casual" pace of life that they encounter on a daily basis.  We knew that we would go back in the future, but we had no idea it would be this soon.

Jeremy teaches art and design classes at Kokomo High School.  About this time last year he came across information through a program called EF Tours and he began doing some research.  To make a long story short, we are heading a trip to Europe with a number of Jeremy's high school students.  We are so excited (a bit anxious to leave the kids for 10 days :(, but know that it will be an amazing trip.  We will be visiting Paris, Rome, Florence and a good number of other amazing wonders while we are there.  A friend asked me if we would be taking pictures and my response was, "Yeah, maybe just 1 or 2."  ;)  So, be ready... we will have lots to share when we return.  We also plan to set up an Etsy site to give you the opportunity to purchase some of the beauty that can be found there...more on that to come later.      

To start preparing you, I thought I would share a few of the images from our trip to Germany...can't wait to see even more!

This cathedral in Strasbourg, France took several hundred years to build..the detail was incredible.  I still remember as though it was yesterday.

The Neuschwanstein Castle...the history behind this castle is amazing!  The Disney World castle was modeled after this castle.

This photo and the 4th one up is from one of the few walled cities still in existence...Rothenburg.  

I love this family!  We have had the opportunity to document numerous moments for them over the years...from maternity sessions to new babies to those yearly pictures that melt your heart.  Thanks guys for giving us ample opportunities to capture your lives as a family.

Anyway, the third addition to their family is absolutely beautiful and so, so sweet.  I couldn't get enough of him.  You will see how proud his big brothers are below.  Congratulations you guys...can't wait to capture your life moments again.  Love to all of you!  

Love this moment...

I love how his fingers are in his mouth...too cute.

The proud brothers!

I had to add this one in again...I just love it!

Tickle, tickle, tickle...  :)

It isn't going to be a bad storm...just one that gets everything going. :)  This week has been full of getting lots of things done...albums, orders, editing, meetings, thoughts and ideas of what's to come for us as a business, etc.  Things that make my mind spin...knowing that starting next week it is going to be a different thought process altogether.  

This week, I guess you could say, has been a bit quiet with my mind being the only thing making a lot of noise.  ;)  Next week, however, sessions are in FULL swing...not to mention we start our wedding season off tomorrow and the week after next we leave for a 10 day trip to Europe...woo-hoo!!!! Can you tell my mind is spinning by this post?  ;)  So, hold on...we are going, going, going.  Lots of things to share...

And, of course, a picture to share.  This is sweet, baby Micah.  You will see more of him soon...