Category Archives: Personal Stories

When you live in Ohio, you feel a certain adoration for Fall- its beautiful colors & comfortable chill. On the other hand, you carry on with trepidation, knowing that at any moment, the weather may turn & Winter may take over. Before that happens, we strive to do all we can to savor all the beauty around us. In between a week long “honeymoon,” three weddings & four engagement shoots, various family sessions, & two huge cakes… we did what we could to enjoy the season together. Especially because Rock wasn’t with us last year & is most likely not going to be here this time next year.

It’s hard for me to believe that a few months have gone by since I re-launched my blog & yet this will be my three year old son, Kevin’s, debut! He made some appearances on the old one, but it’s definitely time to post some pictures of the two “mans” I love {and photograph} the most.

2009 Barn Bash at the Duncan’s Farm

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Fulton Farms October 20th

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Taken by my assistant of course…

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I always tell people that having a growing boy running around while I learn about photography has helped me grow. I always have to be ready for anything, I have to remain inconspicuous or he will stop doing whatever he is doing, & I test the limits of slower speeds used on toddlers…

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He’s getting so big. I love his independence, imagination, & loyalty.

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I gobble him up daily… for good reason. I know I’m biased, but he’s my favorite.

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The lovely sunset {& I always love a nice interesting tree}.

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Quick snapshots from a funny day. Kevin had to sneeze then he ran & got something & came back to the kitchen. He told me he needed his glasses when he sneezes, because that’s what Imagination Movers do…

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This was a cake I made in early October for a friend’s mom’s surprise birthday party. The budget allowed for me to use homemade ingredients for everything {except fondant…I prefer the workability of packaged fondant vs. the unreliable homemade versions}. The pumpkins were hand made w/ marshmallow fondant. I’m in love with Swiss Meringue Vanilla Bean Buttercream… a little time consuming, but worth every minute! We definitely drew inspiration from an Amy Atlas creation, and a family member made the wood cake pedestal.

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*** No more wedding cakes for me. I don’t mind cakes {like this one} for 60 servings & under, birthday cakes, cupcakes, etc. But never a wedding cake again. Unless you are my little sister, Abby Bell, and you are getting married someday {like ten years}. I would probably make her cake…
Just not into doing it on a larger scale… for a thousand reasons, no thank you!

This post started getting longer & longer… so part two coming up next: Mexico pictures & trick or treat. Then back to the families & engagements you haven’t had a chance to see. Oh yeah, and a few weddings :]

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I’m gonna buy this book this year. I really can’t even remember what it’s about. I just remember what it did to me as a first grader.

We were told to pick a Christmas book to read to the kindergartners, each of us would read to a group of two or three. I remember wanting to pick a story that was challenging. Coming from a person who had trouble spelling “the” just a few months before, any book would have been challenging.

I had two younger girls in my group, they seemed nice. We settled into a quiet spot in the hallway outside their classroom. The basement of our Lincoln Elementary had green carpet that was supposed to resemble grass. We sat down, Indian style, and I felt excited about sharing a story with them. I didn’t have a problem speaking in front of people, I had a lot of siblings and never felt shy {as a child}.
I opened the book…
It was filled with words I didn’t understand.
I could barely read any of it.
I immediately felt embarrassed.

I would look up and see them exchanging glances at each other. I knew that they knew I wasn’t any good at it. They started to look around and finally my nice teacher came and saved me by reading the rest of it. The torture was over, in a way.

Even as a girl so small, I felt overwhelmed by failure. I didn’t even know that word yet. I just knew I hadn’t done something right. I knew I had to fix it. So every Tuesday, when we went to the library, I picked one book: Santa Mouse. I read it over & over until I knew it by memory. Around February, Mrs. Leonard noticed I always picked one book & was ready to go before the other kids. They would mill around the room, perusing colorful titles. I would wait patiently at the door.

“Santa Mouse?!” she laughed. “Why are you still reading this book? There are so many other books you could be reading!”

“I need to learn how to read it.”

“Let me guess, you have this book memorized by now, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“We are picking a new book. You aren’t allowed to check this one out anymore.”

I don’t know if she even remembered why I felt committed to read that story. I don’t know if she knew it was all I could do to make up for my mistake.
And if any kindergartners ever needed someone to read it in March, I’d have it down easily.

I listened. I borrowed other books. I became really good at reading. It was always by far {besides art} my strongest, most effortless class.
I didn’t take any English courses in college, I tested out of them in high school.

This story has been a source of encouragement to me as well as a pretty accurate lesson of how my mind has been built to work. When I perceive that I have “failed,” I go all out. I obsess with how I can make it right, what I can do differently for the next time. Lately there have been a few reasons I feel a sense of failure relating to the “business” of photography. I know that any time you venture into unknown territory without a map, there are going to be setbacks. I’m still learning. It’s not so familiar yet. Right now I’m still grasping the words, they look a little daunting on the pages. Soon I will have them down to memory…

Then nothing will be impossible.

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  • alli from hooray - October 23, 2009 - 1:52 pm

    Andrea, this is such a touching story. I read it yesterday in my google reader & was still thinking about it today.
    Ps. Those twins above are insanely adorable!

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I spent the weekend away with my husband to celebrate our birthdays & fifth wedding anniversary. I think that the most wonderful gift I could have ever given myself is that we were married the day after my birthday. Even though I am not always thrilled about my birthday coming around, thinking of our anniversary makes me so happy I usually forget to be in a bad mood about my age :]

We had moved to Texas during our first anniversary and the cake never made it down. I really wanted to do a special top tier this year, and probably started a new tradition for us. I’m always game for any excuse to have dessert!

It’s been a busy week so I just made a little homemade yellow cake with my fresh vanilla bean frosting {the icing resembles ice cream}. I made it for my son’s third birthday and fell in love with the flavor. I am always on the hunt for icing flavors that are elegant without being too sweet. You can find the simple one I use on my other blog {soon} at Military Spice.

I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands this week so I made the gumpaste flower {inspired by my favorite headband} in the hotel room. I forgot scissors, so Rock had to save the day with his Leatherman {knife & wire cutters}. As a Biomedical Technician, he always has one somewhere!

He is a good sous chef…
and the best husband,
father to our son,
friend,
assistant,
encourager,
partner,
& gentleman that I could have ever asked God to send my way.
I’m so thankful to be his wife.

Trust me, five years will go by very quickly! Savor every moment.
{And every last slice of vanilla bean buttercream}.

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Tonight I am officially launching this blog! I am so excited that I was able to customize it to complement my official website. I hope you enjoy my work and come back often to visit while this new chapter is written :]

I thought it would only be appropriate to re-visit the pre-deployment pictures I took with my husband a year ago. They were taken the day before he left for his deployment to Afghanistan. It was shortly after our anniversary, and so I wanted to take them where we had our little wedding at Wegerzyn Gardens.

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I would love to do more photo sessions in this style… seeing our men in uniform is just about as good as it gets!

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I ruined the dress by sitting on some dark berries in an attempt to immortalize the shoes I had painted. I think it was worth it.

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It was early September and a very unusually hot day. We laughed about having our winter coats on, but he was a good sport.

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This was the last shot, taken after we were “done” and our way to the car. We were anxious to get back to our son, but I’m glad this one was taken.

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My mother-in-law took this at Rock’s basic training graduation four years ago. When he was deployed I turned it into a vintage portrait. I didn’t mind looking at his face on pictures since they were all I had. It’s part of the reason I am so obsessed with taking pictures! I understand their value. ♫

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  • Lisa Green - August 27, 2009 - 7:11 pm

    Your work is impeccable, candid, gentle, honest, and vulnerable. You inspire me.

    Love, Lisa

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