The Big Day

Man, what a day. Today was Dan and Michelle's wedding, and everything went off great. I got a bit of a sunburn, took about 500 pictures, and drove myself to the point of exhaustion. I wouldn't have it any other way.

The day started (for me) with photos before the wedding at roughly 12:30. The wedding started about 1:30, ended at about 2:00, and we finished with the "formals" at exactly 3:00. For any photographers reading this, you know that these are the toughest shots. Multiple set ups, a lot of people in your ear, and a lot of running around, this is the longest part of the day. I was lucky to have a great group of people, and a lot of help, so things went very smoothly. The reception came and went, with the entertainment provided by Mic Hog Karaoke, which coincidentally, is a business owned by my dad! He did a great job, and really worked his ass off for 8 1/2 hours.

These three shots I've posted are a few that really stuck out while i was uploading tonight, and it's shots like these that really make me love being a photographer. I'll happily sit through all the formal portraits just to get these gems. Although I'm certainly done with weddings, I still smile when I see shots like this.

Rehearsal

I'm sure I've mentioned my brother in law's wedding this Saturday, but I don't think I've mentioned that I'm doing the photography. I've also decided that this will likely be the last wedding I shoot, unless I'm absolutely hard-up for money. It's just a little too stressful for me. I couldn't have picked a better wedding for my last. The location is in a local arboretum, and as you can see from my picture today, it's absolutely beautiful. It's going to be a bright, sunny day, and although it's going to be pretty hot, at least there's no rain in the forecast. I'll be sure to put up a few shots from tomorrow so you can see some of my "professional" work.

Movies, Disappointment

I joined my dad at the movie theater this afternoon to finally go see Spiderman 3. As I said yesterday, I've heard that it sucks, but I really wanted to see it on the big screen as I've seen the previous two. I should have waited for the dvd. Now don't get me wrong, the movie certainly had its moments. Venom was amazing, and the fight scenes, especially the final battle, were awesome. I do not, however, under any circumstances, ever again want to see a brooding, emo Peter Parker. What a load of crap. The whole concept makes me nauseous. I also think this movie fell into the Batman trap, in trying to cram too many villains into one movie. The first Batman movie was fantastic. Only one villain to contend with, providing plenty of time for the development of the character. The sequels, however, all had multiple villains, which made the films seem rushed, with virtually no character development whatsoever. I think Sam Raimi really tried to do too much here. Having the New Goblin, Venom, the Alien Costume, and the Sandman all in the same film was a total overkill. You could've just done a film with Venom and it would've been great. The movie wasn't horrible, but to call it good would be a bit of an overstatement.

The day wasn't a complete loss. I did get to spend some time with my Dad, which I don't do often enough, and we also stopped over at my sister Jennee's house to visit her, her husband Jason, and my nephew Nathan. It was good to see you guys!

Finished Product

This is a shot of some (slightly bug-eaten) Day Lilies growing in our yard, and is a good representation of some of the beautiful stuff I had to take out on this newest project. Fortunately, I finished it today. I went into Rockford this afternoon, bought a truckload of mulch, and put it all down. What a difference a little mulch can make! It look much better than the overgrown mess that used to be there. Now we just need to replace those boarded-up windows the previous owners left us with.

I didn't get quite as much done today as I had hoped, but it was so damn hot today, and since asthma has been an issue for me lately, I didn't want to over do it. I guess I can leave the mowing for Friday. Tomorrow I'm going to (finally) see Spiderman 3 with my dad. I know, it sucks, but I want to see it anyway.

Here's a shot of the finished product:

Bricklayer

Today I've spent about an hour digging a trench and laying the border bricks in the area I've been working on. Today I was supposed to go get the mulch, but I'm not really keen on getting red dye all over our new recliner, so I'll put that off for tomorrow. It was no surprise that my measurements were a bit off, so I was short two bricks. It's no big deal, but it is a bit of an annoyance. When I go to get them tonight, I'll also be buying some of that black paper stuff that blocks the growth of weeds and grass in areas such as this. I'm looking forward to having this finished so I can relax on my vacation.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Under Pressure

Wow. Sometimes I really have no concept of time. I didn't get nearly as much done today as I thought I would. I decided to pressure wash the siding first. I got started around 1:45, and the next thing I knew, it was 5:00! It really took me far longer to do that then I ever planned on. So unfortunately, I didn't get time to start putting the bricks in. That means I'l have to get an early start tomorrow so I can get them all out of my truck. On Saturday, Steph and I bought a new recliner at Slumberland, and I have to pick it up tomorrow. The truck was overloaded enough with hundreds of pounds of bricks in it, there's no way I'm going to add more weight then drive it around some more. As to the pressure washing, you wouldn't believe how well that worked. The house needed it pretty badly, but I really had no idea how bad it was until I started taking the stuff off. The house was so bright that with the sun hitting it, you literally couldn't look at it directly. Yowza, that's white!

Supplies

Since I'm off all this week (huzzah!), I'll be doing some much needed work around the house. My first job will be to finish the job I started a couple weeks ago, by taking these bricks we bought tonight and putting up a small border around the newly planted bushes on the South side of the house. They were really far more affordable than I had anticipated. I actually thought we'd be spending twice what we did, so that was a nice surprise. We also picked up a pressure washer, as our siding is looking pretty dirty.