Jumping into Fall

It's hard to believe that fall semester at PLU has already begun, but after these last few not-so-sunny days, I think I'm actually ready for a new season! Not ready for constant rain, but just for that crisp fall air and curling up on the couch in one of my over-sized hoodies! : )

The last few weeks of summer have been nothing but good, despite starting my oh so crazy school and work schedule last week. Cody and I have gotten most of the house put together (finally!), just a few things to drop off at Goodwill and some pictures to hang up and it will be complete. I'll share some pictures soon.

On a WAY more exciting note than school and cleaning, we welcomed the newest addition to Cody's family into the world on September 7, his new nephew Van Gryffin Callon. He is seven pounds of absolute cuteness!!! I already had the pleasure of doing a few of his newborn pictures with the help of Cody's sister Keana--Van's momma : ) --and we got a few good ones in before he had had enough of us trying to mold him into poses...so far this is my favorite, take 2 is being held this weekend so hopefully we'll get some more good ones for Keana and the rest of the family to enjoy.

My last little excursion of the summer was this past weekend. Cody had "planned" a trip for my birthday, and 6 weeks later we had a weekend we could do it. We stayed in Astoria, OR and had absolutely perfect weather the whole trip. We made our way about 50 miles down the Oregon coast on Saturday, stopping in Seaside, Cannon Beach, and Oswald State Park. Since I didn't know where we were going and therefore did not know how to pack, we had no blankets or anything to take down to the beach and just relax in the sand, but nonetheless I had a great time walking on the different beaches and enjoying the sunshine--and of course taking lots of pictures : ) 

 Out on the jetty just outside Astoria

 One of the best pictures of Cody and I--thank you stranger! : )

 Hwy 101 bridge into Astoria

            Car show in Seaside--<3'd this one : )                                 Cannon Beach

Back to the grind--daily quizzes in Biochem are keeping me on top of things, which means I really do have time to sit, stare, breathe...even if it is just for a few minutes ; )

My How Time Flies...

I've come to the conclusion that I fail at this whole blogging thing.. : P  So much for "I'll definitely post pictures when I get back!".......

So as to pretend I never disappeared--Key West was AWESOME..

I had sooo much fun taking pictures at this wedding!!! I must admit I was SUPER nervous about it since it was my first wedding shoot, but thankfully it was nice and small, and the bride and groom's families were more than welcoming. In two short days I felt like part of the family and was so glad I got to capture their special weekend. I am heading up to Seattle later tonight to photograph their reception they are holding for all of their friends and relatives in the area, it should be just as good of a time--and even more fun since I work with most of the people who will be attending!

This summer I volunteered to work nights for 2 months--don't ask me what I was thinking. Overall it wasn't too bad, I just now feel like I missed out doing a lot of things. Get home at 6:30am, wake up at 5pm, eat, get ready to go to work again at 8pm. Doesn't exactly leave time to do things on the 7 day on stretch. Then I spent the 7 days off stretch catching up on all the things I didn't get done the week before!

Despite the icky work schedule, I did get to do a few fun things on my weeks off. This past June my mom turned the big 5-0 and my stepdad and I planned a surprise party for her. I was afraid she knew about it somehow, but I was wrong--she was definitely surprised!! Her coworkers, our church family, and some of my good friends made it a huge success : )

We also had another big birthday to celebrate in June--my little brother turned 21!! Planning TWO surprise parties was stressful, especially when one of them was being held 2,000 miles away! : P  But, with the help of my Dad and the bowling alley that my brother works at we were able to pull a fast one on him as well! He was told that he had to come back to work after his shift was over to help work a  party of about 100 people, but really there was only 20 and it was his family *lol* Thinking he would get a head start, he set up tables and chairs in the alley's banquet room for 100 people...I felt so bad that I couldn't tell him not to!!! But he was surprised to see us in the party room instead when he was told he needed to get a table from where we were hiding. Plus I was excited that my cousins were able to make it too, I always love seeing their little ones! Just wish I could see them more often : )

The Barrett Girls! ...and Ty : ) 

Never too old to sit on Grandma's lap! ; ) 

Me and my brother Avery : )

With Grandma and Dad

I did a few photo shoots over the summer too, one for Margo (whom I did family pictures for last year, she was my first paid shoot) and her husband Ty as a sort of anniversary session. Ty is not a fan of pictures, but we got some good ones anyway..

That reminds me--while half asleep one night at work, a new logo idea popped into my head! I started working on it in Photoshop as soon as I could and here's the new design--I wanted something fun but simple and I think I accomplished just that...I love it!

After my night shifts were over I did two more photo sessions--my first maternity shoot for Cody's sister Keana and a senior portrait session for my brother's girlfriend, Caitlin, while I was in Tulsa a few weeks ago. Keana's due date is in just a few days and I can hardly wait to meet the little guy and smother him with my camera!! ; ) 

My last little adventure of the summer was just this last week, Cody and I headed up to the Snoqualmie area to do some biking and then met our good friend Alicia for lunch in Seattle's International District for some delicious Chinese food at a place called KauKau. It was Cody's birthday that week and we normally go there for lunch on his birthday, but he didn't have that day off this year so we went earlier in the week instead. After lunch we went to Pike Place Market and browsed around, found some good gift ideas and got some good pictures out of the day.

Well I think I've caught up on summer in a nutshell....getting ready to start school in about a week so I'm gearing up to be going nonstop!

Hope you all have a great weekend, it's supposed to be gorgeous out there!

Down the Home Stretch!

My semester is almost over--7 class days before finals to be exact! This isn't turning out to be my best semester grade wise, but I'd like to think that everyone falters at some point. Reality hit me the other day when I thought about my test grades in all my classes--not looking like I'll be improving my GPA this semester.... SO, the best I can do is focus on school, leave my camera alone, leave my pictures alone (aside from the wedding this weekend!!!! hehe)...and leave Facebook alone : P


BUT, speaking of cameras and pictures, I took my "new" Nikon D80 that I bought a couple weeks ago on a camping trip last weekend to play with it and break it in--I think it passed the test with flying colors! : ) Cody, Brent, and I (plus the dogs, Bear and Bella) went up to Riffe Lake just outside of Morton for the weekend and we couldn't have asked for better hiking weather on Saturday! Brent found the waterfall we'd been hearing about for a few years so he led Cody and I on a hike up to it. It ended up being about a 10 mile round trip, and I'm not kidding when I say getting there was all uphill! And I'm pretty sure the dogs did the hike twice with how much they ran ahead and back to us on the way up, they were soooo tired when we go back to camp! In natural WA fashion, it just HAD to rain Sunday morning before we were able to pack all of our stuff up, and any of you who camp know how much of a pain in the butt it is to pack up wet gear just to have to unpack and set everything up again when you get home so it will dry! But all in all it was a fun weekend--definitely looking forward to doing some more hiking this summer!

A couple of weeks ago Cody's nephew turned 4 years old, and he got some pretty cool presents, including a set of golf clubs--I can't wait to take him to the driving range! We also took him to Sportco for their annual "fishing debry" for the kids, which is literally trying to catch fish in a very large bucket : ) He had a blast though, it was fun to see the look on his face when he caught it, and then the look on his face when he realized he did not want to touch them! 

He gets shy when people sing happy birthday.. : P

His very own fishing vest!

No better way to start practicing that in some seriously deep rough! ; )

Well, I think that sums up the last few weeks! It's going to be a crazy ride the next couple weeks finishing up, so I am so happy I get a mini vacation this weekend in Key West! What will be a beautiful wedding, 85 degrees, SUN, sand...and hopefully at least one drink in my hand from Margaritaville! ; )  Maybe I'll even meet Jimmy Buffet...


Will definitely post pictures when I get back, everyone have a great weekend!!!