happy 23rd mrs. gerber!

january 20. happy birthday to my niece kristen michelle {aka krissy to me}.

you inspire me. you “get me”. you make me a better person. 

may you always know how very special you are to me. may you always know how deeply loved you are.

i love you. always. no matter what!!!!   ~Aunt Car

i’m still here and some scrappy goodness.

4 months of blog neglect. just wanted to jump on and declare that i AM still alive and kickin’.

maybe i should have closed it down but it was never my intention to neglect it for 4 months.

there are alot of reasons and excuses why i haven’t kept up my blog; some of which are common ‘i needed a break’, ‘i didn’t have time’ reasons; and then there are some that are quite personal so i just won’t go there.

i’ll be back soon with a recap of my last 4 months, but for now i’m jumping back into blog land with some scrappy goodness.

design team work for Creative Pandemonium. {formerly known as Random Chaos}. the challenge this week was to use the color green, at least 5 stickers, and polka dots. this is my take on the challenge.

by the way … my new header is a picture of the fabrics and colors in my newly {almost done}decorated scrapbook room.

it’s good to be back.  ~carrie

happy fall + wedding photos

happy fall! from my house in the woods to yours.

and here are some of the many gorgeous photos of dan and katelyn’s wedding courtesy of the very talented Casie Towsley Photography {i’ll add more in the near future}

thank you casie for capturing the amazing moments of the day. you’re awesome!!!

dave. college. 2nd year.

yesterday was moving back to college day for dave. he’s part of the growth group leadership team at grace this year so he had to get there a few days before freshman welcome weekend.

7:30 AM {that’s right people, i was up and looking alive at 7:30am….hard to believe right?} we were loaded up and ready to leave the house. see the bundled up burrito looking thingy on the top of my jeep? that is the little blue couch that cindy and bud so graciously gave to dave for his dorm room. i personally think it was a way for cindy to beg bud for a new couch for their room…but that’s just me.

here’s a little walk into dave’s neighborhood. the street he lives on.

and his dorm. see the 2nd floor? see the 3rd window in? that is dave’s window this year.

the little blue couch made it safe and sound.

i still can’t lift anything over 10 pounds so i wasn’t much help moving things up 2 flights of stairs, so dave let me do one more “mom thing” for him. i put away all his clothes. all nice and tidy and folded and hung and lookin’ all neat like they were here at home. now OKAY! i know it’s not going to stay this way! i had fun doing it for him though. felt needed. and all that jazz.

these vintage mailboxes are so cool. had to grab a photo of dave’s box. hint….he likes gum and coffee beans if youwant to fill his vintage mailbox with something from home.

i miss him. alot. but it’s all good. knowing he is in the place he loves, surrounded by people he loves, doing the things he loves to do, makes all the missing okay for me. not “JUST okay”. it makes it right and GOOD for me. i wouldn’t want it any other way for him. truly.

meet bernie.

this is my in-laws new puppy. bernadine is her name. we call her bernie. and she is photogenic.

it was good to get out and take a relaxing drive to the lake to meet her yesterday.

it was good to pick up my nikon and shoot some pictures. i haven’t done that in at least 3 weeks. i was having major withdrawals. it was good for me. it made me feel like “me” again.

note to self: photography is good for my soul.

quickie update

lately i’ve been so bad about posting on my blog i have my doubts that anyone is holding out hope that i’ll ever post regularly again.

my intentions are to start posting again regularly. for a quickie update, i’m listing the things that have been going on that have kept me away.

1. ER visit. 4 hours later after 3 viles of blood, pain meds and 2 ultrasounds, i was sent home with a diagnosis and told to see my OB doc the next day. 

2. day after ER visit: OB doc appointment. more diagnostic blood work. another ultrasound. 45 minute consultation with doc. pre-op blood work. pre-op EKG.

3. aug. 10 surgery. hysterectomy. followed by swearing something or someone hijacked me and everything that made me “me”. holy crap i never thought i would BEG for hormones to race through my veins again, but beg for them back i have. removing all traces of hormones has not been fun. i won’t go into detail. for being a private person i’ve shared too much already.

4. recovery filled with confusion and pain, but mostly filled with my family loving me and being here for me. i gotta give a shout out to my mom and my husband. i can’t imagine the last 11 days without either of them. i’m 47 and i am here to say i still need and want my mom. and a shout out to my son and dad and sister and brother in law for just being here and loving me through this little journey.

5. finding out the amazing online scrappy website that i design for {CMK} is closing at the end of the month. i’ve met so many wonderful ladies there and have been inspired in so many ways by them. i’m so sad to say good-bye to such a big part of my daily life that CMK was.

6. because CMK is closing and i want to stay connected with all my scrappy friends who live all over the USA and beyond, i joined facebook. because i’ve had to take frequent “recovering from surgery” breaks in my days, i’ve spent alot of time inviting friends to my list, and posting fun things to my friends and family.

7. helping dave pack and get ready to go back to college. we take him back this next tuesday. it’s all good. he’s excited and i’m excited for him.

8. the day i got home from the hospital i got 4 fun emails from Scrapbook Trends magazine. they are publishing 3 things in a specialty idea book called Quick and Easy Idea book, and also another 1 in their january issue. totally made me day for sure.

9. a couple days before going to the hospital i did this layout to keep my mind busy and off the upcoming surgery.

so that’s it. that’s what i’ve been up to.

i’ll be back soon.

i promise.

some scrappy-ness.

thought i’d share some of my layouts that i’ve not posted here yet. enjoy.

 

that’s it for today. have a great weekend.

my {casual} wedding snapshots.

i’m happy with some of the shots i got. some others i’m “eeehhh” about. but remember i wasn’t even suppose to have my nikon with me. and remember i stuck it on auto mode and used the “eh” built in flash and just shot a few here and there. i won’t win any awards for amazing snapshots, and i didn’t take the cool creative shots i would have taken….but i digress; we discussed that in the last post.

{first off: the rehearsal dinner}

{personalized mini hersey bars and a peacock feather at everyone’s seat. bars from foreverwedstore.com}

{they loved practicing getting married. hee-hee! check out the white sashes in the background. my friend beth designs and decorates the church decor {among countless other creative things she does at the church}. i can’t wait to see the professional photos of the ceremony with those in the background! thanks for your expertise beth}

{bridesmaids: best friends from high school maria and jen, katelyn and her maid of honor/little sister kelsey}

{best man – aka dave – aka little brother to the groom – aka special music for the wedding}

{next: bits of the wedding day}

{the programs: a joint effort made by myself, my sis cindy, kate’s mom, and lori, our wedding coordinator}

{this was about the extent of the boys getting ready. 10 minutes and they were done. and yes, they are in the church nursery and yes, that is a picture of a cow on the wall. cracked us up!}

{you guessed it – the inspiration for the wedding colors was the peacock feather. one of dan and kate’s first dates was at the zoo here in town. one of their favorite things at the zoo are the peacocks}

{sisters. seriously aren’t they gorgeous? dan gained a little sister. she’s a sweetheart and so much fun!}

{beautiful indeed. sorry for the shadowy glare on jen’s face. there was a mirror nearby that picked up a funky glare. didn’t take away from her beauty that’s for sure.}

{me and dave. best man and momma of the groom. i’m really cheesin’ it here. this is me at my happiest}

{my mom. myself. my sis cindy. my sis julie. we’re related dontcha think? i love us!}

{my sis cindy and myself. 2 empty nesters learning the ropes together. i hope our husbands survive it}

{mr. and mrs. dan ferrier. i didn’t lose a son. i gained an amazing daughter in law}

{totally classy cake top dontcha think? good choice kate!}

{table favors were heart shaped scoops that you took up to the coffee bean bar and filled up a bag. umm…yeah, guess who danced the night away and didn’t get a picture of the adorable heart scoop? that’d be me! ’im bettin the photographer covered me on that one}

{yes! they really are this happy!}

{kate inviting everybody to dance. she loves a party. she loves people. she loves celebrating. yes, she really is this happy!}

the amateur photographer in me cringes at the clarity on some of the shots. i find myself cringing about thinking of all the different shots i wish i would have gotten. i’ve caught myself thinking of why i didn’t shoot this or that shot and why on earth did i dump it on auto mode? a part of me feels like i need to apologize to myself for not going above and beyond getting THE perfect shots……. but again, i digress and i gotta let that go.

i just keep thinking how excited i’ll be when the real photos arrive from the photographer! she is top notch! so pumped to see her work. if i sound a little down about my own shots, i am. the fact that i know i am capable of better grinds at me but again, i digress. let it go carr. 

let. it. go. {yes i do quite a bit of self talking these days for some reason. works for me.}

thanks for poppin’ in and taking a look. it really was a gorgeous amazing day. i’ll keep updating my blog with more wedding shots as i get them from family members and of course the photographer. {who happens to be my friend beth’s daughter. amazing creativity runs in her family}

goin’ to the chapel….

the photo is a little blurry.

AND I LOVE IT! the reality of the moment speaks volumes!

i love it because katelyn is hurrying down the hall.

she’s hurrying down the hall to meet dan in the sanctuary. they had pictures taken before the ceremony and they met for some special one on one time together where dan would see her for the first time in her dress. it was just the photographer in the sanctuary with the 2 of them quietly capturing their special one on one moments. can’t wait to see those!

i captured this shot of katelyn scurrying down the hall to meet my son.

him: the love of her life. her: the love of his life. yeah, that’s why i adore this photo i captured. i see and feel the excitement when i look at this shot. soon after this shot is when i put my camera away for the day.

 WHY would i do that you ask? well……there was one big thing the mother of the bride and i figured out when we got to the church that day. that big thing was that our roles, for the first time since the kids were born, was not to be photographers. our role was not to have our cameras around our necks and sit back with the camera in front of our faces the entire time capturing every moment that warmed our hearts. on that day that job was that of the professional photograher and family members who would then share their photos with us.

not having my camera in front of my face the whole day was TOUGH for me. i mean really, really tough. i had / have full trust in the amazing photographer that the kids chose. i have complete confidence that she captured those moments and memories beautifully.  that wasn’t the tough part. the tough part was that i go everywhere with my camera. its literally a part of my wardrobe on any given day.

it was dan’s idea for me to come to the wedding without my nikon wrapped around my neck all day. he asked me if i would come and relax and take in his special day from the other side of the camera. (he did agree to allow me to bring it for the getting ready part of the day…for about 2 hours )

he knows me well. he knew i would capture amazing moments and memories and would have fun shooting pictures every few seconds. but he wanted me to really SEE it all. to experience it all. he wanted me to live the moments and not be the one capturing other peoples moments.

thank you dan. thank you for asking me to do something that was really tough for me to do that resulted in something far more precious to me. i lived the moments. i sat and watched moments. i relaxed and took it all in. every expression. every happy tear. every smile. every laugh. every special look. every happy once in a lifetime moment of your special day.

……more casual snapshots coming ……stay tuned. and for sure i’ll share the professional shots taken by the photographer when we get them.

blog hoppin’ !

CMK august layout kit blog hoppin’ that is! its that time again! take a look at what i did with the new kit over at CMK. and make sure you visit the other CMK dt gals blogs (to your right…….). inspiration galore for sure!!

seriously now – is it really almost august? AUGUST? can someone tell me where the summer has gone?

OH! i remember now! my summer began with 2 college graduations. followed by 1 of my beautiful nieces getting married and me having the pleasure and honor of taking pictures for the wedding. followed by another 1 of my beautiful nieces graduating with her pharmacy degree. followed by bridal showers and editing photos. followed by preparing for my own son’s wedding. followed by the rehearsal dinner. followed by the wedding. followed by loading up our car with luggage and another 1 of my beautiful nieces the day after the wedding and going on vacation to michigan.

speaking of my son’s wedding. that’s where i’ve been the past few weeks. i know i’ve neglected my blog. i found out keeping up with daily routines such as laundry, blogging, cooking and any kind of cleaning of ones house doesn’t mix well with being the mother of the groom. that’s my excuse anyway.

see my new header? the peacock feather? that’s a little sneak peek of the wedding decor and colors. can i say beautiful? can i say elegant and classy? that’s how i describe dan and kates wedding day. july 18. 2009. it was a fantastic day. stay tuned for more details and a few snapshots from the day……………in the meantime keep thinking beautiful. elegant. classy and fantastic.