part 1 ::: (catching up on our lives)

Let's catch you up on what is happening in our lives.... BESIDES the house!

: Matt :

1. Work is going good.  He doesn't have as much pipe to take care of as he used to, so that is quite an adjustment for him.  He is not gone out of town at all anymore really. Which I know that he enjoyed doing (and i'm not going to lie, I didn't always enjoy it, but it was nice to have the bed to myself!).

2. Church. Ever since I have known Matt, he has been a deacon at his (our) church.  And just recently at the beginning of the year, his term was up.  That is an adjustment for him I truely feel.To not have any responsibilities after church, to count money, to fix thing or that thing is something he isn't used to.  But I think this will open up some opportunities for us to experience church together a little bit more. (more on that later).

3. House - i know I said i was going to tell you what's going on besides the house, but that is just such a big part of his (our) life right now. He is there every night working on pretty much everything. He leaves for work in the morning, doesn't come home, but goes straight to the house and works there from anywhere between 8-10:30 depending on what he needs to get done.  I bring him dinner and help him if I can help with anything. I really appreciate all the hard work that he is doing though. I am so proud of him and I take pride in that MY HUSBAND (along with some family & friends) did A LOT of work on this house (sheesh, he wired up the whole house with electric, how awesome is that!).  I am so excited to call that house our HOME.

: Jenni :

1. Work is slow. But that is very typical of this time of the year.  Hopefully it will pick up again around Valentine's Day.   I am still off one day a week (which i LOVE).  I use it to do some grocery shopping, see friends, or just catch up on business stuff (which actually was the MAIN REASON why actually started taking days off in the 1st place, haha - but the other things are starting to take over and become a little more important to me). I actually came quite close to changing jobs. I am not always the happiest at my job and I feel like I drive pretty far just to sit on my butt and not do much during the day. So, the bank in town had an opening for a teller/sales rep position.  I actually went pretty far in the application process (and the girls at the bank know me and actually really wanted me to work there), but then one morning on the way to work, I just kinda had an epiphany. I have it way to good at THE SHOPPER. I have the days off already that I want, I have vacation time already built up. So why am I giving all of that up just to work a little closer to home. For right now, the best decision for me, and for us was that I stay where I'm at.

2. Business is slower right now too b/c of the time of the year. I do most of my portrait sessions outside, so the winter is not ever my busy season. But I'm hoping to put together a couple of PHOTO SHOOT EXTRAVAGANZA days starting in May where I go to one location that day and see how many appointments I can "knock-out" that day, so i'm not eating up all my Saturdays of the summer. One will be at a county park in Hobart, IN - one will be at the beach/downtown area of New Buffalo, MI - and the other one will most likely be in fall probably at a state park.  Right now, the places I have thought of are all in Indiana, but I also want to "cater" to those that in the Kankakee area that I think might come out for this.  So.... i'm opening to anyone's ideas (not that I really have any followers of my blog, but i can dream, right?)




to be continued......

A little bit of everything!

Well, as you can tell by how many posts I have done in the last couple of weeks... there is A LOT GOING ON in our lives... haha... (can you sense the sarcasm?)

Even though nothing new, fun, or exciting has been happening....
We both have been keeping busy though!!

Time Spent Apart (tear)
Matt has been working quite a bit.... he has been able to pick up some overtime here and there and actually this week he is down south the whole week doing his spring surveying! And it looks like part/most of next week he will be gone too! =( I will say that I am getting a little more used to him being gone for longer periods of time. Not that I like it, but I think I'm accepting and handling it a little bit better.

Work for me on the other hand.... has been slow, but busy, but boring. It's a job. I really want to love my job, but I just don't. But this week has been pretty good. My boss is gone on vacation, so in addition to my normal weekly tasks, I was in charge of sending the papers to press and also working on a 12 page paper that gets printed monthly. That has kept me busy most of the week!
And since Matt was working out of town all this week, I extended some hospitality to my friend Renee to come and sleep over this week! She lived in Lowell and works in Manteno, so staying in Grant Park helps he cut her commute time. It has been nice to have around. Last night we actually watched Nicholas and Rachele's wedding video she brought along... I got to see Matt make his wonderful speech. He's so cute! Also, I am taking advantage of going out for dinner and meeting up with some friends while Matt's gone! Last night I got to hang out with the wonderful Amanda Plowman and tonight I get to see two college friends, Jessica & Kristen! Jessica just got engaged and getting married in July! So I can't wait to hear all about her wedding plans!

A Not So Ordianary Weekend
Tomorrow Matt will be home! I'm so excited to see him!
I'm also excited because this weekend is a very UN- ORDINARY weekend! (is that even a word?)For what seems to be the LOOOONGest time, we have had tickets for tomorrow night's 's game with Nicholas and Rachele! So that will be fun!

Then another fun and exciting thing is that on Saturday to Sunday we are going down to Layfette and Indianapolis with a group from church and we are staying overnight in a hotel, and then going to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis! Which I have heard great things about it! So I'm looking forward to that! =) I'll have to tell you about how it was when we get back! Like I said, we are going with a group of people from churches, all of them are couples with kids, except for us! But they are all super cool and I know that we will have a great time!

"I feel the need... the need for speed!"
And we finally booked Matt's wedding present from me! Richard Petty Driving Experience! He will be doing(Richard Petty Driving Experience). He will be doing it at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet on May 24 in the afternoon! I hope he's as excited as I am for him! I hope I'll be able to get some good photos and hopefully borrow someone's video camera to record it too! =)

let's see....
not much has been happening the last couple weeks..... so not much to write about.
(sorry, we don't lead very exciting lives!)

Matt has been working quite a bit... over time here and there and then he was out of town for 2 nights this week for a class at Purdue. And soon will be his busy season with the spring coming up.... so he'll be out of town quite a bit more.

Don't you feel great when you have time to organize and clean stuff that you have been wanting to but not really motivated to do when you get home from work? Well, I felt that way Wednesday! With my day off, I was able to organize closets that i have been wanting to go through since I moved all my stuff into the house. I cleaned in places that were bugging me and that i knew i wanted to get a head start on with my OPEN HOUSE coming up next Saturday.

this weekend is looking good!! tonight is the fireman's FISH FRY (not that i'd go to it, b/c i hate fish).... but I am meeting up Renee at the bar for some drinks!! And hopefully more people will join us later! =) Then Saturday we FINALLY get to get together with Erika & Darrin Schultz!! We have been trying to get our schedules to work out since we got back from our honeymoon! So it will be great to see them again! Then Sunday... well, some NAPS will probably sound good right about then!! =)

Constantly Praying.....

Well, since I last wrote on our blog, A LOT of things have happened. So, brace yourself, I think this is going to be a LOOOONG one!!!! I'm just going to down a list:

1. Just about a week after Camryn was born, my cousin Patti and her husband TJ had to take Camryn to the emergency room. Ended up finding out that she had hypotherma because she had a very narrow (if not closed aorta) and they needed to get her help very quickly. They were sent to Comer Children's Hospital up in Chicago, the best place for her to be at really! Patti and TJ have been through a lot through the past 2 weeks they have been at the hospital.... the ups and downs of Camryn taking a step forward and then two steps back are finally taking a toll on them. I have absolutely NO CLUE whatsoever of what they are going through, I don't have kids, I've never been in any situation that is like theirs at all! I feel helpless, but what i do know is that one thing will help tremendously... and that is prayer. The power of pray and the power of our amazing, loving, wonderful Savior is truly incredible! And because we as Christians know who is in total control and how the power of prayer can help, that has been what we have been doing. It's been amazing to me how many people are praying for this little baby, just over 3 weeks old. People that don't even know Patti, TJ, or Camryn are just pleading with God to bring this baby back to good health. Matt and I's church has put it on the prayer chain, and I'm pretty positive that many more churches have done the same thing. I think about the 3 of them constantly, as well as many other people I'm sure! As it stands right now.... Camryn's heart really needs to get stronger for them to take her off the heart lung machine. She is getting to the point where she really shouldn't be on it that much longer. So, they have said the word transplant, so we will see where it goes from here!

Here are two photos I took of her a couple of days after she came home and only two days before she was rushed to the hospital.... I am SO happy that I took my camera that day and tried my hand at baby photography (b/c really that's the first time I've done that!). These photos are very precious to me, for many different reasons!

She truly is an amazing, precious gift from God.
She has touched MANY hearts and lives in the just the
3 weeks she has been alive so far!

Awwww.... BIG YAWN! So adorable!

2. There has been another baby born into our lives! Nathan & Leah Prairie had a baby girl on Saturday night, Dehlia Grace weighing 8 lbs. 13 oz. and stretching 22 in. long. Matt and I went to go see her last night! She is precious and adorable! I forgot that I had my camera in my purse, so I didn't take any photos, but maybe I'll be able to get copies of the ones that Nathan took?? (huh Nathan?)

3. So, on a totally different subject than the 2 previous things...... WORK has been going pretty well for both Matt and I. This winter Matt has actually been quite busy, I think I'm safe to say a lot busier than any winters in a long time! He has been randomly been out of town some nights during the week... but thankfully it has slowed down a little bit since the craziness of Rockford and the train derailment! Just in time for me to have a little time to him before his crazy SPRING schedule starts! But then hey, maybe I'll get a lot of work done around the house and with business stuff! As for me and work, well, I'm still working 4 days a week... and that seems to be working out pretty well. Not that I'm really doing with the day that I thought I would be doing... but I am getting errands done, cleaning the house, baking different desserts/cookies for co-workers (looong story... but the jist of that is, b/c i have off one day a week, they think that i should make them desserts every week... so i'm taking 'em up on it and i'm learning to bake different things!) but then i do do some business work too!

4. This weekend is Valentine's Day.... wow... that kinda creeped up! I can't believe it's the middle of February already! Wow! Soon we will be married 4 months! WOW... time just flies by when you're having fun I guess!

We do have plans for Valentine's Day! Yeah! It's not the most romantic thing, but I am quite excited about it because I have never been to .... THE AUTO SHOW!!! I'm not sure that Matt is all that excited about it (he'd probably be just as happy at home, on the couch watching a movie), but since I was able to get free tickets, I'm excited to go for the first time..... and with Matt especially!!!!

5. I want to say that there is something that I'm missing, but not too much else BIG has happened.... some little things like:
- I had my church papers transferred over to Faith Reformed in Kankakee so that I am a member now at Matt's church.
- Our living is coming along.... i was able to buy new lamps & some shelf decorations
- Warm weather is hopefully coming soon! We have been having glimpses of wonderful weather, so hopefully that will stick around!

I think that's all for now! I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Please keep Camryn, Patti & TJ in your prayers....

I guess I knew....

Goooooooood Moooooooornin'.......................

Even though I knew what I was getting myself into, marrying a pipeliner... it is all coming reality to me now! I find it harder than I thought to have nights to myself, especially unexpected nights. It is one thing to know when he'll be gone and I can mentally prepare for that.... but when it's an emergency and it could last a couple of days..... that is something I'm not good at! The reason I bring this up is because Wednesday and Thursday night, Matt was up in Rockford again, doing the same stuff he was doing the week before, and those nights, I don't enjoy, but I know that he is going to be gone. But Friday night, Matt got a call saying that the Freight Train that got derailed in Buffalo Grove was RIGHT ON TOP of the pipeline and workers needed to be there to make sure no damage was being done to the pipeline (which is quite a few feet underneath all that happened). This is a picture of the mess that needed to be cleaned up even before they could even start checking out the pipeline to see if any damage was done to the line.

I will say that I am thankful I have a man that is a hard worker and enjoys the work that he does. He cares about the work he does and he likes to do it right.

As for me, I had a wedding to shoot yesterday for THE NEW MR. & MRS. GARY ZEKVELD (Gary & Hannah "Smith"). It was a beautiful wedding. The weather could have cooperated a little bit better, but man, those girls "MAN-ed UP" and fought the cold to take pictures outside! Hannah was beautiful, Gary was handsome and I'm jealous they will be in the warm weather of Mexico today. Here is a beautiful picture of the bride & groom:

Hope everyone has a relaxing day......

Rockin' out in Rockford

Well, since Sunday night, Matt has been in Rockford for work. Buckeye has taken over another line and Matt was in charge of going over to the Rockford location to be there for any questions.

Since I usually have Wednesdays off, I decided go up for 1.5 days to see him.... but that was with Matt putting the thought into my head that I could actually go see him and not have to be at home all by myself without him. SOOOOO... Tuesday afternoon, I drove over to Rockford and be with him for the night! And the first thing he shows me are THESE:

These are wonderful OLD SCHOOL (just out of the package) safety glasses he found at the Argo office. I just had to take a picture of him with 'em on. It's just so funny! They actually just look like really old glasses that might have been for a prescription, but they really aren't!!
We went and saw "Four Christmases" with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. I didn't hear that great of things about it, but I still really wanted to see it! And actually, I liked it. All the funny parts WEREN'T just in the commercials and I laughed quite a lot! =) After that, we went to the MACHINE SHED restuarant. It is a place that is "dedicated to the American farmer" (or something like that.. i thought that's what i read!). But it was good homecooked type meals with bread and all the fixin's. The bread was so good and my chicken just melted in my mouth! If you are ever in the Rockford area (or Iowa too I think), I think it is a good family resturant to check out! http://www.machineshed.com/. Then today, I was able to actually see Matt again, because when I called him in the morning, he was stuck at the Ford Dealership getting his truck worked on. So I got to spend just a little more time with my hubby before leaving Rockford.
I miss all of my friends. I will say that it is not as easy to get together with all of them as it used to be. Whether it's because I live a little farther away now, or because we are all just getting busier with other things that are coming into our lives. I just pray that we will always have time to see each other and keep those friendships going no matter what happens in our lives.
Matt and I are both realizing that we need to get back on the routine of working out and eating better. With both of us loosing a pretty substantial amount of weight each awhile ago, we know how important it is try to stay healthy and fit. Of course, since we both haven't worked out since the wedding, we are starting to "feel the burn" of working out again!
Hope all of you are doing well!
Jenni

Something new to me....

Well, Monday when I came home... I did something that I haven't done before or if I have it's been a LOOOONG time since I had to! =)  What is that you ask? RAKE LEAVES! And on top of that.... Matt was burning them in the backyard!  Haha.... I guess it really hit me that I'm in the country.  They are allowed to do that in country!  Haha.... 

BIG NEWS!  (No, I'm not pregnant!) Haha.... I went down to only working 4 days a week! To give myself a little bit more time to the wifey things, but also get caught up on the business stuff!  (Since I've been slacking a little bit in that area!)! I'm very excited about it and hope 

This weekend we are off to Wisconsin for my friend Steph's wedding!  And I will be shooting it!  So it should be a fun day! Just hopefully the weather cooperates! But we are getting into winter, so it may be kind unpredictable! 

Hope you all have a great weekend!