We had a fun outing in a downtown alleyway full of lots of colorful walls, shipping containers, and these gorgeous vines.

Amy, on the left is one of the founders of the new Resc\You mission. Work it girl!

These next two are married. And cute.

Ben, pictured above, decided that he needed to shake a nearby tree and make all the leaves fall on Julie’s head for some pictures. Julie was a good sport (even when I made them do it more than once… and I think it turned into a fun little sequence!

The youngest (and I daresay, the cutest) Resc\You model! Amy’s niece Madelin

Okay, it is quite possible that no one else out there will like this next picture… but I can’t get enough of it. It is blurry, but her soft smile and the rainbow colors in the shirt just take me back somewhere… childhood I guess. Oh the 80’s! Anna, you are beautiful!

You probably recognize this next guy. He was prop man for the photoshoot, even when the props included a small child. I was in the middle of shooting the models, but I couldn’t resist turning my camera to snag a pic of this adorable scene. I’m pretty sure he was in the middle of saying “Hey! The action is over there!” to make me get my camera off him

Sara, you are just too cute. I absolutely love your smile and laugh!

Lana, please come back and model for me again. Girl you were WORK-IN-IT! She appeared and then disappeared again quickly, but I’m sure glad she came so I could snag some shots of her!

And, that’s the end! Go buy a tshirt here, won’t you?

And while you’re over there, register to win FREE SHIRTS for a YEAR! The drawing will be Nov 30th!

As trick or treaters walked up, these creepy light up skeleton heads greeted them.

And then they may have seen these disgusting 2 or 3 foot bats hanging above them.

What did you say? You want a close-up of the little nasties? Oh. Okay.

I was getting tired of taking pictures of all the gross, creepy things, so I thought I’d take a picture of some nice fall-ish-ness. These two things are MY contribution

There’s our cute little doorway and some of my pretty mums. Oh wait, the mums even got sabotaged by the Halloween police.

Ahhh… pretty pumpkin-ness. (And no, I never even carved my pumpkin this year. Oh well, that just means it can be a Thanksgiving decoration too, right?)

Now we move inside the house…

These are my roommate Shannon’s creation: witches finger cookies!

As if the singing skeleton head surrounded by witch fingers were not enough, somebody decided it should have a cockroach crawling out of its eyeball.

My contribution: caramel apples and all the cute paper signs and best costume awards (read: excuse to not do my homework and be crafty instead!!)

I do have to admit, these goblets were pretty sweet.

Is this next one not quite possibly the grossest thing you’ve ever seen in your life?? The tongue felt DISGUSTING!

Okay, so my least favorite “decoration” of all? The random disgusting roaches my roommate scattered around (read: in the refrigerator, our purses, in the corner… anywhere it was bound to freak us out.)

Waterfall of eyeballs.  

Candy in a cauldron. Yessss!

Yes, we sorta bought the cheap candy. Do not judge.

I wish you could see Gabe’s whole costume. He was a care bear. Oh yes. And Gabe is like 6′8″ or something. He definitely won “Funniest Costume” for his efforts. I wish you could see Chiquita Banana woman behind him… she had a whole basket of fake fruit on her head! On the right is the “Bathing Beauty.”

Chick magnet!!! And she was a cute little chick.. with tail feathers!!

So, we didn’t think to take a roommate picture til the end of the night. We are looking pretty haggard by this point, but we had a referee, Angela from the Office, Swine Flu, and “I, Rot”

Quail Man from Doug, anyone? It was awesome.

And yes, we are disgusting. I concur.  I’m not sure whose idea this was, or why we all went along with it.. but it is what it is lol.

This first one makes me what to sing “All the women, who independent, throw your hands up at me!”

Julie loves to laugh, and is pretty much doing it all the time. So I think these next ones are a good reflection of her laugh and smile.

We loved these random chairs we found along the road… Problem was, the seats cushions were totally filled with water from the last rain. Julie was a trooper!

Can we say sassy pants??

There is something just so moody and evocative about this next image. Something about her expression, I think.

So, we went to Chicago. It was wonderfullll. Friday night was sushi with his college friends (we HEART sushi).

Saturday we got up and started the day with a run. We ran to this lake near my uncles house and as we approached I’m sure my voice went up an octave and I said “Look honey! There are SWANS in the lake!! I can’t believe it!” We got closer and started our first lap around the lake… We got to where we could see the swans more closely and Lee sadly informed me “Honey, they aren’t real. Look…they have mildew lines on them.” Yeah… sad day. Four freakin fake swans. Oh well… the run was fun. We went on that run primarily because we weren’t going to be doing p90x for three days. Not so sure starting the day with a run was our smartest move ever though… because we then proceeded to walk probably about 5 miles through downtown, and then stand at the U2 concert for like… hours. Lee couldn’t even walk without a limp the next day. We’re old.

Highlights- Giordano’s Pizza, Millennium Park, Navy Pier, Being 20 freakin feet from Bono at the U2 show (and Isaac, I know this is sad, but I have no pictures from the show. Yeah, I know..) IKEA, Swedish pancakes with lingonberries for breakfast at IKEA, U2- the best freakin show ever, lunch at this incredible BBQ place with our Spendyourself web designer Doug. He is awesome. And tall. Oh, and did I mention we saw U2 in concert? Their first North American show of the tour? Yeah. It was cool. Especially Bono’s jacket with laser lights coming out of the sleeves. yessss

So, I didn’t really take a ton of pictures… even though I COULD HAVE. (Julie.. lets do a photo field trip there okay?) I thought maybe I should enjoy my time with Lee instead of being the paparazzi all weekend

So, here’s just a couple…

So, here are just a few to tide you over of my beautiful best friend!

Oh– and does anybody have Chicago suggestions– things we just must see or do while there??

So, I’d been to DC once before. I think I was probably 15 years old, went with my family, and from my recollection it was about 150 degrees outside every day as we traversed around the city on foot (or getting lost on the metro) seeing many many many historical sites. I mean, there is really only so much you can take in when your that age, have a little brother and sister in tow, a mom who likes to read every information panel, and its 150 jillion degrees outside. Needless to say, this experience of DC was much more pleasant. It’s always nice when you have locals to show you real city life. We stayed in the residential sector of Capitol Hill, and it was so cute. See exhibit A:

I never new that DC-ans (um.. what do you call yourselves out there? DC-ites? District-ians? Hmm..) anyhow, I never knew that they really walk EVERYWHERE. Its just very strange at first. Like you leave your friends house and you just walk home… or you have dinner with some people on a Saturday and you don’t head to your car… just start walking! And DC-ites, we came to find out, tend to think that a short walk is what many of us would quantify as a medium to long-ish walk. Oh… and another weird thing? When everybody is doing all this walking around… you like run into your friends everywhere, they also walking home! It felt like a college campus… only its a city…. or, erm, a district.. or something.

One day we headed to the uber cute “Eastern Market.”

If I lived there I would buy all my produce there… Laura and I each got a white peach and just ate it up right then and there!

I think I told Laura to make her “I’m excited to be at Eastern Market” face. This is what I got:

Oh, and in case you’ve been following my blog for awhile, Laura’s is the torso that used to grace my header. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that when it first appeared… and now she’s a little bitter its gone.

Because we walked everywhere I mostly left Big Bertha (my affectionate name for my 24-70mm f2.8 lens) at home and just carried my point and shoot with me. Here’s a montage of some fun ones…

After a most lovely time in DC– I mean come on, skee ball, Benjamin Franklin, and feeling victorious over the Metro system… what more can you ask for? Charity and I ventured out into the wild blue yonder via… dun dun dun… Greyhound Bus! We were a tiny bit worried about this endeavor, but were pleasantly surprised to find our first bus quite comfortable and even equipped with wireless internet. Well, the fun stopped there folks. They wouldn’t let us on the second bus, and told us we were going to have to wait in this less-than-appetizing bus station for four hours for the next one. We just wanted to get to the beach! So my wonderful sister drove 100 miles to come pick us up… and we indeed headed straight to the beach.

We spent the next couple days with my cute sister and brother in law in their new awesome house. Impromptu photo session!

What a goob:

And here is Winky. She is the cutest thing EVER. And yes, she has one eye and her name is Winky.

One night we headed out for tapas with Alicia- one of the nicest people ever! They wanted their picture with the tree. I’m pretty sure this was *not* my idea. 

But this one may or may not have been my idea:      Lol. Amy looks the least mean in this pic of several. She has that serious/mean face down. Not that she ever made it at me growing up.

Here’s a couple random shots I snagged while walking to the restaurant:

As we were headed out the door, Amy’s Scarlet Hope Spendyourself shirt came in the mail. I made her put it on right there and mandated a sister Spendyourself picture. Speaking of that… we need pics of you in your Spendyourself shirt! Head over to the Spendyourself blog to see details.

Thanks for an awesome vacation Charity, Amy and Adam, Laura, Julie and Jared, Rob, Teej and Alicia! Loved spending time with you all!

I’m not sure the first time that I met JR. I think I was pretty intimidated of him at first (see: lots of tattoos and strong opinions to go with them on theology and politics and matters in between). But, he has grown on me in lots of ways. And I know he loves my Manders.

Last summer we were all at the beach when JR asked Amanda to leave the house and go walk on the beach with him at night. After they left, I looked at Tiffany and said “He’s going to tell her he loves her!” Oh yeah. I called it.

How do I even begin to describe this wedding? It was absolutely unique and a reflection of themselves and their relationship. Amanda sported her black nailpolish and funky hairdo, JR his wallet chain and short sleeve shirt to show off all his sweet tats. They fitted us all out with a rainbow of Chuck Taylors, and sported ones themselves that read “Forasteros,” their new last name. The couple decided to create their own last name in part as a reminder of what they wanted their lives to be centered around. Forasteros means alien or stranger in Spanish, and their wedding played on this theme with much talk of how they wanted to see the world and serve the people of the world, always mindful that they are just an alien and stranger on this earth and that their real home is with Christ.

We had the most *beautiful* location for the wedding. The hipness of the Forasteros met the rural beauty of the Blaylock farm. I love this shot I snuck of two of the guys who were helping with parking hiding in the shade of the shed (notice the bucket he is sitting on

Not only was the landscape gorgeous, but the buildings on the property were AMAZING. They were built in like the 1870’s and just simply breathtaking, pretty much like this bride:

The room that the girls got ready in was entirely turquoise. It was a photographers dream. Check out more of the pictures here to see what I mean.

In addition to their rings, they got ampersands tattooed on their ring fingers as a reminder that they are no longer *just* Amanda or *just* JR, but “Amanda AND JR”

We had to have facilities for all these people out at the farm, and Ashley assured me they were *ceremony johnnies* or something like that, so they were supposedly cleaner. The girls were all over my crazy ideas

When Amanda got a pic with each person in her bridal party, they did serious ones and then silly ones, and we got a few crazy ones. Amandas mom (below) is crazy fun… I won’t tell you what she did to elicit this reaction out of Manda!

Workin it by the barn. Mmm sun flare.

Loved this shot of her soon to be hubby and her daddy on either side of the bride.

It was BRIGHT and HOT outside, but the couple obliged my pleadings to come out into this awesome field for some “sexy” pics

This kiss was actually kiss #2– JR stole an extra one… and it was adorable!Holla! Rainbow Chucks!

Amanda Iman created the invites and programs for the big day, and they couldn’t have been any more perfect for Manda and JR!

I believe this guy is the one that gave the couple their new tats… and his moustache was too cool, i had to sneak a shot of him!Cotton candy! Score!

Everybody rocked it late into the night… jammin under the lights and to the KARAOKE of their fellow guests. (My favorite? When JR did Total Eclipse of the Heart.) Awesome. Was so glad to be a part of your special day Manda and JR, and am so excited for y’all’s new lives in Ohio. You better come visit!

Click Here to see all of Manda and JR’s pics

Click Here to see the slideshow of some of my faves

But this post is about sushi. Lol.

Last week sometime I took Lee out for sushi (another of our faves) to celebrate him paying off all his school loans! Yippee for paying off that debt. Dave Ramsey would be so proud. Well, actually, he still has $17 he needs to pay, but when he tried to pay it the loan company told him that they had sold his loan to the US Government, and that he should write them a letter. Yeah… like that’s really going to solve anything. Or maybe he could call them? Oh wait… have you ever tried to call the US Government? Anyways… hopefully he can track the $17 down before it turns into a letter 10 years later claiming they owe him 1,573.92 in interest.

Sorry, this post is about sushi. I keep getting distracted.

So there it is— in all its glory!

We got some other stuff too (like crunch n munch.. mmmmm) but when this plate came out I nearly swooned at the colors. I had my camera with me (duh!) and I quickly apologized to Lee that we were going to look like Chinese tourists for a moment (ummm did i say that?) as I took a picture in the restaurant, of the food. I just couldn’t help it! I mean look at it!

And here’s the cute boy across the table from me, who politely obliged when I told him to “hold up some sushi… you know… like in your chopsticks!”  <eye rolling commences>  “no, come on, like closer up by your mouth. oh i know! maybe pretend like you’re eating it!… No??… Okay fine… just a little higher up then…”   Poor photo slave boy.

(Side note: how about that blue wall behind there matching the sushi plates?! holla!!)

And then we went on a photowalk. Okay, so we really just went on a regular walk. But… ugh… I just. couldn’t. stand. it.  I HAD to take pictures. And Lee just kept walking.

This one reminds me of a little joke from Spring Break my senior year of high school— “This “body” belongs to Chuck.” Oh goodtimes. (There are only 4 people out there in the world that would get it… lets see if they’re reading

I kind of have a propensity for ol beat up metal stuff. Lee is starting to understand this about me. For the Spendyourself shoot… I was so proud when he said “I bet we are going to take pictures over there in front of that dumpster aren’t we?” And I said “YES honey! We are!! I’m so proud that you know me so well that you dont even think its strange anymore that I want people to gather around an old metal nasty smelly dumpster and smile real pretty!!”

The other benefit to photowalking with the Lee– a built in hot model. I love how you can see his shadow. And I’m pretty proud of his progress in not having to smile in .every. single. picture.

Its a telephone pole, yep! But its gritty and cool, no?

You can do it, little weed!

Here’s my model again.

Now he’s smiling at me. He can’t help himself.

And now he’s trying realllly hard to be serious again. Nice try, boy.

Okay I’m running out of commenting steam. Its a wall. And a light.

Is that some medicinal herb growing there, buddy? jk jk. i know that’s not what that looks like.

Oh and then I LOVE this one. This little pup was trying to be so fierce… and then he stuck his little nose through. Love it. I feel like I should be hanging out with Opie, going fishing and whistling a tune or something when I see this image.

I got really excited about this yella door. I want a yella door.

I thought I should be in a pic. This is all that I got.

Oh my, he’s so handsome, isn’t he girls?

And a pretty little plant. Bonus points to you if you know what it is. Too bad I’m pretty sure Grammy doesn’t read my blog, because I’m sure she’d know! She had me saying “Silphium Terabinthinacium” at like age 3. And thats no lie.

Thanks for photowalking with me. Oh it was fun! How about you do your own photowalk and let me see your pretty pictures??