Though the day started with rain {err, I mean a downpour} by the time we started pictures, there was not a cloud in the sky.  The Ribault Club was amazing by itself, but with the gorgeous sunlight peaking through the old oak trees- it was nothing short of spectacular.  And add the awesome flowers and special touches by Lynette at Rose of Sharon, and you have a magical day!  Stacy of SLN Studios came out to help me photograph the day, and we always have a great time together.  I tell ya, I cant think of a better way to spend a Saturday! Congrats you two! I hope that this day was everything you dreamed of!

To see more from their wedding day click here: Cindy & Mike

So…back to the blog. The blog is located here, and if you have some time, go read some. Enjoy this post:

The one where two roads diverged in a Suburban Parking Lot

Noah’s private school is around the corner from my old office. On Mondays I drop him off and then hang out at the shopping center across the street, poaching WiFi from the sandwich place where I used to get lunch. The parking lot is still a pain in the ass, the chicken salad is still too dry, but that’s where the nostalgia ends.

I’ve been coming here since last summer, when I brought a very, very different little boy to the school’s summer camp, and yet I have never once bumped into anyone I know. I drove by the office every day for months without noticing that the company name was no longer on the building — they’d moved a couple blocks away, to another building that I drove by every day, but the name on that building is different too. The company was sold awhile back, then renamed and rebranded. I had no idea until I joined LinkedIn and tried searching for coworkers. Most of them are still there, though there were quite a few layoffs in the wake of the stock market crash.

I still can’t listen to stock market reports without thinking about my job — if the Dow or NASDAQ closed up or down a certain number of points, I had to stay late and send out one last update. When I started, the updates were recorded over the phone. Subscribers would call and listen to a pre-recorded message from their investment adviser about the day’s action. When we started sending the updates out via email, I had to call the phone number over and over again to transcribe the messages, because some of the advisers didn’t like typing it out first, but preferred to just call and ramble on for awhile about whatever they felt like. One guy was downright epic — he’d talk for 15 minutes about everything from the Presidential election cycle to the auto industry to the Olympics to the yuan to the bulls and the bears and lagging indicators and buy some blue chips and short the dollar and by the way I’m recording this message from my yacht, have a nice weekend, folks. He always got a few ticker symbols wrong, and to this day I still know a good 200 of them by heart.

It’s not my job anymore — and that particular bit of drudgework hadn’t been my job for awhile, as I lobbed it off on assistants and interns as soon as I could — but I still call it my job. When a former boss sent out an employment posting on LinkedIn for a managing editor with an eerily familiar set of duties, I forwarded it to Jason and said something like, oh how funny, I could get my job back. I don’t want it back, but still.

I was so terrified when I quit my job. That job. Whatever job.

The title and responsibilities sound the same, but not much else would be. The new building has cubicles instead of window offices and I hear the formal dress code has been relaxed. It’s all very Internet-y now and I have no idea if they still do any actual publishing. Like on paper. Which was a thing, back then. Way back in, you know, 2006.

I imagine, if I hadn’t quit outright, I probably would have dropped down to part-time by now, what with the realities of two babies in daycare, twice the cost and quadruple the sick days. Being away from Ezra for 40 hours a week sounds about as attractive as dropping off a couple of my limbs. And who would drive Noah to evaluations and therapy and private school in the afternoon? So maybe I’d be freelancing or contracting. Maybe copywriting, or handling the after-hours grudgework that nobody else wanted. Maybe I would have been laid off already.

I think all of this over just about every Monday, as I stare out the window at the building that the company I no longer work for no longer occupies. I wonder about that life for awhile, like it’s the alternate reality B-plot from Lost. Then I get back in the car to go pick up the first of the two greatest decisions I ever made.

Thanks Amy! I dont know that I could have written that if I sat down and thought about it for a week- but it really made me think-especially that last line.  We make decisions everyday- some easy {what am I having on my toast today} and some so hard, I dont know how we do it {how an I going to raise my kids to be as awesome as I know they can when I cant even get them to pick up their rooms}.  And sometimes when I make these decisions, I wonder how life would have been different if I had picked A over B.  And maybe the thing is, life is the same either way. Maybe we always kind of end up exactly where we are supposed to be. Who knows…but for me, I am glad for today, that life dropped me off exactly in this perfect spot- with my 4 kids, and my {sometimes} perfect husband and my dog, and in the most awesome career ever- its a pretty good road I am driving today. I hope for all of you, my fabulous clients, and friends, or for those of you who just found me, that your road is a good one too- and if its not, stay on this one, its bound to improve!

Happy Friday!

Congrats Daniel! I hope your day was awesome in every way!

This father-to-be is so excited, and so smitten with his beautiful wife- although, who can blame him! She looks pretty amazing for nine months pregnant! I think he ooed and ahhd over her through the whole session! He even requested the kissing the belly shot {because he does it every day at home}- that of course led to the “listening glass” shot.  I wonder if he heard anything??  I just love watching new parents! Having a baby changes so much about your relationship and your life- the more you enjoy the ride, the better that ride is! Congrats you two- I cant wait to meet your new baby! I wonder if its a boy or a girl…

Hope you guys enjoy the sneak peak! Cant wait to meet Miss I’s little sister!

I can’t wait to shoot my first wedding on Saturday with the new video feature.  This bad boy is so big and so heavy- I need to start lifting more weights {wait, that assumes I lift at all} to be able to carry this beast for 8 hours! I cant wait to try it out and see how it performs! Stay tuned for the review…

Of course, I am standing here with a woman in a white strapless dress, and a guy in dress slacks {not typical Saturday attire for downtown Jax} so the nice man asks me what we are up to.  After explaining he tells us he works for a new bar , and when we finish to head on down.  Now, a bar in downtown kind of scares me for photographs- but I am always up for a challenge, and it appears so were the Michelle & hez.  So, after we finished we headed down to the bar- and found it to be so FABULOUS! Lit, an uber chic bar in downtown, was a the perfect spot to finish up our session.  The brick wall was as yummy as could be, and that couch- well, they were lucky that I did not walk off with it!  But more than that, the staff was so awesome! The bouncer, John, who found all our stuff introduced us, and even gave Michelle and Hex passes to come back later that night as VIP’s!  Seriously, this place is so cool- so if you are out for a hot date night, get by there! Its definitely worth the trip! Thank you also to Floriade for the always amazing bouquet- as usual Tuffani rocked it!

I dont know how people do it- how do you go through 9 months of pregnancy, or delivery, or raising children, when your spouse is away on deployment? When Mark is gone for 3 days I find myself pulling my hair out! I cant even begin to imagine doing it for 6-12 months! I would be certifiable! But, you military husband and wives do it all the time- and you do it with smiles on your faces! I know we say all the time that you guys are heroes, but I truly believe that the ones waiting at home are heroes too! Without you guys, we would not have the military that we do- and I know that for every single American out there, we are greatful!

I hope that the last six weeks of your pregnancy is wonderful- and uneventful! and I hope that when her daddy gets here in 6 months, that it is the most beautiful moment a new family can share! I cant wait to meet her…

Well, its been so rainy and so cold I am almost afraid to book sessions outside! This adorable couple got one of those great days- while it was not cold- it was so overcast. Of course, the rain started to move in the minute we finished this session, so I know I should not complain. I guess I am just missing that delicious warm light.  Thats ok…I think we made the best of it!  We started by the Fort down in St. Augustine, and then wondered around downtown.  It was such a great day to shoot down there, no one was there! We had a great time shooting- even Shaun who was in so much pain from an ice hockey incident!

Congrats you two! I cant wait for your wedding day!