Several weeks ago, the amazing photographer, Jenn Hopkins, did some family portraits for us and I thought I’d share them with you. They are gorgeous and we can’t thank her enough.
We had portraits done for a few reasons. I wanted some family pictures done in honor of Bean’s first birthday. Sort of a celebration session of how far we’ve come as a family. But there were other reasons as well. Later this summer, MC will be launching a brand, spankin’ new website designed by preeeee-fessionals this time. The design company has sent us several draft versions already and let me just tell you – it’s freaking awesome. I wanted to make sure we had some really great family and individual stock photos for our new site and I think we got just what I was hoping for. I can’t wait to see how the web design team incorporates the pictures into their designs.
I also wanted family portraits taken because as some of you have seen on Twitter lately, I have started working on my first book. It is a memoir based on the first five years of my marriage and it tells the entire story of how my marriage came to be. Like my blog, it will be a real look into a fairly normal marriage and I’ll share about experiences where my marriage was strong and times when we really struggled. The idea is not that we are perfect, but that all marriages have ups and downs.
I’m finding that it is really different to write a book than it is to write a blog, and I struggled at first to get into the rhythm of telling a full-length story. But the further into it I get, the easier it becomes and it seems to be taking on a life of its own. I have been speaking with several agents and even have interest from some publishers already, so things are on the move. I also have a publicist now who will be working with both my website and, hopefully, my book. That’s really all I can share right now and I hope its enough to hold you over (and peak your interest so you buy 10,000 copies when its available…). So, in light of this new chapter in my life I needed some good head shots and promotional photos to send out. And Jenn managed to find the perfect balance between family and business in our pictures. She’s pretty impressive like that.
The reason I am sharing all these things with you right now is because without my marriage, none of these things would be possible. I don’t often talk about Chris in a serious tone. Usually I’m poking fun at him or threatening to divorce and/or kill him. But I thought I’d take a minute while I’m letting all these cats out of their bags to give credit where credit is due. Nothing good that has happened in my life and nothing good that will happen in my life would have been possible without Chris. Look at who I am – a working mom who writes silly things about trivial aspects of her world at her kitchen table. I have always dreamed of writing a book. In fact, it was the silent driving dream behind starting this blog to begin with. But that dream was so far from the reality of my every day life that I would never in a million years had the courage to even think that I could actually do it.
No one takes my dreams more seriously than my husband. And for that alone, I would marry him all over again. He has taken my dreams and made them his, too, and that has meant that the road to accomplishing things has been traveled by both of us. There is not one thing I write, one decision I make, one goal I set that I do without talking to him. And its not because he takes ownership or because I feel like I owe that to him. It is because he is the only one I can whisper these silly little ideas to who then turns around and blasts them out in a megaphone, breathing life into them.
Eleven years ago, he was my high school boyfriend who broke my heart countless times but underneath it all loved me more than anyone else.
Five years ago, I married him because he loved me that much.
And today I am living a life and accomplishing the dreams that I never thought possible. And its all because he loves me that much.
I am asked often on my blog how to know if you’ve found The One. I hardly ever answer that question because it varies so much from person to person. But for me, personally, The One was the person who took my dreams, pulled them out of the sky, and made them obtainable goals. He’s the one who stands by my side and shares my triumphs and tribulations as if they were his own. He’s the one who tells me every single day, without fail, how proud he is of me. And through all these things, he’s the one who makes me the driven, focused, dreaming person that I am.
There are still a lot of things to be worked out over the next year and who knows if anything will ever come to pass. But I do know that no matter where the chips fall, when the dust settles my husband will be standing right there by my side, whispering how proud he is of me in my ear. And that makes me the luckiest woman alive.
11May
Wow! You guys really come out swinging for a Pioneer Woman giveaway! Holy goodness! And I think we can just about all agree that margaritas and queso are the greatest guilty pleasures on earth.
Unfortunately, only one of you could win and thanks to random.org, that lucky person is commenter #213:
And lucky #213 is Miss Rachel, who, like me, could eat Mexican food all day, every day. Rachel, I think you are I could be big, fat friends.
Email me at katie@marriageconfessions.com to claim your prize, Rachel. If I haven’t heard from you by noon tomorrow (May 12), then I’ll have to pick another winner. Hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks to everyone who entered!
So.
We all know that Chris and I stalk The Pioneer Woman, right? First, we met her in New York at her cookbook signing and I took a blurry picture with her and it was the biggest tragedy of my life.
And then Chris and I annoyed her on Twitter and I was afraid we would go to jail, but she ended up following both of us so that one kind of actually worked to our favor.
But now it seems the tides are shifting. Instead of me following her around and begging for her to be my bestest friend on earth, she has now followed me all the way to Orlando where she is doing a book signing tomorrow night at a Barnes and Noble here.
Seriously, PW. I already told you I’ll be your friend. You really didn’t have to come all the way down here.
So, tomorrow night Chris and I are going to take Beaner over to the bookstore to meet our beloved family friend again. Bean is so excited. He can’t decide if he should wear his cowboy boots or not. I’m voting no. Chris says yes.
We are a family divided.
Anyway, as the time of the book signing gets closer and closer, I am getting more and more nervous. In fact, I have almost talked myself out of going. I’m afraid we’ve made complete fools of ourselves and that when we get to the bookstore, security might escort us out.
So humiliating…
Or, I’m afraid PW will recognize us as those weirdos who stalk her and she’ll say something like, “You people again?â€
Also humiliating…
I decided the only way to prevent these things from happening is to come bearing gifts. And I found the PERFECT gift for my BFF.
Remember in the late 80s and early 90s when all the girls had friendship necklaces? Well, I found one for PW and me!
Now, she’ll get half the heart and I’ll get the other half and we will officially be best friends. And then maybe she will call off security when they try to kick out her best friend. Hopefully.
Anyway, I figure that I shouldn’t be the only one who becomes friends with PW tomorrow. So, today I am giving away a personalized, signed copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I’ll take the cookbook to the book signing tomorrow and have PW sign it to the winner of today’s giveaway.
To be entered to win, please leave a comment telling me what your favorite type of food is. Mine is Mexican. I can’t get enough of it. Especially the queso. I’m a professional queso connoisseur.
The giveaway will close tonight at 8:00 PM. Be sure to check back tomorrow morning to see if you’re the winner. If I don’t hear from the winner by noon tomorrow, then I’ll choose another winner. I need to make sure I get confirmation from the winner before I have a book signed over to them. The winner. (I felt like I needed to throw one more “the winner” in this paragraph…)
Also, if you’re in the Orlando area you should come on out tomorrow, May 12, and meet The Pioneer Woman at her book signing. The signing will be at Barnes and Noble (2418 E Colonial Drive, Orlando) at 6:00 pm. If you see Chris, Bean, and me in line, be sure to say hello!
This giveaway is not sponsored by anyone, especially The Pioneer Woman. Because I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m freaking crazy.
28Apr
A few months ago when we were in the process of moving to Florida, I had a lovely blog reader contact me. She was a photographer in the Orlando area and offered to do a photo session for our family when we finally got here. Last night, we met up with Jenn Hopkins and her sweet mother for our first ever family photo shoot.
I had stalked Jenn’s photography website and spent days staring at her photos of engaged couples, brides, weddings, expectant mothers, newborn babies (my favorites!), families, and even pets! She had just the style of photography that fit our family – casual and laid back, but still put together.
Yesterday, we were meeting at 6:00 pm when the light was best and so that left me all day to figure out what we were going to wear. Chris insisted that we didn’t match, which immediately negated my original jeans and white shirts idea. So, I flipped through some of Jenn’s previous family photos and saw that a lot of people dressed their child/children in bright colors and patterns and then the parents dressed to match the kid. I found Bean’s cutest pair of brightly colored overalls, matched gray and white shirts for Chris and I and called it a day.
At 3:00, I started getting ready. I had to shower, straighten my hair, then CURL my hair, get Bean bathed and dressed, make sure Chris shaved, packed the diaper bag, and find directions to where we were going. By the time 6:00 rolled around, I was already exhausted. But there we were. Clean (mostly), dressed, and ready for our close ups.
Jenn found this beautiful historic home in Winter Park for us. Its called Casa Feliz and it sits right on the Winter Park golf course. The house itself is Spanish style with a beautiful blue trim that matched what we were wearing (way to plan, Katie!).
And the grounds were gorgeous, too. We chose to stick closer to the house for our pictures, but I bet for bridal or wedding portraits they would have been gorgeous.
Of course, none of this matters if YOUR CHILD REFUSES TO SMILE FOR ANY PICTURE.
That’s right. Bean Man, who normally is all giggles and sunshine, decided for whatever reason that on THIS DAY – this day when we have an ACTUAL PHOTOGRAPHER with us – that he just didn’t feel like smiling. That meant that Chris, me, and Jenn’s mother were dancing around this gorgeous, elegant, quiet historical home in the downtown area of a very posh town like circus freaks trying to get Bean to smile. We sang songs and we danced and we bounced and we clapped and we promised all kinds of inappropriate things to Bean if only he would smile for just ONE picture.
We got nothin’.
By the time Bean’s portion of the photo session was over, I was a hot, sweaty mess. Which is just when Jenn wanted to take some couples pictures of Chris and I. So, I took my hot, sweaty self and smashed up against Chris and tried to cuddle “naturally” in public. Poor Jenn. She kept saying to me, “Katie, just be natural. Just hang out with Chris.”
You would have thought that I was being asked to do a porn scene with a complete stranger.
She kept having to tell me to get closer to him. Like I was afraid to touch him. It was awful and I’m pretty sure I’m the WORST person for staged “natural” photos ever.
And then came my personal head shots for blog and publicity stuff. It was just me.
And a giant camera.
You would think I would be used to it by now. I mean, we take pictures in our house all the time. But something about the phrase “head shot” made me turn into this plastic smiling creature from space. Chris kept saying, “What kind of smile are you doing?” and “Why are you smiling like that?” And let me tell you how relaxed THAT made me feel.
But you know what? When Jenn showed me some of the pictures on her camera, they actually looked pretty darn good! We looked normal. And even happy. Which, I am sure is the work of a good photographer because only mad skills could turn a hot, sweaty, non-smiling, non-touching family into a pretty picture of normalcy.
The pictures will be ready in about two weeks. Until then, I will be standing in my bathroom, practicing my smile in front of the mirror. You know, in case paparazzi decide to stalk me tomorrow.
*******
Jenn Hopkins is a professional photographer in the Jacksonville/Central Florida area. For information on Jenn Hopkins Photography, please contact her at jennhopkinsphoto@yahoo.com. Check out her professional website, her photography blog, or follow her on Twitter.
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