I can’t tell you how much I love these images. Okay okay.. I’ll try. I love these images a lot. A lot a lot. A LOT A LOT!  (Yeah… I’m quite the wordsmith these days, eh? a lot a lot!)

I don’t have a lot of friends… never really have. I’ve moved so much in my life… SO much!  When you’re the new kid people don’t like you.  So… I’d cling on to one friend. I can tell you who it was in each stage of my life. Elementary school: Mindy. Middle and high school: Corrie. College: Mike.  Now that I’m all grown up… I’m learning to have more than one friend. However, I still keep my circle very tight. It’s my nature 😉 (mom & aunt karen… did you laugh out loud at that??).

You see, because of all of the aforementioned moving… I think I became a pretty good judge of character. When I meet someone that I know I’m going to adore (which is rare)… I hold on… and I hold on very tightly.  When I met Gail two years ago… I held on.

They’re soon moving on to the next stage of life. You know… the “thinking about makin’ babies” stage.

Gail and Nick just got back from Europe 🙂 Why did they go to Europe? Because 1. Gail is obsessed with travel and 2. she didn’t want to be one of those women who, after they have children… wished they would have done more. 🙂 That doesn’t just pertain to Europe. If Gail wants to do something… she does it… and she does it with her whole heart. So many of us are big talkers… not Gail… she’s a doer. Man oh man… I envy her.

All that being said… Gail wanted to commemorate who they are at this stage in their life. Here’s an excerpt from an email while we were brainstorming ideas:

“What I’m most looking forward to is just having photos of the two of us cuddling up/snuggling, loving on each other at this time in our lives. I mean, it’s probably the last time we’ll have photos of just the two of us. I realize how few photos we have together so I’m just looking forward to having a visual of our love. When I think of that, I think of the fields we’d hike through when we first started dating, the place close to his parents we’d go to be together. Outside. His favorite place in the world.”

So, that’s exactly what we did. 🙂 Blog readers, meet gail+nick and let me introduce you all to Nashville, Indiana. 🙂

I processed these images 100% to match Gail and Nick. That probably doesn’t make sense to anyone but me. If you knew them and were at this session with me… you’d understand.

See that quilt? Gail’s grandmother made it for her for their one-year anniversary. It’s been sitting in a box because she didn’t want to mess it up. So, she decided that that day was the perfect day to bust it out. Nick looked at her with an “are you out of your mind?!” look and said, “Are you sure you want to just lay it on the ground?! It’s going to be grass stained!”

“Yes! If it happens to gets a grass stain, it will remind me of this day. furthermore, grandma would much more appreciate it being in these photos rather than being in a box!”

I’m paraphrasing here… but, you get the idea. 🙂 She hopes to make the quilt a part of all future photo sessions when they start a family… you know… a tradition. How perfect is that?

Oh, and… Nick was right… it did get a little grass stain… but, just a tiny one. Adds a wee bit of character, right? I hope so…

Sorry Grandma… 🙁

I shot this session all by myself. 🙂 I’m getting better at it but CERTAINLY not 100% (more on that later).

When I shot this image… I just knew it was perfect. Gail, you are so beautiful. so SO beautiful.

Maybe you knew this… maybe you didn’t… but I have some pretty serious ADHD.  I’m kinda famous for just leaving equipment behind. That’s usually not a big deal because Mike is always RIGHT there behind me picking up all of the crap I’d leave behind.  He’s SO unbelievably patient with me (if you’ve been photo’d by us… you know exactly what I’m talking about!). So, because of my bad habit of leaving $$$$ things behind… I gave Gail and Nick the responsibility of making sure I had all cameras and lenses accounted for at all times.

See this field? Well… this photo doesn’t do the size of it ANY justice. IT WAS HUGE! We walked alllllll over it. SOMEWHERE along the way, I sat my camera bag down with TWO $$$$ lenses. and… you guess it… I LEFT IT!!!!  RIGHT after I took this photo I realize that it’s gone. Gail takes her eyes off of me for just a minute and look what I did?! OHHHH SHIZZZZZ!!!! I’M IN TROUBLE!!!!!  So, we started canvasing the field. See the height of this grass? Yeah… needle in a haystack! WELLLLL….after abotu 20 minutes…  Gail to the rescue… she FOUND it! If I hadn’t been such a sweaty mess… I’da left a big ol’ sloppy kiss on her cheek! RELIEF!

Yes yes yes… while I’m capable of shooting without Mike… it’s much easier for me when he’s there.  Why do I sometimes shoot without him? Well… because if we ever decide to have children… we’ll have to adjust fire and I’d photo most sessions alone.  So, whenever given the opportunity, I try it out. 🙂

Though I know Gail pretty well… I embarrassingly hardly knew Nick.  They live about an hour and a half north of us… so there’s just not too many opportunities to hang out. Here’s what I knew about Nick before the session: 1) Gail absolutely adores him. 2) he’s handsome. 3) He was a groomsmen in megan+josh’s wedding that we photographed in September 2006. 4) he’s a government reporter for the Muncie Star Press. 5) He’s a fraternal twin. 😀

After the session…. I knew exactly why Gail is so absolutely head over heels for Nick. They’re absolutely perfect for each other.

Oh, and on our way home I got to meet Nick’s parents. 🙂  I made quite the first impression (They raise cattle on their zillion acres of land… one thing led to another to another to another and badaboom badabing… I start talking about the craziness that is a certain part of a pig…. let’s just say it’s strangely large…. as in… SHOCKINGLY large.  Did I REALLY just say that?! REEEEEALLY?!!? WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?! This is the craziness that comes out of my mouth when I’m sleep deprived. There is zero brain to mouth filter… and I mean ZERO! Anything that is said while lacking sleep can not be held against me, k? k. WHEW! By the way, Hi Mr and Mrs. Werner 😉

MAN OH MAN am I proud of this session! Seeing the images makes my heart swell… and a wee bit jealous. I want this of me and my Mikey. Someday… sommmmeday…

Yes, I climbed a tree. 🙂 Here’s another piece of Bobbi trivia: when I was a kid I was a pro tree climber. I could climb REALLY high… So high that a neighbor kid once climbed one with me and got stuck. A firetruck came to rescue him. I’m too big now to climb the kinds of trees I used to. Maybe someday I’ll ask Mikey to take a photo of me in a tree to show you my mad climbing skills 😉

This makes me laugh. They kept referring to it as “our first house” to someday show their kids. So, of course we had to get a photo in front of it… American Gothic style. 🙂 (Just for the record… it’s an abandoned house… and in no way, their first home 😉 )

 

…………………………….

nashville, ind.

gail+nick | married 10.07.06 | home • muncie, ind.

gail | media relations manager • photographer | hometown • harlan, ind.

nick | journalist | hometown • nashville, ind.

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Gail, thank you for always being such a good and loyal friend to me. I, along with the others in your world, are lucky to know you.

Nick, you’re the best. I love how much you love Gail. 😀 SO great spending the evening with you and meeting your parents. Now, you’re stuck with me… I’m holding on…

Much love to you friends. Much love.

~bobbi+mike ❗ + ❓

 

Nick had the longest arms of the three of us… so, by default… he took our photo. 🙂

PS. how is my hair SOAKING wet while Nick looks fresh faced and ready for dinner?! OH! That reminds me of a funny. About an hour into our session… Nick to Gail, “am I sweating on you as much as you’re sweating on me?!”  HA! 😀

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HOOOOLY COWWWWWABUNGA!!!! I’ve been SO flipping excited about this day for months! 😀 TODAY IS MIKEY’S THIRTIETH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

You see… I’ve got BIG surprises in the works and the fact that I’ve kept all said surprises secret for 3 months is a frickin’ miracle and a half! So… I can’t divulge quite yet but if you’re on the edge of your seat… follow my goofy twitter account… I’m SURE I’ll be busting at the seams with excitement ready to share 😀

So, just an FYI…  we’re going to be checking out for a few days here in email/blog world. Please be patient with our response times, k?

 

We celebrated a few weeks early with family… I made a cake (which has become my newest favorite hobby… ). This was my second ever layer cake (followed by this one)… and I think I’m getting the hang of it! This one was made with MUCHO better technique. THANK YOUUUU YOU TUBE! 😉

This one take took me  almost an entire day. How these bakeries bust these things out so quickly is BEYOND me! High fives wedding cakers… HIGH FIVES! Oh and… doesn’t this look like a rejected Barney character?

waaaaaait forrrrrrr itttttttt…… BADABOOM BADABING!

And the highlight of my day? …the surprise…. IT’S BLUE!!!!!!

 

 

There will be more images from this birthday surprise on the blog soon-ish… so stay tuned for more than just cake photos! (SPOILER ALERT!  I’m making another one soon… 😉 )

OHHHHHH MIKE! I love you SO much! I’ve been strangely looking forward to us being 30. I’m ready to move on to the next stage of our life… whatever that may be.

WAY TO BE BORN!

~bobbi ❗

 

I know I know… I was supposed to have done this last Friday…. annnnnd it’s technically not a weigh in day… so, I’m making it up to you by blogging today. Last Friday we were on our way to Chicago with a quick pit stop in Fort Wayne. If you live in Indiana you know that that’s not a quick trip!

So, as you can imagine by the lack of update last week I’ve hit the absolute chaotic part of my season…. two amazing weddings back to back… both out of town… intermixed with session after session after session after session!  I can’t remember shooting this much since 2006! (Back then I didn’t put as much into planning/preparing for each shoot so it was MUCH easier for me then!)

What does that mean? Less working out and a whole lot more dining out. BLEH! I’ve been absolutely DREADING weighing myself… DREADING it. I was just SURE I’d gained 5 pounds.  I hadn’t weighed in three weeks. Does anyone else do this… ignorance is bliss, right!?

So finally… I did it… yesterday morning. I tiptoed on the scale as gracefully as I possibly could (after all… graceful people weigh less… didn’t you know?!) and BADABOOM BADABING… I’d LOST!!!!! Not a WHOLE lot… but a loss is a loss is a loss IS A DAMN LOSS!!!! HELLLLLLL YES BETTIES!!!!!! I lost 2 pounds in the last three weeks. AGAIN… nothing to write home about… but remember, I thought I’d gained five. So, to me… it’s like a 7 pound loss 😀 😀 😀

Turns out that after 2 years on the healthy train I’ve learned to make smart choices when life isn’t always set up 100% for success. That EVEN THOUGH I haven’t been able to find time to work out… I was still able to find tasks to do quickly enough to get my heart rate up. (Oh yes… I wear that stupid heart rate monitor ALLLL of the time). For example… cleaning… I put myself on a 30 minute timer, add my heart rate monitor and RUN around this house at ridiculous speeds cleaning. WIN FRICKIN’ WIN! A 30 minute clean up job and a workout… CHECK AND MARK!

 

Here are a few of my non-scale victories from the past three weeks…

1. My clothes look like shiz on me because they’re WAY too big.
2. I finally bought new jeans last night and they’re down a size. BOOYAH!
3. I caught a very inebriated 190lb man from falling down 50ish cement stairs because I’m strong 🙂 (if I hadn’t been working out… I’m convinced this man either would have died or never been the same… he was heading down head first and these stairs were STEEEEEP!) Thank you Kristen for that!
4. I also bought a few new shirts and after trying them on… I felt pretty for the first time in years. 😀

 

Here are a few of my not so victorious observations

1. My coconuts are frickin’ HUGE! I mean… I’ve always been a well endowed woman (thanks Mom!) but since I’ve lost weight… they seem a WHOLE lot bigger. Before I was just an overweight woman with large breasts… now I’m a skinny legged woman with big breasts… NOT a fan.
2. Speaking of skinny legs… it seems that I’ve lost the most amount of weight in my legs… and the least amount in my waist. 🙁 I’ve always had an hour-glassish figure… even when I was much heavier. I’m not quite sure why it’s coming off this way? Probably because I’m no longer 18!  I just measured and in my waist I’ve lost 7.5 inches (WOW TO THAT SHIZ!) and 5.25 inches in ONE thigh… ONE THIGH! I’ve lost neeeearly the same amount of inches in my waist as I have in ONE THIGH!  Does anyone know how to remedy this???
3. I guess, bottom line… I’ve been feeling VERY top heavy lately and I’m not a fan. 🙁

 

So… I still have a bit to go… but I’m DEFINITELY feeling muuuuuucho better about myself… best about myself since our wedding day. 😀

OH! Speaking of wedding… I’M AT MY WEDDING WEIGHT BETTTTTIES!!!!!!!!!! That’s a BIG deal…. HUGE deal to me 🙂 🙂 🙂

Currently… I’ve lost 5.89% on this round of the healthy train 🙂 Total? 20.96%. 😀

Okay… enough about me…

 

Here are our current top five:

Jill Pollitt    19.3%                    
Michelle Hunley  18.6%
Devan Whitson    15.63%
Jessica Harrison    11.1%
Kelly Ritter   10.69%

WOWWWWW TO THOSE NUMBERS! CHOOOOO CHOOOOOOO!!!!!!

And because a photo blogger who blogs without a photo… well, that just isn’t right!

This was taken on a session while our subjects did a quick outfit change…. I thought… what a cool car, I want a photo with it! So, I took one 😀 Oh, and that isn’t my hat… I borrowed it from the guy we were photoing… (those images coming some time next week)

I posted it to my Facebook page and said… “this reminds me of a very specific cartoon character… and I can’t quite place it.

Someone suggest the Joker in Batman… hmmm… close… but that’s not it.

THEN Elisabeth said, “Cute picture. If your face was green it would be kind of like Jim Carrey in the Mask. (based on the teethy grin, angle of your face, and the hat).”

YES! THAT WAS IT!!!!!

 

So anyway… thanks for your patience friends… and I’ll see you again here NEXT week for our official weigh in 😀

As always, a few quick reminders…

To those on the train, be sure to weigh in via the Google doc!

• Next official weigh in is September 3rd.
• If you’re a twitterer, be sure to add the hashtag #healthytrain to your HT tweet.
• Join  “bobbi’s healthy train” group on Facebook… ANYONE can join… not just the people with the before pics. My trainer is an admin … so if you have fitness questions, ask ‘em there!  Dane is also an admin, so if you have questions about diet… he’s the guy to talk to. We’d love to have you… 😀 Oh, and Scott is also an admin… if you need motivation HE’S the man to talk to! A quick disclaimer… because I’m in the midst of my crazy season… I’m not able to be a full participant in the Facebook group. 🙁 I definitely do check in weekly though 😀
• You don’t have to be officially competing to participate.
• Finale date is October 29th.

Much love!

~bobbi

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