~Yummy Food & More~

Tommy and I woke up on Saturday morning at 11! Ahh! So nice for a summer Saturday! Before we even had breakfast we were in bed with 4 cookbooks trying to decide what we were going to cook! It had been a while since we had the time to read, pick, shop for and cook a "detailed" meal together! After about an hour Tommy found a Beef Stroganoff recipe in his Ad Hoc book I got him for his birthday and we were off to the grocery store! By 2pm this glorious pot was simmering on our stove top!
At 8:45pm this was placed in front of me at the dinner table! Oh my goodness! One of the most amazing dishes he has ever made! It was perfect! I hate to say it but it has officially won against my grandmothers recipe for her Beef Stgf. I will say though that when we are busy with our kids and their schedules that I will still bust out her recipe to make a quick version! This one, Wow!
While he was cooking up the final touches, I was working on a couple of scrapbook pages! This one will be easy to add a picture into cause it will tuck into the bird cage and flowers. I think I am going to add the "new" caterpillar picture. Yep, we have more on our tomatoes again! I just need to order a print of it. Use your imagination! lol.

Insert this pic in the circle; in your mind! :)

This is a page that I have been thinking about making for a while now. A Blockbuster by our house went out of business and they had DVD card stocks for sale; 20 for $1! They are the items that they would place on the shelves so that they knew where to put the movie back, when restocking. I loved the movie Julie & Julia and this is what I came up with. The quote is from a magazine that Jill gave me and I had just kept on my desk for months cause I liked it, the little letter cut out is from the Gypsy line and the blue flower (top left) is from my mom.

~Movies, New Baby & VIP~

On my birthday Tommy and Alisha photographed Brittany and Zak's wedding! These are a few of my favorites for the day. I like the 3rd and 5th pix the best. They did a great job. I am very thankful that I got my birthday off but was sad to miss their special day.




I was working hard on Sunday (thinking it was Monday) til around 1pm when I realized. I took the rest of the day off. I did a little scrapping, card making and reading. It was rainy or I would have gone to play tennis with my mom. Mom still came over and we had a great time getting crafty! In the evening Tommy and I had an engagement session with friends of ours. Dave and Tommy worked at Cedar Point together and I know Dave from "The Dive" at Kent.



We had a Session on Monday with Rhonda Cline. She has two older sisters that I went to Centennial with. Rhonda went to CHS too but I had already graduated by the time she was a Freshman. She wanted to get some shots done because her grandpa said to her that he need a new 8x10 of her. The last pic he had of her was her Sr pictures. How cute is that?



On Monday after the session we went to Due Amici (where the photo above was taken) and got their Wild Mushroom Pizza, their new Calamari dish and desert of course. We sat out on the patio for at least an hour and a half and just talked. It was so nice and so relaxing to sit with Tommy and not talk about work, just us! Later that night we decided to watch What Lies Beneath.Such a creepy/scary movie. Perfect for fall. I know that it's still August but Monday night it was really cool out. We have all the windows and back patio door open since then. I still don't want to fall to be here yet though.

Tuesday Night Special: Shopping & Outdoor Movies at Easton! Alisha and I met up at T.J. Max while Tommy went to the Verizon store. She was looking for a new dress to wear to the Big Rock V.I.P. Party on Friday night. She found a great dress and is going to raid my closet for some jewelry! I found a new pair of tennis shoes! I am so excited about them! I saw in desperate need of a new pair! Yeah for T.J. Max!

Then we went over to the fountain area in front of Brio and Set up chairs and blankets for eleven! We had some friends meet us there for Back to the Future on the outdoor screen! I had not seen Back to the Future since I was in elementary school; which is extra crazy considering that we own the trilogy.
Tim, Ako, Aila and Ako's dad were some of the friends that met us there. Ako's dad was in, for a visit, from Japan. It was so sad that when we saw Aila she was acting like she didn't know who we were! Has it really been that long. I guess two months. We've had such a busy summer. Once she figured out that I had grapes with me; she was my best friend all over again! She came up to me, said grape and put out her little hand. So sweet. She, of course, wanted more and I "made her" sign more to get another grape; each time. Later while she was sitting on the blanket, she looked up and the sky and signed night/evening! I couldn't believe it! I have never seen a kid that little sign something that advanced. It takes both hands/arms! Wow! I love the pic below. She was memorized by the movie screen; for a minute! lol. Thank goodness I caught it!
On Tuesday Night at 11:29 pm Christine and Danny had their third boy at 8lbs and 20 inches. Welcome to the world Baby Justin Progar! We can't wait to meet you in person!
Wednesday during the day I got some much done that I just couldn't get over it! So happy! For dinner I made a dish that I made last year. I had been craving it again. It's a Lemon Chicken Deep Fry Dish! Oh my goodness, it's so good. It's a RR Recipe; surprise, surprise! I made Martha Stewart's Lemon Curd instead of buying some, so easy and cheap to make. The batch I made was about a cup and a half. I used a cup for the recipe and saved the other half cup for toast in the mornings! I ended up prepping and Tommy cooking! Go Team Feisel!
Thursday was a busy day for Tommy; extra busy! He was working with Norwalk Furniture and Candice Olson for a Commercial Photo shoot! Thursday evening he went out to dinner with the team! During the day I had to run around town and took my mom along with me! We went to the post office, Archviers, Lowe's and more. By lunch time we were very hunger! We were still at Easton and wondering where we should go. I had been wanting to go to Red Robin. Jill and the fam go there often and I thought it would be nice to try one of their burgers!

We were very impressed; burger was great, onion rings were fab and I loved their chocolate malt. We split everything and we were two very happy campers! I would go back again. We had a wonderful time talking and eating out on their patio; was a beautiful day! We even ran into a couple of people that we knew. Not surprising! After lunch we went to my rents house to pick up dad and we were off to play some tennis.

It was the first time that the three of us had been out together in three years. I must say that we did fairly well. We didn't really keep score and we were aloud to hit on the third bounce but still... lol! I got some sun too! I feel like every time that I have been outside this summer it's for a wedding! After a solid hour of playing we went back to my house. While Tommy was having his dinner meeting we made pizzas and watched some F.R.I.E.N.D.S! For the second pizza we ran out of sauce... so we made it ourselves. It was such a great summer day!

Friday we worked til we needed to get ready! Ready, that is, for the VIP Party at Big Rock Little Rooster! We had such a great time! It was held at the store on High Street. Alisha, Sammy, Tommy and I got all decked out! It was really a great Party. Below is a photo of some of the models (including Amy) in the Display window! There were the live models all night and every time that we would turn our head toward the window there would be like 10 people outside pointing it was so funny. At one point there was a dad holding her 6 year old girl and she was asking daddy what they were doing. Also, at one point, two little girls got to come in past the ropes to get pictures taken with one of the models. They thought she was a princess. How cute is that? We spent two hours talking, sipping champagne, eating mini cupcakes and laugh out butts off with the owner of the store! She is such a hoot. We just met her last night. She was very impressed with the BRLR Shoot we did!
~Me & Alisha~
~Beautiful Amy (friend of ours)~
~Welcome to Big Rock~
~Models in the Window~
~Us~After the Party went to Lemongrass and got some Sushi. Alisha, T, Sammy and I all got a roll and then shared with everyone. The service was lacking but the food was really good. Tommy and I were happy that we finally had time to eat there!

After dinner (Alisha went home) T, Sammy and I went to Jeni's Ice Cream! They are famous in Columbus for their unique flavors! At some point you must go! I have only had it twice but love it! Jeni's donated for John & Amber's benefit. We had a live auction for 9 pints on dry ice! Tommy had one of their homemade cones with Salty Caramel! A flavor that they are famous for!
After desert we went to Bearnard's for some drinks and Pool! Tommy and Sammy played two other guys. They won but gave the game up to the guys that lost. It was time to go home and go to bed! Big Night! Fun Night! What a Blast!

~end~

~Somebody, Needs a Holiday~

This Reba song/video came out my Senior year of High School. I have always loved Reba and this was an extra cute song/video to me! I loved the way that it was directed as if Reba had a special touch. It's called Somebody and it's off her 2003 release of Room To Breathe. A couple years later off her album Reba #1's (as a new release) came the song Love Needs a Holiday. I was so happy for her to make a squeal video. I love the second video even more than the first. It's way too funny between the baby, the dog and the neighbors! I am very excited about her new CD coming out in the fall. She just released her first single called Turn On The Radio last month. I know this blog post is kind of Random but I just felt like sharing about it! :)

~Double Header + One~

In July we photographed Rachel and Brian. Brian, Tommy and I were in a Bible Study together last year. We booked their wedding for Friday the 16th of July. They got married at our Church, the Vineyard, in Westerville. The reception was at The Vault downtown. Tommy and I had been a few times before but had not photographed a wedding/reception there yet. Priscilla from Luxboheme used to have her office upstairs in a suite in the building before moving to her new location. It was very hot that day, never went below 102 according to our truck. We managed with 4 Gatorides and fruit. I did love Rachel's dress and girl was up for anything! :) Check out their day!




The next day (July 17th) we were on our way to Cleveland for Elissa and Eric's wedding. We had to pack a lot! On the way there I wrote a few blogs and called some friends to meet up for lunch the next day! We had a great time at their wedding. We set up and I ran the New Fotobooth. There were not that many people at the reception, that were our age and I was a little afraid that not everyone would really get into it! Oh, no worries, they did! IT WAS SUCH A HIT! There was never a second, not even to breathe, the whole night. One after couple/group stepped up every 18 seconds for their shot at some foto fun! We had a printer to print a 4x8 (two sets of three pictures) that was perforated down the middle. One for the guests to keep as a party favor and one to slap on to a 12x12 and sign like they would a guest book. The bride and groom got in on it too. They were such a fun couple. She was a beauty. I loved her dress two. She had a broach on her dress like I did on mine, on our wedding day. I loved her hair two, she had a curly up-do with an off white flower. Here are a couple of my favorites!





The next weekend we had a Friday Wedding. The Bride is a News Anchor in Florida. Her fiance (now husband) is a Hockey Player. They were the cutest couple. The bridal party at this wedding, one word, prego! Two of the bridesmaides were prego with each of their one little girls, one of the bridesmaids had just had a baby girl and of course one of them was prego, nope... not a boy, but twin girls! Oh my goodness. The Bride and her sister must have felt left out! It will be so much fun for all of them to raise their girls together. The brides mother made her shoes. You'll love them. The wedding was her in New Albany and the reception was in Westerville. We got off at 10 and left closer to 11 because we had friends, as guests, there. It was still crazy to be home right after! No hotel, no driving home late. We were in our own bed by 11:30!