mike & tami

were married just a few weekends ago on the 19th... and all I can say is
way to start a new year! they were my first wedding of 2008 & i had so much fun.

the ceremony was in a cute little chapel near pinnacle peak & they had their
reception at a fantastic restaurant that over looks phoenix, top of the rock.

tami & her 'soon to be' niece helping her get ready.




they got a stretch suv so all 16 of us could fit in it. very cool ride.


sweet look during the ceremonoy.


the wedding party having some fun.




a toast.






before dinner we walked around & found some beautiful spots for pictures.


i loved this one!


congratulations mike & tami -may you have lots more laughter in your life together!

more pictures from their wedding can be found in their slideshow.

cool cause

my friend theresa is always finding amazing projects and non-profit organizations to support. i do most of my yearly donations from her recommendations. i saw this on her blog & thought you all may be interested.

but, hurry there's only a few days left to donate $10 to this really cool cause!
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Your 10 dollar donation might be able to earn PEPY Programs $50,000…. can you help? No, this is not a Cambodian magic trick, but a contest for whoever can get the highest NUMBER (not amount) of online donations ($10 or more) before the end of the month. The donations have to come through this link to count

http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=109979

I hope you know its not my style nor PEPY’s to bug people for funding. BUT, we really think we can do this and we need your help!

If you have $10 to spare, please help us out right now by going to the above link and shooting your credit card numbers into cyberspace! This contest only lasts 8 more days so it has to be soon!

Thank you for supporting our work and please remember to donate $10 through the above link, or pass it on to friends if you can!

Many thanks for your belief in me, in PEPY, and in our team and big hugs to all,

Maryann
Interim Executive Director
maryann (at) pepyride (dot) org
www.pepyride.org

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aw. christmas time.

a little bit of a cold & the house to myself is the perfect time to get the last bit of christmas
break editing done!

here comes a slew of pictures, so grab a cup of cocoa & and settle in to
your coziest chair.

first off... i organized a pj reunion a few days before christmas, meaning i
harassed my photo friends from college to drive to louisville & have lunch.
i rarely get to see these cats & they mean soooo much to me. i was excited
that so many were able to make it!


i don't have any idea what we were laughing about, but this is usually
what i'm doing when i hangout with these guys.


nina & kristen. the one picture that doesn't have an actual camera in it,
someone is wearing a t-shirt with a camera!


layne & shawn.


goodlord.


shawn's "i'm trying to pay attention" face.


cameras & lots of laughters. that's what i remember from my 5 years of
college!


our group shot. the waiter was nice enough to shoot it for us.


miss you guys!!!

christmas eve...

is one of my favorite days of the year!

my dad's side of the family started a new tradition this year, lunch -yummy!
my aunt had us all over in her new apartment & it looked beautiful!


my dad got a new fancy watch! & golf clubs... he's quite the golfer.


our latest family photo! we are missing two of dad's brothers & their families.
one day we'll all be in the same place at the same time :)


dad & his girls. they call him tickle monster... when they were younger
they'd run away screaming everytime he walked in the room.


all the cousins in louisville. we are missing michelle, beth & carrie, who
live in florida. rachel, our youngest, lives in texas.


we have a new resch -my cousin, beth, just had her second baby boy!!
aaron was 7lbs & perfect. congratulations beth & shannon! that makes
4 great grandkids!

then christmas eve gets a little harder. bryan & i started splitting christmas
eve last year. our mother's families do the exact same thing- 5:30pm mass,
dinner & then presents. so this year we did mass with my family, dinner &
presents with his & then headed over to my families party. we walked in a
few minutes before santa!!

here's a few with his family- evelyn was the spotlight of course.
she loved being in the center of all that wrapping paper.


who loves evelyn? we do!


& then we headed to my fam's...

now i need to warn you that some of these pictures are a little silly. my family
is wild & crazy & uncontrollable. i do not apologize for them, i only love &
appreciate them for all their eccentricities!

each cousin has to sit on santa's lap & the boys have to kiss him. bryan loves it!


after we all get our presents (all 30 of us) the moms take their turn with santa.


my mom got my brother, sister & i animal earphones. they are also earmuffs.
she's such a thinker! i'm sure my sister is loving wearin' them in the
new york subway!


then, it's the parents turn. they each draw a name & have to come up with
a great gag gift for the individual & $50 to a charity, which i
think is a great idea.

my uncle ted owns phlen's bakery, a staple of louisville! yum. chocolate
donuts. his gag gift was this apron(appropriate!) with his face on some
hunk's bod.


my aunt cathy is going back to school to be a therapist- so she got some
huge glasses & the movie analyze this with her head pasted on it.



my aunt rita, uncle tom & their two daughters erin & jess stay with us
every christmas. i love having them in the house. since tom is always
surrounded by the women in his life- my mom got him a princess set,
tiara, earrings & a wand. tehee. he's also "santa" every year- so i think
he enjoys dressing up.



the crowd loved it!


there was a white coat theme this year.


early in the morning after opening presents...


my favorite present this year? hands down... the salsa dancing lessons :)
thanks babe.

what a great christmas!

on christmas day

we celebrate baby jesus & our friend carson's birthday! our group of highschool
friends get together & have a white elephant gift night. i was lucky enough to
receive some horrible bath towels & maria picked the unlucky unwrapped present- muahahahahahah! (i wrapped all my presents this year in reusable grocery bags
that i ordered online- they were awesome!)

ruthie, me & theresa.


after presents we played apples to apples! mitch & sarah kicked butt!


kelly was right behind em!


when she wasn't distracted by her sons bad habit :)


& here's our boys!


almost everyone was able to make it this year, which is quite a feat! half
of us are still in lou. while the other half lives in tenn., st. louis, new york,
washington d.c, phoenix, & cincinnatti. i think we all hope to one day be
in louisville again...

affirmations.

i couldn't sleep tonight. i tossed & turned until i remembered the important thing i was suppose to do. my cousin, lauren (the beautiful model) is going on her senior year retreat this weekend & i hadn't written her letter yet. i'd tried earlier, but it's hard to force those words sometimes & i'm really close to lauren. i spent a lot of my highschool life babysitting for her & her brothers, so i really wanted it to be good! i remember getting those letters & the more personal & sincere -the better!

for those of you who didn't go to catholic highschools- your senior retreat is a huge deal. family & friends write you very personal letters that you read throughout the weekend. you hear inspirational talks from your teachers & alumni. it's a very moving experience that hopefully prepares you for your adult life by instilling the fact that you are an amazing person. because we are.

so, i just finished it! as i reread it i teared up a bit. not because it was that fantastic of a letter, but because i can't wait for lauren to get all her letters & be overwhelmed with love. i mean how often do we get to experience that? i don't think we remember to tell those close to us how much they mean to us. or what we love about them. or how they've touched us. we would not be who we are today without friends & family, for better or worse. mostly better, though :)

i owe a lot to so many people that i've met along the way. i wish i had the opportunity to write you a letter about how special you are, how much i believe in you & how much i appreciate you.

to affirmations- may you always know how fantastic you are!

101 update

i thought i'd take a moment to update you on my progress! (here's my original list if you're interested.)

#50 hike havasu falls -DONE! june 7th-9th 2007
(i should have updated that one a long time ago- but i hiked it for hannah's
bachelorette party back in june. it was awesome, but incredibly hard!!)

#51 go home to kentucky 3 times a year -DONE!
(i flew home something like 5 times last year! one trip was to be with my mom for her emergency neck surgery, two times for weddings: karl & lorinda, ellen & phillip/ for christmas, early thanksgiving/my brother's last football game & then i was home to shoot derby for youbet.com )

#59 finish paying off the painting of my grandparents. -DONE! january 11th 2008
(i sent beth the remainder just last week & i just noticed the check cleared!)

#81 visit silver bay once a year -DONE! june 24th-july 6th 2007
(another one that i'm late on updating! i shot mike & lisa's wedding this past june at Silver Bay! my bestfriend sarah flew up to see me & we did a weekend road trip to vermont & then bryan came up for a long weekend to see this place i've talked so much about!)

#97 enter photos into a contest -DONE! december 13th 2007
( i entered wpja's 3rd quarter contest & won 1st place!!!!! so super cool!)

okay, getting a few marked off! would i be cheating if i went back and made a few adjustments- there are a few that aren't going to ever be checked off the way i worded it- so i might just redo a few... opinions?

did anyone reading my blog make their own list that i should check out???

for all you lurkers out there- leave me some comments :) i love comments!

today,

january 13th is a very, very special day.

bryan & my grandmother were born on this day... & for that i am incredibly thankful.

stan & sarah-anne's

1st family session with their new baby boy. sebastien celebrated his one week old birthday this past wednesday with his first photo debut. he is so cute!

meet sebastien.


sarah-anne & stan are super playful & a new baby just means new toys
to play with!


he is such a good baby, too.


cute family moment. we tried to get their pup, rusty, in a few, but he is
a wild child much like my skye. our dogs grew up together actually- we
rescued them & try to get together often so they can play roughly like the
wild siblings that they are.


closer. sweeter.


more of mama.


and one of papa.


ah, yes. now both of them. but he doesn't look so happy, probably because
he wanted his "aunt" megan :)


so cute!




congratulations stan & sarah-anne on your new beautiful family!