Marvelous Monday #4 :: A lot less college dorm and a lot more peaceful workspace

I'm not sure how I haven't talked about this before on my blog, but for those of you that don't know me, there's a big part of my life that I've yet to share.

I live in a boys dorm.

Yup. That's the truth. I have 100 neighbors and they are all boys. Stinky, loud, video-game playing college boys. Perhaps I should explain a little....

My husband is in grad school at Covenant Theological Seminary and he's just about to finish up his M.Div, which is a super-long master's program. It's very intensive and there was just no way he was going to be able to finish school in a reasonable amount of time AND work a full-time regular job. So, when the opportunity was presented to us to become the resident director at Missouri Baptist University, we jumped all over it. Ok, that's a lie. We said, "Um yeah, no way." But after thinking about it and praying about it, it all of a sudden became very appealing to us to live in a boys dorm. So three years ago, Jon and I left our cool apartment in West County and moved into a men's dormitory, built circa 1970. Jon oversees all aspects of resident life here at MBU and is directly in charge of the boys dorm.

When I tell people that I live in a college boys dorm, I often get a look of sympathy or a comment about how crazy we are, but really, we love it here! We get a chance to really get to know the residents and form genuine relationships with them and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

One of the perks of living here is our apartment. It may be in a boys dorm, but we are kind of set back from the rest of the rooms, and we have so much space inside! (And FYI, it does not smell like boys in here) We repainted everything when we moved in... everything except our office. And, um, it's a mess. I'm ashamed, but here are some photos taken from my iPhone:

My workspace. Yes, that's my desk with my keyboard and wacom tablet all crowded together. I have to store papers and other "stuff" on top of my printer because there just isn't any place else to put it.


Jon's workspace. Please note the insane amount of books in these photos. that's what seminary does to a family.


the mountain of clothes that belong to my very well-dressed husband


Yup, the room where I create art looks like 4 boys should live there. Well, not anymore. After our trip to IKEA in Chicago, we spent a whole day fixing the place up and now it doesn't even look like the same room!



My workspace


We painted the walls a cool green color called "Sagey." When I was buying the paint at the store, the guy mixed it for me and yelled out "Saggy. Who has the saggy paint?" I laughed and said, "Um, I think it's pronounced SAGEY... like SAGE." He just looked at me as if to say "yeah, right, lady. I know how to read." and in a very passive aggressive tone he said, "Ok here's your ... SAGEY paint." And I think he rolled his eyes a little...


Jon's workspace (at 1:45 am). Isn't he just the cutest :)


mountain of clothes = hidden


check out this cool light I got from IKEA. I love it!


These photos were taken within about twenty four hours of each other. We have slept very very little and painted and organized very very much. So while my new office is making me feel kinda marvelous, 3 hours of sleep is making me feel just a bit miserable. Must time for Teavana...

Class group shoot

One of the best ways to learn more about photography is to simply get out there and shoot. I took my class out to Queeny Park last week with a few models for a group shoot, and, although the weather was pretty overcast and chilly, I had a blast. We had an hour and a half, and their assignment was to use their time to photograph the models, their surroundings, each other, or anything else they could find. They'll be presenting their photos for an in-class critique on Tuesday, and I can't wait to see what they came up with!

Here are a few of the shots I grabbed during the shoot:
Part of the class working with James, Juliette, and their sweet daughter Paris


Adam


Adam is an up and coming actor, and my students had him doing some really dramatic poses. He even cried for them on cue!


Jordan, one of my students and photoshopper extraordinaire:).


I just about had a heart attack when I saw Jacob climbing up the side of the greenhouse!


Tyler is one of my clients and will be getting married in just about a month!






A more artistic edit








To check out some of the pics taken by my budding photog students, be sure to check out their blogs in the next couple of days :).
Have a super Saturday!

Press-Printed Albums

When I came back from spring break, I was so PUMPED to see I had so many packages waiting for me at home! One of those packages contained the first album I've ordered from Asuka, and let me tell you, it is so cool! The book comes in this nice case (also available in red) with the client's name hot stamped on the front.





The book is hardbound and also comes with a dust jacket.










The pages have a nice laminate finish.



This particular book was designed to be a guestbook. These books come with a silver pen, so your guests can sign around the photos when they arrive at your wedding. It's a great way to add a little personalization to your event.



This type of book is great for a senior photo book, engagement album, guestbook, parent album, or even as a casual version of a wedding album. I have several sizes available and if you'd like more information, just let me know!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Jeff and Heather are married!

After months of snow and clouds and daylight savings time, I was SO excited to shoot my first wedding of Spring 2008! Jeff and Heather's gorgeous wedding was held at First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood last weekend, and the weather had been absolutely beautiful all week, but it turned rather chilly and cloudy on the day of the wedding, which, according to Heather, was ok, just as long as it didn't rain :). And it didn't!

Some details:









The beautiful Heather. Isn't her hair fantastic?? Heather is a big fan of Project Runway and she saw this hair style on the denim episode in season 4. I'd say her stylist is pretty much rocked it :).



The men relaxing before the ceremony.


This church is lovely for weddings.




isn't he just a doll?


Ok, this is just too cute. Jeff and Heather actually met for the first time while standing in line at Toys 'R Us the day after Thanksgiving. It was only fitting that we returned to place where it all began :)






Before heading to reception, we spent some time in downtown St. Charles shooting some portraits of Heather and Jeff.



Love this one of Heather.


Even though the day was a little chilly, we had a great time walking around Old St. Charles before the reception taking photos. Since it was the weekend before St. Patrick's day, there were a few, um, inebriated fellows on the streets as well. One guy (I swear I could smell the beer on him from across the street) saw us walking around and yelled, "Hey, what's wrong with your photographer?! She's only three feet tall!" Seriously, I may be a little petite, but the beer had obviously created a deficit in this dude's height perception ;)




I dig these close up shots :).


Favorite of the day!



Their reception was held at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Mo.



Congrats Heather and Jeff. God bless you and your new life together... and have fun at the beach ... from your three-foot-tall wedding photog ;)

Chicago baby!

I heart Chicago. Several of my fondest college memories are centered around early morning trips to the Windy City, and I was so excited to stop in for an engagement session for our new friends Matt and Aubrey (pics of the shoot and related adventures coming soon!). When we weren't shooting, we did a LOT of shopping, mostly at Nordstrom Rack (designer jeans for cheap baby!) and, of course, IKEA :). If you've never been to IKEA, you should go just for the experience.... and wear really comfortable shoes and plan on spending many, many hours there :).

Here I am at one of the restaurants (yes, ONE of the RESTAURANTS) at IKEA, sporting my new coat from the Rack. I was going to for a Norwegian look... you know, when in Sweeden....


In addition to all the cool furniture and fixtures, IKEA also had awesome escalators :). As you'll note below, one escalator is for people and one is for carts. Those Sweedes sure are smart.



After two days of shopping hard, we got to see Wicked at the Oriental Theatre and it was absolutely amazing! If you haven't seen it, you should make every effort to go! Even Jon loved it.



(all photos taken with my iPhone)

Now that we're back in St. Louis, Jon is putting together all of our new furniture, most of which is for our office. He's following the directions really well... because there's no words, only pictures, on all pieces of furniture from IKEA. I kid you not. I'll have some before and after pictures soon.

Check back soon because I've had 4 awesome shoots in the last week that I can't wait to share!

Happy Easter!