hi, hello, how are you?

I feel the need to write one of those posts where I just catch up on everything that's been going on. SO MUCH has been going on. And it's all condensed into a short amount of time because in less than two weeks we are heading out of town for a long weekend for my dear friend's wedding, in a western suburb of Chicago (this is a huge deal because my three roommates from college and I will be reunited for the first time since we graduated in May of 2010! omgfreakingout! And Evelyn's the flower girl. And I'll get to take pictures). My school stuff is due the day after we get back so I want to have it turned in before we leave. I still have quite a bit of reading to do, a paper to write, and 5 or so poems to write. That's manageable in 13 days, right? It is. But there's so much exciting stuff going on with photography - last Friday I was a second photographer for a wedding in downtown Minneapolis (which I'll share some photos from soon), then on Saturday I did a family session, which turned out really great (see photos here), in the middle of the week I got a phone call from a bride-to-be getting married next August who wants me to be her wedding photographer, so I'm meeting with her and her fiance on Sunday, after which I'm doing a senior photo session. Oh, and on the way back from the wedding we're stopping in Winona to do a family session with someone I know there. WOWZA. In addition, I'm working on setting up some projects with models, one that I'll probably be doing next weekend. And, something that I'm really excited for, is taking my sister's photos next weekend too - she'll be turning 13 in just two weeks (13!). AND, my little brother (who's bigger than me, of course) joined the Army and is heading to basic training in early October and this makes me all nostalgic for our childhood and I want to do something cool for him before he goes (any suggestions?).

And I got a new lens - a 50mm 1.8 that lets in a ton of light and is basically just super awesome. Jason's become my photography-partner-in-training and for that I've become his model. We've been having a lot of fun conceptualizing photo shoots and I'm teaching him how to edit, etc. He's got a great eye and also loves working with the light. Do you like my new header? The photo came from a shoot we did last night. Of course now I want to make a new blog button and new header for my photography blog, and soon Jason's gonna have a blog too.... here are some more shots he got last night with the new lens:

The main inspiration for this shoot was the sweater - a $4 thrift store find.

Um, happy Friday! How are YOU? (seriously, leave a comment letting me know how you are. Like, I really want to know. I hope you are well. All of you.)