Thursday, July 30, 2009

Aquapalooza

Well I just recently got back from Alabama...again :), but this time it wasn't for a wedding. Kevin was invited to cover an event on lake Martin called Aquapalooza. He brought me along A) to be his photographer and B) he said he would just feel weird going to Alabama without me. Sea-Doo wanted Kevin to cover the event because they had a pretty big precence there. They had a demonstration booth where people could come and test their latest watercraft. They seem to be pretty proud of it, but kevin wasn't too impressed. Of course that is his job, to test ride all the different personal watercraft and point out the good and bad qualities so the average guy who doesn't have the opportunity to check them all out can have the facts. Sometimes to the manufacturers dismay. What a boring job huh?

The main event, however, was an outdoor concert venue. They had a huge stage along the sand facing the water so everyone could bring their boats and wave runners and enjoy the show. They also had several different booths set up so people could buy food and memorabilia of all sorts. The headliner of the day was Alan Jackson. Unfortunately, we didn't stay for that concert. Being in the sun taking pictures and being five months pregnant can take a toll on you. Instead, we went back to the hotel and cooled off in the pool and then went inside to the nice air conditioning.

Of course I couldn't travel all the way to Alabama and not see some friends or family SO...we stayed an extra day and hung out with Monica and Kyle one night. It was a lot of fun. We went out to eat, went to the movies, and then mostly went to their house where monica and I enjoyed playing scrabble and family fued. They boys played but were not as enthusiastic as we were. Monica and I laugh because we both LOVE to play games, but never get to play them in our own homes. At least she has sisters close by that will play with her. I have to wait for company to come over and then pounce :)

The next day our flight left at 12:45 so we got to grab breakfast with my sister Tamara. It had been a while since I had seen her and I'm glad that her schedule was open that morning. We had a good time catching up over pancakes. She has a really great job and is thinking about buying a house soon. It looks like things are going really well for her.

The sad part of this trip is that it would have usually included spending time with my friend Corey. I did get to go to his gravesite, but it was so soon after the funeral that is doesn't have a marker yet. Monica and Kyle had to point out where it was. I didn't breakdown like I had expected. Instead, I calmly talked to Corey like he could hear me somehow and told him I loved him and hoped he was at peace.

I have the feeling that I could move to Australia and I would still be making trips back to Alabama. It will be a part of my life forever.Here is a church along the lake. On the big poster of scheduled events they actually listed for Sunday-worship service at church in the pine. (Only in the south right?)
Anyone who lived in Alabama at one point in their life KNOWS that their has to be a place you can buy Auburn or Alabama gear.Here is Kevin being interviewed for a promotional video about Sea-Doo.
Here are some watercraft we saw parked along the beachAhhh a boiled Peanut stand floating in the water. I personally would never eat them, but it gave me a real sense of nostalgia seeing this. I was definitely in the south again.

Being surrounded by all the trees and by a lake you just felt like you were part of nature. I saw the butterfly flying around and then all of the sudden it just landed and kept still...I just felt like I should take a picture.This is just a picture of a Dam we would pass to and from the lake everyday. It just caught our attention.
Another picture of the Dam
This is an old boat I saw on the side of the road. I just thought it would be fun to photograph.
A view of the stage
Monica and me....As you can see I am looking pregnant now:)
We don't really know what we were doing.
The Shaws and the Ishees
This was Kevin's breakfast the morning of our flight home. He thought he was ordering normal looking pancakes with apples and it came out like this. Tamara and I had a good laugh about it. As you could probably guess it wasn't too great. A word to the wise if you are eating at the original pancake house in five points...DO NOT get the apple pancakes!
Tamara and me

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Corey

Last night I heard some very shocking and upsetting news. My good friend Corey has passed away. I can't believe that I am losing my friends in such tragic ways and at such a young age.Corey,

I hope that you are finally free of your addictions. I know that you got up everyday and tried to shake the demons that seemed to tightly have a hold of you. I know that you are a good person with a great heart. If I have learned anything from this tragic situation and the loss of our good friend Deane it is that we can't judge people merely by what we hear in the news. We can't truly know someones heart by a bad choice or even a series of events. People are more complex than that. People aren't all "good" or "evil." Now everytime I watch the news and I hear of a robbery or a any sad situation I will think of that persons friends and family and how they must be feeling. In my heart I see you meeting up with Deane and finally having to chance to forgive eachother and yourselves for any wrongdoings that may have been done. I don't know what drove you to do what you did, but even now I stand by the fact that I love you and I hope you know that.

Love Always,

Heather*

Thursday, July 9, 2009

IT'S A ...


When I first found out I was pregnant I was so surprised that I went straight to Kevin and showed him the positive test. Later that day I wished I had waited and told him in a creative way. Ya know, so I would have a fun story to tell. My family is all on the East coast so I informed them of our exciting news by phone. BUT since Kevin's family is here I decided to do something fun for Kevin's parents. We invited them over for dinner and for dessert we had a cake with icing the read "Heather is pregnant". It would have worked out great, but Kevin's dad wanted his cake right after dinner and Kevin's mom was content with waiting until a little later. Kevin and I looked at each other like "uhhhh what do we do?" We convinced Linda to come back to the Kitchen for dessert but she could tell something was up and she burst out "Are you pregnant?" When I simply showed her the cake she and Kerry were so happy they both ran up and hugged me at the same time. Eventhough it didn't turn out exactly like I had planned it was still a fun surprise, and now I have a story to tell :)

I had an ultrasound today to confirm the sex of the baby. I don't have a scanner so unfortunately I can't post a picture on here, but I can tell you that we are having a little GIRL!!! She looks perfectly heathly and so far we have been told we have nothing to be concerned about so we are super happy about that. I think Kevin's mom is really excited because her two older children have two boys each and are done having kids. Kevin and I are having the first grandaughter on his side. Its old news on my side, but I know my family is just as excited to meet this new member of the family.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Lake Mead

At the same time that the world was mourning the loss of Ed, Farrah, and MJ I was also mourning the loss of my job. It came as such a shock when they sat me down and said "we have some bad news". Apparently, they are restructuring the company and aren't making as much money as they used to. They had to let me and another girl go. Although I am sad and a little stressed about not having the income I had...I can't help but think that this could be a blessing too. Ever since I found out I was pregnant I was worried about what was I was going to do with my child once it was born. I have always envied stay at home mothers. Definitely not because its sounds like "fun" because I know it can be more stressful and tiring than any 9-5er, but because I know how important it is to be there for your children. I want to know that they are truly cared for and not just placed in the corner and ignored until I can get off of work to pick them up. Unfortunately, California is really a two person income state. It is hard to survive off of less than that, but with A LOT of budgeting I think we are gonna try to make it work as long as we can.

Since I no longer had a job to stay home to....I went along on the trip to Lake Mead that Kevin was already planning on attending. His sister and brother's families were both going along with a few other families. I was brought along as a photographer so Kevin could make an article out of it. I just kept crossing my fingers that I got some shots that he liked. Here are a few that I liked.

While we were driving to our hotel we came across this LDS church that had been burned down. I decided to get out and take a couple of pictures.
On our way out to our car before our first day out on the lake we saw this guy hanging out on our truck. He definitely wasn't scared of people...we had to pick him up to move him. He wanted to hang out for a while.
This is Kevin's brother Cameron and his son Justin on the stand up Jet ski
Here Cam is with is other son Parker
This is Kevin's sister Kirsten with Justin and Bella (their friends daughter)
This is our brother-in-law Clint
Our nephew Nathan
This was Kevin's first time wakeboarding. He did a great job.This is our nephew KyleKirstenJustin and ParkerParkerJustin with Cameron, parker and Wendi in the backgroundOn our Way home from the lake we decided to stop at a casino and see Bonnie and Clyde's car. We weren't any a big rush and thought...."oh what the heck". These pictures aren't any good because of the glass in front and casinos are notorious for terrible lighting, but you can see the bullet holes on the side. It was pretty interesting reading more about them. I had no clue that Bonnie was only 4'11 and 90 lbs and Clyde was 5'7 and 130 lbs. Pretty crazy. It actually made me want to watch the movie about them.