Still Here

For those of you who may have been wondering, yes, we still exist. :) It's been forever since we've done anything on here, I know. Of course life has been happening during our lack of writing, and we are all happy and well here.
Jeremy has a crazy schedule this fall semester, and is barely home at all. He is gone from morning until 9:00-12:00 most nights. Fridays are our date nights (family date nights), because he gets home at 5:30 -- woohoo!!! :) Sundays he is home, too, so we are all able to go to church together and then to Nanny's house for family time and dinner. It's been rough for all of us getting adjusted to him being gone so long, but we are settling into a routine now. And we certainly treasure the moments we are able to share! Arianna has taken to waking up every morning, and immediately saying, "Daddy working". I think it's been especially hard on her getting used to him not being around as much.
Arianna is amazing! I love this little girl so much. You know, Dad used to always say how his love for us (me and Andreas) just grew and grew with every passing day, and each new stage of parenthood brought even greater joys. Now I am understanding this, I think. Every new experience we have together, every new discovery and accomplishment that Arianna makes, just brings greater joy to my heart. I LOVE being with her! She is like a little embodiment of everything that is good. Having her around always reminds me of what is important. She helps me remember to really appreciate the MOMENT we are in, to experience everything fully and then leave it behind and move on to the new moment and experience at hand. And I love her eagerness to learn every possible chance she gets! Wouldn't we all be so much better if we kept this desire to learn and grow throughout our lives? I am seriously just amazed by her all the time, and am so incredibly grateful to be her mother. What a beautiful blessing she is!!
When I last posted on here, I had just begun my new photography adventures. Since then I have had some sweet moments with my faithful camera companion, and have begun to more fully explore this art I love. It all seems to be happening so quickly, but I'm riding along to see where we go here. I have learned a LOT in the last couple of months, and am having fun! I have been able to photograph at the Earl and Palmer reunions, do sessions with Mindy and Craig's beautiful little family and Caleb and Logan, capture some special moments at Lea and Daryll's wedding, and all the while continue working with my favorite little subject, Arianna. :) I have purchased an editing program (Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 -- maybe someday I'll be able to invest in the all-powerful Adobe Photoshop, but for now I at least have something to work with that's decent), and have learned a lot about editing (though I still have a LOT to learn, I know). We've decided it will be worth it for me to purchase a backdrop stand, a backdrop and some lighting, as I will be offering portraits for the students at All-Star Karate. And I've decided it's time to finally make up some business cards and start offering my photography services. I'll be starting out offering a great deal compared to all the other photographers I've been able to find around here, just because I'd love to have the experience, and I feel weird charging as much as they do when I'm just getting started. I'm pretty excited about it all! If you live nearby, you'll probably be getting an e-mail about this soon, because I'm obviously going to need some people to take pictures of. :)
Okay, it's late and tomorrow is an early morning. Maybe I'll be able to get on tomorrow to post some of the pictures I've taken over the last couple of months...

A Beautiful Piece of Equipment

We finally decided to take the plunge and invest in my new camera! Why, you ask? Well, my cousin Lea is getting married in a month, and has asked me to photograph the special occasion for her. With this in mind, we decided it was time for an equipment upgrade. So on Wednesday, July 16th, we went to Circuit City and bought a Canon EOS D40.

It was quite an investment, and while it is incredibly exciting, it is also a little scary. It's a whole new ball game now. Do I really have what it takes? We'll find out... I have a LOT to learn, but am eager to begin! :)

Pretty nifty, eh?

The whole package: The camera, lens, carrying case (our old one was too small), plus an Epson Stylus Photo printer (not seen here - it came for free with the purchase). So exciting!!! :D

And now I embark on this new journey of photography...

Music Man - Zelda vs. Mario

Hello Everyone!

As you may or may not know, last semester I did a jazz band arrangement entitled Zelda Vs. Mario. It includes four main themes from the original nintendo games The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. Today, I finally got a live recording of the jazz concert in which Studio 11o of Henry Ford Community College performed my piece for the first time. It was a really neat experience (it's a rush!) to have everyone playing music that I arranged.
So, here it is, for your listening pleasure...dedicated to old school gamers everywhere:

Zelda Vs. Mario http://www.box.net/shared/0kcfli2w40
Big Band style!


Sincerely,

Music Man


P.S. Comments are welcome...like if you think I should try and get this arrangement published.

Upcoming Gigs

I am a little scared but mostly excited about the next two Fridays coming up. I am going to be the live music during the Dearborn Farmers Market and Artisan Fair. Basically, the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce got my name from someone for who I played a college related gig for earlier this year. I'm nervous because that gig was only background music, and I was playing in a group. This time it'll just be me and my instruments, and I'll be singing. One cool thing about it is that they said I could play whatever I wanted...So, I'm going to play a mix of covers (oldies and new stuff) and originals. The down side to all of this is that they can't afford to pay me directly, but I am allowed to put out a tip jar.

This is going to be the first time for me to ever do a solo act like this...so, like I said I'm both excited and nervous.

If anyone wants to come and hear me play (it's free!) here's the info:

When: July 11th and 18th from 11:30am - 1:30pm
Where: West Dearborn, Between Monroe and Military just south of Michigan Ave.
Why: You like my music? Emotional support? So you can say you knew me before I got famous? Why not?

A Visit

Last week we were blessed with a
spur-of-the-moment visit by some family! Danielle (Jeremy's sister) came with her two boys, Caleb (3) and Logan (1), and Jeremy's mom, Barb. They stayed for four days, and we had a great time.

Arianna loved seeing Grandma, but was not always sure that she enjoyed having the boys here; she is not accustomed to sharing all of her toys, and is rather used to being the center of attention. But she and Logan had some good playing moments together, and we're sure that in the future we'll all look back at this visit and laugh about how by the end of the visit she would scream whenever he came near her. :)
It was really good to visit with everyone. It's crazy how much the boys have grown since we last saw them! Aren't they adorable? I'm glad we had this time together before the family reunion (which is just a few weeks away now!).

If you want to see more pictures, check our flickr account (the link is at the bottom of this page) - I just added a whole bunch.

My Awesome Photographer Wife

I just wanted to say how awesome she is at taking pictures and capturing some truly sweet shots. Just check out our flickr (there's a link at the bottom of our page) account to see more of how good she is. Of course, some of the pictures might have been snapped by me (I've been known to get lucky now and again) but for the most part, she's the wiz behind the lens.

Music Man - Beyond the Storm

Hello reader,

I wanted to introduce myself to you all. I am Jeremy's alter-ego the Music Man. From now on, whenever you see a post with "Music Man" as the title you will know it is a special e-mail from me, with a special purpose as well. As you may or may not know I do some songwriting in whatever spare time I have and I try to record some of my better songs. Well, I am asking for all of your help. Whenever I, the Music Man leave a post I will leave you a link to be able to listen to my latest recording. I would like honest and helpful critiques from as many of you as can help me out. Now remember, these are home recordings with crappy equipment, so I don't really want to hear a lot about the quality of the recording. What would be MOST helpful is to hear people's honest opinions about the song itself. The music, the lyrics, etc. So, onto the first song...

It's called "Beyond the Storm" and it's basically about two people having to say goodbye for a long time, but knowing they will one day be together again.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR CRITIQUES (via an anonymous comment if you prefer)!

Here's the link:

http://www.box.net/shared/1lkq00xusc

Thanks,

Music Man

Photographs & Memories

Last Saturday, June 7th, was quite a special day for us here. First off, it was the day Remick Underwood (some of you know him - he's a very dear friend of our family) and Amelia Yates (another good, though newer, friend of our family) were married! Yay for them! They were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Detroit Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

And second, it was the day of my first ever paid photography job. Yes folks, I was the official photographer at their wedding. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it immensely.

This has actually got me thinking about the possibility of pursuing photography more. I have always loved taking pictures (Springer can attest to that)...but what if other people actually enjoy me doing this, too? I mean, maybe I could actually pursue this, have a blast, and make a little extra income for our family at the same time...

So, I've decided to become more educated on the whole subject. I'm going to be getting some books from the library, and doing whatever I can to gain as much knowledge as possible about photography and digital editing and all that great stuff. AND, I've started looking into some new camera options. So far we're looking at the Canon EOS D40 or D400 or Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. They're pretty expensive, but if I actually find more people who want to pay me to take pictures... :)

Anyway, it's all very exciting!!

And, after getting sidetracked with the photography thing for a bit there, let me just reiterate that Remick and Amelia are married! Whoa! It's pretty crazy to think that Remick is all grown up now... He's like my little brother, only not so "little" anymore, I guess. I'm so proud of him and the choices he's made in his life lately. It was awesome to sit in the sealing room and watch as he and Amelia knelt across the altar from one another. Congratulations you two, and may your life together be filled with joy and love and laughter! We love you both so much!

Rejoice, oh blogging community -- we are here!!

Well, we've done it! We have a blog! We are quite proud of ourselves, figuring out how to link up our flickr and goodreads accounts, and even creating an awesome project playlist account to provide you with some of our favorite music for your listening enjoyment. Pretty snazzy, eh?
Due to our differing styles in writing, from now on you will most likely not be seeing any "we" posts. The plan is that we will instead post separately, and hopefully both do so fairly regularly. So, welcome to our blog, and get ready for some exciting adventures!! And now you will all discover just how strange we are...