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...