how well do you love?

This week has been a rough one, not only for me but for my dear, dear Hartford. The saddest part for me isn't so much what I know that I lost, it's all of the people that don't know- who didn't realize what a champion of Hartford we lost this week... Mayor Mike was much more than a former firefighter; he was much more than a father, a husband, a son, a friend. And he was WAY much more than just any old mayor. Do you all know who is Mayor of your town? How about who was Mayor ten years ago?

See, Mayor Mike... he left a mark on all that knew him, however briefly.

During his eulogy, the Reverend Gary Miller read something that really hit home with me. It went along the lines of how it all came down to one basic question in your life:

How well did you love?

Many of you that know me, and even those of you that only read this blog probably know that I love HARD- I love FIERCE- and if you wrong someone I love, you better RUN! :) But really, just when I think my heart is full, and that I have no more room for anyone else, I find new people who move me and make their mark on me, and basically just push their way into my big old heart... not that they need to push too hard because I am standing there with arms open, and some air traffic controller mo fo's waving people in...funny, but true.

So reflect on that one question, and see how you fare.

Here are some shots from my day on Thursday..

Outside of the church a fire truck waved the flag high, and there were many, many police officers and firefighters there to show their respect for Mayor Mike. It was an incredible sight to see

The procession passed by Mayor Mike's former firehouse, Engine Company 15 by Trinity College.

This woman had everyone in tears with her sign that says 'we love you mayor mike' as she stood there and waved to everyone that passed, in the cold. What a powerful show of love and respect

The mounted police stood at attention at the entrance to Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. Mayor Mike is right near my Mom, so I got to wave to her as we drove by.

A firefighter smiles to himself, probably remembering laughs and better times he had with Mayor Mike. I stood there paying my respects with this man- we both have such different memories, but I know they were full of laughs

Seeing my image on the marquee of the XL center was bittersweet- Here is a happier time, when Mike was the JP for his daughter's wedding a few summers back.

Here are two of my oldest, dearest friends who are going to be so mad I put this on here. But TOO BAD! :) We have known each other since 5th grade- and seen each other through good times and hard times and still managed to laugh the whole time...I love you guys!

A friend who went to college with Chris, Mayor Mike's son, shares a typical Mayor Mike story, complete with hilarious punch line

Here Mayor Mike's wife Jeannette prepares to take a bow after dancing to Mike's favorite song, Rockin' Robin, at the end of his memorial luncheon...it was so incredible to see, and so sad to see. She is such a wonderful woman, and she was the love of his life

I loved Bob Englehart's editorial cartoon honoring Mayor Mike

One of the best little touches they had at the luncheon were these buttons that we wore when he ran for Mayor. Kristin Ferris ran the event, she was incredible and so was her staff

This napkin was posted by the bar in Mike's restaurant- it reads: 'Live a good life- it's not the years in the life, it's the life in the years. A-Lincoln Well done Mike, and thanks'

Amy and Jocelyn, two of Bethany's close friends from PC came to town to pay their respects from Providence. I've known these two hooligans for a long, long time and I am a better person for it!

After the luncheon everyone headed over to Mayor Mike's to celebrate his life and share more stories. When the newscast came on showing clips from the funeral and interviews from the day you could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet...but I wouldn't have chosen to be anywhere else than surrounded by so many friends and family that loved and shared in such an amazing man's journey through all of our lives...


Thank you Mayor Mike for always making me feel special, for laughing at my jokes, and letting me into your family. Thank you for being one of my strongest supporters in my work and life... and thank you mostly for showing people what it is to love Hartford.

xxoo

it's a very ten eyck christmas

Once we got downstairs.... the kids checked the note and the milk and cookies to see if Santa had fueled up at his stop at our place... and he HAD! Not only that, but he wrote a thank you note... a testament to his stellar manners :) He even neglected to mention that the cookies Dave and I left him were absolutely AWFUL- not my fault!! Dave is always trying new organic and 'healthy' recipes for sweets, and this one was a BOMB, according to Dave! I'm like, pass the oreos, homes!!

Reason #14,237 why I LOVE my Jack... he insisted that we get Baba a gift- a toy cell phone- and then was making calls to all of Baba's friends wishing them a happy holiday! He was calling Blanky, of course!

This is my awesome gift pile- a testament to how well my family knows me! I got some seat protectors for my kids car seats so they don't damage my leather seats; a book on the Beatles (I am a BIG fan), some colorful wool socks, and other socks from Dave bc I always gank his socks- he gets the BEST socks from EMS, and I just love them, sorry honey! and a big bling ring from Jack in the shape of a heart, because he loves me so...

Here the aptly named 'Pony' eats her breakfast that Georgie Girl sets out for her!

And my boy... in his GLORY! This little guy just loves his trains and man was he pumped to get this Holiday Edition Lionel G Scale train!


Quintessential Georgie.....I have some pictures of me when I was little doing this almost exact pose... I gotta dig those up!!!

Here's my little kitchen helper, she just loves cooking with mama!


That's right people.... real yummy homemade french toast.. made with italian bread but whatever!! :P

I love how they just let me shoot to my heart's content...

You know you are the child of a photographer when you know how to 'smile with your eyes'

Big Daddy Ten Eyck having a tea party with the little Miss


I'm not sure who was cuter on Christmas morning... the kids or Dave! Once Georgie's little kitchen was set up the night before thanks to her grandparents! Dave went running up to the attic and started digging out little accessories that he had squirreled away... like the Hello Kitty trash can we had up there, and the little wooden baby highchair for Georgie's dolls... and then the cutest was the top to some container, he said 'look! a serving tray!' COME ON!!!! Holy cuteness. So Miss Georgie piled her 'new' serving tray high with goodies and went around offering everyone a treat... here Jack makes his selection very, very carefully! (I picked the cookie and the lettuce ;)

Jack's grandfather got him an N scale train, which is the smallest scale, I think... and then they built all kinds of tunnels for it to go thru out of the used up boxes that all of their toys came in... my family LOVES to recycle and be creative!

After the craziness of the morning subsided, Jack and Georgie took a little sibling time to just catch up and have some tea

Now I am about to BUST Dave UP here... he is out of his mind. So frugal. So tight with his wallet with the most random things! I think most people get caught up with this one, me? Not so much! The price of GAS? Really? OK, even if it's 10 cents more at one place than another, you have a 15 gallon tank, right? OK, that's only ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS MORE to fill up at the other place!!! AHHHHH!!! That's IT! Here Dave and his Dad were doing some complicated math equations trying to see if if was worth charging their gas to get back 5% or to pay cash.... really. Really. REALLY!!! But then they'll go blow money on some high end hoo ha or another, and not bat an eye. But I KNOW it's because they saved that $1.50 per fill up... right!

I love my sister in law Kate and her husband Noah... they are just wonderful people. Here Kate and Dave are belting out some Beatles tunes for Christmas! That's just our tradition, don't hate. Now when Dave usually sings he kinda sounds like Kermit the frog- this is not a rank- but an observation, Kermit is cute, right? But this year he got all into it and came up with some interesting vocal arrangements for songs like 'Blister in the Sun' not a Beatles song but a request from Jack, it's a Violent Femmes song...my other new Dave fave is his rendition of Mariah Carey's Christmas song, he couldn't remember the melody and just improvised, it was actually pretty awesome!! (even tho I was giggling while doing the Hello Kitty puzzle while he was doing it) But who is the bigger nerd here? LOL

Just adding more cuteness to the pile of cuteness that is my family...

Here is was just messing with Dave, trying to see how close I could get to him to make him mess up and laugh while he was singing! He is such a good sport :)

And then back to our regularly scheduled tea party... this time with Pony.

One of the things I used to love doing when I was little was talking on the phone. The one that wasn't even plugged in to the wall. Just having pretend conversations. Looks like Georgie is too! Here she is gabbing it UP with her friend Reilly! (who isn't really on the phone, of course)

And...SCENE! How else to end a Christmas without some wildlife? This is what you get when you fill the cats bowl too much... you get an all you can eat light hanging over my house for all of the creatures in the woods! YUCK!

snow day part two thousand and eight

The snow outside here in Connecticut is nothing short of beautiful & amazing- my family, and this includes my husband Dave- are all in their glory this weekend with it!! Now, my car would say other wise- but maybe it'll be better after I get some snow tires on 'er! :P
Here are some shots that I just could not resist taking of my family as they all played outside today- enjoy!

Poor Gigi- she has a tolerance for the snow of like 5 minutes! She went in and out ALL DAY- back in her snow suit, then back out, tracking snow all over my studio and the house...oh well! Here she is watching Jack play, and she gets herself ready to join him

One of the things that Dave obsessed about before we even had kids was being able to go snowboarding with them... it was really something else for me to see this today! It is amazing to me how much like Dave Jack is turning out to be, even the way he rides- so graceful like his Dad!

Another one of Dave's obsessions is going to Vermont- it was one of the things we did regularly- go up to Killington and snowboard / blade - sleep anywhere- dance all night- board all day.... it was FUN! So now, here we may LOOK like we are somewhere other than Hartford.... but we're not! This is right in my backyard- the Park River runs right through it- and it is our little piece of heaven...

Daddy-O and jack Bibbs, pretending to throw snow at me and my D3- such jokers...


The trifecta of Dave's obsessing? Our fire pit!! This guy fires it up like Cheech & Chong at any chance he gets! I can't say I blame him, it makes our outside experience that much more fun!! We had Swingin' Christmas Music on outside, thanks to my outdoor speaker system- a fire pit, fluffy snow, and my family! Now if we had a hot tub Dave would officially be in heaven... ;)

Check out my new favorite mug many thanks to the generous Jacob Bergmeier!!

The Daddy chair lift was in full effect! I would even snowboard if this was how I got up and down our yard... :P

Little Jack Bibbs....this guy is just the best son I could ever ask for- so sweet and polite and loving

And then there's crazy Georgie! Out she comes like a shot- straps into her board and she is OFF- all aggressive too! She bent her knees and had such FORM I was blown away. She tackled the jump Dave made with a big hop with her tounge out!!SHE IS ONLY FOUR!!!!! Burton may be calling us soon... :)

And so I plan our Burton family ad, just in case they call

favorite holiday movie

I'm not sure exactly why the cold weather and the holidays seem to bring about the whole 'Let's watch the same movie over and over again' thing.... maybe it's snuggling in with your significant other and re-living the funny moments again and again?

Dave and I had our date night last night and watched one of my all time favorite movies, Love Actually. Just everything about it makes me feel good- especially the fact that it's not ALL happy endings. I really dig how so many different types of love are represented. Yes there are gaps but let me just enjoy my feel good movie, OK?

The opening scene? Man. I think about that scene, a lot. Like WAY a lot. And despite the fact that I have seen it many, many, times. I always well up.

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love.

If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”


SEE WHAT I MEAN??? AHHHH.... I cried just re-reading that! (go on and make fun of me Robert Norman!)

I'm pumped that I now have that on my Apple TV in my studio and can watch that, along with Sixteen Candles, not a holiday movie but a favorite, at any time I want!!

Like.... NOW! :)

i. officially. know. NOTHING!

OH MY GOD!!! I am about to rant, so RUN for your lives!!

I am going to just put myself out there and tell it: I HATE FIRST GRADE HOMEWORK!!!!

I can honestly tell you that nothing makes me feel more stupid and inadequate than trying to help my SIX YEAR OLD son with his homework at night! NOTHING!

You wanna debate RAW vs. JPEG?? BRING IT! (or not, just ask poor Bruce T.!) What color space do you shoot in? Other nerdy, seemingly cerebral photography related topics? COME ON I SAY! And so WHAT if all I do is quote Kevin Kubota? At least I GET IT!!

But ask me what the HELL the difference between a blended consonant or a diagraph is???? HUH?? No. NO! SHHHHH.... I am NOT interested!

Wait. is SHHHHHH a diagraph or a blended freaking consonant???!!!


GSDJNKGHHNDRNBHT NGNK;TREHINJOTEHRNCFGNLK DLM;'FOFTYJPTESSJOPIJ!!!! 46438903Q450[5UKOP'TFHMLKGNXF


The icing??

Tonight's homework question:

"3. One word with long i is____________. The word is _____________."


Ummm. what? w.h.a.t.? W.H.A.T.??? The word is?? What word are you referring to???? The one I just TOLD you about, like RIGHT BEFORE? That one? Does IDIOT have a long i?

No. It does not.



Imbecile?

happy birthday mom

Today would have been my Mom's 62nd birthday, so if you can hear me Mother, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLD LADY!!!

There is so much I want to show you that I have done, and that the kids are doing! Georgie spelled J-A-C-K-S-O-N yesterday morning! And Jack, well he is just such an emotionally intuitive little guy, he is so in tune to my moods and emotional state and knows just when to tell me he loves me or show me something cute to make me smile...I am holding onto that with both hands, tightly and hoping that he stays that way.

Oh and they remember you! Jack still talks about that snoopy train that Saca got for you to give to him, remember? Well, I know. You're old! What can I tell you! But she got it for you to give him so that when he came to visit you would have something to give him... well he loves it still. Even though it is just a plastic toy that was filled with m&m's that she got from CVS! See how sentimental he is?

We celebrated Vikki's birthday last night, I can't believe how OLD she is getting! 31!! You would be so proud of her, she is doing so well and the kids just adore her.

Well Mom, happy birthday, go have some chocolate covered cherries or something- and go haunt Tere's new house, it's so cool- she has cactus in her backyard! FREAK!

I love you, I miss you more than seems humanly possible!!


xxoo

ten eyck weekend in truro MA

Just added! Dave emailed me these pictures of me shooting on the beach- I think I'd wager to say I look pretty freakin' HOT!!!! ;) thanks honey!


This weekend, you know the one where I so boldly announced here that I was going to run the Hartford Half Marathon? Yeah, this very weekend (which, incidentally, I did not run... more on that later, I promise!) Dave and I took off for the dunes of the cape, to drink Pina Coladas and read classified ads! (Points for anyone who can tell me what that obscure reference is to)
This was for our nine year anniversary- we like to get away each year to someplace on the shore... in year's past it's always been Newport, or mostly, not always. So this year we decided to do something new, and also because since we were going away during Columbus Day Weekend all of the hotels in Newport were asking for a two night minimum.

And so.... check out our Super Special Ten Eyck Honeymoon Suite!!

We could NOT have gotten a better weekend for camping! The temperatures were perfect for sleeping, and the skies were so blue and deep and beautiful.... Here was the beach at Maiden's Head Beach on the Cape

There were so many footprints and paw prints it was really cool- I loved the texture and the shadows of them all

Here is my honey, minus his noggin

I won't be too complimentary towards him this post- he was laughing at the last one I did for him and said I was 'very idealistic' so I threatened to do a post of the nine things that bug me about him! ;) Just kidding!!!

So you would think that with my obsession with shooting rings I would have shot ours a bajillion times over, right? Not so much! This was the first time I ever shot them! I wasn't sure which one I liked better so I put both up

We actually got married on the beach so the location is perfect!

I am a sucker for neon. We wanted to have a lobster dinner and I secretly wished we went here but the atmosphere was not what we were looking for- we did find the perfect spot and had dirty martinis and a new england clam bake dinner that was to DIE for! We sat outside and people watched- they had heaters and blankets that I wrapped my legs up in while we ate! It was AWESOME! Hands down the best anniversary we have ever had.

Could someone please dress this poor lady?

I loved the color in this shot and the yellow of the flowers... there were so many neat little shops to poke around in and shoot little nooks and crannies on the street

This was right by the parking lot in Provincetown- come ON!!!!