Yep

Okay, so after much abuse (both directly and indirectly) I have decided to post again. Hope you're happy. I was incredibly busy. Summertime is here and that means 4 jobs. yes, 4! One of those jobs is wedding photography. I just got back from a week long trip to Texas where last weekend I photographed my first "official" solo wedding. I am happy to report. IT WAS AWESOME. I don't really know how people ever photograph weddings alone...it's stupid. My mom and Dad came along and i'm probably still alive thanks to them. It was hot, and I was running around like mad (totally under control, mind you, but it's a busy time when the wedding starts at 7 and the groomsmen show up at 615 UNDRESSED, and we still have to do pictures! Nevertheless, my mom and I busted out our army voices and all was well.) My Dad kept pumping me full of water and fruit, otherwise I probably would have passed out. (Outside wedding... in Texas ...in June) The place was beautiful, the bride was stunning, and everything went perfectly! PLUS, it was fun to see Aaron, Allison, Noah, Erika, Jen, Cassie, Austin, and Caleb for a short time. I started weeding out some of the 1200 pictures I took over the course of 9 hours, and Ionly erased about 100. Next stop cropping, editing, and whatnot. Had an awesome time spending a few days with my mom and dad. I'm pretty sure that's the longest amount of time I've spent with them alone since before Aaron was born, and it was so great! Dad and I got to see the Yankees play in Houston for Father's day, but not the Astros they didn't bother showing up for the game. Anyway, all is was awesomeFor your viewing pleasure (no wedding pics yet) some shots of Noah I took in May that i forgot to post. He's getting sooo big and as you will see in the pictures has very little personality...oh, wait! Love that kid! anyway, Enjoy!

Spring in NY

While the South is heading full speed ahead in to summer, Upstate NY has, within the last 3 weeks, started really getting our spring. I guess we're late bloomers! (hahahahaha) This is the start of our 3rd summer here in Cooperstown and I believe that is year has been the prettiest. We've had just the right amount of rain and (while I think they are entirely to cool) the temperatures have been perfect for everything to starting blooming like crazy. This is also the reason why my eyes were swollen shut yesterday evening. (stupid allergies!) The other night it was nice enough for us to go on a long walk with the boys (aka. Gunther and Angus). I, of course, brought along my camera. Here are some of the shots...

our front porch

the beautiful tree outside our house

Angus looking quite Dapper among the tulips

Gunther happy per usual

these grow everywhere

The tulips are amazing this time of year!

I love it when it rains...

Have a great Wednesday Y'all!

back in NY

It's hard to believe that this time last week James was in Miami and I was getting ready to leave for Texas. It's amazing how quicly time flies when you are with family...

Anyway, Wednesday I met James in Houston and we spent a few days with his parents. Then friday afternoon we picked up my mom at the airport and met Aaron, Allison, Noah and my Dad at PAPPASITOS! ( i do believe it is worth all caps) It was so much fun just to hang out with everyone. We missed them so much!!!! Here's a few pics from the weekend. Noah being his cute self.:)
Aunt Kami, seriously, put the camera away. (sorry kiddo, got to have as many pics as possible)
Thursday night James and I were quiet priviledged to have these seats at the Astros game.
what a VIEW!!!
James ashamed of himself after ruining a couple engagement on the Jumbo-tron. It's okay honey, I still love you!

We also had a blast flying down the HUGE slip-n-slide that Aaron, James and my dad made out of a roll of plastic, a TON of dishwashing liquid, and several trial and error sessions. I would post pictures of James' wounds, but it's not suitable for all audiences. Sunday it looked as though he had escaped a PUMA attack. It was over 50 feet long, and straight down the hill in my parents backyard. Check out Allison's blog for pictures and videos of the slip-n-slide. It' was so good to see everybody after 5 1/2 months. Hopefully we won't have to go that long between visits again! Also, jared drove in Sunday night to see us. Didn't get a whole lot of time with him, but it still good to get a hug.

Cheers!

Around

lately I've been incredibly home sick. It could be that we haven't been HOME in almost 5 months.  Or for that matter seen any of my family since then either. (James and I went to NYC to meet up with my cousin Heather last weekend and had a blast, but that's not what this post is about) Anywho, Last week It was really hitting me. Partly for that and partly because last monday the high was only 45. We've only gotten warmer temps in the last 10 days or so. ANYWAY, what do I do when I'm feeling blah....of course, I take pictures! Oh, and that day I took my Ipod and listened to High School Musical. DON'T JUDGE ME. the music is surprisingly catchy and uplifting. right, so I just took my camera and walk about 3 miles around town shooting anything and everthing. Not all stellar work, but definitely some good ones. Anyway, enjoy!

This n That

I posted a while ago that I had been doing cakes for various occasions. here are some pictures of the ones I've done. Sorry for the quality on them, I was in hurry. 

Hopeful

Okay, so I've debated about whether or not to post about this for a while, but clearly I have decided to so here goes.... 

There has been a lot going on here in the Yasko house the last few months; some good, some bad, some weird (that's pretty frequent though). James and I have both been keeping very busy. Since I have basically 3 part-time jobs, it keeps me on toes, and this is an incredibly busy time of year for James. It's been a welcome distraction, to say the least. 

On January 30, we found out I was 4 and half weeks pregnant. But almost immediately I started having problems. I was in a tremendous amount of pain and that combined with other things I had a feeling something was not right. I made an appointment with the doctor the next day. They did their test to confirm I was in fact pregnant, but then we spent the next 6 hours at the hospital, running tests, ultrasounds, had 15...that's right 15 viles of blood taken!! All of this for them to say....'we're sorry Mrs. Yasko but we are not able to determine whether or not you are still pregnant.....we need you to come back every day for 2 weeks and have blood taken'.  Basically, they believed  I had lost the pregnancy, but they were not SURE, so I had to keep coming back. (two days before James' birthday). 

The next friday, I get a call from the doctor...my HCG levels are still rising. wait, WHAT!!! This means.....okay awesome, I'm still pregnant!!! Not real sure what to do emotionally, after all, it's been a bit of a roller-coaster so far! I don't really understand what's going on.

We're now to my birthday and now almost 7 weeks. So they keep testing my blood every 4 days now to check my levels.  3 weeks later the doctor calls to say my level had dropped by half....I had not yet lost but I WOULD lose the pregnancy.....I had been in the process of miscarrying for for almost 2 months. The next few days might have been the worst in my life. My doctor actually apologized for what I was going through. They were able to give me medicine because the baby was only measuring about 6 weeks when i was 11 weeks pregnant.  It was INCREDIBLY painful. The medicine gave me contractions and ...well I'll spare you the other details. 

Emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually....I was spent. James was incredible. He was so supportive and nurturing. 

During this time, I was looking for answers to a lot of questions. Mostly about my body, things that were happening, and the toll that it took on me physically. It wasn't until I spent a LOT of time online looking for answers that I realized just how many women go through this! I honestly could not believe the number of women that this happens to, mainly because very few talk about it. Since those of you who read this probably know me pretty well, you know that I tend not to keep things to myself. (things that I find important anyway)

I'm not writing for you to feel sorry for me. I'm a pretty head-strong woman, just ask my family or James. :) Going through this has altered my view of a lot of things. Not to mention my hormones! It changes you. It screws things up. But it also makes you stronger! It has shown me how strong God made our bodies and our minds, what we are capable of and how quickly we can rebound from something like this. I know that there are other things that happen that are much more severe, but for me this was definitely a storm to be weathered.

It do not care that it was early. I do not care that it was my first pregnancy. I care that it happened....and it hurt. It hurt my mind, my body and my heart! To those of you who have suffered with this, my heart aches for you! I pray for you and I hurt for you. For those of you who haven't. Thank God! 

I trust in God. I trust that this will happen for us and until then I'll just keep praying. 

Going's on!

I know i've taken somewhat of a hiatus from blogging, but it's with good reason. We've been very busy around here lately. Since last November I've been involved with the Vagina Monologues. It's not just a play, but a movement rather, aimed towards ending violence against women. All of the monologues are based on stories and interviews of women all around the world. It was an incredible experience and I can't wait to be involved next year! Since HBO owns the rights to the show no videotaping is allowed, I have posted my headshot from the program and hopefully I will get some of the pictures from other people soon. I've also been doing 1-2 cakes a week for various occasions (3birthdays, Easter and a wedding shower cake). I will post pictures of those soon. 

On another note, The pictures of James are from a shoot I did. He hasn't really told a whole lot of people, but I WILL! The American Association of Museums magazine is doing a spread on Up and coming museum professionals. They chose 7 people from around the country and MY AMAZING HUSBAND was picked. I am so proud of him. Along with their article they were asked to submit a photo. We sent several in, but here are some of the shots I got. (this is in the plaque gallery at the Hall of Fame). 

Enjoy!

Time for a Change

Okay, with all the cute blogs that I read....i thought it was time that I put some personality in to mine. I have a hard time getting away from black but...this is the best that I could do. Anyway, the picture is mine from Montreal. Hope this post finds you all doing well!! Have a Happy Easter everybody! cheers!

Lunar Eclipse, Abraham Lincoln, and a Dog

These three things actually have nothing to do with one another, just a few random shots from some things I've been doing.

As I'm sure some of you are aware, last night we had a total lunar eclipse. I'm not going to bore you with exactly what happens, but basically the sun, earth and moon line up and the Moon turns this amazing orange-red. I got several pictures, but here are two of the better ones. (please keep in mind that it was 6 degrees, with a wind-chill somewhere below zero, and I was using a telephoto lens with no tripod. I was already shaking from the cold, not to mention the camera shake from a 9 in. long lens with...well never mind. It was too cold to get anything better than this!) The first one is about 30 minutes into the Eclipse, and the second is during the total eclipse)






Lately I've been doing a lot of free-lance cake decorating. Basically the bakery here stinks and people want more than confetti on their cakes for special occasions and whatnot, so I am more than happy to oblige. I love doing it, it's such a creative outlet for. blah, blah, blah, blah- One of the ladies down the street has a little boy that was about to turn four, so she ask me a few weeks ago if I would be interested in making a cake...OF COURSE! She said "are you ready for this....he wants an Abraham Lincoln party!" he's 4! Classic! anyway, here what his cake looked like! He was ecstatic!!



Finally, two weekends ago (my birthday weekend) was the Cooperstown Winter Carnival. I was asked again this year to be the "official" photographer for the weekend. (not quite as glamorous as is sounds, but James and I did get into everything for free:) They have several events that go on during the weekend, one of them is the SSPCA dog show. Here is one of the shots I got while walking around. I just LOVE that he looks like he's smiling at the camera!

Happy Thursday y'all!

Snowflakes and Roses

I dont' know what it is about Valentine's Day, but it seems to bring about some crazy weather in upstate New York. Monday the temperature was 0 with a windchill of -20. Tuesday it warmed up to almost 15. Tuesday night temperatures continued to rise to about 33. This is no good. At 33 it doesn't snow, it rains. When it rains on top of snow, it makes.....ICE. No Good. This brings us to Wednesday morning. As I was on the phone with my dad I watched the temperature drop back down below freezing.

I knew it was dropping because I watched the precipitation go from all rain, to rain and a little bit of snow, to an all out down pour or snow. In the last 24 hours we've gotten almost a foot of snow. (nothing compared to last years Valentine's Day, mind you.....52 inches.) But still, with no wind and the perfect temperature it ALL stuck. Here are some pictures I took yesterday as we were walking the dogs.

Also, This past weekend was my birthday. My Mom and Dad have this tradition of sending me flowers on my birthday...which I LOVE!!! I love getting flowers, but I enjoy only getting them a few times a years so they are more special. Anyway, almost as much as I love getting them I love taking pictures of them. I think their amazing. I asked James if it surprised him that I could take 200 pictures of one bouquet of flowers and he said "no, I'm used to your ways by now" Thanks honey. anyway, here are some shots that i got. enjoy!
and Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter Blues and Reds

It's been a while since I've blogged, but not necessarily because I didn't have anything to blog about, I just didn't feel like it. I'm not sure who all still reads my blog, but by the lack of comments I would assume, not many. Anyhow, for those of you faithful viewers, I am about to have my photography website up and running, so I will be sure to let you know when that is available for viewing. I'm very excited about that!!!! Also, I am LOVING my new job as a nanny. The kids are great and we're teaching each other plenty! Its still cold and will be for a while....i'm trying to not think about it! Anyway, here are some pictures of some things I've done over the last month. I did a photo shoot before Christmas of two little girls here in town (for their mom). They were precious and here are some of the shots i got! Also, I had the distinct Honor and pleasure of photographing one of my dear friends from High school before she gave birth to their first baby, so I've included a few that were my favorite. And the cake I did for a couple who is adopting a little baby girl from China; the cake says "Eleanor" the baby's names! Love you all!
cheers!

Happy New Year!! (Belated)

Okay, so I'm a little behind on the New Year thing, but things are a little crazy around here. It's hard to believe that A MONTH ago yesterday we started our cross-country journey towards the promise land...that's TEXAS for you ordinary folk! We had soooooo much fun just seeing and hanging out with both of our families and friends. On the way down we stopped to spend the night in Tennessee with our good friends Dave and Kristin, It was hard to believe we hadn't seen them since we moved (about a year and half) we just picked right up where we left off. It's so great to have friends like them!
Then we drove to Dallas to spend the night with Aaron and Allison ( each leg of the trips was about 9-10 hours). Friday we drove to Kyle that was little out of the way but totally worth it, because I got to see (and take Preg. pics of) my good friend Candace. It was awesome to be able to SEE her first of all, and to be able to share in this special time in their lives. That same day we drove to Houston to drop the dogs off and see James' parents. We then headed even further south. For Christmas this year my parents took us on a CRUISE. That's right! It was amazing and we got to spend an entire week with my WHOLE family!! and My cousins, my aunt and uncle...and Allison's family! Those who missed...missed out! Just to be able to spend that time with them was awesome! And as my dad said, Noah finally got to really KNOW all of us. It was also soooo amazing to see my mom virtually pain free for the first time in years!! We also got to spend some time with my In-laws (thanks again for watching the puppies)! On our way to the north we stopped and had lunch with my Mum and Poppie, and then headed to Muskogee to Celebrate my Grandad's 80th birthday!!

We are so blessed with the family and friends that we have!!! sorry for the rambling...here are some pictures from the whole trip!
love you guys!
cheers!