almost september

i can’t believe that summer is almost over.  i am looking forward to a break in the heat, but i know that i will miss it as soon as it is gone…

this summer had it’s share of good and bad, but overall, i’ll say good won out.

summer in a nutshell: i shot some beautiful weddings and lovely portrait clients, not enough beach time (shoots on the beach – sweating like crazy – do NOT count), michael quit a job and then started a new one, visits home from both of my brothers, a birthday for me in june, and my brothers’ birthday earlier this month, baked a cake for the later, visited my cousin and his wife in deland (finally! we’d been hoping to do this foreverrr), bookclub books read but i totally slowed down on my normal reading… i blame big brother, finished with 5 out of 6 laser hair removal sessions on my underarms (which is suchhh a better word than “armpit” don’t you think?) – best $99 ever, thanks groupon, almost finished the last of my livingsocial voucher sessions (which were sold over a year ago! that was fast), just two left to go, a new niece on the way to come in october, lots of wedding client meetings, getting excited for all to come next year…

here are some pictures from my brother carson’s birthday dinner…
or, rather, here are some pictures of the cake i made for carson’s birthday dinner…
tampa photographer carson bday 02

tampa photographer carson bday 03

tampa photographer carson bday 04

this is also the first birthday ever, out of 24 birthdays, that my brothers have not been together on their birthday.
carson, flying solo, and getting a family birthday party/dinner to himself for the first time ever:
tampa photographer carson bday 01

this summer also brought the death of my great aunt, my tia, which was the last of the grandparent-y people in mine or my husband’s life.  i don’t like that that means that our parents are now the oldest generation.  and i really don’t like that tia is gone…

tia
(me and tia at my wedding)

however, on the good side, she lived to be 90 years old, living, on her own, in the home that her husband built (which she was very, very proud of), with overall very good health until the very, very end.  of all the ways to go, i don’t think we can complain too much.

we have also been dreaming of buying a house, but tying to make do with our little condo for now.  this month, as soon as michael started working again and i wasn’t so paranoid about our bank account, i took on a few little projects to make our limited amount of space work a little smarter for us.  we added in a storage rack thingy in the bathroom, rearranged our two (yes, we only have two, because i don’t count the under-sink area as really useable except for storing cleaning supplies) lower kitchen cabinets so that one of them can be devoted to housing an under-counter trashcan, meaning we don’t have to move the trashcan every time we want to open the refrigerator or dishwasher!  pretty life changing.

although… what happens when you go from two lower kitchen cabinets to just one?  well, some stuff just doesn’t have a place to go.  therefore, a few of the dresser drawers in my old, childhood room at my mom’s house, are now filled with seldom used (but not to be parted with) pots and pans. thanks mom!!!!!!!

we also got rid of two mismatched (and not really working for us) pieces of furniture in the office and replaced them with a configuration from ikea.  soooo much better.  i’ll blog about that soon (because i do want to be a better blogger! swear!)

the ikea haul
(and this was before we realized we were two boxes short and had to make a return trip…)
tampa photographer 01

let’s see… what else has happened….?

our dogs are fat and happy. : )

(although this picture seems to deny both of those claims)
tampa photographer 02

we are also planning a trip to visit my brother, zane, who has been living in dc for about a year!

michael and i are going up with my mom and we’ll all squeeze into my brother’s little studio apartment.  it’s definitely an old-school-moss-family-classic-style-arrangement.  i’m sure michael will be looking longingly at every hotel we walk by, but too bad!  hah!  that’s in ocotober, so hopefully we’ll have nice, pretty weather waiting for us by then… and a new baby niece wating for us when we arrive home (as we leave on her due date!).

although, michael’s sister, melissa, swears this baby is going to come early which we would be very grateful for…  hear that delaney???
p.s.: this means maddie is soon to be a big sister!
tampa photographer carson bday 05

and lastly, in a week from thursday, i’m heading to LA to shoot the wedding of a sweet friend (and former co-worker) and to hangout with two lovely, lovely la ladies (kayla and blair, formerly of florida) and my friend netta is coming too!  and it’s netta’s inaugural la visit! and i can’t wait!!!

(blair in los angeles, circa 2009)
blairinla

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