Graduation and Grandpa Gil

This weekend has been really fun, but also very exhausting. I think I saw just about every single member of my family and Brian's.

Brian's brother, David, graduated from Bethel University on Saturday. It was a great ceremony and we're so proud of him! The recessional at the ceremony was mine and Brian's wedding recessional! It was fun to hear it again :)

Then, on Sunday afternoon, my parents, sister and I headed down to Mt. Lake (my dad's hometown) for a Memorial Day celebration in "the park" (gotta love small towns). Memorial Day is very important to my Grandpa as he served in WWII, participated in the legislature in his younger years and has been involved in Memorial Day services for many years. We are proud of him and what he did for our country all those years ago. The Esau family is quite large in number, so we all gathered at my aunt and uncle's turkey farm for a big bbq on Monday. There is always too much food, but its always good and we have a great time as a family. Here are a couple pics from the weekend.

Flying as high as the sky

My friend and co-worker, Erin, asked me to come take some shots at her track meet. She is the pole vaulting coach at Concordia Academy. I was really nervous about going to the meet because I had no idea what to expect! I arrived a bit late and missed her only girl vaulter, but I did get to see 3 of the guys. Wow, they were good! I'm not so sure how the pics turned out, but I had fun and it was a gorgeous afternoon to be outside (yes, I did have on 30 spf).

This little girl was so funny! She showed up behind the fence (as in... in the neighborhood, not on the school grounds) with her dad. She took his camera (with a bigger lens than I had) and starting taking pictures beside me of the vaulters through the fence. It was too precious not to capture. I asked her if she got the shot and she replied "Yes!" with a big smile.

First Love Shoot!

I've been excited to do this love shoot for about a month now! Katie is one of my best friends from high school. Us, along with a couple other girls, were inseperable and we even played in the band together (Katie and I both played flute and spent most of our time goofing around and eating candy during practice... so bad, I know... we were not the rebellious group if you can imagine). We sort of lost touch during college, but have reconnected since and its been nothing but fantastic! We are truly life-long friends. She met this wonderful man, Ben, and they are getting married VERY soon (you may even see some wedding pics within the month...). So, on Saturday evening, we went out to Centennial Lakes in Edina... gorgeous! Despite the WIND and random rain shower, it couldn't have been better! I hope you both enjoy the pics. I had a wonderful time doing my FIRST love shoot with you two, so thanks for asking and being so patient with me!

Rugby = Pain and Madness

Brian and I went to watch his brother's last rugby game. He's a senior at Bethel and has done a great job on the team the last few years. But wow, what a rough sport! Here are just a couple shots from today's cold and rainy game against St. Olaf (which ended in a tie).

This guy running got totally destroyed by the Bethel guys. They were running right at us!

And Brian... he held all my crap :)

Cutie Pie!

I got to babysit this cutie pie tonight! She smiled at me the second I walked in the door. My heart melted!

Mmm... baby gates taste so good!

I've Been Tagged!!

My friend, Amanda, has the most adorable blog (http://nowiknowmyebcs.blogspot.com/) and she tagged me to answer these questions! FUN!! Here it goes...

I am….....a wife, sister, daughter, friend, co-worker, listener, whiner, crier, wannabe marathoner, wannabe cycler, soccer player, wannabe professional photographer, the list goes on...

I want..... everyday to be sunny and 75 for the rest of my life.

I wish..... I could turn my hobbies into my career and get rid of my day job.

I hate...... when the shower curtain touches my leg. I have to rinse my leg off with water every time it happens. Okay, so it can happen with my arms, hands, any body part. I hate the shower curtain and we have to have TWO since there is a window in our shower. Its a rough life.

I miss..... my sister living in Seattle and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law living in Phoenix. Family should always stay near each other!

I fear......being kidnapped or abandoned.

I feel........ really tired, but happy since my husband and I cleaned our apartment tonight.

I hear......... Brian relaxing after our cleaning extravaganza by playing video games and the airplanes outside.

I smell....... nothing really. Maybe just the smell of spring since we finally have the windows open.

I crave........ dinner. Yes, its almost 9 pm. Same thing happened last night.

I search......for jobs... a lot (not always for me...).

I wonder..... what my life will be like in a year. Will I still live in this apartment? Will we own a house? Will my hair be short or long? Will I still have this job?

I regret....... getting the college degree that I never wanted in the first place.

I love........... my husband, dinners at my parents' house in the porch or on the deck, McDonald's vanilla iced coffee, playing tennis on HOT summer days, pushing girls around on the soccer field (and not getting penalized) and comments on my blog!! ha ha.

I ache......... in my jaw most days. I have to constantly think to myself, "Relax.... relax.... relax..." or else just suck it up and take tons of Ibuprofen.

I care........ about doing something purposeful with my life.

I always...... look for an excuse not to clean or cook dinner (even though I love cooking! weird).

I am not….. confrontational.

I believe......... I am loved.

I dance......... never! I am so bad at dancing and I really don't like it that much. I slow dance, but that about does it for me. I've never been able to "move" and have done quite well resisting the pressure from my work girls to try out the hip-hop class at Lifetime. Uh... you don't want to see this doing hip-hop... trust me!

I sing............ in the car and secretly have always wanted to be a rock star. I wish I could play guitar and sing at the same time, but I'd have to learn how to do both well first! I'd love to write songs and record (thanks to dad's impression, probably), but I don't see that happening.

I cry........... fairly often, but mostly when I'm stressed or feeling like I'm failing.

I don’t always........ floss, take my vitamins, calcium, or fish oil pills, change my oil when its time, or put my clothes away (but that would be an "I never...").

I fight........ less with my husband than I used to. I think we understand each other more and more and we discuss more than fight. We were never big fighters before, but we both believe its healthy to disagree/argue/etc. We just are better at picking battles and fighting fairly now. Its good.

I write....... a lot of emails at work. Is that bad? I used to write in a journal throughout high school and college. I stopped when I got married. In fact, the last journal entry I ever did was about 4 days before my wedding. I practiced signing what my name would become after it was official! Ha...

I never....... thought I'd own a DSLR, understand how to use it and go on a photo shoot with one of my favorites!

I listen......... to co-workers' conversations sometimes. You really can't help it when you work in a cube farm! Sometimes I laugh to myself or email my cube neighbor/work buddy to see if she heard the same thing. She always does and we have a good laugh over email or IM.

I need.......... stability and great friends. I have both and I'm so happy.

I am happy...... that I snuggled up and took a short nap with my husband after work. Cozy.

Wow, that was fun! Took a while, but it was fun... nice way to relax after cleaning and putting away my entire wardrobe... not lying! I don't think many people read my blog, so I'm going to tag Nealy since I just checked hers and she hasn't answered the questions yet! ;)

G*night!

Lake Minnetonka Half-Marathon

No, it was not me who ran the half-marathon... let's be real! It was my sister, Lauren, and two of her friends. I tagged along with my parents and snapped some pics as they blew past us! They did a great job... started and finished together!

Kara, Lauren, Kelsey

They are just a few feet from the finish line in this picture and I think they are just a bit excited... can you tell? :)