Elizabeth, Joey & Baby Cayden

I was so excited yesterday when Elizabeth text me asking me to do her family photos. I've know Elizabeth for a while now. I went to school with her two oldest sisters Stacy and Tracy and then worked with her older sister Trina for a while. Elizabeth has a wonderful family and an adorable baby boy! Here are a few of my favorites from yesterday's shoots.

Oklahoma Winter Wallop

On Thursday January 28, 2010 God blessed us with a massive amount of rain, which we can always use here in Oklahoma, but at about 1pm while we're all at work the temperature drops to 32 degrees and the wind starts to pick up. The handrails and metal steps at work are starting to freeze and people are starting to worry. Some people from work took off at lunch to head home to prepare for the winter wallop that was slowly approaching. At 2:30 we received an email from someone upstairs saying that they were shutting down the plant at 3 so everyone should leave at 3 and come back at 9am on Friday morning unless otherwise told. They'd set up a weather update number that we could call just in case Halliburton didn't have power. We got home and we still had power thank goodness! We drove around town and the only store that was open was the Chisholm Corner on Elder. People were lined up getting gas and stocking up on useful items like water and beer of course :) We got home and by the time the sun went down we were the only house on the block with power. At 1:45am we lost power. Thankfully, we still had heat, since we have gas heat. I can deal without power for a few days but I can't imagine what people are going through right now with no source of heat or water. Yes I said water too. A fire broke out at the water plant and they had to turn off the water. We got our power back Friday night at about midnight. Saturday, dad headed to Wichita Falls to meet my uncle from Abilene to pick up 3 generators. One for Mom and Dad, one for Mum and Poppie and one for Diane and Krista. We'd heard rumors that electricity wouldn't be back until Monday night or mid week so they decided a generator would be the best thing to do and that way if this happens again, they'll be prepared. Dad and Chris got everyone's generators hooked up right before dark. As of today, Sunday, there are a few houses on our block that have electricity. A few businesses on the west side of the road have power so a few fast food places are open which I'm sure people are loving the warm food! Mom called me a couple hours ago and they now have power, but Mum and Poppie are still out but still have minimal electricity from the generator. Here are some photos I've taken today as we drove around. Duncan looks like a ghost town. Not many people are out and there are still a lot of houses without power.

Oklahoma Blizzard 2009!

Well we survived it! We got 8 inches of snow on Christmas eve. Heather started this way on Christmas day, made it to Wichita Falls and the sun started to go down and what had melted started to refreeze. Luckily we have family in Wichita Falls so she stayed with our Aunt Darla. We finally got to celebrate Christmas on Saturday, which was fine, we were just glad Heather got to come up, otherwise it wouldn't have been Christmas. Here are some pictures from the Oklahoma Blizzard!

Latest Pictures

So its been FOREVER since I've been able to upload new pictures. I am finally back at my old job which I am so excited about! So hopefully I'll be uploading new pics more often!

Melia



OKC Zoo




4th of July

Its Been A While

So it feels like its been forever since I've blogged and according to the dates its been about four months, which is a pretty long time.
Usually I just post new photos I've taken but decided this time I'd just write. I did do a senior shoot here in Duncan about a month ago and sister designed his senior announcements for graduation. The pictures turned out AWESOME! And I'll post some pictures hopefully next week. The announcements were great too! I so think Heather and I should open up our own photography studio and do photos and all the works, but we'll see. Maybe when we get older, we'll start our own business!
Not a whole lot has been going on in Duncan lately. Not that I would know because I usually just stay at home anyway. Chris and I have sort of turned into an old married couple. We work, he goes and plays out in the garage while I sit in the house watching TV with my feet up and then we eat dinner and go to bed. We're always in bed by 9, which is sad, because I used to be a night owl and stay up until the wee hours of the morning and now I'm like, "Ok! Its 9 pm, time for bed!"
I love my life though. I count myself lucky to have such a great family. I still have a job (knock on wood, the rumors of layoffs are fluttering around) and I have Chris, who means the world to me. What else could I ask for?
I recently bought one of the greatest gaming consoles ever invented. The Nintendo Wii! Mom, dad & I headed up to Oklahoma City last weekend to attend the Red Earth Festival at the Cox Convention Center like we do every year. We go every year because its always the same weekend as their wedding anniversary, so they usually buy each other presents! Well once we'd walked around the art exhibits about 5 times, we decided to leave and head to Best Buy! So I bought the Wii along with a few games and accessories and boy let me tell you, I definitely spent more money than I wanted to! But the Wii is awesome! I'm getting to exercise in the comfort of my own home and have fun doing it, so naturally it doesn't really feel like exercise and I've already lost some weight! So if any of you are debating on whether or not to buy one...DO IT! Its well worth the money!

Seth Walker Concert

So on February 7 Seth Walker played at the Simmons Center here in Duncan. It was awesome! I've never known myself to be much of a blues fan but I definitely loved his music. My mom, dad, Chris and I all went and we let the guys pick where we sat. They chose the front row! It was awesome! After the concert we waited in line to get his autograph on the cds of his that we bought during intermission. Check out his music here. http://www.sethwalker.com/2.0/seth_main.html
Here's some pictures from the concert.

Its been a very tough week

If you know me at all, you know very well that I do not do very good at funerals. And until recently I believe I have been blessed to not have to go to any. I went to my first funeral in a long time this past Saturday in Comanche, for one of my dad's best friend's son. Although I did not know thier son Steven very well, I went for support of my dad's friend Denny. It was hard, just like every other funeral for me. I'm a very emotional person and seem to be able to cry at the drop of a hat. Especially when someone else around me is upset and crying. Just seeing someone else cry that I know makes me cry.
On Sunday I got some horrible news from a very close friend of mine that her mom had passed away. She was only 41 and I had just seen her a week prior to her death and she didn't look sick, and I guess thats whats most shocking, that death can just come out of nowhere. This one hit me really hard. She was an amazing womand that I could talk to about ANYTHING. She was like a mom for me. I mean I was always over at their house and for the longest time I never knew her first name. I always knew her as Mom and not Laura. I have cried off and on since I heard the news. Her funeral is Thursday.
Now I've heard stories, or I guess you would call them superstitions that death comes in threes. I'd been dreading the news of another death. I felt like my heart just couldn't take it. And then it happened...
This morning the alarm when off at 5. I got up just like any other day and was starting to get ready. I brushed my teeth and was about to get dressed when I decided to crawl back into bed. I was laying in bed when I saw my cell phone light up the dark bedroom. It was my house calling. Weird...I thought. Why would dad be calling. (He's the only one that comes in at work at 6 like I do, so I knew it was him) I called the house back about 5 minutes later, no answer. So I put my shoes on and called Dad's cell phone. He answered, figured he was going to ask me about the rain/storm we had last night. But no, he gives me the horrible news that his dad, my Grandpa Turner, has passed away. He'd had an aneurysm by his heart and I guess was in a lot of pain last night and he and my grandma went to the hospital. They were prepping him for surgery when he passed away at 3 this morning. I'm absolutley devistated. And the worst part? My grandma doesn't know yet. They sent her home before he went into surgery so that she could get some sleep and I guess after she left is when he passed away. When dad gave me the news, of course I cried and for I think the first time ever I heard my dad cry. And I think thats what gets me the most. He's always been the strong one, and I can't imagine the pain he's in right now.
So why is it that death comes in threes? Does anyone know the answer to that?