Keith + Stacy

It was a case of mistaken identity.  She thought he was someone else and to her surprise he was not who she thought he was, but he turned out to be what she was looking for.

I’ve known Stacy since I was in elementary school.  She has always been a big sister to me and I was beyond thrilled when I found out that she had met someone who made her so happy.  It is so heartwarming to see how Stacy and her son Nathan have extended their family to include Keith and his son Jeron.

When Stacy asked us to photograph their wonderful family, I felt honored that she asked us to share this time with her happy family.

Here’s the slideshow!

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Loving Ruckus

We had our moments when we didn’t get along.  He was a jealous creature and the fact that we had to share my mom’s love didn’t go well with him.  We’d argue and often had a battle of wills, but at the end of the day he would give me big sloppy kisses and all would be good.  As he got older and we spent more time together, I realized how valuable it was to have a friend who would never let you down, stay with you while you cried, give you unconditional love, and protect you through your scariest moments.

He has protected us in ways I never could imagine and now he’s gone.

At first I was pretty disappointed that I spent most of my birthday picking up after Ruckus every single time he got sick, but as I look at it, it was my last birthday with him, and I spent it taking care of the guy that’s taken care of all of us.  We spent our last week with Ruckus giving him tons of pills, injections, and IVs.  Ruckus and I didn’t get much sleep with his labored breathing and hacking and coughing.  I woke up every time I heard him hack, so I could relax him and rub him and hope that he would get some rest.  I spent a lot of time talking to my dog telling him things you don’t usually tell your dog, and he listened and stared at me with his big beautiful eyes like he understood how much I loved him.

I never could understand how hard it would be to make the decision to let one of your most beloved best friends go.  To some it may seem silly to cry over a dog, but of course to me he was always more than that.  He meant something different to everyone in the family.  He was my dad’s close companion after his heart attack.  He was my mom’s closest thing to a grandchild.  He was my brother’s best friend.  He was Chris’ friend and protector.  He was such a special guy and I hated watching him suffer.  We had been through a lot throughout his life.  We survived his hip injury as a puppy, his broken toe and subsequent toe removal, his seizures and prostate issues, and as recently as a month ago his bloat and surgery.  He had always pulled through, but this time was different, there was no pulling through this one.

On our last full day together we did some of his favorite things.  We went for a walk and then spent some quality time with Lindy.  We all spent some time with him and gave him extra love.  I’ll always love my special guy and he cannot be replaced.  We’re still adjusting to not having him around, still stepping around him, expecting him to meet us at the door, and waiting for him to join us in the bedroom.

Puppy, we miss you, love you, and we’re waiting for you to come home.

Our last full day together.

His last Lindy date.

My gorgeous guy about 2 years ago.

Here’s our Ruckus SLIDESHOW
Music: Count on Me by Bruno Mars

We also want to thank the wonderful staff at VCA Lakewood for always taking care of Ruckus when he came in and really showing how much you care.  We especially want to thank Dr. Balsam and Dr. Smith for doing a wonderful job with Ruckus.  After his last surgery Dr. Smith made sure to call us every other week or so to see how Ruckus was doing.  He was there with us until the end and it means so much to us all that he did for him.

Sneak Peek: Laura + Danny

We had such an amazing time shooting a portrait session for my friend Laura and her boyfriend Danny.  We had a ton of fun in Newport Beach and I couldn’t wait to share a few of the images.  I’ll blog the session real soon!

Love and Gossip

So when I wrote the previous blog, I honestly thought life was going to calm down and I could blog way more.  Of course that is not the case, but I am quite happy for the reason we are so busy.  Someone hooked Chris up with a new job.  It’s been a bit demanding and it requires logging in a lot of miles on the cars, but we’re doing it together and I have really enjoyed the time we’ve spent together this week.  Not to get super gushy, but last night I was giving him a big hug and I couldn’t help but think that even though we’ve almost been together for 5 years I continue to fall in love with him.  Sometimes in our lives we move so fast, doing too much, that we don’t take the time to stop and feel.  After a long exhausting day, all I could think about was how much I love him.

Chris has been my rock through the roughest of moments and we have gone through some things that other couples will ever have to face.  I honestly feel like he was brought into my life at the right time and for a reason.  Because of all this, it really upsets me when people who have no idea what we’ve been through and what our circumstances are go behind my back and talk about us.  I know there are whispers about things and what is really hurtful is I know that it comes from people who are very close to me.  I am human so it hurts me and makes me mad.  I would love to call these people out since they are taking it upon themselves to say things about us, but let them talk.  I am secure enough in my love and my relationship that though it hurts me, I know we’re happy and in love.  So if you want to keep talking about us and tearing us down, it’s not going to make your life any better…PROMISE.

BTW..I am taking any and all suggestions for Chris’ birthday dinner and gifts.

Also, please check out my MK site and send me a message if you are interested in anything on it or have any questions.

Chris and Kimberly 2006 edition.

My old apartment.

Annie’s 23rd birthday.

Chris’ townhouse in HB.

Where Have I Been?

It’s been well over a month since I blogged, and yes I suck for not getting back on here sooner.  As soon as I said goodbye to my old job and hello free time, my free time well wasn’t that free anymore.  All of a sudden I had stuff to do everyday.  What kind of stuff?  Well, it’s just been STUFF.  My life has been Go Go Go.  So unless you really want a very long blog about what I’ve been doing, I’ll just talk about the highlights.

June was my last month as a TA and as the last day kept coming I was very sad to let it go, but I knew that I would have to in order to keep moving in the direction I wanted to go.  At the beginning of June I was really stressed out, Finals were fast approaching, the kids were going to have their culmination, we had luncheons we had to plan, it was all a big mess.  At that point I couldn’t wait for school to end, but as a surprise at the culmination with the help of some parents they all said goodbye.  I knew something was up, but as those parents stood up with their signs, my emotions came rushing out.  Let me tell you, bawling in front of roughly 200 people is pretty embarrassing.   They left me with a gorgeous photo of all the kids holding up the same signs the parents held up that day.  I knew that I was stressed out, but I had to turn my attitude around and enjoy the kids as long as I had them. enjoy working with the amazing parents, and enjoy working with my co-workers, some of the most amazing and talented teachers and aspiring teachers I will ever know.

Chris and I got away for a few days to Las Vegas.   The trip was highlighted by the most amazing meal we have had.  We weren’t thrilled about the accommodations we received at the Luxor, but we LOVED eating at Tender in the Luxor.  Everything was wonderfully prepared and the chocolate cake was perfection.

Our summer has been littered with Dodgers games and I love my Dodgers, but 3/4 were disappointing.  We went to 2 games against the Yankees, and of course they happen to be the two games they LOST!  But on a brighter note, I think I have solidified Chris’ allegiance to the Dodgers and I think he will find it very hard to go back to loving the Yankees.  We went to a Cubs game that they won and it was great to be able to go with my “sister” Stacy and to reconnect with her after a couple years of not seeing her.  The last game we saw was against the Giants and that game broke my heart.  We had it, but a dropped ball and some nasty ejections led to me leaving the game before it was over for the first time in my life.  I have sat through some miserable losses and never turned around to leave until the last play, but it was ugly and Chris and I left.

So with all this busy time, I really am going to make an effort to blog more…promise.

Oh!  We have been taking pictures too in all our busyness, here are pictures of our tour of the Diemer Water Plant with SARBS.