Photography!
Firstly, allow me to introduce the internet to the poofiest hellion I have ever had the dubious pleasure of bringing up. Ilsa's calmed down enormously in the last couple days, but she's still the brattiest brat to ever brat all over this apartment. Not that that's a comment on her hygiene - surprisingly, she's been 100% neat and clean. It's just that she'll try to maul the big cats and then get FURIOUS when they turn around and smack her. I have never seen so tiny a ball of rage:
Oh, hey, a stitch marker!
This is nowhere near as sweet as it looks.
She has some of the niftiest markings. I love her little orange eyebrow!
Lastly, there's this video. Ilsa, like many of my fosters, was taken away from her mother much too young. It's not uncommon for kittens to continue to nurse off of other objects (or cats) as a way to comfort themselves - there are plenty of grown cats who still do this to clothes, hair, ears and fingers because they happened to be hand-raised by people. But it's one thing for a kitten to find a surrogate, and another entirely for Ilsa to continually blow off me, Nick and the boys only to burrow into the cat bed and nurse off of the cushion.
It is the Saddest Thing. Turn up your volume for wee desolate purrs:
Secondly, Nick and I took some time during our trip to PA to have engagement photos taken. I've always snorted at the practice, but it served as a sort of test run in our case; my mom works with three ladies who handle the photography for PADNCR, and she wanted to bring them on for the wedding. I was a little uncertain about that, as they didn't have much in the way of wedding photography to check out, so this was a great way to get a feel for their work. The photos are beautiful, but what sold me was their attitude - we're both kind of awkward people, especially under scrutiny (let me tell you how hard it is to put on a public display of affection when your mother's shouting "HEY HEY HEY WATCH THE HANDS" from the sidelines), but they really put us at ease and tolerated our awkward flailing around. They literally took 300+ photos, but here are a few of my favorites:
I like this the best, for some reason. There was something on my face.
Fancy Shoes =/= Rocky Riverbank
Oh, hey. I think that might be the very smudge he was thumbing.
There are roughly a hundred shots of us kissing, but one (or both) of us is inevitably, visibly, fighting back a snicker in all of them THANKS MOM. But this one was sweet.
Now picture my mom off-camera, standing in the middle of the creek, hollering, "IF YOU DROP HER YOU'RE A DEAD MAN." That is not a laugh, that is a rictus of TERROR.
Later, in emailing back and forth with the photographers, they asked that I give Nick a head-chomp hello for them. I think they got a kick out of us.
"The Sun Never Sets On A Badass" - Olga Tsipis
I just realized that I'm holding Nick's hand as I punch him in the face. It's no wonder he's so flinchy.
I don't even know.
Oh, and also they took some lovely photos of our dogs. Who are old, but in fantastic shape.
MY BABY.
Half lab, half springer spaniel, all water dog. Don't even think about going for a swim, because he will fetch you back SO QUICK.
Coral's main man. He is the handsomest of huskies! There's a little less prance in his step these days, but you'd honestly never guess he was ten.
Yes, Yami is in this photo, but somewhere along the line this engagement session turned into an ad for The Touch of Nina shoes.
See what I mean? RIDICULOUS. However, a shoutout goes to Coral and Katherine for going along with the shoe hunt.
Oh, hey, a stitch marker!
This is nowhere near as sweet as it looks.
She has some of the niftiest markings. I love her little orange eyebrow!
Lastly, there's this video. Ilsa, like many of my fosters, was taken away from her mother much too young. It's not uncommon for kittens to continue to nurse off of other objects (or cats) as a way to comfort themselves - there are plenty of grown cats who still do this to clothes, hair, ears and fingers because they happened to be hand-raised by people. But it's one thing for a kitten to find a surrogate, and another entirely for Ilsa to continually blow off me, Nick and the boys only to burrow into the cat bed and nurse off of the cushion.
It is the Saddest Thing. Turn up your volume for wee desolate purrs:
Secondly, Nick and I took some time during our trip to PA to have engagement photos taken. I've always snorted at the practice, but it served as a sort of test run in our case; my mom works with three ladies who handle the photography for PADNCR, and she wanted to bring them on for the wedding. I was a little uncertain about that, as they didn't have much in the way of wedding photography to check out, so this was a great way to get a feel for their work. The photos are beautiful, but what sold me was their attitude - we're both kind of awkward people, especially under scrutiny (let me tell you how hard it is to put on a public display of affection when your mother's shouting "HEY HEY HEY WATCH THE HANDS" from the sidelines), but they really put us at ease and tolerated our awkward flailing around. They literally took 300+ photos, but here are a few of my favorites:
I like this the best, for some reason. There was something on my face.
Fancy Shoes =/= Rocky Riverbank
Oh, hey. I think that might be the very smudge he was thumbing.
There are roughly a hundred shots of us kissing, but one (or both) of us is inevitably, visibly, fighting back a snicker in all of them THANKS MOM. But this one was sweet.
Now picture my mom off-camera, standing in the middle of the creek, hollering, "IF YOU DROP HER YOU'RE A DEAD MAN." That is not a laugh, that is a rictus of TERROR.
Later, in emailing back and forth with the photographers, they asked that I give Nick a head-chomp hello for them. I think they got a kick out of us.
"The Sun Never Sets On A Badass" - Olga Tsipis
I just realized that I'm holding Nick's hand as I punch him in the face. It's no wonder he's so flinchy.
I don't even know.
Oh, and also they took some lovely photos of our dogs. Who are old, but in fantastic shape.
MY BABY.
Half lab, half springer spaniel, all water dog. Don't even think about going for a swim, because he will fetch you back SO QUICK.
Coral's main man. He is the handsomest of huskies! There's a little less prance in his step these days, but you'd honestly never guess he was ten.
Yes, Yami is in this photo, but somewhere along the line this engagement session turned into an ad for The Touch of Nina shoes.
See what I mean? RIDICULOUS. However, a shoutout goes to Coral and Katherine for going along with the shoe hunt.