she's THERE!

fun, random splattering of comments + quips we've received from avery since her arrival in germany via email + skype chats:

we had a big breakfast! there was salami and rolls and cheese and things... none of the gelkes like peanut butter at all. i put some on my roll. . . they thought the peanut butter was gross, so they said i could just have it to myself --the gelkes are wonderful

... we looked at maps of brieselang and the surrounding towns, and read an email that nora* sent from 'white pigeon'. they call me 'avy' which is so cute!

today we went all around havalland, which is the area around the havel... channel?

it looks EXACTLY like missouri. if it wasn't for the spoken and written german, and some trees that are different, i'd say that the countryside IS missouri...

we also worked out something with the foreign agency... this took a long long time and was not fun at all for anyone. we needed to get passport photos, i didn't have any, so we did some sort of automatic machine (7 euro), then the people said that they weren't right, so we had to go to an actual PLACE (9.5 euro) and get them...

this is a lot of money :(

but my pictures actually look... good? have you EVER heard of passport photos being flattering?! i know!!

we also went to this WONDERFUL sort of garden-park thing... it was in Rathenow... the optikpark? it was all about colors and light and all outdoors. there were so many flowers! so many beautiful flowers! and a little push-boat ride on the havel... it was really fun

and you wouldn't believe all the old old old old buildings in nauen, many many old buildings--LIKE 800 YEARS

and we also had ice cream!

they say just eis

in response to hearing that my mom (mammie) worries "what if she's hungry? should we ship poptarts??" 

mammie is so cute! (poptarts: chocolate fudge with frosting and strawberry with frosting are my favorite)

gelkes are very great... and they like tobasco sauce!

and THIS in the outgoing mail chat... from dad to ave (on MY skype chat acct mind you):

ave, you should have seen how bad i killed mom at scrabble last night at the pool.

oh for the love of pete!

a few airport departure pictures . . . avery had crafted gifts for zoe + tycho

we like that little KC airport (MCI) -- no lines, nice people, arthur bryants sauce**. we packed "gladware" and ave fixed a sandwich to eat somewhere over the atlantic:and here's a VERY fun thing.
we popped into barnes + noble the night before she left for some reading for the plane (she had plenty of yarn, lots of snacks, an iPod . . . but you know) anyway she picked up THIS book (hello, i must be going) by award-winning author christie hodgen. WAIT - christie hodgen?? i thought, hey, I KNOW HER. WAIT, i took her picture once, right?? -- yes, with her precious lil' daughter gracie. 

then we turned the book over:


YEP! can you see the "fine print" here on the back cover? (click on the picture, note the word right above NYC). so that was exciting for me; but what's even MORE exciting - WOW this book was ON DISPLAY right out there with the "discover great new writers/writers you should know" recommended titles. 

christie, i'm SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!
(and you, too, ave!!! -- we LOVE YOU, AVERY, SO VERY MUCH!)

~ amy

* the gelke familie includes 2 teenage daughters. rike who's there with ave, and nora, who left just a few days before avery arrived for her own year abroad. nora's now in white pigeon, michigan while avery spends a year in her room. exchange programs are amazing and our experience with INTRAX (formerly AYUSA) has been so positive.

** in the book 1000 places to see before you die, there's only one entry under missouri: go eat at bryant's bbq in KC.
it was actually paul's litmus test for "if i find a woman i may want to spend my life with, FIRST . . ." but that's a whole different story ;D

feeling nervous . . .

it doesn't happen to me very often, that butterflies in the stomach (or, perhaps more accurately, from esophagus to upper thigh) but whoa i could NOT sleep last night; can't seem to eat [though i keep trying richer + unhealthier options just in case]; not very focused . . .

wha's'up? 

-- well, some of you know, some of you don't:

but our oldest daughter, avery, 14, leaves in about 24 hours to spend the year abroad.

she'll be living with a terrific family outside berlin.

as in berlin, GERMANY, as in many time zones away.

whoa. there are those butterflies again.

we had a fun + friend-filled bon voyage party (pictures here)

ave has started a travel blog (link here)

passport is in hand; bags nearly packed but O-M-G

aargh, did i have a point?

um, yeah, perhaps:

a. i've been out-of-pocket for a bit; give me a couple more days and i'll launch into returning those phone calls + emails + keeping SilverBox a big priority

b. i think, ultimately, this degree of case-of-nerves is going to help me, as a photographer at your wedding . . . i'll try to explain that more later, but i do think it might be the Silver Lining

c. for the friends + family (and oh, please know we count our past clients in that group) ~ if you think of us, think positive, smiley, you-guys-can-do-this-we-believe-in-you thoughts, ok?

wasn't sure how avery would feel about this, but she said, "sure, why not"

so here are a few pictures to share from send-off celebration:

the party was at reichmann pavillion by stephens lake, a great new facility and wonderful place to have a party.
ours included:
a SLUSH MACHINE (a sweet sticky treat for kids post dip-in-the lake)
a cookie cook-off (complete with blue ribbons)
and traveling B-I-N-G-O, too

terrific friends from so many different points in our lives came by
(teri + rita, for example, knew paul and i before we were even dating. fun, fabulous, and mean-cookie makers, too...thanks for being there you two!!!)

here's avery with MY parents:



and with paul's parents, too:

and look, avery's friends were there in full force + humor, too:

fun times! we'll call this "classic grammy" from now on out!
and there's one of our fantabulous nephews proudly displaying the ribbon his big brother won:

these are my PARENTS oldest friends.
"uncle" rick HATES having his photo taken; so capturing this was a big accomplishment:


oh have i mentioned the yummy, yummy food.
uber-talented caterer
sara fougere tickled taste buds of young and old alike and even had the teenagers coming back for seconds and thirds. soooo delicious. if you're looking for a caterer, gosh keep her on your short list.

aah, the wagner gang.
i'm wearing black, back row; married to the guy wearing bright yellow.
don't you love when you can see the love!!!!

perhaps a few more pics, or not...hey, the link to all of them makes it easier.
there's a lot of images i DIDN'T get; the decorations were SO cute for example. reminded me why you should commission a photographer to come and document rather than just think "ah, i'll take pictures myself" ~ but heck, i digress....off to check on those bulging suitcases; back at SilverBox stuff next week.

have a great weekend, all!
amy

amy + kyle ~ MARRIED!

you know things are going to be good if when you walk in the door someone greets you carrying fresh fruit and tiny muffins!

such was the case at the gallery where amy + girlfriends took part in a little pampering at the start of the wedding day. what a neat space!

amy + kyle's wedding had lots of neat space (just you wait!) and neat color!:

darling children:

heart-melting emotion:

and even an apple tree out back that made for a lovely lovely setting for group shots:

but the BEST space was yet to come!

while i was in the the gallery salon with the girls, annika was pulling into town and sent a "how can i help?" text.

"scout cool location" was my response and WOW look what she uncovered:

oh what fun!

and speaking of annika, she created this next image (and i LOVE it!!!!)

and look, our off-camera lighting skills paying big dividends yet again:

yikes, that above statement came out a bit more forward than i intended . . . it's just that well, lighting it's huge.

and really peering into a difficult-to-light scene can really help you figure out how much confidence to have in photographer.

have we made this confession?

that making a pretty picture of pretty people outside on a pretty day . . . well, that's pretty easy to do.

but finding/creating lovely light, esp. in tough conditions . . . whew, that's MUCH more challenging. capturing emotion, and the overall story at the same time, well, you get the picture:

fyi: that's kyle's dad with the camera above the "www"

gosh i love this job!

amy + kyle's videographer, whom we'd never worked with before but LOVED and would recommend in a heartbeat said

"wow I can't believe how beautiful those images look, even on your LCD screen. that's unbelievable."

btw, his name: frank cann with andrew whitney productions, quincy, illinois. get in touch with him if you're in the market.

it takes a team, you know. (hugs going out right now to kim wade, best business partner ever AND to annika: WOW you outdid yourself with that vacant lot find ~ great shooting, my friend AND to our new friend, frank cann, who made our lives so much easier that day. and of course to the women of the gallery for starting my day with fresh fruit and a charming space and thanks especially to amy + kyle ~ so trusting, so great to work with, and LOOK, so happy . . . THIS came in about 11 PM last night after i'd sent them a sneak peak of THIS SLIDESHOW:

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! We have watched it over and over again and can't stop laughing at certain things and saying "Oh...stop pause it. Go back!" By the way...the music gave us chills! =] I think Kyle may have had a tear in his eye at the end and my cheeks hurt from smiling the entire slideshow! The pictures are unbelievable and I have this anxious feeling (kind of like Christmas Eve when you aren't tired, but you know you have to go to bed so Santa will come). I just want to stand outside and shout to everyone to come look at our wedding pictures! I CANNOT wait for everyone to see them. I'm especially excited for those who weren't able to make the trip...they can see the whole day and feel the emotion through your images. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! You are amazing and I will forever recommend you to anyone looking for a photographer! We could not be more pleased with your professionalism and friendliness. You and Annika knocked our socks off when we saw you hauling around a cooler with water and fanning us! And the whole day you guys would say "Amy, what can I do to help? Do you need anything?" You two were more than photographers...you were more like personal assistants with cameras! =] Ok...I'm gonna watch it one more time and then try to sleep...I'm so giddy I feel like I did the night before we got married.

lovin every minute of it!

amy enderle

in the arms of those who love you

brianne + eric had a tropical destination wedding with sun, sand and sandals right here in mid-Missouri. And oh my, was it BEAUTIFUL! The ceremony took place on the beach at The Lodge of Four Seasons:

. . . the flower arrangements by Alan-Anderson's Just Fabulous! flower shop (out of Ashland) were exquisite . . . flowers and greenery spilled out of buckets at the ceremony, and each bridesmaid carried a different arrangement (look, amy! my very own grid :'):

but what REALLY made brianne and eric's wedding over-the-top-beautiful were the RELATIONSHIPS . . . with one another, of couse, but also among their friends and families.

I once went to a workshop led by Margaret J. Wheatley, a brilliant writer, speaker and consultant in organizational and social change. Wheatley has said:

"Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone."

And isn't this what weddings are ALL ABOUT?! . . . strengthening the relationships among couples, friends, families. It's what makes the heart of a wedding photojournalist beat fast . . . seeing the helping hands, the love and laughter among friends:




. . . and parents . . . just look at the many ways that love between parents and children expressed itself at brianne + eric's wedding:






. . . and speaking of children:



. . . also, the minister, a dear friend of Brianne's family, came from colorado to lead the ceremony and gave one of the most moving statements on love and relationships that I've heard (by the way, the photo of him below and the one of eric dancing with his mom above were both made by ashley turner, fellow photographer and friend):

. . . and i can't get enough of looking at the smiles on eric and brianne's faces during the ceremony:



so brianne and eric, thanks for including SilverBox in your wedding. i felt honored to be part of this circle of people.


i especially love this picture of brianne and eric above . . . it's a truly documentary moment . . . unposed . . . take a look at the expression on eric's face.

brianne + eric's wedding slideshow is well worth a click, so be sure to see it here. And by the way, my favorite line from the song ("next to me" by the subdudes) that this slideshow is set to is this:

"in the arms of those who love you, that's where you'll find your home."

how true! :')
~kim