Catching Up
We went to Jess’s graduation this past weekend, it was overwhelming and awesome at the same time. I cannot believe that I have a college graduate! Her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is in Fashion Merchandising in case anyone wants to know. I posted a few photos on Flickr.
Greg’s parents arrived Thursday afternoon, luckily the cleaners were here in the morning. Everything was spic ‘n span and I didn’t worry about what they thought. I don’t know if that’s because I don’t really care, or because we have a cleaning service. Anyhow, we had dinner with them, I fixed my Southern Baked Fried Chicken and they really liked it. You can download it if you like. It’s here in .pdf, here in .doc and here in .txt. It has a little bite to it, so be prepared. This is the first time that my MIL has ever asked for a recipe and we’ve been married nearly 24 years!
Friday afternoon we set off for Richmond. Violet slept for a while, it’s different now that she’s in the car seat facing the front. She can see everything and is interested in seeing everything! We arrived, checked in, unpacked, then Jess came over for a visit. Her house is right around the corner from the hotel. We went to dinner and then back for the night. Jacqueline wanted to put Violet to bed, so, Greg and I went to Books-A-Million. I don’t know the last time I was in a BAM. Seriously. There was no one working there, just one poor girl running the coffee shop and checking out purchases.
Saturday morning we ate some of the free food they offered at the hotel, yummy! Then we headed out to the Richmond Coliseum. The ceremony wasn’t until 10 a.m., but, Jess had to be there by 9 a.m. We sat and waited and then finally her department arrived! I’m lucky enough to have a great zoom lens and I put it on so I could see her face in the crowd. I snapped tons of photos from our seats and then a few outside after the ceremony with my new portrait lens. Then we got back in the cars and drove to Five Guys burgers for lunch. After that we loaded back in the cars and headed to VCU for the departmental ceremony. Somewhere along the line Jess lost her tassel! I feel really bad about that. She had it on for the first ceremony and photos, but then we went for lunch and we think she lost it in the parking lot when she was getting out of Brian’s truck. 
It was really hot in the little lecture hall where they did the ceremony. I think there was 400+ people in there and the room is made for 150! I did get some good photos of her crossing the stage and getting her degree. 
We went outside after her degree though, it was too hot for me. Jacqueline had taken Violet out already and I soon followed. Greg’s mom sat with us, but, Greg’s dad, Greg and Brian had to stand even though we could have had 5 seats, we only took up 3 of them. Unlike some families that put children in seats, Violet sat with her mom. That’s another post though! We took some photos outside, I’m not really happy with how those turned out at all, but it was really hectic and hot and full of people everywhere. I did get a few shots of her near the cornerstone on the way out though, I’m happy with those. Jess had a great party on Saturday night and we met her co-workers at S & K. They are going to miss her very much! We knew all her friends, so it was nice to catch up with them all again. It’s weird to think that her life will be in Atlanta now vs. Richmond. I guess we’ll have to drive an hour to the airport to visit vs. 2 hours to see her now.
We came back on Sunday afternoon. We had brunch with Jess before heading out, earlier though, Greg’s parents left from Richmond to drive back to Ohio. Storm came over with food which was great and stayed for the rest of the day and left later that evening.
I’ve been busy getting the paperwork done for photos. I launched the business website last week! I finally received my trade name information, so I will open a business account once I have some money flowing. I have 3 people at the gym interested, on top of the others and I received a phone call yesterday from one of the gals that I crop with. One of her co-workers at her car dealership job wants some photos done of her daughter. Very promising! I’m excited!! I received my Lexar card reader, some memory cards, my new Western Digital 250 GB portable hard drive the other day. I chose that hard drive as it uses a USB port for power vs. a power cord. It’s so little and very RED! I need to stop by Ritz Camera and get lights, I have the stands and umbrellas already from Greg’s brother, but I don’t have any soft box lights.
The rest of this week holds gym workouts, cropping this weekend and then a crop lunch on Sunday where we bring something to share and our scrapbooks for everyone to see. Greg and I are going to use the movie tickets I won back in March to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Storm and Jacqueline are seeing it tomorrow night.
Violet’s first birthday is in 10 days. I can’t believe how much our lives have changed in a year. We’re having a little party for her, just the family, Storm and maybe Jacqueline’s friend from high school, David. Jess will be here, I don’t know if Brian will be here though. It will be the last time that Jess will visit for a while, weird. We just put a bunch of her baby things up in the attic. Her swing, cradle, baby clothes. She’s growing up quickly! She has 7 teeth with another one coming through any day now, is pulling up, walking around the furniture, crawling, getting into everything. Yesterday she took her first real big girl bath, no baby tub! She took it with her mommy, Jacqueline was wearing her bathing suit, so I popped in for a little visit. She’s so smart, has amazed us all at how smart she is. She lights up when anyone she knows comes into the room! And Jacqueline is relieved that she is good in the daycare at the gym. She leaves now and there’s no crying, and none when she comes back either. She is also playing with the toys on her own vs. being held part of the time. I think she’s figured out that her mommy is coming back.
Oh, Jacqueline cut her hair! She donated to Locks of Love. She did it the other day. She’s one of the few people in the world that can wear her hair any length and look great. If you have me on Facebook, I uploaded a mobile photo, or I sent it to your cell if I have you in my contacts. I have to take a photo and put it on Flickr today.
Hope to update again soon! Thank you for reading! 
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