I’m going through some serious baby withdrawl. Going from spending almost every minute of every day with Tilda and Annie to none has been a bigger blow to my system than the jet lag I’m fighting. To make it worse, they’ve been away at a wedding all weekend and have been un-Skype-able. I’m sure Annie has forgotten who I am already. And Tilda? She picked the day after I left to start walking. Dagger to the heart T, dagger to the heart.

I’ve been easing my heartache by retouching some of the portraits I took on my last weekend in D.C. My half-day photographer stint made me appreciate just how hard it is to take family portraits. And the kids are only half the problem. I would finally get Annie and Tilda to smile and Joe and Kristen would be looking down at them, I can only imagine thinking “Wow, I made some good looking kids”. Snap out of it and look at the camera already! Jen, I don’t know how you do it.

We shot at Glen Echo Park. Funny how a run-down amusement park could be the perfect setting for both horror movies and family portraits. Out of well over 200 shots I think I came away with a dozen that I like. Oh well, those will have to hold me over until next summer I suppose. Here are some of my favorites from that day. Some are retouched slightly. Most are not.

Air travel is truly amazing. I woke up on September 9th in Washington D.C. at 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. I woke up on September 11th at 32,000 feet above the Pacific to an incredible sunrise. And here I am at 4 a.m (International Date Line East or New Zealand Standard Time) on September 12th lying in bed in our house truck wishing the rooster next door the most painful of deaths.

The body does not adjust to time changes as easily as my trusty travel alarm clock. So here I lay suffering the pangs of pre-dawn jet lag.

I heard once that this new-fangeled ailment exists because the human mind can only adapt to new surroundings as quickly as the human body could propel itself into them. Jet lag wouldn’t exist if we limited our pace of travel to man-speed, not machine-speed. How far could someone possibly walk in a day? 100 miles? Is that the evolutionary limit to the amount we should travel per day?

I’m willing to stretch that to a horse-ridden day. I remember learning in elementary school that the conspicuous symmetry of the midwestern territories is due to the limits of one man riding one horse as far as he could in a day. (Mr. Oklahoma should have gotten a better horse). If that’s true we can up our speed to about 300 miles per day.

It’s about 7,000 miles from D.C. to New Zealand. So my mind should be arriving in another 22 days. Wish me luck until then.

Caught a great picture of the sunrise over the pacific this morning. Too tired to upload it. Maybe tomorrow.

Spending tonight (5 P.M. is night, right?) snuggling with my baby.

Annie

Waves finally picked up… a little anyway. Molly was the first to give it a go. I’m sure we’ll have a picture of her standing up by the end of the week.

I should have taken a better look at the surf report before renting a surfboard for this week. But two weeks at mom’s beach house has surfing written all over it. The house is even in the town of Surfside Beach. I was so excited to get out in the waves I didn’t hesistate for a second.

Even those of you who don’t surf can appreciate the zero star rating given to the not-so-aptly named Surfside Beach on this week’s surf report. Can 1/2 ft. waves even be called waves?

Just for kicks lets take a look at the report for Raglan, New Zealand. Really? 4 stars? Really? Overhead? Well, enjoy the surf Nelson.

I wouldn’t say that I’m a crazy bride-to-be, but I would say that I’m enthusiastic (read: potentially crazy) about the wedding. I’m now a member of The Wedding Bee website with my own bio and I actively see out pictures of eco, farm, rustic weddings as often as possible. Go ahead and send me a link of any you come across.

I feel a little bad though, thinking about wedding stuff and sharing ideas with everyone except Nelson. We talk 2-3 times a week, but there is so much to talk about besides wedding stuff and honestly, I don’t want to overwhelm him. Did I mention that the first thing Nelson said after he proposed was “Don’t turn all crazy please”? But, really what did he expect? Proposing to a girl right before she leaves for three months. So much time to think about flowers and dresses and food and… well, you get the idea.

So anyway, while I have lots of ideas, I don’t have many set decisions yet for the big day. But, one thing I am pretty much sold on are the colors. I haven’t consulted with the man yet, and I know the decision is half his, but here is what I am thinking right now: saffron/goldenrod yellow, chocolate, and gray. Summery, earthy, love it.

Now that I’m thinking those colors I see them everywhere. Check out this vintage sheet my sister had in her fabric collection (and the rediculously cute babies tucked into it).

And how about these potential bridesmaids dresses from Anthropologie?

And how about this gray and brown colored addition to the decor?
BRUCE!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I was working full steam on my thesis, which I finished today (HOORAY!!).

I left New Zealand on June 15th, 6 weeks ago today. Which means that I am halfway through my time in the states. Some days I think “Halfway already? I’m going to miss everyone so much when I leave”. But for the past few days it’s been more like “Only half way?”. It’s actually quite unfair that my brain can be homesick for two different places depending on which one I’m actually i at the moment. A piece of advice for all you travelers out there: Don’t get engaged and then leave for three months. It’s no good. Here’s what’s waiting for me across the Pacific. Makes me want to run out and buy a plane ticket.

No paniers or bob trailer yet. We’re saving those for her third birthday.