Alternate blog post title: Portraits ~ the Underwood Family
Over the weekend, Michael and I
were able to spend four days (Friday-Monday) in Birmingham since it was my
three day weekend off and I was able to get a vacation day off as well.
We went up to celebrate an early Christmas holiday and spent Saturday
afternoon
decorating sugar cookies. We brought all of our presents home to open
on Christmas night at our apartment next week, but while we were in
Birmingham we ran errands and went shopping together. We were also able
to sneak in a couple delicious dates; breakfast
at Egg & I on Saturday, then lunch at Schlotsky's
on Sunday after we got our picture with Santa!! Not only was it nice to
spend time with Michael's family again, but also great to spend time
with him. It is wonderful that he is working a lot as Lead
for Grinchmas this year at Islands of Adventure,
but between our 10 and 12 hour work schedules, we haven't been able to
see each other very much this month. A few times we have both woken up
early (or I've just stayed awake after working at night) so
we can go for a walk and exercise together. But I am excited that all
of this work has helped us reach our current goal for our House Savings,
as well as making a dent in our Baby Fund.
On Saturday I met up with
Danielle, one of my friends that I made while we lived in Birmingham.
I keep in contact with her the most, but also get to see Lauren and
Sandy through Instagram. Yay,
technology! Danielle asked me to take pictures
of her with her family and I told her that I wanted to meet at the
Birmingham Botanical Gardens near the zoo in Mountain Brook. It's always
free!! And although the flowers were not in bloom due to the "cold" (it
was in the 70's while we were there),
I still think it's pretty to see the last red and yellow leaves hanging on to the multiple skinny branches.
I really liked Danielle's
family. Her mom, Cynthia, was very nice and hugged me when we met as
well as when I was done taking pictures. Her dad, Jimmy, was fun and you
could tell he really loved his wife by hugging her and kissing her in
pictures, and
doing things to make her laugh. Danielle says they have been married
for 29 years. My favorite part was when Danielle wanted her solo model
pictures at the end and her dad stood behind her and smiled,
but Danielle didn't even notice until she changed her pose
three times. I also loved when I was able to capture candid laughing
moments. I just kept clicking away, even if nobody was looking at the
camera. Her brother, JR, was quiet but had a really nice smile. He would
often stand behind me after I took a bunch of
pictures to see how they turned out. He complimented me by saying the
pictures were really nice and that I'm a good photographer. I do love me
some compliments!!
Her sister, Jimele, was the most like me, because she always looked at the camera, even in the
pictures where everyone else was looking away. She and Danielle both
have fun personalities and would make silly faces if they got tired of
smiling. (I took
10-15 pictures at one time in case someone in the group blinked or
looked away for a second.) Jimele said the quote of "We all need each
other to survive" during the shoot after someone else joked about being
tired of each other already. I liked it for the
blog title. Danielle made the whole shoot really easy for me because
she acted as the director and told everyone where to stand and picked
the areas within the gardens that she wanted everyone to stand in. I did
point out the wood and logs though and I think
those turned out really pretty, especially with the matching white
shirts and jeans.
After Danielle and I met in
Orlando in September for a fitness photo shoot (
see it here!!) while her family
was vacationing in Kissimmee, we spoke about how we would do another one
when Michael and I came to Birmingham, which gave her time to lose more
weight. She's
down to 223 now, while she started at 270 at a height of 5'10". I am
proud of her and like when she sends me screen shots of the routes she
walks. I've been doing the same back to her when Michael and I walk.
Here are some pictures that I got at the end of
just her:
It was a really fun day and I really do enjoy taking these portraits, when I get the chance. I have been spending time on Pinterest lately, "pinning" my favorite pictures and poses. And looking at a lot of newborn/ baby pictures. I have told Michael that I am very excited just thinking about how this time next year I could possibly have a little (2 or 3 month old?) bundle in my arms with blue eyes and freckles like Michael. Here are just two more of Danielle and her family to finish up the post:
