May 27th is kind of a big deal...

Just a quick one tonight. Dan and I celebrated two ______________ years of marriage today. They've been so great and included such a range of emotion that I don't even have an adjective to describe them. Awesome? Sweet? Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?

We had a hot date tonight at a local restaurant, got a bottle of wine with dinner, and I enjoyed every minute. After my 1.5 glasses of wine I almost didn't make it down the restaurant steps without Dan's arm to hang onto––just call me lightweight. We came home, watched Wipeout, and laughed until we couldn't breathe. Then, we had ice cream. And it was perfect.

Now, Dan's packing for his annual weekend trip with the boys. This year, instead of boating, they're going hiking. He really deserves a good weekend with the boys and the outdoors. Hey girls, where's our annual weekend trip!?

Anyway, if you'd like to read up on our story, here are some old posts to keep you occupied for a day or five...

May 27, 2005
I've closed my old blog from the public, so I can't link to the post, but this was the day Dan and I decided to make it official.

May 27, 2006
Our engagement at Niagara Falls, Canada

May 27, 2007
Bachelorette / bachelor party weekend
Super eventful rehearsal day
The wedding prep and ceremony
The reception and introduction of Rye Designs domain
(Wow, I didn't realize I posted our first logo...talk about a flashback.)
The honeymoon in Jamaica

May 27, 2008
First anniversary
(Yes, cake that's been frozen for a year can be really good.)

Here's to our fabulous two years, and to infinitely more.

The icing incident...

Four years ago today we had, what Dan called today, an icing incident. I love that he remembers milestones and funny things, too.

It was Laura and Ricky's wedding and what seemed like a COM 102 team reunion. That last part doesn't mean much to the story except that we all sat at the same table and one of them took a photo for blackmail – I think it was Sheri. Although, the team did play a role when I walked in with my date (ahem...Dan), and most of them said, Hey, where's Ryan?! [Insert awkward silence here.] I guess that would be MY FAULT for not sending out the memo that we broke up a month prior, but really, who says that right in front of the new guy?

Anyway...Laura and Ricky were busy being a bride and groom, talking to their guests and having photos taken. When it was time for them to cut the cake, we didn't get to see any action! No cake smashing, no messy faces, nothing. So, Dan and I (or maybe it was just me) decided that if the happy couple wasn't going to smear icing across their faces that someone was going to, darn it!

Unedited photo and all––just grabbed from my EHD: it wasn't exactly smearing that took place, but rather a loving dollop. If you look closely, you can see the icing on my nose. And it had to be cleaned off somehow...

Signature gallery collection...

I wish we had our Rye Designs blog already so I could post our album/book there, but the time will come. I did post yesterday in case you missed it (twice in one weekend, WOW!).

For some time now, we've had gallery layouts sketched out and floating around here just wishing for a home other than notebook paper – waiting to give our photography clients ideas for displaying their photos. When our print lab announced a book sale a couple weeks ago, the idea clicked and we went with it. We decided on an 8x12 album with hinged pages that lay flat, UV coating on each page, and a custom designed cover.

OH MY GOODNESS! When we received the album this past week, I could not believe my eyes. The hinged pages are normally nice and sturdy, but the UV coating made them shine like nothing I can describe. And I absolutely love how the design turned out. I'm not sure if I want anyone to touch this book now, not even me. ;)

Only ideas that we would use, or have used, in our own home went into the book, so it's truly a Rye Designs signature collection.

Spine of the book.






You might recognize this first collection if you've been to our house. It's pretty much the first thing you see coming in the front door, and makes a huge statement. We love it.


Another collection, and a glimpse of hinged pages laying flat.


I couldn't be more happy about the book and, besides being a sample of quality and possibility, I hope it brings a ton of inspiration. Pure awesome.

Hello May...

May is a month that rocks for many reasons. Mainly, it means that summer is right around the corner, and Dan and I will be celebrating another year together. I always get sappy thinking of the way our story came together and the days in May that mark a milestone for us. Actually, yesterday (May 8th) was the day we re-met...

I found Dan on Facebook the evening of April 25th, 2005 – back in the day before FB had homepages or tabs or people over the age of 30 (or something like that). I sent him a message to say hey stranger I haven't seen you in like three years, and had a response by the next morning. We caught up, remembered the "old" days, laughed about them, and acted as if it was three years prior and nothing had changed. But really, everything had changed...everything except our feelings for each other and the fact that I reeeeeeallllly wished I had kissed him back when I had the chance.

He joked that his apartment was on my way home from UC and that I could just swing by whenever I wanted, but our schedules didn't work out that way. He was going to be in a friend's wedding out of town and had things to do beforehand. I knew his birthday was May 6th, so I wrote on his FB wall and sent a text message telling him Happy Birthday, and that I hoped someone had sang to him. I heard that was the highlight of his trip. ;)

On May 8th – Mother's Day of that year – we finally had time in our schedules to hang out for the first time in three years. I had brunch with family that morning, and Dan had a graduation party to attend, but later in the afternoon I headed down to his apartment. While we took a walk around town, had dinner, and watched a movie (or something like that), we realized how much hadn't changed... how much had changed... how the universe just hits you over the head with perfect timing, and how I wasn't going to pass up my chance to kiss him that time.

The rest is history, but may be continued at a later date.

On a totally different note, we had dinner with friends Scott and Mary Ellen last night and met their new little one. We'll be having a newborn session with him soon, but we took our camera along and grabbed a few shots – hope it's okay that I'm posting them, mom and dad! I couldn't decide between color and black/white, so you get both. Enjoy!





Love the LITTLE TOES!




Tomorrow I'll have a post with peeks of the album we ordered recently. Oh man, it's fan-freaking-tastically delicious. The pictures won't do it justice, but I'll show them anyway.

Until then... Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers and moms-to-be out there.