Molly & Ed: Wedding

My wireless connection is back!!! This post is long overdue, Molly & Ed, I am so sorry!

I got to be a part of another fabulous wedding with one of my favorite couples. Ed & Molly are totally chill and laid back and their bridal party was so much fun to work with. The weather on their wedding day was most strange...who would have thought there could be a tornado warning in Illinois in December?? Molly, we didn't get that shot in the snow you were hoping for...but there is plenty of snow on the ground now...we'll get it!

The shy flower girl.

This little ring bearer was hilarious.

I love this shot of his dad trying to coax him down the aisle...it didn't happend :( It was such a cute moment.

Don't you just love how Molly's dad is looking at her right before they walk down the aisle? Melt your heart.

Check out Ed's reaction when he sees his bride walking down the aisle toward him. This is true, raw emotion. I love it!

Talk about troopers! These girls didn't complain once when we stopped for some fun shots...IN THE POURING RAIN!!! :(

Party Bus!!

Their reception was at The Chateau in Bloomington. The rain was relentless.

I caught the maid of honor practicing her speech in front of her boyfriend and I made them strike a pose or two. When are you guys getting engaged?? ;)

These were some of the best speeches I have heard yet. Very personable and touching.

The family band kicked off the dancing with some "Mustang Sally" and the night would not have been complete without some polkas for all the Polish family that was there.

We found this piano in the lobby and couldn't resist it.

Here is their guest sign-in book I put together for them from our awesome engagement session at Wrigley this past summer.

Molly & Ed, thank you so much for letting me hang out with you on your wedding day. Michael and Faye and I all had a ball and appreciate your hospitality. I hope your honeymoon was wonderful. Molly, let's get that shot in the snow soon!! Not, this week though -- TOO COLD! :D

All my best!

Excited for 2009...

I am so looking forward to starting a great year. I have a bunch of fun weddings booked as well as two destination weddings that I can't wait for.

I am not going to make it down to Phoenix for Imaging USA with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) this year (last year was in Tampa), which I am bummed about since I actually have a print that was accepted into their international traveling loan collection. So here it is, "Weathered." Unfortuately, I will not get to see it first hand hanging among other great photographers' masterpieces. You may remember this shot from my trip last February to Seattle/Portland. This boat was sitting on the side of the road and I made them stop the car so I could get out and shoot it. My instincts paid off.

Even though I don't get to go to Imaging this year, I am planning my first trip to Vegas for the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) convention at the MGM Grand with my best friend, Leigh. Anyone have any fun tips for a first timer in Vegas? ;)

Leigh and I attended the "Free to Succeed" tour this past summer with David Jay and one of my favorite photographers, Jasmine Star.

Holla! Jasmine Star totally rocks as a person and as a photographer. She is based out in L.A.

Check her out:

I often get asked who my fave photogs are and who are my inspirations...well, besides Jasmine, here are the rest of my top four - in no particular order:

Amy Wenzel - a fellow Midwestern Girl based out of Grand Rapids, MI. She specializes in high school senior girls and kids.

Jessica Claire specializes in weddings and special events in SoCal.

And last, but certainly not least, Drew B (also out in Cali), does a little of everything and does them all well.

On a random note, as I was cleaning off my hardrive on my laptop, I came across some pics from this past year that my second and third photographers have sent me. I always love it when my favorite photographers show images of themselves in action, so, well, here are some of yours truly just for fun ;)

Yes, I know....I popped a button. I was working hard.

Working hard or hardly working? Faye caught me taking a quick rest as I was deciding my next move ;)

Happy New Year everyone! Looking forward to many fun times ahead!

Last 2008 Update from Michele...

With many hopes that 2009 brings happy news to Michele and her family...

"I am more excited for 2009 than I have ever been for any other New Year celebration! I am so excited to close out the trials of 2008 and welcome in what I hope will be a fresh, healthy and wonderful New Year in 2009.

As I reflect on all that went on in 2008 I am amazed at all the challenges we have all been faced with this year and how strong we are because of it! Yes, this was a challenging year for the Fowles family ... and some of us joke about the "Fowles Curse" because at times it has seemed like it's one thing after another. However, our faith and the support of all those around us has not only helped us get through this year, but we kicked butt this year!

Today I received my 2nd treatment. My first treatment was 3 weeks ago, 12/10. I am 90% sure at this point that I am getting the drug in this clinical trial, not the placebo. After my first treatment I got sick every three days and when I got sick on Christmas day I didn't completely recover from that. My stomach was still very upset this morning when I went in for my second treatment. When the nurse checked my abdomen today, the left side is very tender from the inflammation in my intestines and I wound up getting sick during my treatment this afternoon. In addition, I was flushed and achey during my infusion today which is another side effect. The nurse told me that based on what she is seeing, she thinks I am definitely getting the drug, which is bittersweet. Of course we were all hoping and praying that I would not be the placebo, however I am unfortunately experiencing one of the side effects that is at risk of becoming very serious and can result in hospitalization and potentially being dropped from the clinical trial. Because of this, I need to be very careful with what I eat and how far from home I go in case I do wind up needing to be hospitalized. At this point we are still hoping this won't happen. I am a bit concerned, but I trust that my doctors, nurses and I will all be proactive enough to prevent this from turning into anything serious.

Another update that is somewhat comical now that it's over is that my garage door is now fixed as of this afternoon! For those of you that don't know, my garage door opener broke three weeks ago today and I have gone through an unbelievable run around trying to get this darn thing fixed. I wound up having a new garage door opener installed today, but for that past three weeks I was manually opening and closing my garage door. For a while, this required me to get up onto a ladder to pull the garage door down and lock it. Well on Sunday 12/14 after celebrating Christmas at my father-in-law's house, I climbed up on the ladder in my dress coat and heals and pulled the door down, engaged the lock, and went flying backwards off the ladder. I wound up tearing a ligament in my ankle and chipping a bone in my foot. After an ER visit and a visit to the bone doc, I wobbled away with an air cast and a brace, but was able to avoid a cast and crutches since my life isn't exactly conducive to that at this point. Good news is I should be all healed by the end of January!

So, as we enter 2009, I may have a messed up foot and ankle, but I am cancer free and am now in the calendar year that I will be reunited with my husband! And that my friends is something to toast to!

Happy New Year! May God bless all of you and bring each of you the peace, love, health and joy that I plan on having in '09!
-Michele "

Doesn't it just give you the goosebumps??? :D