Goodbye for now!!

Well, this is a sad day on my little blog. I am coming here to say goodbye, at least for now. I have found that since I started the blog for my business, I haven't had the time to keep up both. So, for now, I am going to move over there and try to do a better job of posting interesting things as well as pictures!

I hope you'll all update your readers and come leave comments over there! The new address is: www.millacblog.com

My next life.

Two days of vacation left. Today we're hanging out by the pool in the sun, and tomorrow we're going snow-skiing at Arapahoe Basin. It's so bizarre how the valleys are sunny and hot while some of the mountains are open for skiing.

I've decided: in my next life I'm moving to the mountains.

Blue Skies.

Hello from the great rocky mountains!

I just wanted to post a few pictures from our vacation. We've been having such a fun, relaxing time sightseeing and hiking and reading signs. :)

We spent a few days in the cute little ski towns around this area - Vail, Aspen, and Beaver Creek. We also went to an old ghost town high in the mountains, and we visited one of the first mining towns in Colorado.

In addition to spending every minute with my family, one of my favorite parts of this trip has been the crisp air and wide, open blue skies. Pittsburgh has been very gray lately, so I have taken every chance I can to lie in the grass and stare straight up into the big Colorado sky. I might even come home with a little tan on the face!

More pictures to come later!

Congrats Krisan!!

I just wanted to post a quick update to say how PROUD we are of Krisan and how much fun it was to be in Auburn for her pharmacy school graduation this past Tuesday.

It was wonderful to be in Auburn. It was wonderful to be with family.

And now, we are breathing in the cool mountain air in Colorado to celebrate Krisan's huge accomplishment. Aaaaah... more pictures to come!

Updates...

Pittsburgh marathon morning - Brad's panning while spinning technique.

The last time I wrote in this blog was almost a month ago. I remember because it was my birthday and it was snowing. Crazy.

Now, all is green in Pittsburgh, and the sun has decided to shine again. But, because I haven't written updates in so long, I don't know where to begin. So, I'll just post some highlights from the past month... (beware - these are VERY random).

- Moving. We seem to be good-to-go with our move into our friends' house that I mentioned in my last post. We are so genuinely excited to be moving down the street from these sweet friends, and we are also excited to have more room and to be closer to the city. Let's just put it this way: we will be able to walk to cheesecake factory and to urban outfitters if we want to! yikes!

- Church. Brad and I joined City Reformed a few weeks ago and Brad gave his testimony to the church, telling about God's redeeming work in his life. I was so proud of Brad for his willingness to share his story, and we are thrilled to be part of this body in Pittsburgh.

- Spring. I packed up two big boxes of sweaters and jackets. Never to be sesn again for a whole 7 months! Yippee!

- Work. We are excited because I just booked my 10th wedding for 2009. Brad and I have set a goal to shoot at least 15 weddings this first year, and we feel like we're on the way there. We are really so excited about the sweet, wonderful couples we're going to be working with, too.

- Trader Joes. I continue to love this place more and more. I even considered doing a blog post on all the amazing things you can buy for under 4.00. But then I thought that probably no one else cares. :)

- This past Sunday, the Pittsburgh marathon was resurrected after a 5-year haitus with a record 10,500 runners enrolled, so Brad and I (and the dogs, of course) went out early to witness the action. The runners came near our house, so we stood and cheered with our neighbors - SO fun. Also, I love that picture Brad took using panning and spinning techniques. He's good at all that creative stuff that I usually give up on after 2 tries.

- Please note how pasty white the runner-man is. Everyone who trains through the winter in Pittsburgh is white, white, white. Then on race day they all throw on shorts and the spectators say "woah! tanning bed anyone?"

- Ankle. Speaking of the marathon, my sweet boy was signed up to run an 8-mile leg of the Pittsburgh marathon with a team from work; however, while training with the dogs in Frick Park, he stepped on an unfortunate root, heard a loud POP, and found himself on his face in the dirt. The doctor said he has a bad sprain, so he's been pretty bummed that instead of running in the park with the dogs, he's now sitting on the couch with an ice-pack on his ankle.

- RENT. A definite highlight for me. My honey took me downtown to see the play complete with two of the original broadway cast (and movie) members: Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. It was great. SO much better on-stage than in the movie even. Brad and I do tend to disagree in our reaction to this play, though. It usually goes something like this: Brad: "why don't they just get jobs so they can pay their own rent" Milla: "because they're artists and they're being true to themselves and not the system... and they're trying to inspire others to do the same." Brad: "I don't understand what's inspiring about being broke." Oh well. I can see the beauty in it. :)

- Family. Since Christmas, we have had a long dry spell without our families being together. However, things are looking up because my sister and mom planned a trip to Pittsburgh this June, KK and Kathryn (brad's aunt and sister) planned a trip for May, and in two days my whole family is headed to Colorado for a week. Heaven.

Well that's all for now. I'm sure I'll send some updates from the great rocky mountains! Have a great week everyone.

Birthday Updates!

When Brad whispered in my sleeping ear this morning "you should look out the window - it's white white white" I thought to myself, "now that's a birthday first."

I have truly had the most wonderful birthday. It all started last night when Brad came home with the fixins to make the most amazing stuffed shells I've ever tasted. He even beat Buco di Beppo, which is tough to do! Then, I went to my door this morning to find most beautiful arrangement of flowers from my sweet sister, Casey, and Jasper! Then, with the combination of sweet phone calls, cards, and email messages, I have just been overwhelmed with love! Thank you everyone!

Now to change the subject, I realize that I have been a very bad blogger recently, so I thought I'd post some non-birthday-related updates!

Basically, life is happy and full here. Brad and I have been blessed to have lots of time together lately, and we have also had time to continue developing friendships both together and independently that we are really thankful for.

One of those friendships has developed into the possibility of us moving to a different house next year, which is also exciting. Some new friends are planning to rent out their house here in the city, and we are hoping to rent from them. Imagine it: we'll have ROOM! A big kitchen, a back yard, a front porch! And, we won't have to tiptoe around between 11-8 as we do here just to be respectful to our upstairs and downstairs neighbors. The house is closer to everything, and the BEST news is, they are just moving 4 doors up the street, so we'll be able to develop a closer relationship with their family. We are still in the discussion stages, but we really hope it will work out.

Another big thing going on with us is that we are in the process of joining our church, City Reformed, and I am beginning to coordinate our church's involvement with an international student ministry in the city. This is actually my 9th goal for 09, which I have been slacking on posting about, so I'll talk more about it later. But, we are very excited to become an official part of the church, and after having been through a few membership classes and meetings with our pastor (the PCA has a rigorous membership process we learned!), we have a deeper respect and love for the vision of our church and we are very excited to become part of it in an official way.

As far as work goes, things are going well. Brad is still enjoying his work with Tetra Tech, and in his free time, he's been working and learning like crazy to take pictures with me, too. We've been having SO much fun working together. We have been booking weddings as far in advance as June 2010, and we are also doing lots of kid and family portraits in the coming months! So, we are very, very excited about how things are going, and we are very hopeful about the future of the business. This weekend, we did a total-website-makeover (that could be a TV show!) and updated many things to better reflect our vision for the business. You can read about it in my photography blog here.

I guess that's really about all here. We are doing well, and the dogs are spoiled and happy. I promise to do better about posting so I don't have long rambling posts like this one in the future!

here's to winter (moving on).

our first signs of Spring - today in Frick Park

When I saw the first green sprouts this week, I had mixed emotions. I was excited, but at the same time I felt a twinge of disappointment.

It seems so unlike me, but I have to confess: I loved Pittsburgh in the winter. Loved it. I loved waking up, stumbling into the kitchen, filling up the tea kettle with water, turning on the gas, and looking out the window to see white.

White. Falling from the sky, covering the ground, clinging to the trees, hiding my car, decorating my neighbor's roof.

I loved taking a hot shower while looking out the window at the snow. I loved pulling on ski socks under my jeans, thinking to myself that no one had to know. I loved slipping on my knee-length down jacket every single day and smelling the familiar smell of 'warm'. I loved opening the door and feeling the crisp air on my face. I loved walking with Brad and the dogs when we had the parks and the sidewalks to ourselves. I loved hanging out with friends inside while the snow was falling outside. I loved wrapping big, thick scarves around my neck. I loved driving home at night as the city lights lit up the falling snow.

For months, the temperature here rarely rose above freezing, and most mornings, it was about 15 degrees outside. If I would have known that before we moved, I might have stayed home. However, there's something really special about doing something different, and I can honestly say that I loved growing and adjusting and learning. The first day that the temperature was 70 here, I said to Brad, "I miss winter already" and then I thought "crazy but true!"

Now, the first green sprouts are showing their heads, and the temperature is in the 50s every day, but my first winter has been etched in my mind as wonderful. This Spring, I will not miss scraping my windshield every morning, and I will not complain about packing away my puffy jackets; but, I will absolutely miss the sweet feeling of falling snow on my cheeks and the sensation of newness.

So, here's to winter. And also, here's to winter moving on. We'll miss it while it's gone, but in the meantime.... hiking! running! biking! open windows! cotton dresses! flip flops! yippee!

the last day...

Dad and I are home safe and sound! After being in airports/airplanes 30-ish hours straight with no sleep, I felt more sick and tired than ever! But, I slept all day yesterday, and now I am back to life and back to work today.

I know you are probably all sick of Japan pictures by now, but I have one more day to share. The day after the wedding, Naoko and Masaki toured us around Tokyo with another couple from Auburn who came to the wedding. I must say, I am in LOVE with that city - it's like New York but cleaner and more modern. And, the people are so, so nice. I would love to go back some day. Here are some highlights:


a view of Tokyo from the Imperial Palace


Japanese pines


the imperial palace






the chopsticks store - amazing!


some of these babies were seriously expensive


more cherry blossoms


dad on one of the many trains


having afternoon tea


my sweet friend


the restaurants provided baskets for your stuff


this one is for mom...


we loved the posterior-spraying toilets...


...and considered bringing one home with us


a wonderful day!!


Tokyo at night - the view from dinner

Wedding Day

Okay, as promised, more wedding pictures!

Naoko and Masaki's wedding took place three stages - a ceremony, reception, and after-party. The ceremony was very traditional and was held in a shrine. The reception was more modern with a white wedding dress, the giving of the bride by the father, a traditional wedding party, and lots of good food. The after-party was for more casual guests who might not have attended the wedding. It overlooked Tokyo and once again had wonderful food!

Here are some pictures!


before the ceremony


before the ceremony


before the ceremony


after the ceremony with the families


with the priest and family


Naoko's father waiting on the ceremony to begin


everyone wore these shoes at the shrine


the reception at the Tokyo Opera Palace


Naoko and Masaki entering the reception


the wedding party


eating the cake


waiting on the after-party to begin




Naoko and Masaki arrive


giving the toast

A wonderful day.

It's 11:30 Saturday night, and I'm about to fall asleep standing up, but I wanted to post a picture from the wedding today. It was truly an unbelievable event - a traditional ceremony in an ancient shrine, a reception at the Tokyo Opera House, and an after-party on the 52nd floor of a skyscraper overlooking Tokyo's "times square."

Here's one picture of the beautiful bride... more to come!!

making memories take 2.

Today has been a wonderful day. Dad and I navigated the train from Fujisawa to Tokyo with all our bags, we made it to our hotel, which is amazing, we had a wonderful lunch, and then we walked around the city a bit and saw a) Starbucks b) Mcdonalds c) Kentucky Fried Chicken and d) Krispy Kreme. We felt right at home.

Here are a few pictures.

Making Memories!!

Hi!

It's 11:00am on Friday here in Japan - I tell you, it was a little wierd to lose a day of my life on a big plane over the pacific ocean! You get on when it's 10:00am on Tuesday. You get off and it's 1:30pm on Wednesday! Crazy!

Dad and I made it safe and sound, and Naoko has been a wonderful tour guide. We've visited a beautiful ancient capital - Kamakura, a modern beach city - Yokohama, saw some beautiful temples and shrines, ate some amazing food, put our bare feet in the sand on the beach, and took a sunset boat ride in the bay. What more could we want?!

Today, dad and I are going to be touring around Tokyo by ourselves as Naoko prepares for the wedding tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of our adventures so far. As the Thompson family always says, "we're making memories!"