Fastest Trip in the (Mid)West

4:30am Saturday morning, my alarm woke me in time to catch a 6:00am flight to Chicago.

By 1:00pm, after a leisurely breakfast with my sister Leah, and attending the sealing of her friends and their children, I was taking pictures of this sweet family in the 40 degree weather.

I was nervous but willing.  The cold played a leading role in our picture taking adventure.  Instead of taking our time and being creative or experimental, I felt rushed to get these freezing people back inside.  I still think we got some good ones, though, and I hope they like them.

When I grow up I'm pretty sure I don't want to be a wedding photographer.  That is one shoot you don't want to screw up, because if you do, it's not like you can go out the next weekend and try again.

A pit stop for lunch was followed by mad dashing and prepping of food for the reception, which Leah was in charge of.  Between chopping vegetables and arranging cheese trays, I would run into the church gym to take pictures of the decorations and the cake.

This deserving couple's friends were generously putting on the reception, and doing their best to make it the way it should have been, but wasn't, the first time around. That's one of the reasons I wasn't mad at Leah for volunteering me for the picture-taking task.  I was happy to contribute.

Taking pictures at the reception was definitely not my favorite.  I knew my camera was not up to the low-light task and I told myself ahead of time, and tried to accept, that I'd just have to use the flash. I also decided I wasn't going to take much at the reception.  Unfortunately, the couple had all kinds of requests and I found that I was taking pictures nearly the whole time, switching between lenses, cringing as the flash pictures evoked the same feelings as nails on a chalkboard.

When I wasn't taking pictures I ran back to the kitchen to help out my sister.

The beauty of our short day together was the reminder that while I may frequently feel like a fish out of water or a thug with no posse, I can get with my sister, not be doing anything in particular, and have the best time, laughing, working, talking, and feel like I am a neat person and she thinks so too.  (And like the luckiest dog on earth, both my sisters will be here this weekend. I cannot wait!)

By 11:00pm we finished the cleanup.

And at 11:30pm we were back at Leah's house where we both fell soundly asleep, completely and totally exhausted.

4:45am the next morning the alarm was ringing again and after a 26 hour stay and drive through the dark to Chicago, I was an open mouthed, big bellied, head bobbing sleeper on a plane back to Dallas.

 So tired, so excited for my sister-time this weekend, and happier than ever to be home to these hoodlums.