TAG!

Oh, blog tag....you will never cease to entice me into your little game. What is it about blog tag that I can't resist? I don't know, but I will always and forever join in on the fun.

What is blog tag? Well, it seems to be a little different every time I get tagged. This time, the tagger was ericamay photography out of Kansas City. We know a lot of the same people, but I don't think we've ever met. We should change that someday, Erica! Back to the task at hand (Adam says I'm easily distracted). Blog tag rules:

- link to the person who tagged you. (check)
- post the rules on your blog. (check)
- write 6 random things about yourself. (check, see below)
- tag 6 people at the end of your post. (check, see below)
- let each person know he/she has been tagged. (I'm not gonna do this...it's a test to see if you all really read my blog or if you're just pretending to)
- let the tagger know when your entry is up. (check)

Six random things:
1.) I really enjoy corner brownies best because of the crunchy edges. I've heard they make a special pan for people like me that resembles a maze so all the edges are crunchy. May have to invest in that.
2.) I've never eaten at PF Chang's. (gasp!)
3.) I can pull my left thumb all the way backwards to touch it to my wrist. You should all try it and let me know if there are any other freaks out there like me. None of this pulling it forward to touch the inside of your wrist business. Touch the back side of your wrist. How did I discover this little trick, I'll never know.
4.) I'm an obsessive list-maker. Discovering the Stickies program on my Mac was like Christmas morn. Thanks, Liz!
5.) I'm in love with Dave Barnes and Incubus.
6.) I'm already an old lady: my knees crack every time I bend down, my back is very weak (which sucks when you're trying to do an ab workout), I have a wrinkle on my forehead, and in high school I was convinced I had arthritis because all the joints in my body ached for a month! AND I have boring hobbies like reading and doing puzzles.

And the people I'm tagging are Lindsey Penney, Audra Shelite, Natalie Stegman, Ginger Skillen, Jessica Lindsey, and Lauren Clark. Some of those are password protected, so you may not be able to visit them, but I don't have a bajillion friends with blogs, so those are them!

Black Friday

Among other fun holiday adventures, my sis-in-law Jessica and I got up EARLY and were in line for Target's opening at 6am today. My first Black Friday experience!

Welcome to the World!

Another big announcement - Audra had her baby yesterday! Reid Douglas was born at 1:35pm and weighed a whopping 10.3 pounds. Audra was more than a week overdue, so maybe that explains the massiveness. Liz and I went to visit Reid and his proud parents last night at the hospital, and what a cutie he is! You know how sometimes they aren't that cute right when they come out? He definitely surpassed that stage and jumped right into the cuteness.

He would only open one eye at a time, I think this new world is just to bright for him.

Audra looking beautiful only 5 hours after giving birth!

Reid already loves his aunt Gina. He didn't cry at all when I held him. Maybe a little at the end, but it was just because I was getting ready to leave and he didn't want me to go. :)

Liz and Reid. We couldn't get over the fact that he was finally here!

What?! Both eyes open at the same time? It's a Thanksgiving miracle!

Proud Papa, Justin and his little guy.

Congratulations Audra and Justin, he's perfect!

Penner Family

Yesterday I photographed the Penner family out at Sedgwick County Park. They are near and dear to my hubby's sister, so it was fun getting to know them a little better. We tried lots of new spots that I hadn't used before and were attacked by stickers without even knowing it. Here are some of my faves from their session.

Movin' On Up...the BIG Announcement

Well, here it is…big announcement day! Drum roll……

We’re moving up in the world to make our little photography business bigger and better than we ever imagined. Gina Dreher Photography is joining forces with Lindsey Penney of Gingeroot Photography to form the amazing and delightful Gingeroot Studios! I will be moving into the studio space downtown on Dec. 1 and will begin meeting with clients there immediately. You all have to come see me at this amazing place – it blew me away the first time I saw it!

For most of you, this change won’t mean much. You’ll still have the same ol’ us as your wedding photographers and the same things included in your packages. You’ll just be meeting me somewhere other than my living room. :) But for me, it will mean a lot of things. One thing I’m really excited about is that I’m going to be THE wedding photographer of Gingeroot. I will get to focus just on this area, which is what I’m so passionate about. I will still accept a few families and seniors (if you’ve already won a special place in my heart…and maybe a few others…) but for the most part, I will just be doing weddings. The wonderful and talented Lindsey will be the portraits side of our venture. Be sure to check out her website at www.gingerootphoto.com. Soon, that will be my website too, though we hope to build a brand spanking new one as quickly as we can.

I never dreamed that such a great opportunity like this would happen for us. We have so much more potential to go awesome places now. It just goes to show that God has better plans for us that we can ever imagine.

Congratulations, applause, flowers, candy, and small gifts will be accepted. Thanks. :)

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving, eat LOTS of turkey!

Anticipation...

TOMORROW is the big day! We will formally be making our big fat amazing announcement. I can't wait! Until then, I'll leave you with this: it's ALL about to change!

Katie + Phil

Saturday evening, Katie and Phil got married in Hesston. They had a beautiful fall wedding complete with candles all around the sanctuary and autumn leaves at the reception. They chose not to see each other before the ceremony, so we went outside in between the ceremony and reception to do photos of the couple. The sun was just setting, so it was quite the challenge, but they were so excited that we got great stuff anyway! And at the reception...I must say, I've heard a lot of wedding toasts in my day, but Katie's dad and sister definitely put tears in my eye as they talked about Katie and what a great person she is. All in all a perfect day!

Luis & Val

If you're a long time blog reader, you may remember all my computer problems back in July. Last night I photographed Luis, the one and only computer genius who saved my life, and his wife (my good friend) Val. They're so fun and Val told me that they would do any of my "freaky" ideas that I wanted to try out. So we started out in my normal spot downtown and tried in vain to get a few with their Weimereiner Adry. Just so we're all clear on this: Adry's crazy.

So after a few minutes, she was banished to the car.

The second location we went to was a new one, Audra and I had scouted it out the day before while I was trying to go over lots of bumps to induce labor. Another story for another day. Anyway, we tried getting Adry out again at this location, and I think we got a good one with her! Everyone looks happy and healthy and beautiful.

A little motion blur experiment. Poor Luis.

Then we thought we'd give Adry one more try. And I got one good photo of her by herself! I asked Val if she wanted a fence or bricks as the background, she chose the brick, as Adry's kind of fence-colored. I thought that was a great point. :)