Abby’s Saturday // Two Hundred And Twenty-Three

Highlight of the Week

I got a new laptop this week! Believe it or not, I have had my old MacBook Pro laptop since 2009. It is on the verge of being a decade old – which, in laptop years, is somewhere around 300 years old! It’s been a workhorse for me over the last 9 years though! From the days of being my only computer & main editing screen, to the days of me taking it to weddings for same-day-slideshows, to graduating to being my “backup” computer when I got my iMac and simply being used when we traveled – it has seen & been through a ton. It has slowly gotten slower & slower & slower, however, to the point where I just want to pull my hair out if I have to edit a few sneak peek images on it (what typically takes about 3 minutes to do on my iMac takes about 10 minutes to do on my old MacBook). So, it has now, officially, been replaced! I got a new MacBook Pro laptop (yep, I’m an Apple girl & always will be). I just got a “baby” sized one (13″) – so it’s basically the size of my iPad. But that’s okay! I will still be doing all of my main editing on my 27″ iMac, so why do I need a massive laptop? So far, everything has transferred over to it seamlessly & I’m putting it to the “test” this weekend with my very last wedding of the season (which is out of town). I’m so looking forward to being able to use it to answer emails while sitting on the couch or write blog posts while sitting somewhere other than my desk – gosh, I might even get some light editing done while we’re driving home from out of town! Yay for updated technology!

Yes, This Happened

• I am now 33 weeks pregnant & baby boy is approximately the size of a pineapple!
• I’m really starting to feel pregnant – like can’t-bend-over-to-put-my-shoes-on pregnant. I honestly don’t really remember feeling this way with Braelynn. I remember it being a point of pride that I could still put my own shoes on (when everyone else was whining that they had to wait for their spouse’s help). I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m carrying baby boy differently (because I definitely know that I am), or maybe it’s because I’m older (shhhh, don’t tell anyone) – but I’ve suddenly entered the: if-it-falls-on-the-floor-it’s-just-too-bad phase.
• Today is my last wedding of the 2018 season (see the next section), but it’s also wedding #2 of #2 for this weekend! I shot a Friday wedding (that literally made me so confused all week, what day is it?) & today’s wedding makes this weekend a double-header weekend. Someone might need to check in on me come Sunday morning (see above bullet-point about “feeling pregnant”).
• Nursery update: so, if you’ve been following along with our nursery and 3rd floor renovation project, things have been a bit of a roller coaster over the last few days. My Dad came over & actually looked at the 3rd floor & discovered a few more steps that we need to complete before we can officially move Derrick’s office up there (2 weeks ago, we were thinking that all we needed to do was paint the walls, lay some new carpet, and blow in some insulation – ta-da! Done!) But, it turns out, the insulation process (in order to really make the space comfortable) is a bit more extensive. Plus, the wiring up there needs to be updated, so we might as well tackle that while we’re at it. Needless to say, the 3rd floor project suddenly got a few steps longer & further from completion this week. However! Baby boy is still coming in 7(ish) weeks! So, we’ve temporarily moved Derrick’s office downstairs to our dining room, and nursery renovations are moving forward!! My Dad & brother are coming over to fix the ceiling in there this weekend and that means as early as next week I can begin putting the nursery together!! Omigoodness, it’s SO exciting!!

Feeling Blessed

Today is officially the end of my 2018 photography season!! Cue all-the-emotions.
I literally cannot believe it. I feel like I have been looking down this tunnel for so long & October 27th has always just seemed so far away. But it’s finally here. And today, I will be shooting my final wedding of the season, and tomorrow I will officially be on maternity leave (except, not really, because I’ll still be working behind the scenes – I have a literal ton of editing to catch up on!) But, I will not be shooting any more sessions until after baby boy arrives!!
2018 has been my busiest year yet. I had weddings all through the “off-season” (including February & March weddings) and they just never stopped as we ran straight from spring-into-summer-into fall. I’ve photographed multiple sessions & wedding days where I honestly wondered if I would make it (from the lovely 24/7 nausea that I suffered from for the first 18ish weeks of being pregnant). But somehow, I have made it to the other side! I survived every shoot & every wedding day, I edited my eyeballs out (mostly in the evenings, because those seemed to be the hours when I was least sick), I turned around every session & wedding on time – if it sounds like I am patting myself on the back, I totally am! Seriously, there were some days that I honestly wondered if I would survive this year!! But looking back, it has been amazing. So many incredible moments, so many new friends made, so many beautiful love stories captured – I seriously have the most amazing job in the world.
But now? I am so ready for some “time off”.