I find it odd that there was not much mention of how Ike would be hitting us.  But then again, it would crazy to think that the storm that rocked Texas would end up having strength when it hit Ohio.

When we left church Sunday we commented on the wind.  It was rather annoying to me as my hair kept blowing like crazy.  When we got home we had lunch on the deck and it was still windy, but we didn’t think much of it.  We put the kids down for a nap and made plans for the afternoon, and then all of the sudden the wind turned into a mad fury.  Living at the top of a hill we always have bad wind gusts, but this was unlike anything we had ever seen. We could hear how loud it was, looked out the window and the trees were blowing like crazy.  The wind grew and grew more and more loud and every other minute we had crazy gusts that shook the house.  What in the world?  We had no clue this was coming!  It was still bright and sunny, which made the whole thing seem not so scary and very surreal at the same time.

As we watched, the trees were bending nearly to the ground and we wondered how they didn’t break. I heard a crash and ran to look out our front expecting to see a window busted, and there was paper and debris flying towards our house like a scene out of the Wizard of Oz.  We noticed a wire down in our street which meant no way out of our cul-de-sac. The kids were still sleeping, which amazed us, and Brett and I stood there wondering if we should go get them in case a window would be blown through.  We watched as our neighbors garbage cans rolled over into our yard, and then on to the next.

We watched as the trees split and piled themselves up in our other neighbors front yard as if a giant was walking around and simply picked them up and placing them all over to cover the grass in rows.

Shingles went flying from off the roofs around us. We sat wondering what our own looked like.  I of course opened our front door to go outside, and the glass in our storm door was bowed in like it would bust at any given second.  I quickly shut the main door.

At 3:00 our electric went out.  We continued to watch the storm until it finally calmed, almost as quick and odd as it had started a few hours before.  Yes, it lasted for hours.  It was getting dark now and we lit candles.

The night was a long one…I wouldn’t have cared as much, but the kids are used to nightlights and fans. Riah, our 4 year old, woke up 5 times and we had to run in with a candle to check on him. Then we had to leave it in there until he fell asleep and then blow it out. FUN.  **Note to self:  buy flashlights for cases like this.**

The next day I woke up and realized I didn’t have coffee.  Maybe I sound like a total baby, but I was very, very, close to making a fire in the back yard and starting up my stove top espresso maker.  We have a Weber Grill and Brett’s 45 minute methodical process of starting it was not gonna cut it for me. I may have actually been shaking. Well, at least that’s how I felt.  As Brett assured me Starbucks would not be open, he showed me his left over espresso from the day before.  I quickly lit a candle and started warming my cup o’ joe.  It tasted like crap. But it still made me feel sane.  If I don’t look very happy here, I wasn’t.

After our breakfast of  fruit and nuts we went outside and began mingling with the neighbors as we all worked together on each other yards.  We picked up so many sticks and limbs and the kids helped our neighbor who had hundreds of apples and pears fall from her trees.

At the end of the day I couldn’t believe all that we got done.  Our cell phones had died because we couldn’t charge them, no TV, no computer, no INTERNET!, nothing.  I ended up journaling about my kids which I was picking up from about a year ago, we reseasoned all of our cast iron pots and pans, we read books, we did school with the kids outside, Brett mowed the grass, we cleaned off the deck….amazing!  We then went to dinner at Brett’s mom’s house because her power came back on, and when we returned we were so happy to have our electric back!!  It been out for about 30 hours. Our phone line is still out today, but my wireless internet began working this morning.

Thanks be to God that damage was not greater to our homes, and I can not even fathom what the people in Texas are doing with out power for 2 weeks or more, and all the devastation that has happened to their homes.  Last I heard we still had 600,000 in our area without power, and gas stations and restaurants were insane last night with lines down the street.   Who would have ever thought that a hurricane would effect Ohio so badly, but on a positive note it made us all calm down a bit and appreciate all the amenities that we so often take for granted.

I’m playing catch up right now with emails and editing so we will be back to our regular blogging soon.

So I am going to have to apologize up front for this ultra long post, but we had the pleasure of photographing some dear friends of ours, and choosing was INSANE! I spent the whole afternoon yesterday on this, and I am still choosing as I go.  :)

Jessica and Tony are adorable. They met in New York when my dear friend decided she wanted to get away from the town she grew up in, and live somewhere new for a while. You may remember them from their great engagement session, and if not click HERE.  This little plaque they had at their wedding pretty much sums it up.

I loved her makeup shots. I narrowed it to three, and then to these two.

Her beautiful dress…

Jess’s friend Allison from NY gets the party started.

Writing a love note to her future husband.

Tony prepares for the big day.

Boys in the bathroom.  Looking quite handsome.

On one of their first dates someone gave them this $2 bill as change.  Jess wrote on it as you see below, and Tony has kept it in his wallet since.  Love I tell ya, love.

Almost time.

This could be a photo from the 1940’s. I love it.

Tony with his friend Tony.  He’s the one who introduced these two lovebirds.

I called Brett saying we were out front and to stay clear and he replied that they were on the way back to the church. This proceeded….even though they were nowhere near.  I love these guys.  :)

Tony’s three little nieces were just adorable.

They were married at the gorgeous Bell Event Center in downtown Cincinnati.  The place was stunning.

Jessica always dreamed of a romantic candlelit ceremony and that is exactly what she got.  It was one of the most beautiful weddings I have seen.

Afterwords we ran outside in between the rain coming and going and grabbed a few shots of the two of them.

YUMMY!  Cake by Tres Belle cakes.

The band was kickin’…..

and the dance floor was rockin.

A moment stolen during the reception.

Tony and his BOYZZZZ.

Things were winding down so they broke out the cigars.

Couple late night portraits back at the bar in the Omni.

You two are just precious and whenever Brett and I are around you guys, we don’t want to leave. Jess and Tony, we are so honored that you had us be such a big part of your day. As you know it is incredibly nerve racking taking on such a thing for a friend because you only want them to have the best memories from their night. I hope we captured that for you. I know you guys also were so concerned about us enjoying ourselves and having fun, and trust us-we so did. We loved your wedding (it really wasn’t as stressful as you thought Jess) and we think it was just perfect. Absolutely perfect for you two.

We love you, and can’t believe we won’t see you guys for quite a while. :( Hope you’re having a blast on Aruba, and we are counting the months until Spring when we hope to make it out to London!  WOOO-HOOO!!!

I have no idea what I am showing them here, but we all seem pretty intense.  :)

Thanks to our friend Bassette who took this photo and a few others that night for us.  :)

LOVE to you guys!!
:)