The Pictures are Here!

Credit: Sarah Smith Photography (www.sarahsmithphotography.com)

We were thrilled to receive our wedding pictures this past week.  Stay tuned for more pictures and recaps of our first day in Newlywedland over the next couple weeks!

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"I got 44 Acres...

...and a bitch in every one."

The lyrics to Marty's song of the weekend sung to the tune of Jay-Z's "99 Problems".

We had an absolutely wonderful weekend! It seemed like the first weekend in months that allowed us to have fun with our own plans. We didn’t have to unpack boxes or take stuff to our storage unit. We didn’t have to run errands out in the ‘burbs. We even managed to keep our apartment clean for the week, so we weren’t left dusting and vacuuming. And to top it all off, the weather was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Our October had been one of the coldest and wettest in decades, so having a weekend in November with highs in the low 70s was certainly welcomed.

What, might you ask, did we do on a Saturday with no responsibilities to attend to? Spend the day with our dog of course! We've felt that we've been neglecting him a bit.  Being away from him during our ten hour workdays is just too much, and with the weather turning and lack of sunlight, it's harder to get out with him for walks and playtime.  Soooo after some Internet searching, I found a forest preserve about 35 minutes north that had a fenced in area dedicated to letting dogs roam free—44 acres to be exact! It was exactly what Marty needed.

A happy dog...

We were definitely proud parents that day. Marty has always been the type of dog that when he gets away, he never wants to return. He runs and runs and runs and never looks back. Saturday was similar, he ran and ran and ran, but we were proud. He constantly kept us in his view, and if he was getting too far away, he would come sprinting back to us. You should have seen the smiles on our faces!

He made some friends...

And was constantly asking for water...

I also used the opportunity to play with my camera in Av and Manual modes (as you can see). The sun was a bit harsh, and I just couldn’t seem to get the exposure right. Oh well, practice makes perfect right?!

I’ll leave our Sunday adventure for Raul to narrate. I’ll just say that we were invited somewhere for free that made Raul (and me of course) very, very happy.  What a great weekend!

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Fall in Indy

As mentioned in the previous post, Raul and I drove down to Indy this past weekend. We try to get down there to visit my parents at least once every couple months, and we've done a pretty good job of doing that since we moved to Chicago last summer.

We had a relaxing weekend with my parents. On Saturday evening, we had a campfire out on the patio. It was a chilly evening, so the fire was a nice touch. On Sunday, we continued my parents tradition of taking a weekend hike. We went to Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park and had a great time seeing all the beautiful colors.

Dad, Mom, Marty, and Raul

Some of the trees were still green...

But you could tell that the colors were definitely changing.

Marty had a fun time searching for squirrels up in the trees.

And they're off!

Wow! Look at those colors!

Experimenting with portrait mode...it's like a HS senior picture!

It's always nice going back to Indy for the weekend. I love living just 3 hours away. It allows us to visit Mom and Dad often! I wish we could say the same about Raul's family--we don't see them nearly as often, but hope to soon!

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Marty Visits Grandma and Grandpa

I suppose I should start this post with a little background on why we have so many pictures of our dog Marty in this post (and in many more posts to come). Well, for starters, our dog is practically our son. We treat him as such and couldn't imagine life without him. Ask anyone who knows Marty, and they'll tell you that he is CRAZY (and we'll agree). He has quite the personality. That's for sure. But we love him in spite of his craziness.

The second reason for all the pictures of Marty, and well for all the pictures on our blog in general, is because of my new favorite toy:

Yep, you're looking at the Canon Rebel T1i. This beauty was a gift from Raul to me on our wedding day. During the process of wedding planning, I became very interested in photography and have been wanting to pursue it, but my little point and shoot camera just wasn't doing the job. I've been trying to read up on my camera and learn how to really use it to its full advantage, hence all the pictures you'll be enundated with in our lil blog.

Now, onto Marty! This past weekend, Raul and I took a trip down to Indy to visit my parents. Marty LOVES visiting Grandpa and Grandma, and one of the reasons he loves it so much is because he gets to run around in the backyard, leash-free.

Isn't he handsome?
He sure does love jumping!
I love this picture. My mom had just returned home and Marty saw her through the door.

We had a GREAT weekend in Indy. I'll share some additional pictures from the weekend in the next post!

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