Veldman Photo

New Blog...

2008-03-31T08:34:00.002-05:00

We are due for a change... and with that change it means a fresh start, a new look, a new blog...

You can now find us at http://veldmanphoto.blogspot.com/ it's time to re-bookmark us, if you have done that with our blog.

Sorry to make things confusing... but this is what happens when you have more time on your hands.

I even provided a new post for you, and will be updating much more often considering the circumstances now.

WHOOOOO HOOOOO.... Today is my LAST DAY at LIFETIME FITNESS, well full time at least!!!! I couldn't be more excited, until next week when I'm bored out of my mind. HA! We'll try not to let that happen! :) See you on the new blog...

I will not be updating this anymore... so redo our blog... or you will be lost!

Christmas 2007

2008-01-06T14:06:00.000-05:00

I should have posted awhile back, but we've been going through a lot lately that I haven't had time. Holidays are always busy! I love them... but they go just too fast and it was a bit chaotic with our little bundle of joy.

We spent 4 days with my family down in Indiana, which was great! We just relaxed and it was so nice because we didn't have to entertain our hypergenic dog. It was nice to just be with family and enjoy their company.

Here is us just relaxing... that's what we did... and it was AWESOME!

Berra was a bit sick one day and he was poopy all day. He looked pathetic trying to sleep, as you can see Todd was trying to cheer him up. :)

We made our way home on Christmas Eve to get back to our puppy and to wake up Christmas morning in our bed in our new home. It was our first Christmas in our new home and it was nice. We made our way over to Todd's grandma's later for breakfast and for gift exchange at his parents. It was a bit sad because Mandy, his grandma's Golden Retriever was really sick and was bleeding internally. She had to be put to sleep 2 days after Christmas :( Poor thing. But we got to say "bye" to her and she seemed in good spirits.

But on the other side of that, we had fun there.

I got the whale for our living room wall that I asked for. Todd's dad made this for me and he even spiced it up and made it look so creative! It was so nice to get it and made me feel really special that he did that for me. I was extremely excited to get it on the wall... which is looks great!

Later in the night I got to play his brother's Rock Band... drums are my favorite and I'm pretty good... (not really)! Ha! That's what I look like on there... haha!

The end of our Christmas 2007, another year has gone by and it's been great!

I do ask for prayer now for us, as my work situation seems to be getting harder and some other stuff which we'll keep you updated on as time comes. But it's been a whirl wind right now, but we know God has a great plan for us through time we will know what that is. :) Thanks!

FINALLY FINISHED with our bedroom...

2008-01-01T14:48:00.001-05:00

Well.... 3 months later our bedroom is FINALLY finished. It's been hard to work with a puppy who needs your undivided attention. We love him, but he's very needy and we can't walk out of the room without him being a terror. We did so much to the room though, that was probably why it took so long as well. We ripped all the 3" trim out and added a 6" trim. We painted 3 of the walls a tan color and the wall with the window a chocolate brown. We redid our closet and added new doors to them. We are still getting the wall decor figured out, but Target didn't have the frames that I wanted. We also are looking for a couple shelves to put in there as well... But here is what we got so far.

This first one is when we were first looking at the house and the old owners were in it.... you can see the old trim on the wall

This is from "Moving Day"

The finished project, looks kinda yellow with the lighting, but looks great in person...

You can see the new 6" trim just a bit in the corner...

Roso is Sterile now...

2007-12-17T19:31:00.000-05:00

Poor guy! Rosco got neutered today and to make matters worse... he has to wear a cone! Booo... though it is hilarious to look at and to try to see him go through doors and small places. I couldn't help but take a few photos of our "Drama King" as Todd's dad would say. He's a baby when it comes to shots, being stepped on, or anything that you would think wouldn't be that bad! We still love him though. Keep him in your prayers if you could. He's all upset and has those eyes that are sappy and makes you want to cry just looking at him. It's heart breaking, but I know he'll be back to normal in a couple days. Though one good thing came about at the vet today though.... I found out I can run more than a mile with him. I'm so excited to get him training for the 1/2 marathon in Indy I'm doing in May! Training starts in 2 weeks.... and Rosco will be fully recovered by then. YES!

LOTS of Snow....

2007-12-16T13:19:00.000-05:00

Well... we were told we were going to get like 8-12" of snow last night. I tend to not believe the weather because they always hype everything up to be more than it EVER is. Ha...! Anyways... when we woke up this morning there was not quite 8" but it was surely up there, probably 6-7", and it was blowing everywhere. I was kind of excited though because it's really pretty and I wanted a white Christmas. The only bad thing is... Rosco goes nuts in the snow. We didn't know if he would like it or hate it when it first snowed... he ended up loving it a bit TOOOO much. Well he was CRAZY dog this morning. I couldn't control him so I decide to capture what I could of him while he was in his "zone". It was hilarious to me to see him just completely hyper with absolutely no control whatsoever. Here are some of the lovely moments I could capture... let me add he was running at full speed so I'm sorry if this doesn't give you the effect that it meant to accomplish. It was really hard because I was freezing and he was "Zooooming" all over the yard! Ha...

This is what he was doing alllll over the yard

Julie and Quinn Engagements

2007-12-05T20:22:00.000-05:00

Julie and Quinn were so sweet, a very nice couple and very well spiritied considering the FREEEEEEZING cold weather we had last weekend. It was probably about 17 degrees or so, with absolutely no sun. BUT... we did have fun. Quinn is from Chicago, and Julie actually went to school with Todd when they were younger. We did their photo shoot at Greenfield Village where their reception will be. It's really pretty, and Todd and Julie gave us the run down on their field trip/school day they had there when they were younger... it sounded great!

We are really excited for them and you can just see their happiness with their glowing faces in the photos. We are looking forward to their wedding come May, we know it will be sweet and full of love!

First Snow + Weird Night= Blog-worthy

2007-12-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

Well... we had our first snow yesterday. It was absolutely freezing out, so I don't blame the snow for coming. It was all hyped up that it was suppose to be a "snow storm" and we were going to get 4-7" or so they said. (In my opinion, it never works like that-Ha!)

Anyways... so we went over to Todd's parents to celebrate both Todd's dad, Dick, and my birthday's. His is Monday, mine is Tuesday. On the way home, we noticed how bright it was outside. It looked like it was daylight, but it was almost 11pm. We got home, and let Rosco out. He's never seen snow before so we wondered how he would react. Well... HE LOVED IT! All he wanted to do was play and he would sprint through the yard, stop eat some snow, and just play! He's pretty sick right now so we couldn't let him play out too long. He got kennel cough when we boarded him last weekend. Poor guy! He's all falling apart, plus he's getting neutered tomorrow, that should be fun!

Here are some photos from last night... they sky was so orangey. Spppooooky!

Notice the last photo in the sequence... Todd totally threw a huge snowball! But Rosco loved it so please don't call Animal Cops. Ha!!

Lights out in Rochester

2007-11-29T21:14:00.000-05:00

We went out to Rochester tonight, which is pretty close to us.

They have all their building decorated with colored lights. It was FREEEEEZING out, but we made the trip to see it and walk down the strip of lit buildings. It is a sight to see! The photos are a bit blurry because we just brought our little camera. It was nice other than the fact that it was so cold we couldn't stay too long. Ha!

I love Christmas time!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

2007-11-29T21:00:00.000-05:00

WE MADE IT.... ONE YEAR!!!

Seems like just yesterday we first started dating... and then just yesterday we got engaged... and then just yesterday we got married... so many great memories. I can definitely say that my life is so much sweeter with Todd, and of course he feels the same... haha! :) But we've had a great year, and no matter how many people say that the first year is the hardest, I don't believe them one bit. We had so much fun. We could not have done it without Christ, and without him we would be nothing.

I honestly can't wait for many more anniversary's to come!

P.S. I'm going to post more on this... but I don't have all of the photos we took of our cake we ate. That was fun!

Puppy Class comes to an end... BOOO...

2007-11-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I posted last. I need to update everyone with what is going on. November has been a very BUSY month!

We'll start with our last puppy class. It was a fun 6 weeks! The photos attached aren't that great, you have to look closely in them to see Rosco and I. The lighting and the quickness of our boy is pretty hard to have shot, esp with our little camera. (We didn't want to bring out big camera and show everyone up- Ha!)

We are signing him up for the next level, which is the Basic Obedience class and it starts in January. He's doing well, but he's DEF in his "terrible two's" stage right now. He thinks it's funny to grab anything and run around with it for attention. He won't let us get it either... that little stinker! He is definitely testing us... but we win in the end, well I should say "I" win. Todd says he acts like me and he's MY dog because we rub off on each other. He's funny!

But here are some photos, he's going to be an agility KING! He's so good at it! He already knows all the stuff... he loves the "Tire" and the "Tunnel".

Gabi's Senior Photos

2007-11-10T15:18:00.000-05:00

It was kind of a crummy day out, but we made the effort to get her photos done. Gabi has such a great serious face, but it took awhile to get her to stop laughing. Her smile is also great, but not many people can pull the whole looking serious without looking funny. Ha! We had quite the adventure going into Royal Oak walking right into HUGE sticky patch that just covered us, and then back to Clawson to finish up at the park as it started raining in the middle of our shoot. Yikes! But we got through it, and with great spirits.

Family Visiting

2007-11-04T19:49:00.000-05:00

My family came up to visit for the weekend. It was a lot of fun! We just hung out and we made a trip to the Cider Mill, which was fabulous. It was gorgeous out! We even made sure to do a family photo.

It was a quick weekend, but it was great to see them and have them be here. Can't wait until Thanksgiving.

The Wonderful Donnan's

2007-11-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

I'm really behind on things... other work stuff keeps getting in the way (ha!).

But I did a photo shoot of a great family that I have known for 3 yrs. now from Lifetime. Theresa has been a wonderful friend of mine since I moved up here and her kids are amazing! I love them to pieces. I miss working at the same club, but we get to see each other almost every Friday! :) The day was gorgeous out a tad bit too sunny, but the leaves were awesome and very colorful! We played at the park for a bit and travelled around the park place. I realize how hard it is to take "kids" pictures, and I can definitely say I need some kids to practice on more often, but that's NOT going to happen anytime too soon, so slowly but surely I will do better. We had a fun time though!

Isn't she a Beaut!!!!

2007-10-31T17:09:00.000-05:00

Here is the new Lady of the family. I love her!!! She's what I have wanted for quite some time now, but it hasn't been on the employee choice, UNTIL NOW!!! Todd brought her home today, and she's beautiful! We are so excited, mostly me because I have wanted a Patriot ever since Todd mentioned them when they were "in the making" which was at least about a yr. now. Sooo happy!!! :)

Kenny's Sr. Photos

2007-10-28T07:51:00.000-05:00

I took photos of another Clawson Senior, he was a really nice kid. He played both soccer and baseball, so we went to his home fileds to do some photos. Problem was the sun was SO bright and not a cloud in the sky. Talk about a photographers nightmare, but we made it work for the best. We also went around downtown Clawson to do some in the city. It was a lot of fun!

There'll be more postings because we're doing a lot of stuff right now I have to edit. Ha!

Updating with our Life

2007-10-21T18:58:00.000-05:00

Well... Things are going well in the Veldman House right now. We are FINALLY getting in the swing of things with our dear boy Rosco. He's doing excellent!

For the most part he's potty trained, minus a visit to the grandparents today and he had an accident when we first got there... partial my fault because I didn't have him go before he went inside. He found Mac's bed to be quite the spot to go on. (Sorry again!)

He's doing much better with all the little nipping he had been doing before, since he's a herding breed he's more prone to do this... they call dogs that are bred for a certain job and do not end up doing the job "Un-employed" HA! So right now he's doing better out of the herding job market.

He's got quite the personality. He loves both Todd and I and gives LOTS of kisses. Rosco and I do a lot of hanging out though. We do morning and late afternoon walks together, we eat breakfast together, we play together, I talk to him a lot, plus I'm his handler in puppy class. Which for those of you who were wondering about how class is going... I think he's is an Agility Master ALREADY! He absolutely loves the tunnel and all the bridges that they have him climb... plus he already knows what to do. He's awesome at sitting, walking on a leash, coming when called, and we even stunned a few when we rolled over. He's a quick learner!

He's getting huge! I'm thinking maybe 18lbs now...

Coming from someone who has never had a dog, I never quite knew what the hype was when people said it was part of the family or the saying "Man's best friend". I now understand it COMPLETELY. I'm not sure what I would do without him, if anything ever happened. I would be a mess. He's definitely part of our family now and I love him more and more everyday!

Todd is doing well with his job, he's impressing them everyday on how smart he is. They just did reviews and he got an awesome one! So that was nice!

My Lifetime job is going well. There is alot of stuff in my mind and heart that are changing, which definitley need prayer on, but for now it works. Photography is going very well, and I'm hoping to get some more weddings booked for next yr. We are working on our whole approach and hopefully it's working somewhat. Todd is helping a TON! He's the best husband ever!

Our house is coming along great. I should post photos of our front room because we've been remodeling it for the last 4 months. (Getting a puppy puts things on hold for a bit) For the most part it's done, but a little here and there and we need some decor on the walls and stuff, but that's coming. Our next project is our bedroom! YES! I love a good ol' remodel of a room... it's like new and fresh and makes it fun to walk into something old and get a whole new and different feel. I LOVE it!

But everything is going well with us! I'll be blogging the next couple days with more photo stuff we have been doing. :) Just wanted to give a good update with Todd and I and Rosco!

These photos just show how cute our little guy is, and how I gave up on trying to take him to the groomers because I took him again and 1. they did a terrible job and he had to be there for almost 2hrs in a crate waiting for his turn, and 2. right after he comes home he gets soo dirty right away! I caved in and got him a treat if he did good in the bath... he was pretty good, a little fiesty, but I'm a sucker for his cute face!

Melanie and Ryan Engagements

2007-10-18T18:44:00.000-05:00

Both Todd and I, mostly me though, have been really excited about THIS photo shoot, due to the fact that Melanie and Ryan are GOOD friends of ours and we knew awhile back that they were getting engaged from very funny stories. Then we got "the call" that they had gotten engaged. We were thrilled for them! Melanie used to work with Todd, and her and I met through him. We both were runners and would do morning/evening runs together. You could call us 'Run Buddies' but soon enough she would become one of my best friends here. It's been fun getting to know both her and Ryan. As Mel is in Law school right now, we don't get to hang out much anymore, but when we do it's never a dull moment and this photo shoot tops the charts. They are a wonderful couple and the photos show just how much in love they are, along with how much fun they have together. We are so happy for you and love you both soooo much!

Check us out...

2007-10-17T12:06:00.001-05:00

Our website made it on BLUDOMAIN

We submitted a recent photo for a contest and it made it to the front page. I just found it out, so I was pretty excited! It's nice to see that our business is growing little by little and I have faith that we are going into the right profession.

Much excitement!

Meeting the Family!

2007-10-08T21:25:00.001-05:00

We finally got the chance to go back to my home in Indiana. We have had either weddings, engagement sessions, work, etc... every weekend until... this past weekend. Boy was it good to visit family. I love and miss them so much. We had a bit of trouble getting there. I think I'm jinxed when it comes to cars. I broke Todd's car (supposedly) and now Todd's dad's car (supposedly again) I don't believe it, but same thing happened to both. But we got to take Todd's dad's convertible, so whatever I did, my plan worked! ;)

Anyways... we finally got there and had a great time. Spending time with family, visited IWU for homecoming, which was really cool, went to a movie, did dinner, and we even got the chance to see some of the extended family. Most importantly my family got to meet the newest member of our family Rosco. I know most of the posts lately have been about him, but we just love him so much and are having so much fun with him. He's the BEST dog. He's doing so well, and puppy classes are really fun to go to, even Rosco loves it!

Well Rosco got to meet his cousin Berra. He was really excited to meet him, but we're not so sure Berra was too big of a fan of the little guy. Rosco just wanted to play, and Berra is a bit older and more mature. They ended up playing very well together. Hopefully next play visit Berra won't be intimidated by Rosco's size, as he is growing by the minute. He's huge now! 13 lbs. (we found that out at the recent vet visit, which wasn't a good experience for Rosco this time... he was not happy to get those shots). But in the end, the whole family loved our little guy, and we're really excited for many visits to come! :)

But here are some photos of the pups during our stay. I was so glad to have gone home. We had a great time, and it's so great to see my family! I wish we lived closer, but that's life right now.

P.S. Go see "The Kingdom" it's a great movie!

The like each other here...

My sister and Berra...How sweet!

Some outdoor playing...

Rosco discovered Rawhide bones... he loves them now. (no worries, we'll be careful with them)

This photo describes how Berra was all weekend, he just wanted to sniff the booty... haha!

But who could be mad at a face like this... awww...

And this... awww....

Rarrrrrr.... haha!

He loves his mama... and she does a good job rubbing his belly.. I think she found his spot.

He would not leave the bone... he carried it around and chewed it forever...

He's a hambone... on his way to the camera

We Love Fall...

2007-10-03T19:36:00.000-05:00

Fall is here... and it's beautiful!

Even though we are going to be cutting down the fruit trees in our yard, due to the attraction they are for the squirrels who throw them and spend all day in our back yard eating every piece of fruit there is in there and the fact that we would like more room for Rosco to run free, and for us to run and play with him in the yard.

I took Rosco for our normal after work walk, and today we decided to rake the leaves... well one of us would rake one of us would bark at the rake because we did not know what the rake was or did... ha! (Yes that was me!...not really!) But we got a big pile of leaves after the many fights we had with the stupid rake, and we played in the big pile... we even snacked on some crusty leaves there were in the pile. Rosco loved it!

Here are some I snuck while he just laid in the big pile.... He is adorable. He's going to be 12 weeks on Friday, I think he weighs at least 15-18lbs. He's a hosss!!!!

Megan and Chad Engagements

2007-09-30T14:10:00.000-05:00

Traverse City is gorgeous... and it's so fun to do something different than the 'norm'. This makes Todd and I want to move somewhere where the scenery is much more beautiful... like up north or east or even west, maybe with water. That's just a dream... but it really is great and it keeps things much more interesting.

What a great couple though... both are very sweet and a TON of fun. Todd was high school friends with Megan, and I got to meet her in college. It's always great doing photography for someone you know. We had a great time, and want to thank the "soon to be Millers" for such a wonderful stay in Traverse! Thanks again guys!

Here are some from our trip. The were such a beautiful couple! We are so excited to shoot your wedding in December.

1st trip to the Groomers

2007-09-27T06:58:00.000-05:00

Rosco had his first trip to the groomers. Todd and I tried to clip his toes, but that didn't turn out too well. He was too squirmy and we didn't want to cut them too short and hit a blood vessel... Plus... we wanted him to love us instead of dreading that so we firgured someone else he will dislike when it comes to getting groomed.

They did the bath, toes, ears, teeth...and even a blow dry... HA!!! He was so funny. He went in normal, and came out a big puff ball. (you can't tell that much in these photos, but just imagine it) He's too funny. He even got a cool Petsmart bandana and a halloween tag to wear. (Don't worry I took it off after the pictures)

Here's some of him after his mama brought him home. He was loving on me, maybe he was so happy to be done! Then he went outside and got dirty... good thing it was only $9.99.

Dunes in Northern Michigan

2007-09-24T15:06:00.000-05:00

Todd and I had the chance to take a day to ourselves, well sort of, but we got to take a drive up north to hang out with each other while knowing later in the day we had an engagement photo shoot. We were taking photos in Traverse City on Saturday and decided to take advantage of the beautiful area and go visit the Dunes right by Traverse City. I had never been there and it was quite the spot. We had a really fun drive and fun trip all together... here are a couple photos from the BEAUTIFUL DAY! We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day, 70's and Sunny!

I'll post some from the engagement shoot soon, once I have more time to work on them.

This was from the 450ft overlook of Lake Michigan. It was soooo windy but the water was so green and blue. Soooooo gorgeous!

That's me making the steep trip up the Dune...

That's Todd... such a long way up!

We made it to the top... how fun!

Me being funny...

Creative on the way down...

Rosco and Bella's Playdate

2007-09-21T17:35:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we had company, my bestest Steph and her husband Ethan and their 5month old Snoodle, Bella came up to visit us. We were so excited and it was a much needed visit for us ALL! I missed my hoochie a LOT!

We finally got to hang out and catch up. Todd and I showed them around the area, chilled out, took them to eat down in Royal Oak, visit our church, and we even watched the Colts on Sunday together... Go Colts!

Rosco and Bella had a great time as well, and it was nice that they got to entertain each other instead of us for once. They played well together, except Rosco liked Bella's whiskers a bit TOO much. He kept biting her, poor thing. But she gave him a round or two. They were fun to watch! Next time they meet Rosco will be much bigger than Bella, and she might be chasing him next, as he is growing like a bean stock.

Us proud mama's with our lil' ones....

Bella was super fast and loved to play catch, Rosco just chased Bella's whiskers...

There she goes with the squeekey tennis ball...

There they go Attack... RRRrrrr...

and again...

What a cutie... she loved all of Rosco's toys and bones

They are trying to share... too bad it turned into a wrestling match...

How cute... priceless!

The Michael's...

Our Family...

Can't wait for another visitor with more friends for Rosco. Who's next???

Love you all!!!

He's getting so BIG!

2007-09-21T17:24:00.000-05:00

Our lil' guy is getting so big! I can't believe it! I knew that kids grew fast (and puppies in our case) but it's like a blink of an eye and he'll be huge. He's 10 Weeks today. Seems like we got him just yesterday... and it's been 3 weeks now.

Well we are having fun with him, and he's so stinkin' cute. He's much of an eye catcher and LOVES people so that's great! He gives everyone lots of kisses and barely ever barks so that's a plus as well. He's almost potty trained, which is a good thing for all of us and he'll be starting obedience classes starting Oct 1st.

Rosco likes to lay on the hardwood floors... he hasn't tried much to get on the furniture... which is a good thing!

He loves to eat leaves and sticks and grass and mud and anything he can get his mouth around... plus loves the soccer ball.. mama is teaching him early!

Yes... he can already Shake... and he sometimes does this even if you don't ask him to.

Mama is trying to teach him the same, but I'm also working on his "roll over"... he hasn't quite caught onto it yet. HA!

Introducing...... ROSCO

2007-09-01T20:04:00.000-05:00

Todd and I have been talking about getting a puppy for a few months now, but we've always been too busy and it's never been the right time. I was always hesitant because I've never had a dog before and he has. BUT.... when deciding what kind was always a battle. I didn't want a lab, and he did... and then we were looking at other breeds and we found out about a breed called an Australian Shepherd. We both fell in love with the photos, and decided to check some breeders out. The first one we looked at we found they just had a litter. We went and looked and fell in love with one in particular.... He's a Red Tri. (This was him at 3 weeks)

We had to wait to pick him up until he was old enough, but Thursday we went and picked him up a week early, due to the breeder's daughter getting married she gave us the option to get him early. He did great on the way home, didn't whine much, but we're not sure if he liked the car ride. He was tough though. Here are some photos from the last couple days, but get ready for more of our new baby.

He's a great model (when he's calm)

He also loves to kiss his daddy, he likes to bite more, but we're getting him out of that habit.

With his other main love.. his mama!!! His face is just too cute!!!

When took him out to the lake to see if he liked the water, but it was kind of hot today and he slept most of the day there. He's still getting used to everything and everyone, including us. But is doing really well!
This is my Favorite photo... he is a good boy!

He liked all the sticks, but liked to sleep even more... haha!

And he's spent...

Jordan and Amie Kasper

2007-08-23T21:25:00.001-05:00

We went over to Chicago to shoot our friend Jordan and his now wife Amie's wedding. We left at around 7:30am out from Detroit, and boy was it a beautiful day. The more we drove towards Chicago, the more it was looking as though it was going to rain. It was not a good sign, considering it was an "outdoor" wedding. Amie lives on a lot of property, so she really wanted to have her wedding at her home and outdoors. The rain came down strong, but in the distance you could see the sun, so they held off the wedding for an extra 20mins. so that the Kasper's could have their perfect day. It was absolutely beautiful! The rain didn't stop this couple and all their guests to enjoy each other. We hope that they had a great honeymoon as well, due to the fact that they went to Costa Rica and that hurricane hit somewhere around there.

Todd and I had a great time and were very blessed to have been a part of the Kasper's day!

Here are some from their day, the rain actually made the ground a lot greener which made the photos great!

Finally some of Tyler and Rachel Haney!

2007-08-20T16:39:00.001-05:00

Yes finally some of our good friends Tyler and Rachel! They had a beautiful wedding and I wish I had my 5D to have shot this, but that's ok! We had fun, and yes that really is a fly on his nose on the 4th to last one.

Congrads again guys!

I love my new camera!!!

2007-08-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

Well... I got to use my new camera for the first time this weekend to shoot a wedding we had in Ithaca, MI. It was a very small town, but a very BIG wedding! I didn't have a lot of time to work on their photos yet, but couldn't help but scanning through. We have Tyler and Rachel's we are still trying to finish. But I wanted to post a couple to see the cabability of this new guy. I hope they get better through time, it was a bit frustrating because I didn't have much time to play around with it. But it's a learning experience.

New Camera!!!

2007-08-08T17:59:00.001-05:00

I'm soooooooo excited!!!

Todd and I were talking about getting a camera, but not much came about it.... UNTIL... recently we were really considering it.

I came home tonight and after dinner I was doing dishes and Todd said "Do you want your suprise?" I had no clue, I thought it might be something like a doggy toy because we are going to look at puppies on Sunday. But low and behold it was.....

It's probably not that exciting to some people.... but others it might be really nice!!! I'm soooo excited!!!

Tyler and Rachel Haney!

2007-08-05T15:19:00.000-05:00

We just want to congratulate the Newlyweds.... Tyler and Rachel Haney.

Sorry only one photo right now... I'm really behind on editing and how much I want to edit theirs... I just have to refrain and hold off. Don't worry I'll post so everyone can check out their day!

We love you both, and both Todd and I were so glad to be a part of your special day!

Trying out the Sr. Photos

2007-07-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

Well... as fun as weddings can be, it was really nice to sneak in a Sr. Photo shoot this past week. A couple of my lifeguards are getting ready to turn seniors in high school and I'm coming in handy for them, as they are coming in handy for a nice bunch of models. Crazy, how we were once seniors and now here it is, done with high school and college. HA! But to be honest...it was really fun! We had a blast... but we got rained out about 30 mins. in, so we will have to do more again. She was a bit shy at first, but really started to warm up. I'm adding just a couple... I haven't had much time to work on them due to all the wedding editing we are still working on before our big overload coming August! Agghhh...

Tyler and Rachel

2007-07-09T06:42:00.000-05:00

Sunday was my productive day, not only did I get our new logo done... but I also had a photo session with Tyler and Rachel... plus I worked on all their photos! I was probably the laziest ever though... sitting at the computer almost all day long. Yikes... good think I'm working out the rest of the week!!! ha! But we went to the place where we got our wedding photos done, so we were somewhat familiar with the location. It was quite toasty outside though, but we had a great time. Tyler and Rachel are getting married in August and Todd and I went to school with both... Tyler actually roomed with Todd his last yr. at IWU. Fun times! But we had a wonderful time, and it's always nice to see old friends. We are excited for their wedding!!!

New Veldman Photo Logo

2007-07-09T06:29:00.000-05:00

Well... I worked really hard yesterday (Sunday) on a ton of stuff to get caught up. One of the projects was to make a new logo for "Veldman Photo" our new business name, so we could make business cards and put it on our site. I was picturing a really cool logo, possibley with a signature, similar to how A. Faunce Photography was.... but no luck. Could not get one that I liked. Sooo... I played around with some other stuff and to be honest I'm not exactly a wizzzz at Adobe Illustrator so I had to just play with the fonts and came up with this.....

Let me know your thoughts. We put it on our website, but it's just a little different due to some problems we kept having.

Balloon Fest!

2007-07-03T17:17:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post this a few weeks ago, but we've been super busy lately that to be honest I haven't had any spare time to. But Todd is running late from work so I have a few minutes before the big fireworks display tonight in Birmingham. Anyways... a few weeks ago Todd and I went out to this Balloon show, or whatever you call it. There were like 40 different balloons, each of them were so unique. We had a great spot we parked at and just watched them lift off.... one after another after another after another... we didn't know how many their were at first. I was imagining maybe 5 or so... but turns out it was more towards 40 than 5. Haha! Here are some of the lovely photos. It was a gorgeous evening as well... so the sky was awesome! But I realize how hard it is to take some photos from down below. The one with the cat face was my favorite... so cool!

That's me being funny, of course...haha!

Matt and April (Tanner) Vassau

2007-07-01T18:32:00.000-05:00

We got the oppurtunity to shoot another good friend of ours wedding. Boy was it nice to see them. We actually haven't seen April (Tanner) and Matt since our wedding back in November. That's been awhile, but it was a great day! Their wedding was in the suburbs of Chicago at this beautiful mansion. The ceremony was outdoors, and a morning wedding @10am. It was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! The weather was perfect, and so was the couple. They were so happy, and it was nice to see another one of our friends get married. I was double excited to not only photograph a friend, but with my NEW LENS. I was amazed by the difference a piece of glass can make. I am attaching just some random shots that I took. I'm still overloaded with two other weddings, busy with my job at Lifetime since it's summer we are super busy, plus working on our front room, and trying to keep up with daily household tasks, PLUS... trying to keep my garden up. Agghhh... I don't have time for it all. But soon enough I hope it all slows down so I can actually feel like I'm accomplishing things. Ha!... anyways... all in all it was a great day!

New Lens!

2007-06-29T05:35:00.000-05:00

I was so excited that I finally got a new lens. I've been needing/wanting mostly a new one for a while now. It's like a never ending battle. Once you get one, you always want a new one. But with prices of them, it really is a one a year kind of thing for us. But anyways... I was so excited the first day because it was new and I loved the depth of field on it. All the background is sooo blurry, which is cool. The only other lens that gets that blurry is my telephoto, and you can't exactly shoot good portraits with that. Ha! Anyways... so I just planted some yellow and purple flowers out front and took a couple shots of them. One of the bottom purple one is cool b/c there is a bug on it, and you can see it clear when it's bigger than a couple inches! haha! I will have fun this weekend shooting April and Matt's wedding with it! I'll definitely post some shots when I get back.

North Carolina Trip!!

2007-06-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

Todd and I were so excited because we were asked to go to North Carolina with Todd's parents and some of their friends. When Todd was younger, he went every single year, until he was about a sophomore in high school, to NC's Outer Banks. His parents still go, but since Todd and I are married now, we were able to go together. For those of you who are not familiar with the Outer Banks, it's on an island on the coast. You have to cross a bridge in order to get onto the island and then drive up the coast. We stayed in Corolla, which is almost to the end of the island, about a mile before where the road ends and past the road you must have 4 Wheel Drive in order to drive on the sand, and you must time yourself with the tide. Pretty cool! That's where all the wild horses are and roam free, one of the very few places in which horses still do that. It was cool! But we rented the grey house, which was right across the street from the coast. The other house that I'm pointing at, was right across the street. It was absolutely gorgeous! But our house was nice as well... they all were in the $1+million dollar range, we found that out because a couple of them were for sale and had flyers out front. It was so nice!

The first day there, we got in later in the day, but still enough time to walk the beach. What a beautiful place to be!

We got up super early one morning to watch the sun rise. We decided to go down to the island where the road ends and walk up the beach to see if we saw any wild horses. As you can see the tire tracks in the first photo, that's the road pretty much, and when the tide is up... it's even harder to drive on. That's what I meant when I said time your trips with the tide. It was really beautiful and peaceful down at the end. We tried to walk to see some of the houses, but realized that they were further than we thought. So that's us at 5ish in the morning. Ha!!

We drove down the coast to this light house, which was extremely cool to see. There was one by our house, but it was just a red brick, not as cool as this one. The sky was beautiful this day. But for some reason... they have it fenced around with a bright orange plastic fence, which ruins the whole photo. So black and white it was. We used this photo for a lovely father's day gift, it was a hit! After seeing the couple lighthouses that I did, which I've never seen one in person before this... I'm so fascinated by them. I think they are beautiful!

We did do some fancying up to go shopping around the little shops. They were so neat. I got a few things, but the funnest part was later that evening when we went down to the beach with a flashlight. Allllllll the crabs come out. They are called ghost crabs, hinse the white shell. They are hilarious, running sideways. But you go to the beach with a flash light and shine the light and it scares them... they go speeding off. But the funny part is they are all over. They dig holes throughout the day and hide out in them then at night they are wild. Ha! They don't hurt you, just funny to watch! That was pretty funny.

But all in all the trip was great. 80's and sunny every day, except the first and the last day we were there. Made us want to stay longer! We had to cut the trip early due to a wedding we had on Saturday, but it was so nice to relax for the week. It felt great, but a week is never long enough. We would love to make this an annual trip, so if you are interested in renting with us we would love to get some people together to make the trip. What a beautiful vacation! I'll probably put more landscape photos up when I actually have time to work on them. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Eric McGowan

2007-06-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

We had the pleasure of shooting my good friend Jennifer, and her now husband Eric's wedding this past weekend. We traveled over to Chicago for the event. They got married at the only Baha'i Temple in North America. It was beautiful! It had these beautiful gardens out in front and the building, as you can see in some of the photos was amazing. They were very beautiful as well, and made a stunning couple. There were no photos allowed during the ceremony, so I'm just adding some of the lovely couple. They day was gorgeous, but mighty hot and humid. Both Todd and I were drained at the end of the day, from a combination of the heat, the drive, and just working all day. But it was worth it! We had a BLAST! We even got to see some old friends, who I never get to see much since I moved. But all in all it was great!

My First (and probably last) Marathon

2007-05-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

Well.... the LONG awaited LONG run I wanted to try and defeat, came and went, and I'm not sure if I will ever try again. But it was quite the workout. I can now say that I have ran a Marathon. It was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I'm proud to say that I finished. My goal was to finish in 4 hours and 30 mins. I thought it was a reasonable time, for changing my training program from a half marathon to a whole marathon 6 weeks ago. I originally was going to just do a 1/2 but it was full... so I said I'll just do the full. HA! I came out strong... maybe even a bit too strong, doing the first 1/2 in 1 hr. 58 mins. I had another 13.1 miles to go. I was still going strong until I couldn't feel my lower body. My quads were in the most pain I have probably ever been in, and I'm not exactly sure how they were moving to be honest, and I was only at mile 18. That's when I really felt the pain... I slowed down quite a lot. I didn't stop, which a lot of people around that time did, I kept going, and around mile 23, I found some deep energy that carried me through to the finish... Finishing in 4 hours 22 mins, which was under my goal time! Todd was there to be the supportive husband, watching and cheering me do the long 26.2 miles. I'm adding some of the photos from the long haul that he took. After the race, I couldn't really move my legs. My quads were so tight that I am having a hard time walking. I heard that I'll be sore for about a week, and I totally believe it. I can only walk a little bit, and the strain that all the miles had on my legs were quite something. I'm not sure what I'm going to do next, but I will make sure to train a bit longer for it. But YEAH.... I FINISHED 26.2 MILES!!!!

This is at the start, as you can see I'm smiling... haha!

When I was booking at mile 7.

Finishing on the track with TONS of people cheering for you. It was awesome!

That's me finishing! (My actual finish time was 4:22, they didn't start your time until you crossed the starting line and I was in the back)

I got a medal!! Just for finishing... how cool! I'm gonna sport that thing for a while- JK!!!

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragment! Love you all!

Our Remodeled Bathroom

2007-05-24T20:55:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post this for awhile now, but have been quite lazy in this area. Lots of other stuff is going on... since it's been nice out we've been working our evenings outside instead of inside in front of the TV... it's actually been kinda fun being able to enjoy the outside. But a bit tooooo hot for me. I'm good with 70 degree weather. But it's been hitting 90 a bit too early for me. But oh well.... We decided to change the old bathroom from a dookie brown... as you can see here....

But we did a lot of work to get to the end. They had these soap dishes that were built into the wall and also medicine cabinets built into the wall as well, so we tore them out. We found some old newspaper in the wall from 1959, Crazy! We're not sure why they used newspaper back there... maybe cheap insulation? No clue... But we tore it all out, and sanded it all down, patched the holes, added 4 outlets because it originally only had ONE, and painted the walls and cabinets.

So in the end... it looks something like this.... the blue looks better in person, I couldn't get a good shot of the actual color, but it's a nice lightish-aqua blue.

Lots of work... and I've decided that I really hate painting. HA!

Love you all!!!

Owl on our Balcony

2007-05-15T21:04:00.000-05:00

This was a few weeks ago, but I wanted to post this because I thought it was VERY interesting. Todd and I were sitting in our apt one Sunday afternoon and I thought I saw a cat on our balcony. It caught me off guard, and I said... "NO WAY!!! It's an owl!" It was very odd. It was really cute and we wanted to pet it, but didn't want to scare it away. So we got the camera out and took some photos. It sat there very calmly for probably an hour and a 1/2, then it just flew away. We did try and throw some lunchmeat out there, but don't think he likes turkey. Haha!! Oh well... it was very cool!

Alright... I'm going to get the bathroom photos ready to post. We are finished!!! So they will come next!

Love you!!! Mwaaaa....

Family Photo Shoot

2007-05-13T06:23:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful photo shoot this past week with a couple of our friends here in Michigan. Trevor and Michelle Prisk, and the rest of the Prisk kids all wanted to do something special for their Mama for Mother's Day.... so Todd and I went out and took some photos of them. It was a beautiful day and the sky looked absolutely amazing! They were great models, and had fun as well! Here are some of the shots we took. We had also had a great time... it was good to see our friends! We hope Mama Prisk enjoys those photos :)

Lots of Love to you all!!!

We Bought a House!!!

2007-04-30T19:54:00.000-05:00

It's OFFICIAL.... Todd and I are now for the first time ever home owners! How exciting!!! We are thrilled and are really eager to begin moving in. We just closed on it today! What a beautiful day it was to close on it too... PLUS it's Todd's Birthday! What a great gift! We both were all smiles from ear to ear. After we closed on it, we went over and took photos and video taped it so that we would have photos/video kind of "before and after." We plan to do some changes.

The house was built in 1959 and the original owners were living there up until December when they went to visit their daughter in Minnesota and she talked them into staying there. Soooo... their son, Mark, and daughter in law, Natasha, were selling it for them. They were such a wonderful couple to work with. Both were sooo sweet and they even had flowers sent to us for when we got to the house we would get them.

But the house is a great home and one that we can "grow" into. It's 4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1620 sqft., 2 car garage. It's definitely going to have some empty rooms in it for awhile, but as time goes by it will be filled. I added just a couple photos, there's so much more to the house. The photo with just Todd, he's standing next to a tree called a "Harry Walkers Widdlestick" or something on those lines... I can never remember the name, but I guess that tree and the Japanese Maple in front are worth between $2,000-$3,000. Crazy eh?! But they are beautiful!

I will keep everyone updated on the house. It's all new and exciting so I'm sure we'll have tons to keep everyone up on.

Love you all!!

Prayers to Virginia

2007-04-18T19:29:00.000-05:00

My heart breaks for this tragedy.

I pray that God was in the hearts of the people killed. I pray that they had relationships with Jesus and knew him on an intimate level. I'm kind of spooked by this, I'm sure a lot of other people can relate to those feelings. I think I've been reading so much about it, that I feel like I was there... I keep thinking, what would I have done? Would I be playing dead on the floor, would I be shot in the body somewhere, would I be shot and killed, would I have tried to run? My heart hurts as I'm sure God's heart hurts so badly, such an awful thing to happen to all of His children. All of the people killed were all so unique, such a reminder on how God created everyone to be so different. What an amazing God He is to have created you and I, such a wonderful reminder that He gave us life and many blessings to surround the life. But in this fallen world is hurt and pain... like now. One day we will not feel this... I'm praying that all the people that were affected will find comfort in the ONE true and real God, the father of our Lord Jesus who came and died for us and our sins.

Much love to everyone!

The Blog Begins...

2007-04-14T19:38:00.001-05:00

Well... my goal for after we got married was to start a blog so that the people who wanted to know what was going on, and cared about us but may not be able to keep in touch on a daily basis would be able to just check up and see what was new. But... life happens and you just get busy. I'm really going to keep up on this now though... Hopefully!!! :)

Anyways... the wedding was magical and our honeymoon was so relaxing! Christmas was great... flew by... along with New Yrs. Jan, Feb, and March all came and went... and it's now the middle of April.

The middle of March, Todd got a promotion at his current work place. For those of you who don't know, Todd works at a place called BBDO Detroit, they do all the Advertising/Marketing for Daimler Chrysler. He used to just route all the advertising that went out in the Nation for Chrysler... like all of those "Rock'em Sock'em Robot" commercials, he made sure that everyone that needed to make changes did so before they were published or ran on the air. But now... he got promoted and accepted an offer to go to the International side of Dodge, they do all the ads for different countries, which is cool and he's enjoying it a lot! He's doing great and is well liked by all the people he works with... but that's Todd for ya! :)

I'm still working at Life Time Fitness as the Dept Head of Aquatics at the Troy facility. My lifeguards are great, and I am really enjoying things. In December, I auditioned to teach Aqua Aerobics classes and I got my own class! I was pretty excited! The last couple months I've been teaching my own Aqua class, and have been improving greatly. It's weird how silly you fell at first when you are up there in front of 20+ people, but how comfortable it gets to be and then your personality just comes out. I find myself getting so into the music that I just want to break down and do some dance moves. HA! But I hold it in... it definitely is a great workout up there. I'm really enjoying it, and I'm working on getting my ACE Certification in Group Fitness. My goal is to take it by November. It is a looooot of studying and memorizing, like Physio/Anatomy all over again. I haven't taken that stuff since high school. But it's going well.

I'm 6 weeks away from my first marathon. I decided since I enjoy running, I was going to train for a 1/2 marathon for the end of April... and about 3 weeks ago I realized that it was a Trail 1/2 Marathon, and I hadn't been training on hills. So I looked up others... and I found one the 26th of May in Traverse City, MI. BUT... the 1/2 was full and the marathon was still open, and I said I would up my milage and just do it. My longest run so far has been 16 and it wasn't awful. I did it all on the treadmill, which sucked, but it wasn't awful. At mile 14, my knees really ached, but I pushed through it. I'll keep you all up on how it goes. But for now... just prayers is what I need.

Todd and I are still doing the photography thing. We are updating our website, and it should be up within the next couple weeks. We did change our business name from A.Faunce Photography to Veldman Photo. We were going to keep the "Faunce" name, but just seemed appropriated to change since legally I'm a Veldman now. Our summer is swamped with weddings though. One after another, it's going to be very time consuming. To be honest, I'm not looking forward to all the busy-ness, but it'll be fun! I haven't taken photos in a really long time, which is bad. Sometimes I wonder what my real passion is... fitness or photography. I guess it could be both, but I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with both. But that's something I'm giving to God.

I will now keep everyone up on what's going on, and hope that you enjoy it. If not... I'm sorry! ;)

We love you all!