The Silver Lining

2009-06-14T06:58:00.001-05:00

click here for the redirect and you're good as gold (or silver, perhaps)
see you at our new place . . .

amy + kim

new continent, new look, new site!

2009-06-04T22:33:00.002-05:00

this is the VERY LAST silverbox BLOGSPOT post.
but don't be sad.
because we're in poland now with our "win our hearts, win your wedding" winners and thought geez what better time to introduce a new silverbox look?
click right here and you'll be directed to our new Silver Lining home page and get a glimpse of what's up this weekend in warsaw (as well as how we've grown.)

we LOVE your comments, so head on over and leave some love.

PS our first images from poland were posted only to amy's facebook site. take a look and just in case you're not already, hey, wanna be my friend?

Vivat Na Zdrowie
~ amy (and kim, too!)

amy + ryan :: i'm yours!

2009-05-29T10:23:00.011-05:00

amy + ryan . . . married underneath a houppa perched on the bluffs at Les Bourgeois Vineyards overlooking the Missouri River.

amy and ryan's wedding day was as heartfelt and moving as a day can possibly be. rich in spirit,
rich in laughter, rich in love, rich in jewish traditions . . . their houpa, first outside:

and then, when the rain teased us, we moved inside:

signing the ketubah before the ceremony:

jumping over the broom (great action shots by annika) at ceremony's end:

and at the start of the reception, sharing bread:

followed by toasts from loved ones, including a moving tribute to ryan from his brother:

amy and ryan both got ready at the Schoolhouse B&B in Rocheport . . . it's a private, lovely spot
both indoors and out. this first shot of guys getting ready is by karen:

and then we took advantage of the B&B's beautiful grounds for a private moment:

and time with friends:

amy and ryan's day was glorious! It was difficult to choose pictures for this blog entry; there
was so much more to their day than what a handful of photos could portray. So be sure to
watch their wedding slideshow to see it all unfold.

~kim

adam + caroline :: here comes the sun!

2009-05-26T12:03:00.014-05:00

adam is a true entreprenuer with more ideas up his sleeve than your average guy . . . he's practically a
household name in columbia . . . chances are the kids in your life have seen his magic show or you've popped
into one of his latest ventures on Elm Street: the Upper Crust and Cold Stone Creamery.

adam's claim to fame in MY world, however, was that he is ashley patton's (formerly ashley guy's) brother . . .
i shot ashley and chase patton's wedding 2 year ago, and adam single-handedly decorated
Stephens College's Firestone Baars Chapel so that his sister and chase's ceremony was set against a
wonderland of white flowing fabric.

so I wondered: how was someone as bright, creative and just-so-darn-nice as adam ever going to meet his
match?! well, of course, he's succeeded at that too! caroline shines bright! they'll tie the knot in St. Louis next
october.

but in the meantime . . . we went on an engagement shoot adventure:

the last part of our session took place during that sun-kissed "golden hour" just before sunset . . . brides and
grooms TAKE NOTE!: if you want the best possible wedding day pictures, plan your day so that we can make
pictures of the two of you just before sunset . . . it's a dreamy time and a dreamy look:

and a bit of sun flair fun:

adam and caroline, congrats on your engagement and thanks for choosing silverbox! oh, and I almost forgot:
see the slideshow for more golden hour engagement prictures!

~kim

elizabeth + wes :: engaged!

2009-05-23T02:20:00.020-05:00

the conversation started the way it starts with so many SilverBox couples:

Q: is there a place you might like to go that's meaningful to you two? --

. . . a place where when you look back at these pictures, you'll have a story to tell your kids??

A: well for our first date, Wes took me to an outdoor play at Maplewood Barn Theatre.

PERFECT!

seemed even more perfect when they told me THIS:

the night wes proposed, he decided to "re-create" their first date;

BUT it was winter and there's not a whole lot of outdoor theatre in the colder months --

so what's a guy to do?

try this: how about set up an outdoor projector and screen on the lawn!

he had me at "outdoor projector" -- wow!

and that night on the big screen before an audience of 2: Singing in the Rain

[and you'll be "happy again!" when you take a look at this slideshow btw!]

and another wow . . .

. . . oh did it ever look like rain the afternoon that elizabeth and wes were driving into town for this shoot;

but nope, not until we had just finished our last bite of ice-cream and were walking out of Sparky's did the first drop fall.

but most perfect and wow-filled of all?

the joy and giddiness in their faces when wes rolls his eyes to the sky with a laugh and elizabeth wrinkles up her nose.

some couples just seem to fit together in the way they reach out for each other, cuddle close and snuggle in.

and yep, elizabeth and wes are most certainly this "made for each other and fit so perfectly" kind.

just call it " a glorious feelin' (as you walk down the lane!) "

~ take a peek at this slideshow and enjoooooooy the long weekend!

helllo summertime!!!

hugs, all!

amy

laugh and play with jeremy + tonya :: engaged!

2009-05-18T12:50:00.012-05:00

oh my goodness it's hard to keep a straight face with jeremy + tonya around . . .

loving, touching, squeezing + laughter everywhere you look!

colorful through and through!

and that tonya may soon have a second career as a meteorologist.

tonya + jeremy drove into columbia for this shoot and it had rained all week long,

but with an eye on the sky, tonya kept me posted all day and true to her prediction, the world was no less than luscious!

[but JUST IN CASE we'd ended up with drizzles, i'd formulated a plan for under-cover sure-shot color.

and these 2 were totally game:

inspired by jeremy's racing hobby (and success!) they did THIS all on their own.

jeremy redefines spontaneity!!

[my goal here was simply to keep up]

kim and i look so forward to documenting their upcoming powell gardens wedding and bet our bottom dollar that it will be full of color, laughs, love and surprise!

what a hoot!

drew + sarah :: engaged!

2009-05-13T18:17:00.009-05:00

drew + sarah . . . about to embark on marriage, an out-of-state move, an advanced degree for
sarah and . . . a photography career for drew! i'm so happy and excited for you two!

(if there's anything that could possibly make me even more excited to photograph a wedding . . .
it would be photographing a photographer's wedding!) check back in late june to see drew +
sarah say their "i do's".

but before that, check out a few of my favorites from their engagement session
AND
be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom 'cause we experimented with some "one-light" (off
camera strobe) pictures at dusk that were worth hauling tripod + umbrella across the creek for
AND
. . . there's a slideshow too ~ click here!

~kim

brandy + aric :: married and best friends!

2009-05-11T14:29:00.014-05:00

i knew from photographing brandy + aric's engagement session that their wedding would be both lovely AND spirited . . . and . . . I was right! I'm gonna keep the words brief, 'cause I promised brandy and aric I'd post pictures tonight! so scroll through for a sneak peak at a few photos, but then . . . be sure to click here to see their wedding slideshow.

brandy dressed at the Olivet Christian Church, where the ceremony was held, and these are a few of my favorites:

brandy and her friends have a flair for fashion . . .

and brandy's first wish, once she was dressed and ready, was to spend a private moment with her father . . .

also, we've had more and more couples opting to see one another BEFORE the ceremony. brandy and aric did that . . . it was a chance for them to breath deeply, to get out the pre-ceremony jitters, to connect with one another for the first time that day in an intimate, quite space AND to create pictures:

the reception? as lively as it was lovely! aric is a talented, hands-on DJ . . . in fact, he and brandy met at a friend's wedding that he was DJ-ing:

and one of my favorites pictures of the day . . . made by karen who assisted . . . is brandy's mom watching the father-daughter dance:

Congrats, brandy and aric!

And a note about their slideshow . . . lots more to see AND to hear . . . aric recorded the song he wrote and sang to brandy during the ceremony . . . here's aric singing "today I marry my best friend" at the ceremony (great photo, Karen!) . . . beautiful singing, aric!

Have you clicked on the slideshow yet with aric's very own song? . . . let me tell you, it is top 40 material!

~kim

wileyware for weddings . . . and birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day . . . EVERY DAY!

2009-05-07T15:12:00.001-05:00

how about a little "love at first sip?!"

that's my daughter, sophie (above) checking out a brilliant, iridescent hand-blown glass designed (and this is the best part . . . ) by my dear DEAR friend and fellow artist conspirator, Marcia Wiley. Yep, marcia is a glass artist and she's created these incredible FUNCTIONAL works of art.

These glasses are AMAZING. I've now got a kitchen cabinet full of them and I'm still lusting for more.

Here's the scoop about these glasses:
~they are called "wileyware"
~they come in various shapes and colors,
~they make PERFECT wedding and anniversary gifts
and
~YOU CAN NOW ORDER THEM via Marcia's website at: www.wileyware.com
(or hey, if you want to place a special, custom order . . . like with gift wrapping or engraving OR if you want to set up a wedding registry, you can call marcia directly at 206-706-6051)

marcia and her son, north (i'm his proud godmama . . . and he's featured with sophie below), came to Missouri for a visit (she lives in Seattle and I try not to be too jealous about that . . . 'cause really, I DO love Missouri), and we hosted a little get-together so folks could see and touch the wileyware.

marcia, creator of wileyware, laughing out loud:

north (above) is holding a "mini" wileyware glass and sophie is holding a "fluted" wileyware glass. by the way, both these sizes are great for juice in the morning OR wine at night!

below are friends with some larger wileyware glasses:

thanks to everyone who came that day AND
thanks to friends catey and jim who lent us their beautiful kitchen so that we could hang out in light-filled space AND
thanks, with lotsa love, to marcia for bringing wileyware (and my godson, north) into the world.

~kim

karen + john :: sweet stolen glances

2009-05-04T13:37:00.008-05:00

oooh the THRILL of documenting THIS kind of a glance between a couple in love right before saying their "i do's":

karen + john were full of stolen glances and BIG biG BIg smiles all the livelong day. and by the way . . . i was extra excited to photograph both ceremony AND reception at the historic Muelbach Hotel lobby, located in the Kansas City Marriott Downtown. amy and i have been adding a bit of indiscreet-but-dramatic lighting at receptions, and I was able to do the same during the ceremony:

karen + john made some delightful choices, including a sand ceremony (this shot was made by abbie brown, who assisted me marvelously that day):

and here is why the Marriott's Muehlbach Hotel can be a GREAT choice. not only is it lovely and historic, but you can do everything in ONE location:

~spacious, light-filled rooms where folks can get ready (and speaking of sweet glances, how about this one between john and his mom?!):

~classic old stairway, floor tiles, light fixtures that make a beautiful ceremony space:

~which can be converted into an equally lovely reception space:

~and here's what we were doing while the Muehlbach staff converted the space. guests enjoyed a cocktail hour in another part of the hotel, while karen + john and their bridal party explored parts of kansas city:

WOW! doesn't karen look luscious here?!

another great shot by abbie:

and while we sometimes hesitate to make posed, looking-straight-at-the-camera shots, I could not resist this one . . . I love how windswept and beautiful karen looks:

~and then, back to the converted reception space for food, friends, dancing and . . . CUPCAKES!

and one of my favorite ring shots . . . by abbie!

Lots more from the day to see . . . check out karen + john's wedding slideshow here!

~kim

baba + tad :: married!

2009-04-30T07:35:00.033-05:00

if serendipity is a fortunate discovery you make by accident while looking for something else entirely,

what's it called when unfolding before your eyes appears exactly what (in your wildest dreams!) you were hoping to find?

baba and bridesmaids crossed the quaint little bridge from the hawthorne house heading to the chapel. there's nothing directed or posed about this picture ~ i was simply crossing the bridge from the other direction, having just come from taking some camera equipment to the ceremony site. love how each bridesmaid is positioned, including even the spacing and movement of the blue dresses (worn by baba's sisters) within the sea of green. love, too, how that railing pulls your eyes in and how the wee bit of camera tilt provides some dance to the image, but that the picture is still grounded vertically.

when moments like this appear, we hear the hallelujah chorus in our heads, no kidding.

and when something works, stick with it!

same bridge, same idea, still with cute girls (but this time, the 2 moms with dads in hand)

what a day! what wonderful people!! what a perfect location!!! what a fun party!!!! guests came from around the world to be with tad + baba and it's easy to see why.

(a new contender for my favorite family group picture ever:)

so much to love!

can i just say that kansas city's hawthorne house is an exquisite place for a celebration ~ so white and airy:

and a locale even more scrumptious with the addition of hundreds upon hundreds
of dainty and delicious brazilian sweets that baba and her mom and sisters had
spent the week making for guests. amazing and delectable!

and how beautiful is this girl! beauty inside and out in the truest sense:

. . . down to the tiniest of details

as i was creating the images you see above, look what annika miller saw (and captured perfectly!) from the corner of the room:

baba had asked her dad to walk her down to where she'd have a private moment with tad.

these pictures not only show how beautiful baba is (and the cuteness of her sweet dad!)
but how very lovely the hawthorne house setting proves to be from every angle

and just look at these expressions as she turned while tad was walking toward her:

love it, love it, love it!!!

moments later annika and i were close enough to hear tad say

"i so want to grab you right now but i don't want to mess you up" ~

to which baba (a SilverBox kind of girl!) said "oh, just DO IT!"

we LOVED and really utilized hawthorne house's sweeping porch.

one of the things we most loved about this venue is that it offers a lovely and quiet place to get dressed,

a beautiful and spacious reception room with sprawling grounds and ALSO a charming chapel.

t's all right there!

my favorite picture from inside the chapel is probably this one that annika created;

another one of those unplanned, unposed, yet perfect moments ~ and wow, what lovely light
(great seeing, annika miller ~ just tremendous!)

and did i share a detail from inside the ballroom yet? the party was getting started as the sun began to set.

and here's an ballroom overview shot:

aaah, the golden hour from the window

wait, all these images and you have yet to see how very cute tad is, too!

i'm working on their wedding slideshow this very minute and again another realization:

WAIT! you've yet to see the party masks!

much to come via baba + tad's highlight slideshow,

but i don't want to wait one more second to thank and thank again

the fey family who is as gracious and kind as any group of people you'll ever meet,

annika miller for consistently making so many incredible pictures and for her amazing ability to mind-read,

and especially for alex + tim snyder for introducing us to baba + tad in the first place.

all my love to each of you. my life is richer because you're in it and oh how grateful i am.

hugs, friends!

amy enderle

"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and the sharing of pleasures"
~ kahil gibran

everything changes :: PLUS meet grace + levi

2009-04-23T11:30:00.012-05:00

remember our posts about our friend sarah?
[the inspiration and love behind Hold that Hug??]
we'd like to take this chance to invite you
to participate in this June 5th Devner, Colorado event.
Tickets are now on sale online, in a limited supply.
AND interested in submitting a picture for the photo contest?
(DO IT! only requirement is the theme: Everything Changes)
Email entries to everythingchanges@becking.com.
Concert lineup looks to include Hazel Miller, Col. Redbone, Velvet Elvis, Sonic Junkies, and Confunkcious.
Doors open at 6:30, show ends when the show ends.

Facebook page on the whole thing is here.
and speaking of changes, amy is now a facebook user, too (and won't you be my friend?)

and speaking of NEW FRIENDS.
oh my goodness how i loved meeting grace + levi!
it was a kirksville shoot which means i didn't just meet new friends,
i caught up with older dear ones, too
AND came home with (nearly a) trunkfull of frozen ronzas.

it had snowed
(and snowed! and snowed!!)
the day before ~
my what crazzzzzzy weather
we were having, so this shoot
has a far greater number of
"interiors" than is the
SilverBox norm.

but i'm LOVING the interaction
between grace and levi.
and those great interior windows
offer such tremendous leading lines
(and shadows!!)

OK, to see even more, try out this
slideshow link.

and want to know ABSOLUTELY the MOST fun thing i've taken part in in MONTHS?
baba + tad's wedding -- no contest.
changes (etc) in my midst have kept me from processing and posting these incredible images as quickly as i'd hoped BUT . . . oh please hang with me just a wee bit more. pix from tad + baba's party will knock your socks off, guaranteed.

and a sneak peek will be posted later today. stay tuned!

and thanks to everyone for your kindness + patience ~
hugs!
amy

carissa + erik: steeped in cherry blossoms and love

2009-04-20T09:36:00.014-05:00

wow am I excited to share these engagement photos! Prepare yourself, i've posted an unusually large number of photos here, but we had an incredible afternoon of hanging out, photographing, soaking up the day together. Plus, there's a slideshow with even more pics . . . see it by clicking here.

the scoop? carissa + erik are marrying in St. Louis next Fall in the Missouri Botanical Gardens. in the meantime, they brought me to Washington D.C. (they live in virginia) to photograph their engagement session during DC's annual. . . Cherry Blossom Festival!

oh my gosh, was it ever so lovely: we were in snow flurries of cherry blossom petals . . . petals in our hair, on our clothes, in our mouths . . . if you haven't been to the cherry blossom festival in DC, I recommend you add it to your "list of things you WILL DO while here on earth." (next year's dates: March 27 - April 11, 2010).

by the way, here's what cherry blossoms look like up close:

and here are carissa + erik at our first cherry tree of the day . . . in Old Town Alexandria (where carissa and erik spent time together during earlier dating days)

we took a "photo stroll" through Old Town, stopping wherever we felt inclined . . . at a cobblestone street:

in a residential courtyard:

and oh how i loved being with carissa + erik. he described driving around one day after he'd begun dating carissa, feeling SO VERY LUCKY to have carissa in his life that: "i felt like i'd just won the lottery!" i could see that feeling in his eyes every single time he looked at her:

and the feeling was mutual . . . just look at carissa's expressive hands:

and our next stop: a convenience store on the way to ice cream and the landing:

and then we dashed to the national mall:

on our way to the tidal basin to stand with hundreds of others (from all over the world . . . we heard dozens of languages spoken around us) watching the sun set on the more than 2000 cherry trees along the shoreline:

we had a day of being just steeped in abundance: in cherry blossoms, in history, in love. (have you clicked on carissa + erik's slideshow yet . . . have you?!)

and coincidentally, the day after i returned home, my son showed me a fourth grade writing assignment he'd just completed . . . on the Cherry Blossom Festival! here's what i learned from my 4th grader:

Writer and photographer (yes! the cherry blossom festival was the brainchild of a photographer!) Eliza Scidmore dreamed of bringing fruitless cherry trees to Washington, D.C. after seeing her first one during a trip to Japan in 1885. She enlisted the help of First Lady Helen Taft. Eliza persisted for years, despite setbacks. And in 1912, the first 2 trees were planted and are still blooming today (even though life expectancy for these trees in only fifty years). Now thousands of the trees bloom each year in DC.

and now you know too. dream big.

~kim

erin + mitch and lucky stars

2009-04-10T18:06:00.023-05:00

EDITED TO ADD: (hooray!) THIS SLIDESHOW LINK.

and remember . . .

THIS is erin.
yep, she's hot.
and cool.
and has great friends.
(more on those friends in just a moment . . . )

want to know what else?
SUCH cute parents:

oh, AND recently, well, she married this really great guy.

meet mitch: the one in the front ;D

speaking of mitch, HE has very cute parents, too!
(and both bride and groom have terrific and downright kissable siblings, but goodness, some thing has gotta wait for the highlight show!)

OK - bonus pic coming up.
this is like "s-curve" galore.

LOVE IT!
she was awaiting, well:

hmmmmm......sillly ol' blogger is toying around with these colors;
oh well, they'll PRINT beautifully!!!!
and in the meantime, how about a few more details:

there's never a finer detail then ones found in this particular box.

(-- and how nice of mitch to present this to his bride in lovely outdoor daylight. thanks, man!)

and speaking of things we love.
spunky precocious flower girls top the list. what a great kid!!!

have we mentioned these top-notch venues yet?

Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City and the historic Meuhlebach Lobby downtown.

divine!

AND the scrumptious weather.
oh what a fabulous day to walk about with friends!!

and we just can't mention mitch + erin's friends without a nod to SilverBox couple anne + doug.
it was at THEIR wedding that mitch, erin and i first met.

(and oh i'm so happy to have had this opportunity to document the unfolding moments of mitch + erin's day.
PLUS with both kim wade AND annika miller on hand, you know i was thanking my lucky stars!)

let's see:
great couple.
unseasonably sunny weather.
historic + wonderful venues.
friends as lovely inside as out.
fabulous flower girl to keep us all on our toes.
wedding families that make me cherish everything about what being a family means
PLUS the best business partner and shooting assistant on the planet.

gosh if only there were a great lil' guest book (oh, wait!)

guess in sum it's best said that mitch and erin's wedding left not a single thing to be desired.
and soon SOON you'll be able to see their wedding highlight slideshow with so much more.

on a personal note; what a tough time it's been for me and my family. i'm not going to get into it here. there's a rule against blog-complaining i think. but lots of you are not only in the know, you've offered the very hugs we've needed.
thank you, thank you, thank you for the cards, the squeezes, the whole nine yards.
what an amazing village we find ourselves in.
am just hoping you feel that love flowing back to you b/c oh boy, please know that you are appreciated and so very loved.
life -- it's quite a journey.

enough rambling by me, i've got a slideshow to finish up -- check back soon.
AND JUST YOU WAIT until you see the next 2 engagement shoots kim and i will be posting this week. lots of good stuff going on.

hugs to all!

amy

we love it when that happens!

2009-03-30T09:13:00.004-05:00

judged by 9 award-winning and internationally-recognized photojournalists,
the Wedding Photojournalist Association just released contest winners.
aaah, we LOVE it when this happens!
LOVE IT for the inspiration we derive from the amazing images of our peers
and LOVE IT, TOO to see our name + images among the best of the best.

from the windiest wedding SilverBox has ever documented;
the judges liked this one of Candy and her sweet catch-you-if-you-fall dad, too:

need a break in your day? head on over to wpja and scroll through award-wining images. like us, you'll likely be in awe frame after frame.

and on another note: H-e-l-l-o-o-o-o-o Spring!!!!!

amy + kim

emily + jeff and unabashed-ness

2009-03-20T14:14:00.010-05:00

let's talk about UNABASHED emotion. emily + jeff's wedding was truly HEARTFELT . . . by emily, by jeff, by their parents . . . by their many many loved ones.

if there's one thing i will always remember from their wedding, it's this: the unabashed joy on emily's face the ENTIRE day.

emily told me at the reception: "this has been the best day of my life." no surprises there! I'd been witnessing emily's joy all day long . . . all weekend long in fact! starting with emily + jeff's rehearsal:

and the following morning at the salon:

even while getting dressed:

and can you tell they are related?! check out her father's first chance to see emily dressed and ready:

and here's emily, moments before meeting up with jeff for the first time that day (by the way, business partner-extraordinaire, amy enderle, made this picture, and it's perfect):

and now let's talk about the unabashed love on jeff's face . . . again, something we got to witness all day long. GROOMS, take a page out of jeff's book: let that bride of yours know just how much you love her and don't be afraid to let the world know it too!!!

here is jeff seeing emily for the first time (we are big fans of a "first glance" . . . a chance to see and be and re-connect with one another BEFORE the ceremony):

and check out the bottom, close-up picture amy made of emily reading a card jeff wrote to her . . .

and once again, amy rocked the house with this GREAT angle during the ceremony:

lots of laughter and lots of tenderness during the ceremony:

and on to the reception at The Foundry Art Center in St. Charles . . . now THIS is a fantastic place for a reception . . . twinkling lights and artwork all around:

these pictures are just the tip of the iceberg . . . i had to stop myself from including all 150+ of my favorite pictures from emily + jeff's wedding, trusting that you'd watch their slideshow to see more! so you will watch it, right?! :')

~kim

for the love of spring . . .

2009-03-04T09:53:00.015-06:00

5:30 pm yesterday evening.
i walked out of the grocery store
AND it wasn't the least bit dark.

8:30 am this morning.
on our way to school, AND
there was this little crocus
pushing its way up through
the not quite brown grass.

oh! can you believe it!!!
spring is nearly here!

and OUR favorite part:
hooray, hooray for the return of
W-E-D-D-I-N-G-S!

THESE pictures are from THIS PAST weekend.
that emily + jeff are SUCH A DELIGHT!

this was really "kim's wedding" but i tagged along for some second angles and to set up lights. and what fun i had!!!
[ and oh, take our word for it, that off-camera reception lighting makes all the difference! as do those lovely strings-of-lights hung throughout The Foundry Art Centre ~ SilverBox brides, let's add these "outdoor garden string lights" everywhere! ]

within 15 minutes of meeting her, i fell head over heels in love with emily sutterfield. THEN when she told me how + when she and jeff decided to "SilverBox it" ~ oh my talk about smitten! (and emily + friends: thanks for making us a VERB. whew THAT feels nearly as good as the spring sun's rays on our skin)

this is just a sneak peak. more to come -- so much more! -- of jeff + emily's celebration in the coming weeks.
in a word: MAGIC!

happy day, all!
amy enderle

_________________________

OOPS, EDITED TO ADD:

this just in from cool bridesmaid ashley:

Ashley (bridesmaid) has left a new comment on your post "for the love of spring . . . :

OMG amy! these look so good already, i CANNOT wait to see more.

ive been checking the blog all week hoping for a sneak peek.

we had so much fun hanging out with you guys!

AND I REALIZE I MIGHT HAVE MISLED [ALL OF] YOU:
those cool in color shots: those moments captured by kim wade, baby.
fyi: i made the black and white of megan and her dad, but it's the color images that cause my eyes to tear up ~
it's always a collaboration on so many levels. but i want to make sure kim gets full credit for these b/c when she saw them she called them "her best dancing shots ever" and mmmmm-mmmmmm-mmmmm they are SO DIVINE. anywho: ashley you'll call us for your wedding, right?! cause we loved the whole tribe of you so much, we're eager for a reunion ;)

sorry for any confusion ~ have a great and sunny day everyone!!!!
~amy

AND, see how i had to edit the post to add my own comment and it's trouble to see ashley's thoughts? well, that's one of the many reasons we're soon graduating from blogspot and movin on to bigger and better things -- in fact lots of changes coming soon, but Silver Lining readers will be the very first to know!

love in legoland

2009-02-28T07:47:00.009-06:00

weddings have such a pull on me that it appears i can't resist pulling out my camera even when it's....LEGO people getting married.

and did you know, there are weddings galore in San Diego's legoland! . . . lego limos, lego brides, lego CAMERAS, lego PHOTOGRAPHERS!

my folks treated my kids to a trip to San Diego last week, so i flew straight from the WPPI conference in Las Vegas to San Diego (and legoland's version of vegas).

after photographing the third legoland wedding (wow. . . did you know you can shoot a wedding every 3 minutes in miniland USA?) my kids just did some combination of laugh-roll-the-eyes-come-on-mom-let's-go-ride-roller-coasters.

between real vegas and miniland vegas . . . i think i preferred legoland's version . . . it just seemed . . . well . . . more innocent

and look, here's where we stayed in real vegas . . . but here it is in lego vegas . . . i felt like i'd never left

and then there was miniland Washington D.C. . . . jaw-dropping. Here's the inauguration . . . lego obama + michelle, lego aretha . . . amazing.

and now, back in the real missouri, amy and i are off to shoot emily + jeff's wedding in St. Louis. it's great to be back in a real wedding groove!

~kim

VEGAS, BABY!

2009-02-14T19:55:00.017-06:00

warm sassy greetings from SIN city! . . .

(. . . though we've found we're clearly more "midwestern girls" thru and thru.....

we tell you, las vegas would NOT be an empire if only amys + kims came to town.)

WPPI workshops, classes + print + album competitions brought us here for the week.

BUT yikes, internet access is RIDICULOUSLY expensive here at the MGM Grand (beware!) --

so we might be spotty in keeping you posted over the next few days, but pictures (and of course stories) will be shared!

in the meantime; take a look at what we created in the neon boneyard:

BIG VEGAS-SIZED THANKS to JB + DeEtte Salle :

-- workshop instructors extraordinaire (and new parents to be!)

who went above and beyond in setting up this neon boneyard gig.

and see that wedding chapel pic? don't you LOVE that vegas sky! AND whooot-whoot!!: no windshields to de-ice and scrape.

yep, vegas, baby!!

a geeky photographer thing?

2009-01-29T21:03:00.001-06:00

LOVED
loved
L@vEd!!!!!!
this image

and

JUST LEARNED
HOW IT WAS DONE!

wow. check it out!

(historical) hats off to you,
CHUCK KENNEDY and big thanks to the News Photographer Magazine for this story + letting us all see it online.

happy happy new year :: Amy + Ryan = first SilverBox engagement pictures of 2009

2009-01-25T09:12:00.012-06:00

amy + ryan found SilverBox via the internet and booked us by phone (they live in Oklahoma and are getting married in Missouri at Les Bourgeois Bistro this coming May).

So our engagement session was my FIRST chance to meet them in person. Hiking around Capen Park with the two of them on a VERY crisp winter afternoon reminded me again: "yes! THIS is why i love photography. THIS is why i'm photographing weddings!" Hangin' with new folks who right away feel like old friends . . . seeing old hangouts in fresh new ways. . . finding color and light in the dead of winter.

Check out a few of my favs:

and by the way . . . I'm blogging from Pittsburgh, where i'm visiting my dear friend, Helen.

If you've never been to Pittsburgh, you should visit! I LOVE this town.

why?!

~ banana and walnut pancakes at Pamela's restaurant in Squirrel Hill

~ photographs by Clyde Hare at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Clyde Hare spent 4 decades photographing urban renewal in Pittsburgh . . . he met Roy Stryker (who headed up the Farm Security Administration's efforts to document the Great Depression) at a photographic workshop in Missouri . . . Stryker later invited Hare to Pittsburgh to work with him on the Pittsburgh Photographic Library Project in the 1950s. Check out some of Hare's photographs here

~independent films at Regent Square Theater (we saw I've Loved You So Long)

~coffee at Trader Joe's

~belgian beer at Sharp Edge beer emporium

~Nationality Rooms at University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning . . . we're talking over 26 college classrooms designed to represent specific historical eras from countries all over the world: 5th century Greece . . . 18th century China . . .

~polish hill, squirrel hill, 3 rivers 446 bridges!

So much art and education and funk and energy. Is there a SilverBox couple who wants to get married in Pittsburgh? i'll be there in a heartbeat.

~kim

have you SEEN . . .

2009-01-22T21:51:00.004-06:00

[ note the suspense ]
.
.
.
soon (relatively soon) ~ SilverBox unleashes a new look. and we're nearly as excited as kids on christmas eve.
the designer who created it? a very clever canadian who's website + blog you've just gotta see. oh what fun!
and here's what i just found on this GIRL NAME FRED's blog:

obamicon.me! [or your favorite muppet for that matter]

fred reports first finding it HERE
on the "how about orange" blog.
so if you were looking for a little friday distraction,
look no further!:
1. remake yourself via Shephard Fairey.
2. see the cool things our newest designer friend concocts
AND the cool places she takes you; AND
3. get deliriously lost in the yummy how-about-orange . . .

whew! and you were merely going to peek at WE were up to.

no chance, baby.
ENJOY.

hugs to all!
amy + kim

. . . taking down the tree

2009-01-15T21:32:00.012-06:00

pathetic. simply pathetic. but i'm just not ready to let it go. i love it too much!
you see, we have what some would call an "artificial tree" --
we didn't USED to.
we were one of those families who would all go to the tree farm together.
all 5 of us would run off in different directions and spy "the perfect tree...THAT one"
(followed by hours of negotiations and attempts at compromise)
we actually came home with more than one tree on more than one occasion.
it just seemed easier that way.

but LAST YEAR, due to quite a few december weddings and some rather hairy work projects for paul,
it was getting awfully close to christmas and we still hadn't made it, as a family, out to the tree farm.
it was a tuesday, about 4 in the afternoon and 40 degrees and i felt like it was the best weather we were going to get for quite awhile. it was now or never time.

"kids" i said. "maybe we go out to the tree farm, right now, without dad"
(paul doesn't get home from work on a winter weekday 'till well after dark.)
"without dad?" the kids exclaimed, tears nearly forming in their eyes.
until zoe piped up with:

or we could just get that BIG WHITE ONE at TARGET?

why yes we could! i thought, making a quick u-turn and beeline to targheee

and it is a gem of a tree!
it is NOTHING like the artificial trees of my childhood.
it's a delight i tell you. --- and so darn cute with our wacky walls!

we're also a snowflake making family.
we hang them all over!
and THIS YEAR thought HEY, we could decorate the PRESENTS with these, too.

look closely at the bottom image below ~ see that lil baby tennis shoe strapped to a branch?
. . . we've saved our kids early shoes and now use them as ornaments.
it's gives us reason to get them out and hold those lil' bitty shoes every year. love that!

ok, and just a few from Christmas morning to follow.
[I'll save pictures of all of us giving my MOM perhaps the best present ever for another day.]

zoe collects nutcrackers.
she's always wanted one as big as she is.
ta-da!:

paul runs marathons now. crazy i know.
he just started in 08 i think (or maybe '07 was his first...hmmm) but i know for sure he has already qualified for boston. that seems big! and anyway, he'd been wanting this marathon poster framed.
thanks to avery coming home from germany + our little frame-it-right store down the street, "we" got it done!
(read: avery agreed to spend an afternoon dry-mounting, matting + assembling the frame)

paul LOVED it!

ave is an incredibly crafty one.
look what she MADE for tycho:

he was one happy boy christmas morning!

geez, not many pictures OF avery.
at 15, she's somewhat of a camera dodger . . . but oh, this is cute.
she created and gave zoe a shirley-temple-mix-kit: big box with sprite, grenadine, fancy glasses and look--maraschino cherries.
(complete with label she created . . . she's that kind of girl)

and here was an incredibly cool present avery brought home from germany for us all.
that max in his wolf-suit making mischief of one kind or another is a family favorite.
and WOW...to have a german copy!!!!
i can't even tell you how much we all loved this!

christmas day at our house involves opening presents, eating ronzas and playing games in pjs pretty much all day.
this year SORRY! was a big hit "it's a game of sweet revenge!"

let the wild rumpus start!

[aka Lassen Sie die wilde rumpus starten]

:) amy

a second look . . .

2009-01-13T23:53:00.004-06:00

don't you just love when you notice something that's been there all along, but for whatever reason, it just never really caught your eye before.

i guess i'd seen this picture kim documented this fall at the columbia country club.
but whoa.
i looked at it yesterday as we were going through some files and was just blown away by how very perfect it is.

kim: you are FABULOUS!!!!! thanks for being the world's best business partner :D

how cute is THIS!

2009-01-08T18:11:00.019-06:00

holy cow this was fun!

these are little business card size magnets ~

oh i can't wait to see (+ hold!) 'em!

and look at me developing a little photoshop skill. impressed?

too cute for words i tell you . . .

and speaking of cute words: here's a new Silver Lining thing.

but first (wait for it) -- the background story.

for many years instead of sending a "holiday letter" paul + i enclosed an "overheard" column ~ mostly just stuff our kids said that cracked us up.

we'd email each other conversations we had with the kids and then at year's end (or sometime within a few months of that) we'd sift and mine. fun times!

i actually had friends call last year and say "got your card, but where's Overheard?" ~ and well, we didn't get one enclosed THIS YEAR either . . . so i'm going to start sharing them here. good plan? see, this afternoon on the way home from school, zoe (9) uttered a classic:

i tried that dried mango you got. NOT good. it's like an INSULT to a mango.

here's to keeping it real!

~amy

PS see this picture sans-calendar HERE in a "sneak peek from hopetown"

a lil' piece of the katie + michael story

2009-01-01T18:38:00.009-06:00

C O N T I N U E D :

quick.
what do you see in THIS picture?

jingle bells.
REAL jingle bells.

and that ring-a-linging you hear: just the tip of the iceberg.

can you make out some of the program text?
instead of a "flower girl" for example, katie + michael had a sugar plum fairy + little drummer boy.

Q. the minister's job description . . . . any guesses?

A. parson brown!

oh what a hoot!!

ok, one more look at those jingle bells.
first with katie's grandpa's scarf (a brilliant idea!) then in the basket with the wedding program scrolls (ditto.)

when i first met katie, she had a binder of inspiration + design clippings with her.
for years she'd been noticing, collecting (and this is the real genius: ORGANIZING) great ideas.
simply put it was this beautiful array of things that had "caught her fancy" ~ ideas for you name it: decor, color palettes, hair styles, fonts ~ wedding inspiration and beyond.
it was a traveling design board in a binder i tell ya, and i LOVED it!

knowing how many years she's been envisioning and how many months she's been implementing made it all the sweater to see katie fully enjoy her wedding day moment by moment:

now if you've rounded up jingle bells for every guest, why not have a sleigh, too??

yep:

the above picture taken by the amazing annika miller during michael + katie's "first look" ~ i was peeking from the ground level and annika perched from above. LOVE it!

but WAIT. there's so much more to love.
from friday night's rehearsal dinner:

to the milk + cookies they served their guests near midnight at their wedding reception (these shots are annika's, too!)

katie + michael's wedding was simply chock-full of joy, laughter, one whimsical idea after the other and, most importantly: friends!

aren't girlfriends just the greatest!!!

at every age!

another fun before pic coming right up . . .

but first, the story:

so traveling to the wedding, the candlelighter, her kid sister (aka sugar plum fairy) and uber cool mom (see above) reported working thru the "genius test" and when the girlfriend gang heard of such a test being out in the car, shouts of "bring it on" were heard round salon.

it may have started out as amanda's middle school project, but it proved to be fun for all.

have you tried it? click here for something similar online. fun times!

3 more favorite things in no particular order:
a. a snow-topped cake that smelled so yummy, vanilla aroma filled the room
b. silver, silver everywhere (including buckets hanging off trees!)
c. katie + michael's first dance!

and there's a SLIDESHOW for you to see. hooray!
oh katie + michael (+ friends. oh how i LOVED those girlfriends!!!!) a dozen thank yous for letting me document your wedding day. loved LOVED every minute of it!!!

~amy

PS venues + vendors
it's always such a joy to be at Stephens College. the kimball ballroom is second to none!
thank you thank you THANK YOU amanda for making us feel so welcome.

invitations, programs, stationery, paper design: brooke of originals paper art.
(and she + handsome husband allen will be handbinding katie + michael's Originals Box Set, too!)
click here to see brooke's blog entries about katie + michael's wedding stationery.

cake: hats off to the SUGAR LOFT; this is the 2nd wedding i've documented with a Sugar Loft cake, both not only looked terrific, they TASTED DIVINE! guests where chattering about it ~ now that's a good sign! katie actually found out about the sugar loft by reading the Silver Lining ~ aah, even sweeter!!!!

flowers: christy + co, booneville

hair + makeup: green meadows hair company

lunch: the upper crust (mmmmm....have you TRIED that green apple + brie? A-MAZING!)

wedding coordinator: natalie merrill of event solutions "worth every penny" katie's mom explained.

we LOVE wedding coordinators ~ oh how they make EVERYONE'S life easier ~ especially the mom's!

michael + katie :: the SLIDESHOW

2009-01-01T10:31:00.004-06:00

there's so much i want to TELL YOU about this remarkable wedding, but while i work on collecting my thoughts, hmm....wanna see a few pictures?

explanations + rambling narrative coming soon. but FIRST . . . am out the door for a new year's day walk with daughters + friends.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, all!

~amy

introducing katie + michael

2008-12-31T10:28:00.002-06:00

what a whimsical, wonderful, MEANINGFUL celebration!

stay tuned ~ slideshow and images coming soon!!

happy new year!!!!!

~amy

not that they've all been mailed yet . . .

2008-12-28T10:39:00.004-06:00

but from our house to yours:

front:

back:

jana + barry = WOW

2008-12-20T01:23:00.012-06:00

so i dropped in to say goodmorning to jana and the girls

(they'd had a slumber party at her parents' house the night before)

and what did i find but MONKEY BREAD on the counter. (!)

oh that takes me back!

and MORE good news!!

it wasn't long after i showed up that a present from barry showed up, too.

ooooooooh my:

and jana had found (and created!) something INCREDIBLE for barry as well:

(that's a signed and framed jersey ~ and beside it, one HAPPY barry and a few envious friends.)

beautiful, thoughtful and kind.

oh jana!

what joy!!!

december in missouri is generally less-than-lovely,

so we'd brainstormed about special locations for their "first look" and wedding party picture.

see what we found:

when we create "first look" pictures like these:

it's hard to believe any couple would opt for the "not see each other before the ceremony" route.

you just don't get these expressions at the top of the aisle. (nor the just-the-two-of-you moments.....)

[OK, that came out stronger than intended....see caviat (*) below]

but . . . . mmmm . . . . . . WOW:

sometimes portraits get made:

sometimes they just seem to happen!

seeing HOW people FEEL about each other in pictures . . . whew nothing makes us happier.

the first of these below . . . jana + barry's first dance. the second, much later in the night.

i HEART them both!

and speaking of FIRST DANCES.

oh THIS is love!

teeeee-heee.

that's barry's brother and cousin back there (yep DURING the first dance, those crazy kids):

[LOVE IT - LOVE IT - LOVE IT!! and destined to be come a family --and SilverBox-- classic!]

cousins. gotta love 'em!

when i was little girl i thought my older cousin cherri walked on water.

she was beautiful and smart and sooo grown up!

and she always wore the coolest clothes.

and her hair seemed to always look PERFECT (she was like 17, i was probably 8 or 9)

me: awkward, clueless and hating it. cherri: grace, charm + style.

and she loved LOVED the bee-gees, so of COURSE i did, too!

the result: even today i can "sing" nearly every bee-gees song.

not sing well, but you know.

looking for the reason this "cousin" chatter is included? ~ it's more than slideshow foreshadowing and a walk down memory lane i tell ya:

the MUSICIAN you'll hear while you look at even more pictures of BARRY + JANA's WEDDING is the "kid-cousin"

to one of our "founding" SilverBox brides.

she was actually called "little cousin mary" and these days she's all grown up but lives and works on a little island ~

WAIT!-sounding familiar? scroll on down and you'll read all about her and her recent engagement session.

but at THIS moment in time, mary day is in a supporting role and oh we love her (even more) for it.

CLICK here if you've yet to see the whole show!

and barry, jana, mary day (for the music), annika miller (for some amazing photographs and your wonderful assistance)

thank you so very much for inviting me into your lives.

life is good!

~amy

my caveat afterthought:

*there are at least two other great options if your day or ideals don't lean toward incorporating a "first look" --

one is what kristen graham and adam brown did: when they walked out of the church, they spent some "just the two of them" time before their friends and family joined them. they'd "Seen Each Other" only during the ceremony, but hadn't really had a chance to "Be Together" -- we got some stuff!! the other is what jodi + scott and natalie + ryan did: they left time after group pictures with everyone else had been created for time just for the two of them. their ceremony had been early in the day, so their couple pictures were the last thing they did before joining their reception and thus we created pictures of the two of them in the best outdoor light of all.

ok, and now and embedded view of the unfolding of barry + jana's day. ENJOY!

sneak peak :: jana + barry . . .

2008-12-13T18:20:00.002-06:00

. . . or at least jana!

i'm in love with this image:

ohh-la-la

i've added several layers of texture. (including a replica of the wrought-iron detail)

not suuure that's the right call, so i'll show jana both versions.

i'm seeing this one as big canvas. oh i LOVE it!

~amy

mike + mary :: faith, hope + love in hope town

2008-12-11T11:44:00.030-06:00

the word for the day: dramedy.

that's my life.

i just saw it on wikipedia.

not my life; "dramedy" ~ surely i'd heard it before, but guess i'd forgotten about ol' dramedy.

the word was almost FLEISCHMAN because tycho (our 8 year old who now wears glasses!) says "fleischman" so darn cute.

why does he say fleischman? well . . .

[THIS is going to take some background, i can tell.]

so my ULTIMATE GOAL is for you to meet mike + mary.

i led with their slideshow in case you just couldn't wait.

CLICK HERE to go straight to their abaco island slideshow in separate window.

but i'm thinking of taking you to hope town via cicely, alaska . . .

ready for this?!

so years ago, paul + i chose to not have cable tv in our house.

at the time, it was probably a combination budget decision with us wanting to limit TV content (and thus limit TV time in general) for our kids.

our goal was to have the kinds of kids who don't sit around and watch cartoons 24-7 but would play outside or play with each other, or build legos or read or pretty much anything instead.

BUT we didn't want TV in general to get some sort of sacred fruit appeal.

so that was the compromise: no cable. thus the cartoons you can see in our house air through PBS -- except for saturday morning. seems good.

THIS you may know:

there are times when there is NOTHING on network tv.

and though avery, zoe, and tycho do read and build blocks (tycho) -- and crafting is avery's big thing, sometimes they're in the mood for tv...

...yet nothing's on.

the result: they've each amassed some quirky dvd favorites. the first time tycho saw an episode of northern exposure he was 6 years old and he LOVED it.

(btw: he called it northern explosion instead.)

what a funny show for a little boy to love. no battles. no action. just stories.

mike + mary . . . never seen it.

neither one of them. (!)

paul + i found ourselves trying to explain it: could seinfield or friends have come to be without northern exposure?

it was like sex and the city without sex or the city.

realizing you (fictional blog reader) might have more in common with mike + mary than paul and i, here's a bit of background:

cicely, alaska was the setting and fleischman a young jewish doctor who had just finished med school in NY + was brought to town by the mayor, a former astronaut: maurice.

the town needed a doctor. some sort of deal was made to forgive joel fleischman's med school loans for serving this under-served population.

most people and packages got to cicily via bush plane. maggie was the pilot. LOVE maggie!

she sometimes loved, sometimes was driven crazy by joel fleischman.

the mayor, (remember, maurice) also happened to own the local radio station, the newspaper and most of the land.

he was kind of a development/entrepreneur guy ~ rich, semi-famous; sort of materialistic; sort of dumb.

the monetarily poor (but amazingly rich in life's important ways) heart-throb of a guy was the resident philosopher who also happened to be an ex-felon, the minister i believe, and the local DJ ~ chris (who later played aidan on sex and the city, yum!) his on-air ramblings often tied the story together.... generally profound yet very down-to-earth ideas built upon chris' interpretation of plato or freud or dr. suess on his morning show.

there was one restaurant/bar and no matter where they went, newcomers and town residents alike would cross paths, interact and reconnect with the same small group of folks again and again.

ruth ann. ed. maggie. holling + shelley (they own the bar) . . .

story arcs. lots of history.

funny clashes between native ways and how things might be done on the "outside" ~ lots of "fish out of water" stuff.

but lots of cohesion.

lots of love.

cicely, alaksa -- it's isolated. colorful. filled with characters. but ultimately, not REAL.

but HOPE TOWN the 500-person settlement on the abaco islands ~ real and better!

warm. BEAUTIFUL! and outrageously colorful in so many fabulous ways.

mary actually said,

"i've never felt more welcomed anywhere i've ever been. this is like a caribbean mayberry"

-- and she's right, but in part because she doesn't have the cicely, alaska analogy to draw upon. :D

and paul and i were lucky enough to spend a week there, staying in the mission house with mary.

you'll see IT in the slideshow. found it yet??

mary + mike hadn't seen each other for a few months AND NOTE: the slideshow opens at the marsh harbour airport. it might not LOOK like an airport at first. all the seating is OUTSIDE. and when you land and walk in from the tarmac, there's a sign above the door that says "Welcome to Marsh Harbour. Rotary Meetings Thursdays at 7" -- i so wanted a picture of that sign, but there was a "no-pictures-because-of-security rule" so i said "yes sir" and tried to commit it to memory.

and then we took a FERRY to get to hope town.

know what else hope town reminds me of?

iselsborough, maine. (think: gina + jolly from this summer!)

wow, what a year 2008 has been.

lots of hope town residents don't own a car. it's a little island ~ there's no need for one.

though most have bicycles and a boat ~ there IS a need for a boat! lots of golf carts, too.

someday (hopefully very soon) i'm going to post EVEN MORE images ~ a people and places of hope town thing.

mary came to hope town to accept a youth director position for the island little church. little but active.

incredibly alive!

the oldest of the youth group raise money for a mission trip.

and mary and mike have both been heavily and heartfully (if that's not a word, it SHOULD be) involved in a program called TEAMeffort.

the thought in my head: perhaps, much like hold that hug! we can post pictures of hope town and have print proceed sales being directed to the good works of mary's youth group. more on that to come.

so many highlights:
-finding sea glass on the shores;
-seeing mary's face just LIGHT UP when mike finally walked through those airport gates;
-hearing hip-high kids call out "miss mary, miss mary" around every bend;
-munchie's hamburgers (and visiting with munchie's owner, morris, each day on our way in + out of the mission house)
-bingo at captain jacks,
-that MOST DELICIOUS chicken curry quiche at the incredibly charming hope town coffee house;

-playing KNOCK card game with mike + mary
- paul reading in the yellow chair;
-going to thanksgiving dinner via boat and hearing those local stories OMG! the funniest stuff EVER!;
-the homemade bread and coconut pie made by the grocery store owner (vernon, who also happens to be the minister)
-and YES! being there for the town's annual box car derby celebration [there's one big hill aptly named Big Hill] . . .

. . . and most of ALL having paul there while he and i:

........got to know, admire and fall in love with mary + mike.

what a week!!

fyi: mary also happens to be an amazing vocalist (and teaches piano, voice and guitar on the side)

and has told SilverBox that she'll record a few re-makes of bee gees tracks for future slideshows.

who are the bee gees you ask?

clearly THIS is as good a place to wrap things up as any.

with love + happiness,

amy

as seen in the knot . . .

2008-12-09T19:14:00.004-06:00

looking good, jenny + daniel!

click HERE for their online story. . .

jessica + andrew :: lotsa love in palmyra

2008-12-06T06:52:00.008-06:00

palmyra, missouri: from what i've seen, palmyra is chock-a-block full of great folks, and it's gotten to be like a SilverBox second home. we've documented several AMAZING weddings there in the past couple of years . . .

the most recent of which was:
jessica + andrew's wedding!!!

check out these beautiful details:

and jessica + andrew before the ceremony:

amy and i get a kick out of tracing that word-of-mouth process that leads us from one wonderful couple to the next . . . my palmyra trips started with lacy + brian (that was before we'd switched to canon's top-of-the-line digital cameras and before the silver lining blog)

followed by jenny + adam, married in the same church as lacy + brian, located just across the street from adam's family car dealership (click on each couple's name for a walk down silver lining lane)

and jenny's cousin, katie, was married to alphonse in her folks' backyard . . . dressed in cowboy boots and surrounded by boot-clad flower-bubble girls

and then there was amy + mark, married on the front porch of the meyer farmhouse in bowling green; their wedding included a stop to feed their cows in wedding attire

and that brings us back to jessica + andrew: mark is andrew's brother and was best man at jessica + andrew's wedding:

and sister-in-law amy was jessica's attendant (here she is helping andrew and mark's sister get ready):

so much more to share about the wedding . . . cold cold (did I say COLD) day? and yet, bridesmaids stepped outside for these pics:

and jessica gets the silverbox award for "bride braving the coldest weather for outdoor pics":

and here are two GREAT shots by abbie brown, who did an incredible job of assisting that day:

here are a few more of my favorites from the ceremony:

and afterwards:

and you've got to see details from the groom's cake:

and this shot of jessica dancing with her dad is one of my favorite father-daughter shots ever:

lots more to see . . . click here for jessica + andrew's wedding slideshow . . . and thanks you all for having SilverBox at TWO lehenbauer weddings!

~kim

sneak peak from Hope Town

2008-12-01T04:40:00.007-06:00

it's never easy leaving paradise.

[--sigh--]

this morning paul and i say goodbye to heavenly weather

(and our wonderful host! and her Beloved)

and fly north toward that freshly fallen midwestern snow . . .

if i'm productive on the plane, i may have a slideshow to upload soon,

but just in case we're a few days from that point, i couldn't resist sharing.

scroll on: a few early favorites from mike + mary's bahamian engagement session:

above: just in front of mary's place, the mission house at hope town

and she has the CUTEST little phone booth at the front edge of her sidewalk:

here mike + mary are next to st johns methodist church (and the ocean in her backyard):

wanna meet a few of the kids from her youth group?

LOVE THIS!

and they LOVE LOVE LOVE "miss mary"

it's easy to see why:

THIS little island (abaco) is the "real deal bahamas".

oh we're so glad we came!

what joy it is to soak in the colors!!!!

hope town redefines picturesque!

(or maybe it's THESE TWO who make the magic)

mary + mike: thank you is no where near enough.

what a wonderful time we've had!!!

we'll never forget taking the boat to thanksgiving dinner and

can't wait to share that sea glass with our kids.

and speaking of kids, the other big BIG thanks goes to paul's parents (and my mom!!)

and "aunt debbie + uncle parker" (shameless Sometimes 3 plug, here) too ~

there's nooooo way we could have pulled off this trip with you.

hugs to all! see you soon!!!

amy

jaclyn + adam :: love, luck, ladybugs and marge simpson

2008-11-23T17:44:00.013-06:00

jaclyn + adam's wedding . . . where to start?

seriously, where to start?!!!!

SOOO much to show and tell. like the fact that their rehearsal was on Halloween night . . .
jaclyn and adam became marge and homer simpson . . .

dorothy from oz, elvis and priscilla, the tattooed man, a deviled egg, and a "chick magnet"
were also in attendance (I wore pajamas, slippers, a robe and hair rollers . . . but you'll just
have to take my word for it 'cause for once i'm hoping there are no pictures out there . . . )

amy and i go to rehearsals in part to get to know the couple's family and friends so that on
wedding day, we've already put faces to names, figured out which groomsman is our go-to guy
when you need some laughter and levity, but let me tell ya . . . when folks are in costume the
night before, wedding day is like groundhog day all over again.

so much so in fact that, when i saw jaclyn's mom again the next day (she was the dorothy),
i asked if we'd met yet . . . in my defense, she really DID look like an entirely different person...
and then i had to concentrate on NOT calling her dorothy . . . she quizzed me throughout the
day: "what's my name again?" :')

and the fun carried over into rehearsal dinner. . . It's a good thing that home depot's color
is orange (it's where adam works AND, not-so-coincidentally, where he and jaclyn met!!!), so it
fit right into the halloween decor:

ok, and then there was the setting: chaumette winery in Sainte Genevieve Missouri where
there happens to be a church that the winery owner saved from being permanently destroyed;
he had it taken down, transported and re-assembled on the winery's grounds:

take a look at how beautifully jaclyn and adam had this church decorated:

and then there was jaclyn + adam's team . . . a wealth of family and friends helping out. below is
jaclyn's sister-in-law styling jaclyn's hair on the left. and on the right: Jaclyn's friend Julie who
works for Miller's Professional Imaging in Columbia (SilverBox's photo processing lab of
choice!). and in the lower right: jaclyn's niece who did a banner job as flower girl

and for more folks on jaclyn + adam's team . . . the wedding party friends and family

why are THESE friends laughing?! ok, let's talk about LADYBUGS! there was an awesome
outbreak of ladybugs literally swarming around the church, and a groomsman off camera has
just inhaled one (or inadvertantly swallowed one . . . which was it?) at any rate, the other guys
tried to talk me into photographing him gasping for air but i couldn't do it . . . thanks for taking
one for the team, man!

the wonderful thing about a small church is that everyone is up close

and jaclyn and adam, relaxed, poised, psyched to be getting married:

and i haven't mentioned jaclyn's design talents yet. she designs all sorts of things: shoes, her
own wedding invitations, and the table-top decor at the reception. take a look (and if you look
closely enough, you'll see a ladybug on that wine bottle . . . ):

not only was the reception beautiful, it was possibly the most joy-filled one i've ever been at:

mid-way through the reception, just about everyone in adam's family (we're talking cousins,
uncles, aunts, his dad AND adam), was on stage singing and/or playing an instrument . . . here
is ADAM!

AND adam's dad:

AND adam's cousin, Ali, who sang "The Luckiest," by Ben Folds during the ceremony that
rivaled Folds' version . . . it was phenomenally beautiful. she is recording some music of her
own too

dancing with old friends

and shots of jaclyn + adam just before entering the reception . . . a view off the deck of the
winery's tasting room:

click on jaclyn + adam's wedding slideshow (set to their first dance song) to see the whole day.
whew. . . weddings just don't get any better than this.

~kim

brandy + aric ~ love is contagious

2008-11-20T14:25:00.013-06:00

guess how brandy and aric met?
at a mutual friend's WEDDING, of course!

i guess the take home message is: LOVE IS CONTAGIOUS! :')

they wanted to make pictures along the trail, so we headed to rocheport . . .
soooo many things made this engagement session great

first and foremost: chemistry!

check out the chemistry between these two . . .

and the last of the fall leaves . . . dried grasses . . .

that end-of-season-let's-get-out-our-sweaters-and-scarves transition time . . .

it's energizing (for more on scarves, keep scrolling):

and rocheport itself . . . such a cool small town . . . here we are at the corner
of FIRST and CENTRAL :')

and at the rocheport general store . . . it's a sweet destination . . . just head out to

rocheport for a walk and some ice cream, wine, live music, tables inside or outside:

and on the blufftop overlooking the missouri river at sunset . . . we document lots of

weddings at this spot (Les Bourgeois' Blufftop Bistro), and you can see why. One of missouri's most BEAUTIFUL views!

check out the whole shoot by clicking here: aric + brandy's slideshow.

oh and by the way, to all you SilverBox couples still planning your wedding: aric is a FANTASTIC, hands-on DJ . . .
i doubt he'll be dj-ing at his own wedding,
but maybe at yours? :')

~kim

erin + mitch :: how sweet it is!

2008-11-19T20:50:00.007-06:00

great people befriend great people ~ oh how we know it to be true!

documenting anne + doug's wedding this summer was a joy for so many reasons . . .

and here's but ONE of them: meeting erin + mitch!

doug (married to anne 6.21.08) and mitch (marrying erin 3.21.09) had been fraternity brothers as undergrads.

when i first met erin at the bradley-robinson rehearsal dinner, she was seated at a table surrounded by doug's groomsmen and ushers . . .

(you know that feeling, the lone woman in a group of guys who have stories that go waaay back . . . )

i remember being completely impressed at how well erin was holding her own.

spunk and gumption were my first impressions!

and really, does there exist any BETTER first impression!!? ~ not in my book!

we landed a primo day in KC of MO! -- look it's like Leaf Parfait out there!

badminton anyone?

this, too, is on the lawn of the nelson . . . but it almost looks like we're out in a meadow somewhere, eh?

yeah, we admit it, kim and i "do this shot" quite a lot.

but LOOK how CUTE it is! ~ especially in front of the church erin + mitch will be married in in a few short months!

next up: a quiet little spot on the church grounds i sure hope we can revisit in march.

LOVE IT! (and LOVE that moment just before a kiss!)

spunk, gumption AND GREAT aesthetic sense, too!

what a cute color combination peeking in erin's front door!!!

(and what a cute pup!)

. . . and cute shirts, too! makes me think that all "college wear" should be vintage wear.

and THIS NEXT ONE. oh, definitely one of my favorites of the afternoon

(but click HERE, or just keep scrolling, to see nearly all of them!)

and for it me it brings back such a laugh when i think of erin + mitch saying,

"what?? in front of the GARAGE?! ~ but we raked leaves all morning long"

SO, when you watch their engagement slideshow,

please pay particular attention to the wonderfully pristine quality of erin's yard, ok?

(b/c it did look GREAT, but is but ONE of the dozens of cute + fabulous things about this couple!)

~amy

PS don't forget to have a look:

baby lucy!

2008-11-17T09:49:00.011-06:00

since i found myself in st. louis en route to meeting matt + jonica at tower grove park,

i stopped in to meet someone much smaller:

BABY LUCY!

a SilverBox baby!

kim + i documented scott + jennie (losapio) iverson's wedding way back when.

could it be 2003?! (no! 2004?? hmmmmm jennie?)

the depth of our love for jennie + scott (along with how much we need to bring our gallery site up-to-date*)

is apparent when you're at silverboxphotographers.com:

(oh, there is a school bus picture and a cool moment between scott + his one of his groomsmen on there, too.)

and here's something that thrills us!

here's a peek INSIDE the iverson home:

oh, i just re-read that whole [*] section.

it's certainly not that anything looks dated about scott + jennie's celebration,

just that when we see how much of our gallery site features our early couples,

we realize how many great weddings we documented, you know,

in years like 2006, 2007, 2008 that have yet to be added to our galleries.

it just makes us remember our to-do list, that's all -- THIS WINTER! we promise!!!

truth be told: we've focused much more on The Silver Lining these past few years....

but we're growing and changing and sure LOVE sharing our adventures with you.

it's often the unexpected that gives us reason to laugh . . .

enjoy + smile:

jennie, scott -- she's a BEAUTY (as are you 2) -- thanks so much for letting us be part of your journey!

matt + jonica :: maaahvelous!

2008-11-12T03:05:00.002-06:00

a halfway point between their place and mine: tower grove park and

wowza did we ever end up with the PERFECT day!

golden leaves:

golden sun!

and look! it was even warm enough for some fountain frolicking!! ~ not too shabby for this time of year!

and this. THIS. the perfect-for-climbing wall right there in the park . . .

BATHROOM?!

get out. fun fanciful BATHROOM WALLS?

wow that crazy tower grove park, perfect for kids of all ages! . . .

. . . AND so convenient to the city diner.

click here for the slideshow to see how sweetly this shoot came to a close.

and YES! jonica + matt were ALSO at (and in matt's case, IN) alex + tim's wedding.

oh what fun!

and THIS SONG, i first heard it listening to podcasts of This American Life.

love LOVE these podcasts. just getting started? -- all episodes are pretty great, but this:

WHAT I LEARNED FROM TELEVISION, esp. the insightful ACT II is a great introduction.

these public radio programs are archived and online ~ FREE and a great productivity tool, too.

(hmmm, could the same be said of the latest SilverBox slideshow? -- aah, productivity is a bit overrated, don't you think?!)

thanks for taking a look!

and thanks matt + jonica for making the trip. sure loved every minute of it!!

amy

emily + ben :: golden!

2008-11-09T22:08:00.017-06:00

here's what i know.

anyone who calls saying the words "tim snyder + alex fey" . . . good as gold!

tim + alex are our wonderful "nuts for each other" couple.

simply put: they make our heart sing!

thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, alex and tim for leading yet another great couple our way!

[special notes: emily + alex had been in MU's nursing program together.

earlier in the month i'd gotten to know tad + baba during our kansas city loose park/plaza engagement session

and COMING SOON! you'll meet matt (tim's cousin) + jonica via a slideshow of our recent st. louis shoot.]

it was mizzou homecoming (which means my kids had candy from the parade stuffed in every pocket)

and ben + emily made their way back to town

(and even agreed to miss the game so that we could shoot during the golden hour.)

emily + ben: so wonderful to work with! sooo kind!!!!

[ KIND being the common trait found among friends of alex and tim's. ] **

campus was alive as gold shirts rushed past on their way to the stadium.

skies were blue, the grass green, the trees a brilliant shade of yellow.

and all that color might just make THIS one of my favorite "at the columns" shots ever.

what fun it was getting to know ben + emily while seeking out interesting angles.

angles like THESE!

and CLICK HERE (highlighted names in the silver lining are always intended to be a hot link to somewhere)

to see EVEN MORE!

and oh! look, we did "sort of" make it "by" the game, see:

wow you two, hats off to you!

you REALLY went above and beyond to make this shoot happen

and when we see these images, oh we're so delighted you did!

enjoy!:

have a great week, everyone!

~amy enderle

PS special thanks to thom howard for the music for ben + emily's slideshow!!

AND

** we'd be remiss not to mention from the get go that it's

THANKS TO CHRISTINA CROWE (and the whole wrenn-crowe gang) that we even had the chance to meet alex fey.

which means that once again we have to wonder,

would there even BE a SilverBox without the Losapio women and Mrs. Tracy (wrenn) Crowe?

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

jon + kristen :: MARRIED!

2008-11-08T08:57:00.039-06:00

ONCE UPON A TIME,

(right at one year ago)

i first documented a wedding

in this cute cute little chapel.

scott and natalie were married october of 07,

and it was AT scott + nat's wedding

that i first met jon + kristen

(see pictures at left, oct. 2007)

back then the word SMITTEN came to mind.

[just wait till you see them now . . . ]

however back at natalie + scott's wedding

we were dodging tumultuous rains all day long.

THIS YEAR as many of the same gang gathered for

kristen + jon's "i-do"s,

aaah . . . gentle warm breeze + golden sun:

(ok, ok, we're prepared for less than wonderful weather --

we have lighting equipment and even umbrellas for you to use in the car --

BUT everyone ~ SilverBox included! ~ seems to prefer days like THIS!)

but let's back up a bit...

jon + kristen's friends and family gathered in The Pasta Factory's boiler room

just off that AMAZING lil' courtyard friday night ~ it's such a great building!

kristen was a Div I college athlete at mizzou

and look how cute she is in this jacket during the "preparation" stage ~

it's a happy coincidence that the tiara replicated the curved plane that "missouri" is embroidered on,

and it sure makes me love these images all the more ;D

oh, little kids and the cute factor!! LOVE IT:

and our rule-of-thumb:

if the littlest people are being happy, content and cooperative with the bride + groom,

QUICK! grown-up members of the wedding party, gather round:

sometimes we're asked:

"what's the least amount of time we can devote to posed pictures
if we prefer NOT to see each other before the wedding?"

that's tough to answer because there are LOTS of variables to put in place before calculating a response,

but it would be nearly impossible for us to create pictures we love in less time than we did this day.

so here's a play-by-play of jon + kristen's celebration using "time taken" feature in the file metadata:

BIG DISCLAIMER:

this timeline worked because we stayed at one location for every posed picture taken ~

the church grounds here are so charming!

AND the weather was great ~ SilverBox set-up is pretty simple outdoors in open shade.

there are SO MANY OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER, TOO.

BUT we can probably use THIS as our "absolute least amount of time possible" guide

if indeed you want the full set* of group shots. [ 15+ years ago, paul and i, for example,

didn't want a single posed picture on our wedding day ~ crazy? --- nah: foreshadowing --

we hired a great photojournalist, and said "please document relationships; do your thing" :D ]

2:45 pm kristen's at the "jewelry stage" ~ i love this of her sister helping her.

there's a fluctuating sweet spot in getting just enough shutter drag to show the motion of the action

BUT WITH the shutter being fast enough to keep the subjects in focus.

[for THIS picture it was 1/15 s at f/1.8]

2:50 pm -- stepping just outside the door for a 30 minute sessions that included:

- bridal portraits

- pictures with kristen and each bridesmaid

- pictures of "all the girls" ~ thus, the female side of the bridal party

- pictures of kristen with her immediate family

(incl. some "duos" plus a group shot or two plus lots of spontaneous interaction)

3:20 pm -- our focus turned to the guys

pretty much a repeat of the girl schedule, just insert "boy/groom"

- groom's pix

- jon with his family

- guys as group with ushers scurrying off pretty quickly b/c heck, they had a job to do :D

- then each guy with jon;

- and a few more group shots with the last "directed" (i.e. loosely posed) picture we took of the men was clocked at about 3:45

at this point the boys went inside for the 4PM ceremony, and so did we :D

below is an image of guests entering the chapel that i documented at 3:50

pictured beside the shot annika made at straight up 4PM (note clock behind his shoulder)

here's my favorite from jon + kristen's music-rich, smile-filled ceremony

(fyi: their ceremony lasted about 40 minutes)

4:40 pm the couple has left the building ~ MARRIED!

4:41 pm no receiving line just a few quick hugs from brothers, sisters, moms and dads

4:44 pm -- started group shots (to the side of the church grounds) that included:

- pictures of the jon + kristen with each of their grandparents

- pictures with her family [her parents then headed off to greet guests at the reception]

- pictures of kristen + jon + the littlest kids (5PM)

- whole wedding party, including flower girls and ring bearer

- a few images of kristen's niece + nephew with their parents

- pictures of the couple with his family

- pictures of the couple with special guests including the minister, the musicians, etc

- wedding party sans kids, AND

5:32 pm both traditional and FUN! pictures of jon + kristen

(last photo in this series was captured at 5:43)

5:45 pm ~ annika and i packed our equipment + posing stools in our cars,

drove to the very yummy Upper Crust downtown (about 12 minutes away),

parked the cars, unloaded the equipment, set up light stands and . . .

caught just a glimpse of kristen as she and jon entered the ballroom at 6:15.

since they opted to forgo a traditional receiving line, jon + kristen

hugged and talked with their guests as each guest neared the delicious buffet ~ very clever of them!

. . . a tough angle for pictures, but actually a unique and wonderful feature of the venue:

at the Elm Street Ballroom, the Upper Crust can set up your buffet and the bar

in the board room across the hall to conserve space + atmosphere in the ballroom.

and oh, LOVE IT! -- look!

even an "exit outfit" on this unseasonably warm day without a cloud in the sky.

Caribbean here they come!

clever, calm, gracious + filled-with-grace, wow what a wonderful wedding!

thank you so much kristen + jon for this opportunity!

warmly,

amy enderle

want to see even more?

click jon + kristen's names at any point in the entry to link to the slideshow

. . . or just CLICK HERE

or. whoa. THIS will make it easy (enjoy!):

** FOOTNOTE: to SilverBox, a "full-set of group shots" implies

- couple with wedding party
- couple with her immediate family
- couple with his immediate family
- couple with each grandparent
- couple with young children in the wedding

often, the following are included as well:

- photo session with couple
- pictures of bride alone
- pictures of bride with her bridesmaids as group and with each woman individually
- pictures of groom alone and then with his groomsmen/ushers as group; then with each guy individually

jessica + lon ~ better together!

2008-11-05T10:38:00.017-06:00

my husband has said: "if it were always october in missouri, then missouri would be the new california." fall in missouri is GLORIOUS . . . and so was jessica + lon's october wedding.

my hands-down favorite shots of the day were of lon and jessica's preparations. this wedding is a "case in point" for why amy and i love documenting EVERY part of the day,
including:

~laughs with the hair stylist (which was carla, amy's sister(!!), at salon nefisa . . . what a beautiful space!).

by the way, carla is working on jessica's hair in the shot on the left,
jessica's sister, megan, is sporting her new hairdo in the middle shot,
and lon's mom is smiling big in the shot on the right (along with salon nefisa owner, sara)

~laughs while dressing . . . jessica's mom and sister full of fun

and jessica's dad, seeing jessica in her wedding dress for the first time (this is the kind of moment we wedding photojournalists LIVE for!) the shallow depth of field creates the hint of jessica in the foreground, while directing your eye to her dad's face . . .

jessica chose, for her "something old" . . . and/or "something borrowed?" . . . to wear this broach from her grandmother on the back of her gown:

and take a look at this grandmother, when she enter.s and sees jessica and the broach . . . this series may be the most delightful shots of a grandmother i've ever created . . .

and jessica, moments before walking down the aisle

~meanwhile, lon was in a nearby room . . . thank goodness for his dad's skill at fixing ties . . . we were all stumped (you know . . . how to get the knot, the length just right . . . tough stuff) until he arrived on the scene

~the emotional intensity of the ceremony, led by the reverand at Trinity Lutheran Church who baptized jessica way back when . . .

and be sure to check out the grasses and decorations around the candles designed by kent at kent's floral gallery . . . i believe jessica's exact words when she first saw them was: "I love kent!"

~we headed from the church to the reception at the columbia country club . . . and took a few strolls along the way

~and i've added a few family group shots here because I love the interaction and expressions in them . . . amy and i think groups shots should be a delightful part of the day (read: fun, intimate, and NOT a chore)

~and various shots from the reception that are my special favorites . . .

come hang with us at lon and jessica's wedding in missouri in october . . . it's just a click away, check it out here: jessica + lon's wedding slideshow.

~kim

a little corner of the world ~ jason + whitney

2008-11-03T21:36:00.005-06:00

7 years?

over 7 years?

did i hear them right, i thought?

whitney + jason, high school sweethearts, grew up together about an hour away, but these days, they call columbia home as students at MU (though jason is almost ALMOST an MU grad)

we ended their engagement session in their neighborhood ~ they live just a few houses down from each other (so fun!) but we started HERE (hooray for sparky's!):

from sparky's we ventured onto campus for a lil' mizzou wandering. love LOVE mizzou wandering.

(remember: not all who wander are lost!)

can you name THIS building? (and what a fun study in "vintage" red, white + blue)

now for more MU trivia: these are the front steps to: ________________

don't you love when you're just walking along + bump into a fabulous swath of bright purple fall blooms. LOVE IT!

and love that (though it took some searching) we found THIS great foliage!

it's alwyas fun to photograph bursts of color

BUT there's something magical about the way black and white image pulls you right in, eh?!

and one quick photo lesson before unveiling the jason + whitney's my-little-corner-of-the-world slideshow:

Shallow-Depth-of-Field/Focal Plane

stare into this brick wall a sec. (my hand/camera are resting along that wall as i made the picture.)

see how there's about a 3 inch segment of the wall in focus (specifically, within the focal plane)?

note: it's about where jason's sweater is being snagged by the bricks (oops...sorry, man)

the wall closer to the camera (it's running off the edge at the right margin) is in FRONT of the focal plane.

and note that even a few inches behind jason's shoulder, the bricks start to blur as well.

the PLANE that's in focus is narrow/shallow it's called the Focal Plane and it's a pretty cool thing.

placing subjects in a narrow focal plane is like butter!

a tasty way to isolate subjects and give them impact.

mmmmm!

for more info, THIS seems like a fine place to start ~ have fun!

another way to have a whole lot of fun?

SilverBox slideshows, of course!

whitney, jason, (annika!) ~wow, what a super way to spend an afternoon.

nothing short of delicious!

thanks all!!

amy

halloween revisited . . . guess our princess + ghost days are over

2008-11-03T01:08:00.003-06:00

know this pair?

zoe (9) the mastermind behind the costumes.

thumbs-up tycho (8) would soon discover "it's so uncomfortable keeping your shirt tucked in"

FYI: tycho wants it noted that he really WANTED to go trick-or-treating as obama instead but in consultation with "the VP candidate" (shown above), decided he LOOKED more mccain-like.

proud (?) mom ~

amy

jodi + scott :: MARRIED!

2008-11-02T09:35:00.010-06:00

behind-the-scenes images document RELATIONSHIPS, that's probably why we love them so much.

i was downstairs with the guys . . .

. . . while annika captured these upstairs:

that curly-headed little flower girl is jodi's cousin.

know one knows how to help a daughter quite like a mom, no matter how grown up we become ;D

o, relationships!

when MY SON gets married, THIS is exactly the kind of picture i'd love to have:

(kim, just how far out are you booking? ~ we're probably 20-25 years away, but pictures matter most!!)

lourdes here in columbia affords some great angles.

curls - revisited:

and how fun are these bubbles! hee-hee . . .

jodi was a traffic-stopping kind of beauty:

we don't always include posed group shots on the blog.

but not long ago i was showing someone my portfolio and they said,

"i've been looking at wedding photographers' work for as long as i can remember

and i've never seen anyone do a better job with group shots than SilverBox"

~ oh gosh (blushing now) thank you! first. wow, yes, THANK YOU. second, hhmmm, maybe we should poset 'em up ever so often:

the secret to good "formalish" group shots like the one above~

a. time in your day's itinerary to gather at a lovely setting

b. communication

c. getting OUTSIDE and into open shade whenever possible

d. two little traveling stools~

voila!

as for the not-so-formal ones, the real key is a willingness to move ;)

sun-drenched is all the rage these days.

it's driving me CRAZY how many photographers are resorting to photoshop tricks + actions

when THIS can be found just outside the front door.

whew how HOT is this couple!

jodi confessed that when she first met scott and was putting his number into her cell phone,

she listed him as "hottie scotttie" ~ LOVE those kinds of insights and reveals.

"HOT" is actually what inspired the first song on THEIR SLIDESHOW;

it's from the soundtrack to "The Hottest State" ~ i don't have the slighest idea what this song says,

but find it HAUNTINGLY beautiful, and just couldn't pass it up. that 2nd song is going to sound familiar.

THIS is actually my favorite rendition of this tune. (free download here, we believe.)

but hey, scott + jodi's slideshow...have you seen it yet?

oh, and did i mention that scott is a baseball player?

(annika and i had to actively resist the temptation to spoon that baseball right into a bowl, something about it looks so enticing)

remember when you were a kid and when a birthday cake was getting cut, everyone would point to the part they'd want:

"i want the clown's HAT!"

"i want a part of the rainbow!"

remember, girls, seeing a bride at a wedding and feeling THIS:

and remember meeting people and thinking "when i grow up THAT'S HOW i want to be!"

well, to me, it happened again:

weddings are a good thing!

we think this a lot, but don't always take the time to write it:

there aren't very many times in our busy lives when everyone we love is in one room at one time.

your wedding.

that's pretty much it.

people come from across the country. from around the world.

the guests you hold near and dear will change their vacation schedule, their work schedule, their child's nap schedule.

are weddings an indulgence?

we'd argue that weddings, the gathering these people in one place at one time and saying

"i LOVE you and you matter more than ANYTHING" -- no, weddings aren't an indulgence.

weddings are what life is all about.

treasure. savor. enjoy.

~amy

ps oh yes, for you fans of the "embedded show"

"what we really love to do is PLAY" ~ miriam + joe

2008-10-30T06:06:00.002-05:00

i couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a friday morning.

at first we thought it might be a wee bit chilly, but the sun come out to shine down on us, and the road rose to greet us.

quick.

anyone remember the term for the lovely blur of a background a good lens can create?

answer: it's bokeh baby!

and who says open eyes are part of what makes a picture a "keeper"? ~ i lurve this one:

oh miriam + joe are charming charming CHARMING together:

"the thing we really do together is play" miriam explained, "let's just hang out at a playground"

my reaction = swoon

a low key kind of couple that just wants to have fun and have real pictures made of them being real?!

yep, miriam + joe are exactly our kind of couple!

"i knew i wanted SilverBox to take my wedding pictures long ago.

it didn't matter that i wasn't, well, dating anyone.

if i ever get married i thought,

i've certainly found my photographer" ~ miriam

[BIG swoon!]

miriam + joe:

thank you

i LOVED getting to know you.

LOVE your relationship and simply adore how you look (and feel!) in these images.

creating them with you was a JOY! and there's EVEN MORE ~ click here for the slideshow!

~amy enderle

and oh yes, i remember there are a few fans of the embedded show out there.

hmm. good news - keep scrolling . . .

jen + jesse ~ boots, bar hopping & getting hitched

2008-10-29T12:28:00.015-05:00

oooh wow, was jen + jesse's wedding tons of fun to photograph! i loved working with these two.
why?!
well, let me tell ya:

for starters, jen was one AMAZING, CARING bride . . . she put a lot of thought into keeping the memory of loved ones alive. she had the necklace you see below made from her grandmother's earring; the broach and handkerchief are also family heirlooms:

and speaking of loved ones: just look at this moment jen shared with her mom:

jen radiated all day long:

ok, but being thoughtful and loving AND beautiful doesn't mean that you can't have a little fun too! Right?! :') Jen had her own sense of style: check out these cowboy boots . . . she wore them from the minute she put on her wedding dress, until the final dance:

but lest you think jen had all the fun, jen and jesse (and their many friends) stayed true to the washington, missouri tradition of bar hopping along washington's downtown riverfront . . . a few drinks, some live music, a stroll past washington's corn cob pipe factory:

and here's jesse, going toe-to-toe with jen (or nose-to-nose or nose-to-toe at times :'), having as much fun as any groom i've seen on his wedding day:

and then there were the kids! jen and jesse LOVE LOVE LOVE little ones and have opened their arms and hearts to so many . . . everywhere I turned there were children playing, dancing, hugging:

here's jesse tossing a bucket of candy into the kid crowd:

we made a couple of other stops along the way from the ceremony to the reception:

. . . including jen + jesse's home . . . here they are on their land . . . one of the loveliest views in Missouri . . .

. . . and strolling down their road, which jesse's grandpa had cleaned up all on his own in prep for the wedding day:

there are lots more pictures in jen + jesse's wedding slideshow . . . kick up your heals and enjoy!

~kim

taking UNIQUE to a whole new level: mary jane + tim

2008-10-28T11:24:00.026-05:00

win our hearts | win your wedding was SUCH a good thing.

it's how we met candy + scott (aka 'cott-n-candy) and how we first learned of tim + jane's celebration.

more, LOTS more, on tim + jane in a moment, but first . . .

--> did you know that . . .

* there's an art gallery in columbia

where you can host a dinner party for your closest friends?

(and what a delicious dinner it will be. mmmmm The Sycamore is first rate!)

a few notes:
those doughnuts on the wall: wooden.
the glass bowls on the table: incredible art as table centerpiece!
those Sycamore salads? ~ scrumptous!!!

doesn't THIS next image make you hungry for a Sycamore steak and a good glass of wine:

PS Gallery is such a fun place to gather.

having art on the wall never fails to creates a rich and enlivened environment:

what a place to MAKE pictures:

(note the incredible sliver of space between tim + jane's faces in this image. oh i'm proud of this one!)

mary jane's (we should say early on that jane goes by both names,

her sweet mom explains that she was NAMED for the candy, but generally called "jane!" by friends)

~ where was i going with this?

oh yeah, mary jane's paintings were hanging in PS gallery during their rehearsal dinner . . .

. . . and we learned when we walked in that one of them had just been SOLD.

wow.

mary jane actually said during her dinner remarks that if this very day was the highest peak of her life,

she'd die happy.

(after spending the weekend with her,

we're 100% certain there are so many remarkable moments yet to come to this couple!)

and speaking of the art of life . . .

--> did you know that . . .

* craftsmanship + design was once a standard part of manufacturing?

the above image?

a close-up of a turn-of-the-century radiator, found HERE:

IF YOU ARE PLANING a missouri wedding,

you'd be crazy CRAZY NOT to consider having your event

at the recently restored Frederick Hotel.

but contract SilverBox, OK? ~ 'cause we're so eager to get back!!

at the hotel frederick, you can have your party downstairs

and get ready for the party

(and/or retire from the party)

just upstairs in your fabulously rennovated guest room:

it is a CHARMING place inside and out:

(you'll get an even better sense of hotel frederick in THE SLIDESHOW!)

jane + tim said their vows (that they'd written themselves)

in the equally historic thespian hall:

what a meaningful ceremony!

everything was orchestrated so perfectly.

the most powerful part:

tim + jane read aloud the names of family members.

family members who've died but whom they felt were with them on their wedding day.

after jane + tim read each name, reverend sam mann led the congregation in a responding with "A-SHEE" ~

a term rev mann describes as "a positive expression of affirmation of the presence of the ancestor"

with each resounding of "A-SHee" the minister poured water from the pitcher onto the ivy at the base of the stage.

sam described it this way:

the ceremony comes from the ancient Swahili community and
its spiritual tradition that focuses on ancestral worship and
the relationships between ancient spirits and present spirits...
this is not just a cognitive remembering of ancestors
but it invites the ancestors to come into the relationship....
the presence of the ancestors is literally with us in the
hearts, minds, souls, and natural surroundings of the community...

i'm realizing i could type for weeks and still not communicate the depth of their celebration.

guess i'm going to launch into the sharing of pictures instead...

like this just-married moment that makes me so very proud of annika miller

(lighting in theaters makes for some of the toughest shooting conditions around and look at THIS perfect exposure and fabulous capture of a defining moment)

and THIS image that i took as they exited the theatre is really growing on me:

and then, just outside:

tim + jane:

jane + her siblings:

her whole family:

oh, and tim's, too!

so much (and so many!) to love!!

there's more, there's LOTS more.

little slices:

the memories, the laughter:

the LOVE:

so let's SPREAD the LOVE a bit . . .

the first Silver Lining reader who correctly identifies the two men just behind mary jane and tim

by zipping off an email to h e l l o @ S i l v e r B o x . c o m with your name + mailing address

gets an Adam Stanley Requisite Renaissance CD ~ it been listened to about 40 times, and is now loaded on every computer, laptop and iPod in the house.

who's adam stanley? you could either, read down to the very bottom of the Hold That Hug! entry BELOW

or well, CLICK HERE!

[HOLD!] on a beautiful sunday!

2008-10-26T13:58:00.033-05:00

wow. haven't seen a sunday this beautiful since Hold That Hug!

picture taken by SilverBox spouse david bones (aka kim's husband)

in last sunday's paper, there was a nice article by irene haskins about our hold that hug! tribute.

it was a big playdate at the park.

kids were climbing trees.

friends reconnected.

neighborhood musicians made music.

and LOTS of pictures (and memories!) were created.

in sum, it was pretty much everything we'd hoped.

over 500 people came.

sarah becking is a well-loved gal.

(and for all the right reasons!)

we have too many favorites to post.

BUT they're ALL online HERE and many many many of them are in the slideshow you'll find HERE.

(it will take a bit to load - but oh OH it's so worth it!)

and oh my stars, how can we NOT share just a few . . .

how delighted DELIGHTED we were to see becky and justin (and landon!) farmer

(they came in from kansas city for the festivities) ~

married over 5 and a half years ago, becky + justin were one of my original Boonville couples.

hold that hug! was my first chance to meet landon farmer and oh, i LOVE THAT LITTLE MAN!

speaking of lil' men we love, do you remember Baby Oliver? ~ ahhhh look at him so far past that lil' potato stage:

(if there was voting the little-potato-BABY OLIVER SLIDESHOW would certainly be in the Top 5.)

and how fabulous does kimberly look in this picture!

oh we've loved his family since before oliver was even a glimmer in the eye!

(hey, wanna revisit kimberly and geoffrey's wedding pictures?)

one of the first weddings kim and i documented together?

(so THIS was long before SilverBox was even a glimmer-in-the-eye) . . .

alex and kim are approaching THEIR 5th anniversary! ~ oh look at them now!!

and speaking of KIM WADE, have you met HER crew?:

kim + david's daughter, lil' Miss Thang, sophie bones,

might be one of my favorite little people in the whole world.

i LOVE this image i captured of soph + david:

and here's kim, shooting in the background (making pictures of melissa + guy's family, actually)

and our friend and sometimes SilverBox shooter: ashley turner in the foreground.

(photo by abbie brown who, we're excited to say, will be assisting us a bit soon!)

abbie, we think THIS image is one of the strongest of the day. wow. GREAT capture!

one more cute picture OF ashley BY abbie:

tee-hee!

it was so fun to see abbie's images.

(you'll find them and a few of ours, too, under the "event overview" gallery in the hold that hug! section)

abbie documented the celebration (abbie is on the far left) . . .

while the rest of us made pictures of families who dropped by.

[standing next to abbie, far left:
- stacie (aka anastasia pottinger photography)
- lg patterson of recess, inc.
- ashley turner,
- professor david rees,
- and then there's kim and me on the end]

the result is that in the hold that hug! slideshow you'll see a whole lot of this "behind-the-scenes PLUS main event" combo:

what fun!

here's the amazingly talented sara fougere + family (she catered avery's bon voyage party. mmmmmm!)

oh and the davis family. we LOVE the davis family!!!*

anastasia pottinger (but we can't help but call her stacie) created this davis family photo and it's JUST PERECT!

and look! kim wade (best business partner ever!) made THIS of stacie's family. gotta love that!!!

[fyi: the last time stacie and i shot together was when her nephew got married. see THAT SLIDESHOW here!]

in addition to the image of stacie, linda and the boys, here's another one of my favorites from kim that afternoon:

and oh, THIS is fun.

our neighbors to the LEFT stopped by:

AS DID our neighbors to the RIGHT (with grandkids in tow!)

kim's "oldest friend" and his wife (and darling kids!!) recently moved from NY to right here in our neighborhood! hooray!!!!

and LOOK how CUTE they are!!

did someone say CUTE? OMG look at this little man:

HIS MOM is the reason gina + chris jolly (married in maine!) found us and we're so thankful for it!!

lg patterson made this picture, and my favorite of HIS that afternoon is probably THIS:

it's tough to pick favorites, though.

LOOK at THIS that ashley capture:

grandmas and their grandkids share a pretty special love!

special at any age:

gosh i could go on and on (and on!) ~ but i guess the thing kim and i mostly want to say is THANKS.

kim came up the idea for hold that hug! the day after we learned that sarah died.

we're still sad.

and mad.

and sad.

but planning for this day in the park really gave us someplace to direct our grief.

and none of it would have happened without the team.

and WOW what a team they are.

Thank you, EVERYONE.

the only way the afternoon could have been more perfect would be if sarah herself were there with us.

but when i see this slideshow, it somehow almost feels like she was.

hug somebody you love.

and have FUN today!

amy

* my favorite post-event note actually came from julie.

i haven't asked her, but i'm sharing it here ANYWAY (b/c that's how i am)

it came in an email entitled HOLY COW! ~ that julie is a HOOT! - if you don't know her, you should!

she wrote:

What a great event. The park just seemed really full of love and family and all those wonderful things. I hope it was a comfort to Sarah’s family – or that it was at least a fun diversion for them.
Mostly, though, I wanted to tell you that this is the first ever picture of our family. Now, really – I should know better, should have taken care of this, etc. But I THANK YOU and your colleagues for giving me a very good reason to do it. I already know how important a picture like this can be because there is exactly one photograph of my entire birth family (my mother, father, sister, brother and me). My father died when I was 7, my sister was 3-1/2 and my brother was 1. The one photo we have is a tiny blurry shot of us on the dock at a place called (ironically) “Contentment Bluff”. That photo is also the only photo of our father holding my brother. You can’t see faces and it’s a pretty terrible picture but it’s a treasure nonetheless.
I’ve followed the story of the Beckings through their friends who are my friends, such as you. My heart has ached for those children because there is a part of me that still feels the pain of that little girl I was when my father died. The best help we received as a family was all those folks who surrounded us with care and love in the years following my dad’s death. Even today I will occasionally receive an email from an old friend of my father’s who will send me a photo he dug up along with the story behind it. (A recent favorite was a picture of them in their Kerouac phase after they’d read and loved “On The Road” - yikes!). My point? You folks did a great job honoring your friend and reminding all of us to cherish our families. Thank you so much.
Julie
PS Stacie was a familiar face from Grant but I loved getting to actually meet her!

and here's one final footnote from me:

the beckings sort of have a soundtrack, and oh do i LOVE that soundtrack.

on the hold that hug! slideshow, the first song: a becking classic.

the MIDDLE SONG is by a musician annika and i met at mary jane + tim's wedding.

(btw their wedding pictures will be our very next post!)

adam stanley is TERRIFIC and is actually offering this song as a free download HERE.

he plays in columbia every once in awhile.

keep an eye on his my space calendar for his next local appearance
and let's make a date of it, ok?

sarah + andy

2008-10-18T07:43:00.014-05:00

i love this picture of andy + sarah. love. love. LOVE it!
it seems i'm often shooting "tight" hoping to isolate a moment,

more like this:

ok, i love THAT, too. but it's nice to step back and see the big picture.
the school house b+b is a perfect place for a bride to get dressed.
oh that downstairs dressing room is convenient, calming and the just outside --
the ideal setting for a few backyard bridals.
hot HOT hAut!

this next part of the story is one of my favorites. andy's sister erin and helped sarah into the back.
as erin rounded the corner and came down the stairs, why who did happen to run into:
yep, andy! are you just saying "aaaaaaah!!!" about now?

the SchoolHouse patio was also a great place for groom's party to convene. what fun guys!

what a breathtakingly beautiful wedding party!!
(so just so you know, erin didn't wear that purple t-shirt to the wedding, there she is again, back row center:)

but WAIT we're just getting started. program anyone??

sarah carver is an incredibly talented woman and comes from an amazingly artistic + crafty family.
her aunt MADE her dress!!!!
AND family members made THIS ARBOR and handled all the on-site decor, too.
wow.

and it just keeps getting better.
OMG are you just in love??
[and note that plaid wedding-colors sash! ~ they thought of EVERYTHING!]

and oh the joy + happiness!!!!

inside the bistro was EQUALLY amazing.
for the record: KENT's did the bouquets - and oh-la-la! what an amazing job Kent did . . .
but the rest of this, including monogrammed table runners, centerpieces, and even monogrammed PUMPKIN!
~ sarah carver's fam:

what annika and i loved most of all though, was SEEING the love, the respect, the relationships between these remarkable folks.

sarah + andy, what a joy it was to document your celebration.
BUT WAIT, there's EVEN more ~ CLICK HERE for the slideshow.

it's a perfect autumn weekend, friends -- get out there!

[but check back, HOLD THAT HUG slideshow as well as some amazing weddings posted soon]

~amy enderle

emily + jeff + sweet love

2008-10-13T10:57:00.011-05:00

we first met emily + jeff through our "win our hearts | win your wedding" contest last spring. emily told us in her essay that:

"it was love at first sight . . . at least for one of us."

emily, riding in the backseat of a friend's car, spotted jeff walking. with the help of her friends, a bit of sleuthing, a few chocolate chip cookies and AOL Instant Messenger, emily found her guy.

it was a sweet, sweet love story. and NOW, they are a mere 4 months from being married.

we met in downtown fulton for their engagement session. i love Fulton's brick streets, old buildings, the couch on the sidewalk (?!). but most of all i love that it's jeff's hometown stomping grounds.

jeff's folks own a farm near fulton. gates, goats, pastures, pick-up truck . . . all great fun for picture making . . . but once again my favorite part was knowing that jeff and emily and their friends have spent lots of time here.

location, location, location? YES! when it's full of memories and meaning.

lots is happening with emily and jeff these days . . . both graduated this spring AND emily is working at an internship with Southern Living. sounds pretty cool, emily!

learn lots and we'll see you in February. Oh, and be sure to CLICK HERE for emily + jeff's engagement slideshow.

~kim

baba + tad :: ENGAGED!

2008-10-11T07:23:00.010-05:00

* now you MUST share,
do you like the old CLICK here plan, or do you like to see slideshows EMBEDED
(that word always makes me think of journalists in tanks now) like the above?
well, of COURSE there's still rambling narrative...so read on ;D

LOVE this story:

when baby maria isabel come home with her mama . . .

and her big sisters peered down to meet her for the first time,

"baba" seemed to be how baby-maria-isabel translated in toddler-speak.

and to this day, THAT has stuck.

we have a similar story in our house.

zoe wasn't quite 18 months old when she met baby tycho (for pronunciation purposes, rhymes with psycho...have we mentioned that? -- but luckily, no connection other than the rhyme...we think)

so back to the story:

tycho was born. zoe came in to meet him and exclaimed "my bubbie, my bubbie" clapping her little hands.

was it my brother? my baby? some combination of the two??

though he's EIGHT now...(someday i'll share picture of that 2-foot long sub we had at his all day "block party" -- as in lego blocks, to celebrate) anyway though tycho's 8 he still answers to bubbie. and every time i hear it, it just warms my heart.

there's a whole lot of ways tad + maria warm hearts, too.

i LOVE them. i absolutely, totally LOVE them.

we try to EDIT engagement + wedding images to identify the strongest pictures for the online slideshow, but THIS is their whole shoot. i SO want you all to have a chance to see it all! confession: i just keep looking at these pictures again and again. and this song? well i chose this song for no other reason than i want to hear it again and again. so THAT seems like an ideal match. plus i was listening to this while post-procesing and somethings then, like peanut butter and jelly, the two ("a" being the pictures + "b" being the music) seem a bit lonely, a bit um, naked? without each other.....hmmm

now kim and i really try so hard to introduce silver lining readers (we need a better word than readers...am going to work on that!) ~ but we try so hard to feature local artists or musicians just starting out. there's nothing local or "new" about this guy....just learned that his 4-song CD is the all time best-selling CD on CD baby.com.

do you have this song on your iPod yet?

if not yet, you can do what i'm doing and hit "replay the slideshow" again and again.

i like THESE pictures and THIS song THAT much and hope you do, too.

tad + ba: what a great GREAT afternoon it was!

thanks for making the trip into kansas city, for the conversation, for the insight, for the time.

the thought of documenting your wedding absolutely delights me!

(and the chance to hang out with alex + tim snyder again...well what a HUGE BONUS!

~ btw the first time we used an alexi murdoch song was with THEIR nuts-for-each-other wedding.

so THIS LINK from the archives: Happy Anniversary Alex, + Tim!!!)

hugs!

amy

off to 6am yoga, but . . .

2008-10-10T05:37:00.014-05:00

just saw this article in the online version of the missourian, MU's j-school paper staffed by students.

about the time of last night's blog entry, i sent a "preemptive apology" to jason + sarah's family trying to explain that pretty much everything kim + i said came out not quite like we meant.

example: amanda-the-reporter asked, "will this be an annual event?"

we don't know we said, we just want to enjoy this one.

we meant ENJOY in the best sense of the word. like savor.

savor because life is short.

savor with gratitude because these people gathering have a connection (to sarah, to us, to the community) and it's those connections that make life so much richer.

got up this morning and saw a "don't worry, it's fine" email from jason and from elizabeth. it's fine. i wish we could have gotten across how terrific sarah was but hmmmpf

what do you do when realize you're much less articulate than you hoped?

lastly, b/c i'm trying to move through this... here's a copy of the email~the only thing sarah ever asked me for in the absolute whole time i knew her . . .

From: sarah @ becking . com

Subject: Hello Amy!

Date: October 22, 2007 9:46:57 AM CDT

To: hello @ silverbox photographers . com
I know that we spoke about family photos months ago but…..was wondering if there was a day in the late afternoon (in the next month or so ) that we could meet at Stewart park or some place close to both of us to do some family photos. I have put it off too long. I am just so much more comfortable behind the camera.

Anyhoo…just let me know if there is space in your calendar. I am not after anything but some nice outdoor images of the kids and us, preferably playing (I guess we should try to pose for a few). Any crisp fall day will do.
Thanks!!!
Sarah Becking

PS Bring your kiddos along if you would like. They can run and play in the park…It might distract my kiddos from what is actually going on (better smiles!!) I think that I have ruined them as far as posing for pics is concerned.

i feel badly every day, every single about this . . . you know: life. busy time, never got back with her. the holidays came; the holidays went. then it was spring. again BEAUTIFUL time we could have gone out and played at the park, but i never called sarah to set this up. months can pass. years can pass. for sarah, it was significantly less than a year . . . in july sarah came out of surgery with carcinoid tumors extracted. . . the first reports were filled with good news. from jason's email we read:

Sarah’s surgery was completed about an hour ago. Although we haven’t seen her yet, reports from the doctors are fabulous.
They removed all carcinoid they were able to find. And they tried very hard to find it all. And they didn’t find any carcinoid anywhere we didn’t already know it existed. Exclamation points!! Exclamation points!!!! Exclamation points!!!!! ....
Everything that happened was expected, and they didn’t do nor find anything unexpected. They removed what we were pretty sure already existed, and were unable to find anything else to worry about. I’m restating, trying to figure out if there’s a better way to say that this is essentially the best possible news that could have come from today. A long, great day, broken up by a big storm and brief power outage in the hospital (waiting room, not the operating room).
Sarah will be in ICU starting here in a bit, for a day or two, then in a regular room for another few days. Enormous thanks to all for all, on behalf of all of us in New Orleans.
even ku gets a pass today, stupid shoe-wearing mythical birds.

. . . ever heard of staph infection (MRSA)? the email that came our way two days later had very diferent news.

She was a loving wife, a great friend, had a happy spirit, saw the best in people, and was an outstanding mother. The kids and I are in Malden now, will be returning to Columbia tomorrow. Sarah’s mom and dad are en route to Columbia now to be with her brother and his family.
There’s simply nothing about it that seems fair or right, but I guess that’s why they call it fate. Perhaps the incident two years ago was simply a wake up call so we could fully appreciate these past two years, which we certainly did....
I close this e-mail the way I’ve ended most phone conversations, go hug your friends and family.
Sarah loved you all, and I appreciate that love flowing back toward us now.

please know we're trying to learn from this.

working on it, but figuring out how to proceed . . .

stop by sunday if you can...

~amy

our friend sarah . . .

2008-10-09T21:27:00.008-05:00

a reporter from the missourian talked with us today for a story she's writing about sarah and about hold-that-hug.

we both felt like . . . well, like blubbering idiots.

sarah becking is so loved by so many! (and deservedly so!!)

kim and i kept saying,

"please, please talk to more of sarah's friends, not just us."

"please read jason's untimely thoughts..."

"please, pleease, pleeeeeaaaase don't draw conclusions about sarah based on this little . . . .sliver."

[and darnnit anyway, we fear we weren't even making sense with our sliver.]

we're really sorry.

soo sorry.

we just could not seem to find the words, could not seem to share the stories in a way that made sense.

neither of us are particularly good with the "in sum" stuff . . . it's all about the narrative, right?! and the moments.

sarah led her life in a way that was such a great example for all of us. she brought joy to lots and LOTS of people. a creative with every ounce of her being~~and in talking with the student reporter, we just could not seem to come up with short simple answers to explain why and how sarah managed to have such remarkable impact on so many.

photographers are somewhat notorious for not having pictures of themselves.

but here's some very good news.

our friend elizabeth jordheim had created these images a few years ago.

just thought we'd take this opportunity to share since the right words seem to be escaping us (all 4 pictures in this post were created by elizabeth . . . wow, we're so thrilled to have these.)

hope to see you on sunday!

hold that hug! ~ a tribute. and YOU are invited!

2008-10-07T11:58:00.017-05:00

click here if legibility is a problem ~ an online PDF version of the above info

we hope to see lots of you Sunday.

event website: www.holdthathug.blogspot.com