My Warrior

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Cid aka Sidney McGee, Cidders, Sidney Dean, Big Man, Monster Head, Sweet Pea

I remember it so vividly, I can still smell his puppy breathe.  Dave was in a band and we all lived in a two family house.   We were young and we were wild.  We were not allowed to have pets at our house, but somehow took in a mutt named Evil that Dave's brother found wandering around the neighborhood.  One day while picking up provisions Dave and one of the guys stopped by a house next door and saw they had puppies for sale.  Remember how I said we were not allowed to have pets,  what do you think they did?  They bought another puppy.  Since I was the only girl in the house I always tried to be the "responsible"one,  I made sure the bills were paid, talked to the landlord, blah, blah, blah...  I will admit, I was pissed off.  How was I going o explain not one, but two dogs in a house where we were supposed to have none?  As soon as I saw him everything changed.  I didn't care what the landlord thought(they never came around anyway).  He was the cutest thing I had ever seen and there was no way we were getting rid of him.  He was smaller than my size nine shoe.  He had a fat belly and sharp puppy teeth.  He would chew on everything in sight.  He slept in a laundry basket and ate out of a tiny ashtray.

July 2000

Eventually we all moved out of the house we were living in and got places of our own.  I consider my friends my family. We have been in each other's lives for what seems like forever now.  Cid is part of that family.  Since we all love Cid, we decided the best thing to do was to allow him to split time between our house and our  friends Kevin and Lauren's house.  Yes, we have joint custody of a dog.  He has two houses, two yards, two beds, two dog bowls, two of everything.  We all pool together once a month for dog food and split the vet bills.   It works out great for us financially  and for Cid because he is spoiled rotten, there is always someone to take him for a walk or to play.

With Dave 2003

Cid turned 10 this year. Though his head is much bigger and he takes up more room on the bed, he is still just as sweet as he was the day they brought him home.  To me,  there is nothing in the world like him.   The love I have for this dog is overwhelming.  He fills my heart up with so much happiness.  We speak to each other without words.  He is always glad to see me and I cannot wait to see his tail wag every morning when I wake up.  We look out for each other, he is my buddy.  There is nothing that can turn a bad day or a bad mood around quicker than a sloppy wet kiss from my dog.  If you have a dog, I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about.  It is a special thing. :)

2006

Cid and the City 2008

Yesterday we took Cid to a specialist and found out the lump on his ankle we originally thought was arthritis is cancer.  I cant believe my Cidders has cancer.  Cancer is such a scary word.  It still doesn't feel real.  I have gone so long thinking Cid was invincible, nothing could hurt him, he is as tough as nails.  Well he still is, he just has a little obstacle he needs to get past... The cancer has not spread past his ankle and if we amputate his leg, the vet thinks Cid will be fine.  She said he is very healthy otherwise and that removing the leg will be the best thing to do to ensure him a few more years with us.  He is going in for surgery this week,  I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well.  He is going to need lots of loving in the next few weeks and we will be there to give it to him every step of the way.  Hopefully before we know it I will be posting pictures of the cutest three legged dog you have ever seen. :)

2010 at his favorite park

Kentucky Engagement on a Farm

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Remember Scooter from yesterday's post?  Well this is Scooter's nephew,  Austin.  He and Ashley are getting married next year.  These two are a super cute country couple.  They love the outdoors, Austin drives a pick up truck, they  hunt, they dream of someday owning lots of farmland to stretch out on.  Scooter's farm was perfect for a very personalized engagement session that really represents them as a couple.

Two things that stick out in my mind about this session are that  Austin constantly made Ashley crack up laughing, like non stop throughout the entire session, and that he really likes to grab Ashley's butt, a lot!  :) Both things, I believe, make for a great relationship so keep it up Austin. :)

All about LOVE

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I have had the best past few weeks.

Here is a little peek at the gorgeous people that have entered my world.

Amber and Bryan,  whose wedding I photographed last month, scheduled a love session when they got back from their honeymoon.

Jessica and Craig were married at the beautiful St. John's church in Covington last weekend. Ashley and Austin are getting married next year.  We did their engagement session on Austin's uncle's farm.  This is Michael and Jessica, they were married Friday at the Anderson Center.  These two are enjoying a cocktail on a beach somewhere in Mexico right about now. :)

Ashley and Nathan Carnigie Event Center

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Back when I did their engagement session earlier this year I wrote about Nate's infectious laugh.  That infectious laugh has rubbed off on  Ashley, and on their wedding day, that is what they did, they laughed and enjoyed each other all day.  I love so many things about this wedding starting with Ashley, she is absolutely beautiful and such a sweetheart. Taking pictures of her was a total treat for me.  The fact that she wore purple shoes makes me adore her even more (purple is my favorite color and I firmly believe it looks great on everyone).  :)  She looked  amazing in her vintage style dress from European Bridal.

Nate is a good friend of mine so it was extra nice to be able to celebrate with him and to catch up with tons of old friends.  It is great to see people I care about find love.  Being surrounded by love feels good.  I am so thankful to have shared in their special day.  It was classy, and elegant, and sweet.

I started the day with Ashley and the girls getting ready. Ashley's dog Bentley was by her side the entire time she got ready.  Nate and all of his guys got ready at one of his groomsmen's house.

I like that Nate and Ashley borrowed family heirlooms to wear.  Ashley wore her grandmother's sapphire ring and Nathan's grandmothers pearls.  Nathan wore his grandfather's cuff links.   Ashley's hair was so cute.  Ashley Davis at Vintage Salon did a great job.  The girl's dresses are from David's Bridal.This was my biggest bridal party so far.  I am pretty proud of this one. :) The ceremony and reception were held at the Carnigie Event Center in Newport, Kentucky.  It is loaded with cool spots for photos. What a great candid moment with Ashley's Dad. This is my one of my favorite bridal portraits ever! :)Yes! Their cake is homemade by one of Ashley's friends.  It was delicious. Time to party! 

Memories in the making

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If you went up to my sister Nina today and asked her to sing Queen Latifa's Fly Girl I can guarantee you I know exactly what would come to her mind.  It would be the parody song we made up one night about my mom's yellow Chevette, a car that throughout our teenage years we were utterly embarrassed of.

We are from  a very small town that has a "main street" we all called The Avenue.  Everyone who was anyone, in our eyes, could be found hanging out on the avenue.  We had to drive down the avenue everyday in my mom's yellow car.  I remember Nina and I would duck down so no one would see us.  My mom would tease us and honk the horn to draw even more attention to us.  Who were we kidding, really?  How many yellow cars do you see a day?  In a town of less than 5000 people,  everybody knew who was in that car!  Nina used to joke with me that she was glad I was the oldest because I would inherit the car first and she wouldn't have to drive it.  One night while laying in bed cracking up about how proud my mom was of her car we made up this crazy song about it.   As I am typing this post I am singing it in my head, "Fly car, come here, cause your yellow and your fine and I want you to be mine".  I love that 17 years later i can still remember the words. :)

The memories I have of my sister and I growing up are some of my fondest.  After all of the fights, the boys, the clothes, that ugly yellow car, and our lives going into two completely different directions, one thing that will never change is the fact that my sister will always be my best friend.

Nina has given me the greatest gift a girl could get,  four sweet boys who love to call me Aunt Kita.  It warms my heart when I think about all of the memories they will make together, all of the silly songs they will make up when they are supposed to be sleeping, all of the times I know my sister will embarrass them.  No matter where life takes them they will always have a friend in each other.

I found these band shirts at Target and knew right away we had to do a photo shoot in them.  Nina rocked the boys out with the fohawks and baby chucks.  Too cute!!!!

My brother-in -law, Kevin, who wins father of the year in my book every year.  His kids adore him and he loves being their Dad.

Since I bought the boys a tshirt, they wanted to get me one too.  I love it.  It has a camera on it and says " And that's when I snapped".