check ya later.

Ok, I am overwhelmed by cuteness these days and I cannot contain myself. Meet Timmy, he's going to be a lady killer I just know it.

love bugs.

Meet Aubrey and Blake, my two favorite kiddos! I might biased because they're my niece and nephew, but they are darn good lookin' kids. Next on the editing agenda: The Anderson Wedding...looking through their photos makes me crazy excited to get to work on them! Baby photos tomorrow night as well-busy bee!

just a little guy.

Meet Greyson! He's a sleepy little man, but is incredibly good looking.

see more of my work at kjkdesigns.us

when i say i do.

I've been crazy busy lately. I don't even have accurate words to describe the chaos. Here's a little of what I've been up to.

i love the iowa state fair.

I love the Iowa State Fair. The food, people watching, honey, corn dogs, funnel cake, family, great friends gathering, carnies, butter cows, photography, big yellow slide, petting zoo. It really is my favorite holiday and in my family it feels like a holiday as well. A chance to get together, enjoy the people we're with and our surroundings. 

go to Raygun and buy things.

my little brother and his son in the knapp building checking out the new animals.

oh so cute.

not so cute. meet tiny.

you're freaking me out.

biggest cow/steer...whatever you call it. 

GRINDER! 

I see corn every day and still love checking it out in the Ag building.

I'm obsessed with the midway and carnies.

say something nice.

npr oh how i love thee.

I saw this on NPR a while back and forgot to post it. But after getting back from the fair I thought...people just need to know how great it is here in ol' Iowa.

This is the link if you prefer to read it on their website. NPR

Think You Know Iowa? Five Things You've Got Wrong

by LINTON WEEKS

Call it what you will — an August Occasion, Summery Judgment, Iowa ... wa ... whatever — the hype is hyperbolic this week as Republican presidential aspirants converge on Ames, Iowa, like storm clouds on an open prairie. The candidates will debate Thursday night at Iowa State University and then be subjected to a straw poll on Saturday.

Watchers are wondering: Will Iowa be the Republicans' Field of Dreams? Will it be a place where hopefuls can build new Bridges of Madison County? Or is Iowa nothing more now than a mythic — but meaningless — kickoff to the 2012 election?

To many Americans, Iowa is a symbol of something. Sometimes wrongly so.

For instance, ESPN sportswriter Rick Reilly notes in a recent post that Iowa is so flat "you can watch a train pull out for three days." And last year then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California said that Iowa is so bland nobody wants to visit there.

So as the nation turns its jaundiced eye toward Iowa, let's take a look at some of the myths and misconceptions about the state:

1. Iowa is flat. Each year, bicyclists ride across Iowa in an annual event called RAGBRAI — theDes Moines Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. "Any participant who has done RAGBRAI can tell you that Iowa isn't flat," says Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition. "First-time participants are wowed by the often hilly terrain of the Loess Hills region or much of the driftless areas of southern Iowa. Sure, there are some flat regions, but Iowa's terrain is surprising — sometimes inducing panic — to the flatlander who thinks a hill is an Interstate overpass."

2. Iowa is boring. Not according to a just-released list of Top Party Schools in America compiled by the Princeton Review. In the past three years the University of Iowa has moved from 12th place on the Review's list to fourth place, just behind the universities of Ohio, Georgia and Mississippi.

3. Iowa is monocultural. "A state that is not open to new ideas would never have given Barack Obama his victory, which propelled him to the presidency," says Des Moines attorney Douglas E. Gross, a former candidate for governor in Iowa and a campaign official for presidential candidatesGeorge W. Bush and Mitt Romney. As further evidence, Gross cites the 2009 Varnum decision, in which the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, making Iowa the third state to sanction gay marriages. A Drake University survey of more than 1,700 people, released midsummer, shows that an overwhelming majority of Iowans (61 percent) support same-sex marriage. The same survey reveals an intrastate misconception: Most respondents also imagined that fellow Iowans would look unfavorably on same-sex marriage. They were wrong.

4. Iowans love ethanol. "When people say that in order to win in Iowa you need to pander by paying homage to King Corn — not so much," says J. Ann Selzer, a public opinion pollster in West Des Moines. To buttress her point, she refers to the mid-June release of her survey of people who say they will definitely or probably attend the Republican caucus in February 2012. Only 14 percent said that a candidate's opposition to continued subsidies for ethanol would be a "deal-killer."

5. Iowa is politically irrelevant. Iowa is still an essential component of the kingmaking machinery, says Douglas E. Gross. The state's political scrutiny — through debate, straw poll and caucus — separates wheat from chaff and winners from losers. The unsuccessful candidates, Gross points out, "will drop out after the straw poll and caucus results."

Even the RAGBRAI bicyclists think Iowa is still important. The people of Iowa "pay close attention to the presidential race and take the first-in-the-nation role very seriously," says Mark Wyatt, who lives in Iowa City. And they get to know the candidates up close and personally. "There is a little joke about two ladies talking about who they would caucus for. One of the ladies asked how the other liked a particular candidate. "Well, I thought he was much better the third time I met him."

So you see. Rick Reilly is wrong, and so is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Iowa has its ups and downs, and plenty of people want to visit. In fact, a bunch of well-dressed visitors will be on the dais Thursday to talk about the symbolism of Iowa.

snarky.

I'm a huge fan of sarcasm.

fall.

scarves and boots...I always look forward to fall.

the killer in me.

This is a great cover. I'm loving The Civil Wars right now...I've been having a musical affair with them for almost 3 months now and I can't get enough.

almost lovers always do.

This is definitely how I'm feeling right now. Should have known you'd bring me heartache, almost lovers always do.

summer days.

It's been a busy month so far and I still have quite the schedule in front of me. Not to mention that Hawkeye football season starts very soon and my schedule will still be busy busy busy!

I made flowers and took them out to the cemetery for my grandparents. My Grandma Judy

has been gone 7 years this past Sunday.

 Then I was off to Omaha to meet Greyson and see my twins, Callie and Alycia.

And this is Greyson! He's extra cute and such a great baby.

everything changes but everything stays the same.

7 years ago today I lost my Grandma Judy. She had a huge impression on my life and still holds a large portion of my heart. If she were alive we might have gone to the Iowa State Fair today, some of my fondest memories with her were there. This photo was taken at my first fair almost a month after I turned one in 1986. I still don't understand the caption or why it was put on a standing round frame, but it's one of my favorite photos of the two of us.

inspiration.

I'm always wanting to learn new things and be creative every day, so I've been looking up poses on Pinterest. Because of a few more weddings and shoots this year I need fresh ideas. Not to mention my best friend, 5 cousins, 1 brother, and 6 friends having babies I need variety, especially in the baby department. Let the researching continue!


This website talks about photos not to miss out on the first day of your child's life. Lil Sugar

And this site shares ideas ranging from seniors to newborns. Inspire Me Baby

hey be-be.

Just a few announcements I've done. Invitations and announcements are so much fun!

 

See more of my work at kjkdesigns.us

oh my darling.

Day 30 - Your favorite song from this time last year



Last summer I was obsessed with this album completely.

semper fi.

Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself, but I had so much fun with Emille, Dannie and their wonderful family and friends I couldn't help myself. Just a wee bit of boom chick pow!!!


Also didn't know this....Semper Fidelis is Latin for "Always Faithful". How fitting.

so this is love.

 

Just a little sneak peak of Chandra and Scott's wedding photos. I haven't started editing them but I had to give the honeymooners a little eye candy. My portfolio is filling up fast and I'm LOVING it!

Check it out at kjkdesigns.us

and you played it.

I just needed a little pick me up before work. She is wonderful.

bottoms up.

and his mama cried.

Day 29 - A song from your childhood


Let's just say I didn't know until I went to kindergarten that there was any kind of music other than oldies (I grew up spending at least one day a week at Porky's), Garth Brooks, and Elvis.

but I need you now.

like buttons of lies.

Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty

 

Mostly because I allow myself to feel like this some times.

ramblings.

So I had to tell someone, something. I'm so proud and excited that I can't keep it in. And this is when you learn that it's not like I won the lottery or got engaged, it's that I have pulled myself out of debt and now pay less in bills a month than rent. I don't remember the last time that it happened. I can't wait until my debt it washed away and I can live free of payment plans!

oh lovah.

I added two new prints to my etsy page. Next is baby wraps, bibs, and tie dye shirts.

Check out my etsy page ➜  www.etsy.com/shop/kjkdesigns

I also made a treasury entitled: if i got hitched. I know I'm single....well, very single but maybe one day I'll walk down the aisle. I'm a planner so I guess I'm getting ahead of the game.