bobbi+mike » personal

January’s Jollies

bobbi — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:39:32 +0000

Wow, trying to find a word that started with J (you know, for the January alliteration) that also meant “relaxing” was nearly impossible. I just spent an embarrassingly long time trying to come up with the perfect word!

Anyway….

I am admittedly a workaholic, and not in a good way. I spend way too many hours at my desk. I’m obsessive and it’s not healthy. If I’m not working, I feel guilt. It’s a self-employment thing. I know that because I hear many other self employed people saying the exact same thing.

After putting together that year-end slideshow, it was crystal clear; we needed to take January a bit slower. You know… work on the house, go on dates, hang with friends, lounge on the couch, and cook real dinners; all the while completely guilt-free! While we definitely did work a bit, it was at a much slower pace. …and it was awesome!

By the way, those are all from my Instagram feed. They’re in chronological order, starting January 1st. Expect more images like those in the coming months.

Much love to you friends!

~Bobbi

PS. if you’d like to follow my Instragram feed, my handle is “bobbiandmike”

our 2011

bobbi — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:54:50 +0000

Our year.

Images from our point and shoot, our DSLR, Facebook tags and both of our iPhones.

(If for some reason the slideshow below isn’t showing up for you, refresh this browser window)

2011 in a nutshell

(in parenthesis, where we traveled)

January – Mike’s family in Indianapolis • Published in Rangefinder Magazine • RAIN, Beatles cover band concert

February – Made an offer on a gorgeous old house • Withdrew offer after it failed inspection miserably • WPPI Speakers • The Bobbi Shop announcement • (Las Vegas, Nev.)

March – One wedding • Family vacation • The Bobbi Shop release • Found an awesome newer house that wasn’t ready to fall over (Marathon, Fla • Treasure Island, Fla.)

April – Friend slumber party • Closed on our first home • Three bbmk workshops • Moved • Road trip for Maya Angelou • (West Virginia)

May – Two weddings • Traded in my VW Beetle • Replace it with a 2008 Volvo S40 • (Merrillville, Ind. • Chicago, Ill. • Cincinnatio, Ohio • St Louis, Mo.)

June – Three weddings • Tornado wedding • Mom in hospital • Surprise birthday trip • Turned 30 • Surprise birthday party • Another healthy train finale • (Kokomo, Ind. • New York City, NY • Chicago • Gainesville, Fla.)

July – Three weddings • 4th of July Party • Rapid-fire sessions • Air Conditioner stopped running, holy hot 90° tamales Batman! • (Terre Haute, Ind. • Bedford, Ind. • Bloomington, Ind.)

August – Three weddings • full Air Conditioner replacement • Paul McCartney with mom • St Louis Shot Party Speakers • Mom starts college • Mike’s 31st Birthday • Ms Pacman console table • (Bloomington, Ind. • Cincinnati, Ohio • St. Louis, Mo. • Chicago, Ill.)

September – Four weddings • Labor Day with family • goddaughter August Rose turned 1 • (Fort Wayne, Ind. • Toledo, Ohio. • Batimore, Md. • Grand Rapids, Mich.)

October – Two weddings • 8-Year Anniversary Mini Vacation • Rapid-fire sessions • Repainted house • (Sacramento, Calif. • Yosemite National Park, Calif. • San Francisco, Calif. • St. Louis, Mo.)

November – Her Conference Speaker • Two bbmk Workshops • Thanksgiving crab legs feast with friends • Surprised Kansas City family on Thanksgiving • (Grand Rapids, Mich. • Kansas City, Mo.)

December – Mike & Dad Vacation • Holiday card • Christmas with Mom • Christmas with our friend-family, AKA Framily • Christmas with Mike’s family • 2nd Annual Get Fancy New Year’s Eve Party • (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.)

1 bobbi • 1 mike

10 states • 28 cities

18 weddings • dozens of sessions

5 workshops • 3 speaking engagements

375 Bobbi Shop templates

**and 1 perfecto house!**

WHAT A YEAR WE HAD! …a year full of lots of highs and a few lows… a year that was both exciting and exhausting… a year that we will never ever forget!

We have the most incredible friends and families that greatly contribute to making our lives what they are.

Thank you. Everyone…

Much love,

bobbi+mike +

our holiday card, 2011

bobbi — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:57:42 +0000

For those who are new to the bbmk blog this year… I’d like to formally introduce you all to our holiday card! We’ve been creating these since 2003, the year we got married. That year the card read, “Married Christmas!” I know… OH so witty! We’ve been trying to turn the creativity notch up every year since then.

So, before I show you 2011′s card, let’s make a quick trip down memory lane… here are the last three years…
My personal favorite. I thought we’d never top this. This was the first year I altered the bobbi+mike logo on the back to match the theme. I’ve been doing it since.

Mike’s all-time favorite… our Awkward Family Photo.

Without further ado… Our holiday card, 2011! …the year that our holiday card almost caused an accident! You see, we were shooting in front of our home (self timer style) when a gawker swerved into the oncoming lane… SCREEEECH, HONNNNNNNNK, WHOA!!!!!!!

Though, if I had seen this scene happening I’d probably stare too… ESPECIALLY with me running back and forth in a dress that was WAY too long (I fell twice!), while a reflector hoisted to a light stand kept flying away (it was SOOOO windy)! If only we’d had video of this. I’m telling you we looked like a live British comedy show!

Oh, by the way… many people said that they thought we looked super skinny… it’s an illusion. I stretched the photo so that it looked more like the original. ;)

Merry Everything friends!

Much love,

~bobbi+mike

Address please.

bobbi — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:59:08 +0000

…it’s that time again!

If you fit into one of these categories, please email me your address.

You’ve received a holiday card in the past and have since moved.
You attended one of our workshops.
We photographed your wedding or session this year and you now have a new address.

Email me at bobbi at bobbiandmike dot com.

YAHOOOO!

~bobbi

today I’m thankful for…

bobbi — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:30:56 +0000

a house with a roof

a running car

a job I love

clients and friends who inspire me

drivers who wave when you let them in

strangers who smile back

a family who has loved me and supported me unconditionally

a half sister who I haven’t seen in years yet comments on almost every Facebook post

being godparents to two girls I love more than I knew was possible

a G-Ma who would do anything for me, and has

a papa who loved me as though I were his granddaughter by blood

Best friends who:

I can laugh with and cry with

are loyal, without question

are now my family

A mom who:

is healthy

is getting straight A’s in both of her classes!

I have a great relationship with

A husband who:

makes me laugh daily

celebrates my birthday every month on the 14th (the last was 30 and 5/12ths)

can articulate my thoughts better than I can

loves his family

loves my family

has patience

makes me heart-shaped food every year on Valentine’s Day

thinks I’m the most beautiful when I wake up in the morning

is my very best friend

holds my hand as often as he can

likes my laugh best when it’s the dorkiest

loves me with his whole heart

What I’m most thankful for… Living a life I’m proud of.

And now I’m in a pile of tears.

Each and every single one of you owe it to yourself to take a few hours today (or any day) and really think about and write down all of the things in your life you’re thankful for. And if your list, like mine, includes people… take the time to tell them what they mean to you. You owe it to them.

And to the best, most loyal blog readers around… from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Love,

~Bobbi Michelle.

whoa.

bobbi — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:30:41 +0000

March/April to a tax accountant is a photographer’s September/October/November…

These last two and a half months have been nothing short of chaos. But amazing chaos nonetheless! We’ve traveled from coast to coast for some incredible weddings, spoke at a photography conference in Michigan, photographed a ton of awesome sessions, and this past week we’ve been knee deep in bbmk workshop amazingness. Oh, and to top it off, holiday ordering deadlines are this week, BOOOOOM!

So, we’ve been shooting/traveling a ton with very little time between to process the images …and that’s what the rest of November will be full of!

Here’s what we have coming up…

molly+glen :: wedding :: Sacramento, Calif.

jodie+troy :: engagement

amy+jon :: engagement

faye+andy+evie :: family

robin+peter+thomas :: family

courtney+adam+conner+lilli :: family

ali+charles+james+isabella+evie+twins on the way :: family

ashley+casey :: wedding :: St. Louis, Mo.

clary+travis+hughes+jeggie :: family

danielle+sheridan :: engagement :: workshop

abigail+collin :: engagement :: workshop

WHOA IS RIGHT!

For those of who are too excited to wait for the full blog post, I always post up a sneak peek over on the bobbi+mike Facebook page. So, head over there and “Like” us if you want to stay in the loop.

And because a blog post just doesn’t look right without an image, here’s one of us taken at our most recent workshop by attendee Julia.

bobbi+mike+abigail+collin

Much love!

~bobbi+mike +

8 years.

bobbi — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:37:54 +0000

10.10.03.

……………………………

Indianapolis, Ind.

hair • myself
florist • Kroger
videographer • our friend Justin
ceremony & reception venue •  Winchester Place
dj • mp3 player
cake •  Jonathan Byrd
dress •  eBay?

……………………………

our songs

processional • “Wedding Song” –Bob Dylan
recessional • “All You Need is Love” –The Beatles
first dance • “Joy of My Life” –John Fogerty
father/daughter • “In My Life” –The Beatles
mother/son • “You Are My Sunshine” –sung by Norman Blake

bobbi+mike

What was the most memorable moment of your day?

bobbi: Walking down the aisle… No question! I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life. From Tacoma, Washington to New York City, and everywhere in between… my family and friends were there from all over the country, most of which I very rarely see. As I was oh-so-emotionally walking down the aisle, I was incredibly overwhelmed with seeing all of the people that I love, all in one place, all looking at me that I genuinely forgot that my husband-to-be was at the end of my path. True story! About halfway down the aisle, as I’m literally saying hi to an old friend (I would…), my dad says, “Bob… check him out…” referring to Mike. I look up, and there he was, my very favorite person in the whole wide world, in a pile of tears. I let out the loudest cry/laugh ever! Mike says I sounded like a dying wildebeest (how does he even know what that sounds like?!). I would say it sounded like a very loud honk. By the time I made it to Mike, all I wanted to do was hug him. I was squeezing onto his jacket so tight that I think I may have ripped a seam in his suit.

mike: It was hands down when Bobbi came down the aisle. To borrow a line from our recent groom Anthony, let’s just say “it turns out…I wasn’t the emotional rock I thought I was.” There wasn’t just a tear or two or a sniffle, but a blubbering mess of a guy waiting for Bobbi at the of the aisle :)

Any advice for future bride/grooms? (these answers are solely based on experiences from our wedding day, otherwise… this blog post will be entirely too long!)

bobbi: 1. Make it yours. Just because it’s tradition doesn’t mean that you have to comply. Our ceremony was entirely written by us, our families each wrote something and read it aloud, and we wrote our own vows… Mike even wrote me a poem! 2. Our wedding was on a MAJORLY tight budget, as we were just 4 months out of college. We took the three things that mattered to us most, splurged on those and let everything else be just good enough. Our three things were: photography, personalization of the ceremony and to have a laid back/comfortable reception. 3. There is no better way of describing a wedding… It really is a whirlwind! Take moments, throughout the day, to stop and take in everything. It’s easy to pass over this tidbit but don’t… It’s important! Just talking about this today, Mike and I had to remind each other of many of the moments of that day.

mike: If you’re doing things yourself and intending on relying on family and friends for a hand – organize that ahead of time in a meaningful way. Everyone was wonderful and willing to help with whatever we needed, but we didn’t delegate well! I was in a tux with a drill still assembling what we called an “arch” an hour before the ceremony.

Funniest memory from your wedding day?

mike: So…I behaved myself almost the entire reception. Half an hour before things were to wind down, suddenly everyone needed to have a shot with the groom. ”Belschner’s” as they were affectionately called (2 parts absolut citron, 1 part sprite/7-up, lemon and lime juice to taste). Half an hour and about ten of those later, I was in no shape whatsoever to drive. A very dismayed Bobbi, crinoline and dress bunched up and practically blocking the windshield, had to drive back to our apartment. Upon arriving at the questionable apartment complex we were calling home, Bobbi announces to a very inebriated Mike, “YOU’RE unloading the gifts while I wait inside.” Bobbi falls asleep in the mean time. Twenty minutes later, I fall asleep sitting upright on the sofa with a large gift on on my lap, head resting upon the gift…in my full tux. A few hours later, Bobbi wakes up, still in dress saying “we are NOT sleeping apart the night of our wedding. Help me GET OUT of this dress!” And then, a few hours later – the phone rang. It was Bobbi’s mom Kim, “Hey you two, I just wanted to be the first to say good morning to Mr. and Mrs….” “OH SH*T!” we cut her off with, “we need to get our things packed and our plane leaves in an hour!” We made the flight, just barely, and with about half the stuff we needed for a trip to Florida.

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?

bobbi: Our wedding was one of the first real weddings I’d ever been to (most of my family has gotten married by a judge). When it came to planning our wedding, we truly had NO idea what we were doing! So to answer that question… Lots of things! So, for times sake, I’ll just name one. – I would have splurged a little more when it came to my look. For example, I found my dress on eBay for $75… “Hey Mike, come here and look at this… Do you think I’ll look pretty in that?” …and then I bought it! Also, I wish I had gotten my hair done… As I fixed it myself. My hair looked the same as it always did, just this time, with a veil!

mike: We were married before we’d even thought about working in the wedding industry. We’d both been to only a few weddings, mostly when we were kids. Having a few hundred weddings under our belts now, there are a lot of specifics we’d change…creative items as well things we’d do in consideration of our guests. However, the personalized ceremony, the low-key feel, and the people involved we wouldn’t trade for the world.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Four days in The Florida Keys.

~Mike & Bobbi.

PS. We’re celebrating this day at Yosemite National Park… so we may be a little slow to respond to incoming emails.

bobbi — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:45:35 +0000

august rose + mike’s nose

bobbi — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:19:24 +0000

Here’s a totally random iPhone moment that made me laugh

While visiting our framily before a workout…

“What is THAT thing?!”

“Hmm… looks familiar… Could it be? Hmmm… I think it is!

MILLLLLLLLK!” (By the way, her little mouth did get a hold of it, but my trusty iPhone 3 didn’t react fast enough)
“Your milk sucks….”

We love you August Rose!

Mike & Bobbi.

why…

bobbi — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:12:43 +0000

….I’ve been a bit absent this summer.

My momba got sick in early June.

Let me start by saying that she’s doing MUCHO better now… though, it’s been quite the scary summer full of unknowns.

I got a phone call from my mom the morning of June 1st. She could barely breath, “Hey Bobbi….. just….. wanted….. you to….. know that…. I…. admitted…. myself to the…. emergency…. room at 3…..this morning.” UHM… WHAT?! You see, my family isn’t a “going to the doctor” kind of family let alone a “check yourself into the emergency room at 3am in the morning” kind of family! This was serious. I, without hesitation, headed to the hospital immediately.

I found her room, she was resting and couldn’t hear me. Seeing her in that state at the hospital was an image that I’ll carry with me forever… an image that I would rather not carry with me forever. It was awful… and had a major impact on me. I left the room and called my Aunt Karen sobbing, “I’m not sure I’m strong enough to handle this!” The thought of losing my mom…. man oh man. Awful.

As a side note, my mother was admitted to the hospital the day before Emily and Matt’s wedding… remember the outdoor/tent wedding with the funnel cloud and 90mph winds? Yeah, that one. That should help explain why I was under the table and crying, fearing for my life. I kept saying, “I just want to see my mom…” Those were the absolute worst/most scary few days of my life.

Needless to say, I’ve been spending a lot of time both taking care of and laughing with her. I chose to not take on any extra sessions than I already had scheduled and I haven’t dedicated time to social media/personal blogging. So to those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I’m alive!

My mom has since made a complete lifestyle change and things are looking WAY up. WAY WAY WAYYYY UP! She successfully started back to work on Wednesday after being off for over three months.

Here’s her favorite part… her first day of college starts Monday! We got her all registered last week. YES YES YES YES YES! She keeps saying, “I’m SO excited! SO EXCIIIIIIITED! I mean… I’m nervosa too, but I’m SO EXCITED!” By the way, in Momba language, nervosa = nervous.

You know, regardless of her health, we’ve had more fun this summer than I think we’ve ever had, and that’s sayin’ something! The highlight? WE SAW PAUL McCARTNEY LIVE!!!! ….more on that later.

Blog posts with weddings are coming next week Stay tuned!

Oh and Momba, please don’t get sick again because that sucked.

I love you, BIG time!

~Bobbalou