Long time since last post= Novel

Surprise! It's a new post! :)

I'm writing in part to humor the people who harass me for not posting often enough, and in part to procrastinate on the 1,934,083,008,093 things I have to do in the next 2 weeks...

Things are movin' and shakin' around the Guice household. We're both moving in a million directions a minute, but still seem to find time to relax and cuddle on the couch with a good movie at least once a week, so things are good. :) We took the girls on a hike on Pinnacle Mt. last weekend, which was so great... except for the whole "Speckles-is-a-scaredy-cat-and-got-too-scared-to-go-up-the-steep-rocks-and-laid-down-and-WOULD-NOT-MOVE-so-I-told-Brian-to-go-ahead-with-Emma-but-ended-up-having-to-CARRY-the-35lb.-dog-up-half-the-mountain-and-down-the-other-half" part of the trip. :) I got quite a good workout that left me sore for about 3 days. :) Ha!


We're still in the torturous and educational process of trying to get Brian's practice up and going. Right now we're working with the landlord of the space we've found (and LOVE) to get approved for the floorplan changes we've made. I think it's such a great location- we've wanted to go with the whole "industrial modern" theme and this has it! Brick walls, black ceiling tiles with track lighting everywhere... it's just about perfect. Right now it's a boutique jewelry/handbag store, so we have to build walls to create the exam room, office, etc. The other HUGE thing has been that the bathroom they have is not ADA compliant (Americans with Disabilities Act), which means it's super small and won't fit a wheelchair. We assumed that the building owner would be responsible for the construction to get it compliant (duh), but we've had to fight more than we thought for that. It's also been a hairy lease compromise, but we're at a good place... and then the economy was flushed down the drain and we're worried about getting the money he needs to start it up. :( I'm still hopeful, and we've decided to go ahead and do what we can to get the money, and if he doesn't get it, we'll take a year, he'll find something in the meantime, and we'll revisit it next year. I really like the location, so I'm hoping things work out- cross your fingers for us that Bank of America wants to give us a bunch of money! :)

As if that's not keeping my mind occupied enough, I've been tied up with photography, having a photo shoot at least every other weekend (which equals about 10-20 hours of editing the following week). It's been great, and I'm still in love with photographing and learning something new everytime. Meeting all kinds of cool, interesting people is a plus too!

I've fallen absolutely, madly in love with my job at Trio's. The people, the food, the atmosphere, the hours, the creative freedom... oh, i'm in love. I feel more invested in this job than at ANY other job I've ever had (except my own photography business, of course). It's just so weird that I seriously feel like I was BORN to have this job. We're opening a new restaurant called "Capi's," scheduled to open by the end of this month, and I've been very involved in the creation of this place. It's always been a fantasy of mine to open my own restaurant, and through this process I've realized 2 important things- 1. I'm having SO much fun being so involved and having the creative freedom to really be a part of this restaurant and 2. I realize that I NEVER, EVER want to open a restaurant on my own... Capi has been a walking panic attack (understandably!) and I know I wouldn't be able to stomach that. I'm pretty close to tearing my hair out, and all I'm responsible for is the entire beverage program (choosing, ordering, pricing, menu-creation of wine, liquor, cocktail recipes, infused and hot teas, etc.). I'm engulfed in that, as well as the new wine list I've created at Trio's. The "creative freedom" I talked about also spills out to using my photography at this job: Capi "comissioned" me to take the photos for the covers of the wine lists at Trio's and Capis, and I've created a little "art project" by strategically splattering wine on parchment paper that I'll scan onto parchment paper, lighten, and print as the pages for the lists. I think it's going to look awesome! It's just such a rewarding job, and I'm so thankful that I went in at such a perfect time to be hired. I've also bonded eerily well with all the staff, and it's just amazing.... it takes up most of my time, but I LOVE it!

Emma and Speckles are outside dogs now. The wood floors and the girls just didn't get along very well. They never played because they just slid and scratched all over the place, and we have such a great backyard with no places for them to be able to dig out, so it just made sense. It was selfish of me to think that it was horrible for them to go outside, because they've been SO happy out there! They play more, they aren't freakishly hyper when we go outside to say hi (which we've made a point to do at least 3 times a day), and it's been such good weather lately! It's been a good transition, but I still miss their cold noses on my leg while working on the computer. :) They're still our sweet little furry daughters, and are so funny. I can't believe Emma will be 7 YEARS OLD in 3 months! Weird! I got Emma for Brian for his birthday around our 1-year anniversary. She still acts like a bouncy little puppy. :) Sweet girls...

I cut my hair off last week! It was longer than it's been since I was little, and I cut about a FOOT off!! I found myself putting it in a ponytail within 20 minutes of walking out the door, so I figured it was time for a change. I like it! I found a good salon and the girl did a great job. It's a good change for me. I wish I would've taken a "before and after" photo, because it really was a lot of hair!! I'll post a recent long-hair picture with a new short-hair picture when I take some. I'm thinking of offering a "trade" with another photographer I know to have some professional pictures of Brian, me and the girls for some pictures of her and her dog for some Christmas card pictures. Even though I'm a pro, we haven't had photos taken since our wedding! We need some good ones... I may try to do the timer-thing, but hopefully you all will get a good photo of us for Christmas. :)

Well, my goodness, I realize why I can't post often- I write novels when I get going!! :)

Here are my photos that will be used for the wine lists- I think they turned out awesome! It's also cool to be able to add to my resume that I've done "commissioned product photography." :)