Summer Fun

( more photos from the pool )

We had so much fun at the pool and I got to relax but still be involved with the family I loved it!

That last shot Joe made us a gorgeous cutting board out of maple.. and get this he made it with 16 pieces of wood.. our number.. it represents "I love you" he brought it home the other night when I felt my most ill.. and made me smile for days.

Beautiful family...itt is beyond the truth. Joe and I had a really rough patch back in the day when we were "dating" i'm not really like that. I didn't date anyone else at all and while I wish that were the case with him, it wasn't. Finally after realizing that we were very much in love it has just been us.. I was raised very different and while I know many will say.. dating is dating dont' worry about it, that is NOT me. I was crushed to find out some of the people he dated (before I was pregnant of course LOL)or what have you and while it truly broke my heart [specially that two of the gals KNEW how I felt about him and still tried to date him!least he didn't go that route.. that is when he knew it was to just be him and I) I know that we are solid and him and I are "it" and as talks have been going lately I believe one of these days I might have more news :)

Back in the day I got a lot of heat from my friends staying with Joe as we were so .. in between and I was more involved than he was to begin. They thought I was getting played because he was so quiet and not open about how much he cared and such. That was him and I understood on some level. I also knew that he was the kind to take a long time to make a decision in the relationship area.. even if I was all gun-ho with others it doesn't always work that way. His past is sorted and like myself he was hurt very badly and I have a few years of healing time on him. It took him ages to trust me and realize I didn't want to ever hurt him, that my heart was pure.. that I in the end have and always will love him. The right way.. that until I met him I didn't know what love was... It hurt me that my friends would not accept I "knew" .. but I did. When he walked into my life even through all the bullshit and hurt and such, I knew he could not walk out. When we separated for some time it was some of the darkest moments of my life. I felt like my heart was not in my body, and when he called me all those times when he was not "mine" i couldn't even speak with him. Tears would choke me up and I couldn't even pick up the cell phone. Those moments I knew there had to be a way for us to be. Eventually he asked me out to dinner and I went just to try to have my life get back to normal. Him as my friend was going to have to be it, because I refused for him to be out of my life. I walked in that diner and that was the night I snapped a photo and knew.. KNEW what love was. After that we hung out almost every night and it was all out from there. Eventually we started to date again, and it went from there.. and finally we were open about "us" to everyone not just on my side .. from his side. Our friends started to mesh and meet and now.. we are ever so happy.. My friends like him, his friends like me, and our families (so far) mesh too.

Things that take time are that much more special. I'm glad people finally get why I stayed around and why he was that important to me and now... they see I am important to him as well.

back to this week:

The boys were in NJ for two weeks with the family , I couldn't go this year .. I'm on travel restriction it was hard but it was fun too. While I was sick the whole time I moved a lot of my stuff into Joe's and now we are pretty much 100% living together. I was at the house last night for the first time in a while and back to the apartment tonight. It's no more fighting or awkwardness I think both of us were just scared out of our minds and now we are just... floating.. literally... When I went to pick the boys up at the airport Joe and the other kidlets came (his kids) and made little signs for welcome home and then we grabbed some dinner watched a movie ALL of us and the kids were quiet and laughing at the movie. Joe and I were tired and laughing at the movie but we had a full dinner and movie as a family for the first time with no fights from the kids, no overly bad episodes, a lot less stress. Things finally are gel-ing and we looked at one another and just smiled. That smile between two people that says... hey.. I guess we really made the right decision.. I love you... and I do I love all of my beautiful big family to pieces...

And while it annoys me that a lot of our friends keep poking fun we are going to need a bus to get our family all around, or a caravan or any of that stuff, sometimes it does really get on my nerves. Who are you to talk about my family like it's a joke.. it's not. I'm lucky to have found so much love in such little square foot of my home. You could be so lucky so stuff it! I am ever more excited for the baby to be here and have our family be complete.

That is my update.. As of today I'm 24 weeks pregnant, ever more in love.. though the past month or so has been hard with all the coming clean when we started to date and a while afterward.. but it was what we needed to finally put the past to the past, grow. and love more than ever.

I hope you are all well and enjoying/loving life.

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mood

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loved

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I'm only done photopost on 100 of the 500 images. Many more to come :)

For those that missed the bulletin:
Last night was insane. Anyone not at the Dead To Fall show.... really missed out! It has been a long time since I've been to a metal show, and man am I glad I actually went. Yes, it was brutal...yes I wanted to kill some of the stupid "dancers' that isnt' dancing. Mosh pit fine, headbanging again... fine but that stupid kick your arms and legs in a freaking windmill like stance while running into everyone there just to watch the show... not dancing. One guy punched me in the ribs while kicking me in the back of the head. I hope he liked the taste of my elbow and the blood that came momentarily after my blow to the face. Idiot! ..... only thing they are good for is a photo op.

Back to the night many of the band were absolutely sick! My favorite was Dead To Fall and not because Jon (singer) gave me access to the photographers pit after someone put in a word, but for the fact they really embodied the energy and power that is music. It was over 100ercent given. Running up the barrier having the crowd sing. For that 45 minutes or however long their set was, they were gods. Deserving gods, best show I've seen in AGES OK a tie with Trances Arc but they are two totally different genres/scenes and types of performances.

A few shots from the night I took well over 500 images so much more in photos to come, and I have to research what band is what beyond Dead To Fall to put them in galleries right. Full galleries up and a blog about it soon enough :)

Think one of the best quotes of the night was... "No more of that ninja dancing bullshit, I want to see a circle pit!".

Dont' think anything else could have made the night better at all, well except that one tiny thing ;)

If they are coming to a town near you. GO!

What did everyone else do last night?

~Dia

Notice all image, blurs, motion lines, double negatives and other assorted weird lighting, trails, perfect in focus, perfect out of focus are purposeful, this is my style. I obviously know how to use a camera, it's my job :P so don't say that would be great if it was X way, if I wanted it X way it would have been done that way. Hope that doesn't sound snippy but I'm trying to grow my own art not someone elses. I love feedback though and if you think it should be a dif way the only way I want to know is if you have a saying of how YOU would have taken it and why :) I love to learn so in essence I like to hear what you would do different just not "I wish you would stop taking photos with slow settings or I wish you would stop using filtered light when taking shots" etc. That is my style, you like it or you don't it doesn't insult me if you dont like it that is freedom of choice, but I do not like it when people insist I do my stuff differently. :)

.... now for some more photos. They are a mix of the bands so don't ask me who is who just yet the ones I know for sure are Dead to Fall (DTF) and they will be marked.