My first photo shoot

Jackie and Matt, my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law, recently asked me to take their engagement photos, to which I immediately said, "YES!".  They gave me the opportunity to test out my photography skills and begin to develop my portfolio.  I was nervous as could be going into the session.  Really nervous.  The kind of nervous like before a big test or something where your stomach does flip flops.  I was so nervous that the photos would turn out terribly.  To my delight, we had just the opposite experience.

Jackie and Matt were terrific sports.  They let me drag them to several different locations throughout Champaign-Urbana trying out tons of different spots and poses.  The sun came out just enough to give us some great lighting conditions and the rain held off, too.  We had a lot of fun! 

I'm extremely happy with how the photos turned out and now can not wait to really launch this hobby of mine into something bigger.  I'll be working on developing a site (or perhaps a page of this blog) to show my work and hopefully book more engagement sessions.  Please spread the word if you know anyone who may be interested. :)  Also, you can email me with questions at libbykacich at gmail dot com.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day:

Rainy Rainy Day

It has been a dreary rainy day today.  The kind that makes you want to snuggle up under a heavy blanket and watch movies with your husband and puppy.  Alas, I've been stuck at my desk all day and can't wait to head home.  Tonight Bob and I will be eating our favorite food: Cuban sandwiches from Black Dog.  We're also planning to venture our to find paint for our new house.  I'm thinking something greyish-blue for our bedroom...

Have a good night!

photo from here

Happy weekend

Last weekend Bob, Winston and I went hiking at Turkey Run State Park in Indiana.  We had a fabulous time romping through the woods, seeing the beautiful trees change color, climbing rocks and eating our picnic lunch. 
This weekend we'll be working away on our new house, getting closer and closer to actually moving in (I can't wait!).  Bob will be doing the dirty work of wiring the house and I will be planning out my decor for each room.  My goal is to celebrate the age of the house with pieces that compliment its older features.  I recently found an awesome antique "something" that I will show you soon...

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Interesting finds

Last night Bob and I got to work on the things that needs to be done in our new house before we can move in.  To our amazement, we found a couple of very interesting things behind the attic walls... 

The first was this bottle of camphorated oil.  It was actually behind the walls sitting on the original framework of the house.  The label says that it came from a local pharmacy of the time in Champaign called Watson Faulkner.  It was used to treat symptoms like rashes and sore nipples (it actually says that!).

The second, which was a little scary, was this nest/hive that was also behind the attic walls.  The entire nest was about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide and had been built all around one of the attic windows.  Long since dormant - THANK GOODNESS - rows and rows of some bugs house were intricately built here.  Bob thinks it was bees and my guess was wasps.  Either way, lots of bugs lived here once and spent a lot of time building a giant house for themselves.  I have no idea how old this, but I have to admit that I was terrified that a swarm of wasps was going to attack us both.  Not quite the kind of character and charm I was expecting. :)  You can believe that Bob will be the one removing this, not me.

  

Any experts out there know what may have built this?  



New home

This morning was a great morning.  Husband and I finally closed on our dream house!  Our real estate adventure has been exciting so far and I have to say that this is the best part by far.  The house we purchased was built in 1920 and has some very cool features including a double fireplace, a sitting room off of the master bedroom, french doors, built-in shelves and a gorgeous back yard.  The house sits on a beautiful tree-lined brick street in an established neighborhood.  Needless to say, we're thrilled! 

The best part of all is that this is the first home that Bob and I have purchased together.  Bob actually saw it online and thought that it could very possibly be "our house" before we'd even driven by.  And, when we first walked into the house, I immediately knew it was the place that I wanted to raise our family and even saw us entertaining our grand-children in.  Sigh...  We looked at several more houses just to make sure we were really sure. :)  We were.  A few months later, it's ours!

Stay tuned for updates as we make some improvements prior to move-in.  It's a very exciting time for us!



Champaign Tourism Website

For the last six months I have been working extremely hard to create a new website at work.  With the great minds at the company I hired to do the design and development of the site, we finally reached our goal this week.  The new Visit Champaign County website - the official tourism website for Champaign County - launched yesterday.  This is probably one of the most detailed and time consuming projects I have ever worked on, and one of the most rewarding.  Knowing that the site I produced will used used by millions to plan their getaways, meetings and other fun plans is very exciting.  This project is something that I'm incredibly proud of and I wanted to share it with you, too.  I hope you have a minute to browse the site.  And, have a great weekend!

My Photography: SOLD

I am pleased to share that I have sold my very first photographs. My own artwork.  Photographs that I crafted.  I can hardly believe it!  Seven of my photographs will be installed in the O'Charley's restaurant in Champaign at the end of this month as part of a redesigned interior.  I hope you'll have a chance to check them out.  I can't wait!