Greyscale Showing

After years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears (all of which have literally applied at some point), my husband was able to show his movie, "Greyscale," to our family and friends. He has poured so much of his time and energy into this film and I daresay it has paid off.

Well, really, I think it paid off long ago in the form of introducing us to some really wonderful people with whom I pray we will be friends for the rest of our lives.

This past weekend, we drove to Tulsa to show the movie at two different theatres on Saturday. We had an informal showing in the morning and a formal showing in the evening. Both events drew in hundreds of people who had been excited to see the film for quite some time. Friends and family came in from California, New Mexico, Missouri, etc to show their support. It was a wonderful time that Ryan and I both liken to a wedding - only this time I got to be the "groom!" I say that because I got to just show up and enjoy everything while Ryan, the "bride," wrangled specific details.

The movie is still technically in post-production, but only long enough to tweak a few things. Then it's time to find a distributor. The "friends and family showings" were the culmination of so many people's time and effort, and I can't believe we're finally here.

If you worked on "Greyscale," I can't thank you enough for helping my husband achieve his dream. If you came to one or both of the showings, thank you SO much for your support! We love you all!

Graveyards, Grasshoppers, Greyscale

Okay, so I cheated. The bug in this picture is 99% likely to NOT be a grasshopper. But it started with a 'g' so I went with it.

I discovered him right outside my front door last Friday. I like finding interesting bugs around my house (as long as they stay on the OUTside).

On Friday evening, we went to a graveyard to get some pick-up shots for the movie. I love graveyards. I think they're so peaceful and beautiful. The golden light that the sun was casting on everything didn't hurt, either.
So I've gotten into this weird habit of taking pictures of only the edges/tops of things against the sky. They are weird and kind of quirky. They are probably pointless, but I like them anyway.
Graveyard friends!
And that's all, folks!

Filming This Past Weekend

Last weekend, the pick-ups, reshoots and additional scenes for Greyscale began. On Saturday, after I slept off working my LAST night (!!!), I joined the crew at this really cool, creepy place where they were shooting a new scene that Ryan wrote.


Okay, I have no idea why this is so disgusting and upsetting to me, but it just...is. It's a bunch of airsoft pellets stuck in a cardboard box. I just think it looks sick!
The building was filled with all sorts of weirdness.
Uh...all right, then.
On the way back from the set was an incredibly YELLOW building. I got a blind shot out the window. I MUST do a photo shoot here. Anyone game?
Later that evening, we went to the Wesley building on TU's campus. That always brings back fond memories. Since it was golden hour, we took some fun pictures.
Okay, so while we were at the Wesley I had to film something very briefly. It required me to wear a long, wool coat. If you live around Tulsa or anywhere that it has been over 100 degrees every day lately, you will understand why, while I waited to be filmed, I was holding my jacket out from my body and doing a little dance. (Well, maybe you won't understand the little dance part unless you know me personally.) Anyway, someone pointed out that it looked "really terrible from behind." We all got a good laugh out of it and decided to take this hilarious picture. (Yes, you had BETTER BELIEVE I am actually clothed under the coat!)
Hahaha. Oh, man. Maybe you had to be there. Moving on...

On Sunday, we got a few random shots that we needed and enjoyed hanging out together all day.
(Ryan was not angry. He was just hot. Ohhh, yeah.)
While they were filming, my dehydrated self sat in the shade and took some random pictures. This is a turquoise bracelet that I bought from a guy that I used to work with (he makes awesome jewelry).
This is the beautiful ring that my father-in-law generously gave to me. It had been his mother's.
The lovely sun shone through the trees.
I tried out a blue tint. I think it looks kind of cool.
Now that I am soooo finished working weekends, I am looking forward to joining the Greyscale crew on the weekends to come!

More Chicago!

Okay, so I think we left off at The Bean last time. Our next goal was to get to the Chicago Art Institute, which was right next to where we already were (funny how often that happens to me when I'm in a new place...). Admission was free because it was the opening day of the new modern wing, and there was a big shebang with a red carpet and free bottled water from Target. w00t! We even took the opportunity to pose on the red carpet :)

However, we got distracted when we saw Crown Fountain. We agreed that some splashing around was in order.

We kind of rock a little bit.

I bought this shirt in Vegas solely for picture-taking on this trip. It's from some reality show, like American Dance Crew or something, but I got it for "my" Greyscale crew!
After we had had enough of the fountain, we went into the art institute and looked around for a couple of hours. We really didn't take that many photos, and none that were incredibly exciting.

So. After we had been properly cultured (does that make me sound like yogurt? Ew), we split up for the evening. Ryan and most everyone else went to accomplish the whole reason for our Chicago trip - a shot of the city for the movie - and Fred and I went on a mini-mission of our own. We knew without a doubt what our first destination was.

Mmmm.
We shared our Espresso Escape sundae (espresso ice cream mixed with an espresso chocolate square, hot fudge, and of course whipped cream and a cherry for each of us) on the train up to Ethiopian Diamond restaurant. There we met my best friend Josey's family to eat in celebration of Summer, her sister who just graduated from Columbia College (congratulations, Summerla!). They gave us platters of all kinds of fillings that we grabbed with pieces of stuff that felt like ultra-absorbent tortillas. All right...they felt like skin. But the "absorbent tortilla" thing is much more appetizing.

We had more than a little fun with the "skin" things. But they were delicious. Honestly.

Here are Josey's parents. I heart them.
And here is the lovely grad with her friend Sanja!
Finally, here are some BFFs.

Our time with my second family was way too short before Fred and I had to be on our way. And that, my friends, is the beginning of a story that deserves another post of its own.

The Good Day in Chicago (Part One)

Saturday was SUCH a better day. The sun was shining, the temperature was a LITTLE bit higher, and we actually got to do everything we set out to do that day (barely). Because the day was so eventful, and because we took HUNDREDS of pictures (no, I'm not lying), I'm going to divide the day into two or three posts. This is Part One of our Day o' Adventures.

The first step was to meet up with our Kruses, who were staying with their aunt on Michigan Avenue. After that, we searched for breakfast and found naught but a mall food court, so we settled for Philly cheesesteaks and subs. (Eh, it was almost 11 anyway...) We proceeded to cruise the Magnificent Mile, stepping into cool shops and taking lots of pictures.

After the Magnificent Mile, we continued down Michigan to Millenium Park. I got this shot of this sweet little boy by a fountain:

I love us.

Next we made our way to The Bean!!

This is the "underside" of The Bean. Pretty trippy.
Do you see us?
Okay, as I've already inundated all of you innocent people with waaaaay too many photos, I'll stop here. Check back tomorrow for more Chicago awesomeness!