I hope everyone had a SPOOKY Halloween!!! :)
Personal & Travel
The Project Manager ♥
The house is unusually quiet this morning and, wondering where the boys are, I wander outside to find Bailey and Patrick hard at work cleaning our car.
It's a typical senario... Patrick is in charge of the vacuum and Bailey is the Project manager.
Don't tell him, but Bailey is known around our office as being a Micro Manager. He's a stickler for details and doesn't hesitate to let you know if you're doing something wrong.
It's not too bad, though. He's always down for a lunch break.
Spooky ♥
Patrick and I followed a large cloud of fog all the way down to Denver late one evening last week. We explored night photography all along the way and ended up in Civic Center Park. It was below freezing and the fog looked incredibly spooky. I wanted to run around the park and get shots of it from every angle... but we weren't there long. After only a few long exposures I was thoroughly creeped out by the park and we quickly retreated to the warmth of the car.
More photos to come from our late-night fog chasing. :)
Happy Birthday, Patrick!
Is he a cutie or what!?
Patrick's birthday was May 1st and we celebrated by shooting a wedding! Luckily it was a really fun wedding with sunny weather and a happy, loving couple. Since we worked all day on his actual birthday we decided to have a family BBQ on Sunday.
Happy Happy Birthday, Patrick! You are an amazing husband and friend. I feel so lucky to have you in my life and I love you very much. xoxoxo
It's always 5 o'clock somewhere
Jenny and I like to keep our blog upbeat and fun but this week is a hard one for me and I wanted to share why.
My grandfather, the original Dan Marino, passed away peacefully in his sleep Sunday night at the old age of 83 next to his wife of 59 years.
To me, Dan, or as I called him Pop Pop, was a grandpa, a father figure and someone I admire greatly! He and my grandmother, Ann Marino, did so much for my mom, my siblings and me growing up. Our family has them to thank for everything we had at times. They would do anything for their kids and grand kids and they did; sometimes sacrificing more than you would believe to give our family the things we needed to succeed... and at times just survive.
My Pop-pop had the best sense of humor. He was always smiling, joking and was constantly getting himself into trouble with my grandmother. It makes me laugh to remember their exchanges. When he was making a racy joke Nanny would say, "You know Dan, God can hear you!" and Pop Pop would simply reply with "I know, he thinks I'm hilarious!"
My father's side of the family is Irish and my mother's side (Pop Pop's side) is Italian. When I was born Pop Pop was on a business trip and my parents named me Patrick Kelly Monahan. When he found out what name I ended up with he exclaimed, "What kind of an Irish name is that!?" and insisted on calling me Pasquale, his grandfather's name. In all of the years I've been alive, I have never heard him call me anything else. Every time I walked in the door he would say... "Heeeeey, Pasquale!"
I loved hearing Pop Pop tell stories. He was born in Jamaica Queens, NY in 1927... a very poor and rough place to grow up so he always had interesting experiences to tell us. One that sticks in my head is when he would get in trouble at school. He would tell his mom it was because his teacher did not like Italians (which was not true) and his mom would go raise hell with the teacher. When she found out that he was not being truthful she would tie him to a chair and throw potatoes at him while she cooked. Ha ha ha!
I could go on and on about my Pop Pop. He was such an strong person and lived a very full life.
- He joined the US Navy at age 17 and served in WWII from 1945-1946.
- He was in the naval reserves until 1954.
- He received his associate degree in engineering on the GI bill.
- He married my grandmother in 1951 and they would have been married for 59 years this August.
- He worked for IBM for over 20 years and retired as a Senior Engineer & Manager.
- He loved golf, cigarettes, coffee and a 5 'o clock drink.
Even if it wasn't 5, he'd say, "It's always 5 o'clock somewhere."
He was greatly loved and will be missed by his wife, 5 children, 17 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren and all who knew him!
I love you Pop Pop!
