PartnerCon in Chicago!

We have just returned from another crazy photography fest! Nathan and I just love going to these conferences, we come back feeling like our photo-biz minds are crammed with ideas and connections, and our personal love tanks are filled to the brims! It is just wonderful to get to connect with new people, and re-connect with old friends. We are so blessed.

We decided to drive to this conference, and we took the kids! It was a crazy thing to do, but thanks to our wonderful friends the Barlows (Sarah Barlow's amazing family) the kids were well kept while we were working/playing (and it was much more of the latter!) at the conference!

We arrived at the Barlow's house to this welcoming sight...



We spent some time getting the kids settled in, and had some dinner with a few friends who joined us... and then we headed back.

(Addison settled into the routine easily, this is her with Olivia, and Joe Barlow, reading bedtime stories!)



(Austen and JT playing KingBall)



We arrived at the hotel, ran upstairs and reviewed our presentation one final time.

(During the process, Nathan grabbed this shot of his "favorite" two logos! Ha!)



We were excited to muscle through our final practice, and then ran back downstairs to say hi to our friends who were hanging out! I didn't take any pictures, but I was able to grab a few from my dear friend, Corey... (thanks Corey!!!)



Me and Shyla, sporting the ever so simple, yet HOT, KISS hats....



We hung out for a bit, and then headed off for bed.

Woke up the next morning with absolutely NO voice! Wasn't expecting that, in the least! I spent most of the morning whispering, and hoping it would come back in time for us to speak, just after lunch. Well, it didn't really come back, but we managed to fight through it anyway!

I swiped this image off of Alison Bynum's blog of Nathan and I speaking. It ended up being so much fun! I certainly get very nervous about it, but then the time comes, and I enjoy it... can someone please remind me of that, the next time? :)



Sarah France and I, just after our presentation, before I ran off to change out of my fun hat :)



(By the way, you'll notice that there are few images of Nathan and I together from this trip... somehow, this trip ended up putting us in different places all the time! It was crazy busy, and lots of fun, but we definitely didn't get to hang out as much as usual! I generally had the camera, so this whole trip is from my perspective! I'll update with a second post, if I can ever track down any images from Nathan's part of the trip!)

After the conferences ended for the day on Tuesday, a big group of us hopped on the train and headed downtown to watch the Blue Man Show. It was an amazing time.

The Beautiful Rachel and I...



The theatre...



The scary Blue Men...







(The above image was stolen off of Carole's blog.. .she and her beautiful twin, Claire were with us all night, but I have no images of them! :( Also along for the ride was Keats! But again, I never managed to photograph her!)


Me and Shaun... this is the fourth attempt at a self portrait that we made while trying to cross the street after the show. The other three scared me so bad that I will never share them with anyone!



Me and the illustrious Kevin (also of Kiss Wedding Book fame)...



Corey and Rachel getting cozy.... (I promise Andrew was around too, although I have no images of him, at all! Sorry Andrew! I love ya!)



This guy at the Mexican restaurant where we ate a very late dinner apparently liked us. I can't imagine why, as we were ridiculously obnoxious (ehem, Shaun and Kevin, ehem.) But, nonetheless, he gave all the girls cute little wooden turtles... so Rachel and I wanted a picture with him.



Thankfully, there are no pictures from the cab ride home... and even more thankfully, there is no audio... although on second thought, audio would've been hysterical!

Wednesday morning, we woke up and went to a few more presentations. I have to admit that I hadn't heard Denis Reggie speak in a very long time, and I really enjoyed hearing his presentation. There were many moments during that hour that I felt moved and inspired!

A few random images from Wednesday...

A Corey Sandwich... Me and Shyla standing in as bread :) (Image stolen from Corey)



I grabbed these fun images off of Alison Bynum's blog! Apparently, I think this face is funny. It's not. Somebody stop me :)







Wednesday night, Nathan ran off with the guys to a fun Cubs game (again, I stole the camera, so he has no pictures :( We're going to remedy this situation before the next get together! I am getting a new point and shoot for mother's day! woo!)

I went out with a great group of people for Chicago style pizza! Crazy!

Ran into Mike McNitt on the way out the door...



We walked to the pizza joint... on the way there, Shyla and I thought it would be a grand idea to run across the street and pick a couple of flowers... (Again with the dumb face!)



Regina (my Asheville friend!) and I en route for pizza.



Justin and Mary (our new very best friends... we love these guys!)... while we waited for our table! These guys are amazing, they are crazy in love, and they make me laugh SO hard. I cannot wait to spend more time with them!



Pizza was good stuff... but it was the company that was superb! I am blessed to share table space with such amazing people! Thanks so much to Corey McNabb for the yummy dinner! I think everyone at the table was blown away by his generosity!



From there we went on to the Sofitel, where we spent the next several hours just talking and laughing the night away! I am sure there are a million ridiculous images from this part of the night out there somewhere, but I was too busy having a blast, to pull my camera out of my purse!

We did self portrait the last of the group just before we headed home... I think Regina needs to be taller... we always struggle to get her in these group pictures :) (This one is Corey's)



I did a little better, but somehow missed Corey completely!



Thankfully, this one of Corey's managed to get us all in! Fun fun times!!!



Back at the hotel for the night, we grabbed a few final self portrait-ing moments. I hate the end of these conferences, saying goodbye is no fun at all!

Us with Justin and Mary...



And saying goodbye to Mike McNitt... He's leaving Pictage, and we are certainly going to miss him!



The next morning, we headed back over to the Barlows to get our kiddos... You know your kids have had a blast when they run away from you when you come to get them!

The whole clan...



The amazing Natalie!



The wonderful Sarah!




David and I...





Addison... completely unimpressed by David's biz card (I think she might be the only person in the world who is unimpressed by that card!)



We said our goodbyes, and hopped into the car. We sped down the highway, following Shaun and Kevin back to Kevin's house! We were excited about spending our last conference day with Kevin and his family.

We saw Shaun off... lots of hugs!



We spend a relaxing night hanging out around the Swan household. Shel and I grabbed dinner together, and the guys just chilled. Good stuff.

The next morning, we got up, played around at the house a bit, and went out for brunch.

Kevin and Shel produced an adorable kid when they had Sol... I cannot wait to see what Baby Akachan (due in November) is like when *she* arrives :)





After brunch, we went over to the studio where Kevin had a bridal shoot scheduled. He puttering around setting things up, and then we just hung around chatting and chilling for a few more minutes.

The kids...



The Man...





The Girls :)



My oh so hottie Husband...



And the Cutest couple... ever... Addison and Sol... check out my child's moves! She is slick!



Whew! What a crazy long post!

We had a BLAST in Chicago! We miss you guys already... Your friendships mean the world to us, and we are so blessed by each of you!

We are so excited about the relational investments made at this year's Partner Con, and we cannot wait until September to do it again!

Until then! Loves to you guys!