New Year's Dinner

Meet our little friend.



We became quite fond of him.



May he rest in peace.




My new year's resolution list is slowly coming together. I'm posting it tomorrow. I don't think it will be as complicated as any of the previous years. Keepin' it simple.

It's going to be 6 in the morning here when the ball drops in New York and everyone is celebrating.

Baby, it's cold outside.

I just wanted to thank everyone who has sent me mail over Christmas and have been thinking of me during the Holiday season. It's been awesome getting to travel around to different places, but I've been so homesick this past week. I really miss home -- and all you people back in the States! I felt so blessed by these unexpected surprises I received in my mailbox... and just knowing that I haven't been forgotten even though I'm way on the other side of the world. :)

These were just a few things I got:




Going clockwise:

1. All the girly stuff I missed having like nice-smelling lotions and body wash in my package from Karis (my home church)
2. Card // Giftcard from Cho-mama. I'm going to have to wait to get back to the States before I can do a little splurging though. :P It will go well with my belated American Christmas dinner in April.
3. Chocolates and postcard from Switzerland from Tammy.
4. Earplugs... very helpful when in a room full of snorers. haha. I told my parents that the current foamy ones I have weren't working, and they sent me the ones you use at the shooting range.
5. All the spicy stuff that I've not been able to have AND my favorite... sour patch kids! They put all the stuff in ziplock bags so that they could claim them as used so that I wouldn't have to pay more taxes when it got here. lol For the sake of honesty, they probably ate a few so that it would be true. My parents can be very cute.
6. My Christmas present to myself: new CF cards to last me 2 and a half months while I am on the road. yay! Hopefully they will last me.

I think I'm going to try to blog a lot this week to make up for the 2 and a half months of not being able to access much internet. I know I am going to have a crazy amount of photos when I get back from traveling. It's painfully cold here in Germany, I'm excited to get somewhere a bit warmer.

*I also started reading the Lord of the Rings part I yesterday. I never really saw myself getting into these books.. lol but I'm actually enjoying it. I almost regret admitting this, because I remember telling people how much I could never see myself getting into it, but I'm already on Ch 5. Oh, Germany, what have you done with me?

Back from Venice!

Michelle and I went to Italy for the past week, but it's good to be back! The past week in Venice has been utterly exhausting. Not my idea of a vacation. If something could possibly go wrong, it did go wrong. lol Just one example of it is on Christmas Day walking from bus station to bus station to find a way into the main islands... and having to chase down a random bus (the first bus we saw in maybe 3 hours), take a tour of the wrong part of the city, then finally get to a stop to get on the right bus. That was a good story. Like they say... it's either a good time or a good story, and you're lucky if they are both. I guess we were lucky that we missed the flood, though.

The part that I did highly enjoy was the stay in Verona. Our couchsurfing friends, Damiano and Gabrielle were incredible hosts! Couchsurfing is an awesome way to meet people who love travel! You just have to filter through the creepy ones who are just looking for hookups. They seriously blessed our trip so much by taking us around and cooking for us. I think I could learn a thing or two about hospitality from them. :) They were amazing... I'm tellin ya!

Verona wasn't as touristy, and we got to the top of a castle and discovered the most romantic place with the most beautiful view!! *sigh I am in love with the place and definitely would love to come back to Verona. It's amore! We also met some really cool people all throughout our trip, that made it worthwhile. :)

Just a couple quick photos from the trip:






Added to the books I finished.

*Redeeming Love
*Screwtape Letters
*Scarket Thread
*Twilight
*Nights of Rodanthe
*The Father Heart of God
*My Father's Heart

Someone keeps telling me that the Hobbit is really good, but I haven't gotten into the Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potters yet...

I Heart Books?!

I have never been much of a book person, but I'm catching up on my reading... that I've missed all the years of my entire life. I never understood what it was like to leisure read until more recently. I used to have a habit of reading books more like textbooks, prepared with highlighters to mark all the important points. Could have something to do with Ga Tech. It all started with Redeeming Love, which is SUCH a great book, and I've been hooked since.

So instead of going outdoors and braving the cold weather in Germany, I've been staying indoors with my hot chocolate and reading more. :)

While I was in Dresden over the weekend, I couldn't resist picking up Twilight since so many people had recommended it. I just finished it maybe half an hour ago, and I had only started it two days ago. I must admit that it was really addicting. I couldn't put the book down... something I could have never imagined myself saying. Funny.

I hear the movie is out in the States?

Since mid-Oct till now, I've finished:
*Redeeming Love
*Screwtape Letters
*Scarket Thread
*Twilight

Now the dilemma. I have a habit of starting different books and not finishing. Which one to finish first?
*The Father Heart of God - I'm up to Ch 5
*Velvet Elvis - finished Ch 1
*A Woman After God's Heart - finished Ch 1-3

Then my friend has just swapped me Nights in Rodanthe for Twilight.

Cheb, Czech Republic

I know it's been a week since I've gotten back from Cheb, but I am still completely wiped out. This weekend is going to be a good time of R&R, and more celebrating of all that we're thankful for. :)

It was possibly one of the most challenging weeks I've had in my life, but has taught me a lot about myself, my faith, and who God is. Here's a slideshow and favorites showing small bits of our ministry and what we did during the week. I was very blessed to be part of the Cheb outreach team.

Snow Day Adventure!

Yesterday, I got back from one INTENSE week of outreach in Cheb, Czech Republic. I don't even know how to describe it other than with the word "intense." A lot of it I am still processing, so maybe I will write about it in later entries.

I am back in Germany now, and it's snowing!!!! I wanted to spend the weekend just resting and processing, but I couldn't help go out and take pictures and have fun in the snow. Being from Atlanta, I don't really get to have that much fun in the snow. haha I must say, though, the novelty is kinda running out... QUICK. After making snow angels and running around in the snow with sneakers, I have been soaking wet and freezing cold and on the verge of getting frostbite. lol It was a lot of fun, though, but I get the feeling that I will be staying indoors for the next month or so.

Favorite of the day!


Walking through a blizzard


The view at the tower, but not quite on top of it because the door was locked.


The trees look so interesting


Making snow angels! It was freezing cold afterwards, but totally worth it. Thanks Tammy for taking this picture. :)


If you want to see more, just facebook me. :) Icon is on the right.

Behind the Scenes: How I Became a Wedding Photographer

I'm finally updating my biography portion of my website. It's still a rough draft and may undergo a lot of changes later, but it's going to go up! lol I've been good with updating my blog, but so bad with my portfolio, I figure I needed to start somewhere.

www.estherjulee.com

I wanted to post a few pictures of myself along with the bio, but I realize I don't have my portable hard drive with all my past pictures on it, so here is just a new one of me. :) I'm not a huge fan of Mickey D's, but if you're deprived of American food for a while, you really start craving the craziest things. I was really excited to get my American food in Prague!!



I fell in LOVE with photography in high school. It was then that I got some money together and bought myself a film SLR, and I began taking pictures of anything and everything. I was completely fascinated with it. At that time, I never imagined I would become a wedding photographer. Like any kid who wanted to make her parents proud, I went off to college and pressed on thinking I was one day going to be a doctor. Boy, was I wrong.

After getting my bachelors in Chemistry and working in a research lab, I realized I could never have a profession I didn't enjoy. If I'm going to spend a good chunk of my life working, I needed to enjoy it!

I did freelance for a while for whenever someone asked me to do a portrait session or a wedding. When it came down to actually starting my own business, that was another story and was something I had no idea about. It was intimidating stepping into the unknown and completely overwhelming knowing that I had to take on a lot of other business responsibilities I had never expected. In hindsight, even though there were both highs and lows, I do not regret it one bit.

I love photography. Although, I love doing portraiture in general, there is something about relationships that I can't describe and that I absolutely love capturing. I love being a photographer and feel very blessed to live out my dream. God has been so good to me and has been showing me each new day how He wants me to use my gifts in His plans. It has been an crazy but amazing journey, to say the least, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for reading.

Love,
Esther

Helen

This is Helen. She wouldn't believe me, but she photographs beautifully when she's not always making ridiculous faces at me. I had snap these shots with a quickness. lol Yeah. I would probably say to describe Helen in a nutshell... one word... ridiculous. She always has these random things to say, laughs all the time at the most random things, and her laughter is contagious. That's what we love about her. On the other hand, she can have her more serious moments and I also somehow feel a great comfort in sharing some of my skeletons with her. The psychologist in her gets to analyze me. haha



She is always saying God has a sense of humor because He made her the way she is. I find that a beautiful thing. I'm sure God does, too. :)

Julia

This is Julia (Pronounced Yoo-la). She is from Hessen, Germany.





She is my wonderful German tutor. :) So far, I have learned basic expressions and colors. Still struggling with the u and o's with the double dots. lol :) But we will get there.

A Weekend in Prague

Just got back from Prague. I am seriously sooooo worn out from this weekend. Prague is one amazing city! There was so much to see. We literally walked all over the city. Well, Praha 2 anyways... and I can certainly feel it in my thighs! I don't know how we managed to see almost all the touristy spots in one day and have a nice dinner with a B-E-A-uuuuuuuutiful view of the river. It was sooo beautiful there. I think I would love to go back and just hang out there and do the not so touristy stuff. :)

The hostel was a little *dodgy. (*By the way, I think we've been picking up some Australian English lol) It was called A plus hostel. That in itself sounded a little sketch, but they also had sex republic blankets and some sketch pictures on them, which made us feel a bit uncomfortable that we were having to sleep with them. Who knows what has been going on there. Ignorance is bliss, let me tell ya. lol The breakfast there was really good though.. so I guess I would give it a 2 stars in terms of hostels. The bus ride ride was a little rough, and not to mention the bus driver was really unfriendly because I didn't speak anything other than English. haha It was interesting having to rely on mostly body language. All in all, though, it was one super fun weekend//adventure. Here are just a couple photos. I am literally about to crash. Have a wonderful week!





Love,
Esther

Christine and Tommy Wedding - San Diego, CA

Wanted to post up the rest of the photos from Christine and Tommy's wedding. :) Some of them I'm posting twice, because I re-edited them.













The flower girl was such a doll. :)









I really liked the shadows in this one.



Details. Details





The groom was a weeper. I think it is so sweet when guy's get emotional in weddings.







They were rolling in the dough after the money dance.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

We didn't exactly get to see Prague/Praha as we expected to. We actually made it to the Czech Republic, but they wouldn't take our euros, which they are usually supposed to), and no one spoke English OR German. Then there was a lot of confusion because the person who dropped us off didn't know whether to pick us back up, and in the middle of our conversation, the cell phone lost reception, then died. lol String of bad luck.

View from the bus stop.


At first it was a little upsetting, but then we were able to fill our stomachs with some spaghetti and french fries (yay for french fries!). Then, we made friends with a random taxi driver and soon we were partying it up in the backseat of the taxi all the way back listening to early 90s dance music like La Bouche. lol Anyone remember them? Those were some good times!

Anyways, back in Germany... did some hiking, which I was never a big fan of, but I get the feeling I am going to have to learn to enjoy it soon. :P Fall is so beautiful! I love the colors, the smells, the crisp air... the crunchy leaves. Favorite season of the year, by far!











Sorry, guys for all these personal updates, but I've been doing so much traveling. It's my first time EVER in Europe, so it's so hard not to blog about it. I am hoping I will be able to get more editing done this week and squeeze in some wedding related posts. :)

Ich möchte bitte ein kinder döner?!

You should be proud of me. I ordered my first meal in German. lol Too bad it wasn't a true German meal.

But it looked amazing and tasted really amazing, too! :)



Just being silly.



You can never get sick of this view down Slow Death.



Tomorrow, we are headed to Prague. It is supposed to be a beautiful city. Can't waaaaait! Btw, sorry for the lack of updates... but I'm really on the move, and there is just way to much going on!! I'm sure when I am back in the States, I will definitely have TONS more to post.

I'm in Germany!

It has been a crazy journey so far. So far... I almost missed one of my layover flights in Philly. They were calling my name multiple times over the intercom telling me the doors were closing and the plane was taking off. I had to sprint from one end of the airport to the opposite end. When I arrived in Germany, I found out my luggage hadn't arrived and that it was still in London!! They took down my information, though, and assured me they would send it to me as soon as they receive it.

A lot of people told me that a majority of German people speak English, but with my luck, no one I approached spoke English. Not only did they not speak English, they didn't even understand my broken German. lol I was probably butchering it.., completely. How sad. haha Luckily, with a lot of pointing and body language, I made my way safely to my destination AND my luggage arrived the next day!

I meant to blog before I left letting everyone know that in the next few months I will be in various parts of Europe/Asia/Africa traveling on a more personal assignment, and overall, learning, growing, and expanding my worldview. I know it will be amazing! Just FYI, I will be back in the States in time for wedding season. I really want to do a country-side wedding here, though. Any takers? lol ;) I feel so lucky to have a job that allows me to travel this much. It is definitely a blessing.

I was able to do some exploring the past couple days, and it is just so so beeeeeautiful here! The leaves are beginning to turn. The only thing I may have a complaint about is that it is freezing. I've been too spoiled by GA weather. Here are some photos from the weekend.

















It's fall!! I love fall colors. :)


And occasionally I made people model for me! :)





bis bald! :)

Love, Esther