Adventures in almost trashing a wedding dress with the Gaupers

A couple of days ago Ryan and Holly Gauper rolled into San Francisco after driving across the US for a few weeks, flying to China for a couple more and hanging in Hawaii. If you don’t remember the Gaupers, they are the amazingly awesome husband and wife photography duo who shot all of the amazing pics from our wedding about 6 months back. They’ve been taking some time off to see some of their family, friends and have also been setting up some photography workshops along the way. They’ve been at it for a couple of months and are now finally getting ready to start the drive back to their home state of Michigan so that they can get ready for another crazy-packed wedding season.

Before they took off and headed back home both Holly and Ryan wanted to take Stephanie and I out for a shoot around San Francisco, which we were more than happy to do yesterday (ok, we were giddy like little kids to do it). Of course, with Holly and Ryan there’s never really just a ‘normal’ photo shoot and this time was no exception. When Stephanie and I went home for Christmas Holly told us to have Stephanie’s mom ship out her wedding dress to our place in San Francisco so that we could have a trash the dress shoot. If you’ve never heard of a trash the dress shoot, it’s basically just like what it sounds — the bride gets photos taken of her literally trashing her wedding dress. This usually consists of the bride jumping in water, standing around in something messy or some other type of thing that brides aren’t supposed to do while wearing a pristine, white wedding dress. It’s become pretty popular with brides here the past couple of years and it only seems to be getting more and more popular as time goes on.

We were planning on doing something a little more on the extreme side to Stephanie’s dress (like chopping it up with scissors or covering it in paint), but as Stephanie, Holly, Ryan, Nic and I started running around San Francisco together we ended up spending so much time getting shots of us not trashing the dress we didn’t end up actually doing the trashing that we initially set out to do. I’m totally ok with this as I was honestly a little sad about the fact that we were going to ruin the dress that reminds me of the best day of my life, but I’m sure that it’s just a matter of time before we get to doing what we initially set out to do yesterday. That dress is trashed, it’s just going to take a little bit longer before it happens.

Like I said, we didn’t trash the dress, but that definitely doesn’t mean that we didn’t get some freakin’ fantastic shots. We ended up spending about seven hours driving all around San Francisco and the photos that we ended up getting out of it are really cool. Check out a preview of what we came back with below and be sure to keep an eye on Holly and Ryan’s blog for more photos and video (and the video is HILARIOUS).

April 25, 2010 | Filed Under great friends, roomie Nic, san francisco, wedding stuff

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Checking out the best surfers in the world at the 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest in Half Moon Bay

There are some really amazing things that can only be found out here in Northern California and one of them has to be the Mavericks Surf Contest. It’s one of the world’s most respected big wave competitions and is held every year that weather permits about 20 miles south of San Fransisco in Half Moon Bay. More specifically, the contest is held in an area that’s known as Mavericks that’s practically built to create massive size waves due to it’s unique ocean floor. Jeff Clark, a local born and raised in Half Moon Bay, was the first surfer to ever take on the once thought to-be-too-dangerous-to-surf waves that can sometimes top out at over 50 feet high.

Jeff Clark, having grown up near Half Moon Bay, learned about Maverick’s at an early age. At that time the location was deemed too dangerous to surf. He spent time watching the break, and conceived the possibility of riding Hawaii-sized waves in Northern California. One day in 1975, with the waves topping out at 10 to 12 feet (3.7 m), Clark paddled out alone to face Maverick’s. He was successful, catching a number of left-breaking waves, thereby becoming the first person to tackle Maverick’s head-on.

Well, today was the day that Mavericks came back to Half Moon Bay (due to lack of optimal weather conditions it was canceled last year) and Stephanie, our roomie Nic, Frank and myself (along with some other friends) all went to see what it was really all about. Although we weren’t able to get super-close views of the actual surfing the day was unbelievably beautiful and just being there to experience it was more than enough to guarantee that we’ll all be back there again the next time it comes around.

Here are a few pics and a video that I snapped at the event. They should give you a good idea of the popularity of Mavericks and just how beautiful Half Moon Bay is during this time of year.

A video and a pic of people who got caught in the aftermath of the 30+ foot waves that were swelling up at Mavericks this morning. Some of the people were actually swept out into the water and had to be rescued by medical staff. Some suffered broken bones and minor cuts, but most only had to suffer through being soaked for the rest of the day. We were literally just about to head into this area when the waves hit.

Can’t say that the people weren’t warned. These signs were posted everywhere on the beach.

What was left on the beach after the waves hit and cleared out a stage and several tents.

A view from a top the cliffs at the Mavericks in Half Moon Bay.

This was view from the opposite side of the beach where we were when the waves got the people wet. There were a ton of people watching the competition from over here. It was amazing to see how many people came out for the event considering that it was only announced a couple days before it happened. Also, most people weren’t at all scared of climbing all over the cliffs as long as it gave them a better view. I guess that they’re all used to hiking and aren’t too worried about falling hundreds of feet to their death, but for some reason it still worries me and Stephanie. Maybe we need to suck it up.

The sun was out in full force, which made for a beautiful day in Half Moon Bay. That weird looking tower with a ball on it in the upper right corner of this pic is part of the Pillar Point Air Force Base (which no one except press was allowed to enter today).

Frank loved hanging out at the beach, but we probably walked over 5 miles altogether, which is like running a marathon for a Pug. Here you can see him getting some much needed rest while we were checking out the surfers. He had no trouble getting up and down the cliffs and got to meet several other dogs that were also hanging out at Mavericks (including a few Pugs). People really love their dogs in the bay area, which makes is completely normal to bring them with you to outdoor events like this.

Here’s another view from the other side of the cliffs. The surfers were grabbing their waves right around the area to the right of cliff in this pic. Unless you had some binoculars or a serious camera lens (which several people had), you pretty much had to rely on people’s reactions to know whether or not someone had actually caught a wave.

This is a shot of the rest of the coastline, which I thought almost looked too beautiful to be real. If you look in the bottom right corner of this pic I snuck in a guy who was chilling on the side of the cliff. He was pretty high up there, but didn’t seem to be too worried about it. Like I said, it’s something that they’re used to.

After walking a couple of miles back to the car (part of which I carried Frank after he started panting like he was going to die) it didn’t take Frank too long to crash. He was so tired that he fell asleep on Stephanie’s 7-up bottle which was in our cup holder. I thought that this was way too funny (and cute) to pass up taking a picture of it. Frank’s just like us — he’ll go and go until he practically passes out, which he obviously did today.

February 13, 2010 | Filed Under Frank, events, great friends, new/random experience, roomie Nic, video

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Have we ever told you how much we love our roommate?

Our roommate Nic (facebook) really outdid himself with this Christmas photo that he worked his magic on. It’s the final (and best) photo in a 3-part series that was aimed at adding a little more ‘flavor’ to the Santa Claus of old by suggesting new ways that he could become more awesome this year.

This photo in particular took him an entire night to set up. You can’t really tell, but the stuffed animals are hung from his ceiling with fishing line, he’s holding on tosome ribbon that he bought and he’s riding on his bed whose blankets are rolled up to look like bags of presents. Amazing.

Just when you thought that it couldn’t get any better, here’s the caption that he added to the photo:

DEAR SANTA

I HAV SUM IDEAHS FOR YOU TOO MAKE YOU AWSOME IN TWENTY ONE SENTUREE USA

3. RAINDEER = OUT!

BIG DOGS AND LITLE PONEYS = IN!

Yep, this is why we love our roomie.

January 6, 2010 | Filed Under Frank, great friends, palo alto, roomie Nic

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Ice skating at Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis, IN

It’s been about 10 years since I had been ice skating, so we felt like it was about time to give it shot. The video was taken at Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis, IN and man, did it end being a lot of fun. Some of our friends and family came along with us, too which made it even more entertaining (as you’ll see).

Check out the video below or over here on YouTube when you get a chance and here’s to the beginning of an amazing 2010! Stephanie and I (and Frank as long as he can still fit on the plane) head back to San Francisco tomorrow, but it’s been so great to see all of our friends and family the past month while we’ve been home. We’re extremely blessed to have all of the amazing people that we have in our lives and we can’t wait to see you all again!

January 3, 2010 | Filed Under great friends, hangin' with the fam, local to indy, new/random experience, video

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Rocking out with IndyMojo at their New Year’s Eve Platinum Party — what are your plans?

I know that as I type this we’re nearly 24 hours away from 2010, but if you’re like me I’m sure that most of you have probably waited until the last minute to figure out what you’re doing for New Years, so I thought that I would give you an awesome option to check out. After hearing about what my friends over at IndyMojo were planning on putting together for New Years out at Mosaic (the night club inside of Shelbyville’s Indiana LIVE casino) and after they gave this old-school MoFo (and his old-school MoF0 wifey) an official invite, we booked our spots on the bus and are now planning on rocking out Mojo-style for the night.

If you’re still looking to book some plans for your New Years, head on over here to check out the details and to snag yourself some tix for the NYE bash. They’re only $15 today, so go on and get after it!

Here are some of the highlights and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the comments below:

* - Receive a free 8″ x 10″ photo print and New Year’s Eve tickets as souveniers
* - Champagne toast and countdown at midnight
* - Free late night appetizer buffet
* - VIP Booths and bottle service available
* - Free shuttle to and from downtown AND Castleton!

If you don’t end up rocking out 2010 with us, just be sure to have fun and to be safe!

December 30, 2009 | Filed Under great friends, local to indy

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Getting our hair did at Style Salon in Broad Ripple, IN

When Stephanie and I got back to Indiana one of the first things that we did was make an appointment to get our hair did with our friend Jamie at Style Salon in Broad Ripple. I was WAY overdue (I hadn’t got mine cut since before our wedding) and Stephanie was looking for a little bit of a change (as you’ll see in the video below). I also needed to get mine chopped off due to the fact that I was going to be in my man Tony’s wedding down in Seymour, IN and I didn’t want to look like Shaggy from Scooby Doo while I was standing up there in my tux.

As with most things that Stephanie and I do, we had a lot of fun getting our hair cut and it was really great to hang out and catch up with Jamie while she did her thing. Also, we caught some of the highlights on video, which you can see below or over here on YouTube (it feels good to do some video again!).

December 29, 2009 | Filed Under great friends, local to indy, people you should know, video

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Groomsmen holding their balls and other great photos from Tony and Natalie’s wedding in Seymour, IN

This morning I was pleasantly surprised when my BlackBerry was full of Facebook notifications that told me I’d been tagged in a handful of photos by Natalie “Hinton” Jennings. The photos were from her and Tony Jennings‘ wedding, which was a couple of weeks ago down in Seymour, IN. The wedding was the main reason why Stephanie and I (and Frank) flew back to Indiana so early and it ended up being an absolute awesome time. We met the always entertaining duo of JD Arthur (who was in my wedding) and miss Aimee Achenbach (who did Stephanie’s makeup for our wedding) down there on Friday night after the rehearsal dinner and then met a ton of other awesome peeps at the reception the next night.

Well, the photos that were tagged of me on Facebook ended up being some of the groomsmen shots that we got the day of the wedding. Even though it was freezing outside that day, we sucked it up and made the most out of the opportunity and helped, in my opinion, get Tony some memorable moments on film. Of course, this was helped out by the fact that we had a playground and a bag of dodge balls to work with.

Check out some of the shots below, as well as some other great ones that were taken before and after the wedding. Thanks to Matt Nieman and Casey Pierce for the fantastic photog skillz.

Why is Casey on the ground? We’re not really sure.

Dangerous, but well worth the risk. Great shot!

Beatles, anyone?

Once we found the playground we were a little more creative.

Dodgeball! I’m not sure what face I’m making, but I guess it works.

Holding our balls (notice the Dora the Explorer balls — hardcore!)

I thought that we should take advantage of the beautiful sky that day.

One of my favorite shots of the night. What an awesome group of friends.

The ladies at the Funky Monkey in Seymour, IN. Heyyyyyyy….

Aimee and her Lady GaGa dress. Gah Gah Gah Gah Gahhhh lah lah lahhh lahhh

Me and Casey are both wondering what’s going on.

The dudes. Damn, we’re sexy.

Lady GaGa and JD (who has quite the ass cannon).

Stephanie and I are listening intently at something….?

December 18, 2009 | Filed Under great friends, local to indy

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Enjoying a beautiful (Satur)day with Stephanie, Zigs and the rest of the Peninsula Covenant Church crew

This past Saturday me, Stephanie and our weirdo (yet really fun) friend from Indiana, Molly Zigovits (her Facebook and Twitter for all of you lovely cyber-stalkers out there) decided to actually do something productive with our lives on a Saturday afternoon. So, instead of doing the normal laying on the couch watching college football while snuggling with the Frankster the 3 of us decided to head down to Redwood City to Fair Oaks Elementary School to help out with what our church calls Beautiful Day. Beautiful Day is an entire day (from 8am - 4pm) of selfless giving that was set up by a group of churches and the local Redwood City school system and it allows people like yours truly to help a great group of people (like a needy elementary school) who needs it, but may never really know who (or how) to ask for it.

The 3 of us ended up getting to Fair Oaks around noon and helped out with all kinds of stuff until around 3:30pm or so. Over 300 people ended up showing up throughout the day and let me tell you something — it’s pretty amazing what all can get done at an elementary school when there are a few hundred people willing to help.

After seeing all of the awesomeness of everyone helping I guess what the famous English writer and poet John Heywood said in 1546 is true: Many hands make light work.

Here are a few shots that Molly took of us all getting our giving on throughout the day. As you can see she’s pretty handy with the ol’ picture box and if you want to see some more of her stuff be sure to check out her blog over here.

There was a lot of painting going on (and I still have plenty of proof on my jeans).

Stephanie was working hard packing up these supplies that were headed to El Savador.

We helped organize and stock over 1,000 books that were donated to the school.

Everyone got involved in whatever way that they could. I thought this lady was cute.

One of the many murals that we painted for the school — the kids loved to help out with these.

We cleaned (most) of this stuff up — sometimes paint can get a little messy.

Most of the manly men chose to do some serious landscaping work (insert growl here)

This is one of my favorite shots of the day and the mural that’s being painted looks amazing!

Of course, it wasn’t all work — me and my new buddy decide to take a break for some fun.

Then it was my turn — push faster!

He was actually pretty strong and after we finished him and his brother played for about another hour or so.

No, Stephanie wasn’t scolding this little boy, she was actually trying to find out his age.

Time to get down and dirty.

Don’t just stand there, get to work!

I love this shot, too — Stephanie was getting after it for an awesome cause.

November 17, 2009 | Filed Under great friends, new/random experience, you gotta have faith

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Follow the Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band on the road

revpeyton For the past week or so, one of my buddies from back in Indianapolis has been followed by a camera every single day so that people like you and me can get a glimpse into the life on the road. No, my buddy isn’t some weird gypsy or Phish fan-boy who has just decided to hop on the road for no apparent reason besides to ‘find himself’. My buddy is the one and only Rev from the Revered Peyton’s Big Damn Band, which is also made up of his pickle-bucket-hitting brother Jayme and his awesome, washboard-wrecking wife Breezy. The three of them make up one of the most unique bands that I’ve ever seen and I’m not just saying that because they’re from my home Hoosier state of Indiana.

Anyways, The Rev and co. have been tearing it up on the road since they sold all of their stuff in a yard sale in 2006 and they just seem to be getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. As long as their van continues to hold up (it’s had some serious issues), there’s no reason why they can’t become a household name here sometime soon.

When you get a chance, be sure to check out all of the Rev’s daily videos from the road and take a look at one of my favorite one’s below(where the band get treated to free Chinese foot massages). Oh, and props to Raidious for shooting all of the vids — they’ve done some great work and I’m loving every single one of these stories.

October 11, 2009 | Filed Under great friends, local to indy, travel, video

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Reading Crazy Love And Still Being In Crazy Love After One Month Of Marriage

crazylove There are a couple of quick things that I wanted to talk about today in this super-awesome blog of ours (at least we think so). One thing that I want to give you all a little information about is the fact that Stephanie and I have joined a small group Bible study-esque type of group with some of our friends that we have met from our church. The group consists 3 other married couples and one of the couples is made up of the super blogging duo Matt and Christen Buman who I talked about over here in this post after we had our first dinner date with them. This is the first meet-up-and-have-a-Bible-study-and-talk-about-God type of thing that I have ever done before and after having just 2 meetings I feel like I’m getting a ton out of the experience.

One of the things that we’re doing that’s pretty cool is we’re all reading a book called Crazy Love together and playing along a DVD that the author, Francis Chan, put together in addition to writing the book. It’s a great way to read/interact through the book and we’re only through chapter 2, but I can already tell that the group, the DVD and the book are all going to spark plenty of interesting conversations around our faith and beliefs, which I guess is the point. Not all of the conversations are easy ones either, but the great thing is that we’re all in this group and this learning experience together, so there’s nothing that’s really considered off limits. I would say that it’s a situation that is pretty rare and hard to find these days, or at least it has for me. I’ll be sure to post some updates of what all Stephanie and I learn and experience in this small group as we move along, so this probably won’t be the last time that you’ll hear about it.

Besides announcing our involvement with the small group, I also wanted to let everyone out there know that Stephanie and I have officially been married for one full month and we are still as madly in love with each other as ever. It’s crazy to think that it’s been over 30 days since we met at the alter and had the best day of our lives together (and, of course, had one of the craziest receptions that anyone who attended has ever seen). So, tonight when I got home from work we had dinner together (stuffed peppers), celebrated our first month as husband and wife and made sure to let each other know how much we still are ridiculously in love. What a great night and what an awesome month. Here’s to many, many more of these to look forward to.

mestephwedding
yeah, that was a pretty awesome day…