Saturday, I recorded Josh and Sommer's wedding in Mineloa. It was a gorgeous wedding, despite the morning rain. The rain cleared up - in time for the outdoor reception.

Sommer booked me a hotel room, so I wouldn't have to make a 2 hour drive home following the reception. I woke up pretty early on Sunday, drove to the church to pick up a cord I had accidentally left behind (it's not a wedding unless I forget something) and then I made the drive back home.

Later that afternoon, Cheyenne and I had a ballet date at Bass Hall.
While we were there, we met up with Amanda (She use to watch the girls for me). I won an extra pair of ballet tickets (it was a Texas Ballet Theater FB contest) and I gave her my tickets, since I already had a pair. I also won tickets to the Botanical Gardens and Japanese Garden...I kept those and plan on taking the family this summer before it gets too hot.

I'm surprised how much Cheyenne likes going to the ballet and can sit through it without getting fidgety. Typically, the show is about 2 hours long. The intermission and breaks help. She takes a pen and notepad in case she doesn't want to watch parts of the performance. This was the first time, this season, she sat and watched the majority of the show. Going to the ballet is something we look forward to doing together. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in a previous post, but I went ahead and subscribed to another season with Texas Ballet Theater, so that means we'll be going to more shows in the fall and spring. Now, I'd like to look into doing something with Dakota….some one-on-one with her. She's too young for the ballet, right now. If you have any ideas, let me know. I'll be kicking some ideas around.

After the ballet Chey and I drove to Grapevine to meet Dakota and Trey at Great Wolf Lodge! I'll write more about that in the next blog post!

This Might Make You Smile. A Surprise Marriage Proposal.

Several months ago, Jon told me he was going to surprise Shayla and ask her to marry him. He asked me if I would hide-out and take photos of it. YES!!!
I told him, I would also record it! So, they have it on video too!

I set my gear up at the Ft. Worth Water Gardens.

Afterwards, I took a few photos of them around the gardens.

It was so cool to witness this special moment.

My Week in Photos

Being silly at work. I was channeling Chey and Dakota on this one.

Cheyenne spent a lot of time with DJ this weekend. Here are a few pics my mother-in-law sent me, while she was with her, in Abilene.


Only kids can enjoy a laundry mat.

Oh, this one Amanda sent me…Dakota really loves Mack. Speaking of him, he's doing much better. For the first few weeks of his life, he was having a difficult time eating. He's doing much better. I love his expression in this photo. Dakota loves him!

Today, I picked up Cheyenne. I hadn't seen her since Monday. She was missed! We went to the Trinity Trail, near the botanical gardens - for a train ride.

Photography Work for the Ballet Felt Like A Progressive Party

I love when my interest and professional work collide.

Saturday, I had an opportunity to photograph Texas Ballet Theater's Ballet Gala. In case you don't know, I'm slightly obsessed with this ballet company, so it was a real treat to photograph the gala.













The evening festivities started at 6 pm at Van Cliburn Recital Hall.
Greetings…

As soon as they walked in, I took couples or single photographs of the guests. Everyone was dressed to impress.
(in this photo) To the left is the Artistic Director of TBT, Mr. Ben Stevenson O.B.E

The floral and table decor at the dinner hall was stunning.
    
After the dinner, everyone was invited to cross the street to Bass Hall and watch the Ballet Company perform EPIC MASTERPIECES: Serenade, L, & Gloria. I joined the group and watched the show. Gloria was my favorite. So, dark, so dramatic! During intermission VIP from the gala were invited to the intermission green room for photos and cocktails. I tagged along and took a few photos in there.
When the show was over around 10 pm, the gala after-party began at McDavid Studio, located across the street from Bass Hall.
Around 10:30 pm, the Company Dancers joined the party.

They basically stole the dance floor. Everyone enjoyed it! It was so entertaining!!

What a fun event to document.

Throughout the night, everyone had an opportunity to bid at the Silent Auction.
To view all the photos from the gala, feel free to browse my professional website: 
domvideophoto.com/gala

2014 Cowtown Official Race Photos

My Race Results:

Distance: 50K (31 miles)

Duration: 5:28:56

Average Pace Per Mile: 10:37

Overall Place: 145 out of 451 Ultra runners

550 Ultra Runners Registered. 451 Finishers.

Gender Place: 42 out of 201

Division Place (25-29 yrs): 9th out of 21

 No, I didn't run sideways the whole time. I was checking behind me to make sure I had a visual of my pacer. We were running downtown, probably mile 11. Sure enough the pacer was behind me, but not pictured here.

The Trinity Trails aka the painful miles. Mile 26 'ish.

I heard a spectator yell, it makes it easier if you smile, so I tried to smile. He was right, it helped. 
Sprinting to the finish line. At the end of a 50K, a 10:30 mile is a sprint (for me).

About to cross the finish line! PRAISE THE LORD! Also, holla and food me!

Happy.

I already passed one mat, it's over right? Can I stop now????

Sweet victory tastes like salty sweat.
After I crossed the finish line I sat down to catch my breathe, text and call my friends and family who had been following my race. When it was time for me to stand up, I felt every ache in my body. I saw two gentlemen and asked them to help me up. They laughed at me and called me crazy, but they did help me. Today, I'm feeling less sore. All the foam rolling and stretching has helped.

Similar Post:
2014 Cowtown Ultra Results
http://domandtrey.blogspot.com/2014/02/2014-cowtown-ultra-results.html

2014 Cowtown Ultra Results

I don't even know where to start, so I'll start with the results.
2011 Finish Time: 5:27:24
2014 Finish Time: 5:28:56
Seriously???? Yes. I was nowhere near my 5:17 goal, but to be that close to a PR was a bit tough to swallow.

This year's ultra marathon was a sold out race. There were 550 participants registered. I finished 145 overall and 42nd in my gender.  Here it is….the official results. I was pretty steady, up until the very end.

4:15 am I woke up.
4:30 am I got out of bed and got dressed.
5:00 am Ate blueberry oatmeal.
5:15 am Left the house.
5:35 am Arrived at Will Rogers Memorial for Sunrise Service. There was praise and worship and a devotional service.
6:15 am Bathroom break and tried to connect face-to-face with Sherri
6:50 am Hopped in corral 5 and immediately found the 4:40 marathon pacer. It took me a minute of debating with myself to move closer to the 4:30 marathon pacer.
7:10 am One last pit-stop to the bathroom. No lines. I guess that's one advantage of being in the 5th corral. I made it back, just in time to find the pacer and just like that, we were running.

The first half of my race, not pictured here, was pretty solid. 10-10:20 splits. Mile 22 is when things start to get interesting. I told the pacer, "I'm going to try to hang with you as long as I can." And I did, but things started to unravel between mile 23-24. That's when I lost her. I knew I was going to lose her for sure at mile 25 when the ultra and marathon split, but I so badly wanted to hang out to her until the end.


Unfortunately, Trey did not spectate the race, but my friend Sherri ran the half marathon and then spectated. She called me several times and asked me if I needed anything. She offered me pickled juice and I said, "YES! That sounds wonderful." She ran a little ways with me and encouraged me. When she asked me how I felt, I told her the truth, "I'M EXHAUSTED!" My mom also called me several times, but every time she called, I started to pick up my pace, so thanks mom!

Once I started to run on the trinity trail, my legs had enough. I want to say that was around mile 24. I was so weak, but tried to push on. At that point, I knew I was well ahead of my goal, so I started to take walk breaks...but before I knew it, time was slipping away from me. My 5:17 goal was slipping away. I wasn't mad, I was just like OK. Maybe I can beat my 2011 time???

A lot of distance runners say, it's important to take walk breaks to conserve energy, but I'm not so sure that's the right thing for me or at least on this course/this race…and when I started to take frequent walk breaks, it really messed me up. I'd stop running and then I'd feel ALL the pain, 10 times more, which made it that much harder to start running again. My friend Michael who had recently attempted to complete a 100 mile race, was cheering me on at the 27 mile aid station. I slowed down there a lot, which looking back now, was probably my number one mistake. Runners you know, how these stations make you want to get cozy and relax, when you should be high-tailing it to the finish line! Someone said, don't worry - soon the announcer will be calling your name at the finish line! And that was my mantra, to get me through those last brutal miles.

Today, I picked up the girls. They were in Abilene partying - while I was running and recovering. It was so good to see them. We spent the evening together foam rolling.

My ballerina got into it too.
I have lots more to share, but I think this is good for now! Stay tune for more Cowtown Race Weekend chatter.

Ice Skating in Ft. Worth!

Have you been to Panther Island Ice? It's Ft. Worth's first outdoor ice skating rink. This is at the same location where Coyote Drive-In is located.
After church, on Sunday, I took Angelica and Cheyenne.

We were freezing!!!! But we had a blast. I kept asking Chey…Do you want to leave? Are you ok? Are you having fun??? She said, yes I want to stay. I'm having fun!!! We skated for about 3 hours. 
I think both of the girls are better at ice skating than roller skating…well, they picked up faster.
Cheyenne almost fell, see for yourself.

This was her right before we left. She got the hang of it!

Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker - Our First Ballet Together

Last night, we went to the Nutcracker at Bass Performance Hall courtesy of Dee Dee! This was Cheyenne's first full lenght ballet experience!
  
I surprised her with this new dress, for the special occasion. I wasn't sure how she was going to react, since it's primarily black (She lives in a pink world!)…to my relief she loved it.

And sweet Bella was also excited. Both of the girls were good - not perfect, but overall I was impressed at how well they behaved. I told them it's important that they behave and listen to me, especially when we are out in public -- because if they do, I will take them out more often (to special events).

 
We had fantastic seats on the Orchestra floor --- seated  in the center aisle, right side. The girls are short and would've had a difficult time seeing over peoples shoulders, so we rented cushions from the hall. The girls didn't miss a thing. Trey didn't join us because he had to work.

    
          
THE BEST thing about the show was at the end of ACT I, snow fell on the entire audience. It was so magical and fun! It was a night full of wonderful memories that I will cherish forever. I'm so glad I got to experience it with Chey, my sister and niece.  

Where was Dakota?
Well, Mrs. Amanda volunteered to keep her overnight for me. I was like, WHAT? Are you SURE? But my baby...And I'LL MISS HER….
But then after thinking about it, I was really grateful and said yes, thank you. I'll see her in the morning.

Don't worry about Dakota, she got lots of attention too. Luke made sure to massage her feet and they took her out to Olive Garden for dinner. You guys, I'm so thankful for Mrs. Amanda (and every time I see Mrs. Erin, I thank her for recommending her to me). Amanda is a wonderful friend and childcare provider.
    
I'll leave you with this video: Well, I thought it was 1 video, but it seems to be some kind of playlist. I'm too lazy to figure it out so, here's a million of my YouTube videos too. Haha! Merry Christmas! 

My Week in Photos

Sometimes I call Dakota Sassy-Pants.

Here she shows her sweet smile.
  
Trey's eye a few days after his operation. Notice how the pupil on the right side is itty-bitty. That's whole lot of blue.

I love my city. This was another view from our hotel room.

Cheyenne loves staying at hotels. She says she likes the all the family time.

She found a hiding spot, under the night stand.

One last photo of the TBT float.

Quick lunch. Dakota loves black beans.

Dakota's new fashion. Blanket round the neck.

It's time to break out the Christmas outfits….
  
And the Christmas decor! More to come tomorrow….