Photos of the happy couple!

I wrote in a different thread that I'm getting married in May. I thought I'd make a separate thread about photos.

I'll post a couple of photos of Jose and me, but if you want to see all 9 photos in my album, just go to http://photobucket.com/JoseandVicki .

One of my international students is a photography major and extremely talented. He will be transferring to the Art Center in Pasadena, which is a top art school in the country, and that means that by May 18, his photography will be even more stunning! My mom had actually hired him to come take pictures of our dogs, since we got a new one (Teddy Bear), and he hadn't been professionally photographed yet. But then when Ronnie came over, she suggested that we get Ronnie to take pictures of Jose and me too. So I raced into the house, changed and did my make-up and hair in 10 minutes and was out in time for the end of the dog pictures. The photos of Jose and me turned out really spectacular, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what Ronnie does with our wedding pictures!

My one concern is that I am 4 inches taller than Jose and over 50 pounds heavier. In some pictures, I look like a giant next to him! I'm about 190 pounds now and 5'7". And I guess because I was always so thin and only gained all the weight from medication and have dealt with prejudice from doctors and others who treat me like I've been negligent (one doctor told me to get surgery because I will never get healthy again until I get thin again!), I'm much more sensitive about my weight than I should be.

But what was really bad was after I lived on my own near my grad school for ten years before moving back in with my parents 3 years or so ago. When I did move back in with them, I went back to my old church, and only ONE PERSON actually recognized me! I grew up in that church and was extremely visible in front of everyone, singing or speaking my entire life! And yet NO ONE but ONE WOMAN recognized me! They all claimed it was because my hair has gotten so much darker, which is a result of my avoiding the sunlight, but people dye their hair all the time without being totally unrecognizable, so it was clearly the weight. I was about 80-90 pounds heavier then than I was when I graduated from high school and undergrad.

I've calculated that in the last 10 years, I've gained over 150 pounds just from medications alone! How many others of you are with me on that one? Most, I bet! I've lost a lot of those pounds, more than half of them, but I'm still really touchy about looking like such a giant next to Jose. In these pictures, Ronnie did a great job of avoiding letting that happen! But I have others that are just disgusting! And I'm nervous that my wedding pictures are going to end up with me dwarfing him, since we can't pose lying down, as we did in one pose, or sitting in most of the shots at the wedding. I'm hoping that since I have a long train, we might be able to have Jose stand on a step above me and cover that some with the train, so it isn't obvious, but it's something I'm a little nervous about! Plus, I just really have to hope I can lose some of that weight before the wedding. I'll happily pay for alterations to the dress to take it in if I can lose some weight before the big day and all the photos!

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of the two of us!



This next one Ronnie made into black and white and also stretched so that we can use it as a theme for Facebook's page. I'm using the color version here, since it shows a bit more than the black and white version, which is zoomed in a bit more.



And finally, just to get a sense of Ronnie's creativity, he had us lie down and make all sorts of poses with him standing above us, but this is the one that worked out the best. One thing I am glad about in using Ronnie for my wedding pictures is that he is such a fun guy that he makes taking pictures a whole lot of fun! We've gotten him to take professional photos of us before, and he always does a great job (we thought his pictures of our family after he had been studying photography less than a year were better than the ones that the commercial photographers in Brazil actually took!). But he is creative in his posing, and he makes you laugh while you are taking the pictures, and that just makes the pictures turn out all the better!

Check out this creative pose:

Photos look great Vicki and your not alone. My husband weighs less than me and it is such a battle to stay even close in weight to him. With my thyroid problems doesn't matter how little I eat, the only thing that keeps the weight off is walking.

I walk and walk and walk. Can't do gym as my neck is bad. And I hate walking just down the streets - boring.

So I bought myself a nice camera and took up bird photography. This has been wonderful. I don't drag myself out to go for a walk anymore. Absolutely love going out with my camera.

Maybe you can take up something that keeps you motivated? Very hard when your eating nothing and no results - been there done that.

I think you both look wonderful and you have no need to drop any weight! I struggled with being larger then my partner and it has calmed down over the years. You can't make him any taller any easier then you can get shorter, so all you can change is the way you view yourselves together! You two look just beautiful together!

Vicky, you and Jose is absolutely gorgeous couple,
just right for each other, and visibly So in LOVE !!!

Vicky sweetheart. nevermind about how do you "look" (although you two simply look terrific!, and that's final!) -
what does the looks matter if it doesn't bring you any happiness??
what matters is how you two feel about each other, and how you make each one feel about each other - that's the important stuff.
If Jose kindness and love for you make you feel just 'right size',
and vice versa - your love for Jose make him 'taller' - what else do you guys need?

Lots of love

Risa

Very happy for you Vicki and good pictures too. Same for the pups. Good pixs.

kimsmom