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I had a great session with Rob and Summer last weekend and wanted to share. I LOVE when couples aren’t afraid to get out into the cold, sometimes its just such a nice change of scenery. I love greenery, but boy do I love blue skies, crisp wind, dead grass and muddy snow! We had a great time and they were amazing during my “survivor” series of portraits! Thanks guys.
While the work can be exciting and interesting, living in Baghdad is not without challenges. We eat in a military mess hall. None of the meals are prepared in Iraq. Rather, they are cooked in the U.S. and shipped to Kuwait, where they are brought in by convoy to Iraq. Sometimes, due to convoy delays, the only greens at the salad bar are pickles. Trying to eat healthy is a real challenge here (not to mention trying to get in shape for the wedding!). We also live right near the helicopter landing zone. The helicopters fly right over our trailers at all hours of the day and night; sometimes they are so close that the trailers shake. Times are really tough when the mortars are falling. We have both spent more time than we care to huddled under our beds or in concrete duck and cover bunkers. People have died. On Dave’s birthday, in August, I was 20 feet from a mortar that exploded.
While decision-making can be tough from a war zone, being so close to life and death, working side by side with men and women in uniform, and others who are truly working “the front lines”, Dave and I have come to appreciate more simple things, and especially each other. Dave and I hope we make it out safely so we can celebrate with our loved ones. Being in Baghdad has reminded us that we have much to be thankful for.
- Thank you so much Julie for your story and I look SOOOO forward to FINALLY meeting both you and Dave this summer, its going to be quite the party! Add a comment to either of these posts to let Julie and Dave know we are thinking of them, and be sure to check back in July when I will be posting some of their big day photos!
Julie and Katie Couric
Julie and David
My fiancé David and I will be married on June 29, 2008. Before the wedding, however, we have to complete our tours in Baghdad, Iraq where we are working at the U.S. Embassy. I work in the Public Affairs section and David works in the Economic section. As career foreign service officers, we will spend our careers serving at U.S. Embassies all over the world. Prior to arriving in Baghdad, I served in Beirut, Lebanon (and was responsible for evacuating over 15,000 Americans during the war in the summer of 2006); Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Jerusalem. David served in Washington and Sanaa, Yemen. Planning a wedding from a war zone has been a challenge, to say the least. When I read wedding websites and blogs, I sometimes feel envious that I am missing out on all the extras that come with wedding planning—shopping with my mom and sisters, brunch with the girls as we pick out bridesmaids dresses, shopping for decorations, flowers, jewelry, shoes, going to stationery stores to feel paper samples, tasting wedding cakes, planning a shower. I have not yet tried my dress on—in fact, my sisters and mom went out and bought it for me. I hope it fits, and can be altered quickly (in the two weeks I have before the wedding)! All of the wedding planning has been done via phone and internet. I have had to trust friends and family to help me make decisions on colors, styles, fabrics as I don’t have the luxury that you all have of being able to go into stores and looking at things. While most days I can be a bridezilla “Dave, what do you mean you can’t tell the difference between mango and persimmon!” I have definitely come to appreciate so much more about us, life, and all the accoutrements that go with planning the biggest gala of our lives (did I mention we are expecting 300-350 people?).
We arrived in Baghdad in June 2007, just as summer temperatures hit 120 degrees, and just as attacks on the International Zone were increasing. We travel into and out of Baghdad via military aircraft (C-130) and via a helicopter from the Baghdad airport into the International Zone (also known as the “Green Zone”). We are required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) that weighs a ton whenever we travel. We live in a 10 foot by 20 foot metal trailer (think of a garden shed in the backyard) we call our “hooch,” that becomes a sauna in summer, an ice box in winter, and does little to shelter from rain and sand.. While we live in a trailer, we work in a palace—Saddam Hussein’s old Republican Guard Palace. Our work is interesting—I get to handle all aspects of our interaction with media and journalists, and Dave gets to work with Iraqis on helping develop their economy. I handle all the media for the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and therefore get to meet a lot of well known journalists and television personalities. I lent Katie Couric my blazer and pearls when she was in town, and got to help set up a CNN interview with Angelina Jolie during her visit to Iraq.
Stop by tomorrow to read the second part of this great story!
Julie and Dave next to their “hooch”
Julie and Angelina Jolie
I am pleased to announce that I am going to feature a guest blogger bride next week for the very first time. Planning a wedding can be a challenge, but the challenges before this couple living and planning from Baghdad will astound you and make you realize that planning a wedding should be filled with more joy than stress. Please check back next week as it will be an interesting and inspirational tale of LOVE, WAR, and ANGELINA JOLIE! NO seriously, hoping you will check back and take the time to read and post a comment to let them know we’re thinking of them. Happy Thursday!
you lose your glasses and you can’t find them anywhere? I shot a wedding recently at The Gem and put my glasses down on this lovely little sofa. I am thrilled to announce that the bartender FOUND them, I have NO idea how. Whoo Hoo!
So I finally got around to posting a few sunny travel photos of the beautiful Riviera Maya, Mexico. I shot Laura and Mikes wedding there on February 9th, I can’t believe its been over a month already! The El Dorado Royale is a beautiful all inclusive resort, with a fabulous beach, relaxing spa, several incredible pools and fantastic food! If you are interested in a honeymoon destination or even a destination wedding, I reccommend you check into this little piece of paradise. Hey, I could come too (to a wedding of course, not the honeymoon, i charge extra for “that”, hee hee!)
Ok, so surreal moment last night while watching the ever ADDICTIVE season finale of Project Runway….after cutting to commercial before announcing the winner they cut to the NEW iPOD TOUCH commercial featuring, who else, BRENDAN BENSON. Brendan is a friend from High School and my husband (the amazingly talented Woody Saunders) played drums and sang backup on his 1996 Debut album One Mississippi. The song featured in the commercial is WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR from the album ALTERNATIVE TO LOVE. Just crazy when someone you know is making cash for (and from) APPLE! That is so FIERCE!!!! (disclaimer: the fierce statement may only be understood by Project Runway watchers)
See it here….
I’ve been a little busy editing away and album designing, but I will try to post some travel photos from Kauai and Mexico later this week. In the meantime I thought i’d share Neal Rubins column in the Detroit News last week about the mishap in Kauai that one of Kathleens beloved bridesmaids suffered! Thankfully she is back home and on the mend!
Danialle and Kathleen
