May 2010 - Lauren Nygard Photography

Rachel and Lamar tied the knot!

Posted May 26, 2010 In Weddings

Last Saturday, my friend Mario Icari invited me to shoot Rachel and Lamar’s wedding day with him. We started off at Rachel’s mom’s house, where the girls got ready. The ceremony took place at The Arbor atop Presidio Park, then we headed back to Rachel’s mom’s house for the reception.

These cheery flowers set the tone for the day.
Rachel’s granny had the honor of tying up her gown. I love her hands in this shot!
A bride can never be wearing too much lip gloss! ;)
Rachel’s flower girls (and now sisters-in-law) helped her make sure her gown was on just right!
The gorgeous bride:
Rachel and Lamar’s patient pup, Cyrus, was the ring bearer! He did a great job!
Rachel and Lamar watch patiently as their mothers light the candles for the Unity ceremony.
I just love the look Rachel has in her eyes!
Husband and Wife!
All in a hard day’s work…
Lamar’s Best Man made the gorgeous bride’s bouquet!
I caught Lamar trying to steal Rachel’s bouquet! ;)
The delicious cake had beautiful yellow flowers cascading down its layers.

Big thanks to Rachel and Lamar for allowing me to be a part of their big day! Congratulations again, you two!!

Weddings

Senior Portraits with Mark and Caroline

Posted May 20, 2010 In Families, Personal

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to take senior pictures for two siblings: Mark and Caroline. They are both graduating this year: Mark obtained a B.S. in Psychology from Texas A&M University, and Caroline is graduating from T.M.I. (high school) this weekend. Isn’t he the most handsome college graduate and she the most gorgeous high school graduate this year?!?

Ok, ok, ok. Mark and Carline are my brother and sister! I wasn’t going to tell you, but I’m really proud of them, so I’m happy to say, Congratulations to them both! :)

Families, Personal

Posted May 16, 2010 In Personal

Dream a little dream!

Well, since I was diagnosed at such a young age, I don’t know what it would be like to live without diabetes constantly in the back of my mind. I suppose the calluses on my fingers would eventually heal, and people would no longer think I was still living in the 80s since I wouldn’t have a “beeper” on my hip anymore. It would be great to go to work every day and NOT worry about going low in the afternoon. I guess I’d be able to scuba dive and workout without worry. Traveling would be easier, since I wouldn’t get stopped and searched while going through airport security (rant coming soon) and I wouldn’t have to worry about making sure I have enough supplies to last through my trip. I don’t think my diet would really change, and I’m not sure anything else would change much.

But… who knows? Maybe we’ll all find out a few years down the road! PLEASE support the research efforts of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to make this dream come true sooner!

And now, here’s my airport security rant. Skip ahead if you don’t care to read it!

When I first started wearing a pump about 10 years ago, I would always get stopped and searched at the airport since people didn’t know what an insulin pump was. Then, after a few years, the TSA folks were trained to recognize them, and I was able to breeze through security, just like anyone else. However, within the past 18 months, another shift has happened. Now, when going through security, when the TSA agent sees my pump, they immediately call someone over. That person grabs all my belongings and I am swept away to be searched. And they search everything! My neatly packed bag with all my camera gear is soon tossed about the TSA table as if it were a case of Legos. Why? I suppose they caught on that liquid is stored in this little plastic case. It is extremely frustrating. As if traveling weren’t stressful enough, someone at TSA decided to make it worse by allowing all belongings to be searched simply because I’m wearing an insulin pump. Annoying! So, what’s my solution? I hide it. Yes, that’s right… I get around this search by temporarily putting my pump somewhere that the TSA personnel won’t be able to see as I walk through the metal detector. Pumps don’t set off the metal detector, so they don’t have any idea that (gasp!) a pump-wearing diabetic has just passed through! And… the thing is… it works! When I flew out on Wednesday, before going through security, I went to the bathroom and attached my pump to my bra. Then, once in the gate, I removed it and put it back in my hip pocket. Success!

Ok, rant over.

And that’s it for Diabetes Blog Week! Thanks to all of you who have stopped by to read a little more about the crazy life I lead! MANY thanks to Karen of Bitter-Sweet Diabetes Blog for getting this idea out there! I thought it would be tough to stick with the blog-a-day thing (have you seen my track record???) but it was easier than I thought, and I hope that it has brought a little insight to everyone who checked in.

We’ll now get back to our regularly scheduled programming. :)

Thanks again!

Lauren

Personal

Diabetes Blog Week – Day 6

Posted May 15, 2010 In Diabetes, Personal

Diabetes Snapshots

I started a D-365 project a couple years ago, but never finished it. You can check out some of those images in a D-365 set on my flickr.

I was planning to take some shots this week to show some current aspects of life as a diabetic, but I got caught up with hanging out with my family and forgot to take them! Oops! So, instead, I’m going to give you some verbal snapshots by telling you a couple stories about my diabetic childhood that my family reminded me of after reading the earlier posts this week.

My aunt Carol reminded me about how, when I was young, we’d go to Fuddrucker’s/McDonald’s, and I’d order a Happy Meal, but my diet only allowed me to eat either the bun on the hamburger or some of the fries. So, my mom would give me the option: bun or fries. I don’t remember this, but apparently I would always ask for the bun because my cousin Greg (Carol’s son) would sneak me some fries anyway. :)

Another story is about how my mom had trained by older sister, Kay, to cut the lines at restaurants to get me a Coke to treat a low. (This usually would happen at amusement parks or places where she would have to go to a snack bar to get something to raise my bloodsugar.) Mom had taught her what to say so that people wouldn’t get pissed off at her, and she would be able to bring me the Coke faster.

A pretty amusing story happened when I was sitting down for lunch one day at home. Mom had made me a hamburger, and I was in the middle of eating it when my bloodsugar unexpectedly dropped. I apparently had had many of these same hamburgers before and loved eating them (as I do most foods). Mom was on the other side of the kitchen when I suddently slammed my fist on the plate, breaking it in the process, and yelling, “I hate this hamburger!” It’s crazy what happens when your bloodsugar drops…. ;)

Diabetes, Personal

Diabetes Blog Week – Dr. Ian Smith

Posted May 14, 2010 In Diabetes, Personal

Hey everyone!

Earlier this week, I got the opportunity to speak to Dr. Ian Smith to ask him a few questions about diabetes. We went over the importance of diet and exercise in maintaining the health of a type 1 diabetic. Check out the video below!

Diabetes, Personal