PEO convention

I am a member of a women's organization called PEO, Kevin's mom has been in since before Kevin was born and she recruited me as soon as we were married. I love PEO, I have met some amazing women and our mission is to promote higher education for women through scholarships and loans. Well, this year the California state convention came to Sacramento, and my chapter happened to be one of the hostess chapters. I ended up on the Photography committee, which is one of my hobbies so it was a good fit. I started taking pictures on Thursday morning and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon! It was a lot of work, but tons of fun and a great opportunity to meet and connect with PEOs from all across the state :) The cherry on top for me was the opportunity to be mentored by a professional photographer. I learned about lighting and positioning and how to take a picture in front of a window without being backlit. I am totally inspired to take a photography class! Without further ado, here is the weekend in pictures...

This is me in my Photog uniform (I was one of about 65 women in this photo, but I don't have their permission to be all over the internet, this is when the crop function comes in handy ;) )

Peeking out from behind the Capitol (this was part of the photo op scene)

Saturday night was the more formal dinner, and Husbands were invited. This was the only meal I was able to be off-duty for and I brought Kevin along...His mom and dad were also there :)
We were playing around with the Kazoos (they were part of the table decorations)


This was a cute picture of us, considering I had been up since before 6am, was taking pictures all day (in the heat) and had literally 2 minutes to change my clothes and slap on some make-up for this dinner...I don't look too bad

We did get one picture with Kevin's parents at the photo op before I left to throw some sweats on and burn CDs into the wee hours of the morning


I also have to share some scenery pics. I was in charge of taking formal pictures of the state officers and their families, I thought it would be nice to get the Capitol dome in the background and I was able to get access to the Capitol view room at the Hyatt (The Hyatt is also where our governor stays when he is in residence), which is on the 15th floor and has some fantastic views.
This is the Capitol and the Capitol Park (which is just beautiful, especially the rose garden)

On the other side you could see the Cathedral

Then, on the inside of the room, which was all windows, an amazing lighting effect occurs. At the corner of the room, the reflection of the Cathedral ends up directly over the view of the Capitol...my description doesn't do it justice, so here is a picture