The Red Couch

Because I love to take pictures, I often lie awake at night trying to think up new ideas.

I was recently intrigued by some images done by a professional photographer where she used a couch in the middle of a field. I wanted to give it a try, but could it really be as easy as it looked? During one of my brainstorming sessions (while I should have been sleeping) my mind went to the red couch residing in my sister Kristin’s basement. Perfect! A family picture on her red couch at one of my favorite local parks.

But how? We don’t own a truck and it didn’t fit in any of our parent’s cars. Did I mention that this is a good size couch? I turned to my husband who solves all of my quandaries and helps make all of my crazy ideas happen. "How about a U-Haul truck," he suggested? "What? A U-Haul truck?" Mike and I are actually in the middle of a move and needed to rent a U-Haul truck anyways, “So why not move and take the couch pics in the same day?” he suggested.

My sweet husband got a U-Haul, went to my sister’s house where he and Brian loaded the couch onto the truck. We then prodded all of the kids into Brian and Kristin’s van and set off for the park. Smooth sailing, right? Almost. If the picture could talk, you would have heard Owen complaining of a stomach-ache, Caly screaming because she couldn’t play on the couch, Brian telling Andrew to stop with the silly faces and me making up stories about eating crickets for breakfast in hopes of getting the boys to smile. Meanwhile, Kristin was watching her couch and cringing as her boy’s dirty feet gave the couch some extra character.

So, I had to ask myself: “Was it worth it?” Yes, I think it was.