Tuesday, October 31, 2006

happy halloween!

picture this...
vikes lose...badly!


gary's brother, glen, stopped by
yesterday and added another hard drive
to my G5, showed me some tricks and got my
"album showcase" working!
seems i have a "journaled hard drive"...
now, the new hard drive is not journaled
so it works when i run it on there.
the really good news is that it doesn't matter
what it means or if i understand it!
it just works now!!

by 9 o'clock tonight it's supposed to dip
below 30 degrees! poor trick or treaters!

i have wrapped up all of my most recent
projects and for that i am grateful.
cuz gary may take up some of my time
while he recovers from his surgery.

i'm going to double check with my
brother and see if he is ready for me to
move my lighting to his office in st. louis park.

i shipped my muslin back yesterday.
i really hated parting with it but the color was
sooooo bad on the one side that i had no
choice. i'll find a new one to replace it soon.
heck, i may even make my own!! :)

here's more of my niece...



Monday, October 30, 2006

vikes vs. pats

picture this...
today....67 degrees!
vikings on monday night football!
only 8 more days of election commercials!
halloween tomorrow!

my niece's portrait session went really
great! she LOVES to do this and wants
very badly to go to NYU and study fashion.
i said, "start saving your baby sitting money!"
here's a couple....






yard work, yard work, yard work.
tearing everything out and blowing the
sprinklers out today. the perfect day to
do this. even washing and cleaning out
my car. yuck! it's going to be about 30
degrees cooler tomorrow..it's really coming!

gary is home from hunting...sick.....and trying
desperately to get anything done that involves
the shoulders before his surgery on thursday.
moving one of the sofas upstairs so that
he'll be able to sleep on the porch (with the HDTV)
sitting up for a few days. this ain't gonna be fun.

hey jacquie...i now have seen your child care
provider, lisa, more this month that you! :(
ran into her at cub this afternoon so i got to see
will and victoria too!!
she tells me that you leave town again tomorrow.
we seriously need to set a date you and i!!

tomorrow.....halloween.
it's gonna be cold for the little kiddies!
i sitll haven't gotten my candy yet.
we usually hand out full sized bars and all the
kids in the neighborhood know it too!

shut the windows and turn the heat back on!!!!

oh, and i should mention that i received 3 inquiries
over the weekend for 2007 weddings from
the wedding channel.....finally, some recognition
from that site!! :)

Sunday, October 29, 2006

eden prairie pounds minnetonka 31-0

picture this...
now, i don't follow high school football
too closely, but i do live in eden prairie so
therefore i must root for my team, right?
now my nieces, who attend minnetonka,
are mourning the loss today..sorry girls.

moving on......
let me share some highlights from last
night's party....

the guests of honor and hosts for the evening,
kip & susie (who incidently celebrated their
wedding anniversary on the 26th) thought that
they would take us back to their wedding night
complete with dale ernhardt jr. champagne flutes...



hey...what are ya...220? 221??? yea, whatever it takes.


on to the cake cutting. a pile of ho hos,
ding dongs, twinkies and susie Q's....



the guys keeping an eye on the keg



jessie is coming over after church today
for her "birthday present" of hair and
photo session...this is sooo much fun.
i really should market this.
we've got the rollers out this time and
everything.
she's going dark too, can't wait.
this'll be the first time we've done indoor
stuff due to the new lights.
i'll post some shots tomorrow!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

party prep...

picture this...
kip and his buddies preparing the garage
for the annual springer soiree costume
extravaganza (costumes manditory!)




the big party is tonight...
i'm still not certain what i will do
for a costume! why is that?
every year, like many of you, i think
NEXT year i'm going to start working
on a costume earlier...right!?
and yet, strangely? i never do! huh.

funeral for olive yesterday. always so sad.
i was so glad to see my cousins! we
rarely see one another. they have 8 kids
between the 3 of them. very darling!

i'm fighting with gary fong and his "album
showcase" program installation.
i purchased it earlier this year and then
got a new computer so i'm trying to
transfer it on to the new G5....not going so
well. first they were very patient with me
and now i think that THEY think that i'm
trying to get free registration #'s for all my
friends or something.....i'm very crabby!
i just want the darn thing to work.
computers...can't live with 'em, can't live
without 'em. ugh!!!!!!

going to meet kristin today for lunch at baccio.
seems like a great soup day!

Friday, October 27, 2006

got a costume???

picture this.....
still no costume....altho' i watched a little
ellen degeneres yesterday and she had all
these little girls dressed up like the ladies on
"deal or no deal" and a young man dressed
like howie mandell......so.....i'm thinking about it!
that would mean that i have roughly 34 hours
to drop a quick 40 pounds!! OR grow a goatee!!

well, i did go over and say happy birthday
to my sister and check in on the patient.
i brought her some "maggie moos" ice cream.
just plain pints....pink bubble gum and cotton candy.
i know....yuck, right? well, she loves it and
i'm still on the ballot for "aunt of the year" for 2006.
here she is attempting the cotton candy ice cream...



she watched 3 movies yesterday. i watched
"the wild" with her. fell asleep for about 15 minutes
(1/4 of the movie!).

here's sugar.....



and here's spice...




ran home to change for dinner at wildfire with gerri.
yum..have ya HAD the macadamia nut crusted halibut???
DANG!!! a glass of cab and split a desert. yummy!
esera tuaolo and mitchell wherley and their kids sat
right by us. their 2 children went to kinderberry hill
with kathryn (gerri's daughter) and i did some time at
the spalon in chanhassen which is where i met mitchell.
i attended the big graduation ceremony at KH last spring
and photographed mitchell & esera's kids too so i gave them
a CD of the images that i shot....in hopes that i might
be able to do some work with them in the future....
nothing yet but i keep running into them around town at
different functions. esera used to play for the minnesota vikings.
esera's sister, tusi, worked at spalon while i was there.
she is a gas! we are trying to get our schedules to match
up so we can get together.


rerun city last night. grey's....seen it!! both of 'em.

funeral today... my great aunt olive. she was 98.

have a safe weekend.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

happy birthday, my SQS!!

picture this....
it's my (only) sister, anne's birthday today....36!
we call each other "sweet queen sister" or "SQS".
she'll be nurse-maid today to amanda
whose tonsils are freshly out (yesterday)
so no big celebration for her.
she's gotta have some cake left over from
sunday (amanda's 6th b-day party)....
hmmmm, left over cake for your birthday
and a demanding 6 year old that will only
eat pudding......hmmmmmm....
maybe i had better stop over, huh?!


having dinner with kathryn's mom, gerri, tonight.
this is kathryn taken last spring for her 4th
birthday.....



i shot her graduation earlier this year from
kinderberry hill and i cannot for the life of me
find that disc....shame on me! i'll keep looking.
we never get a chance to get together outside
of "hair" and so we made a date with one another!

connected with "now i lay me down to sleep" today.
i called heather.....she's the minnesota organizer.
she's looking for more photographers to donate their
time to bereavement (sudden loss of an infant or fetus)
photography...it's tough. you have to be ready at all
times. i'm listed at st. francis, fairview southdale,
abbott and waconia if waconia gets on board with us.
she's got me scheduled for an assist in a week or so.
more on that as it developes...
you can go to www.nilmdts.org and see more about
this newly formed non profit organization.

have a great day. hug and kiss your children.....
whatever their age.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

booooooo, scary!

picture this...
internet down.....all day! grrrrrr :(
something about my router????

susie's school (she's a teacher in shakpoee)
is now blocking my blog! what's up with that?
it's not like a porn site or something like that! MAN!
whatever......

hey, just for that? i'm putting a photo up of
their most recent addition to their halloween
decor in their yard......



it's about 5 feet tall.....looks like a giant
snow-globe...only...no snow, just ghosts.
the ghosts go around and around.....i love
looking at it, it's right across the street.
i had to shoot it at 1600 without a tripod
so it's a little soft.....sorry.


amanda had her tonsils out today.....everything went
well...anne and peter were just going in to see her
when i talked to her. poor baby. she's doing good.

i just got news that my great aunt olive died this
morning. she had just fallen and broken her hip, like
so many people in their 90's do, but she wasn't
well enough to survive surgery so they just let it
go and let her go be with her sisters that preceded
her...they are having one great reunion right now!! :)
olive, gladyce & my mom's mom, hellen.
it's always sad no matter how they go, even if you've
known for weeks, months, years.....makes no difference.
she will be missed by many! say hi to joe, hellen and
my dad!! :)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

two posts today

picture this.....
snow? again?
well, they are predicting it anyway.

i forgot to hit "publish" again yesterday.
oooops, sorry. so, go back and read
yesterday's too.

well, only 5 days until the springer
halloween soiree! costumes are
manditory! i'm still working on mine.
last year we went as a hooker and
a viking player on an al & alma's boat.
it was pretty cool.
not sure i can get it together for something
like that....hmmmmm.

gary asked me last night....."now, will the kids
trick or treat on the weekend or on the 31st?"
are you KIDDING ME!? i'm not sure gary was
ever a kid! :)
jacquie, is will going out on tuesday night???

soon i will be moving my lighting to the building
that my family's business is moving out of.
they have not yet sold the building and i thought
it might be a great place for me to shoot
some indoor portraits and goof off a little
with some different lighting techniques.


here's this year's family photo at amanda's
6th birthday party the other night...



and here's amanda blowing out her candles...

Monday, October 23, 2006

pico & elvis

forgot to post this yesterday!

picture this.....
pico and elvis get more blog attention!
they brought "the boys" over to anne & pete's
for amanda's birthday party....they had
cute little new t-shirts on and were quite
well behaved...well, until elvis saw the cat!
THEN things got interesting!




have you had a portrait of your children done
recently?
the longer you wait, the older they get!!
i keep my family up to date (as i should really)
and i try to get friends interested but you can
only bug people so much..ya know???

hey jacquie, where are you? i saw your car
in the garage but i never saw you?
hope you new job is going great!

anne, thanks for the yummy dinner last night
for amanda's birthday party. i didn't DARE get on the
scale this morning, i just went straight to the gym!

let's see....what's coming up???
my sister's birthday is thursday!
amanda is having tonsils out wednesday.
gary's going pheasant hunting before his
shoulder sugery on the 2nd...YIKES!!
Cheers in Bloomington is having their fall wine
tasting that evening...maybe gary will be so
doped up he won't miss me for a couple of
hours while i run over there with ron & cindy! :)
(actually, he'll probably want to come along!)
then there's halloween, of course.
my studio sample wedding album should arrive
some time next week! i'm excited to see that.
new vendor...new album....new format.
oh, and i had better get busy with me presentation
for the next PUG meeing....election night.
can't WAIT for the commercials to stop!!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

happy birthday amanda!!!

picture this...
amanda's birthday is today...she's 6!
her "kid" party was yesterday at build a bear.
we gather as a family to celebrate today!



tghey have parties at build a bear.
a VERY well oiled machine....super smooth!!!
10 kids, in and out in an hour and a half!

here's amanda's selection......





then they watch as it's filled with fluff!



they have you give a big squeeze to see
if it's perfect....




then the go to the washing station....




here'a amanda and her good friend olivia.
they chose the same outfit!



not as crazy as i thought it would be....fun really!

oh, the excelsior craigs got two new family members
yesterday...."pico" and "elvis"...from a pet adoption.
they are 5 month old brother litter mates...
tooooo cute!!


Friday, October 20, 2006

Howie is retiring

picture this...
hobie's liver panel came back and the
numbers were "remarkable"!
he's really getting there! (hobie is my cat)
his #'s were over 2800 last december and
this time....180!!!!

tonight we (gary and i) are going to attend
howie's retirment party. gary and howie
have worked together for more than 25 years.
i'm going to sneak my camera in and see
if i can't get some shots. this is a crazy goup
of people! who knows what'll happen!

did ya catch gray's anatomy last night?
i don't know about you, but i'd get that darn
check in the bank.
also, sidebar.....i thought that "izzy" quit the show
at the end of last season??? that was the rumour
anyway.


big weekend ahead! my niece, amanda, turns 6!
her "kid" party is saturday, late afternoon....they
are going to "build a balance", i mean "build a bear".
have you been to this place? you walk in, grab an
animal body, stand in line for the stuffing. place a
little satin heart inside it before they sew it up,
select an outfit (shoes & hat too) and then the child
gets to sit at a computer, name the bear and fill in
all your information in case it gets lost so it can be
returned to you! total........$$$$$75 IF you're lucky!
well sure, you can probably get out of there for
under 30 but just try!!!
i'm going to be there with my camera covering the
whole thing...it's really fun. you can book "parties" there.
then this poor 6 year old is having her tonsils out
on wednesday! ugh! poor thing.

okay, this will piss nicki off but gary and i are considering
staying at Lunata on 5th. nicki and i stayed there
last spring. great spot right in the middle of the
action on 5th avenue in playa del carmen mexico.
a block off the beach!
here's a few photos....



Thursday, October 19, 2006

MEA

picture this....

it's thursday, the start of MEA weekend...
i think it was created for teachers so that they
can goof off (right susie??).....
i think it stands for:
Massive Educational Anxiety....or
Moderate Effects of Alcohol....or
my personal favorite....Musn't Elect Amy!
oops, there i go again, showing my political side!! :)
and who gives a crap if her mom is on lipitor anyway! :)

all i know is that kids are out of school for the
next 2 days and these houligans are going to
stay out late and smash pumpkins....
i'm bringing mine inside every night!

hey great news to share!!!!
there's only like 74 days until the Minnesota Miracle
at the Airport Hilton! and guess what?????????
Belinda Jensen is going to be the MC!!!!!!!
isn't that cool! she's reallly excited about it too!
this is reallllly a great thing for this young
event. this is it's 2nd year and already gaining
much local attention.
be sure to go to the miracles of mitch foundation
web site (link on this page) and check out the
Minnesota Miracle link....super fun, ya gotta go!
i'll be there too!
here's some shots from last year.....

the band..."temporary heros"




the stroke of midnight!!


mitch's grandparents ron & diane stanchfield


hey, where did all the hats go??

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

36 days til thanksgiving!

picture this....

kiki sent this to me yesterday...
she, my brother mike and their son owen
went to an apple orchard the other day and
snapped this shot...





there are 3 of us striving and vowing to drop
10 pound by turkey day....
so far for me? not so good.
you mean to tell me that m&m's are not
a food group!?

okay, when oprah said, yesterday on national
television, that she was down to her goal
weight of 154.....i must admit, i was a little
upset with myself. i mean, didn't she weigh
like 130 pounds more just a year ago????
how dare she pass me up! (by a couple pounds)
why is it that it seems tougher to lose 10?
my guess is that it's because it's ONLY 10.
some excuse, right?

look, this is the time of year when we all
like to get into the "comfort food", am i right??
well, good gracious, what now?
i have 36 days left on my goal of 10 pounds.
at least i'm not staring at 50, right?
oh, gotta go, gary said dinner is ready!! :)

confession.....when i'm not losing weight,
it helps to watch "the biggest loser" and see
what those folks are going through.
makes me feel like a big 'ol baby!
they'd probably say to me....."10 pounds?
10 POUNDS? i can CRAP 10 pounds in a day!"
a bit humbling.
gonna get on the bike now...........

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

what about holly & john???

picture this...

gary and i were in playa last february
at the same time as holly & john.
(they're from houston and i shot their
wedding in february of '05)
they were in town celebrating their
1 year anniversary. we hope to bump
into them again this winter!
here's a couple of shots from
holly & john farrar's wedding.....
(i got to do her hair too!)

they marched all the way through town
up the famous "5th avenue" with the
mariachi's! people lined the streets
and cheered!!



but before that, the entire wedding
party stopped off at the beach for
a cocktail hour....



it got really dark, really fast....



here's the whole group on the beach
with the mariachi's and cozamel in
the background....



these are great people.!
congrats holly & john! see you this february??
Brenda Alfaro @ "Ajua" (her web site is on
my "links" page on my web site) in playa
planned the entire weekend from start to finish.
maybe the most fun i've had shooting a wedding.

sorry for the type-0's...i didn't spell check today.
have a good one.

Monday, October 16, 2006

sunday/monday!

sorry....i JUST posted yesterday's blog.
so go back and read yesterday's too!!!
i walked away from the computer and didn't
realize until this morning that i never hit "publish".
(no blonde jokes!!)
but as promised here are more shots from
recent desination weddings......

alex & kristin...playa del carmen mexico.
april 2004...as a part of the "welcome basket"
in each room of the hotel they had bucket hats
made with the wedding date on them!

this is me, kristin & my sister in law, nicki,
who came along to assist me...she had NEVER
been to mexico (she's been back twice since!).









here's kate & jeremie...originally from
minnesota now living in florida, married
on janurary 21st of this year.
they selected isla morada in the florida keys.
really a great spot. they have these big 'ol
plantation style homes that are huge and
well equipped for rent.
here's the girls after their formal shots...



here's kate & jeremie during the rehearsal
the night before. i love the chaos all around them.
kate says that's how she felt!!



and of course a tender private moment
between the newlyweds!



took hobie in for another liver panel today
his #'s will be back in a day or two.
they loved his new haircut.....duh! why
wouldn't they!!

oh, and the class last night? really great!
excellent speaker, great classic photographer,
lots of super information and usable lighting
techniques! very late. it ran until 10:45!
check out www.digitalwakeupcall.com if you
are interested in attending any upcoming events.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

a beautiful sunday on tap!

picture this....
bonfire, yummy red wine, great
conversation with your spouse...
slept in, missed the 8:30 service!


i'll hit the 11 o'clock service with the
rest of my family.
i intended on going early so i could make
a run down to the mpls convention center
for the bridal show. it's just way too nice
out, i may pass. i have to be indoors later
today for a class.."digital wake up call".
i purchased the ticket back in april.
i can't believe it's october 15th!

gary and i are planning an overhaul of
the front and back of the house.
prep it for winter.

we are talking about playa again.
seems we can't get our minds off of it.
we'd like to go somewhere else, but where?
we love the caribbean and we don't want to
get stuck on some cliff somewhere with a
rocky beach or at an all inclusive with nowhere
to go. we've come to know so many people
there and i have a couple of wedding coordinators
there that could (if i want) find a wedding for me
to shoot while we are there. that's always fun.
last year i shot a wedding for a couple that i
came to find out was actually from minnesota!
amy & stehpen.....they are living in
hudson, wisconsin now.......







last november, i shot a wedding for a couple
from new york, just 5 weeks post "wilma"...crazy!
she models for j.jill......this was in playa as well...







tomorrow i'll post some other destination weddings
that i have been a part of.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

ever wonder?

picture this....

ever wonder what it's like to fly in formation?
(last year's air show in eden prairie)




ever wonder why people wait to book a vacation?
(playa del carmen mexico)



i called my sister yesterday and she answered
sobbing! "what????" i asked. she's had really
aweful back trouble in the recent past and
now all of a sudden had limited mobility and
her left hand and leg were numb!!
i dropped everything and drove right over there
and got her to her chiropractor. she's doing
better but this also occured at the same time i was
supposed to shoot that luncheon....sorry, family
first. plus, i can't STAND it when my sister cries!

gary is down in fairfax with a group of
guys pheasant hunting. they do this
every year in preparation for their
winner, south dakota trip towards the end
of this month.
fortunately it warmed up a bit today.
it's been really nasty.

i ordered a ton of images the other day
and just found out that there will be a delay
in delivery due to the fact that WHCC
is right across the street from the building that
blew up the other day and they were among
some of the business that had to evacuate!
CRAZY! i should get my stuff on monday.

i found a great floor easle the other day to display
large images!

i'm not enjoying this but i'm sorting through all
of my receipts and getting myself organized.
this is good for me...usually it's january before
i get around to this. then i say, "i'm going to start
earlier next year!" and i never do. not this year!

tomorrow i'm going to try to pop by the bridal fair
in minneapolis. i've never gone, i've never been
a vendor there, i just thought it would be interesting
to see it first hand to see if i'm missing out.
this one is just one day and it is supposed to be
gorgeous out. i hope they get the traffic they
need! this time of year is always tricky!


have a safe weekend.

Friday, October 13, 2006

very blustery indeed, pooh bear...

picture this...
the snow is gone but MAN, is it windy!!
it's just howling outside.
why doesn't the wind "howl" in the summer?

i've added a link on this page to my PUG
group's blog...jason just started it.
so you can check in on that from time to time.

i will be photographing a luncheon today
that my church, Westwood, is hosting at
National Waterworks in Eden Prairie as a
gesture of thanks for their contribution of
all the pipe for the Honduras water project.
folks will be sharing photos and stories of
the journey...i'm looking forward to it.

perhaps now God will show me how i can recover
the money that brian price owes me for his
head shots....here's brian..taken in march '06



so now i am waiting to hear back from hobie's
MVRS vet. he was scheduled to go in today
for a liver panel (it's been 3 months since his
last one) and i forgot to pick up his food last
night before i went to bed so he most likely
ate during the night and he was supposed to
have fasted! i've picked it up now and haven't
given him his morning meal and he is a little
cross, let's just say!

my neighbor had a "silpada" jewerly party last
night. i swore i wasn't going to buy anything.
i was just going to attend, have some wine,
chat with all the gals and go. nope, that's not
quite the way the evening went.
i actually ran home (literally ran.....soooo not me)
and got more money! what happened to the plan?
stick to the plan! don't deviate from the plan!
be strong! sadly (not really), i am the proud owner
of a gorgeous, chunky turquoise necklace, two
rings and the jury is still out on the very beautiful
wooden, beaded necklace...i may not end up with that.
and to think that i could have bought this really
great chair at home goods yesterday as a prop!
i thought..naaaaa, too much for a prop.
HA!
i'm weak........the first step, i'm told, is admitting it.
have a great friday the 13th!
ooooooo, you mean you forgot today was friday the 13th?

MVRS just called....i have to reschedule.....
so we're on for monday.