Sunday, December 31, 2006

feliz ano nuevo a todos!

picutre this...
i'm off to the hilton to get
ready for the evening and head
over to the indoor wildlife refuge
for more events that are planned
for all the guests during the day
today.

not much more to say but
that if you haven't already got plans
for this evening, you can always join
in on the fun by coming for the dinner
and the big count down...you don't
HAVE to stay overnight at the hilton.
there is a separate price for the dinner and
party.
come one, come all and spend an evening
with us and support a really terrific cause.
www.minnesotamiracle.org

see you there!
happy new year!

(happy new year june & garrick!)

Saturday, December 30, 2006

wolves win!

picture this...
downtown @ target center with good friends
for an evening with the timberwolves as they
easily beat the C@L (seattle!) sonics!

ron runs the time clock for many of the home
games and he's also got season tickets so,
he and his wife, cindy, have included us in a few
games and we have the best time!
short of being arrested!

they take us down into the tunnel where the team
comes out from their locker room~
not many folks get to go all the way back there to
witness the team prayer and chant!
it's pretty cool.
they are soooo tall right up close and another
thing.....they are sooo young!

again, everyone has a camera....not me!
when will i learn to haul mine along!
the seats that ron & cindy have are terrific
and i could get plenty of great shots.
center court, about 8 rows up. nice.

well, then we hit bellenote for a couple of
bumps and headed back home for a night cap and
a photo session.....








thanks guys for yet another epic evening!
and ron...i'll never look at the plunger the
same way ever again!

Friday, December 29, 2006

new years eve ~ eve

picture this...
my new fong "chrome dome"
that i got from kiki for Christmas....
she'd been lurking around this blog
and saw that i was interested in
getting one so...BAM!!!!
i got the "cloud" from kiki and the
"chrome dome" from owen!
"thanks guys!"
i'm enjoying playing with it a lot!
it's going to be perfect for my product
shots i'm doing!



my kubota dvd came yesterday.
i purchased the down load the other
day and had them ship a hard copy as well.
pretty cool. it's the "much anticipated"
3rd version of his actions...i'm getting to know them
better..here's a cool, mystical one called "deep forrest"~
a square, cropped image of the original below...



and here's the original image, shot by a client of
mine (chris) on a very recent trip to paris.
i had her e-mail me some of her shots from her trip!



fun, don't cha think!
thanks kevin kubota for all your fun actions!!
i highly recommend getting them!

here's another image where i used kevin's
"digital fill flash" on the bronze statue to
bring out the detail that chris had underexposed.
another favorite action of mine!!!
(this action is from his 2nd set of actions
which also contains "starburst vignette" which i
absolutely LOVE!!)



chris was here the other day so i gave her some
lessons and insight to capturing images, composition,
cropping, timing (waiting for folks to move!)
focusing techniques...it was fun.
these are a couple of other images that we worked on..
here, we worked on straightening the horizon...




this one needed cropping and some sharpening...



thanks for sharing your paris images with me chris!
i may never get there! who knows.
hope i was able to assist you in your new quest
to get a different camera! :)
careful...you might get hooked on photography!

Thursday, December 28, 2006

clean, clean, clean...

picture this...
i'm going to take the tree down today
and put everything away. it used to make me sad.
then my brother tim once said to me...
"you're that much closer to spring!"
i like that!
also washing and putting away all of the
cookie tins finally....i just can't look at one
more cookie. there's not much left so i'm
just going to toss 'em!

i have been given a great opportunity to
photograph some equipment for a client
of mine. he owns a company called RTD.
something about thermal devices...and i'm
going to photograph some things like
angioplasty stuff...it's weird stuff!
cool tho', don't get me wrong.
they just need fresh images of all of these
items for their a new catalog.
so, i'll be shooting these devices while jim
is in big sky montana skiing with his wife and
two daughters this week (whom i've known forEVER!!!)
hope they are skiing safely!!

gary just got home from his 2nd therapy
session for his shoulder and said it went well.
i'll get more out of him later!

i just heard from john farrar of houston.
he and his lovely wife holly got married in playa
a couple of years ago and i was their photographer.
i wanted to find out if they were going to head down
to playa for their anniversary again this year.
we were able to plan a meeting last year when we went
down last year and it was really great to touch base
and see them again...a truly wonderful couple!
they have elected to go to colorado to ski this year!
have fun you two!
holly and john are on my web site under "celebrations"!

gerri is coming tomorrow...she and her husband
and daughter just got back from 2 weeks in mexico!
soo jealous!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

rip van winkle...

picture this...
i layed down for a minute with hobie and katie
last night at 5 and woke up 14 hours later,,,,,
WOW! i think gary slipped me a micky!

happy wedensday to all hope you all survived
your first wave of the "holiday" season. we did.

hair today.
off tomorrow.
timberwolves game on friday with the grass's
MINNESOTA MIRACLE @ AIRPORT HILTON on sunday!
you gotta go!!!!!
then we are into 2007!
made any new years resolutions?
i don't typically...too much pressure!
i just do stuff when i feel like it~that seems
to work best for me.

i forgot to post a couple of photos yesterday...
emily & spice..



lights on the bushes....



nine (my mom) helping in the kitchen...



enjoy your wednesday.

(dean & lois~we are still working on correcting our flights!
we'll let you know as soon as we do about the changes)

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

trash day, thank God!

picture this...
today is trash day in that Christmas
was yesterday. we NEVER have this much trash!
hosting Chrismas makes for a lot of garbage!

i have been sitting on my cf card for 2 days now.
i just loaded some Christmas images onto
the G5 so here are a few highlights from
Christmas Eve at anne & pete's.
ben, amanda & emily opening gifts from
their parents before eveyone got there......

ben's snow skate...




amanda's?????(i have no idea what this was but
she was pretty excited about it!)



emily's littlest pet shop...




nicki, scott & anne...



tim brought over some old photos of our family.
here's scott taking a little walk down memory lane....



spice starting to get into things...



amanda took this one!



more crazy cousins...



uncle tim rolled doubles in the dice game
and decided to grab owen instead of a
wrapped gift!



kiki & owen....



fireworks...
an annual thing for my pyromaniac brother..




end of the night, ben finally got the ball on the tee!!




have a great week!~

Monday, December 25, 2006

Christ, our Savior is born...

picture this...
ran into my old boyfriend, his
wife and his mother yesterday at the
11:00 service at westwood.
it was so incredibly great to see them!
i knew that scott had been spotted
attending there but i never see him.


it was a really great day!
i ran to anne's to drop off spanish rice.
(oh, we decided to go "off the board" and
have a "feliz navidad" celebration for
Christmas this year complete with tacos,
dos equis, corona and of course, tequila!)
then we all piled in their car and went to church.
gary got a ride from a buddy and went to axel's
in chan, where everyone meets every Christmas eve.

back to anne's after the service and prepare the
chow (and today's egg bake).
family started trickling in around 3 and the kids
got restless right away so we decided to go
"off the board" again and open up gifts before we ate!
i'm afraid that will become the new tradition!
ben said..."yea, we'll open our stuff now (he's 14),
and then after dinner all you adults can just relax!"
oh, he knew exACTly what he was offering up! :)
as it turned out, it was perfect!

today gary and i are hosting Christmas with his
family...they'll be here soon so i must put the
keyboard down and get back to work!
Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas Eve Day...

picture this...
the real meaning of Christmas....
it's not ipod nanos or xbox 360s or
fillet mignon or...or even the tallest
evergreen tree at rockefeller center.
no. contrary to what most americans
have come to know and go broke over
is just how most of us celebrate it.
and even though i like to see it as
getting together with friends and family
and tossing around the idea of finally
making a resolution for the next year,
at the risk of sounding corning and
hypocritical........
Jesus is the reason for the season!

years ago, between jobs, i managed
several holiday kiosks at all of the dales.
i know, weird, right? anyway, one day my
sister helped me out by working with me
at the southdale location.
right outside the old daytons on the main
level. this was a novelty Christmas sweatshirt
and t-shirt kiosk.
now folks come up all day long, week in week out
asking "where's the bathroom?" and "can you tell
me where Soldati is?" (greatest shoe store ever by the way!)
and my favorite, "where can i find a directory?"
it was right behind them...DUH!
but one day, just before Christmas a woman and
her daughter approached the kiosk and asked
"do any of your shirts read 'Jesus is the reason for
the season?'....." and we said "no."... the woman
walked away, and we laughed and laughed!
almost mocking the rhyme..."Jesus is the reason for
the season"!
from that day forward anne and i would always
giggle when we recalled the event......

I don't remember exactly when i came back to Christ,
straying as many do in adolescence,
but that the phrase no longer makes me giggle....
it does, however, make me smile and i will always
remember that Jesus is indeed the reason for the season!

Celebrate His birth
Merry Christmas


(jacquie, i enjoyed our little outting yesterday!
thanks for having me along!)

dean & lois.. your card and generous gift
arrived yesterday, thank you.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

as the shoppers rush home...

picture this....
i made an executive decision to run
out last night and get a few final gifts
rather than attempting mid day today!
it wasn't bad, really. but then i was
prepared to park in wisconsin anyway...
lost a thumnail in the process..crap!

we missed getting 3-4 inches of snow
by only about 6 miles!!!
one of my clients yesterday told me that
her back yard looks like a winter wonderland!
crap...we got nothin'! (see yesterday's blog)
there's pretty much nothing left now.
oh well, thank you global warming!

do you suppose that andy rooney would ever
do a story on whether or not paying for
expedited shipping really pays?
i mean, really....i paid twice the amount to get
3-5 because i FEARED the item might arrive tuesday!
it was on my doorstep in TWO!!!
what if i'd have done the normal 5-7??
do you think it would have gotten here in 5?
i do... they get you with FEAR!!
who would want to disappoint a child, right?!
amanda is going to LOVE it! so it was worth it.

i'll be wrapping gifts and trying to keep my cats
out of theirs this evening...they've already
discovered their loot...they really are like children!

happy Christmas eve, eve!

Friday, December 22, 2006

i'm dreaming of a light green christmas!

picture this....
well, it's not denver, but i guess it'll do.
we received a very crunchy half inch of
snow preceded by a ton of freezing rain...
not fun at all.



roads are pretty clear and travel shouldn't
be much of a problem.


forgot to mention that last sunday,
several of my family members got together
to decorate some Christmas tree ornaments.
it's something that we used to do when i was
a kid....it was really fun. and then anne made
this awesome pan of lasagna! soooo goood!

em's angel...




g's snow flake man....



manda-moo's stocking...




j's snowman..




on the gary front, we found out the other day
through another mri, that gary's right shoulder is
actually worse than his left shoulder...needing surgery
as well and this one will be even more involved.
it's so bad, in fact, that his right arm will be extended
out perpendicular in a cast for 3 whole weeks.
strangely, due to the nature of the tear and the different
usage of either arm, gary thought the left one needed
it most...not as much pain the right at all.
he'll be considering how to go forward over the next month.
we are not very chipper these days...pray that some
sort of mistake was made and it isn't as bad as they thought.
that will me our Christmas miracle this year!

have a great friday!
go finish your shopping!
stay caffeinated and warm.....

love to all!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

winter solstice

picture this...
today marks the beginning of
winter...tell that to the folks in colorado!

today also marks the day that we
minnesotans long for....today, the days
begin to get longer! i believe that it takes a
few days for that to get rolling and it'll take
a few weeks for it to start showing but
nonetheless, the days are going to soon
be longer and having more daylight will make
a difference to many!

i'm up & adam today, feeling oh so much
better and more myself.
having just had a small taste of the flu,
it's nice to be among the vertical! :)

i've got a couple of slammin' days of hair
ahead of me in that i've had to reschedule
everyone from the past 2 days.
pray for my strength the next couple of days!

hopped on the scale this morning.....
the flu diet is widely under-rated!
at the same time, not recommended
for ANYone! :)

hey, it's my brother-in-law's birthday
tomorrow! i think he'll be 42?????
'spose i'd better get a card in the mail today!
if i don't....."happy birthday pete!"

my youngest niece lost a tooth the other
day and she called yesterday to tell me
all about it. she's 6.
she's always feeling a little small, left out
and nothing special...now, the whole world
knows that amanda has lost her very first tooth!
now, THAT'S something special.
apparently teeth now get a couple of dollars.
i think they ran a quarter back when i was
losing mine (for the first time!).....HA!

gotta get ready for the day.
have a good one.

neighborhood party tonight also...looking
forward to getting out of the house.
oh, and ron & cindy...don't worry..i'm just fine.
see you tonight!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

flu-schmoo...

picture this...
5 days before Christmas, and i get sick.
i am always bragging about how i never
get sick...HA! that'll teach me!

i won't go into details (and you're welcome),
but let's just say this layed me out flat for
a day and a 1/2....you know the kind of feeling
when you wake and you're not sure if it's 6pm
or 6am...right?
i want to burn my jammies, sheets and pillowcases!
and the HAIR!??? don't even get me started!
i barely recognize myself.
i wonder if ducks feel bad when the water just
rolls off! :)
oh well, i'm feeling much better and just thought
i'd post something so you all didn't think i'd
falled somewhere and couldn't get up!

i'm not sure what's taken place these past 2 days
but i DO know that 2 of my Christmas packages
haven't shown up yet...darn it!

that's all for now......

Monday, December 18, 2006

editing-editing-editing!

picture this...

i got a chance to pop over to jacquie's
saturday and visit while SHE bakes cookies!
that was fun!


i spent the better part of saturday behind
my camera.
first, at the pancake breakfast for jay in
eagan (see yesterday's blog)...
then out to chan to photograph ava,



her brother zach,




and their cousin owen (different owen)...




then i ran to eden prairie to photograph
hanna, hughe, sophia & ben....



they have an ice rink in their back yard...how
they keep it frozen these days is beyond me!
but it makes for a really cooooool back drop,
don't ya think!? here's hanna...




yesterday, around 3, i popped over to
see jill and craig and their 2 daughters
olivia (2 & 1/2) and emalee, who will be 1 next
month to photograph emalee for her 1 year
milestone and then get the girls and the whole
family together for a couple of holiday shots
as well.....
here's the birthday girl, emalee....





then we changed into our Christmas dress....



and i couldn't forget about big sister olivia who
would only smile if she could say "mac & cheese"!...





emalee was not as interested in the santa hat...



thanks for the pretzel olivia, it was yummy!
hope you had a good visit with santa last night!

Saturday, December 16, 2006

jay's pancake breakfast

picture this....
so i'm at the applebees in eagan at 7:30 am
for the start of the pancake breakfast for jay magee.
......lying....i got there at 8:30! :)

i forgot that i was supposed to get a long
sleeved t-shirt at the last benefit in waconia
that i couldn't make it to.
i advertised on the back of the shirt and so
i got a free one....here's the front...
held by jill's cousin, sarah.



i posted a bunch of photos on jay's caring bridge
site...go to caringbridge.org then type in jay magee...

here' jay and jill......
jays' shirt reads "i support jay walking"
clever!




this is her mom and 2 of her brother's...



here's olivia and emalee....i'm going to
their house tomorrow afternoon to do some
1 year old shots of emalee and probably some
family ones or at least sister ones too!
gotta get to chan, i'm photographing miss ava
today. i'm just waiting for her to get up from
her morning nap....she's adorable...i'll post those
tomorrow.
oh, here's rachel and charlie...(with bo) from yeseterday..



and a close up.....




another balmy one today....45!
cloudy..kinda gloomy...no snow in the forcast
for Christmas! gonna be a strange one without
snow here in minnesota!

go get the rest of your shopping done! :)

Friday, December 15, 2006

family photo sessions...

picture this...
a rush to get 4 families photos
taken, proofed and printed
for Christmas! yay! don't call
me this weekdend....(kidding!)

first of all, i must thank kathy h.
for bringing me the loveliest
winter floral arrangement yesterday!
here's a shot...




kathy's been a client of mine for years
and i just love her...always so thoughtful!
thanks kathy. maybe we'll get a chance to
connect in scottsdale.

tivoed "the office" last night, haven't watched
it yet as we elected to watch this weeks episode of
"friday night lights" instead. i just LOVE that show!
you have to give it a shot!

running cookies to cory, my web designer, today
trimming owens "mullet" today too....not a full fledged
HAIRCUT mind you..just tweeking the back a bit.
he's got that 21 month old mullet thing going...
you all know what i'm talking about, right? :)

greatest thing...yesterday, while up to my
eyeballs in haircolor and hairspray, i was able to
order 4 gifts on line inbetween clients and while
they were processing...so cool!
i'm just about done. all i have left, i think, is the
cats. WHAT??? you don't get your pets anything???
i like to get little things for their cousins too....now
THAT could be considered crazy, but, c'mon!
you're either a pet lover or your not, right?

every year i find a new cat thing at Christmas time.
here's my latest addition...i just love her.
(yes, it's a her...you can't see them, but she's
got heels on too)...i've got her in the hair studio.



jay magee is having a pancake breakfast
at the eagan applebees tomorrow from
7:30 to 10:30 c'mon by if you get the chance!
i'm anxious to see them. i didn't get the
opportunity to see them last weekend when anne
and i were baking cookies. they had another
function in waconia last sunday during the
vikings game.
gotta run.
what do you think i do, i sit around and write
blogs all day??? :)


p.s. left arm and shoulder seem to be just fine.
pretty bruised up...seriously starting to feel old!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

10 more shopping days....

picture this....
gary's in a sling and will be
for the next, oh...4 weeks or so.
i get up early, sneak out of the
bedroom cuz it's rare when i get
up before gary and he's still sleeping.
(yes, this is going somewhere...)
i feed the cats (notable is that
katie will now eat hobie's food so
no more separating them to eat!)
i head downstairs to get in the shower
and totally take a tumble down the
stairs! thank GOD for split entries
or i might still be tumbling!
i've jammed my left arm and shoulder.
i'm pretty sure nothing is broken
but as you can imagine when i came to
a hault in the foyer, all i could think
of was..i may need one of gary's slings.
i'm already feeling it in my neck......
well, enough of that.

much to celebrate today....
it's going to be 50 degrees today
in most parts of minnesota or as we've
begun to call it....minnesnow-not!

we did a bonfire last night, gary and i.
it was really nice out and gary was in the
mood to get off the couch...here's gary
outside last night...




i'm going to test and see if gary's
dad really reads my blog on a regular
basis because we dicided last night
by the fire to take a few days mid january
and head down to arizona for a visit
with dean and lois! i haven't been down in years!
(dean-give us a jingle or post a comment here
below)

no shopping today..tons of hair to do today.
tis the season!
enjoy the gorgeous day!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

11 days 'til Christmas!

picture this...
still got shopping to do?
me too.
still have cards to send out?
me to.
still have cookies to deliver?
well then get your lazy butt over here
and HELP ME!!

made the rounds yesterday for most
of the cookies....seriously...i've GOT
to get them out of here or i'll be
up to "2 bills" by Christmas!!

i've got a bunch of families still
needing photos for the holidays
so i'm trying to wrap that all up.
had my PUG dinner party last night,
had a great time!

my cats are starting to get into things
under the tree.
i just love delivering a package with
the bows all shredded with teeth marks!
hobie actually ate the cardinal that was
tied on one of my shopping bags from
coldwater creek...it was swinging from
the handle when the bag tipped over and
it swung back and forth 1 too many times!
he batted at it for a minute and we thought
it was so cute....then, suddenly, one eye was
missing and that was the beginning of the
end for the christmas cardinal! :(



our cats are crazy and posessed all year round,
but at Christmas time...they really come out of
their shells!
last Christmas we thought we were going to
lose hobie...he was sooooo sick.
MVRS in Eden Prairie worked miracles for my
baby and he is all well now!
that was one of my first stops yesterday.
i brought a giant tray to MVRS for saving
hobie's life last Christmas...(last year we gave
them a giant check!)

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

cookie deliveries!

picture this....
smiles on everyones faces as they see
me pull up outside....they know i'm
bringing cookies! it's just such a joy for
me to deliver the smiles!

here's a couple of shots that gary took
with his panasonic lumix camera..

me enjoying a break in the action...
a little molasses spice cookie and some cabernet!
gotta catch rudolf every year!





me and my sister, anne, hard at it!!!
anne forgot her santa hat this year...




hobie, not particularly interested...



had a great time last night at the TCPPA party.
the magician was CRAZY great! i'm going to hire
one someday for a party. he did a fork trick for gary
and i and i got to keep the fork. i'll photograph it and
post it another time...crazy!!

tonight, a PUG party at Biaggi's in eden prairie!
looking forward to that as well.
this weekend a neighborhood party...UGH!!
GOTTA get to the gym!! :)
tis the season, right.
enjoy the foggy, rainy day....in the 40's again all week!

gerrick, gary is doing wonderfully! thanks for your
concern!

cheers!