then next best thing...

perhaps my new guilty pleasure...
this is a show where they are looking
for the next best celebrity impersonators.
it's pretty darn funny.
the judges are really great.
i think they are on to atlanta next week.

another beauty..."shear genious".
they just wrapped up their season with
a finale last night and i must admit,
i have been told about this show for months
but have not seen one episode until last night.
not bad. i would have been able to call
this one from the start i'm afraid!!


moving on....

we finally got the rain that they have
been promising!
so much last night that a husband & wife
duck team moved in.....so cute!
i'm hoping they nest here....if they do
i will be sure to post updates and photos.

can you believe tomorrow is june 1st?!
busy month for me. weddings, portraits and
the starkey hearing foundation gala.
june's going to go fast!

getting together with one of my nieces soon
to do her birthday hair/photo shoot!
these are soo much fun. i'll be shooting
her senior session later this summer!

i still owe emily HER birthday hair/shoot!

hobie and katie's 11th birthday is tomorrow!
they got birthday cards yesterday from a
local pet store with a coupon for a free toy!~
how cute is that!

it's gorgeous here today....upper 70's and sunny!~
perfect summer day.

enjoy it.

"on the lot"...

okay, love the show...hate the host!
we are going to tivo and zip passed this
"nails on the chalkboard" woman. she's
just awful. and another thing...
could they BE anymore like american idol?
i love the concept of the show, i've
enjoyed the movies these folks have
put together yet they butcher it with
the female version of "dunkelman".
that's right, remember him? he was
ryan seacrest's side kick the first year
when kelly clarkson won. yep, she's that bad!

lots of hair today (including my own).
sheena is coming by later to swap
services. i'm thinkin' a little color!

i have a huge order coming from WHCC today.
can't wait. included in that oder is
"angel" from last friday morning. i'll be
sending those images and DVD on to that
family later today.

got an incredible sample package from
"graphistudios" in italy. beautiful sample
albums, replica albums and parents albums.
affordable, gorgeous wedding album design.
i've been waiting for this package since
OCTOBER!! i actually had forgotten that i
ordered it. it's just stunning work.
can't wait to produce my first album
with them.

have a great day.
thanks for the note lois. say hi to felice!
we really want you two to come up this summer!

short week...

what a weekend!
family, friends, smores, gardening,
food, wine...and that was just friday!!

last night anna and kyle came over to
ask if we would light some of our
fireworks before they had to turn in.
so we grabbed a few and lit them
in the street. even scott, jacquie & will
joined in...fun!

hit the baker pool yesterday...
(i talked to peer down at the ridges
and he said that they were pretty slammed
down there so yet again, we rescheduled!)

ben and his friends goofed around awhile...




scott put on pete's scuba gear and got a
quick lesson...he's going to go for his
certificatioin with the rest of us at
the baker pool next month!





owen ("ono" as he calls himself) was
"fashionably" late (due to a nap)...








oh, and here's spice. she's FINALLY getting
"hooked up"! she's been in heat so long that
it's driving everyone crazy! she's a full
bred birman and she's going to have kittens!
the kids are pretty excited. pete, on the other
hand is worried that she'll have 8 kittens and
anne won't want to part with any of them! :)




....mrow....

hobie and katie turn 11 on friday.
they are growing so fast.... :)
i'm thinking of inviting their cousins over
for a little tuna cake & milk...hats...horns..
cat nip...the works!!

memorial day...

hello everyone.
today is memorial day.
a day set aside to recognize and
remember those who have fought &
are fighting for our country's freedom.
strangely cool. on one hand i guess
i feel that everyday should be memorial
day and on the other, i'm afraid if
we didn't have this one day...
few would remember.
so while we're grilling, boating, planting
napping, golfing, camping, biking.....
take a moment and thank all the service
men and women for tirelessly making the
ultimate sacrifice.

today, on our calendar, it also says
"12th anniversary". gary and i got
together on this date 12 years ago.
he asked me to an REM concert on that day!
i had actually been cutting his hair for
nearly a year before we dated. who knew? :)

okay, so i didn't go to the golf course
yesterday so i'm heading down there today.
i did get all the rest of the flowers in!
nice to have that done. feels like summer!

enjoy your memorial day!

ridges at sand creek...

heading back down to jordan today to finish
up photographing mike malone's golf course.
it's green and lush and sunny. it'll be a
perfect day for this.



first off to westwood.
it's been a few weeks since i've been to
church due to involvements and travel that
it really felt great to get back.
mark bendell, our outreach pastor spoke today
on how to pray effectively....on this
the global day of prayer.
how timely for me to receive this message
at the end of a week in which i have experienced
great grief with two different families over
the loss of their unborn children.
i've been praying a lot lately in ways i never
imagined i would.

last night gary and i drove to northeast minneapolis
to a great bar called "the bulldog". great food.
met jimbo, steve, tom & anna. didn't stick around,
just headed back home.

well, i'm off to complete the gardening here at
the house and then i think i'll pop down to
jordan. if not today, i'll go down tomorrow.
the weather is just so pleasant that i can't NOT
work on memorial day! :)

have a safe one.

praise Him.

lunch with jacquie..

after several weeks of trying to get together,
jacquie and i manage to finally have lunch.
my birthday was back in april but let me tell
you...this was worth the wait!

our kick boxing date got way~laid (i'll explain
later) but we hit redstone in eden prairie for
what turned out to be the greatest afternoon
to enjoy lunch outside.



started with wine,
a VERY dirty martini and a canyon flat bread pizza!




then we moved into ribs and a huge salad.
once that was devoured, we sat back, got a
couple more drinks, chatted and soaked up some sun.
the we ordered dessert. i got their signature
chocolate cake (with a flaming candle..jacquie
insisted in that we were celebrating my birthday!)
and jacquie ordered their yummy banana cream pie.





are you kidding me?
just about had to roll ourselves out of there.
THEN jacquie ordered a full rack of ribs to go!
um...dare i say... the $200 lunch. MAN!
it was such a lovely day and i'm still full!

jacquie, thank you so much...sorry about jabz.
well go again soon.

i went with the springers to anna's softball
practice last night. she's really going to be
a great pitcher someday. she's never reallly
pitched before and she like, 7...check out the
form!! i was really impressed!





here's her silly brother kyle!



thanks for letting me tag along. i'd love to come
watch a game sometime too!

well yesterday morning, on our way to kick boxing
i got a call from heather. a couple at st. francis
had lost their baby at 17 weeks. i was the closest
and the only one available so jacquie doubled back
and dropped me off so i could head down there.
this family was grateful to have the opportunity for
a photographer to come and photograph their "angel".
please go to NILMDTS for more information
in the event that someone you know is in need of our
free services or care to donate. thanks.

pirates of the caribbean????

well i, for one, did NOT go to the midnight
showing of pirates 3. the reviews are in
and i'm glad i got all my sleep last night.
perhaps i should be a critic...mostly
because it takes a lot to impress me.
i typically wait for dvd's and then sit
and watch in the comfort of my own home!
i know...BORING!! but i'll tell you what
i got really tired of saying "there's another
2 hours of my life i'll never get back"~
and THIS movie was 2 hours and FORTY~FIVE
minutes long! ugh! can you say "restless leg
syndrome"???
my brother and his family went out last night
to see it, so i'm waiting to hear from them
what they thought. the girls just like
johnny depp, kierra knightly and orlando bloom
so they were probably just happy to stare at
them on the screen!

well, another friday, a beautiful one on tap.
weather in the low 70's!

jacquie and i are heading to jabz and then
my birthday lunch.

have a safe holiday weekend everyone!

jordin sparks wins american idol!

okay.....shocker, right!? not really.
what a night. loved melinda doolittle's
performance! and even tayor hicks!
but my biggest surprise was the return
of ruben studdard! that guy can SING!!!

i've seen each and every american idol
season and altho' kelly clarkson has been
my favorite since the beginning....
chris daughtry is a very close 2nd!
i have yet to purchase other winner's
CD's, i think that carrie underwood and
even ruben studdard & taylor hicks deserve
a second chance! they all did remarkably
well last night!
i'm sorry that fantasia couldn't be there
but i understand that she was "working"!
good for her!
what the hell was bette midler doing there?

the skuttle~butt was all about why
sir paul macartney didn't show up.
they rehearsed all those beetles songs~
last year when they sang all the prince
songs and HE popped out was so cool!
so everyone was thinking...hmmmmm.....what's
going on? where is he? i'm sure we'll
find out soon but so far no one has come
forward to say anything...and ya know what?
so what!
oh, and what about green day???
hey, wanna perform in front of 130 million
people??? SURE!!! whatever.
i thought it was "sell out city" myself.
sure, i'm happy for jordin and all but
c'mon...it's one big finale infomercial, right?!
i enjoy the show but lets get one thing
straight...i won't be standing in line to
purchase my "idols across america tour" tickets.

moving on...
i wanted to mention that i got a really
terrifically yummy thank~you gift delivered
the other day. this was from Emmeline Yang,
a graduate from USC whom I have never met.
i photographed her for her parents (we sat
next to them at the film school portion at
the galen center) and sent a CD out to her
in LA. she's from england and has spent
the past 4 years studying at USC in film.
anyway, these cookies arrived and i thought
"what the...?" and then i opened the card
and it was from the Yang family!
thank you so much Yang family!

dancing deer baking company out of boston.





they have yummy brownies and cakes too! enjoy!

more rain today. MUCH needed but all the
flowers i bought to plant are all still just
sitting in their flats out front. :(
oh well...color is color, right!? :)

american idol finale...

well, it seems that it's on everyone's mind.
"blake" or "jordin"? i've thought jordin all
along so i'm just going to stick with her.
but of course it doesn't do much for blake's
case to have him get up and sing what KDWB
dj's touted as a "disney power ballad"!
i mean, c'mon...i thought nothing could be worse
than carrie underwood's "inside your heaven"! UGH!!
these finale songs are so cheesy that i've
actually developed a "dairy intolerance"!~

okay, what's NOT cheesy?? dancing with the stars!
the cutest couple on the planet won the title
last night! apolo anton ohno and julianne whatshername.
i called that one too!
there are two summer competition shows coming
that i think are pretty interesting....
"on the lot" which started last night. i really
think that this one could be cool. i'm sure
our niece, machie, the big film school grad from
USC, will think it's stupid...who knows.
the other is...drum roll..............
"fast cars and superstars"! it starts on like
june 1st i think. it's a nascar thing.

what's going on this weekend for memorial day?
us? nothing. golf i suppose if the weather holds.
however, we are true believers in not partaking
in any "holiday golf"...too slow. no fun.
so we'll leave monday open for a big fat bbq!!

anne, i'm feeling much better, thanks for your
concern. i love you!

jaquie, are you still living next door?

owen (who calls himself "ono", apparently he
is having trouble with the "w"....so cute!)
came by for a haircut yesterday. he is sooo funny!
didn't WANT a haircut. why do kids cry? i don't
understand it? i did NOTHING to traumatize him
the first time. and forGET about the blow dryer.
HATES that! he's 2, what can i say. sorry, no photo.
he was more interested in getting to his "nonni's"
for a treat! BAD aunt...no treats. hey, it was
last minute...i wasn't prepared! next time.

well, slow news day.
go jordin!

birthdays are blessings...

emily celebrated her 10th birthday on sunday.
i love her. we are a lot alike, i think.
very big hearts and always thinking of others.
she's a very special 10 year old.







the whole family gathered at their home around
4:30 for kabobs and ice cream cake! yum!
i have taken to gifting my nieces and nephews
with a haircut and a photo shoot so we will
get that on the calendar soon.
but i couldn't resist throwing in a subscription
to "cat fancy", a pair of sterling silver and
turquoise turtle earrings (i got them in arizona)
and a turtle sarong that i got in mexico!
oh, did i mention that emily is mad about turtles!?
closely rivaled with the entire "american girl"
doll collection..she's CRAZY about all that stuff!

the bakers were there and it's always great to
see all of them too.


however, gary and I will definitely get together
with bonnie (his mom) in that the 5th of june is her
birthday. then michael's on the 15th.
TONS of graduation parties in june...looking forward
to a busy june.

i'm going to head out and get stuff for the gardens
today...we are so behind!

now i lay me down to sleep...

i am posting late today because
today i was called to photograph my first
session for nilmdts.

heather called several times over the weekend
and when I was finally able to get back to her
she told me of a family that had just heard the
baby's heart beat this passed wednesday and then
it was gone. i committed to the session and the
nurses at HCMC were given my cell # so i layed
it on my night stand thinking that either sometime
last night or today i'd get the call.
it came at 4:10 this morning.
so i stumbled around in the dark until gary flipped
the switch for over the headboard and i quickly
got dressed and grabbed my equipment that I had
prepared last night and headed out the door.
dark. quiet. no traffic. i had the radio tuned
to ktis and i even turned that off. i needed to
prepare myself for this as it was my very first
session with this organization.
i prayed that God would give me the courage to
preform this job and that He would make it possible
for me to face this family in such a grief filled
time. He did.

i was up on the labor & delivery floor before 5 am.
the baby (Bishop) was in a tiny room all to himself
being prepared by mid-wife "jen". the nurses were so
happy to see me and could not believe that there
was even such an organization out there that does
this sort of thing.

i knew what to expect when i got there so when
I first layed eyes on Bishop I was calm, focused
and prepared mentally as well as physically.

they induced the mother earlier and she gave birth
around 4:30 so the timing was good. Bishop still
had good color.
But that was soon to change. this I was also aware
of so I worked quickly. Jen was really terrific!

when I completed what I could there in that small
room, jen wheeled Bishop around the corner to the
room where the family was awaiting not only the baby,
but me as well. They were all so appreciative to
see me and have me there to do what they couldn't.
Bishop's older (17 year old) sister was trying to
hold it together. It had been a long night for
everyone.

mom was not certain that she wanted to hold him
and I let her know that I was not there to rush
her into anything and to take her time.
the grandmother was ready so I started with her.
soon after, the mother was ready and so i began
to get some really nice images of the mother, father
and Bishop together.
then the sister decided that she would want a moment
with him too.
i'd love to post some other images but at the same time in
an effort to protect the privacy of this grieving family
i'll simply post his sweet little hands...




i have ordered the images to be sent on to the
family..WHCC does a "rush" for no charge which is
wonderful in that many times these families use
one or more of these photos for the funeral.


as i drove home i was amazed by the sunrise.
i'm still here! it'a new day for some and for
others, it's the first in a long stretch of days
to healing. i know that the images that i captured
today will speed this process. i find great hope and
peace in that.


I was home by 6 am

happy birthday emily!!

first i must apologize for not mentioning
my brother's anniversary yesterday!
he and kindra celebrated their 7th(?) wedding
anniversary yesterday and altho' i called,
i failed to make note of it here...sorry m&k!

today, however, is emily's TENTH birthday.
i've been know to whip up birthday poems and
so i'm still working on hers! the party is at
4:30 today!

kathryn's recital yesterday was nothing short
of fabulous! summit dance really puts on a show!

here's kathryn...i took her to her room while
gerri parked the car. kathryn calls me "aunt sue"!
always has...she just decided one day that i was her aunt!



the big finish....she's 2nd from the right..




all ages and this year...so many more guys and
i am tellin' you, they are AWESOME!!!




afterwards we headed over to the marsh and sat
on the patio and enjoyed a yummy lunch.
check out my "marsh salad w/ chicken"!!!



86 degrees yesterday....60 today....nice!
gotta love minnesota weather.

my makeover...

yesterday, after months of hacking at my own
hair (actually, it looks pretty good most
of the time), i went to visit my good
friend "dee" at metropolis, a group of people
i have known and worked with for years!
i had received a confirmation e-mail from
them (something new) so i decided to go
and see if they actually had put together
a website. now, keep in mind that all of
these talented people have been assembled
from all over the metro area and have worked
with some extremely upscale salons such as
rocco altobelli (where most of us originally
met), horst and the like. it's a rental
opportunity salon.
i actually left rocco's about 14 years ago
with 2 others and started this place in deephaven.
it's undergone many facelifts and looks great!
it was great to see everyone and as always,
we make plans to get together and catch up.


okay, on to part 2 of my day...i headed over
to the airport hilton (i've missed the last
2 due to travel) but this was a big day...
THREE cancer families checked in friday so
we had our hands full placing toys, gifts
and balloons in 6 rooms (3 adjoining)!
then we head to the lobby to meet and greet
the families as they arrive.

the first family got there a little early.
torrey line, 17 is a wrestler and had a pretty
terrific tattoo of a tiger on his right thigh!
he had it done in motley and plans to go soon
to have it colored in! WOW!
he's afflicted with osteosarcoma.
his mom, dad, younger brother & sister and
his darling girlfriend were all there for the
weekend. torrey had some work to do yesterday...
he had to write a speech for the "relay for life"
down in mankato last night! torrey gave me the
okay to throw some of his photos up here on my
blog......and due to the fact that they arrived
pretty early, we got to spend a lot of time with
torrey and his whole family...pretty cool!
(karen,exec. dir. for the MOMF on the left and
becky, mitch's mom far right posing with the family)








here's christain...he's 5! so excited that he
ran and jumped around so much that i only got a
couple of shots of him. that's his 14 year old sister.



here's hailey, i'm sure you might remember
her from the twins game a few weeks back.
here she is in her room with all her loot.
i had her put on the tiarra!!! :)



she and her sister mackenzie also thought that
the revolving door was a bunch of fun too!!!




well, i'm off to see kathryn.
she has a dance recital today! fun!

minnesota landscape arboretum

today i noticed that my photographer's permit for
the arboretum had expired in march! glad no one cared!
made a call and re-newed it today.
clearly they don't send out expiration notification
like they do for memberships...hm...
i really love going out there to shoot.
this year i am going to make every effort to utilize
more of it so as not to have my images scream
"arboretum!".

hey, here's my niece "g" before her prom.
i was in LA so i missed it!! i was really bummed
to not be here for it. i'll be sure to be here
next year for her sr. prom! nicki shot these...





they are so cute~! makes me feel sorry for my
highschool sweetheart, scott henry.
back in the day it was customary to match the tux
to the gown that the girl selected. scott's???
yep....burgundy! oh, scott, i'm so sorry.
if i can manage to dig up a copy, i'll post it.

well, while i'm getting all nostalgic..how about
my sr. portrait?



mom said, "wear something neutral and timeless."
yea, nothing screams timeless quite like a
chocolate brown velour v-neck and a snap crotch-
body shirt!!
come to think of it, back then if your image in the
year book showed you outside somewhere by a tree or
your car, folks just thought that you couldn't afford
to have a "real" portrait taken. now? it'a all you
see! very few studio portrait grace the pages of
today's annuals/yearbooks....hmmmm


submitted images for my free album today. just 49 images.
i'm using "holly & john's" wedding in playa del carmen.
they are from houston texas and were a dream to work
with.

here's a few shots (feb '05)









along with the album (10x10) i'm going to order
these sweet little replica albums. these are exact
duplicate of the album in a 3x3 book...tooooo cute!
can't wait to get them back!

more tomorrow.....

FREE ALBUM!

i attended my PUG meeting last night where
melissa, from pictage flew out to talk
to us about the new, free album design program
and show us all the additions that they have made.
it was really quite amazing. i've worked with
their album design in the past and they have
really made some significant changes!
this will simplify wedding album design and
also allow for more creativity! yay! just in
time for a heavy wedding season...i was considering
other album design companies and now i do
believe that i may just stay with the pictage
album program. pretty exciting! thanks melissa!
good to see everyone, the group was the biggest
i've ever seen it (largely due to the free album
no doubt!). i have to turn in my album design
by next tuesday... i'll post a link to it when
i receive the confirmation.

monday night, i attended my TCPPA group lecture
and a photography team from mankato came up to
discuss album design as well (funny!)
this gal is a graphic design major and was a little
"text book" heavy and lost me a few times but
i got enough out of it to assist me in the long
run. her colleague spoke mostly about general,
everyday preparation stuff, equipment and web stuff.
so, albeit not very exciting...basics are alway
good to go over and to hear someone else go
though their routine is nice too.

i met with jenny. she is the student that contacted
me about an internship this summer. she brought
along her portfolio and we talked during one of
the breaks. she has found a commercial team
to work with this summer and that might just be
a better fit for her as i looked over her work
she seems to lean more in that direction anyway.
always good to make contacts tho'!! nice to meet you
jenny!

friday i head over to the airport hilton to
photograph THREE cancer families! one of which
is hailey, the young gal that was at the twins
game a couple of weeks ago! so i printed out
some of the images that i shot of her and her
mom & sister to bring along to give them!



full of energy, that one!!!!

saturday is mike & kindra's anniversary.
sunday is emily's TENTH birthday! WOW!!!





today is my sister, anne's, 2 month anniversary
of not smoking! i am so proud and excited that she
has finally put that behind her!
her husband, pete is about a month ahead of her.
CONGRATULATIONS to you both!! I love you!
here they are at rick & amanda's wedding last summer...



i mailed a card to kathryn but i forgot to mention
that monday was her 6th birthday! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!


enjoy your tuesday!

there's no place like home...

sorry for the delay in posting.....
just catching up with life!


ya know what? i love to travel.
whether it's work related or holiday...i love traveling.
i love planning, packing, great hotel bedding,
hotel note pads, the little shampoos and conditioners,
maid service, finding a great local hang out or a
fabulous restaurant, a nightcap in the hotel bar...all of it!
that said...i also love to come home.
the cat hair that makes me nuts is a welcome site!
the two of them just snuggle up and try to make up for
the lost time (thanks jacquie for watching after them
again for us. it really means the world to us to know
that they are in good hands.).

this trip went so fast and yet 3 days felt like a week~
after the very long graduation day on friday, we spent
saturday just bopping around...just gary and i. nice.
headed for malibu and stopped along the way at the
santa monica pier. a silly little boardwalk/pier with all
kinds of crap like rides and trinkets and snacks.
love the carousel. i took a bunch of shots of that!
right off the pier is this little surfer looking bar with
a small patio in front. it was packed and loud like it was
happy hour or something so we stopped in after the crowd
cleared out. turns out it's the world famous "big dean's".
apparently everyone goes there when they open (10:30)
and everyone downs a beer...it's famous for
"the first beer of the day!" okay...who are we to argue.

the fog lifted and a it was another
stellar day! drove up the pacific coast highway and
drove by suzanne sommer's burned up property. weird.
lunch in malibu at the chart house. got seated right by
the window over looking the ocean, awsome!
then drove through hollywood to get to mulholland drive.
super cool road with some amazing vistas and property
so unbelievable that i can't even describe.

back to town and a few beers outside at a little spot
in the japanese village just steps from our hotel.
met a really great group of gentelmen that live in the area.
all about 80 and big budwieser drinkers. they thought
it was funny that we were drinking kirin! so that started
our new found friendship. really, terrific people!
clarence even told us that he has a shrine all set up
at home for his late mother and made a tofu key lime
pie to celebrate on mother's day with her. sweet, or what?!
he ran home to get us a slice. it was delicious!



well, this big day got even bigger...we met machie, bonnie
and yasuko for dinner at this great japanese restaurant
across the street and then off to the hotel bar for some
more karaoke!

we had to get up and hit the road for an early flight back to
minnesota. but not before we met the gals one last time in
the lobby cafe for a lite bite and good-byes.
planning to go back and visit machie sometime soon!

great trip!
machie called sunday night to thank us for coming out!
she'll do just fine out there! :)

here's some shots from the weekend....