Where does the time go?

I just realized that it was 2:30.
Lots to do and getting lots done.
That's the good news!
The bad news is that I just discovered
that my car tabs expired....IN MARCH!!!
I'm thankful that I haven't been pulled
over yet and plan to pick the tabs up
tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed
that I don't get in trouble on the way
back down to the Casino tonight to
finish up my shoot!

I'm actually going to pick up my mother
and take her to dinner down there
tonight. She love those darn penny slots!
I shouldn't laugh, I won 125 buck playing
a penny slot the last time I took her
down there. It's really strange to go
there and experience all the smoking.
When I leave there, I want to burn my
clothes and yet folks will just sit there
with cigs hanging out of there mouths
pluggin' those machines.

So I'll be working and my mom will be
gambling away my inheritance! :\





I'll be contacting a Bella bride tomorrow.
I know she is very anxious to speak with me.
Their wedding is May 31!

An even COLDER snap!

Perhaps I should say cold SLAP!
below 30 this morning...28 to be exact.
So I'm warming up to a 1/2 caff press.
I know...CRAZY right?!
I'm experimenting with coffee these
days and I don't want to just go off
the caffeine completely all at once.

I have to leave in and hour for the
Casino. Today's project is from 8-noon.
Then I return tomorrow evening for the
big banquet from 6-9.

This morning they are handing out some
tribal awards. Drummers and dancers
are coming in as well. WAKE~UP~PEOPLE!!!!
I'll try to post some photos of that
tomorrow.

We had a peaceful night of Dancing with
the Stars and my one cheese show CSI Miami!
It's like watching a train wreck.
Last night "Callie", played by Emily Proctor,
was taking photos at a crime scene and then
she set it down and comPLETEly walked away
from it to go ask some construction foreman
some questions...I mean, she just LEFT the
camera about 40 yards away in the dirt.
right! Crime scene photos on a $10,000 camera.
Can you say..."job opening"!?

Here's a warm thought...
Owen being encouraged to jump to Dad
last summer at the Baker pool.
He'll be ready this year, he's been taking
swimming lessons all winter! :)

Cold snap.

It's 34 degrees outside. I've just
returned home from taking Hobie back
to the vet. I'm really beginning to
worry about him. He's only 12 (June 1)
and I'm not ready to face any icky
decisions yet so I won't even speak
about that.

Today I will attend the rehearsal for
this weeks event at Mystic Lake Casino.

Can I just say that it's nice to have
Gary back home! I missed him this time.
Most times when he heads out on a trip,
I look forward to the quite...I mean,
sure I miss him and all but this time
it just felt different somehow. Guess
I'll share that with him later today. :)

Hey, I did have some fun though and I
got so wrapped up in things yesterday
that I forgot to post these photos of
Saturday with the Bakers!

Emily insisted that we go outside for a
mini portrait session. So we did.
It was about 40 degrees and incredibly
windy so mini & quick!




Then we ran inside and grabbed a kitten
to warm up with!




Amanda got into the action too!



Then Anne thought it would be funny
to stuff them into my boots..UGG is right!



Back to work.

2 Words...

NOT FUNNY.
Woke up to this today. Jealous?
Um, yea, I thought not.





Nice, right?

Well, I had a full day yesterday.
Met Nicki in Excelsior for an early coffee
that turned into a lunch at Jake O'Connor's.
It was raining but we managed to dodge the
rain a little by popping into some of our
favorite stores and a couple of new ones too!
Martin's is back in Excelsior and Omorphia is
new to town.

















Ahhhhh, a cappuccino & the molten lava bailey's
dessert at Jake O'Connor's....oh, just SHOOT me!





Oh, we did split the fish & chips too!

On to part 2 of my day...I went to Abbott to
photograph a full term, Trisomy 18 baby girl
that passed in utero sometime Thursday.
Her name is Lauren..perhaps spelled "Loren",http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
in that her dad's name is Lorenzo.

From there, I went directly to the Depot in
Minneapolis (the hotel/ice rink) for my
Christian outreach foundation-Here's Life
Inner City.













I'm pooped.
Enjoy the snow!

Obsessed with the kittens.

OMG! Anne brought the little darlings over
here to see what my two hairballs would think.
Katie was curious and Hobie went straight
under the bed!

How could you POSSibly hide from these two...











Going to Excelsior to meet with Nicki.
It's rainy so I told her that I was going to
wear my "wellies" and so we are both going
to sport our rain boots today. A pretty
good day for them and besides, Gary is not
such a fan of my fun boots but every time
I wear them, I get gobbs of compliments!

Did dinner (breakfast) at the Baker's last night.
Then we had to race over to my mom's cuz
Anne's satellites were out due to the weather
and she can't miss Survivor so I let Ben
drive my car (he's still training~takes his
test this summer). He is sooo funny and I'm
so excited for him! I just wish he'd pull
his darn pants up! :)



Oh, I cut his hair, Emily's hair AND Amanda's
while I was there....I know...."aunt of the
year"!

Emily was so excited, she couldn't sit still.
Almost 11 and she now has a big girl haircut.
Layer and "swoopy" fringe! We had to take a
picture with my phone and send it to the other
"mirror queen" in the family, G, to show it off!



Ya know...sometimes it just takes so little to
make someone happy!

Do something little for someone today! :)

More rain

I know we need it but the last couple of
days were just so wonderful.
Well, this may be one of those "rainy day"
times that I always talk about....
you know, "the next rainy day I'm going
to tackle the..." yea, get something done.

Anne's coming by with the kittens today
after lunch. We'll see how Hobie & Katie
react to them. That should be some great
entertainment!

Hobie is back to his playful,loving self!
Gary is in Austin atBarton Creek with his
buddies on an annual golf outing.

Hey, Jacquie, I got the photos of you & Jet
this morning. UPS came at 9! wow!

Thanks Bjorn for chatting with me today.
I think that you will enjoy your new
found freedom....Just don't forget to
get out once a day!

Sunny & 75!

Gary heads to Austin this morning.
Hmmmm, funny...only cuz that's our
last name.....moving on...

Can I just say that this whole "Twitter"
thing is turning into such a cool tool.
Unlike blogging, it's just a sentence
or two at a time. The max per update
is 140 characters. Another way to stay
connected to people at a glance. Fun.
You should try it.

I'm working on Nancy & Rick's images from
last Saturday and preparing for a
NILMDTS call for tomorrow at Abbott.

Hobie pooped last night like he was being
paid per pile. Let's not let that whole
back up thing happen again...I mean,
seriously, I have bills to pay and equipment
to buy, I don't need anymore huge vet bills!
Friday there are no families checking into
the Hilton so I have agreed to head down to
the Depot in Minneapolis to cover another
Here's Life Inner City event~
Hope Changes Everything dinner...700 people,
HUGE urban choir, it'll be amazing, inspiring
and uplifting! Any photogs out there want to
join me? I'd love the company and help!

Here's the girl again....love her.





Enjoy the warm day!

Busy work.

Set up a new "white board" system for
myself to keep me on task with all of
my photography projects. This is a
fabulous tool for ANYone! For me,
in particular, because I am a list
person and a task oriented person.
Why is it that we (maybe it's just me),
get such a sense of accomplishment
out of crossing something off of our
"to-do" lists?? I think I may have
mentioned that I have a tendency to
write things on the list that I did
but were not originally ON the list...
just to cross it off. Sad. I know.
Is there a 12-step program for that?
Like a "wanna-be over achievers Anonymous"?

Looking to going back to the Chicago
area the first part of June for a Bella
seminar led by Bob Davis & Bob Ringham.
The wedding season is upon us and I am
just getting so excited!
I have many Bella weddings and my own
to shoot. Lots of new things coming.
This is a really growing, great time for
Austin Images!

That said, I'd better get to work on
Nancy & Rick's images.

Buddy Map.

Hey everyone...here's my new gadget!



It's fun to go to the satellite view and
zoom in!

Hobie is off to the Vet again today.
Just canNOT get that darn poo to come
out. He's starting to grumble a bit now
so I pray that this is the day!

What a gorgeous day we had yesterday!
Today will start the same and end with
some thunderstorms. God's way of cleaning
up the mess he started, called WINTER! :)

A glimpse at yesterday...

Ty, Maija & Amanda just had to get up there!



Tiff brought over Passion Fruit Margaritas!



Pool opens today!



Putting contest



Here's the boy kitten



And here's the girly girl



Oh, Gary was golfing yesterday.
We had a scrummy filet mignon dinner at home
on the grill and watched my new very favorite
movie, JUNO! Hadn't seen it yet. I loved
every single second of that movie!!

Mobile Blogging

Here's me walking in downtown Chicago.

They Do!

Well, it's official.
Nancy and Rick are now Mr. & Mrs. Martin.



Despite a slow start, it seemed to go so fast!
Despite the best man's late arrival, we'd sooner
do it all exactly the same!




Despite one of Rick's son's passing out during
the ceremony, we wouldn't have passed up a
single solitary moment!



This was a love filled, joy abounding and
celebratory day, start to finish.

Rick was a hands on groom, creating details to
last forever and Nancy was a "roll with it" bride.
A Christ filled family, no question.

Congratulations to the new "Martin Bunch"!
I pray you go forward and embrace your journey
everyday!

Can't sign off before I share a couple of details.









Enjoy Vegas baby!