Facebook.

WOW. I thought blogging was awesome. Well, I still do
but this Facebook thing is...well...let's just not
tell Gary. He already thinks that I sit here far too
often for far too long.

I've been blogging for a little over 2 years now and I
really and truly enjoy it. I have to thank Gary Fong
for the heads up on blogging. I heard about it through
him and started right in. It's changed the way I work,
network and communicate...so basically, in a nutshell
it's changed my life.

I thoroughly enjoy this means in which I can share my
passion for my craft. I can share with more people and
I think that's pretty darn cool.

But back to Facebook...this phenomenon, albeit another
thing to keep track of, has launched me deeper into
the world of connectivity. I mean holy hanna (which by
the way I just learned is the next hurricane from a new
friend in Florida, Pedro Diaz...hey Pedro!)
The only trouble with the fact that I can talk to whom
ever I wish is that I can't get anything done while doing
so. Like when you're on the phone you can at least rest the
receiver between your shoulder and your chin and open a beer
or fold some wash or feed the cat...not so much
with a keyboard. Hmmmm...Steve Jobs...there's a money maker
for ya! You heard it here first, folks...the forearm, wifi
keyboard. I'll keep you informed of my prototypes that are
forthcoming!

I think I've had too much coffee this morning...ya think?

Alright, anyway..add me as a friend on your facebook and I'll
do the same.

Last night Gary and I went across the street for a little
BBQ action and a bonfire. We always have fun with the Springers!

Hobie.

Today marks the 1 month anniversary of Hobie's death.
I am filled with sorrow, still. I miss him everyday.
Last night (early this morning, actually) around 4:30am
I was woken by Katie, Hobie's litter mate sister.
She was meowing in the hall like she does when she
wants to play. I sprung up and ran to her side. This is
just highly unusual for her to alert anyone in the
middle of the night so it startled me a bit.
When I got to her she had me follow her to the living
room. It was dark and so is she but from the street
light I saw her stop so I sat down next to her and
picked her up and held her. She wasn't interested in
playing. I don't really know what this was all about.
This is my parenting, I guess. She must have had a nightmare
or as I like to think, she missed Hobie. That was about
the time we discovered him a month ago.

I endured 2 NILMDTS sessions yesterday...nearly 3. One at
Mpls. Children's and the other at Abbott. This is a foundation
that is so near and dear to my heart and soul yet I wish there
was no need. My heart aches for all of the families.
God has blessed me with both the talent and the strength for
the task at hand whenever I get a call. I am grateful.
Thank you to Jessica Towey for coming along to shadow.
She will be an excellent affiliate. Please pray that the
Lord give her the strength as well.

So it's Labor Day weekend. What are you going to do with yours?

I'm back.

I talked to my mother last night and she confessed to me
that she was checking in 2, 3 sometimes even 4 times a day
wondering if I'd blogged....nope. Sorry mom.
Well, the wait is over and even tho' this is the time of year
where schedules can spiral out of control and a photographer's
work load can seem endless, I will, nevertheless, blog.

My husband, Gary, just mentioned the other day that "I'm sure
people don't get up at 7:30 every morning and go straight to
your blog." And to that I say..."yes they do!"

This just in....Gary is not into computers.
Unless he is planning a t-time, a flight or reading some crude
e-mail from one of his buddies, he has no interest in them
AND he can't understand how I can sit in front of one all day.
Well, A.) IT'S MY JOB! and B.) I actually enjoy communicating
with people. So there, I said it! I LIKE PEOPLE!
Oh, and don't even get me started on mobile blogging or twitter.

All of this does not mean that we don't get along or anything.
I just don't feel that anyone should have to sacrifice doing
what they love to do....I mean, as long as it is not in anyway
jeopardizing the health of the relationship.

WOW! Sorry for the soapbox rant. Guess I needed to feel some
clarity on this one.

Okay, so I've been busy and I've promised many people, many things.
So, I'll get to that right now! Dear Molly & Andrew, thank you
for your patience with me! I now bring you Mr. & Mrs. Winter...

And for Nikki & Zees...Congratulations to you as well!

Carlos & Kristin...you're next.
Have a great day!

Finally @ beer garden.

Apologies.

I promise I'll catch up with my blogging in a day or two.
Just gotta catch up with myself and fight the urge to nap!

Today I'm off to shoot a wedding in St. Paul and it is an
absolutely GORGEOUS day! The humidity is finally gone!
Should be able to really shoot my heart out today without
changing. No second shooter today but it's all taking place
at the St. Paul College Club This is going to be awesome!!

To my loyal blog readers, I apologize for slacking here
and to my most recent wedding couples, I am STILL going to
post some images for you.

Go out and soak up this perfect day and run off all those
State Fair Pronto Pups!! ;)

Amy Jes, I'll send you some Fair food! Sorry you missed it.

Out with G.

This was supposed to be a "cousin" dinner but I didn't know that so I took off for
Maynard's in lovely Excelsior on the south shore of Lake Minnetonka to meet up with
Anne, her kids, my mom & G for a little send off dinner. Nicki joined us too.

G leaves for college on Wednesday and we are all suffering a bit of separation anxiety already.

I gave G a little college WAM (walkin' around money) and the CD of her prom pictures that I shot last spring for her to load on her new super cool laptop! I prepped a Facebook page so that I can better communicate with her and i intend on checking in often.

I'm not sure when she will be back here...I'm guessing Thanksgiving which means I had
better set aside a hair appointment for her!

Here's some of the fun from last night...






Keep in touch darlin', text if you need anything!
I love you...be safe and make good choices!

CRAZY Monday.

Well, not too crazy just lots to do.
Took mom to see the surgeon for her 1 month
post op appointment. All good, everything is
great! YAY! Then a little lunch at Axel's in
Chanhassen. It's changed ownership since I
was there last and all is still awesome there
too! Then to check out mom's OT place and
discovered that they no longer have an OT at
that location so we are on to the next one
on the list in Chaska. Still good.

On my way back home I stopped to pick up some
food for the cats. With Hobie not here any longer
this makes for easier pick up, more selection
and MUCH less expense. Hobie was on a strict
duck prescription that I just managed to get
the other two cats to eat so that I no longer
had to lock cats up to eat 3 separate meals..whew!
I mean, honestly, I don't know what I would
have done had I worked outside the home. CRAZY!

Well, the next bit of my day was quite unusual.
As I drove into the neighborhood I noticed a
small child about the age of 2 running down the
street. No shoes. No parent. Just running.
Weird, right? So I stopped along the hill and
asked a couple in another stopped car if they
knew this boy or if he was with them cuz'
they were getting out of their car. "No."
they said. But they had seen him running around
earlier on another street and were as concerned
as I so I called 911.

The little boy was Asian, didn't speak much but he
understood English. The gal and her daughter that
stopped didn't speak much English but I spoke Spanish.
These ladies had been cleaning homes in the area and
sat with me and this lost boy for a good 15 minutes
until the police arrived.I got a call shortly after
that they found the little boy's home and he was
delivered safely. I gave the little boy my
MiracleKids Triathlon cow bell to play with, he
thought it was cool. I hope they put it around his
neck the next time the family goes outside!
Apparently, he's a "runner", the officer told me.

All in all a great day. I am going to see G before
she heads off to college (Wednesday!!!!) and give
her a big 'ol auntie hug!!!

SCUBA training today.

sent from my iphone

Megan & Hanna.

If these two were any better friends they might just be
the same person! Megan, I've known since she was about 2
so this was a pretty special shoot for me.
Now,Hanna I've only known for a little over a year but
she is so close to the this family that she, too, is like
a family member.
Thanks to Jim & Jan for handing me this memory filled
opportunity and making me feel like one of the family!

We did a lot yesterday. I shot these two separate and then
together as they are certain to have a combined grad party
next summer and THAT will be some bash, indeed!

I'm not getting the opportunity to play with any of the
images today as I need to finish preparing for the pool
portion of my SCUBA certification today. I'll be in the
pool for about 4 or 5 hours today. I keep forgetting to
mention that I have a love for SCUBA diving. I've had
the chance to dive like 4 times but not be certified.
This winter when we hit Mexico, I'll do some diving!

Okay, it's 12:40 now and I hadn't put this post up so
I played with just a couple of Hanna & Megan's images.
Here they are....






Now I gotta run! SCUBA Sue is on her way!

Melissa.

I finished with Melissa's proofs today.
I'll share a few with you....






I'm gonna work on a slide show and put up
a podcast for her, I think. Sound good Melissa?

I got to see Betty & Alice yesterday. I love them.
It does my heart good to see my friend's cats!




Send me a cool photo of your cat and I'll put them
up on my blog...send a little bio along with it
like, full name, aks's, favorite toys, snacks,
places to sleep...stuff like that!

Flying Cloud Air Show is going on right now
through Sunday. They come in right over our
house...pretty cool. I"ll try to grab a couple
of pix over the next couple of days.

Have an incredible weekend!
Off to a party with some crazy former neighbors.

Oh, and tomorrow is the Chanhassen location
of the MiracleKids Triathlon. 7am! See ya there!

CRAZY Thursday!

I'm thinking of changing Boo's name to "Switch".
This little guy is so funny and he goes from
yawning to tearing around in the blink of an eye.
It's like a switch or something. Sometimes it's
not funny but most of the time he makes me laugh
out loud! (LOL for you texters!).

This morning I discovered him in the living room
laying on his back just like Hobie use to.




I've never seen another cat lay like this so
I just had to go over and give him a big 'ol
squeeze.

Okay, back to work.

Melissa's Sr. portraits. Drop off a CD at the
House of Fun & Fur. See Cory (Web designer) and
Get to the darn Bank!!! Bills...oh, and pick up
some laundry detergent so I can begin to work
on the PILE of laundry!

Disconnected.

Wow. I sound like a broken record.
I just don't like it when things around
me spin out of my control. I mean, things
that I should have a handle on.

I just have this incredibly long hair day
in front of me and that means no photography.
I designed it that way, I know, it's just
that on the heels of a couple of weeks of
CRAZINESS I really wanted to buckle down
and wrap a ton of things up. I hate to say
that this will happen tomorrow cuz then it
won't, right? Well, I'm going to lock myself
in tomorrow and just go down the list.
I look forward to crossing as much off as
possible.

I feel like I haven't seen Gary much lately
yet we sat last night and watched Michael
Phelps win his history making GOLD!!
I think he and I need a night out on the
town soon.

I'll get it together in a few days.....

Here's Boo (thanks for the shot Megan!)




...and me at the "exotic petting zoo" at the
Carver County Fair! I speak goat, ya know!

Overwhelmed....

My house guest is gone and my work is piled
up around me. I'm a bit crabby today so when
I got the call to shoot more images for
Urban Ventures today in a text late last night
I just about pulled all the hair off my legs!!
(Cuz shaving has also gone by the way of my
piles of work too!) :\

I rearranged my afternoon and evening to make
it happen for them and the Ad Agency is pulling
their hair out too. Lots of last minute changes.

I'm there for ya tho' UV! I'll see it through.
The big night is October 9th and the deadline for
print is in a day or so.

Demolition Derby @ Carver County Fair

Megan is here!

I picked her up around 2. We hit Redstone
in Eden Prairie for a late lunch the stopped
off at the house to see the cats and get
Gary and go to some friend's in Prior Lake
for some fun on the Lake.

Home for a quick change and then off to
The House of Fun & Fur for her "Dog Daze
of Summer" party.

Home, watched the Olympics opening ceremony
again! Megan didn't get the chance to see it
cuz she was shooting a wedding in Chicago so
she missed it.

Fun,Fast day.

Today, Church, and who knows.....

Shoot, shoot, shoot...download, save....

Yesterday was quite a day.
It started with a late night session
at University Riverside where a young
couple lost their boy.
Then, after sleeping in a bit I was off
to photograph Melissa for her senior
portraits. She ROCKED it! We spent the
better part of the afternoon and hit
some fun spots.
Then a deck party which, due to some
drizzle, turned into a house party
and Olympic opening ceremonies!
Beijing did such a fabulous job.

Now I'm prepping for Megan's arrival
from Chicago. She gets in around 1.

So excited to see her!

Boo's boo boo.

Boo was a trooper Wednesday.
He handled the neuter like champ!
Dr. Zeimann said..."keep him quite
for a few days." Um yea, right. Have ya
met Boo!? He's a maniac!

I had a few visitors yesterday.
So, just for fun, I got out the old
camera so that you all can see how much
my family is growing too!

First, there's Owen, he's now 3 & 1/4 years
old and is all boy. A very, Very, VERY CHATTY
boy and I love him to pieces!





His sister Reese came along and so
I thought I'd see if I could get them
to sit together long enough to get a shot.
Not so lucky....



So I thought I'd try them with mom. WOW!
"One, two, three....eyes on me!"



Then a bit later Anne brought Ben over
and Bear, their new cock-a-poo.



Hey Ben, why did I not get a shot of you!?
I owe ya buddy!

Got balls?

Nope. Boo went in early this morning to
be neutered. I'll pick him up later today.
He's also getting one of those "home again"
chips...h's kind of a runner, much to our
dismay. He just waits for an opportunity
and bolts. Not sure why, he HATES the grass.

Well, I have had a couple of weeks chalked
FULL of distractions lately and I apologize
for not putting images up for Molly & Andy
and Kristin & Carlos. Seems it's always
something. I will be on call the next couple
of days for NILMDTS so I always plan in-house
activities for those days should I need to
head to a West Suburb hospital. I plan to
place images from those 2 weddings up in the
next couple of days. Thanks for your patience.

Last night everyone came out for our street
block party. What a gas. The firetruck came
late but it was TOTALLY worth the wait!
No real watering restrictions this year so
they blasted some water out for what seemed
like an hour. The kids were hysterical and
soaked through!











Can't wait 'til next year!
Thanks everyone for contributing to this
year's successful night!
Suzie, we missed you. :(

John McCain...

Okay, so I'm not supposed to say anything
but I can't take it anymore. There's just
so much "election" in the air that sometimes
I go a little crazy but anyway....so I'm at
my mom's the other day for a quick visit
and I open the door and who is in my mom's
living room? JOHN MCCAIN!...I KNOW! I
couldn't believe it myself! He didn't stay
long but I was able to convince his people
(my mom) to take our picture. Thanks JMac!
We talked about what a fabulous running mate
Tim Pawlenty would make and that appointing
him would allow him ALSO to carry Minnesota!
Yea, I got the inside track now! ;)
However, he did seem a little quite, somewhat
stiff, he really stood his ground and no
matter where you were in the room, his eyes
seemed to follow you...hmmmmmm.



Yea, I know...I thought he was taller too.

Today is "National Night Out" but in Eden
Prairie, we will be referring to ours as
Eden Prairie Night Out! We're going to have
a ball tonight!


Notable...yesterday I didn't cry about Hobie.