Happy Anniversary, Gary!

Wow! I haven't blogged in a few days. I'm so very sorry
to all my loyal readers. I promise you that this will not
continue. I know it's nearly summer now and things are likely
to get a bit out of hand as the Wedding and Portrait season
goes full blast but that doesn't mean that I will put off
blogging.

Okay, now that that's out in the open, I want to wish my
husband of nearly 11 years a happy 14th anniversary.
It was on this day that after about a year of knowing one
another that we finally...well..decided to date.
Our first date? An REM concert. It was magical.
Not Gary...being that close to Michael Stipe! ;)
Happy Anniversary Gary!

Yesterday we lost power shortly after my day began so I
was forced to move clients to today making today the longest
of the week.

My iMac is off at Gary's brother's getting everything
re-installed. Something happened and I ended up having to
reboot, it seemed, every time I changed applications.
Thank goodness for my new MacBook Pro! I just plugged in my
external TB and voila!! I'm back in business!

Hey, have a fabulous day.
Finish something you started! :D

Where does the time go?

This has been a whirl-wind holiday season
so far. I don't even know where to start.
Christmas..wait, was that already nearly
a week ago? That means that New Years Eve is
in 2 days, holy Hannah!

We all gathered at the Baker's in Chanhassen
(my sister & brother-in-laws) for Christmas Eve
then on Christmas day, Gary and I hosted Gary's
family here at our home.

My friend Jo came up from Albert Lea on Monday
and got in on all the Craig crazy goings on.
She even joined me on a Hilton greeting last
Friday.It was great having her here.

I'd be posting a ton of images but as fate
would have it I had to send my flash card out
to recover the files. Thank God that they were
all recoverable. I had 3 Hilton Families on there
from the day after Christmas and 2 losses for
NILMDTS on the same card. I never cried so hard
as I did when I discovered that. It was like I
suffered yet another loss.
But as God would have it, my good friend Dave
Johnson up at National Camera was able to recover
all of the images on that card.

Note to everyone....when you get an indication
that your card is corrupt, TOSS IT OUT! Do not
attempt to reuse it. It could and very likely
will corrupt again.
In my case it was the first time that I've actually
witnessed corruption and I'll tell you what,
it ain't fun.

That said, if you run into this sort of thing
with your digital files, contact me and I will put
you in touch with someone who can help.
It's expensive in a lot of cases but well worth it.
I'll be picking up my CDs tomorrow with the files
on them and returning the CF card to B&H out in
New York.

Today, Gary and I attended a funeral for a father
of a friend of ours, Randy Blackowiak. It was sudden,
a heart attack they think. His father was 75.
His mother passed away about this same time 4 years
ago...Randy now hates Christmas. God Bless you all.

The big New Years Eve Gala for the Miracles of Mitch
Foundation is just 2 days away! Come and Join us!!

I'm off this week and plan to relax (outside of
the New Years Eve Gala) then like everyone else,
I will hit the gym...two months until Mexico! yikes!

I'll post a ton of images after I get those images
back in my hand!


God bless!

I HATE COMCAST

There. I said it.
I successfully have NO e-mail now.
Not on my phone, not on my Mac.
I spent an hour with them on the phone
yesterday (in my basement on the first
really nice day of the season) trying
to sort out the issue.

They changed something overnight on
Wednesday and now they tell me that it
is not compatible with my Leopard operating
system....WHAT!!!????

The drama will unfold soon, I can only pray.
I can access my mail remotely (thank goodness for
e-mailanywhere.com)

POP server, IMAP server, incoming, outgoing,
it's really all Greek to me but when it works
I'm in my happy place and when it's not,
well..I'm not.

Alright, now I know a lot of you are wondering
why all the personal stuff lately and not
so much photography...you are not alone.
That said, starting next weekend (Memorial Day
weekend) and running through into September
I am going full on into wedding season.
Every weekend (except for the Starkey Hearing
Foundation Gala the week of June 14th) I have
a wedding to shoot! I'm so excited! So watch
for some gorgeous weddings starting the week
after Memorial Day. It's going to be a crazy
summer!

Now, one last thing today before I sign off.
I have to give a huMONGus shout out to the
Palomino in Minneapolis.

See the cute blonde in the long red dress?



Okay, this is cool...
So this group of like 15 couples took this
fabulous limo to Palomino for dinner before
the prom at International Market Square.
G's date, Zach, accidentally spilled this girl's
drink ALL OVER HER DRESS! OMG!!!!!!!!
Someone from the Palomino (not sure if it was
the manager or the waiter or who) asked her where
she got her dress...she said "Macy's." So he went
to see if they could clean it or something
Macy's replied..."sorry, nothing we can do."
(SHOCKER!!..i hate macy's too!) and so he
bought her another red dress and brought it
back to the restaurant and gave it to her!!
Couldn't get the exact same one, but he got her
another red dress, in her size...can you stand it!?
how aMAzing is that. UnHEARD of customer service!!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Palomino!

Gotta go!
2 Hilton Families today.
Sunny 77 today...GORgeous!

DAVISimpact

So here's the poop...I wrote this yesterday...


.....(Hey, Bob Davis sent me a valentine yesterday!
Okay, not really. BUT I did receive his DVD that
I ordered a short time ago. Haven't sat down to
view it yet...I know, TOTALLY not me...it's just
that my vacation deadline is drawing near and I
want my desktop clean when I leave.
It'll be like coming home to a clean house! :)

I'll report on it when I get the opportunity to
take a look at it. I'm really excited to sit
down and be inspired! Maybe I'll reformat it and
load it on my iPhone and watch it on the plane!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my iPhone?).....

*****************************************************
Now on to some fresh material...

Big day yesterday.
**Finished Amanda & Marks images....YAY!
**Went to the Hilton to photograph 2 Minnesota Miracle
cancer families checking in.
**On my way home from that my iPhone (that I love!)
froze up on me and got all hot from being on so
I stopped at the Apple store at the MOA and the
Genius Bar wait was like TWO HOURS! So I kept on
my way and went to Southdale's Apple store and they
fixed it in a nano second!



**Lastly, on my way home from Southdale I got a call
from Heather. I was her last and only hope to take
a session up at North Memorial Hospital in Robinsdale.
So I whipped around and met the most wonderful family.
I met them in the Chapel where they were having a
visitation with friends and family. They lost twin
boys at about 24 weeks. There was an awful lot of
love in that tiny hospital chapel.
Then I followed the mom & dad to their room where I
photographed the sweet twins....



need I ask for you to
take a moment and pray for this family and their
devastating loss??? Thank you!


I'll be heading to Mike & Kindra's to photograph
Reese in a minute and then back to the Hilton to
take some MOMF board member family photos then
it out for a night on the town with Gary, my brother,
Tim and his wife Laurie..dinner & comedy.
I think I need that! ;)

Love to all far and near,
Come tomorrow morning, I'll meet 'cha back here!
(hu, I just made that up. I'm a poet and I.....
naaaa, I wont' go there.

See ya!

Comcast woes...AGAIN!

I apologize for the e-mail issues again.
I can't seem to get it together with them.

I'm now off to meet with a couple of
high school sweethearts that are getting
married this April 19th! I just love that!
So I have to run but here is a couple of
shots of Lauren & Ian from yesterday...
I enjoyed my short visit with them.
Next time, let's go out somewhere! :)

Third 'Tynes' the charm...

I just wanted to write that before anyone else did!
As soon as he ran to the field to make the field
goal attempt, I said "3rd times the charm!"
And when he actually made it I said, "wow!...get it?
"3rd 'Tynes' the charm!!" I'm so demented!
Gary just gave me "the look"...like..."you...
are weird...and need serious help." "HA!", I said,
"You just wish you had thought of it first!!!
I just know that the headlines will read that in
the morning.......(9:30pm Sunday night)

Now it's 3:30 in the afternoon and we JUST got our
Comcast running again. I'm beginning to think that
they are not all that! I mean, I haven't had much trouble
with them, it's just that when we do it seems to
be a major ordeal!! That's frustrating.
So, again...if you have tried reaching me via this
blog or by e-mail today, please re-send your
correspondence. sorry.....AGAIN!!! Technology,
the 'ol love/hate relationship!

visited with Stacey, Lauren, Ian and Lauren's friend,
Reese, this afternoon. The roads are horrendous!
The little snow that we did get today is really
causing some major trouble. I'm glad to be home!

Gary is barking at me to get back to my taxes so
I must go and be the good wife...
Tomorrow evening, I"m meeting with Rick & Nancy
at the Airport Hilton to discuss their April 19th
2008 wedding.

Before I go, check this out.
A photo of my brothers and I from like '65.
Hey, "rule of thirds" has nothing to do with
how many subjects are in the picture!!!!! :)



Perhaps our folks just had a new floor laid
and wanted a picture of it and decided to
throw us in the picture too. ;)