Renee & Shane.

Originally there was rain forecast for Renee &
Shane's wedding day but it held off until early
the following day. Prayer works!

This unique day started with the fact that they
had chosen the Chapel at Ft. Snelling in St. Paul
for the ceremony, they selected Ft. Snelling State
Park and Rice Park for their formals and finished
up at the very lovely St. Paul Hotel.

A group of only about 80 but enough faith, hope
& love to fill the new Twins stadium and enough
celebration to last a lifetime ;)

Congratulations Renee & Shane!

A sneak peak...

Alicia & Matt.

What a day this was!
Alicia padded the day with TONS of time
for me to capture all sorts of fun at several
spots...it's not common to have that luxury.

Congratulations Alicia and Matt!
I thank you for allowing me the privilege to
come along side you for the day.

(Oh, and p.s. slide.com is working on making
the images larger, I'm told, so I apologize
for the postage stamp sized images.)

Here we go....

Okay, so I have had a TON of people wonder
if I'm ever going to blog again. In person,
on the phone, on facebook etc...even my sister,
who hasn't blogged since the first snowfall
in early November, wants to know when I'm going
to blog again. The answer is "yes" and I will
make every attempt to back into the everyday
routine. I secretly missed doing it but truth be
told, I enjoyed the break.

My first wedding of the season is today.
JoAnn and Rick are getting married at
Murphy's Landing in Shakopee in, what will be, my
first ever "period" wedding. The wedding party
will be dressed to reflect the period and the
wedding party and guests were encouraged to do the
same. I can't wait!

Yesterday I finally met Owen. He is the newborn
son of Kelly and Jeff Read. They have been waiting
for his arrival and this joy for a long time.
You see, they lost Alliah a year ago, December 8th,
at 29 weeks gestation. I was called in to photograph
her for NILMDTS and that is how we met.
A bond was formed and I am certain that this family
will be a part of my life forever!
Interestingly enough, his full name is Owen Patrick.
He is exactly 3 years and 51 weeks younger than
our Owen Patrick (my nephew). Both Owens have their
grandfather's first name as their middle name.
As you can imagine, my mouth dropped open when she
said "Owen Patrick". :D

These are just a sample of his first, official
photo session...I just aDORE him!






Lastly, today I want to share the new basement.
The images that are propped up along the ledge
will come down as I have some giant images on
their way to go up in their place.




Thanks for your patience.
You may subscribe to my blog by clicking
on the "rss"feed tab at the top so that
when I post a new blog you will be notified.
That way, mom, you don't have to check
10 times a day to see if I've blogged.

Have a great day.

MILK.

Gary and I saw the movie Milk last night. WOW!
True stories always seem to be favorites for me.
I will pray that Sean Penn receives the Oscar
for Best Actor! Amazing talent! We will be watching
the Oscars in Playa tomorrow night.

But first we have to clear all this snow
we got last night! What happened to 1-2
inches? Looks more like 5 to me. Sven...
At least it looks clean and, dare I say,
pretty outside again.

Brenda and Jorge are coming to pick us up
at the airport tomorrow! I can't wait to
see them, Vaughn, Judy, Alejandro and the
whole wild Mayan bunch!
When you are in Playa del Carmen, please
stop in and visit these wonderful folks at
their restaurant on 4th...1/2 block west of
the famous "5th Avenue". And bring your
dancin' shoes! They provide live music every
night at AJUA (pronounced ah-Hoo'-ah!)
Jorge will salsa the night away with you in
the street and their staff will entertain
you like no other restaurant in town!




My sister is coming over this morning and
we are going to hit the gym together!
I think she just wants to come and see Boo!

The Heat is On!

Well, soon anyway...Kleeve will be here
between 10 and noon today to fix our furnace.
It's been out for nearly 3 days! The last two
nights we have slept with the gas fireplace on,
an electric heater in the bedroom AND electric
mattress pad! CRAZY! We didn't want to pay the
"emergency" fee for Sunday so we just called and
scheduled for them to come by today.

In the mean time, we continue to work on the
lower level remodel. Very exciting! I'll try to
remember (cold on the brain!) to post some before
and after's as we work from side to side.
New wood floors by the bar, new carpet by the
theater, and then the wood floors will pick up
again on my office side, go into the salon, down
the hall and into the bath. I KNOW! Fun, right?!
For now I am working in a mess...a real mess.
I had to meet with Jen and Andy at a remote location
to discuss my photographing their wedding in October!
That one is a "go"! I'm very excited! It was actually
GARY that recommended her to me! Thanks Gary! The
wedding will take place at Mount Olivet in Minneapolis
and the reception will be at Windows on the top of
the IDS tower! This is a combination that I have
photographed before but this time there will be time
for a photo walk around town....I'm so pumpep about
that! Here's Rick and Amanda Gorra from July '06.







That was a fun one...my brother in law was
in the wedding party so my sister was there as well!




Well, it's snowing again, and I just said to
Nicki that it's nearly the middle of January
and I still think the snow is pretty so I guess
that makes me a hearty Minnesotan! Or maybe it's
that we booked our flights to Mexico this morning!

Stay warm, a deep freeze is approaching...AGAIN!

Still sick, still tired.

Whatever this is that we have, it stinks.
Gary finally slept in the other room last night.
The alternating coughing keeps us up.
I think I slept well, it's just weird when
1/2 of a giant king sized bed is gone.
Then again.....kinda nice. :\

I managed to make it to St. Paul yesterday
to photograph a family of 12. Four are
their own and then they adopted 6 others.
2 of the adopted boys suffer some of the effects
of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and that's why I made
the treck to their home. They will be in the
pages of the annual report for MOFAS.
Gorgeous boys with beautiful smiles.
Thanks for welcoming me into your home!

Today I am on call for NILMDTS.
I can only pray that it goes as well as Sunday
when there were no calls in the west!
NEXT Thursday I have a NACE event that is at
the new Westin Hotel in Edina near the Galaria.
I get to meet Sylvia Weinstock! I'm pretty excited about that.
I LOVE cake! I hope she brings samples! :)

Well, I'm going to try to make something of
this day and I trust you will too.

70 and sunny? I'll take it!

Mr. & Mrs. Murphy.

This past Saturday Sadie & Derek became Mr.
& Mrs. Murphy! Here's some of my faves from
the day. Loved the Cinema Ballroom on St. Clair
in St. Paul for a reception venue!!

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.

BBQ with the neighborhood.

Had a delicious invitation to go to a neighbor's
for a BBQ. How do you turn THAT down mid-week!
NO COOKING? I'm in!!

Here's some of the darlings in attendance.
(sisters Molly and Ellie)...in the 'secret garden'.





Hey, is that a glass of Cabernet in my hand?



Jenn & Michael are in town from Massachusetts
and are getting married at the most beautiful
church just off Nicollet Island. This is the oldest,
continuously used Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
Our Lady of Lourdes.
Can't wait to get there. The reception, of course,
will be held at the Nicollet Island Inn.
This will be a joy to shoot! Chloe will be shooting
with me and I look forward to working with her.
She is a fellow NILMDTS affiliate.

I sat with my mom for the majority of the day today.
She is in some extreme back pain due to a ruptured
disc. Her surgery is scheduled for this coming Wednesday.
I've never seen her like this and it's hard enough
sometimes to think of a parent as "aging" but to
see her having to deal with and manage pain is
quite another thing...We had a really nice day together.
After surgery, I'm certain that we will have more
of those and I look forward to them. She lost Tim
Russert and now this...NOT a good week for my mom.

Last night I elected to take a call to go to Abbott
to cover a session for a family that lost a 20+ week
old boy. The gentleman that was 'on call' was not
reachable so I went. The baby's name...Joshua.
When i arrived the Chaplain was coming out of their
room, she wiped a tear and I rubbed her back.
She then started to silently sob. I held her for a
couple of minutes and she thanked me for what we
do at NILMDTS and I told her what a special job
she has and that she was, indeed, an angel too.



God Bless.

SQUARESPACE

My Pro Blog is up @ SQUARESPACE.

Ready, set, more!
More images, more ideas, more blogging, more me!
I'm really excited about this cool new tool.
I know that it will be another thing to do
but I love the idea of sharing information that
relates to what I do.

People ask all the time....
"what kind of camera should I get?"
"where do you buy your stuff?"
"why are my images fuzzy?"
"how do I get the background to blur?"
"I set it on auto focus, why is it not in focus?"
"who do you use for your developing?"
"what's a good all purpose lens?"

I get jazzed and all fired up when I get to talk
shop with clients, neighbors and friends..
even family. I love all of it!
This will be a place for me to share all that.

If you ever feel that you want to ask, you can
always go there and ask.

Hey, I'm going to run out real quick and see
my sister's kittens!

Have a great day.

Peace.

Gross.

I probably have no right to complain yet I can hear
you all going..."poor baby, 2 weeks in Mexico and
you come back to 2 inches of snow in March...poor baby!"
Yea, yea, but seriously...gross. I mean sure, it's
pretty and all but it still just means that it's cold
enough to snow, that's all.

Hey all you video freaks out there...
do you know about VIMEO? It's like SLIDE!

Also, I'm working on a Pro site for Austin Images Photography.
It'll be different from this blog and different from my website.
I'm trying a 14 day trial with SQUARESPACE. This will be
another outlet for me...a pro site (or as Gary would call it,
"another time~waster"). Men can be such turds sometimes!

I'm going to mostly post images and information about
those images and keep the personal stuff on this site.
I'm still in the architectural phase but I should
have it up soon. I'll create a link to it when it's up.

Over time..who knows, it may replace my website???
I'm meeting with CORY tomorrow to discuss and make
changes to that site (finally).

Well, back to work.

Love is Always in the Air!

I returned to Jane's home for her open house
yesterday. It was packed!
The invites that I worked on for her drew
friends, family & colleagues from all over.
Jane even had a banner made of the cover
shot from the invite that hung from the
garage. She had the inside and the outside
all decked out with decorations. Above are name
tags that were provided as you came up the walk.
You made your selection based on how you felt
that day...mine read "I (heart) to socialize".



The purpose for this soiree was to simply
come, meet people and share the love and
celebrate friendships...that's all.
A really terrific idea and a perfect day.
Sunny and much warmer than it's been in a
long time.

Jane, a self proclaimed non-cook, selected
Rodney Davis, owner/operator of LUTREC CATERING
to prepare and serve the most delicious menu.







Here's her Daisy May with her new haircut!



Ringo was on hand for the festivities as well!!



Had a great time, met some fabulous folks, ate some
deLIcious food and left with a smile!
OH, I'll be at the next party for sure!!

Leaving in the morning for Mexico with Gary.
I broke the news to him that I was bringing
my laptop! :\

Nothing like blogging from south of the boarder!

Hurry up and have those darn kittens already, Spice!

I'm getting PUBLISHED!

I shot a wedding for Bella Pictures last August
and they submitted it for editorial consideration
to The Knot. Now the Knot wants to run it in the
Fall/Winter 2008 The Knot Weddings ~Minnesota
as a Real Wedding Story!

Yes, imagine my shock when I was out to lunch
with my friend talking about getting published
and I got this e-mail on my iPhone right then
& there! WOW! I'll be posting more on that for
sure as the issue hits the stands!
Here's a few shots from that day...







At that same lunch, my friend Jacquie informed
me that one of my images that I shot at an
Urban Ventures event (Colin Powell Center Grand
Opening) last summer will be published in their
annual report (Jacquie is a board member for them).
I'm getting a byline! Super cool!



I actually think it might even be this one...



Lastly, I got the call from Cheryl McClennan.
She was the coordinator for all the photographers
at last year's Starkey Gala. This year I'll be
available for the Gala itself and that's gonna
be VERY cool! Sir Elton John will be performing!
If any of my photographer friends are interested
please send me an e-mail as you never know how
many they are looking for. They have so many
events leading up to the Gala. This year it's the
week of June 9th with the Gala on Saturday the 14th.









I forgot to post this image from the other night.



Enjoy your Sunday!

My apologies...

I missed making an entry yesterday!
I'm so sorry. Things just got out of hand.
I know I have loyal readers and seriously, I know
what it's like to keep checking and keep checking
to see if an entry has been made.

Xanga has a subscription button that allows you,
the subscriber, to automatically receive a note
saying that an entry has been made and actually
sends you the feed..cool, right?
Well, currently, Blogger does not offer that.
Bummer.

ANYway,
Did you caucus last night? I didn't. I wanted to.
Someone had to vote for McCain, right?
My neighbor, Jacquie and her daughter, Abbey, were
headed out last night and she said she'd vote for
Hillary for me...HA! In case you are not in the know...
I actually have cat nip toys for my cats that
are Hillary dolls. They are so funny. She has a
book in her hand that reads "It takes a village...
to do my hair." Pretty funny, right!? :)
Well, let's just say that this toy has seen better
days! Check 'em out at FAT CAT.

Still working on both weddings.
Finished up my Fairview Southdale NILMDTS session
and I'm just waiting to get the prints back from WHCC.
I had to re-order Jane's invites due to an over site
on my part....so sorry Jane, they'll be here today!
Sales tax due yesterday and I needed to sort that out.
I wanted to head out to Woodbury to see Reese who
arrived on Monday afternoon but I'll do that today
with my mom. So more photos of Reese to come!

Tonight I have a NACE meeting over near Tanya's studio.
I always look forward to those!

Mike Miller..THANK you for all you are doing for me!
You have much on your plate this Valentine's season
and I appreciate that you are taking time out of your
schedule to b a "cheerleader" for me and my business.
You are amazing! Go McCain! ;)

Here's a couple shots from Lexi & John's wedding in
St. Paul last weekend at Forepaugh's (FYI, the scoop
is that ghosts live there...very cool!)








Oh, and Nedved's did the flowers and they were
amazing! I have their card and I'll post the information
later. They are in St.Paul off West 7th. GREAT people!!

I'm off to see Reese!!!!!

(Gary is having his injection done on Monday!!)

Thanks Mike & Barb Miller!

I know I've mentioned Mike recently but I must give them
more props! Mike & Barb own The Hitching Company!
Their farm is up in Forest Lake which is where they
spend most of their "off season" (if you can call it that).
The remainder of the year, they actually have a spot
near 5th & 10th in downtown Minneapolis. How cool is that?

Mike paid me a huge compliment today (we finally got to
speak on the phone). He loves my energy (and this blog~
it's now on his favorites list...."hi Mike & Barb!") and
would like to hook up and do some business together!
So, after Valentine's Day, we are going to get together,
sit down, hammer things out and get their own blog going!
I Can't wait! :)
I added their web site to my "check these out" list...
I'll add their blog when they get that up and going!

Got Jane's Valentine's Day cards ordered today..whew!
A really fun project! Thanks Jane~see you on Feb. 24th!





Well, are you ready?? It's February tomorrow!
I LOVE when the months that end in "ber" & "ary" pass by!

C'mon spring...LET'S GO!!!!!