Happy Thursday!

Good Day to you all!
LOTS going on in the next several days.

And of course I can't leave out the fact that my brunch at
Interlachen Country Club yesterday for NACE was fabulous,
delicious and a nice break in the middle of the week.
And Kudos to Interlachen, 2009 marks their 100th anniversary!



I set up a table, an easel, set out all sorts of albums, guest
books, proof books, framed images etc...then I ran a 200+ image
slide show of some of my favorite images that I've shot for NACE
since I started on that fateful day that the 35W bridge collapsed
into the mighty Mississip nearly 2 years ago.

The slide show was a HUGE hit! Next time I'll bring my 24"
monitor! :) I just couldn't swing it yesterday. Everyone
gathered around and reminisced as it looped.
You see, each NACE meeting is really like a mini wedding
reception from decor to floral to signature drinks, not to
mention the venues! Really, a lot of fun.






Tonight I will head up to the Metropolitan to cover a MOFAS event.
Pregnant Pause, being held tonight, is their 4th annual awareness
event for expectant moms.


Tomorrow, I am photographing a fun wedding out at the
Como Park Conservatory.
Yep, another Friday wedding! :)

Saturday my niece, Amanda, has a dance recital that I wouldn't
miss for the world!

And Sunday is Mom's day, of course..ahhhhh.

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.)

Catch Up.

Between Easter, 3 weddings, 4 NILMDTS sessions,
taxes and a sick Boo, I've been a bit lax in the
blog department. I just needed to "catch up".
But do we really ever catch up? The faith that I
can keeps me going, anyway. :)

That said, on to a few weddings...first, JoAnn
and Rick from March 28th. A chilly day but the
sun was out and the venue (Murphy's Landing) was
the perfect backdrop for their period wedding.

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.

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!

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.

Bernadette & Michael

Wow! Another stellar day! Gorgeous blue skies,
the humidity gone, a cool breeze, one of the
most darling country churches you'll find
anywhere and a sweet, sweet couple that are now
Mr. & Mrs. Bruzek!
Congratulations to Bernadette & Michael!
(click on the "view all images" button
to see a larger slide show)

Check out the Church!

St. Mary of Czestochowa. Just outside Delano, Minnesota

Taken with my iPhone.

Jennifer and Michael

Our Lady of Lourdes

I'll be posting more from my iPhone today
and you can catch up with me on my twitter
today as well.

I'm shooting from 9 to 3 today....a nice change!

Have a great day!

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.

Mr. & Mrs. Pezic!

God brought a very special couple together
yesterday in a fabulous Cathedral surrounded
by an intimate collection of family and friends.












Off to the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden
Where Nemanja endured my goofy side.



Then to Ichiban's Japanese Steak House in Mpls
for some spectacular food fun with our chef "Juice".



Congratulations and Best Wishes Maria & Nemanja!
I adored every moment we spent together yesterday!
Let me know when the Baby comes! :)