98!

no, not the temperature....my golf score.
well, i know it's not great, but i beat my
last sunday's score by 4 strokes! i'll take it!
it was so windy! we all just kept laughing!
when they say there will be gusts up to 25 miles
an hour...at dahlgreen? it's more like 45!

tim, laurie, gary and i went out to dahlgreen
again (that's twice this week for me if anyoneis keeping track!) and so now i've officially
played more golf this week than i did all of
last year! i'm not ready for the tour or anything
but i'm having a good time and i'm learning to
play with my new pings. also notable is the fact
that i have played the same ball for both rounds!
nothin' out of bounds and not once in the water!

here's tim & laurie...



here's tim & laurie in the newly remodeled clubhouse
with owner, dave tessman...he wants me to shoot the
new interior for their website so i'll be out there
doing that soon.



ran into some friends at the turn...
this is gary with karen



and here's laurie with dan...




and tim with dan's wife, theresa...



12 tee...hefty right to left wind...an 8 iron. it's on!



same hole....gary's got some tree grief...saves for a par!



oh..by the way...i learned last night that yesterday
was scott & jacquie's 7th wedding anniversary!
bad friend. BAD FRIEND!!! happy anniversary you two!

oh, and another thing...ron doesn't think that we know...
but his wife, cindy, took him to vegas for his 50th birthday.
yea ron! we know...the jig is up guy, we know your 50!!!

alright one more thing...friday night, the springers
invited us over for a little neighborhood bon-fire...
here's some highlights....

hi molly!









here's a shot of g on a wallet with an offer
for all of her junior friends at minnetonka.
this offer goes for anyone seeking senior portraits!
just make mention that you saw it on my blog.



gerrick...nice to see you back at the blog.
hope you enjoyed your holiday


relax and praise Him today! :)

minnesota miracle...

had a terrific visit with gerri yesterday!
could not squeeze a lunch in so we are planning
another date soon!
she gave me a really great coffee mug...
it says "t.g.i.f. thank god i'm fabulous!"
thanks gerri! i love you!


altho' i had much to do yesterday, i managed to
get over to the airport hilton in bloomington
to cover a cancer family's arrival for the
weekend.

what an amazing assignment!
becky (mitch's mom) picked me up and we drove
to the hilton in friday afternoon rush hour
(in her convertable!).
got there early and sat for a moment solving
all the world's problems and then we saw
alexis walk in. we knew it was her because she
had her left arm in a cast (she had broken it just
the other day on her new roller blades!)
she's 11, darling and a brave soul!


here she is with her 3 sisters checking in...



going through all the loot in the room!



the first thing alexis wanted to do when she met
ron was give him a big hug!!!



becky with alexis...



back row is ron (mitch's grandpa), karen (the new executive
director) and becky (mitch's mom)




this is such a warm, wonderful foundation and
it brings so much joy to so many all year round.
please contact them if you would like to get
involved...you won't regret one second!
there is a link at the top of my blog.
have a great weekend!

happy birthday gerri!

today is my good friend gerri's 40th birthday!
welcome to the best decade, girl! you're gonna
love it!

gerri is coming over later this morning and i'm
going to foil and cut her hair and make a diva
out of her for her birthday and then we're going
to try to squeeze a lunch into the day before
she goes to her daugher kathryn's play at 3.
i kinda want to go along! i think i will.


jacquie and i are going to kick the crap out
of each other at jabz at 9:30 today! can't wait.
haven't seen her in about 3 weeks! shame on us.
she lives right next door for God's sake!!
busy, busy, busy we are and she travels a whole
lot so when she finally returns home it's
tough to hook up with friends when you have a
son & spouse to re-connect with!

hey! jenny sent me the photos she took while
we were in mexico...the dive ones...
i'll start with our instructor, alberto...he's from
italy...grrrrrrrr...



helping ben get into his gear....







this was our whole group...
ben, me, alberto, tony (jenny's son), the other
instructor (oddly i don't remember his name!) and matt,
jenny's husband



standing around in our wet suits & equipment.
it was sooooooo HOT!!!



on the boat ready to head out to "angelitas"!



we are now, scuba ben & scuba sue!
hmmmm, where's pete?? oh, he must be in a classroom
watching videos or studying to pass his certification!

pretty cool. thanks for taking all the photos jen!

we are planning a mass certification in anne & pete's
pool when it warms up. i'll keep you all posted on the
process.

hobie, hobie, hobie...

(i'm not going to write picture this anymore.
no real reason, i'm just not. it's the title of
my blog and i feel that's good enough, right?!)

so, that said...
hobie is going to get to go back to the vet.
i've been watching him like a hawk and he hasn't
pooed in 2 days. i've got a call in to megan up
at anderson lakes veterinarian.
hobie is on my lap with his paw on my arm so this
is tough typing...i asked him if he wants to go and
see dr. bey and he said yes. so i am going to take
him up there, dr. bye has an 11:30 today so I'm
just going to drop him off so they can work their
magic with him! poor thing.

gary is golfing with tim this afternoon (tough job
they have!). the 4 of us will golf on saturday am.
i cannot afford to fall in love with golf again
this will be a busy season for photography and i
don't know how much time I'll be able devote to it.
it's gary's passion! he has low round so far out at
dahlgreen....a 74 (with a bogie on 18)! yep, welcome
to my life this summer!

hey, i gotta go. pray for my boy and his bowels! :)

jacquie, see you tomorrow @ 9! can't wait!

oh, head to my web site, i've got a bunch of new
images up. mostly on milestones & children under "faces".

prayers for virginia tech

picture this...

a nation in mourning.
i watched quite a bit of the coverage
on the campus yesterday and the stories
that the students share are just
gut wrenching...it sounds like a movie.
pray for the those students, staff &
their families.

well, the wild pull off a victory last
night at the excel center in st. paul!
nearly a 5-1 game. they are off to
anaheim for game 5.

twins win last night 11-2 against seattle!

today i will not attend my network group
meeting. i made an executive decision last
week to resign from the group.
i'd been thinking about it for some time
and the time had come to back out.
i feel that my time and money cold be better
spent. growing my photography business is
very important and i really didn't see any
movement in the group. i gave it nearly a
year and i feel that in that amount of time
i could make a decision based solely on the #'s.
i'll miss it and the members.

enjoy the sunshine today!

mix up...

picture this...
i got all turned around this weekend.
we took the cats outside on sunday not saturday!
i must have missed a blog in there somewhere???
i hadn't posted sunday's yet and then i wrote monday's
at the bottom of it...weird...sorry.
getting older is fun!
no matter...

monday actually hit 76 degrees! nice!
no golf just some good old fashioned spring cleaning.
felt great to open windows and let the stale winter
air out! the cats, of course, went craZy getting up
in the windows checking out all the birds.

got some new foot joys for my next golf outting
(it was time for some replacements) and there were
some of anne's favorite flip flops there so i got
her a couple pair and ran 'em out to her house
for her 1 month anniversary of not smoking!!
way to go anne!
she put 'em right on! we went out back and sat by
the pool (which she had opened monday). it was just
gorgeous out! ben sat there with us and did his
homework (borrowed my sunglasses..it was bright!),
amanda practiced her cartwheels and we tried
collectively to get her new kite in the air...it has
too much tail i think, no go. not enough wind either!
but we told amanda to just keep running! tee hee!
bad aunt, BAD AUNT!

monday nights are MY sunday night... i leave mondays
alone to catch up and run errands ( & drop off
flip flops!) so tuesdays are then my monday...get it?
right now, i don't really care because it is really
beginning to get nice out...tulips on their way...

okay, don't hate me...i actually watched "the bachelor"
last night....sick. our dish wouldn't change channels
on the deck and i had a cat on my lap and didn't
want to move...wow, some really intelligent programing!
oh, and you probably watch csi miami...hypocrite!

hope you got your taxes in on monday!

got your message yesterday jacquie...call when you can.

hey, nice segway...

picture this...
have you ever had the opportunity to ride
on a segway?
well...gary, my sister anne & i did on saturday!

milo, a guy we know out at dalgreen in chaska,
owns one. he has an artificial leg and loves to
hunt, golf and take his dog for a walks but it's
always been a challenge to do all 3 so he invested
in a segway and he just happened to be there on
saturday. gary was golfing and my sister anne
& i hopped in pete's porcshe and ran out there for
steve tessmans's 50th birthday celebration
where milo gave us an impromptu demonstration...i insisted!
gary hopped on first...(i brought my camera along
for steve's party)





then i handed anne my camera so i could go for a spin...




then it was anne's turn (milo wanted to swap demos
and take's pete's car for a spin....ahhhhh, no).






here's milo with gary..



it was the strangest thing i'd ever ridden on.
ya just lean forward to go and then lean back on your heels
to stop. then there is this deal on the left handle
bar that you either turn right & left to turn...so fun!
he paid about 6 grand for this one, it was a year old
and a demo...saved a couple thousand. why not!
simply can't justify a $7K toy...on a camera, yes.
thanks milo!


sunday, back to dahlgreen to play my inaugural round of '07.
met tim & laurie out there for an 11:30 tee-time.
gary did really great! saturday he bogied the last hole
for a 74! sunday, he over swung and felt something pop
and his left hand began to tingle so he quit after 9.
smart move (rotator surgery last november).
tim, laurie and i played on and my total (keep in mind that
i played 2 & 1/2 rounds last year and the last few years
only played a few times........102! not great i know, but
i was also using gary's last years ping G2's so...
i was okay with the round.
what do you think gerrick??? not bad, right!?


(oh, and by the way, dahlgreen just dumped a bunch
of money into remodeling the clubhouse, putting gps on their
all new, electrical fleet of golf carts and so much more!
it's really great! nice job guys!)

last night we took the cats out for their inaugural tour
of the outdoors. katie was a little more adventurous.



hobie (the million $ boy) prefers safety of being near
the door. i think cuz he knows there's food behind it!




going to be 70 today!!!!!
don't forget that today is tax day!

everyone join me in congratulating my sister today
on her 1 month of no smoking!! GREAT JOB ANNE!! i love you!

starkey's 2007 gala!

picture this...

i received a call from cheryl maclennan yesterday.
she is one of the many organizers of the starkey
hearing foundation's gala. this year is the 7th
annual and i am proud to have been selected to be
apart of it this year!

now, everyone is aware that i won't be
available to be at the actual gala but here's
the really wonderful flip side...i've been asked
to cover the vip party at bill austin's house
here in eden prairie on bryant lake AND the
on the eve of the gala they have a fun night
planned for the vips with live music, a casino
& mingling.

i have steve chepokas to thank for this honor.
he and his son mitch's foundation have landed
somehow squarely in the starkey family circle.
so one day he was talking with patricia (at the
starkey foundation) and she asked steve who he
uses for his photography...he said "sue austin".

i am so blessed (& excited) to have this opportunity
to be representing this worthy cause.
it will be my goal to do more for them in the future
such as going on mission trips to other countries
and capture the bright faces of the people who
become recipients of starkey's generousity!

i'll have more information to share as the event
draws near. cheryl will be coming to town to meet
with everyone soon.

thanks steve. :)


had dinner with the springer's last night at the
manderin...came home, napped and then had a little
bonfire & some scrummy cabernet.

going to go hit balls with gary this morning and
then maybe just enjoy the sunshine and warmer temps!

locks of love...

picture this...
here's diane. i've known her for years!
i'm shooting her wedding celebration this
june in parker, south dakota.
we spent years growing her hair out from a
short, short, easy, carefree shape to
all one length and suddenly i didn't see
her as often. hmmmmmm.
well, she just gave me the honors of cutting
it all off so that she could donate it to
locks of love.
it was so good to see her and catch up!
she and jim were actually married in january
but it's diane's wish to have everyone out
to their new property in south dakota for
a big celebration! great idea, i'm really looking
forward to it.

here's diane before, moments after she arrived
at my home...



then i split her hair into 4 ponytails...



(see the "pureology" in the background? LOVE it!!!
it's the best shampoo and conditioner on the planet!)

here's the new diane...i told her that
she looked 20 years younger!!!!!




hey, wanted to share a few things today.
i mentioned last week that i am working with
nash frame and i thought i'd
show you two pieces...






and one last item...i'm clearly STILL not over this
yet but i just wanted to show you the finished product
once it was glazed. (on a recent trip to mexico, i painted
a cute little 2-piece jar thing and the man running the
boutique added HAIR to my sun and i was dumbfounded!)




okay, this it really the last thing...
i heard from brady yesterday. i met brady through steve
chepokas and his son's foundation. brady is connetected
with the starkey hearing foundation as well
and was looking to see if i would be available for the gala.
i told him that i already had an out of town wedding the
same day as the gala (diane's above) but i would be willing
to do other things for the foundation in the future!
so, he said that bill austin is having the celebrity party at his
home on the eve of the gala and would i be available for that....
are you KIDDING ME!!????
I answered calmly, "i would love to make myself
available to the foundation for the evening!"
i'm just waiting to talk to patricia and seal the deal!
more on that as it developes! :)


(dean, thanks for making the effort to come to california!)

jacquie, where are you?????? i have your "rangefinder" mag.

my new camera...

picture this...
i've been waiting for canon to announce a new model
for a long time and the recently did. the eos 1d mark III.
it runs about $4500 (body only) and should be available
in may. i'm really excited about it can't wait to get it!
this because my husband will not allow me to get
the mark II ($8000-street..body only). i'll wait a couple
of years...canon is always busy putting new models out
and something really great is always coming down the pipe!


it's thursday and that means.......
american idol results are in! haley is gone. poor thing.
she just can't sing. she's pretty fortunate to have come
this far and be apart of the traveling "team".
not standing in line for THOSE tickets!


even hobie is tired of the snow and wants to golf!



i had such a crazy busy day yesterday that i never
got the chance to photograph any of my clients that
made changes! kinda bummed really!

oh, cyrea, of arora jewelers (eden prairie), got engaged
while she was at the masters tournament last weekend! she's in
my networking group and incredibly funny! congrats girl!!

i've been working on all the updates for my website
and will continue to do so this weekend (if i don't get out
and golf)and i'm in touch with a gal that is going to help
me create a blog that will be custom and will follow
the branding of my web site. that's cool. i'll keep you
all posted on the changes!


sun is melting all the snow pretty quickly. that's cool too!


dean, call gary.

hey stacey, can we get together and do lunch again soon?!

snow today...gone tomorrow...

picture this...
mother nature is, again, boss.
what's more tiring about seeing the snow
is that fact that we minnesotans love to
complain so much and talk so much about it!
you know what i'm talking about, right!?
so, i vow,if it continues to snow, i will
find something else to talk about and just
ignore the white stuff. the bright side, right!?



moving on...
at my pug meeting last night we touched on
blogging and their importance to us as photographers.
some had blogs, some didn't but everyone
knew what they were.
my favorite thing about blogging is keeping folks
up to speed with what i am doing ~ personally as
well as professionally.
and if stacey, who apparently reads mine regularly
enough to know that i blog EVERYday, would take
a few minutes (20 really is all it takes usually)
each day she could do the same!! :)
(really, stacey, c'mon! be a daily blogger! it's fun!)
in the time it takes to read mine you could write yours!

(sorry, just one more mention...the snow is really
piling up outside!!)

lots of hair to do today...change is in the air.
everyone wants new color and new lengths! fun for me.
i'll see if anyone minds if i photograph the changes.

which american idol is going home tonight???
my bet is haley! i guess her every week (because i have
this feeling that everyone is voting for sanjaya for
the fun of it!
i've been talking about the way haley dresses every week
and simon hit it right on the head....the less she
wears the more votes she gets! sick really!
have to tune in tonight!

minneSNOWta...

picture this...
this is getting a bit ridiculous i must say!
i just learned that this has been the coldest start
to april on record for like about 25+ years!
nice. "they" say that i will be in the 50's
by saturday and nearly 60 by monday.
guess what?...i'm not holding my breath!

wolves game last night. best seats ever.
ended up in the front row...really nice.
why i never bring my camera is beyond me.

they played the toronto raptors and our little
"humphries" from the gophers plays for them and
it was fun to see him and watch him play.
it's always fun to see them all up close.
thanks ron & cindy! i promise i'll bring my
camera next season!

hey everyone! jay is back home from portugal!!
click here for an update!
i hope to get the opportunity to go to michigan
and photograph him at his new rehab facility.





tomorrow marks the 4th anniversary of mitch
chepokas's death. he'd be about 13 years old.
if you don't know about mitch's story, please
visit the site dedicated to his foundation and say a prayer
for his family as they mark this anniversary!

if you would like to help out the foundation
there will be an opportunity on sunday, may 6th
as my friend jim werdin with access insurance agency
holds his annual "family and friends day with the twins"
in an effort to raise money for mitch's foundation.
(please visit his site and click on the foundation
to get ticket information and i'll see you there!!)

a yummy lunch provided by culver's (chanhassen)




TC and some of the kids!




here's jim with tony oliva!



if you have questions about tickets, please give
me a call!

day after easter...

picture this...
easter went so quickly that i never even sat
down to the computer!

the day started with me picking up my mom
and heading to the 8:25 service at westwood in
chanhassen. then i brought my mom along to
enjoy a little "austin" time at the mystic lake
casino buffet (yes, of course i gambled a little!)
with gary's family (-machie...she's still in
california awaiting graduation from USC!).
it was a small group, but we had a nice time despite
not winning any money afterwards! :(

took mom back to chanhassen and i returned home
to catch some master's action on the porch with
gary...then a little nap and back to chan to
have dessert with the baker's (my sister & her
in-laws).

a little different this year, but relaxing and joy~filled.
first time in weeks that i didn't have my camera
along for the day! felt a little funny, actually!

today is another monthly TCPPA class (twin cities
professional photographers association), an all
day event. i have to miss it.
tonight we have wolves tickets (compliments of
ron & cindy).

tomorrow is my PUG meeting...missed last month due to
travel (pictage ~sers~group). we are going to discuss
blogs, blogging and their impact on our business and
how to use them...hmmmmm.
personally, i like to use mine to inform folks of
my most current works and to let people in on who i am as
a person. i think when you hire a photographer that you
also hire the personality as well!

enjoy your day. supposed to be about 45! it's about time!

is there ice cream in your future??



jenny sent this one to me...

birthday blog...

picture this...
1/2 way through the day yesterday i get a call
from gary...he goes..."shit!...it's your birthday!"
and i said.."yea!...it's my birthday!"


nicki and i set out to do coffee at the dunn brother's
near my home. i'm nearly there and she calls and
says she's running late. no big deal, i told
her that i'd grab one there and then head to the
excelsior one..."great!", she says.
then she calls back and says "hey, how about we
go to jake o'connor's and i buy you a birthday
lunch instead?"...and i say "perfect, i'm starving!"
so i swing by their house, pull in to the drive,
go in and see these really cute poka dot bunny easter
egg cups and jar chatchkey thingies and i'm like
"these are adorable! where did these come from!??"
and she says.."ikea!" "the egg cups were 33 cents and
the jar was 99 cents!" and i thought, i need to have
some of these.....long story longer,
we hopped in my car, drove to ikea, had the 15 piece
meatball lunch and bought a bunch of the easter bunny
things! never made it to jake o'connor's!
another day. thanks nicki, that was maybe the most
spontaneous afternoon i've ever had! :)


told you they were cute!


i hit the dmv to renew my driver's license and
gary called while i was there...he was meeting
a couple of our friends at jake's in ep for an
early, good friday, happy hour (mike's birthday is today too)
so i buzzed over there when i was done.
from there, gary and i thought we'd go to dinner
so we drove home, changed and ron & cindy picked
us up and we went to wildfire where the wait
was about an hour so we walked down to biaggi's
and ate there instead. i had the "scrummy" sea bass!

here's ron & cindy...



the usual suspects...




my forgetful but forgiven husband...



me & rob...he's an extraordinary bartender at biaggi's!



cindy's melon~tini...made table side!




hey! we never had dessert!!!

came back to ron & cindy's where we continued the
celebrating and shot some pool.
then it was time to go home...what a day!

thanks for all the cards everyone!
i just love a mailbox full of colorful envelopes!!!
tim & laurie put a "burky's" wooden nickel in with
their card!



oh, i can't forget to mention that before i dropped
nicki off i went to nash frames in st louis park
(off 7 & woodale) and picked up two portraits that
i had them frame for me...they are gorgeous!
beautiful work. i will be using them for all my
framing for clients as well as for personal use!
pop in there sometime and tell them i sent you!
great group of people! :)

happy, happy birthday!

picture this...
today, i turn 45.
i feel pretty good about it.
no big plans & that's just fine with me!

i'm meeting with nicki for a coffee at 11.
from there...who knows.

i just got finished returning an e-mail
to my friend jacquie telling her that i
feel as though i'm having a reverse mid~life crisis.
what i mean is that i feel as though i spent the
first 44 years selfishly and for the next 44 years,
i want to give.

my first giving gesture is going to be giving
God a little grief about all the cold we are
experiencing and for killing all of my tulips!
why, WHy, WHY!!!????

booked our USC trip last night so that's out of
the way...dean and lois, your e-mails keep
bouncing back to me and i'm trying to send you
the graduation information. not sure what's going
on there. Perhaps we'll give you a call tonight.

i would like to mention that i am thrilled to hear
that the britts have been released!

hey, i need to get going.
i've got a birthday to celebrate!
i'm sure it will run through easter!!! :)

enjoy your good friday everyone!