shuttle endeavor takes off...

gary called me on to the porch yesterday
to watch the shuttle endeavor blast off.
15,000 miles per hour? are you kidding me!?
wow! it's been a long time since i've
been able to catch a lift off on t.v.
the lingo is...dare i say, hot!
gary and i were looking at each other like,
"what?" kinda like on "so you think you
can dance" when they are describing dance
moves...totally lost, no idea what they
are talking about! but...equally entertaining!
i digress, sorry!

um, national night out 2007 is in the books!
perfect night...warm, clear, dry.
so dry, in fact, that the fire engines were not
allowed to hook up to the hydrants and blast
their hoses this year (a crowd favorite!).
so gary and i did the next best thing and
turned our hose on and let the kis douse them-
selves! that way our lawn got an extra
watering that day! :)

oh, i'll mention that our fine mayor, Phil Young,
was along on the fire truck and he remembered
me...i asked him at the beginning of his
campaign if he would like me to follow him
and document is run and photograph his family
(all gratis by the way) and he just blew me
off! well, he's in office so we figure he did
okay without me. i just wanted to do it, that's
all. men. his loss.

here's some shots from tuesday night's event...







one last photo...
this is "hobie", he's 11. i think he used to
be a chiropractor in his first life...

lauren...

arrived at lauren's home in cottagewood
around 3 and discovered that they had a
spectacular backdrop for portraits right
under my nose so we set up camp there for
about an hour. during which i was introduced
to one of her brothers, a sister and two most
marvelous dogs~a shih tzu named "toby"...



and perhaps the largest dog i've ever had
the pleasure of coming in contact with
named "nemo". nemo is a bouvier (pronounced
boo-vee-ay')and they had both just been to
the groomer that morning so i wasted no time
getting a couple of shots off of the dogs!



nemo likes to watch television...specifically
"animal planet"! he just sat there and watched
the bobcat on the screen and was quite content.



after we exhausted two really great
locations at lauren's home we hopped in
my car and headed for the spot she was
most excited about...the bridge with all
the graffiti! i explain to people that this
spot can change from one minute to the next.
the art changes with the moods of the vandals
(i like to refer to them as artists, really).
i'd actually like to run across them and pay
them to paint for me!

lauren had changed and touched up make up
before we left her house so when we arrived
at the bridge we were ready to go!

new art, more colors, great light...perfect!







i don't usually do this but i let lauren
run through the images on my camera as
we drove back to deephaven. we had a great time!
thanks lauren!

national night out!

tonight marks the 24th year for this event!
i think i have been participating for at
least half of them. click here for more
information on what you can do and see
what others are doing to commemorate.

the pezcon is in town!!
i think i may try to hit that one so that
i can say that i went! i forget how much i
used to love PEZ! i'll bring along my camera~
don't you worry!

alright, i know you are all dying to hear
about my belt buckle extravaganza last night!
okay, maybe not ALL of you but some of you
didn't show UP, so i'll share some images with
you anyway so that in order for you to feel
horrible about not getting any!!! :)

stephanie (left) and lisa arrived early to set up
all the delicious buckles...







now, if you see any that interest you, call me
and i'll make arrangements for you to get in
touch with either lisa or stephanie.
some of them are now in the hands of the gals
that burst through my door at 6:15 last night! :)
we even arranged for some "remote" sales!
sally, who has just had knee surgery, couldn't
make it so i photographed them and she selected
from the e-mail that i sent to her...kinda cool!
hope you love it! i love mine!!

i met with lauren yesterday (a friend of g's)...
we've been planning her sr. portraits for awhile
and today is the day. i'm going to meet her
at her home in cottagewood and go from there.
such a cute girl~i'm really looking forward
to photographing her and having some fun!!
i'll be posting those tomorrow!

today i will post some images of j that i shot
last week...they're kind of fun too.







keep hugging!!!

hugging...

i did a little research and discovered
that january 21st is national hugging day!


due to the fact that i was asked to go
to an earlier service yesterday (picked
my mom up on the way), my mom and i got
the opportunity to visit with some very
good old friends of ours, the Butter's.
Ann, Charles and one of their sons, Dan.
They always go to the 8:30 service and my
entire family usually attends the 11:05
so our paths don't cross very often.

well, to the title of my blog~"hugging"...
my family is made up of 50% huggers (mom, anne
scott & i) and the other 50% is mostly the
combo of the 'ol hand-shake/back tappers and
arm touchers. the Butter family is ALL HUG!
and i mean like bear hugs! so when we meet
it's a contest to see who lets go first! :)
meet the Butter's...



yes, Charles does look like santa claus
and as a matter of fact he goes out east
every holiday season and plays santa for about
5-6 weeks. when he and Ann are together they
dress as mr. & mrs. claus...it's great!
and it was superb to see them! Ann LOVES the
lord and she beams 24/7!! i love them!

are you a hugger? maybe you should start.
you never know when a bridge might collapse.


(p.s. thanks for lunch yesterday, mom!)

westwood community church...

this morning i'm heading out to church
early to photograph some families that are
dedicating their babies at two of the four
services at westwood.
now we do hold baptisms as well but in
the case of infants, a "dedication" is made
in front of the church as the families
vow to raise the child and educate them
about Christ. these little darlings are all
dressed up and just coo and smile up there
as everyone prays to support the dedication.
westwood does this on the first sunday of
each month.

yesterday i went to a good friend's daughter's
baby shower. she's having a boy and is due
on the 12th, but will be induced on the 13th
if need be. his name will be gavin. and
christine looks so adorable pregnant. she's
one of those lucky ones that has a little
ball out front....damn her! ;)
she'll stay here with gavin for about a month
and then head back to montanta.
i told her sisters that there is nothing like
being an aunt!!
i will be one of the first to get "the call"
cuz i'm going to run out to the hospital and
take newborn photos of gavin! i can't wait.

jessica strickland is in town for a lecture
on the 13th so i'm a little nervous! i don't
want to miss a moment of her speaking!
but i'll get to the hospital right away!!!

had a nice visit with my friend jacquie last
night. we sat and drank wine and talked about
photography and life and how they intertwine.
thanks jacquie for the nummy vodka penne! MAN
that was good!!

big belt buckle party tomorrow!
i've invited about a dozen gals over to buy
my clients belt buckles that she makes.
they are soooo cool.

have a great sunday!

president & laura bush visit minnesota...

well, aren't we special!
laura arrived to look at our
collapsed bridge and george dubya
is flying around in a helicopter
as i type to see first hand the
devastation of the wreckage.
i still can't get over it. it's so
weird. i keep watching the video
of the collapse and it's just
so, i don't know....deliberate
looking, yet there are cars on
the bridge and my God, the bus
full of children...how does something
like this actually happen?
so much more to come on that
subject...it's been reported that
it could take as much as a year
to come to some sort of conclusion
as to what actually happened.

another airport hilton visit yesterday
for a minnesota miracle. i met little
miss madelyn, age 4 (left). she brought
along her very, very best friend for
the weekend. they were so funny! and silly!




they were very excited to go swimming~!

grandma and dad and the two girls will spend
the weekend and enjoy lots of fun compliments
of the "minnesota miracle"...a division
of the "miracles of mitch" and partnered
by the airport hilton..."the hotel with a heart"!



picked up some cabernet on the way home and
sat out front with gary by the fire pit (no fire)
and slowly we started a gathering at our home.
first we were joined by all the neighbors dogs...







then some neighbors...trisha, then
ron & cindy. it was a perfect night to
sit outside! due to all the dry weather
there is a shortage of bugs!! (one nice thing
about no rain!).

FINALLY some relief in the way of rain.
woke up this morning to the sound of rain
hitting the bedroom window! hooray!
gary brought the cats into me on the bed
and headed off to paynesville to play golf
with his buddies. this is an annual event
at the koronis golf club there and they all
stay at tom & mary hendrickson's lake home
(you really can't call this place a cabin!).

got a late start today but it was nice to
lay in bed and listen to both the rain and
the cats purring next to me! :)

more bridge collapse images...

and no, i did not shoot these but
they are amazing images and worth sharing.

to date i do not know of anyone,
personally, that was involved in
the bridge collapse...and for that
i thank God!

well, on to the starkey event...
i picked up where raphael left off
(after the lunch break) and photographed
the first hour of dr. charles berlin's
lecture on diagnosing the need for
cochlear implants...(umm, yea...WAY over
my head! pretty interesting tho', i found
myself listening and trying to make sense
of some of the information!)










the student then broke off into other class
rooms and got into specific areas of interest.









then they all resumed in the large
auditorium for the closing and scholarship
awards. mr. bill austin arrive to hand those
awards out to some very deserving students!




everyone then had the opportunity to
change into jeans and head over to the
bowling alley for food, cocktails and
of course...bowling!!













this was a VERY energetic group!
i had a blast and so did they.
rapheal called and said they were running
the bowling photos during the breaks
today and that they were a big hit!

thanks raphael for calling on me to
help you out yesterday!

35w bridge collapses over mississippi...

incredible video account of bridge
collapsing..click here

gary called me right after it happened.
i was attending the NACE outing on lake
minnetonka...we were just getting ready
to board the boat for a buz around the
lake when he called.

i grabbed the mic and made an announcement.
it was quite surreal. "what?", everyone
said...and i repeated the information that
i was given...not many televisions around
so we couldn't get a glimpse of any of it.
we all decided that we would continue on
with the event.

the good news is that i won all the big
raffle items while out on the boat.
2 separated overnight stays, one at the
bloomington sheraton and the other at
the airport hilton in bloomington.
oh, and a yummy starbuck's gift card!'
thanks NACE! i guess i'll see you next month!
here's some shots from last night...

our lovely entertainment by joy divine



chrissy peterson whipped up some
gorgeous arrangements for the event at bayview



joy with jennifer christenson, catering
sales manager at mystic lake casino.
jennifer is whom i have been in contact
with over joining NACE.




this is the group of folks from
the depot in minneapolis.



some ladies from midway party rental



left is janice from the embassy suites
airport hotel and right is barbara from
the st. paul hotel



and let's not forget about the food!





thanks to everyone at NACE for
welcoming me into the group. i had
a great time and i will be sure to make
good use of all of my winnings!

see you all very soon.

off to Starkey Labs today.

oh, here's a shot of "j" and her new do...



(just got an e-mail from all the folks
down in playa del carmen praying that
we are all okay!
thanks brenda and the gang at ajua!)

starting a blog...

thinking about starting your own blog?
found this on netscape this morning...
click here.
blogs are fun, addicting, educating and
best of all...FREEEEEEE!
there are many blog options so be sure
to check them all out. i don't recall
why i selected blogger but it's
been working just fine for me.
there's xanga (pronounced "zanga")
and a host of others.
if you have family out of town it's
a perfect way to keep folks up to date
with what's going on.
if you are getting married or having
a baby or travel a lot (jacquie!) OR
own a business, you should have a blog!
i subscribe to many so that when they
post an update to their blog i am notified.
unlike me, many bloggers don't blog daily.
it is as much a part of my day as loving
on my cats!!! (mrow) :)

moving on...it's wednesday, august 1st!
gary's brother, doug, is 55 today!
happy birthday doug!

this evening i am attending something unique.
NACE (an association of local caterers) is
getting together on a lake minnetonka boat
cruise/cocktail-mixer/meeting and in that
they keep soliciting me to join i thought
this would be a terrific opportunity to
meet some caterers & event planners and
consider joining. i said i would bring along
my camera and mix in and introduce myself.
they have no photographer in the group and
tonight i will find out why or perhaps
involve myself further....more on that
in the days to come.

tomorrow i head over to Starkey Labs
to cover audiology students in action
and then a relaxing party at bill & tani's
home here in eden prairie.
i'm excited to see them again!
here's bill & myself from the gala in june.



finishing my niece, "j"s hair today.
a week and a 1/2 ago we cut most of
it off (like victoria beckham's)
but now we need to change the color and
tweek the cut a little...i'll post
photos tomorrow!

supposed to rain today...believe it when
i see it. it's so hot, dry and sunny
here...like phoenix!!!!!! crazy.

hi dean & lois!!