today i celebrate...

picture this...
i have not had a cigarette in 44 months.
may 5th of 2007 will mark my 4th year
of not smoking! not bad!
i've been smoke free for: 1340 days
i've saved $26,818 (WOW!)
i've not smoked 5384 cigarettes (wow)
and i've added 6 months and 24 days to my life.
pretty impressive.

the only reason i know all of this is because
on the 5th of every month, "quit net" sends
me a "who's better than you today!?" e-mail
applauding my accomplishment. nice, right?
i can't remember when i stopped counting
the days, weeks or months but i think i will
always be conscious of the years!
years i've not smoked and years i have ahead
of me due to quitting! :)

my sister and i quit on the same day.
it didn't stick with her, unfortunately but
i know in her heart of hearts she'd much
rather be where i am than sitting in her
garage smoking while she reads this.
i love you anne!

addictions...what a bitch (sorry)...but they are.
no matter what yours is, you can change your
life any time...any day. every second that passes
is a missed opportunity to change.
look to the future...what do you see? who do you see?
where are you? who are you with? what are you doing?
are you still married? are you still sneaking food, cigs,
drugs, alcohol even sweets??
we all have the ability to stop, to quit to visualize
difference and make it stick.
now i know this is a time of making resolutions and
i'm not saying you have to do it today...
fear is what holds us to our addictions and hope is
what breaks us free.
in stead of saying "what if i start again?" "what if i
gain weight"....try saying "what if i live longer?"
"what if i like the new me?" "what if i CAN do it?!"
hmmmmmm......

i'll check back in a year......make a change.

meeting with my brother, scott, today to talk
about 2007 and our lives...gotta get going
and the cats are howling for food!! :)

make it a great day (as jacquie would say!)

new links...

picture this...
spice up your 2007 wardrobe with my
friend lisa's very fabulous belt buckles.
stylish, people stopping, eye popping,
swarofski crystal belt buckles!
here's a couple of mine...


(check out her link on my links list
for more styles colors and kids sizes too!)

i also added my brother scott's blog
address...he's a mediator and a darn good one!
he has a class coming up in february
(right after valentine's day!....hmmm!)
on resolving conflict!
like let's say that your sweetie gets you
some yummy little number from
victoria's secret and you feel fat so you get
mad at him for buying this skimpy thing
and then ask why he didn't get you flowers
and chocolate!
now that, my girlfriends, is an out and out conflict!
resolve to resolve early in 2007!!
huh..i just made that up..pretty good, huh!? :)

wrapped up my product shoot for jim.
very cool. not sure if "things" are easier than "people"!
i'll keep you posted. :)

new "earl" and "the office" tonight!
did you catch "friday night lights" last night???
i LOVE that show!!

swim suit countdown begins...

picture this....
how many of you have to cram into a
swimsuit in the next 7-12 weeks???
let's all sign a pact!
i think being accountable helps as does
the "duct tape" diet...you know...the one
where you duct tape your mouth shut! :)

i had to make some corrections and
retractions in yesterday's blog.
my apologies (thanks steve).

a rather quite week for hair (as is every year)
most everyone has had it done for the holiday season.
therefore i shot products for the better part
of the day today.
sunny, nearly 30 and the snow looks just wonderful!
a welcome site from all the dead grass and
leafless trees. finally a sign of winter.
not that any of us have really been complaining
it's just that we expect to see snow here in
minnesota in december and didn't get it until the
31st!!!

i have the honor of shooting a generational
portrait this sunday for a friend in my networking
group...got to meet her husband bob at the gala
on sunday night...that was fun!
i'll be photographing pam, her mother and pam's
daughter. i can't wait!

gotta give a shout out to gary's niece, machie, as
her alma mater USC won monday's big bowl game! yay!

happy new year 2007!!!

picture this...
count downs all over the world awaiting
what the new year will bring us...
health? happiness? a new job? new friends?
reunions with old ones? remission?

i spent the final day of 2006 with a great deal
of folks raising money for some relief for families
with kids who have cancer, many of whom i
hope to get to ring in 2008 with next year!

the miracles of mitch foundation (link on my blog)
has started another awesome event entitled
"the minnesota miracle" which took place yesterday.
i've written about it before.
the foundation was born of a pinky swear between a father
and son as mitch was dying of osteosarcoma coupled
with marfan's syndrome almost 3 years ago.
mitch wanted to help families suffer from trials of childhood
cancers cope and live while enduring such unthinkable
illnesses that children shouldn't be burdened with!

highlights from the event included
a visit to the minnesota valley wildlife refuge
where families could go on a scavenger hunt,
make origami animals & hear stories
of indians long ago.






no snow this year so they had to cancel
the snow shoe trek! :(


belinda jensen was the emcee for the evening
she brought her son tanner along and snow!



"temporary heros" were there again this year and
did another magnificent job of getting folks on the
dance floor and ringing in the new year!!




jon randle & his wife candace,attended this year!




there were about 21 families in attendance who
have been recipients of the minnesota miracle weekend
packages at the airport hilton in bloomington throughout
the year (total of 38 in 2006) and other families will
follow in the tradition in 2007 and into the future.
if you would like to donate to this unbelievably gracious
foundation or volunteer for events in 2007
contact shawn anderson at the airport hilton or
ron stanchfield (mitch's grandfather) at
rmsassoc@usinternet.com or go to the miracles of
mitch foundation site at the top of this page under my links!


today the nation buries a president.
rest in peace president gerald ford.......

feliz ano nuevo a todos!

picutre this...
i'm off to the hilton to get
ready for the evening and head
over to the indoor wildlife refuge
for more events that are planned
for all the guests during the day
today.

not much more to say but
that if you haven't already got plans
for this evening, you can always join
in on the fun by coming for the dinner
and the big count down...you don't
HAVE to stay overnight at the hilton.
there is a separate price for the dinner and
party.
come one, come all and spend an evening
with us and support a really terrific cause.
www.minnesotamiracle.org

see you there!
happy new year!

(happy new year june & garrick!)

wolves win!

picture this...
downtown @ target center with good friends
for an evening with the timberwolves as they
easily beat the C@L (seattle!) sonics!

ron runs the time clock for many of the home
games and he's also got season tickets so,
he and his wife, cindy, have included us in a few
games and we have the best time!
short of being arrested!

they take us down into the tunnel where the team
comes out from their locker room~
not many folks get to go all the way back there to
witness the team prayer and chant!
it's pretty cool.
they are soooo tall right up close and another
thing.....they are sooo young!

again, everyone has a camera....not me!
when will i learn to haul mine along!
the seats that ron & cindy have are terrific
and i could get plenty of great shots.
center court, about 8 rows up. nice.

well, then we hit bellenote for a couple of
bumps and headed back home for a night cap and
a photo session.....








thanks guys for yet another epic evening!
and ron...i'll never look at the plunger the
same way ever again!

new years eve ~ eve

picture this...
my new fong "chrome dome"
that i got from kiki for Christmas....
she'd been lurking around this blog
and saw that i was interested in
getting one so...BAM!!!!
i got the "cloud" from kiki and the
"chrome dome" from owen!
"thanks guys!"
i'm enjoying playing with it a lot!
it's going to be perfect for my product
shots i'm doing!



my kubota dvd came yesterday.
i purchased the down load the other
day and had them ship a hard copy as well.
pretty cool. it's the "much anticipated"
3rd version of his actions...i'm getting to know them
better..here's a cool, mystical one called "deep forrest"~
a square, cropped image of the original below...



and here's the original image, shot by a client of
mine (chris) on a very recent trip to paris.
i had her e-mail me some of her shots from her trip!



fun, don't cha think!
thanks kevin kubota for all your fun actions!!
i highly recommend getting them!

here's another image where i used kevin's
"digital fill flash" on the bronze statue to
bring out the detail that chris had underexposed.
another favorite action of mine!!!
(this action is from his 2nd set of actions
which also contains "starburst vignette" which i
absolutely LOVE!!)



chris was here the other day so i gave her some
lessons and insight to capturing images, composition,
cropping, timing (waiting for folks to move!)
focusing techniques...it was fun.
these are a couple of other images that we worked on..
here, we worked on straightening the horizon...




this one needed cropping and some sharpening...



thanks for sharing your paris images with me chris!
i may never get there! who knows.
hope i was able to assist you in your new quest
to get a different camera! :)
careful...you might get hooked on photography!

clean, clean, clean...

picture this...
i'm going to take the tree down today
and put everything away. it used to make me sad.
then my brother tim once said to me...
"you're that much closer to spring!"
i like that!
also washing and putting away all of the
cookie tins finally....i just can't look at one
more cookie. there's not much left so i'm
just going to toss 'em!

i have been given a great opportunity to
photograph some equipment for a client
of mine. he owns a company called RTD.
something about thermal devices...and i'm
going to photograph some things like
angioplasty stuff...it's weird stuff!
cool tho', don't get me wrong.
they just need fresh images of all of these
items for their a new catalog.
so, i'll be shooting these devices while jim
is in big sky montana skiing with his wife and
two daughters this week (whom i've known forEVER!!!)
hope they are skiing safely!!

gary just got home from his 2nd therapy
session for his shoulder and said it went well.
i'll get more out of him later!

i just heard from john farrar of houston.
he and his lovely wife holly got married in playa
a couple of years ago and i was their photographer.
i wanted to find out if they were going to head down
to playa for their anniversary again this year.
we were able to plan a meeting last year when we went
down last year and it was really great to touch base
and see them again...a truly wonderful couple!
they have elected to go to colorado to ski this year!
have fun you two!
holly and john are on my web site under "celebrations"!

gerri is coming tomorrow...she and her husband
and daughter just got back from 2 weeks in mexico!
soo jealous!

rip van winkle...

picture this...
i layed down for a minute with hobie and katie
last night at 5 and woke up 14 hours later,,,,,
WOW! i think gary slipped me a micky!

happy wedensday to all hope you all survived
your first wave of the "holiday" season. we did.

hair today.
off tomorrow.
timberwolves game on friday with the grass's
MINNESOTA MIRACLE @ AIRPORT HILTON on sunday!
you gotta go!!!!!
then we are into 2007!
made any new years resolutions?
i don't typically...too much pressure!
i just do stuff when i feel like it~that seems
to work best for me.

i forgot to post a couple of photos yesterday...
emily & spice..



lights on the bushes....



nine (my mom) helping in the kitchen...



enjoy your wednesday.

(dean & lois~we are still working on correcting our flights!
we'll let you know as soon as we do about the changes)

trash day, thank God!

picture this...
today is trash day in that Christmas
was yesterday. we NEVER have this much trash!
hosting Chrismas makes for a lot of garbage!

i have been sitting on my cf card for 2 days now.
i just loaded some Christmas images onto
the G5 so here are a few highlights from
Christmas Eve at anne & pete's.
ben, amanda & emily opening gifts from
their parents before eveyone got there......

ben's snow skate...




amanda's?????(i have no idea what this was but
she was pretty excited about it!)



emily's littlest pet shop...




nicki, scott & anne...



tim brought over some old photos of our family.
here's scott taking a little walk down memory lane....



spice starting to get into things...



amanda took this one!



more crazy cousins...



uncle tim rolled doubles in the dice game
and decided to grab owen instead of a
wrapped gift!



kiki & owen....



fireworks...
an annual thing for my pyromaniac brother..




end of the night, ben finally got the ball on the tee!!




have a great week!~

Christ, our Savior is born...

picture this...
ran into my old boyfriend, his
wife and his mother yesterday at the
11:00 service at westwood.
it was so incredibly great to see them!
i knew that scott had been spotted
attending there but i never see him.


it was a really great day!
i ran to anne's to drop off spanish rice.
(oh, we decided to go "off the board" and
have a "feliz navidad" celebration for
Christmas this year complete with tacos,
dos equis, corona and of course, tequila!)
then we all piled in their car and went to church.
gary got a ride from a buddy and went to axel's
in chan, where everyone meets every Christmas eve.

back to anne's after the service and prepare the
chow (and today's egg bake).
family started trickling in around 3 and the kids
got restless right away so we decided to go
"off the board" again and open up gifts before we ate!
i'm afraid that will become the new tradition!
ben said..."yea, we'll open our stuff now (he's 14),
and then after dinner all you adults can just relax!"
oh, he knew exACTly what he was offering up! :)
as it turned out, it was perfect!

today gary and i are hosting Christmas with his
family...they'll be here soon so i must put the
keyboard down and get back to work!
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Day...

picture this...
the real meaning of Christmas....
it's not ipod nanos or xbox 360s or
fillet mignon or...or even the tallest
evergreen tree at rockefeller center.
no. contrary to what most americans
have come to know and go broke over
is just how most of us celebrate it.
and even though i like to see it as
getting together with friends and family
and tossing around the idea of finally
making a resolution for the next year,
at the risk of sounding corning and
hypocritical........
Jesus is the reason for the season!

years ago, between jobs, i managed
several holiday kiosks at all of the dales.
i know, weird, right? anyway, one day my
sister helped me out by working with me
at the southdale location.
right outside the old daytons on the main
level. this was a novelty Christmas sweatshirt
and t-shirt kiosk.
now folks come up all day long, week in week out
asking "where's the bathroom?" and "can you tell
me where Soldati is?" (greatest shoe store ever by the way!)
and my favorite, "where can i find a directory?"
it was right behind them...DUH!
but one day, just before Christmas a woman and
her daughter approached the kiosk and asked
"do any of your shirts read 'Jesus is the reason for
the season?'....." and we said "no."... the woman
walked away, and we laughed and laughed!
almost mocking the rhyme..."Jesus is the reason for
the season"!
from that day forward anne and i would always
giggle when we recalled the event......

I don't remember exactly when i came back to Christ,
straying as many do in adolescence,
but that the phrase no longer makes me giggle....
it does, however, make me smile and i will always
remember that Jesus is indeed the reason for the season!

Celebrate His birth
Merry Christmas


(jacquie, i enjoyed our little outting yesterday!
thanks for having me along!)

dean & lois.. your card and generous gift
arrived yesterday, thank you.

as the shoppers rush home...

picture this....
i made an executive decision to run
out last night and get a few final gifts
rather than attempting mid day today!
it wasn't bad, really. but then i was
prepared to park in wisconsin anyway...
lost a thumnail in the process..crap!

we missed getting 3-4 inches of snow
by only about 6 miles!!!
one of my clients yesterday told me that
her back yard looks like a winter wonderland!
crap...we got nothin'! (see yesterday's blog)
there's pretty much nothing left now.
oh well, thank you global warming!

do you suppose that andy rooney would ever
do a story on whether or not paying for
expedited shipping really pays?
i mean, really....i paid twice the amount to get
3-5 because i FEARED the item might arrive tuesday!
it was on my doorstep in TWO!!!
what if i'd have done the normal 5-7??
do you think it would have gotten here in 5?
i do... they get you with FEAR!!
who would want to disappoint a child, right?!
amanda is going to LOVE it! so it was worth it.

i'll be wrapping gifts and trying to keep my cats
out of theirs this evening...they've already
discovered their loot...they really are like children!

happy Christmas eve, eve!

i'm dreaming of a light green christmas!

picture this....
well, it's not denver, but i guess it'll do.
we received a very crunchy half inch of
snow preceded by a ton of freezing rain...
not fun at all.



roads are pretty clear and travel shouldn't
be much of a problem.


forgot to mention that last sunday,
several of my family members got together
to decorate some Christmas tree ornaments.
it's something that we used to do when i was
a kid....it was really fun. and then anne made
this awesome pan of lasagna! soooo goood!

em's angel...




g's snow flake man....



manda-moo's stocking...




j's snowman..




on the gary front, we found out the other day
through another mri, that gary's right shoulder is
actually worse than his left shoulder...needing surgery
as well and this one will be even more involved.
it's so bad, in fact, that his right arm will be extended
out perpendicular in a cast for 3 whole weeks.
strangely, due to the nature of the tear and the different
usage of either arm, gary thought the left one needed
it most...not as much pain the right at all.
he'll be considering how to go forward over the next month.
we are not very chipper these days...pray that some
sort of mistake was made and it isn't as bad as they thought.
that will me our Christmas miracle this year!

have a great friday!
go finish your shopping!
stay caffeinated and warm.....

love to all!

winter solstice

picture this...
today marks the beginning of
winter...tell that to the folks in colorado!

today also marks the day that we
minnesotans long for....today, the days
begin to get longer! i believe that it takes a
few days for that to get rolling and it'll take
a few weeks for it to start showing but
nonetheless, the days are going to soon
be longer and having more daylight will make
a difference to many!

i'm up & adam today, feeling oh so much
better and more myself.
having just had a small taste of the flu,
it's nice to be among the vertical! :)

i've got a couple of slammin' days of hair
ahead of me in that i've had to reschedule
everyone from the past 2 days.
pray for my strength the next couple of days!

hopped on the scale this morning.....
the flu diet is widely under-rated!
at the same time, not recommended
for ANYone! :)

hey, it's my brother-in-law's birthday
tomorrow! i think he'll be 42?????
'spose i'd better get a card in the mail today!
if i don't....."happy birthday pete!"

my youngest niece lost a tooth the other
day and she called yesterday to tell me
all about it. she's 6.
she's always feeling a little small, left out
and nothing special...now, the whole world
knows that amanda has lost her very first tooth!
now, THAT'S something special.
apparently teeth now get a couple of dollars.
i think they ran a quarter back when i was
losing mine (for the first time!).....HA!

gotta get ready for the day.
have a good one.

neighborhood party tonight also...looking
forward to getting out of the house.
oh, and ron & cindy...don't worry..i'm just fine.
see you tonight!

flu-schmoo...

picture this...
5 days before Christmas, and i get sick.
i am always bragging about how i never
get sick...HA! that'll teach me!

i won't go into details (and you're welcome),
but let's just say this layed me out flat for
a day and a 1/2....you know the kind of feeling
when you wake and you're not sure if it's 6pm
or 6am...right?
i want to burn my jammies, sheets and pillowcases!
and the HAIR!??? don't even get me started!
i barely recognize myself.
i wonder if ducks feel bad when the water just
rolls off! :)
oh well, i'm feeling much better and just thought
i'd post something so you all didn't think i'd
falled somewhere and couldn't get up!

i'm not sure what's taken place these past 2 days
but i DO know that 2 of my Christmas packages
haven't shown up yet...darn it!

that's all for now......

editing-editing-editing!

picture this...

i got a chance to pop over to jacquie's
saturday and visit while SHE bakes cookies!
that was fun!


i spent the better part of saturday behind
my camera.
first, at the pancake breakfast for jay in
eagan (see yesterday's blog)...
then out to chan to photograph ava,



her brother zach,




and their cousin owen (different owen)...




then i ran to eden prairie to photograph
hanna, hughe, sophia & ben....



they have an ice rink in their back yard...how
they keep it frozen these days is beyond me!
but it makes for a really cooooool back drop,
don't ya think!? here's hanna...




yesterday, around 3, i popped over to
see jill and craig and their 2 daughters
olivia (2 & 1/2) and emalee, who will be 1 next
month to photograph emalee for her 1 year
milestone and then get the girls and the whole
family together for a couple of holiday shots
as well.....
here's the birthday girl, emalee....





then we changed into our Christmas dress....



and i couldn't forget about big sister olivia who
would only smile if she could say "mac & cheese"!...





emalee was not as interested in the santa hat...



thanks for the pretzel olivia, it was yummy!
hope you had a good visit with santa last night!

jay's pancake breakfast

picture this....
so i'm at the applebees in eagan at 7:30 am
for the start of the pancake breakfast for jay magee.
......lying....i got there at 8:30! :)

i forgot that i was supposed to get a long
sleeved t-shirt at the last benefit in waconia
that i couldn't make it to.
i advertised on the back of the shirt and so
i got a free one....here's the front...
held by jill's cousin, sarah.



i posted a bunch of photos on jay's caring bridge
site...go to caringbridge.org then type in jay magee...

here' jay and jill......
jays' shirt reads "i support jay walking"
clever!




this is her mom and 2 of her brother's...



here's olivia and emalee....i'm going to
their house tomorrow afternoon to do some
1 year old shots of emalee and probably some
family ones or at least sister ones too!
gotta get to chan, i'm photographing miss ava
today. i'm just waiting for her to get up from
her morning nap....she's adorable...i'll post those
tomorrow.
oh, here's rachel and charlie...(with bo) from yeseterday..



and a close up.....




another balmy one today....45!
cloudy..kinda gloomy...no snow in the forcast
for Christmas! gonna be a strange one without
snow here in minnesota!

go get the rest of your shopping done! :)