86 the tongue please

Needless to say my job is not always that glamorous! We got a request to edit a photo that someone brought in. He wanted the tongue removed and his head from a different picture instead. I did it but I had a hard time keeping my breakfast down while I was zoomed in on the bloody tongue...


Before


After

30 weeks

Here's me at 30 weeks. We were testing out the camera before clients came in today. I'm also testing out something. It seems that when I upload pictures to websites the quality goes way down. Not sure what this is about.




There, that's better. A friend of mine on Facebook helped me figure out what my problem was. Still don't completely understand my problem but at least I have a temporary fix.

Anyway, a little more about the pregnancy. She supposedly weighs around 3 pounds now and I can feel her moving a lot. There are days that I feel her tons and days that I hardly ever feel anything. Yesterday was a day there wasn't much movement and it's those times that I get a little worried and wonder why I don't appreciate the moving more when I feel her move. I still am breathing deep and have been for the last month. There are times I just feel like I'm out of breath, especially during my WW meetings. Overall the pregnancy has still been very mild. First shower is in a week and then another towards the end of February. Scott and I both have had dreams where we can actually see her face and hold her but she's still in my belly. Weird huh?

25 things you didn't know about me

Alright, for those of you that don't have Facebook, here are my '25 things' I posted about a week ago:

1. I'm a Weight Watchers Leader (which means I'm also a Lifetime Member). I lost 45 pounds in 2006.

2. I took voice (singing) lessons my senior year of high school and was also the lead in our high school play (Grapes of Wrath)

3. I almost failed my Government class which almost led to me not graduating high school (I skipped school a lot towards the end of HS)

4. My husband and I had a goal of getting out of debt (except the house) before our first child was born and we will accomplish that goal :)

5. I'm very cheap when it comes to spending money on myself, I hate getting my haircut and don't really like shopping for new clothes either.

6. I'm obsessed with cookbooks although I hardly ever cook.

7. I never skip a meal.

8. My birthday is on St. Patrick's Day.

9. I work for a family business so literally work in an office that's connected to my parent's house.

10. We live in a small manufactured home in Stewartville (again, part of the "get out of debt" plan) but it's for sale and we are hoping to be able to take advantage of the buyer's market right now.

11. Our 2006 Honda Civic was hit 4 times in one year.

12. I was born in Rochester, NY.

13. I am a nail biter.

14. I cringe when people bite down on their silverware.

15. My dad is an identical twin.

16. I teach a class about the benefits of social networking on Facebook.

17. I taught myself how to play the guitar when I was in college using a Guitar for Dummies book.

18. I'm planning on using cloth diapers for our little girl when she's born.

19. My husband and I met on the internet and talked over the phone/internet for 2 years before actually meeting in person.

20. I almost always order a kid's meal when we go to fast food restaurants.

21. I ran, swam and biked in a sprint triathlon last year.

22. I used to have several imaginary friends when I was younger including a horse, grandma, baby, bee, rabbit, cat, dog and more. Oh and they all had names too :)

23. I used to wear a patch and glasses when I was younger and now wear no glasses or contacts.

24. I've only been to one funeral.

25. I didn't eat red meat for over 4 years.

I've been tagged...

Alright I knew this would happen, but it's fun. I've been watching friend after friend get tagged and eventually it made it to me. Thanks Sarah :)

Here are the Rules: go to Your Pictures file go to the 5th folder open up the 5th picture and post it then tag 5 people when you are done.

This is a picture of my niece and nephew taken by my Dad in August 2007. I love Ryan's face here, such a genuine laugh.



We have SOOO many pictures that it's tough to know which folder to go to. Anyway, I found one and will now tag 5 people. I tag Suzanne J, Laura L, Lori N, Robin O and AJ F.

It's a GIRL!!

Scott and I are so excited when we found out today that we're having a little girl. I must say thoughts have been all over the place this last week. When we went in for my 4 month appointment, the nurse practitioner thought she heard 2 heartbeats. Plus I was measuring a little big. So the possibility of twins have been circling in our minds all week. Although twins would be very special and unique, I admit we're a little relieved that there's just one baby in there. No offense to any twins out there (Dad) or any parents of twins. So far everything looks great, she was moving around quite a bit during the ultrasound today.

My pregnancy has been very mild. We found out we were expecting back in August. Since then I've had no morning sickness or weird food cravings. I was more tired than usual during the first trimester. But now that I'm in the second I feel great and I actually feel like I have plenty of energy.

So we're very excited and feel blessed by this whole experience. She's due around Easter time, beginning of April. Sorry if some of you didn't know I was pregnant but sometimes it doesn't come up in conversation or I don't remember who I told. I'll keep you posted on any more news. In the meantime we're trying to get used to calling the baby "she".

Blog has been MAJORLY updated!

I just spent the last few hours updating my blog because I don't want to stop blogging but I've gotten lazy lately. I've not only added new posts but I've also updated my blog roll too. I like to keep my posts in chronological order so I put the links here to everything that I've updated so you can access them easily:

Tuck's Birthday
MEL Vacation
Missouri Cabin
BWCAW
Our Anniversary
Ishizaki Wedding
Abby's Birthday
Presidential Election
Midwest Lifeshots

Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Studio is NOW OPEN!

A few months ago we decided to expand our business to not only do real estate photography but to do portraits and weddings also. In order to do this, we decided to build a studio. Just off our office (attached to my parent's home) we built the studio. It's a great place for people to get head shots, seniors, family and children pictures. The great thing about our studio is, we offer the best of both worlds. The property sits on 2 acres which we have specifically set up for photography. So families can get pictures both inside and out. Inside pictures are more formal while the outside pictures really capture your personalities offering more casual and fun photos.

You can book a session today by going to our website Midwest Lifeshots Photography or by calling 507-424-1044.

Obama wins

This has been probably the most historic election of all time. I just wanted to mark this down in my blog since it was such an important day. Obama has come out ahead and although I wasn't a huge fan of either candidate, I did choose one.

I would go into detail about my thoughts on this election but I find it unnecessary now that it's over. Plus everyone is so opinionated in this area, it's not worth getting into debates.

I voted and I'm optimistic for the future, you have to be as an American...Republican or Democrat.

Happy Birthday Abby!

Abby (our niece) turned 3 so we went up to the cities to celebrate. We got her a sleeping beauty barbie doll with a bed. It was only $15! But her favorite present all day was definitely her new "big girl" bike. She was in heaven! After going on a bike ride and then hanging out by the campfire, 1/2 of us watched Sleeping Beauty while the other 1/2 played some Killer Bunnies. We all finished the night by watching Sarah Palin on SNL...the most watched episode of SNL ever! Once again Scott got some great pictures of Abby with her new bike.





Abby got to eat all the chocolate shavings off the pie

Ishizaki Wedding

This past weekend we filmed our first "paid" wedding. It was an absolute blast and we're happy with the images. You can go to our website to see more pictures but here are a few of the album pages we put together:

Five amazing years...with my best friend

Well it's been 5 years since we were married. I have the most amazing husband in the world. I kid you not, every single day I am in awe of how blessed and lucky I am to have such a compassionate, sensitive and loving man in my life. Plus on top of that he's constantly making me laugh. I am certain he will also portray all of these qualities to his own children when he becomes a father and it just makes my heart melt to think of it. I'm thankful for every minute I get to spend with him, and it's a lot of minutes since we work together too :)

Happy Anniversary to us, here's to growing old together sitting on the front porch in our rocking chairs with a glass of lemonade.

BWCAW

So it was all inspired by the book Into the Wild. My sister had an idea for me, my mom and her to read the book. Then when we were done we would watch the movie together. I thought that was a great idea. My sister is not the outdoor type at all. She will take a comfy and warm hotel over a night in a tent any day. But after reading the book she got inspired to get out of her comfort zone and try something new...in the wilderness. So she got the idea to go up to the Boundary Waters for a few days. If you're not from around here you should know that if you do ever decide to come to Minnesota, the Boundary Waters is the place you should go. You basically leave your cell phones and computers behind and completely live within nature, surrounded by lakes and wilderness. I've been a couple times before and those times in my life are some of the most peaceful I can remember. You just won't see a sunset like you see up there. The whole trip is spent canoeing, portaging and then relaxing at your camp. Many people also fish for their meals.

Having been several times before to the BW, my dad jumped on the opportunity to go with my sister. And it only seemed natural for both my brother and myself to go as well. The two times I've been were also with my dad and it was the best bonding we've ever had, I think my brother can agree (he's also been with him). My dad's dream had come true, all 3 of his kids were sharing this memorable time together.

My sister ended up really enjoying herself! It was only a 4 day trip so it wasn't too grueling. Here are some pictures that capture our trip well.

Me and my sister before the trip


Me taking a look at all that needs to be packed up


My brother slept under the stars EVERY night!




My sister carrying a canoe for the first time


My dad and his 3 kids




Me filtering some water for us to drink


Me and Matt near a huge uprooted tree


Me and Matt canoeing between 2 rocks...you can barely see us


Me and Laura toughin' it out while my younger stronger brother carries a lighter load


We stayed up waaaay too late talking thanks to the coffee we drank the night before






Matt and Dad mapping out our route for the next day


Me tending the fire at our campsite...it was cooold.


Cooking dinner








Me single portaging


Laura single portaging


Dad looking for the best spot to take pictures of a beaver






Dad getting a shot of the rapids...can you see him?


Laura and Dad at the end of the trip