Wednesday

As I came in to work this morning. My co-worker greeted me and she didn't seem to be in a very good mood. So I says to her "Awh, is somebody having a case of the Tuesdays?"

She replied, "It's Wednesday."

Oops....

Anything for some lovin'

Logan and Artie (my two babies) will do anything for attention. With Artie beating Logan in the face with his tail, Logan still tries to go from side to side in an attempt to get some lovin' from his mama.

It has always been that no matter how small the space and no matter how much bigger Logan got, he was always small enough to sit by, or in between, Adam and I. Now, at 95 lbs, Logan thinks he is still an 8 week old pup.

Logan then:

Logan now:

Up to date...

May 30th:

I put a down payment on my wedding gown, yup I finally decided. Five trips to the bridal stores and 7 months of debating, I end up with my original choice I picked out of a magazine....

June 13 & 14:

MS Bike went pretty well. Adam and I went 75 miles (over an hour in the rain, no it wasn't fun) on Saturday and 60 miles on Sunday. I must say, it felt REALLY good to rest after all of that. Our goal is to actually finish the double centuries back to back next year.

July 4th:

Independance Day!!! We went to Beaverton for a party early afternoon with Adam's mom and Dad, then followed it up by the Bay City fireworks. I took some pics as always - here are a few of my faves:

Cycling - On the rail trail again...

The employee meeting went well today. Fun as always, learned some also. But on to the good stuff!

Ooh baby! Back on the rail trail in Midland cycling away. It was.a tid bit windy... both to and from. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it, but I have a goal and I plan to hit that goal.

Day 5 stats:
12 miles - 49 minutes
Avg speed 14 mph
Max speed 19 mph
1 official 4 minute break.

I'd say that isn't too bad for a beginner.

Well, off to eat my calories back.

Have a lovely night

~Anne

Cycling Day 3 and 4

Cycling day 3 was great! It was my day off. I was way too tired to ride.

Cycling day 4:
Back to the grind if you will. On the up side, my butt doesn't hurt as bad today.

Stats:
1 hour ride minus 2 - 5 minute breaks = 50 minutes actual ride time. I raised gears 4 times at 3 minutes per interval.

Unfortunately, I rode inside again so no mph avg available.

Oh yeah, Happy Earth Day to all!

I am off to make me and a couple of my co-workers capes for our employee meeting tomorrow. It is Super Hero themed. My cape has cows all over it and my Super hero name is "happy help desk heffa". Wierd, I know.

Have a good night

~Anne

Cycling - Day 2

It's so dreary outside. I finally cowboy up and decide to hop in the saddle for this years 200 mile ride and here it rains. Luckily we have a trainer. Yay!

Day 2 stats:
Ride time 1 hour minus 4 - 5 minute breaks = 40 minutes actual ride time.

Unfortnately, my computer is with my front tire, which doesn't move... So yeah.. No speed or milage is available.

My buttcheeks still hurt, but I tried to switch around positions as to ease the pain. I'm not in as much pain just yet, but the night is still young! :)

Peace out!
Anne

Cycling - my beginning

Saturday was my first day of training for Bike MS. I look at it as not only supporting fighting MS but as an invetsment for my own life as well.

Day 1: 10 miles - yeah, I am out of shape. And my butt hurts from the seat.

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Not only is it Friday, but it is payday! Go Friday!

I guess today is 2nd place because it leads to tomorrow...

I need coffee..

Have a great day
Anne

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. (Late, I know.) Single people think of the day as torture, but just keep in mind that this isn't a Hallmark holiday. Here is the History of Valentine's Day according to http://www.history.com/ :

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February — Valentine's Day — should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)

Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".

Just some fun facts,

Talk to you later,
Anne

Hrmph.. I thought I would get back in the swing of things and start writing a bit more. I figured that people would be able to get to know me more by reading about me because one probably wouldn’t hear most of this stuff coming out of my mouth in a conversation.

This past holiday Adam and I were busy beyond belief. I swear if we weren’t coming, we were going and if I wasn’t at work, I was so dead tired that I wanted to cry, which made the holidays and my emotional rollercoaster make the Mantis at Cedar Point look like a pansy-coaster.
Ok, I must admit, it could have been worse. I could have grown a mole on my chin with some hair, painted my face green and rode a broom to work, luckily, it didn’t get that far.
Bless Adam’s heart though. I bet he could’ve just wanted to choke me ten times over, but no, he didn’t. That is what love is though. Taking the good with the bad, don’t get me wrong, he gets in moods sometimes you would think it was him who was getting that blessed gift from Mother Nature. But, when all said and done, it was a pretty good holiday. Adam’s birthday was earlier in the month (December 10th) and he is now living it up, his last year in his twenties.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be at Adam’s Birthday dinner so I rigged up a few surprises for him during the day. In the morning, I had one of his co-workers put up a banner in his office. Lunchtime, I snagged some balloons, gift certificates, sweets and a sweatshirt from Adam’s favorite coffeehouse, Espresso Milano. After lunch, I gave him a card with one of the gift certificates and a Godiva chocolate bar. I suppose I was trying to make up for being a crappy fiancé and not baking him his cake on time. (The Chocolate had raspberry filling) Later in the day, I had the admin at our work deliver balloons to him and finally at dinner, I dropped off the present that I had for him in the evening to the dinner spot before I went to work. I hope it meant something to him, it seemed to.

Christmas, though, is a worse story. The poor thing’s (Adam) present didn’t arrive on time. It finally showed up mid-January. I ordered him a lens from Ritz Camera and unfortunately it was back ordered. On the flip side though, Adam gave me a nice gift certificate to Express, my favorite fashion headquarters. As an added bonus, he also got me the one and only Shootsac created by the awesome Jessica Claire!!! I literally cried when I opened it. It was the perfect pattern and everything. Ugg.. It fits my lenses perfectly when I shoot, hugging them ever so gently so they are comfortably at my side. I must say, Adam is getting better and better at his gifts because they are so heartfelt. I couldn’t ask for a better man.

New Years, we were pretty lame. We went to see the movie Marley & Me. I had read the book and it reminded me so much of one of our dogs, Logan, that I just had to see it… against Adam’s will of course. (He isn’t fond of sad movies.) Naturally, I cried, seeing the puppy and watching it grow up. You will have to see the movie because I don’t want to ruin it for you, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. I totally recommend it to everyone.

Happy New Year!!

This is my proof that the props aren't just for kids....

Birthday Thoughts - and more!

My Birthday Portrait

I've never had a thought in my mind about being 25. My world kind of changed from here. At first I thought, "no big deal, 25 is just another number", but it isn't. When I really think about it, it brings me to think about the the things that I haven't done that I wanted to do by the time I was 25. That list is surprisingly long... It also makes me think of the things I have accomplished in these 25 years. I was pleased to see that the list for that is pretty long too. (phew)

One thing that I have learned over the past 7 years of working at my "other" job is that money isn't everything. I know that when youngsters think about what they want to be when they grow up they get dollar signs in their eyes. Sure, you may make a lot, but do you enjoy what you do? Will you spend more time at work making the money rather than being able to spend time with loved ones? (people don't live forever) Does the stress make Tums a new food group for you? I think it isn't worth it. I wanted to be "that" person. The power suit woman who other women hate and guys are intimidated by. Stress isn't worth it and money won't buy me happiness if I hate what I am doing to earn it. That is where photography came in. My passion. My love to make art.

So here is my wisdom passed on from me to all of the youngsters out there. Follow your dreams and don't let the green lead you the wrong way. It isn't worth it in the end.

Now! On to the good stuff - what did I do on my birthday that was fun!

My sweetheart gave me my birthday present early, yesterday, since we weren't going to get to see each other that much ON my birthday. He gave me something I have wanted for a long time, gorgeous diamond hoop earrings. So sparkly, I love them.

Adam, so kindly woke me up this morning asking if I wanted to go to breakfast. Of course I did especially since I wasn't going to see him for most of the day! =) I got up, took my shower and as I got out Adam says, "how creepy, there is a balloon in the window" I had remembered that my sister, Angie, had mentioned that she wanted to do something for my birthday so I figured that was her big "tada" NOPE! Adam looked around the rest of the house and insisted I come out and look. She and my nephew Skylar had decorated our front porch with a party. It was so funny.

Our front porch, all decorated

Once this was found and lots of pictures were taken, Adam & I decided to head out to breakfast. Where else in Midland to get a fantastic breakfast but Omelettes & More right by our studio! I took a picture of Adam in front, but he didn't realize I was taking the picture until it was too late.... for him.

Adam, victim of a photographic drive-by

Our breakfast was fantastic, I had the sunrise with two eggs, grilled red-skins (with a side of salsa) and a gigantic piece of grilled Texan toast. YUM-O

After breakfast, Adam & I headed to the mall. (Our usual hang-out) After some light shopping, Adam headed to work & I went home. Angie and her kids came over to hang out, (my mom & dad & Ray (my brother) & Sara (his girlfriend) also stopped by on the way to their motorcycle ride) It was nice, they sang Happy Birthday to me on the street. I had that same feeling you get when you are being sung to in Applebees or something.

Angie, her kids, my 4-legged kids and I all went to the dog park by the Tridge to hang out. I haven't taken the boys to the dog park in a while so I thought it would be fun to do. Afterward, we came back to our house and had pizza. All in all, a pretty good time. Here are a few pictures from there.

My nephew Justin & I

The treeclimbing nephews (Sawyer, Skylar & Justin in this one)

Justin looking creepy =)

I would have to say this was a pretty good Birthday.

It's Tuesday and it feels like Wednesday! (That makes for a long week...)

I woke up this morning and thought "oh crap, today's garbage day" (keep in mind that in the city of Midland for my area, garbage day is Wednesday) I got up and started to rush around so I would have time to drag out all of the garbage... Boy was I in for a surprise.

Once I sadly figured out it was Tuesday and not Wednesday, I pouted for a minute and thought "at least I didn't think it was Friday like that one time..." Yep, that has actually happened before. I woke up on a Tuesday and thought it was Friday. That was a super-long week.

Fun stuff though, let me tell ya.

My birthday is coming up on Sunday, September 21st. I am excited, although, there is no time to see have a family gathering in there. Friday is Adam's (my fiance) going away party; Saturday is the bachelor/bachelorette parties for Adam's cousin and Sunday Adam works all day. Sigh... maybe we can go out late one night, or for a breakfast. I am going to be 25! Can you believe it? I am the baby of all of my cousins. There is actually a 26 year age difference between me and my oldest cousin. Funny enough, I would say that she is the one that I really connect with the most too.

I am working on editing portraits and thought I would share one. Here is another adorable one of the newborn from last weekend, that little baby was just so precious!

You'd be so proud (I know I am)

Alright... so we left off last time with me painting. The painting is completed, the wood floor is down, baseboards are done, equipment is moved in... (phew) All I need to really do now is paint the baseboards now. When that is completed and we move all of the "working" stuff out and put waiting room furniture in there I will post another video tour.

(I would like to thank My Mom & Dad, Adam's Mom & Dad and my nephew, Justin for all of their help with this, you all have been really, really helpful. I would have said "screw it" before the first row of the floor went on if you all weren't there.)

I was so whipped from working on the floor and all of that jazz that my allergies started acting up. (probably from making all of the dust with the saw) Needless to say, I am still trying to recover. I tell you what though, if you haven't seen them yet Puffs has a tissue with lotion and vicks! It is a breath of heaven sniffing those things.

BUT - On to the good stuff. We had our first two appointments on 9/13. How exciting! Our first appointment was a little newborn named Jocelyn. She was the sweetest little thing ever. Her parents even had this tiny little pink bracelet on her wrist with an itsy bitsy heart on it. (Soo cute) And she had quite the head of dark brown hair.

Our afternoon appointment was a 6 month old sweetheart named Kole. He had the biggest blue eyes ever and boy did they ever sparkle. This little rolly polie sweetheart had a blast playing with the leaves and giggling away.

It's Tuesday, but feels like Monday

I am going to copy Adam's idea.... Here are my top ten songs right now:

1. "Summertime" New Kids on the Block
2. "In the ayer" Flo-rida
3. "Tears and Rain" James Blunt
4. "Paralyzer" Finger 11
5. "American Boy" Estelle & Kanye West
6. "Take a bow" Rihanna
7. "When I grow up" Pussycat Dolls
8. "One step at a time" Jordin Sparks
9. "Bat Country" Avenged Sevenfold
10. "10,000 fists" Disturbed

That was a lot harder to choose than I thought it would be... Maybe next time I should do "top 100!"

Painting the studio.

Woohoo! It is labor day and I am doing hard-ish labor. Neat. Last night we went to my parents house to visit and ended up playing hide-and-seek in the dark. Phew! Creepy at night time I tell ya. I have learned one thing though is that I stink at hiding. I was always one of the first people to be found.

Well, Adam and I need to get back to painting. I will try to remember my camera again, as Adam has been doing some work! I just need to prove it...

Stay tuned for more.

Tour of Larkin Photography - Pre-opening

Well, lucky for everyone, I finally decided to charge my camera and videotaped a little sneak peak tour of our studio before it is actually finished. Excuse my nastiness, it was really warm in there, since I had the windows open to air out the paint fumes. I hope you enjoy!

Some more catch up!

Wow, July and August were crazy months. Adam and I got engaged. My sweetie finally asked me to officially spend the rest of our lives together. It wasn't anything special really. On July 2nd we played "hot, warm, cold" around the house until I finally found the ring. I had an idea since I assisted in picking out the ring. It consists of several princess cut diamonds. The center, of course the largest, with two supporting diamond sidekicks. Next to those are about 5 or 6 smaller diamonds finished off on the front and back of the ring two diamond chips. See below for a visual. Not sure if this is the ring, but it is the basic layout.

Hrmm. we also decided to venture off on our own and rent our own studio instead of renting someone elses. Our studio is located in downtown Midland on the Larkin Block, right above Oscars on Main Street.

We are currently renovating the place to fit the business's personality but should be open for appointments only mid-September. No pictures of this yet, but I wish we could have gotten pictures of the demo. Adam, Terry (Adam's friend) and I went all gangster on a counter that was in there and we did a major beat down. I finally got to kick a hole in a wall, but I got my shoe stuck. It was a great time.

I got a new piece of equipment for the studio. A Nikon D300. It is a very smooth camera and I enjoyed it thoroughly when I did senior pictures for a gal from my old stomping ground, Western High School. See below for the some of my favorites from the final cuts:

Playing Catch Up

Wow! It has been a long time since I have updated you all on what I have been up to. I have some explaining to do! I will catch you all up starting from after Logan’s Birthday. The readers digest version!

Week of May 11th:
My nephew had his birthday May 11th also; he turned 13 years old!! I am so proud of that kiddo, he is has turned out to be quite the strapping young lad. I just hope that he keeps safe, from what I understand, these are the “tough” years. Middle school to high school really shapes a kids life and tends to drive them in the direction they are headed for in life. Good luck to him and “just say no to drugs and alcohol” they have age limits on those sorts of things for a reason.

Some time in May – I can’t remember the dates exactly:
Adam and I invested in a scooter!!! It is blue and white, pictures are available below. I would love to see someone tell me that 117 miles to the gallon is geeky while they are paying $4.00 a gallon at the gas station. Not geeky to me… Unfortunately though, it has rained pretty much every day since we bought it. (That sucks) It is still fun to buzz around the town with though.

Week of June 10th… ish:
I took a road trip to the Three Oaks/New Buffalo, MI area. Below are some pictures of the beach by Lake Michigan. Google took me through the country so I also have a picture of a lazy cow and an abandoned home that I saw along the way.

Week of June 15/16th:
I had the opportunity to visit Florida for a few days on a business trip. I didn’t get to do much shopping, but I did get pictures of the clouds while I was in the plane.

June 20th:
Adam’s and my photography teacher got married and allowed us to capture her wedding day. It was a very unique wedding. It fit her personality perfectly. I will post a couple pictures next time.

Happy Birthday Logan!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my darling Logan!!!

Every year I make sure to have their birthday be special for them. Just because they aren't human, doesn't mean they don't know that it is their birthday.

The end to an interesting week

Saturday, Adam and I went to the Pet Expo. It was interesting. Not as good as I really thought though. They didn't have as much cool free stuff as I thought they would. Usually we get a bunch of pens, paper and other stuff but no.. I think the only free pen I got was from the pet cemetery place. There was one really cute booth though. It included Sugar gliders. Little flying squirrel type things. (See below) They are super soft and kind of remind me of a hamster... I would of gotten one but they cost only a meer $400. I will stick with my dogs and maybe a hamster.

Sunday was fun too. We shot an engagement session for one of my co-workers, Megan, and her fiance Dan. They were very fun to work with. An adventurous couple, I must say. They were troopers, getting on the ground without a second thought. We started their session at a popular spot in Midland, MI, Dow Gardens. From there, we made our way to downtown Midland and wondered around taking pictures in various places. A couple of their photos can be seen below.

On, Monday, Adam and I got new lenses!!!! Thank you stimulous money!! We purchased some spiffy 50mm fixed lenses. It will take some getting used to zooming in with this one. (The zoom consists of my legs) But it takes great photos, you can see a couple I took below. Nice depth of field if I do say so myself.

Above is Logan, standard with bowl in mouth. (BTW, he just ate in that picture)

Above is Artie, silly as can be. He is such a character.

Last, but not least, this is my boyfriend Adam. I hope he doesn't come to the blog... If the picture doesn't exist anymore. He had me take it down. Did I mention that my photographer boyfriend doesn't like his picture taken? =)

Tuesday and Wednesday, I went to a user group meeting in GR for Bankway. (Enough about my "other" job. Ick.)

Thursday... nothing spectacular..

Friday, well I fell asleep at 8PM if that tells you anything....

And here we are, back at Saturday!! May 10th! My big boy Logan is turning 2 tomorrow!! It seems like yesterday we just brought him home. It is kind of rushed really, having Logan's birthday, Mother's Day and my nephew, Justin's birthday all on the same day. Just a little cramped throughout the day.

I will post Logan's birthday picture once it has been taken.

Have a great weekend!

Anne

It's a beautiful morning!

I am so excited! The pet expo is today at the Dow Event Center. I admit I am a pet LOVER! Nothing brings me more joy than the look on my dogs faces when I wake up and when I walk in the door. So full of love. With Logan, we may as well put velcro attaching him to my hip. He is going to be two next week and follows me everywhere. We have a baby gate blocking them from getting out of the living room and he stands there, waiting for me to come back.

Artie, on the other hand, we decided to make him a little more independant. We didn't baby him quite as much, but he still needs some TLC. While we bought Logan from a breeder, we adopted Artie from SAFE, and organization in Clare, MI, that saves dogs and cats from being put down and adopts them out for a fee. (pretty much the same price as Logan) We were told that Artie and his siblings were found roaming the streets of Saginaw, Dixie Hwy to be specific. He still has some issues riding in the car, whining until he realizes we are not dropping him off.

Here is a picture of my little guys. (Artie is black, Logan is yellow)

The adventure begins...

Here I am. A woman with a camera. Well, I should say, a photographer with a vision.

Adam and I reside here in Midland, Michigan along with our two dogs, Artie and Logan. I was born in Bay City, Michigan and am the youngest of 4 children. I developed a love for photography when my mom got her first Cannon Rebel film camera. She let me take photos with it often making me really want to own my own. Several years later, here I am. My dream come true with my Nikon dangling from my neck. I don't know how many adults can honestly say they wanted to be in their job since they were little, or even have a passion for what they do. Not a lot.