artist & athlete | a glimpse into real life, Heidi style | Artistic musings, business advice, and athletic endeavors, written through the lens of a highly educated mama who loves spreading joy.

July 26, 2015 · 10:00 am

Wedding Recovery + The Bakken Family + Bram’s Senior Portraits

Being in a wedding is exhausting! 🙂 Brian and I stayed with Abbie at the Jefferson Street Inn, so we could just walk over to the gift opening brunch. That hotel was really quite wonderful! We’ve shot weddings there before, and I’ve loved working with their catering and event staff, but we’d never actually stayed there. Our room was classy, the front desk staff was very friendly (I needed extra shampoo to get all the hairspray out of my updo!), and they let Abbie stay there for a small fee. The trip signified many “firsts” for Abbie- her first hotel stay, her first carpet experience (we have hardwood and tile), and her first ride in an elevator! She was such a champ. I love that cutie! We took her for ice cream at Briqs to celebrate. 🙂

I started the next week with an adorable family/maternity shoot with the Bakken family. Kendi is beautifully pregnant with Teddy, so we had a fabulous shoot with these guys!

It’s safe to say Jace is excited about becoming a big brother! 🙂

After their photo shoot, I went for a run around the park. I found a little trail that I hadn’t run before, and I loved exploring.

Hot, humid runs are a special kind of cleansing. 🙂 I got home in time to clean up and finish studying before my first full city council meeting. Here’s the view from my new “office…”

…and of course, a selfie with the alders from Districts 5 and 6. 🙂

Our friend, Ali, had a cancelled flight, so she was in Stevens Point for an extra day. We met at Emy J’s, caught up, and I learned all about her Brooklyn life! New York sounds like a completely different experience- I’ve been there once, but we went and visited all the sights that tourists typically see, so it wasn’t a really authentic experience. 🙂

I finished out the week with some fabulous senior portraits for Bram. He’s a very talented soccer player and avid fly angler, so we had a variety of locations for the shoot. 🙂

It was great to work with you, Bram! Thanks for not kicking that soccer ball right at my head.

Bram-3

Shots like this are a sure sign of trust… I wouldn’t lay down on the ground with my gear in front of just any soccer player and ask him to shoot the ball. 🙂

I was busy putting the final touches on my STREAM Girls program, and subsequently feeling pretty stressed, so Brian decided to take me on a little date to Belts’! It’s a short bike ride from our home, and we just LOVE their ice cream! 🙂

It’s easy to support local businesses when their products are delicious! 🙂

Up next? STREAM Girls- all the cuteness of Girl Scouts learning about their watershed and the Trout Unlimited volunteers who help. 🙂

As always, thanks for reading! 🙂

Miles this year: 294.1

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Tagged as city council, family portraits, maternity portraits, photography, pups, running, senior portraits, traveling, weddings

July 25, 2015 · 9:30 am

Learning As An Alder + Amy’s Wedding!

As alderwoman, I have a chance to learn more about my city in some pretty unique ways- and one of them is by attending community meetings.

I went to my first Association of Downtown Businesses meeting, since my district includes our downtown square and a portion of Main Street.

It was wonderful to meet the shop owners, and we had a wonderful discussion about how to make our downtown more bicycle-friendly.

When I got home from the meeting, I’d received a special delivery from one of my TU friends, Fred. He gave me a whole stack of fly fishing books!!

I’ll have my work cut out for me on the rainy days this summer and the cold days this winter. I’m actually looking forward to cuddling up with a cup of tea and one of these books on cold days. 🙂

And now, on to the main event… Amy’s wedding!

She invited the wedding party and out-of-town guests to come to a wine and cheese social at the wine shop on Thursday night. It was SO awesome to see my Colorado mountain girl, Kyt, and my Brooklyn girl, Ali!

We went home and got a good night of sleep Thursday night, to help us prepare for the long weekend ahead. On Friday morning, I met my sole sisters for a hot yoga class at Community Soul with Kevin, a guest teacher from Costa Rica! It was a wonderful way to get my day started. 🙂

CSY is in downtown Wausau, so after class, I just ran across the 400 block to help the wedding party set up at the Elks Lodge for the wedding reception. After we finished setting up, the girls all went to Gloss nail bar for manicures and pedicures. 🙂

After our appointments, Becky and I ran a few errands to grab last minute wedding necessities, and then I ran home to shower, get dressed, and pick up Mr. Mustache. ❤ I packed everything I’d need for the wedding, then we went back to Wausau for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

We had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends at the dinner, then the girls went back to Amy’s parents’ house to spend the night. Her last night as a Snyder was spent laughing with her family and friends, and we all went to bed way too late. 🙂

Wedding morning came in with a bang… or I should say it came in with a chirp. The birds were singing so beautifully but LOUDLY that we all woke up early. I half expected the birds to carry Amy and her dress to the wedding Cinderella-style!

We had our hair and makeup done at Euphoria by a good friend of Amy’s, and I had to grab a photo of her fabulous custom-made blue wedding shoes.

When we were finished getting all dolled up, I headed over to the Yawkey House Gardens and Carriage House to put my dress on and prepare for the ceremony. Amy chose the most beautiful bouquets for us to carry… I couldn’t get over how pretty this was!

It sprinkled right up until the wedding, but it stayed dry once the wedding started. In typical Heidi fashion, I cried my way through the entire wedding.

Isn’t she gorgeous? My best friend planned and executed the most fabulous wedding, and I’m so happy for her and Chris as they start their married life together! The ceremony was beautiful, and the photo session was really fun! Amy and Chris hired my friend, Kim, and I’m sure her photos will be absolutely fabulous.

Amy let us all choose our own bridesmaid dress from a variety of styles, so we were all a little different. I loved it!

We spent some time relaxing at the park before we headed back for the reception…

…and once everyone was seated, Amy surprised Chris by singing a little song. It was way too cute.

I worked really hard to write a perfect matron of honor toast, and I somehow made it all the way through without sobbing. I don’t know how that happened. A miracle, perhaps. To sum it up: I’ve never seen Amy so happy, and I feel warm in my heart knowing that Chris will be there to support her and love her as they go on the adventure that is marriage. There is no one that I’d rather share my best friend with!

Now that I’m crying, I better sign off. I’m such a sap. ❤

As always, thanks for reading, friends!

Miles this year: 292.1

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July 24, 2015 · 9:21 am

Madison with Amy + Trout Tattoo + Amy’s Bachelorette

Before I knew it, my best friend’s wedding was upon us. I can’t believe how time has flown by! We spent the weeks leading up to the wedding helping with planning, decorating, and general moral support, including a short trip to Madison to visit Becky. Becky is Amy’s sister-in-law, and since she couldn’t make it to the bachelorette, we made a special little trip to catch up. 🙂

Dinner at Eno Vino, wine and movies at Becky and Dan’s apartment, and DIY pedicures. It was a lot of fun! Thanks for hosting us, Becky!

We headed home early so Amy could work and I could get to my tattoo appointment- time for my ninth marathon tally, with a little abstract brookie addition.

The stencil…

In progress…

And finished!

Foot tattoos really hurt. I always forget exactly how much they hurt until I’m siting in the chair- luckily, they’re small! Thanks to Jim at Blackwater, for hooking me up, and for starting with the brookie so I woudldn’t change my mind during the tally. 🙂

I made it back to my office for a full afternoon of work before heading out for my TU board meeting. We met at our new location, inside the SentryWorld building. We had special guest, Kyle Herrman, an aquatic ecologist from UWSP, who gave us a presentation on the Lost Creek Stream restoration project.

I was even lucky enough to sit next to the infamous Mike Dombeck!

A great night of learning and sharing our excitement for conservation led to a sound night of sleep. 🙂 The next day, I worked to catch up on business before a busy weekend, and Brian and I headed out to the St. Joe’s church picnic. Brian was playing with the big band, and I was dancing with my SP ballroom friends!

I even ran into a old friend from high school- Chris! 🙂 It was so great to catch up.

I finished off the weekend in the Twin Cities with Amy and the bridesmaids for her bachelorette party. We went shopping at the Mall of America and Ikea, then headed to our downtown hotel to recoup before dinner at the Melting Pot.

After dinner, we walked downtown for drinks and dancing. We had a great time! It was loud in the club, so we couldn’t hear the pouring rain that had started outside- so once we got outside, we decided to go for it, and we ran the nine blocks to our hotel… finishing the evening with a natural shower!

It was pretty neat to see the lightning reflecting off the skyscrapers downtown. Thanks for the fabulous weekend, ladies! It was wonderful to get to know you all better. 🙂

When I got home, Brian had been working on our new deck, and his father came over to help. Greg brought me a huge bouquet of peonies from their house. It was such a sweet welcome home!

As always, thanks for reading, friends!

Miles this year: 290.1

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July 23, 2015 · 1:27 pm

Killeen and Ernie + Wisconsin Adventures

I was home just long enough to charge my camera batteries, do a load of laundry, kiss my Mr. Mustache and my pup, then I headed down to shoot the engagement photos of the gorgeous Killeen and handsome Ernie in Elk Grove.

This shoot was extra special because Killeen is my cousin, and you can definitely see a family resemblence! 🙂

We lucked out with fabulous weather, perfect lighting, and a cute little nature reserve right near their house. You’d never guess we were in the city!

We shot, and posed, and laughed, then headed back for an Italian dinner (Chicago has the best food options!), a sound sleep, and a short run before I hit the road home. I had a meeting with my accountant (my aunt, Tina) in Madison, to work on my taxes. Being self-employed is difficult for many reasons, only one of which is doing my taxes. Another quick meeting at city hall, then Brian and I headed off to Waupaca to deliver our little Abbie monster to my mother-in-love. We made the switch at a very funny and Wisconsin-y bar, JR Sportsmans, with a gigantic fish out front, and a little game farm.

We ran home, performed minor surgery on my kayak (a new compass!)…

…then headed up north to meet Nikki and celebrate the long Memorial Day weekend.

We swung by my grandparents’ home to give my grammie and grampie a little love and share the news about the alderwoman gig. They’d already seen it in the paper, and saved me the clipping. I love these people. ❤

Once we made it up north, we kayaked, ran, did yoga, napped, sat in the hot tub, went to the Tomahawk old car show (saw Adam, a pianist friend from college!), sent the boys fishing, and caught a tree frog.

It was an incredible weekend of relaxation, laughter, and a fabulous reminder that sometimes the oldest friends are the best friends! Love you, Nikki.<3

We met my mother-in-love again in Waupaca to pick up our puppy, and we took her out to dinner. We love the food at the Chain Bar in King- their pizza is delicious! While we sat at the covered outdoor bar, we watched a storm roll in, and a double rainbow appeared. How cool! 🙂

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I spent the following week in meetings as an alder, including meeting the president of our neighboring town, since we share a boundary line.

I went on a fun run with the SP running group (and saw Margaret and her new babe!), shot a few headshots, and spent some time playing outside with Abbie.

I also went down to southern Wisconsin for a Wisconsin League of Municipalities training for newly elected government officials. I have learned so much with this job- more than I ever realized I needed to know! Do you know the average lifespan of a Wisconsin police car? I do! 🙂

I spent the night in Madison with our friends, the Langes, and we went out to dinner at this crazy but delicious Jamacan restaurant.

Before I knew it, I was back at home with Mr. Mustache, and ready for a whole new week of adventures.

As always, thanks for reading, friends!

Miles this year: 288.1

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July 22, 2015 · 8:46 am

Your new Stevens Point District Four Alderwoman

Since Brian and I decided to change the focus of our business so we are not solely/primarily wedding photographers, we have found ourselves with a new sense of enjoyment- a free weekend. We planned a trip up to the cabin with Nikki to surprise her beautiful momma (Marilyn) on her birthday! I’ve been going there with her and her family since we were a single digit age.

We had a fabulous weekend- Marilyn was surprised, we went on a pontoon ride around the lake, and we took a little time to recharge our batteries before a busy week ahead.

Brian knew I had a big week ahead, so he surprised me with a beautiful bouquet. I love flowers!!

Monday was a big day. We have city council meetings on the third Monday of the month, and since my alderman (fourth district) was recently elected mayor, we had a vacancy. I don’t have much of a background in local politics, but I polished up my resume, wrote a very honest and personality-filled cover letter, and threw my hat in the ring. In a case like this, the city doesn’t hold a special election- the city council votes to fill the vacancy.

I was very nervous at the meeting- appointing the fourth district alder was about halfway through the agenda, and I sat anxiously with Brian in the gallery. My original opponent saw my resume and cover letter and dropped out of the race- I don’t know if he was intimidated, or if he was just relieved that someone who cares about the city was going to try and fill the spot. I did have another opponent step up at the meeting, so when the interview portion of the evening arrived, I sat down next to Bryan Worzella. The council asked us a variety of questions about our ideas for the city and our vision, as well as our community involvement. Several members of the council were excused from the meeting, but when it came time to vote, I was elected 7-1. The clerk of courts came down and swore me in right away, and the mayor escorted me to my seat.

I’m proud to be Stevens Point’s District Four Alderwoman. I love my city and especially my neighborhood- that’s why we chose to root our home and business here.

I’m sure that my life will never be the same- I’m now spending all my free time (and then some!) trying to learn the inner workings of Stevens Point. Unfortunately, my editor at Hoopla fired me over the new job- since she also edits the City-Times, she said that being the staff photographer for Hoopla would be a conflict of interest. What a bummer… but I didn’t have too much time to think about it, as I rushed to La Crosse right after the council meeting.

I checked into my hotel, got a quick little sleep, woke up for an even quicker run…

then I headed over to Festival Food’s Onalaska office for my third and final day of headshots for that company.

Luckily for me, the Greenfields leave nearby, so after my photo shoot, I was able to meet them for dinner and snuggle with the newest member of our Delta Omicron family, baby Gloria! ❤

She’s absolutely perfect, and I’m so happy for Jaime and Karl. 😀

Once I got home, I immediately met with the major, the city attorney, and our comptroller/treasurer. There’s so much to learn! When I was overwhelmed with learning, I got a release through a workout with the reel mower.

Gosh, I love that thing, even when I let the lawn get too long and it’s difficult to operate.

That’s all for now, friends- thanks for reading! Up next? A trip to Chicago followed by a little more time up north.

Miles this year: 286.1

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July 20, 2015 · 9:30 am

Fly Fishing School 2015 + CWERB Presentation

Hey, guys! I’m excited to share a few photos from our Fly Fishing School this year. My TU chapter, Frank Hornberg, hosts an annual fly fishing school, and we share our love for the sport and conservation.

We teach knot tying…

…and fly casting…

…we have hands-on reading the stream sessions…

…and last, but not least, we serve really delicious food.

I wasn’t planning on wet wading during lunch, but when the fish are rising, well…

My chapter president and I took out four of our students after the school was over. We swung by a pub for dinner, then headed out on our beloved Tomorrow River. I was so proud of the women that came out with me- they did a great job, and we had lots of laughs while doing it. 🙂

Thanks, everyone! I hope you end up loving our streams as much as we do.

Shortly after the school, I ended up spending my meeting in a seemingly polar opposite way- at a meeting in a dark country club room, with a PowerPoint presentation. It was like the collision of my two worlds- I attended a CWERB (Central Wisconsin Economic Resource Bureau) presentation about entrepreneurship in America.

I learned a lot of material- it was incredibly interesting! I’m thankful that I secured an invite. I wasn’t sure if I would know anyone there, but I ended up sitting next to our mayor, and he introduced me to several folks that I should know in the community. Those connections will come in handy with my newest project… more information to come!

I’ll leave you with a photo from my lilac bush after a little dew.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Up next? A memorial day up north and my launch into local politics.

Miles this year: 286.1

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July 19, 2015 · 9:30 am

Cupcakes + New Phones + Mother’s Day

I really do love being busy, especially because it means I get to eat lots of delicious treats to refuel.

Take this olive oil. fig, and pistachio cupcake, for example.

It was every bit as delicious as it looks. Food photography is the best. 🙂 That cupcake is from the Main Grain Bakery.

I’m super excited to announce that we have FINALLY ditched Sprint. After fighting with them over connection and coverage issues, and being issued several new phones, then losing data in my office and home, and spending hours with customer service, we finally just decided to ditch them before our contract is over. We happily switched to AT&T, and we went to Best Buy to do it. These two guys just made our day… we had great service, and now we both proudly use the iPhone 6. Yippee!

We celebrated Mother’s Day with brunch (for dinner) for our moms, but I spent some extra time with Abbie for the morning. Since we don’t have kids, she’s the closest thing to a baby that I have, and I sure do appreciate her. ❤

We took a little field trip over to the Hines/Bellile family’s home to do an extended family photo shoot. They all came in by car and plane to spend Mother’s Day with their grandparents. Look at this crew!

After a long weekend, I recouped for the week by heading up to Wausau for my best friend, Amy, and her wedding hair and makeup trial run. 🙂

Wedding prep is so exciting! ❤ I can’t wait to tell you all about her wedding.

As always, thanks for reading, friends!

Miles this year: 284.1

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July 18, 2015 · 10:16 am

I can’t believe I left my keys on the hood.

Yes, you read that right. Apparently, I was unloading the car when I got home, and I put my keys on the hood of the car. Later that evening, Brian and I hopped in my car to drive to hang out with some of our friends, and he used his car keys. We were several miles from home when he looked down on the hood and noticed my keys were sitting there.

They’re not magnetized or anything- I don’t know how they stayed! I urged Brian to pull over, but he said, “If they haven’t come off yet, they’ll be okay until we get there.” We drove the last few miles with baited breath, but they didn’t budge. I’m so lucky!

I paid forward my good karma by donating a photo shoot for the absolutely precious little Bennett.

His momma and daddy tried for many years to have this little peanut, and we all eagerly awaited his arrival!

Congratulations, Kostuhoski family! ❤

I spent several days doing headshots for a couple different companies, including my physical therapist’s office, Point Forward. Look at these friendly PTs! 🙂

I also had the opportunity to do headshots for the Festival foods company.

I did about 130 of them, and they all look pretty much like this. 🙂

After my first day shooting for Festival at their Green Bay support office, I swung by my favorite fly shop, Tight Lines. They were prepping their gear for the busy guide season.

I dropped off a couple beers (share the love with your fly shop, people!), had a few laughs, then headed home to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Brian. Margaritas, fajitas, and eating on the porch. I love summer in Wisconsin.

I had a bunch of other shoots, but made time for a little community race that raises money for CAP services. Our friend, Jenny, also ran the race! A little warm weather 5K was perfect for a weeknight.

I finished off the week with my last TU chapter board meeting at Shooters in Plover. We’ve switched our meeting location to the new community room in SentryWorld. It’s an incredible facility.

Our weekend included a shoot with all of the individual students at Heywood Music Studios. Here’s the group shot from their spring piano recital!

Always a busy girl, and always running around. More adventures to come.

As always, thanks for reading!

❤

Miles this year: 282.1

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Tagged as beer, cinco de mayo, family portraits, fly fishing, friends, headshots, music, newborn photography, photography, running, traveling, Trout Unlimited

June 30, 2015 · 9:50 am

Running analysis (a.k.a. I have weak WHAT??)

After a couple weeks of recovery post-marathon, I was ready to revamp my running technique. I know my gait needed a few modifications, so I scheduled a running analysis (gait analysis) at Point Forward Motion Analysis.

It was very interesting. I learned more about my body than I ever thought I’d want to know. 🙂

John is the guy in charge, and he outfitted me with little electrodes.

Once they were attached, I went for a little run on the treadmill.

There were several video cameras, recording me from different angles. They ran the footage through their fancy computer, and it gave me lots of data. I was especially interested in the angles of my joints mid stride. That data helped John identify my weak muscles.

He used that information to give me a series of exercises to help me strengthen those weak areas, and he placed electrodes on the muscles. I then performed those exercises while watching a big tv screen that indicated when those muscles were activated.

No cheating! One of my weakest areas are my glutes. Even though I regularly do squats, I’d somehow trained my body to use my quads instead of my butt. Gosh, darn it! It sounds like that’s a common problem with runners, so I didn’t feel too bad about it, though I was really interested in learning how to teach my body to squat correctly. I’m glad I had those electrodes to give me some feedback when I was using the right muscles! For the record, my calves are also weak. When John suggested that, I thought he was crazy. I’d just run my ninth marathon- how could I possibly have weak calves?!

Well, he asked me to do some one-legged heel raises… turns out, I could only do a few. I guess I do have week calves!

It was a pretty awesome experience, and I left with a whole new idea of what I want my running to become this year. I love finding new muscles to strengthen and new ways to be faster and stronger. This isn’t going to be easy, but improvements are worth working for. 🙂 Thanks, John!

Miles this year: 278.1

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June 29, 2015 · 12:52 pm

Wausau MS walk 2015 + Kentucky Derby + Kosmalski extended family

After that eventful Friday, waking up Saturday morning early was not easy!

I didn’t mind it, though- my best friend, Nikki, is on the planning board for Wausau’s MS walk, and they needed photographers. We happily volunteered, and headed up to Wausau on a beautiful Saturday morning,

Volunteers were busy registering walkers and teams were gathering for pep talks and team photos.

I sang the national anthem…

…and they were off!

The course was beautiful, winding along the Wisconsin River, under little bridges, and through the woods.

The course was full of volunteers and people ready to help.

Once walkers made it back, they we greeted with prizes, face painting, and lots of snacks!

Great job, Nikki and the committee- your event was fantastic!

We left Wausau and came back home to attend a Kentucky Derby party with some of my ballroom dancing friends. Our resident liquor expert and mixologist…

I was all fancy…

We watched the race, of course.
Then we spent the night drinking fancy drinks, dancing on the porch, and telling stories! Thanks for all the fun, dancing friends!

I love being busy, and things never seem to slow down. We slept soundly after that busy Saturday, woke up early, charged our batteries, changed out memory cards, went to Tapestry, then had an extended family photo shoot. Jonah’s family came to see us for family photos a couple years ago, and this time, she brought her siblings, their families, and her parents. Look at these cuties!

I love working with families, because it is so cool to see the family resemblance through the generations. I can see it in their faces, or their smiles, or the way they laugh. I can even see it when there is no biological connection- children imitate their parents, so kindness is passed through families, too!