Tag Archives: running

August 8, 2014 · 10:00 am

Wisconsin TU’s Youth Fishing Camp, running, and Amy and Chris!

I’m having a hard time adjusting to life in my office after that beautiful week playing in the mountains. Here’s one more image for you…

I am happy to be back- back to my home, and my bed, and my puppy. And back to my garden! Some of my favorite purple raspberries are ripe.

I ran with the fun run group here in Point over at Standing Rocks, but I had so much fun that I didn’t take a picture until the ride home.

I was home for two nights, then I headed out for Wisconsin TU’s very first youth fishing camp.
My friend, Jen, came over to help! We were twins in our matching jackets.

We taught the kids about conservation, knot tying, tying flies, and a whole ton of information about fishing with flies, spinners, and bait. The kids had a great time, caught some fish, and learned a lot!

Many thanks to all our volunteers who came out and shared their time and talents with the next generation. What a crew!

I was SO ready to be home for a week in my own office and my own kitchen… I cooked Heidi food for a week!

I’m sure everyone eats their eggs with kale and sriracha, right?
I returned to running with Lydia as much as possible.

Hurry home, Carmel! We miss you. 🙂
I was lucky enough to be invited up to Wausau to capture one of my best friends, Amy, in some engagement portraits with her handsome fiancé, Chris.
Amy was one of my maid of honors, along with my other bestie, Nikki. Here we are, almost seven years ago. #flashbackfriday

Photo by Lem Fillyaw of Painting With Light.
I will be one of Amy’s matron of honors, so I won’t be able to shoot her wedding, but we sure had a great time up at Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, in their gardens. Take a peek!

It is amazing how time flies. I remember when we were too young to drive… and look at us now.
Congratulations, sweetie… we can’t wait to celebrate with you two next year!
That’s all for now. I have a lot of photo shoots this week, so stay tuned for some super cute stuff!

Miles this year: 355.25

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August 6, 2014 · 10:00 am

My Big Horn Mountain Adventure (Part I)

Monday morning rolled around, and Brian and I did as much laundry as we could, unpacked from Lifest, and repacked for the mountains. It took us about 18 hours to get to the mountain, so we drove the first half on Monday and stopped in Mitchell, SD for the night.
Once we entered Wyoming, on Tuesday, we had to take our kayaks through the watercraft checkpoints.

It was a pain since I was anxious to get there, but it is for a very good reason, and they gave us an awesome keychain…

The closer we got, the more different things looked. Permanent snow drift fences and hills, then bigger hills, then mountains.

We took turns driving, which helped a lot!

I was so excited to get to the mountain and meet our friends, John and Carmel. They had an awesome campsite set up and we spent the week with them and John’s three boys.

When I stepped out of my tent, this was the view. Insane.

I loved seeing all the mule deer! So cute.

Carmel and I went for a few runs up there. There’s nothing like attempting to run five miles at 9,000 feet to humble a person.

We did a lot of fun things- one of my favorites was visiting Porcupine Falls. We hiked down to the water, then climbed up on the rock cliff and jumped in the pool! It was a balmy 53 degrees.

We took a day and drove down to Yellowstone. Kayaking Yellowstone Lake has been on my bucket list for a while, so I was just thrilled to get to play down there. I have also read a lot about Yellowstone as I’ve gotten more involved with TU, so it was exciting to go visit on my own. We had to get watercraft licenses for the park and go through another inspection, then we were happily paddling away. 🙂

We even found a couple little caves to check out.

It was a fun day on the water, but we saw a storm rolling in, so we headed back.

We’d bought fishing licenses, but when the storm came, we weren’t sure if we’d have time. I grabbed my rod anyway, strung it up, and popped over to the closest fishable stream.

Three casts in, and I heard the first clap of thunder, so I packed up. It started to rain, so we headed back, but stopped for a couple photos. Picture it: I had B drive, so I could jump out of the car and shoot, then it started raining harder, so I rolled down the window and shot through the opening, then it started hailing. I still wanted to play outside!

It was an incredible day. Neither of us had been there before, and one day wasn’t nearly enough time! We are already planning a longer trip back next time. For those of you who have been to Yellowstone, what would you recommend?
It took us almost four hours to get back to camp, and we were about four miles away when my brakes started making that signature grinding… That sound that means, “Ooh, girl… You should have checked your brakes before taking a long road trip to the mountains!”
So. This happened. Adventure in a photo?

John took Brian into town (Sheridan) the next day to pick up brake pads and rotors, and B installed them right there on top of the mountain.
I’ll leave you with a sneaky picture B grabbed of me doing yoga in the morning. Any inversion was made infinitely more awesome by seeing the upside down mountains in my view.

Part II of my adventure will share all my fishing fun. 🙂
Please come back for more! As always, thanks for reading, friends.

Miles this year: 352.25

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Tagged as Big Horn mountains, camping, fly fishing, friends, mountains, paddling, photography, road trip, running, traveling, Wyoming, Yoga

August 5, 2014 · 10:30 am

Lifest 2014

After our busy Fourth of July weekend, we kept right on chugging with our busy schedule.
I actually spent Monday- Wednesday filling in as the receptionist at my physical therapy office- Point Forward Physical Therapy. I made a great office girl!
I even had time for a few runs, including a Green Circle loop with Abbie.

I packed up my gear, my pup, and my husband, and we headed over to shoot Lifest, a music festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
I don’t usually share too many photos from the event, but I take a lot of photos of people hanging out, camping, and generally being awesome. The evening concert crowds are usually around 20,000 people, and lots of people stay and camp for the week. I am a photo team supervisor for an awesome group of 14 photographers and videographers. Our team is called the Ninjagraphers.
The Beirl family and friends were there:

And Kenzie did some incredible spray paint art…

Chris, ~~my twin~~ “our intern” was working, too!

…and Jordy…

…and a goat. Well, a whole petting zoo…

And this. Father of the year? 🙂

John, my physical therapist, brought his oldest boys for Toby Mac.

There were lots of concerts, lots of speakers, lots of signs, and lots of folding chairs. 🙂

…and last, but not least, Wes, from my favorite late night comedy folks, Happy Fun Time.

Lifest hosts a 5K run on Saturday morning, and I ran it with a stranger! I met her during the first mile and we chatted and prayed our way through the run. Pretty awesome.

Jean brought me lots of healthy snacks, and the Fawley family took great care of me (and Brian, too!), as always.
I will leave you with some smiley balsamic vinegar, on the bottom of my salad plate.

We came home from Lifest on Sunday afternoon, exhausted, and left for another adventure on Monday…

Wyoming.

Stay tuned for that story! Thanks for reading, friends.

Miles this year: 347.25

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Tagged as concerts, family, friends, Lifest, music, photography, races, running, traveling

August 2, 2014 · 10:10 am

The Teen Summit and my favorite summer race

The youth programming within Trout Unlimited (the Headwaters program) is pretty much amazing. My coworkers, Frankin and Rochelle, are the coolest people. Kids who have gone through a youth camp in their state are eligible to apply to the Teen Summit. It’s a camp for teens that show leadership potential, and they all happen to be killer anglers. 🙂
The summit is in a different state every year, and this year, it was in our beautiful driftless area at Sugar Creek Bible Camp, so I went down to help. 🙂 Here’s some of my favorite images from those few days…

It was a really great time, and I left totally inspired by the future of TU.
I made the drive home (a couple hours) and felt like I could sleep for days, but I worked on photos and other work, trying to get caught up. All this travel makes me so thankful for my home- Brian, my garden, my burr grinder (and my favorite coffee!), my favorite fur baby. I was so thankful for my own bed, and I needed the rest, since I only had one day at home before my favorite summer race- the Heart and Sole race, in Pittsville, Wisconsin. Pittsville is a tiny little town in the exact center of Wisconsin, and this race raises money for the firefighters of this town. It’s a little five mile race, and it’s always on the day before the 4th of July, so the weather is unpredictable. Last year, it was 98 degrees, but the weather was lovely this year, in the 70s. I went with George and his friend, Sara.

It was Sara’s first race, so she ran the two mile option, and we had an awesome race. It started with bagpipes playing (America, The Beautiful instead of the national anthem)…

This race is well known for their post-race treats, including the homemade granola. I love that stuff, and apparently, so does this girl. 🙂

We all survived and thrived during this race, and George and I crossed the line together at 46:12.

We hopped in George’s car and carpooled home, where I slept soundly Thursday night, in anticipation for my big weekend ahead: a mustard museum tour and Ashley’s wedding! More of that to come in my next post 😉
Thanks for reading, friends!
Miles this year: 347.25

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July 31, 2014 · 11:00 am

California Rainbows

…and my flight went to California. 🙂
I spent two days fishing the only place in our country where rainbow trout are native.
I was obviously miserable.

I spent the first day on a float trip on the Upper Sac, with the guys from The Fly Shop, and my TU coworker, Mike.

I spent the night in the coolest room ever…

…with an awesome view.

The second day, we fished on several awesome streams, including the McCloud, Hat Creek, and the little Truckee. The McCloud felt like I was fishing in Jurassic Park.

I caught some fish.

I even had a chance to stop in at Burney Falls and dip my toes.

…and of course, I logged a few miles…

…and ate frozen yogurt…

…and consumed a local IPA…

…and visited a couple fly shops…

…and generally sought out some adventure. 🙂

Thanks for the awesome two days of fishing and exploring, Mike!

I hopped on my plane, flew into the sky, and saw a sign of good faith… From rainbow trout to rainbows in the clouds.

My flight home was uneventful, and Brian picked me up in Milwaukee. We checked in to our hotel and headed straight to Summerfest to see Bruno Mars!

He was every bit as awesome as I’d hoped he would be.

After that day of travel, I fell asleep as soon as I sat down in the car, and Brian waited patiently in traffic to get to our hotel.
I still managed to rally the next morning to snag a run in Milwaukee. Our hotel was only a half mile from the Oak Leaf trail, so I jumped on there and had a great time 🙂

I took a quick shower, then we headed out for a Bloody Mary at Wicked Hop. We love that place.

We stopped over to visit my uncle Mike, aunt Bonnie, and super cute cousin Alexa for dinner on the way home.

We made it home with two whole days to catch up on sleep, work, and cuddles with Abbie, before we left for our next adventure.
See you soon, friends… Thanks for reading!
Miles this year: 341.75

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July 28, 2014 · 10:00 am

NFAC photos, Talia and JJ, and summer favorites

I hopped over to the UWSP Fine Arts Center to do a photo shoot with the Music Department for their 2015 promotions. It was a humid day, and the bugs were crazy, but we had a great time!

We had a little relaxation to recover from some of these trips and we spent a little time on the water.

I swapped out Brian as my paddling partner for an afternoon and went out with a professor of mine from UWSP- Susan 🙂 We had a great time- it’s fun to teach something to my teachers.

As always, I was playing outside. Running, skating, riding my bike, and taking Abbie as often as possible.

This is the middle of wedding season, so I’ve been surrounded with love, and beautiful girls in dresses, and delicious wedding cake. 🙂 for example: take Talia and JJ- a beautifully rainy wedding day filled with friends and family.

And last, but certainly not least… I’ve waited for the conditions to be right for this image for years. As soon as I saw the sunset and the rain, I snagged Talia and JJ and we escaped the reception for a few minutes outside. What a stunning couple.

Congratulations, Talia and JJ!
I’m off to keep trucking on photo editing and play in my garden. Garden updates to come! Thanks for reading, friends. 🙂
Miles this year: 332.5

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July 27, 2014 · 10:40 am

Heidi and the Very Busy Weekend

I started my crazy weekend by heading down to the driftless area of Wisconsin- specifically Viroqua, for a Wisconsin TU State Council meeting. All of these meetings are scheduled in a way that makes fishing in fabulous places a reality. I was able to get a few casts in on the Kickapoo with Doug on Friday evening…

I participated in an exciting meeting with my favorite WITU guys…

Bill Heart spoiled me with some maple syrup…

And Aaron and I went out to Camp Creek and fished after the meeting. Yes, I out fished him 😉

This fishing trip was actually the first time that I ever lost track of time out on the stream. I’ve surely come a long way. 🙂 I sped out of the driftless and popped in at Ashley’s bachelorette party in the Wisconsin Dells. I couldn’t stay long, since I had to run home and make pasta salad for 60 people for my sister-in-law, Megan, as we were hosting a big baby shower for her the next day. I came home, and Brian had already cooked all my pasta, so I only needed to assemble.
Oh… and pack for the Green Bay half marathon that I foolishly signed up for Sunday morning between that meeting and the baby shower.
I slept a few hours, and Brian loaded me in the car with all my race gear and baby shower stuff, plus shower accessories and a change of clothes. I met up with Carmel, and we ran the race together.

It was perfect weather- we were a little chilly at the start, but we warmed up once we got moving.
This is what you missed for 12.5 miles…

My favorite part of this race is the end, when we run through Lambeau Field. I always cry happy tears during that lap.

It was an awesome race with fantastic company, and I cruised across the finish line at 2:11:47. Brian was waiting very near the finish line with the car running, and we sped off to New London, so I could shower at my mother-in-love’s house. I went from sweaty to ready in no time, and we headed off to the party. It was beautifully planned by the sisters and mothers and aunts of the momma-to-be, and Megan was just glowing.

We tried to take it easy the following week, with a few photo shoots. More fun to come! 🙂
As always, thanks for reading, friends.

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Tagged as baby shower, fly fishing, friends, meeting, photography, race recap, races, running, traveling, Trout Unlimited

July 26, 2014 · 10:00 am

Relax? What’s that?

I got home from Pennsylvania just in time to celebrate Mother’s Day. Brian and I invited our moms over for a brunch- we had a waffle bar!
My mom is truly an amazing woman. She was a single mom for most of my life, and made some amazing sacrifices so I had every opportunity to develop into the woman than I am. I love you, Mom!

The flowing week was packed with some of my favorite things: running the Green Circle Trail with Lydia and Carmel…

Cuddling with my favorite Halle girl…

Making chive vinegar…

…and feeding watermelon to Abbie on hot days.

I ran over to Green Bay to host an event sponsored by Green Bay TU that we called Women, Water, and Wine. It was an event for women to come and learn about the things that TU does in their community and hook them up with the local chapter. Tim Landwehr over at Tight Lines graciously donated his shop space for us. We had wine and cheese and it was a great time!

That same week, B and I went down to Milwaukee to catch a Brewer game.
I feel like the only person who tailgates with a salad, but it was delicious!

We made a couple stops for some tasty eats- gourmet cupcakes and Bloody Marys from Wicked Hop.

More trips to come- the driftless area for a meeting, the Green Bay half marathon, a baby shower… You know me. Always on the go!
Thanks for reading, friends. 🙂

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July 25, 2014 · 9:35 am

Travel…

I’m starting to feel a little travel weary. It’s hard to be on the road so much!
I had a trip to State College, Pennsylvania for the TU Mid-Atlantic regional meeting. My trip got off to a rocky start- as I was carrying my suitcase out to ~~the limo~~ my car, I opened the door over my toe, cracking the nail and bleeding all over. My poor polka dot pedicure! 😦

Luckily, I got everything cleaned up and made it to the airport in time, and I had good reading material for the flight.

I learned a couple things about Pennsylvania that I didn’t notice on my trip in February, and one of those things is that fries come on every salad. How crazy! It pretty much takes all my self control to order the salad when I want a burger, and I have almost no self control to take the fries off my salad when it arrives all delicious and fried. 🙂

My first run out there was a couple miles uphill, then turning around and trying not to fall as I flew down the hill.

I loved it. Hills are a great challenge to this Wisconsin Central Sands girl.
The meeting itself was great. There was such a good exchange of ideas, as always! My “Women in TU” meeting had great attendance, and I had the chance to catch up with TU friends and coworkers that I don’t see very often.

I consider myself lucky that I had the opportunity to fish two different spots on Spring Creek. I caught fish both times! I was interested in learning about New Zealand mud snails. Have you ever seen them?

The more that I fish, the more I appreciate the company that I keep while I’m out there. Thank you so much, Mid-Atlantic people, for showing me such a good time!

My last day involved a long run around Penn State’s campus and relaxing by the pool.

I found a secret little woodsy path on campus.

Well, hello, Nittany Lion!

I walked across the street from the hotel for dinner at Clem’s, and I had an awesome salad. With fries, of course!

The flight home was one of my favorites- the airport in State College is small enough that we get to walk out on the concrete and board the plane via those little steps. I feel like a celebrity when I do that. I want to turn around and wave to the crowd like when the President steps out of Air Force One. 🙂

They also served my absolutely favorite Biscoff cookies.

I returned home a happy and tired Heidi!
Thanks for hanging with me. 🙂

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June 11, 2014 · 2:53 pm

So much summer fun.

Hi, friends! Thanks for sticking with me on my adventures..
I’ve been having a lot of fun doing the things I love- taking photos, running, traveling, and paddling, among so many other things! Here’s a few of my recent trips…
The Freckled Frogg is an adorable little restaurant in Waupaca, Wisconsin. A lake town dominated by water sports and relaxation, I love to drive over there, paddle on the chain of lakes, then dance all night to live music with our friends. Here’s a few captured shots from the Frogg.

I also had the chance to meet (and adore!) Nancy, the fly fishing extraordinaire! She invited me over to her home and barn along the Tomorrow/Waupaca River, and we drank coffee, giggled over “designer” fly rods, and tried to lure out some big fish!