Tag Archives: running

December 13, 2012 · 3:48 pm

Running on DayQuil

My first winter cold has taken over. When I woke up this morning, I thought I had a fever, so I grabbed my thermometer. 96.0. Darn thyroid, I always run cold.
Alas, I took a few DayQuil and got on with it. I’m trying to finish up any last-minute photo shoots for busy families and get in my last rush print orders before Christmas. This has been a record breaking year for us- soooo many families are sharing their photos as gifts this year. 🙂
Here’s a few of my projects from the last couple days…

Look at that new baby! Two weeks old! Beautiful.

This sweet cat, Josie, is one of the models for our upcoming winter project. We’re capturing some furry family members! We are still ironing out the details, but a portion of the proceeds from this project will be directly donated to the Humane Society.
I also finished up the remaining photos from my pre-snow shoot with Danny. Here’s my current favorite.

When I was out on my run today, I saw my first snowman!

It was a little warmer today than earlier this week. Thank goodness! I was out on Tuesday, and the temperature was 17 degrees (8 with the windchill), and my iPhone turned off in my hand because it was too cold. Today, it was a balmy 34 degrees. Most of the sidewalks weren’t as slippery, they were slushy, and I prefer that. 🙂
I know you guys are reading from all over the world. Check out this list of countries with people reading in the last few months… Hello friends!

For my readers in warmer climates, I don’t have much advice for you, but for those in colder climates, I have some tips!
When the weather dips below freezing, and the roads/sidewalks/trails get slippery, shorten your stride. You can make up for the shorter stride with a faster turnover, but you’ll spend more time with your body weight over your feet, resulting in less falls 🙂
Layering your clothing is important, too! I wear a base layer of either wool or a poly blend. Cotton is soft and wonderful for other times, but it will absorb your sweat and make you miserable if you wear it out while running in the cold. If it’s below freezing, I will usually layer fleece-type pants over my running tights for an extra layer of warmth, and I’ll layer a loose shirt over my base layer on top.
Mittens and a hat are important, too- we lose a lot of heat off our bodies in our hands and head.
I wear wool running socks year-round. Running socks are a little different that the thick wool socks you’re picturing… They are thin, and keep my feet warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Some of my favorite brands are SmartWool and Icebreaker.
Today’s run was warm enough that I felt like I was experiencing spring!

I looped back and took Abbie on a little run, too. She loves playing in the snow, but gets cold easily.

Now I’m back in the office, working on photos, and nibbling on a gingerbread cookie. Yum!

Miles this year: 650.2

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Tagged as cold, family photography, pet photography, photography, running, Winter running

December 10, 2012 · 9:48 pm

Forgotten Frostbite “race” recap, promo photos, and my Mizuno problem.

Hey, friends!
I completely forgot to post a recap of our race from two weekends ago. Brian and I signed up for the local YMCA’s five mile Frostbite run on December 1st. This was Brian’s longest race ~~so far~~…

For a variety of reasons (including last year, shooting the beautiful, snowy New York wedding of Devon and Christy), I haven’t run this race before. It was like a who’s who of running in Stevens Point and Plover. 🙂 I literally saw all my local running friends- from my sole sisters…

…to the local fast guys from Wednesday night’s group, to my favorite beer bottle (George!).

We walked and ran the mile to the start as a warm-up. It was pretty chilly, but I wasn’t sure what the parking situation would be like, and it sounded like a good idea at the time.
The first mile was slow and casual, with a 10:30ish split. I was basically along to cheer for Brian and make sure he had a great time. We weren’t out to run our fastest race, but we wanted to enjoy ourselves. I tried to keep up the conversation, which included a few racing tips that I’ve picked up along the way. It was fun to share my knowledge! With each mile, we picked up the pace, and we finished strong… crossing the finish in 48:46 and 48:48. I cheered Brian on to a finish ahead of me. I was beaming with pride at my runner husband!

After the race, we ran over to Emy J’s for a delicious (and warm!) lunch, then walked/ran home. It brought our daily total to just over 7 miles, which was a new record for B. I was hoping that he wouldn’t be sore afterward, so we stretched a lot, and he was just fine.
We had just enough time to shower before heading out to Appleton to meet with another beautiful couple. We now have one more wedding on the books for 2014! It’s truly amazing how fast our schedule books up. We’re blessed!
Brian helped me put together a running wall in our bedroom. He built me the medal rack and shelf a while ago, but it was all alone on the wall, and it certainly wasn’t inspirational! I surrounded it with photos of races, running friends, and people involved with Running for Rachael.

Doesn’t it look great? Speaking of looking great, I had the opportunity to do some promo shots for my friend, Danny. He was in town to play a concert with the symphony, and asked me to do some new photos for him. We ran together once, and I embarrassed myself by going so slowly and trying not to throw up my chia seeds. Yeah. Anyway, he has since forgiven my running sins, and we spent an hour laughing together and playing outside.

What a talented stud. Seriously. If you want his music to melt your heart and blow your mind, you can find his stuff here.
On to my Mizuno problem…
I’ve worn men’s running shoes since I started wearing running shoes. In fact, I went to a running store with my friend, Bill, was fitted for Wave Alchemys, and I’ve never turned back. I’ve had those shoes in red, yellow, orange, and every combination of those three. I have them in outdoor and indoor pairs at any given time, and I’ve never even looked at another pair… Until I saw the women’s Wave Alchemys. I never realized I could wear shoes that were pink, or teal, or silver, or ::gasp:: purple!! I picked out a pair that fit, and wore them diligently for 250 miles. Until my body started hurting, and I noticed that they are completely worn down.

After only 250 miles! I was super bummed. I wrote the company, providing photos of these shoes, and of my last pair of men’s shoes (which were retired at 500 miles and didn’t look nearly as bad as those darn pink ones!). I was hoping they would just say that I got a defective pair, and I could still wear cute shoes made for women. I know I have huge feet, size 10 wide… so I tried to be thankful for all the wonderful things that I can do with my big feet, while I waited anxiously by the computer for their response. The official running shoe experts said that because of my wide feet, I need to use the men’s shoes to ensure that there is a wide enough base to support my supination problem. So, now what? I guess I have to go back to men’s shoes. The other option is to go shoe shopping from scratch, and find a new company or new style. I do love those men’s shoes, but these shoes are to expensive to mess around with, and my health, a.k.a. staying injury-free, is even more important.
Any thoughts from my seasoned runner friends?
I’ll leave you with a photo that pretty much sums up my life lately…

Lots of office time, photo editing, and phone conversations with clients. I love my job!

Miles this year: 642.5

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Tagged as Brian, Mizuno, photography, promotional photos, races, running, running shoes

November 26, 2012 · 12:59 pm

Missing Misty and Thanksgiving, with Noodleini 2012 race recap

Hello, blogosphere. Things have been wonderful over here in our little home. We’re starting to get in the holiday spirit, which makes everything seem more cozy and makes me more sentimental.
On that note, I’d like to dedicate this post to our favorite old dog, Misty.
We had to put Misty to sleep a few weeks ago, and our home hasn’t been the same since.

We loved Misty with all that we had, and we cuddled her extra lovingly during the last few days. I took my “office” downstairs and worked next to her for a few days, and I cried many tears into her black fur. Even in her old age of thirteen years, she only had a few grey hairs.

On my last morning with her, I brewed coffee as usual, and I wanted to capture the moment- one that shows how much I loved having Misty in my life, especially the “coffee talk.”

We love you, Misty. We take comfort in knowing she is somewhere better, living a pain-free life and playing with all the beloved pets that are already there.
Aw, man. I’m crying already. Let’s move on to happier thoughts, yes?
This past week was one of my favorites- THANKSGIVING! For the fourth year, I hosted dinner at my house for my mom and grandparents, and my mother-in-law and her boyfriend. Thanksgiving at our house has come a long way- the first year, we had just finished screwing in the drywall, we hadn’t even taped or mudded yet… And now, our home is almost finished, and beautiful! As usual, Grammie carved the turkey.

My grandparents are awesome, and awesomely funny, too!

I made my signature pies…

…and homemade whipped cream, too! I forgot to take pictures of everything else- but I served a salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, and blue cheese, fresh biscuits, classic dressing, a quinoa dressing, fresh cranberry sauce, whipped potatoes, turkey and gravy, squash casserole, and steamed carrots. Thanks to all the ladies, for bringing contributions to dinner! We ate on time, and the turkey was the best yet!
I had barely finished digesting when my long-time BFF Amy and I headed to Appleton for some Black Friday shopping. We left at 9 pm and came home around 6 am. It was entirely successful, and Brian and I spent the remainder of Friday cuddling and relaxing. We went for a walk with Abbie to the grocery store, and it was a chilly reminder of what weather is to come.
Saturday early afternoon was Thanksgiving with the Wiskowski clan. I didn’t take any pictures- I was too busy greeting everyone! We had a record-breaking crew of 54 folks this year… That’s my kind of Thanksgiving! We left a little early to head over to Brian’s grandpa’s 80th birthday party at the Car Show building in Iola. Everyone came from near and far for this event…

Happy birthday, Marlin!!

We left that party to head to Waupaca’s Ale House to capture some images from the Sweet Lips Comedy tour for the January issue of Hoopla. This particular show was focused on deer hunting, and those guys are hilarious!

After a long day, we slept soundly until that alarm went off early Sunday, at 4:45, and we headed out to DePere for the Noodleini 15K. I love that race. Last year, I ran it with 8:48 splits, and I was so proud. This year, the Noodleini was my longest run since Cape Cod, and I was hoping to finish strong, but didn’t anticipate that I could match last year’s effort. It was a cold and icy morning, with a chilly wind.

Those 9.3 miles really did fly by, but I was much slower than last year. I kept thinking about how disappointed I was last year when I didn’t place in my division, and that really weighed me down, mentally. I did run a good race, solid effort, and came in strong, happy, and very ready to be done.

My final time ended up being 1:28:36, 9:30 average pace.

In a twist of fate, my time last year would have won me first place this year. Of course, we were all slower because of the weather, but here I am, trying not to beat myself up over it. Next year. I’ll catch those girls next year.
We headed out immediately since I was pretty cold, and I hopped right in a hot shower at my mother-in-law’s house. It was wonderful, and I emerged from the shower, warmed up and salt-free, just in time for an asparagus frittata. I’m a lucky girl! After lunch, we went out to the back woods to pick out our Christmas tree.

Since it’s hunting season, we took precautions to be visible… 🙂

We found one…

…and it looks great in our living room! I’ll put up photos of the tree soon 🙂
Thanks for sticking with me on my blogging hiatus. I’m happy to be back!

Miles this year: 627.2

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Tagged as Black Friday, cooking, dogs, Hoopla, Misty, Noodleini, race recap, running, shopping, Thanksgiving

October 29, 2012 · 5:51 pm

Clam Chowdah Challenge and hurricane Sandy.

Hi, blog friends! I have a list of beautiful things to blog about, including a ton of photos and the passing of our big lab girl, Misty, but that will have to wait until later… Or after vacation.
By vacation, I mean heading to the East coast to run the Clam Chowdah Challenge, a road race that consists of a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday, then spending the rest of the week in Boston with our college friends, Curtis and Mo.
Brian and I started our vacation by heading down to Chicago to catch our flight. The weather in Wisconsin was crazy…

We stopped at a new kennel to drop off Abbie for the first four days of our trip. It’s the first time she’ll be at a kennel without Misty, so I’ve been calling to check in. It sounds like she made a lot of new friends and ran around a lot. 🙂
Brian and I made it to O’Hare with just enough time to catch our flight to Boston.

Curtis and Mo picked us up at the airport after a short plane delay, and we headed straight to pick up dinner… Chowdah, of course!

After a delicious clam chowder dinner, we fell sound asleep from a day of traveling. We woke up on Friday and hung out with Curtis before heading out for Cape Cod, where the race was held. The traffic through Boston was really crazy, and I was a little unnerved by all the digital highway signs…

They were starting to warn people about the impending hurricane. After a 2.5 hour drive, we made it to our hotel (The Doubletree in Hyannis) and headed to “carb-load” for dinner.

The pizza was perfect, and after a quick stop for groceries (pre-race breakfasts!), I slept soundly Friday night. On Saturday morning, we found a Starbucks for my morning fix. (D.O., represent!)

It was a beautiful day for a run.

I had Greek yogurt with honey, chia seeds, and a banana for breakfast, and I felt ready to run the first race, a quick little 13.1 miles through hilly Falmouth, MA.

About mile 4, I met two adorable runners from New Jersey. They reminded me of my own sole sisters, Kim and Nancy.

Val and Colleen and I chatted throughout the whole race 🙂 Brian kept himself busy with the beautiful scenery, including a couple swans!!!

We brought it in with a reasonable 2:15 something.

We headed back to our hotel so I could shower, then the Weisses and the Oberstadts all headed to lunch- lobster rolls!

Please take note of the menu pairing- a kids hot dog goes best with beer or soda. 🙂

We walked around downtown a little bit so I could get the blood flowing through my legs, and we found this awesome giant chair.

We went to dinner at our hotel restaurant, and I had a wedge salad with some delicious dinner rolls, and some of Brian’s seafood pasta. It had incredible scallops! Yummmm. I was feeling a little tight, so I used my foam roller and stretched, praying that I’d awake on Sunday feeling rested and refreshed.
Unfortunately, I woke up Sunday morning feeling nauseous, with a sore throat and even more sore hamstrings. I could hardly eat my breakfast, though I was trying.

Luckily, I found Val and Colleen, and they eased my nervous mind.

I kept thinking, one race down, one to go. In fact, I was practically a third of the way done already- 13.1 finished, 26.2 to go.

No starting gun for this race- they have a start cannon.

You can see me in the starting crowd with my teal top and pink skirt.

This guy had an awesome shirt…

Brian came and met me several times on the course- miles 7.5, 13, 16.3, 19, and 23.3. He helped me fuel through the race with Skittles, Lifesavers, and flat Coke. There was cytomax on the course, as well.

It was a beautiful course, although it was pretty hilly.

Special thanks to the guy around mile 20 who offered me this incredible popsicle.

Everything about this photo says, “I’m a hurting machine.”

I finished the marathon in 5:30 something. As the race approached mile 18, both my hamstrings and my quads tightened up so much that I couldn’t run anymore. I walked through a water station, and when I tried to run again, I couldn’t. I ended up powerwalking/jogging the remainder of the race. As I kept chugging along, I was trying to figure out why I was having such a rough marathon… And then I remembered- I ran a half marathon the day before. Oh, yeah… that. One sweet grandma-like lady came up to me in the finishers chute, told me I had such a sweet smile, even when I was hurting, and she was so proud of me. Then she gave me a big hug, even though I was sweaty and very salty.
After the race, we headed back to the race headquarters to pick up the big prize- the coveted clam Chowdah mug.

I also took advantage of the post-race massage, and a shower. No shower feels as good as a post-marathon shower.

We headed to a sports bar for a late lunch and the end of the Packer game (GO, PACK, GO!), then drove back to Curtis and Mo’s apartment. They made delicious chicken tacos for dinner, and we enjoyed a low-key evening in. My hurting body enjoyed all the laying around, and a warm bath, and more stretching. I slept for a long and wonderful 10 hours, and Curtis made my morning by cooking eggs and creating the leaning tower of eggshells.

We spent the morning accumulating emergency storm supplies…

…and are now cozily enjoying a grown-up sleepover with our friends.

See y’all after the storm, kids!

Miles this year: 607.8

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Tagged as Boston, Cape Cod, half marathon running, hurricane sandy, Marathon running, running, traveling

October 9, 2012 · 12:22 pm

Hello, strangers.

Hello, strangers!
I apologize for temporarily being MIA. Here in central Wisconsin, the fall colors have been at their peak, which means I am in the busiest photo season of the year!
Since I left you last time, Brian and I enjoyed a sushi date night.

We ate octopus for the first time! It was very chewy. All that rice was like carb-loading for Ashlee and Nick’s Plover wedding.

Their ceremony was held at the beautiful St. Bron’s in Plover and the fun reception was at the Elizabeth Inn. Congratulations, Ashlee and Nick!
Brian snapped this one of me… This is what a photog looks like at the end of a long day 🙂

Sunday was a wonderful day to meet our new neighbor.

Beautiful coloring, but I won’t be inviting her to a block party anytime soon.
Monday morning brought a pumpkin/kale smoothie and some fun photos of my friend, Randy. He owns Radio Kaos… You know I’m a fan.

The fall colors are beautiful for more than just photos… They make my runs even more enjoyable. Here’s my neighborhood!

After that beautiful run, Brian and I headed up to Rib Mountain to shoot the engagement portraits of Kim and Brad. It was a perfect day and we had a lot of fun!

I was a full-on giggle machine during this photo shoot. Thanks for laughing with me, Kim and Brad! 🙂

Tuesday was full of photo editing and the engagement portraits of Erika and Chad. Their wedding will be in Milwaukee, and they live in Appleton, but they took the day off to come visit us here in Stevens Point. We took them to Schmeekle Reserve, played around on campus, walked downtown, then finished up at O’so Brewing Company.

How cute are those?! Frankly, I love any photo shoot that ends with my Nikon in one hand and a Night Train in the other.

On Wednesday, I had a really fun shoot at a spa event over at Adventure 212. I haven’t edited those photos yet- but here’s an iPhone photo of the double use of some of our lighting.

On Thursday, I worked in our second bedroom and took several big storage containers to our storage unit. That is time-consuming work! I also went to my monthly TU board meeting and made mental notes for winter fishing projects. I’m going to do some revamping of our chapter website and tie more flies of my own. 🙂
Friday was a long run day. It was a very windy day, and it was a tough 20 mile run.
I encountered fresh tar…

…beautiful leaves…

…wind-blown hair…

…a banana peel…

…a beautiful bridge (recognize this from Ashlee and Nick’s wedding? I found this spot while running)…

…a tiny leaf stuck in my sock…

…a giant leaf stuck to my face…

…and part of the Green Circle.

The wind made this run a big challenge, and I was so happy to be home to take a warm shower before heading out to Waupaca to take photos of the adorable Bellile family.

Thanks for braving the cold for me, Belliles! You are adorable.
Brian and I warmed up with a fish fry at Point After, followed by homemade pumpkin shakes.

We hit the hay early so we’d be rested for meeting Karen and her girls at A Touch of Class salon at 7 am up in Wausau. Karen and Eric had a hilarious wedding party and we had a lot of fun working with them! Check out their day…

That’s the same handkerchief that Karen’s mom used on her wedding day!

Their ceremony was at St. Anne’s in Wausau, with photos at Leigh Yawkey and the 400 block. Their gorgeous reception was at Jefferson Street Inn, with some of the most beautiful floral work I’ve ever seen from Randy at Evolutions in Design. Simply incredible. I volunteered with Karen at Girl Scout camp, so I’ve known this beautiful bride for 15 years! Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hansen!
We left their reception and headed straight to the end of the reception of our friends, Mary and Joe. Remember these guys? I did their engagement portraits earlier this year…

We made it just in time to hug all of our friends and take our token Delta Omicron wedding photo…

What a good looking group. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Nowinski!
We got home around 1:30 and peeled ourselves out of bed Sunday morning to shoot morning light engagement photos of Jen and Josh up in Wausau. They are a gorgeous couple and we’re looking forward to their beautiful wedding at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

We had a lot of fun with these guys, and made it home just in time to catch the Packer game. I slept soundly through halftime and crawled off the couch to teach dance on Sunday evening.

I tried to catch up on photo work and housework yesterday before heading out with my friend and fellow TU board member, Matt. He took me out to all the work sites of our chapter’s stream restoration projects. I am planning on doing some work with our projects, showing before-during-after shots as the projects move along, and I wanted to get some photos before winter sets in. Here’s a few of my favorites.

Our stream projects are taking wide, shallow, warm sections of the stream that have been washed out by erosion and other causes and narrowing them. Trout cannot live or breed in warm water, so they need narrow, cold water with places to hide. We don’t create habitat where it doesn’t belong, but we try to repair and restore the areas that have been damaged.
I’m off to finish the wedding of Rachel and Alex and dig into my gaggle of engagement images. I can’t wait for Brian to come home so we can go for a rainy day run followed by a warm bowl of homemade chili. 🙂

Miles this year: 550.85

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Tagged as ballroom dancing, engagement photography, family photos, long run, photography, Radio Kaos, running, spider, sushi, Trout Unlimited, wedding photography

September 25, 2012 · 9:55 am

Leah and Eric, Fox Cities Half race recap, and our birthday party!

We had one heck of a weekend over here 🙂
I started my Friday morning by using up the last of the coffee I bought at Seattle’s Pike Place Market Starbucks. Delicious! I guess I better start planning my trip back!

I did some photo work and prepped for the busy weekend, then headed out for a quick 4 miler before Brian came home. I ran along the river, which was chilly but beautiful. Check out that algae!

My cousin, Ryan, from Chicago, called me on Friday afternoon to let me know he was on his way up to Wausau for a wedding. It was an awesome surprise! We drove up there to pick him up and take him to dinner.

After I asked him a million questions about the wedding, I realized that he was attending the wedding that we were shooting the next day- the lovely Leah Tucker and Eric Taylor.

We did those engagement portraits up at Rib Mountain State Park last fall, and we captured their wedding at St. Florian’s in Hatley, WI. Here’s a photo recap of their beautiful wedding day.

…and quite possibly my favorite, which was inspired by the way I saw the sunlight making the corn glow…

We were finished after those photos, so we headed home to pack up and prepare for Sunday’s Fox Cities Half Marathon. We took our pups and my gear out to New London to stay at my mother-in-law’s home. We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Appleton, and since it was our birthdays, they had us put on these huge hats, stand on a chair, and dance while the waitstaff sang- then they gave us some dessert and had us close our eyes while they put whipped cream on our chins. It was quite the spectacle, and a big surprise. 🙂 I didn’t know to have the camera ready for that, but I did get this photo, with our server. 🙂

We took our full bellies back to my MIL’s, and we crashed hard. Sunday’s race morning alarm went off early at 4:45, and it was a balmy 34 degrees. This is appropriate race gear…

Just kidding. That my top layer for pre-race. 🙂 My DO sister, Ashley, ran this half marathon, too- and her boyfriend, Eric, our other sister, Mary, and of course, my best race supporter, Brian, were all there.

Sisters. 🙂 I feel like a giant.
The race was chilly, but I got used to the temperature and found a nice little groove. Running for Rachael has been interesting this year- from heat advisories to freeze warnings!

I was running the first couple miles and talking to Ashley, until I suggested she go right ahead without me since she’s faster! 🙂 For the first time, I didn’t have a plan for the race. I usually have everything planned, from my socks to my pre-race breakfast to my pace. This time, I wore my winter gear for the first time this season, forgot breakfast and ate a pumpkin scone from Starbucks, and began to think I should have prepared to run a PR in this race, instead of taking things so casually. Since my marathons this spring were slow (and painful!), I began to wonder if my days of running faster were over. Of course, I’m processing this during miles 3 and 4… And I am well aware that my upcoming Clam Chowdah Challenge race times are not going to be PRs. I thought, well… I might as well make this race a PR, then. Mile five was a perfect time to run across (pun intended!) Mary, running as a angel for Team Triumph. How inspiring! Way to go, sole sister.

I started trying to do some math in my head. In order to beat my last PR (2:03:30), how fast did I need to go for the remaining miles? Could I walk through those water stations? I needed the Gatorade- I didn’t pack any fuel. Hmmm… I kept cruising along. Our friends were waiting at mile 7, with smiles and encouragement.

I felt really good during this race. Miles 7-12 were great, I prayed a little for Rachael and TK, and I made a grocery list in my head. Casual, no? 🙂 Kimmy was out there somewhere- she text me encouragement, then I passed her around mile 12. I was starting to feel out of energy. I should have grabbed one of those bananas… Thanks for that last cheer, Kim- I needed it! Ashley finished a few minutes ahead of me with a PR of 1:50 something. ~~Insert Paul Ryan marathon time joke here.~~

I spent the last mile reminiscing of finishing my first full marathon on that course, and pulled it in with a PR of 2:01:44.

Special thanks to my massage guy- he fixed me up good so I could continue on with my busy day.

Congratulations, Ashley! We rocked it out.

Oh, happy day. I held this little card (and my blankie!) tight as I slept on the way home.

As soon as I got home, showered, and got dressed, we turned to full-on party mode. I got the cider and mulling spices simmering on the stove, the chicken pot pie filling warming in the crock pot, and started getting snacks plated. Sunday was Brian’s actual birthday, so we had some friends over to celebrate.

I made us a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch, and it was delicious!

Brace yourself for this hilarious preview of what Brian and I will look like with kids…

Thanks for celebrating with us, friends! You’re all wonderful and we’re blessed to have you in our lives! The fifth annual Oberstadt birthday party was a success. I had to leave our own party at 5 to go teach ballroom lessons- more tango and waltz. The real challenge is trying to simultaneously wear compression socks and ballroom shoes. Classy.
I’m back to work, returning emails and editing photos before meeting a bride in Wausau tonight and shooting some fall engagements up in Tomahawk tonight. It will be a busy week! 🙂

Miles this year: 513.35

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Tagged as birthday party, Delta Omicron, Fox Cities half marathon, photography, PR, race recap, running, Running for Rachael, wedding photography

September 21, 2012 · 9:17 am

Home repair, my 27th birthday, and running with Brian <3

After building three wedding sideshows yesterday, my brain is a little artistically fried today. It turns out that I’m very emotionally invested in these couples- I get goosebumps when I put together those DVDs. 🙂
I started the week by heading up to Wausau to rehearse with Dale. We played around with some new waltz and tango patterns. Such different dances… And I love them both. 🙂
Tuesday was my 27th birthday. When I was growing up, my mom and I had a tradition of breakfast in bed on my birthday (in hindsight, I’m pretty sure I didn’t make her breakfast in bed on her birthday. Sorry, Mom!). Since Brian had to leave work work much earlier than I was going to wake up, he surprised me with breakfast in bed with a twist. When I woke up, I found a text that told me my breakfast was in the fridge and the coffee maker was set to brew right when I woke up. How sweet! I forgot to take a photo of the beautiful fruit and yogurt bowl he made me. What a guy!
I worked on some home projects in the morning- like hanging these mirrors.

Now, we just have to finish those stairs… 🙂
My mom and her friend, Lisa, came to take me to lunch. We went to Grazies and I took them over to Sweetfrog for dessert. I’m so happy that we have a frozen yogurt place here!
Brian had a work meeting in the evening, so we headed out to dinner late, around 8:30. I was starving! We went to Father Fats. The food was delicious! They’re open late, but there were just a couple other people in the restaurant. One of my favorite dishes was their Asian chicken wraps.

My date is so handsome! 🙂

It has been getting pretty cold at night here, so I finally turned on the heat. I forgot how much Abbie loves the heat vent- she will lay right in front of it for hours.

I could do that, too- but instead I’ve been making warm, cozy breakfasts and getting to work. I’m on a pumpkin kick- look at this beautiful pumpkin quinoa dish!

Our friends, the Schoberts, have the cutest puppy- Chuck! They live five blocks away, and I volunteered to let him out during the day if they can’t get away from work. He’s so cute that I don’t mind at all. Especially this time of year, when I can just hop on my bike. Seriously. So cute.

Brian ran with me two days in a row this week! I thought about running with the Wednesday night group at the track, but it was a perfect night for Brian’s first fall-weather run. I’m so proud of him! He did 3.5 miles on Wednesday and 4.25 on Thursday. We ended up running into (pun intended) the Wednesday night folks out in Schmeekle. Maybe Brian will be joining me out there someday!

While I was out at Nicki’s 31 party last night, Brian installed my new office light fixture. It lights up my office so nicely, and looks pretty slick!

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite all-time wedding photo bombs. I don’t know what came over me- but when I was setting up the shot on the right, I felt a strong urge to photo bomb Brian’s shot. A girl’s gotta have fun! 🙂

Miles this year: 496.25

PS: our business’ Facebook page has reached 1,000 fans! I wonder how we should celebrate…

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September 6, 2012 · 11:13 pm

Water photos, camping photos, oboe photos, and beer photos.

I have had an awesome opportunity over the last week and a half to go out with two different types of water people and check out the streams in our area. I went out with Jessica, from the hydrology department at the University, when she checked the flow of some of the streams that are suffering the most from the drought and irrigation. Here’s a few photos from that trip.

There was some really nasty algae on top of the water…

Now that’s what muddy waders look like!
We went up north to Northern Highlands State Park to camp for Labor Day weekend. I can’t believe that we finally had a wedding-free weekend! It was Misty’s last camping trip (probably) and Abbie’s first. They both did really well! We had perfect weather and all the comforts of home… I’ll post photos from that trip soon. 🙂 We came home early from camping so I could catch up on some photo work and Brian built me some shelves for my office and the laundry room.

I made Brian an amazing breakfast, complete with a latte!

I stuck with figs and granola in yogurt. 🙂

I was able to head over to Oshkosh with my friend, Bill, on Tuesday. On our way down to Paul and Nikki’s Illinois wedding, I saw a flier for an Ansel Adams exhibit at the Paine. I immediately thought of Bill and asked if he wanted to join me for a museum afternoon. 🙂

I came home from the museum and worked on a few more photos before Wednesday morning’s fish survey with the DNR. We went out on the Tomorrow River just off Rolling Hills road, and we found a ton of trout!

Tiny trout like that are a good sign for a stream or river. When the DNR stocks a stream with fish, they are bigger than that- so if you find little fish, it means that the conditions are right for fish to reproduce! 🙂

That’s a tiger trout! That’s what happens when a brown trout and a brook trout fall in love, date for an appropriate amount of time, get married, and make a baby fish. They’re kind of rare!

I left the river and headed straight for the gym to get my run on indoors. My ragweed allergies have been pretty bad lately, so after a whole morning outside, I thought I’d play it safe. I ran, showered, then headed over to the university to get some photos of Professor Stacey Berk, who is featured in an article about the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra for next month’s Hoopla. I know Stacey well- she was my instructor for an independent study orchestration course that I took in college, as well as the oboe professor. 🙂

Oh- speaking of trout… Someone should tell the beer companies that I’d rather buy a beer with beautiful brookies on it…

…than one called Trout Slayer.

SLAYER! I’m more like a trout catch-it-and-gently-take-it-off-my-barbless-hook-and-build-them-habitat-so-I-can-catch-them-again kind of fisherwoman. 🙂
After a busy day with headshots, more indoor running, photo editing, a TU board meeting, and a photo shoot at O’so (more to come!), this girl is heading to bed.
Good night, friends!

Miles this year: 461.5

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Tagged as camping, music photography, running, trout streams, Water photography

August 21, 2012 · 10:42 am

You can’t catch me…

…is what I feel like my work is saying to me these days. I long for the winter days of being caught up. 🙂
Of course, a big thing on that list is this poor little blog. The neglected story of my crazy summer weeks is overdue! Here’s the past two weeks in a whirlwind recap.

Last weekend, we headed to Ames, Iowa for the beautiful wedding of Lisa and Brian. It was a very long drive- about 6.5 hours for us. I didn’t realize how many wind turbines are in action in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.

We went to the rehearsal on Friday night to get a feel for the lighting in the church, and we got to meet everyone. They had the rehearsal dinner at the clubhouse at their apartment building- it was a very classy place and it was nice to hang out with everyone in the wedding. After the wedding stuff, we went to a frozen yogurt place 🙂

We were pretty tired after all the driving, so we went to bed early to be ready for Saturday. 🙂
I woke up early and went for a run in the fitness center in our hotel.

Since I don’t normally run indoors (and the treadmills at my gym are on the balcony), it is always very strange for me to run in hotels when they have mirrors facing the equipment. I look strange from straight on when running! I could do without the few miles of watching my cheeks bounce with every step and having my ponytail remind me of a metronome. 🙂
Even the hotel keys were welcoming!

We headed downtown to meet the ladies at the salon, but we were a little early, so we stopped at a coffee shop.

The girls (and moms!) were at The Salon.

Brian dropped me off at The Salon and headed over to a disc golf park with the guys.

Lisa was my very first, randomly-assigned college roommate at UWSP, and she has been a blessing in my life ever since. I cried a bunch during this whole beautiful wedding day. The ceremony was at Collegiate United Methodist church, and the reception was at the gorgeous Alumni Center. Lisa and Brian met at Iowa State, so it was very appropriate that they had their wedding there. 🙂

On a side note- I love Lisa’s parents! They are the sweetest couple of folks, and I was so happy to be able to catch up with them! 🙂

These photos were taken outside the very building where Brian proposed! How sweet.

Congratulations, Lisa and Brian! You are a wonderful couple and we wish you a very long and happy life together!

On Sunday morning, we headed out to get coffee and snacks for the drive home. We stopped at the co-op and picked up some baked goods and jalapeño chips 🙂
We went to a coffee shop on/near campus called Stomping Grounds and liked the coffee so much that we bought two pounds of beans to take home. While we were waiting for our coffee (they pour-over brew each cup individually), I loaded my Matt Wilson station on Pandora for the drive home, and guess what song came on first?

Stomping Grounds at Stomping Grounds? Awesome. We packed up our coffee and picked up more frozen yogurt for lunch, of course.

After a nice long drive home, I was welcomed home by a garden full of produce and herbs. 🙂

We were also met with very happy pups.

Misty is getting old these days. She is having a harder time getting around. I’m so happy that we have wonderful dogsitters that come to the house when we’re gone, so we don’t have to take them to a kennel. Does anyone have any advice for making the most of our time with our old girl?
The week flew by, as I was mostly holed up in my office or out on small photo shoots. I am trying to “catch” up on all that work. I did have a memorable little run as I finished up the sideshow for Davin and Kari and ran it, literally, to Davin’s work to drop it off. If you saw a girl running down the street carrying a DVD, now you know why. 🙂
I ran an uneventful long run of 14 miles on Friday. The weather was perfect, and I was feeling perfect- not sore or tired or dehydrated or anything. Of course, I just didn’t want to go. I cleaned the house and worked on photos for three hours in the morning, stalling because I didn’t want to run. I hate mornings like that. In any event, I pulled off the run without a hitch. 7 miles to Starbucks in Plover, refilling my water, then heading back. I’m hoping this week’s 16 miler is better- I don’t really have my head in the game yet. I’m hoping to suction some inspiration off my friend Kim, who is going to demolish her last PR from IM Louisville when she competes this weekend. I’ve got all my Ironman friends in my heart this week. Kim and Nancy- let’s meet up when you get back! 🙂
Last weekend, we were heading to the Twin Cities for Sarah and Nate’s wedding. It was sort of a miracle that we were able to make it to their wedding- the couple that booked us for that weekend ended up having to change their wedding date late in the game, so I didn’t rebook the weekend and we were able to be guests, once again. 🙂
Hello, St. Paul…

…and Minneapolis!

Their wedding was at the Walker Art Center in downtown Minneapolis, and it was a beautiful venue on a beautiful day.

Sarah is our Delta Omicron sister, and we attended the wedding with our sister, Jaime (and her husband, Karl), and our sister, Mary, who was in the wedding, with her fiancé, Joe.

They had some awesome arrangements for sax quartet. The musicians in us just geeked out about the great tunes.

I’m still a little rusty at this whole being-a-guest-at-a-wedding thing, but I’m working on it. iPhone photos just don’t do it justice! 🙂 Of course, I did bring my “real” camera along for our traditional DO sibling wedding photo, and I snapped a few others during the evening. Brian took a few, too.

Look at that view from my table!

Congratulations, Sarah and Nate! Thank you for inviting us to be a part of your day!

We booked the Doubletree downtown for the night, and I got a promotional package that included some fancy upgrades, like room service breakfast! I’ve never ordered room service before.

Brian got the cutest little bottle of Tobasco sauce with his egg sandwich.

We rented bikes and rode around downtown and through the park to the sculpture garden.

I was very excited to see Spoonbridge and Cherry.

After returning the bikes and checking out of our hotel, we stopped by Ikea, ate lunch at Whole Foods, then headed home.

Our most noteworthy purchases from Ikea are a new area rug and coffee table for the living room. I also got some great new lighting for my office, and some neat beer mugs for Brian. 🙂

I’m so happy to be home. Yesterday, Brian went on his longest run so far- 4.5 miles! I’m an incredibly proud marathoner-wife. I forgot to snap a photo. Next time! 🙂
Hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather! See you soon!

Miles this year: 421.45

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August 9, 2012 · 12:58 pm

Track running, smallmouth fishing, and a water tour of the Central Sands area.

Monday was an incredibly educational day. I spent the whole day out on a tour of the water issues in our area. I was talking with water specialists, hydrologists, specialists in climate change, plant biologists, farmers, and DNR workers. With the drought this year, and increasingly changing groundwater, there are many issues coming to light. Our community is fortunate to have had a few positive changes and good influences in our water as of late. Construction will begin soon on the Little Plover River Conservancy area, which will provide an educational center and walking and skiing trails. It will use solar panels for energy, and will be a great facility for our area. Del Monte has been a wonderful company, as they’ve just changed some of their land from agricultural use to a dumping site for their clean cooling water- basically putting water back into the land. When the New Page mill shut down in Whiting, our community lost a lot of jobs, but it saved us one billion gallons of water. When the Little Plover River showed serious signs of drying up in 2005, TU brought the situation to the attention of the DNR. That was the beginning of a long community process to restore the river to a healthy place. Many groups and individuals were involved in this process: UWSP folks, George Kraft, DNR representatives, Portage County, the Friends of the Little Plover River (a local group), Trout Unlimited, Wisconsin River Alliance, Village of Plover, Village of Whiting, Del Monte, the Vegetable Growers Association, and more! The story of how we are repairing and restoring the Little Plover River is a great example for how we can find solutions to a lot of the other water issues in our area.

Our first stop on the tour was Justin Isherwood’s farm.

He has lots of art on the farm!

It’s so dry here that in non-irrigated areas, the plants are seriously suffering.

When you look at the trees, there are so many leaves dried on the ground that it almost looks like fall!

Lunch included chips made from Wisconsin potatoes!

My friend, Stu, from TU, was there. 🙂

The second place that we went to was a much bigger farm, Heartland Farms. We heard them give a presentation about irrigation. They also had a nice display, showcasing Wisconsin fruits and vegetables. Did you know that Wisconsin is the leading state in growing green beans? 40% of our nation’s green beans come from Wisconsin. 🙂

While we were there, a crop dusting plane was out.

Heartland farms has a lot of storage for their potatoes- those are just a few of the potato barns.

They can turn on their irrigation system from any laptop or even from their cell phones! There is a lot of technology in farming.

Our third stop was Long Lake, or what is left of it.

Several lakes in this area have been losing water, and one had almost dried up completely. There were lots of water people giving presentations about their studies- they’re trying to learn more about why the lakes are disappearing. Take a look at this dock. I don’t think they’ll be tying their boat to it anytime soon…

After a long day of learning, we rode the bus home.

Back at my farm, the tomatoes are finally ripe. Tomatoes for every meal!

I’ve had a few good runs this week.

The in-between-race times are the best for me. Running feels fun again, and I don’t have to follow a strict training schedule. I am starting to build up weekly mileage again, after taking over a month “off.” I’m back to eating things like blueberry recovery smoothies. 🙂

I even overcame a fear of mine and ran on the track for the first time since 7th grade PE.

I have always felt like the track is for runners, and I sometimes have a hard time calling myself a runner, so it didn’t make sense that I should be there.

Running is full of mental blocks. Calling myself a runner is one of my personal struggles. I am pretty sure, after running five marathons (so far!), that I am a runner. So, I went for it. Just a mile, and there was not a soul around, but I did it.
Brian and I had eye appointments yesterday. Dilated pupils, anyone?

We went straight from the eye doctor to the river for some driftboat fishing with my friend, Dan. He caught a beautiful white bass!

I caught a cute little smallmouth.

It was the first time that I put my finger in a fish’s mouth. I liked feeling his little micro teeth! I even got to put him back in the water. Holding fish is awesome. 😀

I’m learning that you’re always haunted by the fish you don’t catch. I almost had a 17″ smallmouth, but the fly broke off the line. I’m still learning when I’m supposed to give the fish some line, and when I’m supposed to take it back. 🙂
We fished in the rain until dark, then headed home.

Thanks, Dan!
I’ve got to go pack for the wedding we’re shooting in Iowa this weekend. Yippee!

Miles this year: 393.2

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Tagged as farming, fishing, photography, running, smallmouth, Track

Tag Archives: running

Running on DayQuil

Forgotten Frostbite “race” recap, promo photos, and my Mizuno problem.

Missing Misty and Thanksgiving, with Noodleini 2012 race recap

Clam Chowdah Challenge and hurricane Sandy.

Hello, strangers.

Leah and Eric, Fox Cities Half race recap, and our birthday party!

Home repair, my 27th birthday, and running with Brian <3

Water photos, camping photos, oboe photos, and beer photos.

You can’t catch me…

Track running, smallmouth fishing, and a water tour of the Central Sands area.

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