Tag Archives: wedding photography

…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