Wednesday, November 29, 2006

New Photos of the Children.....

We're about 75% moved in and the walls and murals are all painted and dry. We are beat. And Chris has is big day on Friday (snip snip snip) and I have my surgery on Tuesday. There is a *little* stress in the house.
Tonight I took photos of the girls for our Christmas/We Moved cards...here are some of them that I did not choose...







Friday, November 24, 2006

Nearly Done!!!

We are closing in on the completion of house painting. The walls are completely done and Kitty and I are a little over halfway finished with the mural work. I've painted clouds on Libby's ceiling (and on the master bathroom walls because Chris wanted to feel as though he was pooping in the heavens)...and butterflies on her walls. Amelia is getting very large fun sea creatures and bubbles. When we finish her room tomorrow we will move downstairs to paint the backdrops on my studio walls. That's it. Then I don't have to look at another paintbrush for a long while. Thank all that is good and holy.
Tomorrow the muscle comes in and moves the big stuff. The muscle being several of Chris' friends. Tonight is our last night sleeping in this house. Finally.
I'm going to finish my big orange blended drink and fall into bed.

Oh, and yesterday Jo, her sister Mo, and I went on our second annual Turkey Trot yesterday. Each year on Thanksgiving we get up very early and go for an outdoor run together. Yesterday was 5.6 miles in just under 56 minutes. It was a lot of fun. Mo booked me to do Christmas portraits of their family of six kids, two large dogs, one rabbit, and two parents.
Then today I was asked to do a portrait of a family of ten.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

SHWEW!!!

I finally had a moment to sit down and figure out why my new strobe/umbrella wasn't working with my camera. Oh my God I can't tell you how much better I feel now that I have it working right. The quality of my portraits is going to be a hundred times better with this new strobe, and I'm psyched. Next thing is to get the backdrops painted in my studio and get it all set up...but that doesn't happen until we're moved in and done painting.
Have I mentioned that our completion date for the move is now moved up to December 1??????????? December 1 is V-Day. (Chris' vasectomy) so he won't be able to move anything for a few days, and then my big sinus surgery is on the 5th. (for which I'm freaking out, by the way)
We're progressing on the painting. Libby's room is done (except for the clouds I'm painting on her ceiling) and looks awesome--blue sky ceiling and pretty spring green walls, master bathroom and bedroom are done--two different shades of denim blue, main bathroom is done--bright yellow, and the living room has a couple coats on of the beautiful and rich looking rust (rusty orange/red), but it's going to take a couple more coats to be done. After that it's just Amelia's room (blue, with big tropical fish painted on the walls (Chris' mom and I will do that this weekend) the kitchen/dining room, which happens to be the toughest room to paint. It will be a nice mellow light green.
Here are a couple shots of my little ladies from tonight when I was testing my new strobe.


Sesame Street, aka "The Big Date"

Okay, Sesame Street was FUN!!!! And our little lovebirds had a great day. Danielle, aka "Mommy Ethan" and I took Libby and Ethan to Starbucks for a little coffee (hot chocolate, but don't tell Libby...she loves her 'coffee'), then headed off to pick up their friend Esdon and his mother, our friend Jodi. Drove to Green Bay and found our way into the venue. Once the show started, the kids were completely enthralled...as were we :) At intermission we got Elmo balloons and after the show went to our big lunch at "Uncle Ronald's" (Libby's name for McDonalds). It was a wonderful date for the kids, and us moms had a lot of fun, too. It was a really nice break from painting for me :)
Afterwards, Danielle came over and helped Chris and I paint while Libby and Amelia tried out a new babysitter. Between coffee, tickets, balloons, popcorn, Uncle Ronalds, and a sitter it was a spendy day...but well worth it. Here are some photos.






Friday, November 17, 2006

Sesame Street Live

Tomorrow is a big day for Libby. She starts off by having 'coffee' at Starbucks with her boyfriend, Ethan. After some nice time at the coffee shop, we all pile into The Hornet (my yellow Vue) and head to Green Bay for Sesame Street Live. After the big show, it's all capped off with a nice lunch. Quite the date for a couple of pre-schoolers, ay? I'm pretty sure that I'm as excited as she is.

I have not had any time to play with my new strobe and umbrella to figure out why it's not working right. Every spare moment has been taken up by running (a very small amount) and painting in the new house. I have been showing all of my coworkers the colors that we're painting....by pointing out the colors on my hands. "the blue on my knuckles is in the master bathroom....the yellow on my fingernail is the other bathroom...." Actually, I could show people the colors tonight using the color swatch that is my forehead and hair.....

I have to get up and run early in the morning in order to get it in before the big date begins. Not what I want to do on a Saturday morning at six o'clock, but I am one run short this week, and all of them are very short runs as it is.

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I'm being sent to Froedert in Milwaukee to get the full diagnostic treatment to figure out what is wrong with me. They haven't scheduled it yet, and I don't know how long I'll stay there. They are supposed to be excellent and hopefully they will be able to solve the medical mystery that is me. They are like the 'House' hospital of the dairy state.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

I Got My Strobe!!!

My strobe and umbrella came yesterday.....now I need to find out why my photos are not turning out when I use it. I'm guessing it's a setting that I'm missing. Hmmmm

Ran three miles at five this morning. ick.

Got the primer over the stencilling in the new house, wallpaper borders down, and the trim work painted in one bathroom last night....the new house work is underway!!! We need help with painting/moving/babysitting, if anyone's interested :) We have to be totally done and moved in by my surgery on Dec 5

Monday, November 13, 2006

Another Photo of Libby Was Chosen

....I hadn't submitted a photo of either kid since the hoopla of last time when Libby's entry got to the finals a few months back....and for some reason decided to submit one I took of her when she bumped her head and got an impressive goose egg on her forehead. With the tear and the bump and the sad eyes, I think it tells a story to which every parent can relate. Anyway, it was selected for the contest.
That means it's time to review this old post

And if you'd like to see it or vote, go to the BabyZone site choose the option to vote in the preschooler contest (scroll down a touch and there is a bright pink 'vote now' thingie and a dropdown menu to choose preschool contest) and there she is. Don't do it more than once a day or she's disqualified. Ends this coming Sunday,

We picked out paint for the new house and begin painting this week!
And I have my sinus surgery on Dec 5....so we have to be totally moved in by then. No, our house hasn't sold, but Merrill, the owner of the house we're buying, has been extremely generous and is letting us move in. He's totally out of the house, so as long as we pay the utilities/taxes/etc, we can move in early. Thank God. We're so anxious to have enough room for all of us and our stuff...and I cannot wait to have an actual studio!!!!!!

Another Photo of Libby Was Chosen

....I hadn't submitted a photo of either kid since the hoopla of last time when Libby's entry got to the finals a few months back....and for some reason decided to submit one I took of her when she bumped her head and got an impressive goose egg on her forehead. With the tear and the bump and the sad eyes, I think it tells a story to which every parent can relate. Anyway, it was selected for the contest.
That means it's time to review this old post:
http://runningbikergirl.blogspot.com/2006/07/regarding-my-photo-of-libby-in-contest.html

And if you'd like to see it or vote, go to http://www.babyzone.com/photocontest choose the option to vote in the preschooler contest and there she is. Don't do it more than once a day or she's disqualified. Ends this coming Sunday,

We picked out paint for the new house and begin painting this week!
And I have my sinus surgery on Dec 5....so we have to be totally moved in by then.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Two Portrait Sessions Today!

Today I did portraits of two of my favorite little people. Both are the sons of good friends of mine. I had a lot of fun running around the park with them and trying to pull smiles out of them.......
here are a few:










Friday, November 10, 2006

Soul Reflection Has Light!!

I just ordered a strobe/umbrella light kit and I'm psyched. I paid for it with my recent portrait jobs (and a few hours of overtime at work), which made me feel great. Chris is building me a couple other lights, too, so I will be set for my studio lighting within a week or so. Plus, we'll be moving very soon and I'll be able to set up my studio, which will be wonderful. Actual workspace. Yay!!
I have two sessions on Sunday, both little boys who are friends with Libby. And both are absolutely adorable.

I ran 4.5 last night, oudoors, and it was the best run I've had in ages. I would have loved to run tonight in the snow, but there was no time. Those snowy runs are my favorites...the muffled footsteps and sparkly clean snow....

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Soul Reflection Is Born

Thanks to some help from my copywriter best friend, I have a name for my photography business.....Soul Reflection!!! It describes perfectly what I try to do with my portraits. I try to show what makes my subject them. What they are about. Who they are.
And the custom Soul Reflection blog is in the works. A couple of weeks and it should be up and set.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

New Photography Blog Coming Soon

Things have really started taking off with my photography business. I need to get my business cards and such made and get a website. Since I don't have the capital to have a website designed, I'm going to have a custom blog made for my business. There I will post my fees, etc, and post samples of my recent work for prospective clients to check out. I will still keep up this blog as usual but will have the other solely for photography. When she's up and running I'll add the link to this blog so you can check her out :)

Ran five miles tonight.

I had a CT Scan today on my face, in preparation for my sinus surgery. I see the ENT again next week to get that all set up. My three main concerns about the surgery are:
1. missing work--one to two weeks, I think.
2. potentially losing my nose ring because of it...I imagine that I'll have to remove it for the surgery and resulting nasal packing.
3. the time off of running. I've just gotten back on schedule and now will have to take a few weeks off again.

I'm going to the doctor on Thursday to figure out the mess that is me.
I have been having extraordinary fatigue (not sleepiness, but full body fatigue so bad that three mile runs feel like full marathons and five milers feel like 100 mile ultras), strange and sudden headaches, excessive bruising for no apparent reason, swelling of the joints, severe joint pain, swelling of the legs, hands, and face, bad lower left quadrant abdominal pain (the doctor felt a lump there and made me get a colonoscopy a few months back...which showed nothing in there and it got dropped...but the pain is getting worse), and my hands often tremor. SO, I'm going in and pushing for answers. Something is obviously not right. Everyone blames all of my weird health stuff on my Stage III Lyme Disease , but that was 18 years ago. I mean, come on. I'm sure that some of my stuff is from the Lyme, but not this stuff. And if it IS from the Lyme then they need to treat me again even if it means hospitalizing me to do so (they tried to treat me again five years ago and the medicine made my white blood cell count bottom out and I had to stop treatment). I will be my own advocate.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Fall Photos

I, Rebecca, do solemnly swear to always do a Fall photo shoot with my girls. Here is this year's, with Libby. There are some stunning ones of one of the neighborhood girls but I need to get permission from her mother to post them. I very much want them to be included in my portfolio. I'd really like to shoot a full session of just her, too. She is very pretty and unsusual and loves the camera.











Marathon Jo

This is my gorgeous and inspiring running partner, Jo. I took this portrait to commemorate her unbelievable life-changing transformation. Jo has lost somewhere around 100 pounds and become a marathon runner (ran the Green Bay with me in May!!). (and become a faster runner than me, but who's comparing...) :) The photo of her is gorgeous, but I'm going to make her do another sitting with me where we have enough room to get the lighting right without creating so much digital noise.

Photos From Yesterday's Session

Yesterday I had a fun session with a mom and her two children (and dog) which I think turned out great. They are all runners, so I took them out to the track for a few, then did some more 'studio' work in their house.