2007 November — Minneapolis Wedding, Event and Portrait Photography by Austin Images

tuesday the 20th?

November 20, 2007 By Susan 1 Comment

turkey day is in 2 days!
i’ve been at the gym a lot so that
i can fit 2 desserts in the pants
that i plan to wear!

we’ll head down to northfield for dinner
with gary’s mom and then head back up
to my sister’s for some pie and chaos!
it’s a fun day of family and feasting!
we’ll miss june & garrick this year!!

today, lots of hair to do while i await
a ton of orders to arrive from white house
custom colour. i’m going to really have
to get my fed ex & ups drivers something
special this year!
come to think of it, i had better send the
folks at whcc something as well…COOKIES!
i think i’ll hand deliver some cookies!

my sister and i will be getting together soon
to shop for our cookie baking extravaganza!

yum! ~~~~~~

Filed Under: Personal

36 days until Chritmas…

November 19, 2007 By Susan 2 Comments

havent’ even THOUGHT about it yet, really.
lots going on i guess.
i’m sure the e-mail Christmas lists will
begin showing up soon…
ahhhh, how i long for the good old days when
you got what you got and you were thrilled!

but then there’s my brother scott, he is
grateful for anything and my sister and i
joke about it all the time….
“an oven mit?…i LOVE ovens, i can’t wait
to use this!”…”a river rock? i LOVE rivers!
whenever i hold it or look at it i will think
of the time that………”
i, of course, love my brother and he has been
a gift to me all my life, i would want nothing
more from him ever…just his smile!

hey, today might be a really good day to put
some lights up. it’s warm…almost humid out.
the wheels are supposed to fall off tomorrow,
or so we are told by local weather folks.

hope you all had a scrummy weekend.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Uncategorized

timberwolves blow it again…

November 18, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

this is not to say that we didn’t have a
fabulous time, because we totally did,
but when i attend a professional sports
event it would just be so nice if it weren’t
a blow out! 82-100, hornets win.
it was fun to see bobby jackson, he’s so
cute! he used to play ball for the gophers.
then he went to the denver nuggets and now
he’s with new orleans. his salary for the 2008
season? 5.6 million. not bad.

well, we arrive to the target center and
discover that some folks that sit right
behind ron (when he runs the clock) have
3 friends that couldn’t join them so cindy,
gary and i joined them in the front row.
i really great way to get close to the game.
even listening to the banter of the stats
guy, ron, the shot clock guy and the announcer.
pretty interesting, not to mention cool.
those seats go for about $330. keep in mind
that ron & cindy’s seats are pretty awesome too!

we all got to press the buzzer too cuz i’m
serious when i say we sat right behind ron!

the game sucked but the experience did not.
we decided to get a little closer to home after
the game and swung into biaggi’s for a couple
then home.

thanks for your note karen!

jacquie, it was good to pass by you on the
street, i owe you a bottle of bordeaux!
and this is what you get when you don’t call…

dean & lois, we FINALLY booked our flights~
we arrive on monday and will be heading back
on thursday. kind of a quicky but we are
anxious to come down and celebrate.
do NOT make plans for the 9th! we already have.

love to all.

wait, one more thing. my cousin kim who lives
out in montana with her fiance scott just
sent a few photos of their little guy, orion..
i have GOT to get my hands on this guy!
i think they are coming out for Christmas!

Filed Under: Family, Out and About Tagged With: brand new babies, Family

b.s.

November 17, 2007 By Susan 1 Comment

“blowing snow”!
it’s not accumulating or anything but
nonetheless, it’s snowing. as ann conrad
said this morning….”it’s the beginning
of the end.” it looks like everything has
been dusted with powdered sugar. leave it
to me to turn something into sweets!
oh and like i always say, we minnesotans
like to talk about our weather!
and snow is a biggie!

i hit massive traffic on my way to the
hilton yesterday. does NO ONE work close
to home??? it took me darn near an HOUR
to get to the hilton yesterday.
but, as always, it was soooo worth it!
here’s why…meet connEr (with an “e”!)

he is wrapped in a “tie” blanket that was
made by a group of girl scouts. they have
committed to making 150 blankets for the
miracles of mitch foundation’s minnesota
miracle weekend cancer kids! wow! that’s
a mouthful!

here’s conner with his brother trent…

and their folks…

they had already checked in by the time we
arrived (karen & i) so the front desk called
up to their room and asked them to come
down so we could give them their goodie bag.
i’m certain that they are having a great time!
trent was running around like crazy! i asked
him if he had already been jumping on the bed
and he said no…woops! i wonder if he did…
they should check out bed jump!

gary and i did a bon fire last night and
talked for hours. it was so nice.
oh, thanks scott & jacquie for allowing us
to snag a bottle of wine from their collection.

i’m heading off to deliver some proofs and
such today. i think i’ll swing by my sister’s
and say hi.

timberwolves game tonight with ron & cindy.
so we’ll be heading downtown around 5 or so
i suppose. ron takes us into the tunnel
to watch the players come out. it’s so much
fun. KG won’t be there…that’s weird.
oh, well c’est la vie, right?!

Filed Under: Involvements

happy 8 months anne!!

November 16, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

my sister has gone 8 months without a cigarette!
kudos to you my sweet, queen sister!
that is an amazing, awesome accomplishment!!!

i met up with heather, kathleen & jessica this
morning at the caribou on penn & 494.
we are the 4 pack of photographer’s that seem
to take the most sessions for NILMDTS and i thought
it was high time we got together to chat a bit
about our own personal doings…something nice
for a change. i think the plan is to make this
a regular event. it’s good to support one another
outside of our families. not to mention just
simply getting out.

i got a call from a mom who should have received
her son’s photos LAST friday and hasn’t…i’m
having ups run a check on the tracking #.
i am soooo upset about that! i’ll just have to
reorder and drop ship to them if it’s lost.
i’m certain who ever finds it will want to send
it on to the family. i pray that whoever ended
up with it will do that.

i’m getting ready to leave for the hilton.
just one cancer family is checking in today.
an 8 year old.

i’m on the move…gotta go.

Filed Under: Family, Involvements, Out and About Tagged With: Family

posting late today…

November 15, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

swamped is the word of the day.
the boxes from white house custom colour
just keep coming. this is a good thing.
i LOVE delivering final images to people~
it’s like Christmas!

i had a nice visit with stacey yesterday.
got some one on one time with ian and did
a little coloring with lauren

once i returned home i got a call from a NILMDTS
coordinator that a family was going to be disconnecting
their 2 week old daughter’s life support later in the
afternoon so i committed to the session and waited for
the call from children’s in minneapolis.
a beautiful little girl surrounded by loving family
and pink blankets. i always consider it to be an honor
to be asked to photograph for these families and be
given all access to do the most unobtrusive work i can.

let the healing begin….

Filed Under: Involvements, Out and About

baby ian…

November 14, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

(the music was intended to just go along with
j’s slide show…)

stacey decided to come to the PUG meeting
last night sort of last minute (to bring the
crackers that jason left at home!).
that meant that we all got to meet ian who
is just a couple of weeks old!

he is just perfect! his skin, eyes…everything.
ian is just adorable. thank you for coming out
last night and bringing ian & lauren along.
tell lauren that “the white lady” will see her
after school today! ya see, i had on a white
blouse last night and she couldn’t remember my name.
i’m finally going to head over to stacey & jason’s
house today.

yesterday, as i mentioned, i met up with jane
at her “house of fun & fur” to make her greeting
card selections…here are a few…

here’s ringo..

here’s jane & daisy

and my fave…betty. she was crabby yesterday.

i snapped a few more while i was there cuz these
animals are so darn funny and photogenic!

daisy & ringo play constantly. i love how
ringo is covering daisy’s eyes here..

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: brand new babies, pets

fun with youtube…

November 13, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

two cat’s talking….
another cat talking
and another and yet another

thanks for all the wonderful responses to my
recent photo shoot with my niece (see “j’s big shoot”).
we really had a great day together, first coloring
hair and then heading to the big city for a fun
‘america’s next top model’ sort of shoot!
she adores fashion, being in front of the camera
and this will be her focus in life. not her life
just her focus!

oh, and next time….we will take her cell phone
out of her front right pocket. it’s new, therefore
it’s on her constantly!

this morning i have the distinct pleasure to return
to the house of fun & fur!

yes, jane and i are going
to pour over her proofs and select some greeting card
images. i know that i have my favorites! but this is
her project, she would just like my input.
i’m going to bring my camera along in hopes of getting
a couple shots of betty…sweet thing.

so for now, i will sign off.

another beauty today, 64 and sunny! keep ‘em comin’!

i must remember my PUG meeting tonight~
we are going to discuss blogs! wow!
quit talking, start blogging!
and that goes for you anne, gerrick & jen!

Filed Under: Portraits Tagged With: pets, Portraits, timewasters

j’s big shoot…

November 12, 2007 By Susan 1 Comment

okay, can i just say that “g.g.” from the glam guide
stopped by my blog yesterday and left a comment.
please check out the comment AND her blog.
i’ve made it simple for you to check it everyday~
it’s on my list of links “check these out”…
“GET GLAMOROUS”..it’s truly a great fashion
editorial and fashion locator…love it!
thanks for the note g.g!

j and i headed for uptown first and hit the
area of hennepin & lake~a very popular area
and in that it was about 65 it was pretty
crowded as well, but we didn’t mind one bit!

then we hopped back in the car and took hennepin
into downtown minneapolis. just as we were about
to cross the hennepin ave. bridge my peripheral
vision to my left caught some color…it was this
magnificent painted brick building so we crossed
over 3 lanes of traffic and whipped a “U-y” at the
light and drove back there. what a great find!
3 separate backdrops for us to play with coupled
with some mid afternoon hazy sun..it was magical.
needless to say, j was in her element and we
had ourselves a ball!

back to her house for dinner and a slide show
straight off the camera on to their television.
j had already had herself a sneak peak on the
drive home and she just said “these are totally
going on my face book!” yikes!!

thanks j for a great time! hope you love your hair
and your pix…happy birthday darlin’!!

(gary comes home today and i’m going to try to head
over to see baby ian and stacey)

Filed Under: Family, Portraits Tagged With: blogs of note, Family, Portraits

cats & sundays

November 11, 2007 By Susan 2 Comments

i live my week for this.
i’m home all toasty with a big fat
cat with big fat white paws purring
away on my lap. the computer is his
“safe house”, i never try to trick
him into taking his medicine here so
he likes to get on the desk and crawl
down over the keyboard and onto my lap.
it’s hard to get work done when a cat
is expressing his love to you so loudly!
so i do what i can one handed. not easy.
oh, and i stop a lot to snuggle.
he’s my baby, can you tell?

ya see the thing about cats is that most
won’t come when you call (hobie will)
but they will come to you when they want
to which i believe makes them all the more
special. they seek you out. sadly, when
they are done…that’s it. they hop down
and go find a sunny spot.

today, gary may or may not head back home
from south dakota (he’s pheasant hunting).
they didn’t have much luck on friday and if
that were the case for yesterday then the
plan was to come home. if the action picked
up some yesterday then they would stay and
return tomorrow. my guess is, in that i haven’t
heard from him yet, that 2 scenarios could
be taking place.

1). they knew they would come home so they
headed out early and gary’s sprint phone
won’t work and he didn’t want to call too
early from the hotel….(he has been calling
at 8am every day).

2). they “over served” themselves and are
sleeping in.

my money is on the first one.

later today i’m bringing j back here to change
her hair color and head out on the town for
a photo shoot..hopefully she’s up to head
into minneapolis!

okay, now for some fun news.
after dinner with jane and christopher last night
i called my mom, picked her up and took her to
the casino (mystic lake in shakopee).
my mom is always lucky. she furnished her
entire upstairs once on some winnings!!
but this was to be my night! now i’m not
talking car or thousands or anything but
on a $20 investment in my initial machine
my winnings grew to over $350. i cashed out
and played a little more and for another
$40, i got back $100. not bad. like i said,
i’m not quitting my day job but i hardly
ever go and i never come out ahead so that
was fun.

gary just called, they are going to stay another
day. no birds, it’s too nice, he said.
no wind, too warm…just too nice. bummer.
so one more dinner alone i guess.
i think i’ll take j home later and hang
out there tonight!
the following are some shots of j with
her many different looks to go with her
many different moods!
we’ll be adding to them later today and
i’ll be posting tomorrow the “after” shots.

anyone wanting to donate to her NYU college fund
can contact me!

have a great day!
praise Him!

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Family, hobie and katie