Our next one just happens to be in 3 weeks
which gives me exactly 21 days to lose
20 pounds! Hmmm, think I’ll try the “Duct
Tape Diet”…the one where I drive over
to Home Depot, pick up some Duct Tape and
place it over my mouth!

Thank you Dean & Lois for such a wonderful
time! I know it was a short visit this
go around but it was great to see you none-
theless. Our trip back home was uneventful
and our reunion with Boo was over the top!~
You must come up this summer when things
get to hot down there! You are always welcome.

Today is a catch up day, laundry day and
well, must I say…Super Bowl Sunday?

I managed to get my hands on a really great
red, long sleeved Arizona Cardinals shirt.
I just love it! My sister thinks I’m a traitor
but I just figured…when in Rome, right?
I mean, it’s not like th Vikings are playing
today so I thought, what the heck!

Gary and I plan to sit home and watch the game.
Quite honestly, I’m not sure I’ll watch it all.
But what I do know for sure, whether I watch
or not, I would like for the Cardinals to win!

I want to mention that a good friend and
colleague of mine, Krish Kiefer, lost her father
to cancer this past Wednesday. I would love it
if you would pray for her and her family as
they grieve his loss.

Go Cards!

The inquiries are beginning to come in for the
upcoming wedding season and at a time when
you don’t even want to go outside, I find my-
self thinking of spring, summer and fall 2009
weddings. Sure, it doesn’t take the snow away
but, remember, I LIKE the snow! The cold? Not
so much.

This is the week that typically is slated for
hair and lots of it. We ladies like our fresh,
holiday hair! That reminds me, I should have
made an appointment for mine! YIKES! Looks like
I may get the Christmas bang trim again.
What is it that they say about the cobbler that
goes barefoot? Yea, that’s pretty much me! :\

Boo has a new box to play with (thanks to Amazon)
and I think he is finally “over” the whole
Christmas tree thing (yay!). He’s our little
gerbal and likes to chew paper, however, so my
nice, new paper that I got from Provisions
is in jeopardy and that sucks! I can’t leave my
lovely wrapped gifts out under the tree cuz the
little JOY in my life likes to chew! Turd.

Our friends Matt, Jenny, Olivia and “Bucket’s” (their
new dog) come home this Saturday from Holland.
They’ve been there on business for 2 years.

I have something new for you to do. I recently
photographed a mom’s belly and her family knowing
that her son “Luke” would likely not survive this
pregnancy.

Well, Luke is a mighty boy and is struggling
to hang in there. Please visit their newly devised
Caring Bridge site and Pray for and follow the
progress thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Here’s Luke’s CB Site.

Stay warm.

I’ve missed the last couple of programs for
TCPPA so I’m excited to go and see everyone!
Did I mention that I’m going to be a board
member in 2009? Yep, I decided to step it up
and get more involved. This is terrific
organization and these are some magnificent
people not to mention fabulous photogs!
Tonight will be fun!

Gary got home around 3 yesterday. He’d been
gone since Wednesday. He’ll travel out one
last time in early January…I think.

Boo missed Gary. It’s always fun to watch them
reunite after he’s been gone. This poor cat is
going to have a difficult time when we are both
away this winter…Yikes! I already feel bad
about leaving him. :\

Today is an anniversary for some new friends
of mine. This will undoubtedly be a tough one
for Kelly and Jeff. One year ago today, they
lost their little girl Aliah. I was the
photographer that responded to their loss
last year for NILMDTS. Pray for this family
as they gather with friends and family today
to remember Aliah.

Just 23 days until the big New Years Eve event
at the Airport MOA Hilton for the MOMF!
This is one big bash! I hope that if you don’t
already have plans that you will plan to join
me on New Years Eve for this money raising,
gift giving, family friendly night of CRAZY FUN!

Have a great Monday!
Oh, one more thing…

1. There are at least two people in this world
that you would die for.

2. At least 15 people in this world
love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you
is because they want to be just like you.

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone,
even if they don’t like you.

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you
before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone.

7. You are special and unique.

8. Someone that you don’t even know exists loves you.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever,
something good comes from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you
take another look.

Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Life keeps You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only God keeps You Going

I have a loss to cover this afternoon out in Waconia.
Pray for the young couple that is losing their first
child at 20 weeks gestation.

This week, sadly, good friends of ours
are laying their mother’s to rest.
I’m not really sure how I feel about funerals.
I was going to write that I “hate” them…
or that I “loathe” them. But I paused a moment
to see if that was, indeed, how I really feel.

Funerals are a time to gather, reflect, share
and console. Trouble here is that I think that
I relive my father’s funeral at each funeral
I attend which, in turn, makes them all the more
difficult. But I know that death is apart of life
and I know that altho’ we think “Why would God
do this?” that God is there to hold us as we
grieve.

I pray for both families in this sorrow filled
time and pray for strength and healing.

I think that funerals are a time to re-connect
with God, appreciate those around us and think
about how we would like to make changes in our
own lives to affect those around us in a positive
light. In a word…funerals=change.

I think I will embrace these funerals and love
these families and thank God for my faith.

Family all gathered. Mom & Dad exhausted and holding
their daughter in the NICU. No answers, no indications
of what the trouble might be. So not fair.

I pray that, in God’s grace, she made it through the
night and by some miracle she hangs in and shocks
everyone by surviving.

I’m praying for you little miss S.

Bad news might be…
The set back that she’ll have in rehabbing her back.
She would have been full on into that by now and
instead she’s flat on her back. Pray that she is tough
enough to get into it when the time comes!

I guess I’ll take my own advice and “not borrow trouble”.
God has his plan for everyone involved here and it’s
not my business to muck that up.

Things are finally feeling like summer around here.
It’ll be in the upper 80′s all week and the 4th is
looking nice. The whole weekend is looking nice, actually!

On a sad note…my sister had to get rid of Spice.
Spice is Boo’s mom. Pete brought her up to the vet.
First, Sugar (their other Birman) started peeing everywhere
so they found a home for her~then last night, while the
whole family was sitting, peacefully, watching a movie,
Spice crawled right up next to Anne and peed right there
on the sofa. The NEW sofa! Anne says she’s out of
the cat business. Of course, she’s sad. She rather still
have both cats but can you blame her? I couldn’t
handle a cat that just peed on stuff all the time either.
I’m sorry Anne. Now you can enjoy your salt water tank!
oh, wait, didn’t one of the gobie’s jump out and die on
your carpet recently?? That’s kind of funny, really.

Everyone is good here at the Austin house.
Hobie and Katie tolerate Boo a little bit more with each
passing day. The lawn is flawless, the garden is
blooming and colorful and Gary and I still talk about
what to do for our upcoming 10th anniversary.
The jury is still out.

I have a wedding free week this week and will start
back up on the 12th. I’m sure that my sister’s bash
will feel like a wedding tho’. She and Pete are throwing
a huge party at their home on the 4th.

To any of you who have never commented here on my blog,
I challenge you to do so this week.
Oh, and Jenny’s “Dutch Word of the Day” blog is back
up and running again via Holland!

Keep my mom in your prayers, thanks!

So now, I ask that you pray for Alicia and her
family as their little girl is still up in ICC
at Children’s and they are missing their friends!
Pray for their daughter’s continued success and
health so that they, too, someday soon can return
home and start their new normal!

Alicia is on the left…

Another fun thing…Alicia & Christa don’t live
that far from one another either…cool, huh?!

Jessica wants to be in the homecoming photos
when Alicia’s little girl goes home!!

Nice, right?

Well, I had a full day yesterday.
Met Nicki in Excelsior for an early coffee
that turned into a lunch at Jake O’Connor’s.
It was raining but we managed to dodge the
rain a little by popping into some of our
favorite stores and a couple of new ones too!
Martin’s is back in Excelsior and Omorphia is
new to town.

Ahhhhh, a cappuccino & the molten lava bailey’s
dessert at Jake O’Connor’s….oh, just SHOOT me!

Oh, we did split the fish & chips too!

On to part 2 of my day…I went to Abbott to
photograph a full term, Trisomy 18 baby girl
that passed in utero sometime Thursday.
Her name is Lauren..perhaps spelled “Loren”,http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
in that her dad’s name is Lorenzo.

From there, I went directly to the Depot in
Minneapolis (the hotel/ice rink) for my
Christian outreach foundation-Here’s Life
Inner City.

I’m pooped.
Enjoy the snow!