Super "Sweet" Sunday

It was a pretty Swede, er Sweet, Sunday! Our boy was down in Wisconsin Dells for a bachelor party weekend. When your baby is an hour away – instead of 4 – you make the effort to see him.

So we met him for breakfast. A BIG one. Kinda surprised how packed this place was for a post-water park season Sunday.

But they packed us in and piled on the food. I didn't realize I was supposed to come with a big appetite! We definitely did not get our money's worth. But if you're ever really hungry and see one of these joints, stop in! 

Had a relatively short visit since he had a long drive ahead. He made sure to give me my "Super Swede" coffee mug he found in some treasure store (aka thrift shop)!

A bunch of kids were piled on Paul Bunyan so we opted for a photo with Babe the Big Blue Ox. Carter did not have sunglasses and will was probably blinded for the first hour of his drive! 

After that we stopped at hoe to do a few things and then headed to Plover for the big fundraiser our nephew Colin and his wife organized. Several of you contributed to raffle baskets. Thank you! There were over 100!! And a huge, huge crowd.

Haven't heard my phone ring yet announcing any winnings, but when I got home my raffle winnings from yesterday's chili cookoff fundraiser at Tri-Norse had been delivered! I guess I can't win EVERYTHING!

This afternoon I got the rest of my photos in order for Crop-toberfest next weekend. Still need to do some scrapbooking paper organizing this week but I do have a few somewhat free evenings for that! 

Tonight I imagine we'll watch some football. My fantasy team apparently took the weekend off and the Swedish Chef Mafia may be handed their first loss. Gotta go cheer on Josh Allen so he kicks in gear in the 4th quarter!

That would be SWEET!

Autumn Escape

My 5-day autumn escape started with some different "fall colors." The first were these beautiful stained glass windows as we attended a wedding in Oshkosh Saturday for Tyler and Ellie – the son and daughter of good friends of ours.

The wedding was beautiful, the wedding party was beautiful, and every detail of the reception and dance was so well thought out. Just so fun! And since these two are Assumption "kids," we knew about 80% of the guest list! 

We stayed overnight and got back Sunday with enough time for me to unpack the suitcase and re-pack it for my sister getaway. I still call it our Wild Women's Weekend – even though it was Sunday-Wednesday this year.

Our destination was a spacious VRBO in the Eau Claire/Altoona area. Secluded but still within minutes of all the amenities the city has to offer!

For this year's Opening Act, I convinced my twin we should do a mini Hee-Haw show. We sang the clothes-washing song from the show (We're not ones to go around spreading rumors...) and wrote some corney jokes about each sister. Of course we were a hit. Ha.

The weather was actually summer-like on Sunday and Monday. So Monday our mission was to go to a nearby park and find a "stick sculpture" we saw in Our Wisconsin magazine since the park was close by.

What are the odds we see a picture of the "Oak Lair" in Our Wisconsin magazine, we decide to search for it since the park is 10 minutes from our VRBO... AND we have a chance meeting with architect Ryan Butler who turned into our group photographer? 

We loved hearing about his passion and creative process as a landscape artist! What a nice surprise! (By the way, that cane belongs to one of my sisters, not Ryan.)

We highly recommend Mount Simon Park if you're ever in the Eau Claire area! 

And he took some nice group photos of us among his creations!

Fall colors were not at peak yet. But we saw that maybe a lot of trees showed off early before the winds took their leaves away.

There were some splashes of color. But nothing too brilliant.

Tuesday returned to cold and windy so we stayed put. Both RoAnn and Raylene had to leave us around mid-afternoon because they had obligations Wednesday morning.

So we took our "skydiving" selfie before they left. Yes, we're dorks and that's why we get along!

The rest of us checked out Wednesday by 10 a.m. and hit the road. Since I had the full day off, I took a few detours to hopefully find fall colors. That included the High Ground by Neilsville (way up on a hill) and some random side road.

Today was back to work – thankfully remotely this week since a lot of work piled up in my short absence!

And now it's time to support 90% of my friends who are cheering on the Brewers! Just one more win and you're in the World Series! 💙💛

Double (Almost Triple) Feature

My Monday almost could have been a quadruple feature if you count 8 hours of work entertaining. It was not, for the record.

After work, I captured the first half of photos at the JV football game vs. Gilman. From there, I went a block away to capture photos of volleyball. I caught the last game of JV, then did the Senior Night thing, and shot the first game of varsity. I will be back next week for Cancer Nite so I'll get more then.

By the time I got home, it was too late to partake in my third feature – The Voice. So I edited and uploaded a bunch of pix and went to bed late.

Today, though, since work is done and hubby is golfing, I will watch last night's episode and then tonight's. 

My boring life must astound people. LOL.

Hope you have something to look forward to this week!

Just One More

When I take senior portraits, I pretty much straight out tell the kids, "OK, when I say 'just one more' I mean 10-20 more!"

Weddings are different. You have one shot at a getting the right shot in some cases. But when you're shooting the family groupings and wedding party, it's an "OK, I'm gonna need you to keep smiling. I'm probably going to take 8-10 pictures so one of them has all your eyes open!"

Today I photographed a wedding for a young man at my church. First, I'll say it was kind of neat to hear how my pastor (who I adore) does a wedding ceremony. She was awesome, of course. And despite my misgivings about our lowly lit church, I managed to capture some good ones!

Their reception and dance (and outdoor photos) were at the Grand Rapids Lions Club. The only real scenic location there is a small pond. We made that work for the background. 

A fun thing they did to start the dance was a "Freeze Frame" dance. The bride and groom sat in two chairs on the dance floor and during the song "Freeze Frame," people formed a line, and then could run up and pose for a quick 5-second photo with the newlyweds. So I basically got photos of them with almost everyone there! And funny ones!

It went pretty well and thankfully the weather gods smiled on them. After the all-day rain last Saturday, I was a tad worried. For no reason, as usual! 

Hope you found a reason to smile today! 

A Walk (or Run) in the Park

I spent a good chunk of my day at beautiful Standing Rocks Park near Plover where Stevens Point High School was hosting their annual cross country meet.

The fluctuation of our Royals cross country team has been interesting. Sometimes there's so many runners they have to compete for the Varsity 7. Other times, like today, there were not enough runners – we need 5 to score as a team.

Still, it's always fun to watch and to capture. And I think this year was the first time I wasn't dying from sun and heat. I actually had to go back to my car at one point to get my jacket!

I think Assumption did as well as they hoped. 

Afterward, since we all had to follow a dusty gravel road to get to the park, I made sure to find a car wash. Then the rest of the day was random errands and getting steps.

Hope y'all had a satisfying and relaxing Saturday!!

25 Years?

Hard to believe today is 25 years since the most impactful historical moment of my lifetime happened. When our young football team faced the flag during our moment of silence this evening, I realized none of them were even born! Do they understand the impact of today?

I remember in high school when I had write some paper that involved asking my parents for memorable/impactful moments in history. My mother knew exactly what she was doing and how she heard on the radio that JFK was assassinated. I thought "How do you remember that from 20 years ago?!" 

But now I get it.

Between work and taking football pictures this evening, I didn't have time to watch any of the 25th anniversary tributes to 9/11. Maybe tomorrow I can find them. It's not like I want to re-live the day. But don't you want to go back to that month and remember how we all came together as a nation – and it didn't matter our political affiliation, our skin color, our income, or anything? We bonded together as mourners and survivors.

That definitely got lost in the decades since, unfortunately.

For me, it was crazy week. Working at a newspaper had a whole host of extra memories. Special editions. Two newspapers a day. And we still couldn't keep up with how much was being discovered those first few days – Trade Center, Pentagon, Flight 93 – and how it all tied together. So surreal.

But like I said, any of us who woke up ALIVE on September 12 should consider ourselves survivors. Let's try not to take that for granted.

Or our freedom to comment on this event however we want! 

Monday Sports Report

It was a Monday sports day! I gotta say I wish all football games were playing during daylight hours. Perfect lighting and great focus. This switching to 8-man football also brings me a few yards closer to the action! 

I stopped at our Royals' JV game after work. It started at 5 p.m. and book club started at 5:30 so I knew I had time to shoot pictures of one quarter at the most.

It was just enough time for me to catch a long kickoff return for a TD!

What made it special is that the varsity squad had finished practice and were watching from the end zone. Loved to see their excitement and support for JV!

Jim was actually officiating at the game. He said it ended in a 22-22 tie. Since it was 90+ degrees out, everyone was fine with ending it in a tie. I don't even know if they keep JV stats/records anywhere to see how they compare to other schools in the conference!

Put me in the right frame of mind for book club since the main character of the book also played some football. If you get a chance to read Life & Death & Giants, do so. A brief synopsis:

Shunned by her Amish community in Lakota, Wisconsin, Rachel Fisher lives on her own and gives birth to an 18 lb., 27" baby boy. Orphaned at birth and not knowing who his father is, Gabriel Fisher ends up being raised by his older brother, his Amish grandparents, and the local veterinarian who delivered him. Over the years, Gabriel rapidly grows to become a giant in height and weight. He spends his entire life trying to fit in; both literally and figuratively. However, no matter his size or where he went, he was loved by animals and people alike.

It got high marks from us all! As I've said many times, I love my book club. We rotate picking out the books so there's always something I never would have thought to read! 

And yes book club is a SPORT. We're exercising our minds! 😀

Barefoot Hotdog

What the heck is a "barefoot hotdog"? Well that would be a talented teenager who can waterski barefoot and be a hotdog (aka one-handed hot shot) while doing it!

Love this kid! 

This is Baby Aiden ... aka One of My Waterski Boys ... aka About to Start His Senior Year!

Had such a fun photo shoot tonight for senior portraits. Obviously senior pictures have moved way beyond the traditional one pose in a studio! I had the pleasure of capturing his brothers' photos and his sister's. And now it's his turn.

Of course I took some nice "portraits" but we also needed some action shots.

Beautiful night for a boat ride! Had to make sure we were facing away from the "backlit" sun while going over waves and holding my camera steady enough to capture some action shots of flips and other tricks. Looks relaxing but it was challenging that way. Can't wait to look at all the images, but I knew I for sure got that good barefooting one!

Afterward, on the way home, the sunset colors off the lake continued to be amazing in the woods, too. Just a treat for sunrise/sunset-loving me! Absolutely no filter or photo editing here! Additionally, I will not disclose if I trespassed to find a good angle. Sorry, town of Rome!

May we all find delight in childhood/teenager enthusiasm and the beautiful colors, textures, and waves in nature!

 

Just Go With The Flow of Happiness

It's crazy what makes us happy – or mildly content. For me after two evenings and mornings on my sister's back deck, I was thrilled to capture one hummingbird in action. Though the bird is not in clear focus.

Still... yay!

The focus of the weekend was getting to my sister RoAnn's on Saturday so we could see he granddaughter – my great-niece – Kenlee dance in her recital Sunday.

Let me just say, that was the most awesome experience! You were so good, girl!

In addition to her fans who were there to cheer her on, we all had a late lunch with Sunday. Then, it was a nice relaxing treat at my sister's to just relax by the "fire" in the evenings on the back deck.

Today I headed home and seeing my parents' grave was the only non-detour. Was glad about that. Also it had been pouring rain and it stopped for approximately 8 minutes so I could visit Mom and Dad and then it started within seconds. It was insane. So grateful!

As for the rest of the weekend... I am thrilled to be back home safely (with some parts only $4 per gallon of gas)... and craving to do more for more my nieces and nephews. A project for another day!

Ditto Day with Extra

While today's schedule was pretty similar to yesterday's, I had some extra fun – and sadness – at church today. Today was our last day of "work" for Dave, our choir director of 14+ years. And as a grand finale, we sang Handel's Messiah (aka The Hallelujah Chorus)!

Not to sound like a choir geek, but this has been one of my favorites to sing since I was a freshman in high school which (check history books) was long before some of you were even born! It was a staple in our high school choir Christmas concerts. Then fast forward 30-some years and I learned it was a "grand finale" as well in the Assumption Golden Mass right before Christmas break. I've never joined them on stage, but I know my soprano part to sing from the seats.

This is the You Tube link to the service. Fast forward to 01:24 in the service for our performance. I'm the short one far left in the front row. I was ready to cry by the last 4 notes. I love that song. And we'll all miss our director! We had a nice pot luck brunch after church. 

Then this afternoon we had two graduation parties this afternoon. One found us a Lake Arrowhead and the other was just a mile-plus away. I came home before hubby because I needed to search through 5 years of softball images for a few "particular photos" before playoffs on Tuesday. Found 'em!

Side note! It was summer-like today!! Still 74 degrees at 8 p.m. I'll take it. Tomorrow I'll have time to actually relax and enjoy. Gotta love 3-day weekends no matter the serious reason for them!

Hope you're taking time to relax and convince Mother Nature this is how we launch summer in Wisconsin!

Happy Satur-Dane

I don't know my father's thoughts on Danes. His only remark one time (as a 50/50 Swede and Norwegian) was about "goofy Finlanders."

Today I spent the day in a historic building called Danes Hall in Waupaca. Apparently lots of Danes settled in this town 45 minutes away. First time at the hall. An impressive facility that can accommodate a ceremony and reception on the third floor, an area to relax for appetizers on the second floor, and a popular bar in the bottom floor known as The Cellar. 

Every time I swear off shooting wedding photos, I cave to another request. This time to one of hubby's cousin's kids who lives on the East Coast but wanted something close to the bride's hometown in Waupaca.

Today was sunny and 84 degrees – the warmest day this year – but sun is not always a photographer's friend. So I did take most of the pictures inside the nice venue but took a few dozen outside with the couple. 

Although I am the cheapest photographer around, I still want to prove my worth and deliver good photos.

What I liked about this one is that I framed an angel on their shoulders to represent Grandma Batch, who is my mother-in-law's sister. Both are gone now. For the bride, I think/hope this picture means a lot! I know it will to Uncle Richard, who tearfully hugged me while commenting, "This is so hard to experience without Batch. She'd be so happy."

Sometimes in the chaos of all things weddings, we might forget how much the occasion means beyond the immediate family and friends. It's good to remember the feelings of grandparents who were overjoyed for the first times to be called Grandpa and Grandma. These "young people" are the world to them! 

Just pointing that out since I have several brides planning in 2026 and 2027 and I knew your grandparents who have gone. Also, I know for 99.9% certainty that y'all have better things to do than read my blog! LOL. Well, I did my part!

#hugyourfamily

Hidden Talents

My first hidden talent today was learning that I am a "good bleeder"... this is after a simple finger prick that turned into a good half hour of "bleeding out" (in my dramatic opinion) and hoping not to faint just to test our cholesterol and all that jazz for a work health program.

Thankfully some old friends had my back and I survived mostly unscathed except for a little down time on a couch in a lactation room (all these things exist in today's corporate America) and some stomach upheaval. 

Still waiting for my gold star for being such a great and generous bleeder!

After work, it was a bee line to Robinson Park for Senior Night for our Lady Royals. Every time I think I'm 100% aging out of this school, I think of the current squad that moves my heart with their hearts of dedication and hard work for Assumption. Congrats, Ari and my R sister. I will miss the heck out of you!

After that, I was able to finally stop at soccer a bit so I could get some pictures to Mr. Yearbook. That was a little bit more affirming that we are getting old and don't know most of these "young kids" anymore. Still, was fun to see.

Then, while I was editing and uploading photos tonight I hear some very young voices and realize we are watching our youngest next-door neighbors for a spell because of a sort of family emergency. Their hidden talents: Endless energy!

I realize we really don't have any toys around here any more. But we may have turned them into zombies by the time they left. Side note: I'd give anything for the energy of a 3-year-old. Wow. 

Good thing I don't have to set an alarm tomorrow! 

We Can All Be Rock Stars

Happy Thursday. The first thing I want to say – especially with any of you with some self-doubt at work – there is always someone on your team who thinks you're a rock star.

It's true!

The other morning when I was in desperate need for caffeine and they had no sugar-free Red Bull left in stock in our work cafeteria, I was sorta forced to try a sugar-free Rock Star for the first time. Not the same. But...

By sheer coincidence, someone on our team had left me a random "you're a rock star" type gift and I had a little uplifting trophy to accompany my energy drink. In a very unplanned way, it made for the best day!

I'm trying to keep that attitude positive this week as I deal with really inconsequential things like how will our church choir sing the Hallelujah Chorus during Memorial Day weekend? How can I take a mental health day on Friday when there is so much urgent work to do? How can I celebrate other people?

I think I found a way. For me this evening (after a ladies' golf league meeting), it was capturing photos of K.C. pitching successfully while at another ballpark his sister A.C. was pitching to their 10-run victory in softball. I adore their parents so this was cool for me.

I want both the baseball and softball teams to embrace that rock star status today. 

But I also hope that any of you who feel "undervalued" at work – to use my words a few weeks ago – to feel like you matter. But mostly, to feel like you're a rock star.

Pretty sure most of us are!

Team Steps Challenge

We're having a companywide steps challenge at work in May. It started Tuesday but I didn't realize until today that my FitBit is no synched up with the new version of the work app. Darn technology.

Hopefully I got everything reset and reconnected so I didn't lose all of yesterday's steps and today's. Our Writers Assembling team needs me! 

This after for what was intended as fun, a small group of us from Marketing took a short walk across the street in Schmeeckle Reserve – this amazing 280-acre conservancy area technically on the campus of UW-Stevens Point.

I say "intended" fun because is turned out to be sunny.... but in the 40s and windy. B-r-r-r-r! (Side note: Hubby wore long underwear to golf league tonight!)

The fun part was coming across a small herd of what I could only call "domesticated city deer." 

I mean this dude (I shouldn't assume a dude just because he was very busy chewing on his snack with his mouth open, sorry) just looked at me and I was 5 feet away. No flinching or need to run away from a crazy camera lady!

And yes, my Up North brothers-in-law and nephews would be ashamed of me not knowing the difference between male and female deer. But this one looked like Rudolph's girlfriend Clarice. I obviously follow a different outdoors learning guide.

Anyway, it made for a fun little jaunt to get steps!

And now I better log off because I still need 145 steps to get to 10,000 today. Can't let the team down!

P.S. You know me. I am NOT at all competitive!

The Staying Power of Sisterhood

As a very amateur photographer, I sometimes wonder what draws me to the amazing young women participating in high school sports.

I am really starting to get it now.

1. I have 6 sisters so I'm keenly aware of the power of supportive sisterhood.
2. My high school was too small to offer all of the girls' sports opportunities.
3. I'm a boy mom and there was never an opportunity/option to raise a girl in this atmosphere.
4. As I age, I realize that once we "outgrow" the instinctively "catty years," many of us sisters end up supporting each other.

Why does this matter today? Well, first, I took the picture at a softball game tonight that was not going our way and I love how our catcher went out to calm down our pitcher and assure her she has this and she's doing great.

And .... This was following a crap day at work and (sorry Mom in heaven) a recent shit-show of several weeks at work.

The negative things I have discovered (and bear with this 50+ lady) is that after surviving the first decade of my career as a newspaper reporter and talked down to by city and county officials as "sweetheart" as if "bless you for trying." Then into the bigger publishing world where a female publisher had to act extra tough and aggressive to match her male counterparts – and us worker bees suffering as a result. And now (as a female obviously and at that special age) feeling undervalued and fighting for what I desire and, more importantly deserve, it's been a ... crap spring.

While hubby and I should be looking forward to retirement on the horizon... his way closer than mine... I am in a negative mindset. So negative with recent things at work. (Though I still absolutely love the company and its benefits.)

But the positive, as always since forever, is that there is this random network of sisters at work who get it and are willing to give me a hug and try to convince me to not feel "undervalued," but recognize how valued I am!

I'm sharing because I want high school girls to latch onto this. Don't be a "Mean Girl." Extend the support to your "sisters" (on a sports team or wherever) and they'll extend it back.

College girls, same thing but also stand firm that you've learned things and deserve a job.

Early career girls... prove your worth through your work quality first before getting cocky. 

And the rest of us... if you are a great sister (aka supporter), I think you'll find women who return the favor.

Not to say men can't do this ... because a male co-worker took me lunch today to talk me off the ledge... but just lean into the opportunity to support (and hopefully enjoy) the potential staying power of sisterhood.

End note: I'll be OK. I just have things to think about. And I did get a few of the best hugs this week!

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!!

Chilling Out Not What It's Cracked Up To Be

No April Foolin', the darn weather dudes were right. We were in the heart of a wicked ice storm. I took this picture at 8 a.m. and realized it doesn't matter how little ice it seems to be, most of us were not driving to the office.

Especially since it just kept accumulating all day.

I fired up the laptop and was able to work for 3 hours. The lights had flickered a few times and then, at 10:44 a.m., they went out. Without electricity, our wi-fi router wouldn't work, so not more work for me. I shut down my laptop to conserve power. Our lovely cellphone provider wasn't providing great signals all day either. Add to that, no running water or use of indoor plumbing.

I forgot what it was like to live like Laura Ingalls!

Most of the day I kept an eye on our bunny ear trees, which normally stand pretty straight up. This was early in the morning before even more ice accumulated.

At their lowest point, this was how close it looked like at least the right one would break.

But then the ice stopped coming and it warmed up just enough for us to witness an ice rain as the ice broke up and fell from all the trees. At the end of the day, the trees hadn't parted ways but they put some distant between themselves like fighting siblings.

Throughout the day we could just hear the snap, crackle, pop as tree branches (mostly pines) were falling everywhere – in the woods around us, in the neighbor's yard, a few in our yard, and all the way down the street.

This is typical of the destruction everywhere in that darn targeted purple area. No surprise about the power outages. In the early evening, many of us on our street were notified that power was restored. We're all like, "No, it's not." So we all had to resubmit our outage reports. And think that put us to the back of the line – of thousands of customers without power.

When we went to bed in our dark, chilly houses last night, the last we heard was that our power would be restored by SATURDAY afternoon. Ugh! 

Somehow managed to get a little sleep – even without my electric mattress pad. First World problems, I know. But dang. We do take a lot for granted! This morning, I went to the office to be warm and productive since yesterday was a lost cause.

Suddenly I was getting texts that there were Alliant trucks in the neighborhood. Would I dare get up my hopes?? Jim texted my a picture of our dining room lights on at 11:50 a.m. (25 hours without power). So I raced home and showered and made it on time to church for 1 p.m. Good Friday service. I guess God really does answer our prayers on His time.

Here a few "cool" shots from yesterday...

Poor birds falling victim to fake spring and looking for anything to eat. Icicles weren't doing it!

I hope this didn't kill off any of our budding trees!

And how safe our these power lines in our yard?

I was happy to learn, though, that there are things you can do when it's a daytime power outage.

Mind out of the gutter! I meant practically completing a whole baby blanket! 💗

Want to send a special shout out to all those offering up generators, water for our toilets, and a place to stay. We have the best people in our lives. Take care of your friends and loved ones, too! 

And we've potentially got more of that freezing rain coming tonight. Be smart and be careful out there, friends!