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!

Falling For It

I visited my neighborhood Pumpkin Shed after church... and this will be the extent of my fall decorations!

Oh, plus a plate of delicious pumpkin bars! Hubby has been golfing all afternoon so I'm just going to pretend I baked them up all by myself!

I had a few "fall vibe" options but I was not going to fight the mass of humanity at Warrens. So I stuck close to home, went to the pumpkin patch and finished wrapping up my raffle baskets.

Then, because the Packers played the other night, my Vikings were on TV finally.

Kinda ugly, but we got the win! When you only get to see your team on TV a few times a season, there's no way to really defend them – or figure out what they're doing wrong. Not that our fan opinions mean anything!

Still... it was nice to secure a 3-0 start to the season.

Hope you find peace and solace in the beautiful fall colors. And decide that serenity is worth fighting for!

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! 

Hoco Vibes

This week was Royals homecoming. I pretty much did not participate in (or capture 📷) any events. Just happened to have busy nights. 

This is probably the first time in years where our homecoming game had something on the line. We (ranked as #2 in the state for 8-man teams) were up against the #1 ranked Gilman. Unfortunately, Gilman had earned its rank for a reason – and showed us all on the field, the sidelines and in the stands.

It was kind of humbling. But it was, for me, a nice evening spending time with my two favorite Assumption alums.

Hubby was taking defensive stats per usual. Then, on my way home, Carter (alum for 10 years) called me. Oh these special Royals!

Here's a few action shots since it was finally a daylight game!

A little airborne tackle!

A senior having a breakout year!

Unfortunately, in the end. Gilman clobbered the Royals 44-6, but I was so relieved we scored so it didn't appear that our ranking was all for naught.

We'll see what tonight's loss will mean for that. But really, I think most of us Royals fans are thrilled with our season so hopefully it doesn't dash any major hopes. It's only September after all.

Keep the Royal faith!

Mellow Yellow?

Due to road construction, there is not a direct way to get to work in Stevens Point via Plover these days. Lots of detours.

So my morning commute means I have to go south first to head to the Interstate and then head north to Point. It adds time and miles (good thing gas is cheap).

Yesterday morning there was lots of fog. And today there were pockets of it. And this weird yellowish hue to the sky. I was pretty sure there weren't any wildfires causing this. And thankfully the Internet again came through with the answer:

The glow is an atmospheric effect, a result of how the sun is filtering through particular clouds. 

There you have it. It is not the end of days or anything dramatic!

I was kind of hoping it would but me in a "mellow yellow" sort of mood today but that only lasts so far into the day at work. Ha.

Good thing I balanced it out with a nice Book Club meeting tonight. We tried out The Lantern at Bullseye Country Club. The prices were decent and so was the food. It was sparsely populated in the dining area so we actually got a quiet little table where we were free to discuss the book and not disturb anyone. Always great to see everyone and spend an evening on the banks of the Wisconsin River.

I call this one "Book Club With a View." Now that's mellow!

The Magic of Giving

We are in the final stretches of our company's United Way campaign, where we try to raise around a million dollars in 2 weeks. As I mentioned previously with golf outing photos, our theme is the Magic of Giving so we're sort of leaning heavenly on Disney vibes.

So it was totally appropriate that my one fall decoration at my desk is Scarecrow Mickey! God bless Hobby Lobby for having everything under the planet!

Since this was our team's week IN office, we got to participate in the dress-up days together.

Can you guess our team dress-up theme? If you said "Flannel" you get half a point. It was a flannel shirt OVER a favorite band shirt. I wore my Here Come The Mummies shirt I told you about during my summer work-from-home t-shirt tour!

Here's our team of writers looking 100% like '90s Grunge and I couldn't be prouder. We get into this!!

One of the fundraisers is always "Beer and a Smile" – Point Root Beer that is. You could order for anyone in our Stevens Point offices and the business area that was in charge of this would deliver. I was excited to get one from my friend Sharon. Yum, yum!

There's lots of other raffles and contests going on. I'll let you know if I have any luck. It's definitely been fun so far!

Doing things for others truly IS magical! 🏰

Trying to Rise Up

Our family is pretty close. So when tragedy strikes one member, we all feel the impact... want to help, pray for the best outcome.

This week has been a test.

Late Sunday we learned that while at work that night, my oldest great-nephew Anthony (same age as Carter) got a call from his roommate saying that their home was on fire. By the time he arrived, the fire was massive and consuming the house. 

By the time it was out, Anthony’s space in the home had been completely destroyed along with the garage. Unfortunately his dog Beanie did not make it. He was such a big sweetie!

Anthony walked away that night with the clothes on his back, his phone, and his (apparently questionably reliable) car. His whole world got taken by the fire. If you are able to help in anyway, he has a lot of needs and will need a lot of support to rebuild after this loss. 

Thank you all in advance for any help in donations or even just passing this on to others who might be able to help him out as well. Or even just prayers!! For Venmo donations, the last 4 digits you'll need are 2505.

If you have any questions feel free to message me. He's a special animal-loving soul who deserves a better break in life than this hand dealt to him. 

Our hearts are collectively breaking.