Apple makes me happy

No one ever likes calling tech support, but sometimes it has to be done.

After months of dragging my power adapter behind me everywhere I took my laptop, I finally decided I couldn't handle the 33-minute battery life any more. I mean really, if I have to be constantly plugged into a wall, I might as well just carry my iMac around the house with me.

Anyway, I sucked it up and called Apple yesterday on my lunch break. At 9:30 this morning- 21 hours later- I had a new battery sitting on my desk. At no cost. And to think, I doubted their customer support.

I can't wait to get home and run around with my laptop in all its portable glory! I think I will use it in every room of the house tonight, just for fun. Maybe even the porch. Scratch that, it's 51 degrees out.

Is Sports Illustrated hiring?

Doesn't really matter, cause I wouldn't get the job. I don't think you can have a true appreciation of how fast a soccer game moves until you try to photograph one. (Unless of course you are playing in it.)

With Dylan coaching this season, I've taken the opportunity to work on my nonexistent sports photography skills.

We spent last weekend at a soccer tournament in Mt. Pleasant where he coached his U-16 boys to a super second place finish. We had some serious rain the first day, and with all the soccer games going on the fields turned to sludge. The boys were FILTHY, as were my feet on the sidelines. I faced several challenges photographically- the weather varied from black clouds and splattering mud to blinding sun, and I fought the whole weekend with odd shadows and angles on the field, a lens that always felt too long or too short, and some speedy soccer players whose next move I could never anticipate.

This weekend's game in Columbia was slightly more successful. The mid-afternoon sun was bright white, but at least I felt that I had a better grasp on which camera settings work best and how to better capture the action.

Anyway, I still need lots of practice, but here are a few from both weekends!

For real- mad hops










I love these next two shots, pre- and post-goal




Dylan and (most of) his team in Mt. Pleasant

On a side note, a zoom lens is a great substitute for binoculars! I am sure I looked very official and impressive with the camera glued to my face the whole game, but in reality half the time I was just watching through the lens.

That's all for tonight. Go Phillies.

Twenty-eight is great

Happy birthday to my brother, the best Rock Band drummer I've ever known.

Golden

I'm a big fan of anniversaries. I like cake, I like going out to eat, I like looking at my wedding album, I like presents (large or small), and I like (ok LOVE) my husband. I thoroughly enjoyed my first year of being married, and I am already excited to celebrate year number two.

Fifty is a big deal. I normally do more portraits than events, but when a friend at work asked me to photograph her parents' 50th anniversary party I was more than happy to. How awesome is it to be married for FIFTY YEARS!!

Ronald and Elinor celebrated five decades of marriage on Oct. 2 and enjoyed a party with their family and and a few close friends a few days later. Here are a few pictures from their evening.

Phodography

Well guys, things are a little slow right now. Not too terribly much to post. I recently reminded myself that this is supposed to be a PHOTOGRAPHY blog, not a RANDOM LIFE ACTIVITIES blog, but judging by my post categories (don't look), content is weighing heavily in the "etc." department.

My goal is to fix that. But that means I have to do some photography. Which I really am, I promise, but most of it is in the next few weeks. So that brings us back to the current situation: what to blog tonight.

Later this week I will have some anniversary party pictures for you, and next week some soccer shots, but for now, you will have to settle for a picture of my dog getting his teeth brushed. Yeah, I said it. The dog getting his teeth brushed. That's all I have for you today.

Some of you may remember the poem I wrote about Riley a few months back and the vet's recommendation that we have his teeth cleaned. Rather than shell out a few hundred $$ for some canine dental work, we decided to take the DIY approach for now. So last weekend, only 11 brief weeks later, Dylan busted out the finger-sized doggie toothbrush and went to work. We didn't dare try using the doggie toothpaste yet- just the scrubber for now. Baby steps people, baby steps.

And there you have it. Pray that things stay busy as I get into Christmas card season. If you're lucky, I will never post another update relating to my dog's dental hygiene. But no promises.

Time for ketchup

Ah hahaha, so clever. What I really mean is CATCH UP. Bet you never guessed.

We made our annual trip to the state fair this week on opening day when admission was only $1. That's right, we went in the pouring rain. (Because of said rain I did not take my camera, so I sadly have no pictures.) We looked at bunnies and oversized vegetables, avoided some dodgy looking llamas, and ate a bunch of elephant ears, Fiske fries, and corn dogs. Ok let's face it, I did not eat any of those things- my only concern was to search high and low for a bag of cotton candy to meet my very specific requirements (which I did NOT find by the way- had to settle for the second best cotton candy at the fair.) Regardless, I did enjoy stuffing my face with fluffed sugar all night and then continuing in the morning for breakfast. That's really the only reason to go to the fair.

In other news, after a week of smoothies, TV, and washing her hair with one hand, Julie's in a removable splint and is back in Clemson catching up on seven days of missed class. Yay for improvement!

I am SO impressed by my two little runners. MaryO and I did a great seven miles last weekend. Katherine and I ran twice in the rain this week, including an eight-miler this morning. (I mean, I think once you are willing to run in the rain you are officially hardcore.) The Marys ran a killer eight miles this morning as well down in GA where they and Kira are visiting Courtney. 

Only eight more weeks till our big race!

And while it's been a month since our trip to Hilton Head and I have YET to blog any pictures, I would just like to state for the record that I love this family, despite their devotion to the Tigers.

I'll be blogging pictures soon from an anniversary party I shot last weekend- my first official "event." And I'm really excited for a few family shoots I have scheduled during October. It seems to early to be thinking of Christmas cards, but it's really not THAT far away. Email me if you're interested- I've got some cool designs that I am dying to order for someone!

Check back soon for more pictures!

She's got a few screws loose

Well, I guess that depends on how you look at it. Mentally yes, cause a lot of people would call Julie crazy for taking up a new "hobby" in college last year and joining the Clemson women's rugby team- learning a totally new full-contact sport played against girls twice her size, and then switching positions this year and learning it all over again.

But then when you take a look at her arm, you'll see that all 13 screws are in there nice and tight. After all, she just had surgery yesterday. During her rugby match Saturday in Atlanta, someone (jury is still out) fell on her and snapped both bones in her left forearm. Jonathan took good care of her down in ATL before shipping her home to have surgery here in Columbia.

Here is my poor little sister post-op, trying really hard to have an intelligible conversation.

And I have the sweetest friends EVER. Kira stayed late to be Julie's recovery nurse, and MaryO came in on her day off to visit the patient with me. Here is Kira in action, with a thumbs-up from Julie

I noticed a blinking light at the foot of her bed: "BRAKE NOT SET." The doctor passing by saw me taking a picture and assured me that everything was secure. But I thought it was funnier to imagine her careening at top-speed through the recovery room.

Julie's sweet friend Lauren came to visit and watched a movie with her (if you can call it that- Julie was out cold in a matter of minutes.)

Here she is with the post-op pictures of her bones- check out all the screws

Don't be fooled by the big, awake smile. She was pretty drugged up most of the night. She's good at faking.

Her first day home was spent largely asleep, thanks to some strong pain meds. I can only assume that tomorrow will be more of the same, with a few smoothies mixed in. Get better soon Gulia!