Five on Friday in Bullet Points

• I met more new neighbors this morning. It's funny to me that I can say, "Oh your house is cute inside!" because I've been through all of them during open houses. But really, her house is cute inside, and my mother wanted to buy it. Sorry Mom.
• I just had a pickle wrap for lunch. It is possible I am trying to cut back on my carbs once again. In 2003 I lost more than 60 pounds by doing Atkins and working out. I felt amazing and was the poster child for the low carb lifestyle. But alas, I love bread. And pasta. And Ramen Noodles (yes I really do like them!) and so all the weight came back and then some over the past five years. So now I'm not going back on Atkins, but I am trying to cut back on all the carbs I eat in the hopes that I might see some changes in the scale. It has become way too common place for me to turn to carbs for any meal. Need a quick breakfast? Toast is easy. Karl's not home for dinner? That's okay I'll just eat Ramen Noodles. Not good.
• The reason for the diet change: being fat during the summer sucks. I sweat. A lot. And trust me, sweating while lugging camera gear and following a bridal party is not fun. I spend the day climbing and squatting and crawling around to get the shots I want. And the sweatiness is just nasty. Plus, I think my feet, knees, and back would love me a lot more if I were lighter.
• Oh, and the timing of the weight loss attempt also coincides with the first time since September that I'm not taking drugs that make me gain an average of 5 pounds a month. Fertility meds are great like that. They convince your body you're pregnant, so you gain weight. Except at the end of the month you're not pregnant...you're just fat. Awesome. So since we're forced to take this month off of the drugs (a long story), I might actually have a shot at making some progress.
• And because I need to make sure all these bullets aren't about my eating habits: after this weekend's wedding.... we begin our *easy* month. Only one wedding in the entire month of July!!! How awesome is that? And it's a good thing because we go six weeks straight through August and early September. Then a week off, followed by five weeks straight. Oh Wisconsin wedding season, why must you be so short. If anyone wants to get married in February, I promise you my undivided attention :)

Fun Summer Wednesday: Warrior's Debut

I'm not sure any future Fun Summer Wednesdays will live up to this one.

It had all of the elements of a perfect day.

• A good friend:

• Good photo ops:

• Awesome food:
• And the much anticipated arrival of Warrior, now also known as Luke:

Yup, I'm pretty sure it doesn't get much better than today. I may not understand everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks but I do know that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. And I think when we're having a really really crappy week, He gives us Fun Summer Wednesdays.

Another Angel

From Emily's family last night:

It is with great sorrow to inform you that Emily Barger has gone home to be with the Lord.

Your prayers were not in vain. She is eternally healed. The family was all with her.

God Bless, and please hold them in your prayers as they begin life without little Emily.

For such a little girl, you touched a lot of lives sweet Emily. We'll miss you.

Prayers for Emily

7 years ago this summer I began working at WBIR, the NBC affiliate in Knoxville, TN. I was fresh out of school, and while I had gained a lot of experience working in Gainesville, this was my first *real* job. I was informed I was the first producer ever hired by the station straight out of college, and I didn't want to disappoint anyone.

At the time I arrived in Knoxville, all the other producers were pitching in on what would become *my show.* They would each fulfill their responsibilities during the week, and then come back overnight on the weekends to put together the weekend morning show. So I'm guessing they were all pretty happy for me to be there, and pretty eager to get me trained so I could do it on my own and they could return to their normal lives.

Among those producers responsible for making sure I didn't screw up too bad was Brian Barger. Brian was the only guy among the gaggle of girl producers. In fact, now that I think about it, I think he might still be the only guy on the producer team there. I remember my first impression of Brian was that he was the most laid back newsroom employee I had ever met. Relaxed is not a word often used to describe producer types. High strung is much more likely. But not Brian. He cracked jokes, and managed to answer all of my questions without making me feel stupid. He made me feel more confident in my abilities without throwing me completely into the fire.

Anyway, this entry isn't about Brian. Well, not really anyway. It's about Brian's daughter Emily. The past couple of years have been really hard on Emily and her family. She was diagnosed with a really rare form of cancer, and after finishing her treatment last year, they learned recently that the cancer has returned. At only 7 years old, Emily is fighting for her life for the second time.

While I don't live in Knoxville anymore, a large part of my heart is still there. I think often of the friends that became like family when I lived in East Tennessee. Tonight my heart is heavy thinking of the Bargers and their struggles. I wish there was more I could do for them, but from so far away all I can offer is prayer.

So if you're the praying type, please pray for Emily and her family. They've been granted a miracle before, and now they need another.

Emily is the adorable little one front and center.

You've got to kiss a few frogs....

This might be my favorite silly candid of this wedding season. I was shocked when one of the bridesmaids scooped this guy out of the grass. I was even more surprised when the bride leaned over to give him a peck.

It all worked out though, she kissed her prince a few hours later.

I'm feeling about 100 years old on this Monday. An outdoor wedding in the heat and the humidity does that to a girl. Thankfully I have a prince of my own who kept making me drink water to keep the heat stroke away.

Weekend in Review

So we made it back in one piece from the Upper Peninsula. It was touch and go there for a while with the black flies and mosquitoes I thought were going to carry me away. I am one of those people that attracts bugs of all sorts. I must taste good.

But all the bugs were worth it when we got to see these guys:


I've never seen a fawn this young before. I love that Mom is totally aware of our presence, but the little one is more concerned with getting lunch! And look at those wobbly Bambi legs! It doesn't get cuter! Now if we could get rid of the bugs I might really be a fan of nature :)

I am already a fan of weddings, and not just because they're normally bug free events. It was great to attend Karl's cousins wedding as guests, but we couldn't resist bringing our cameras along to document our view of the day. We got some strange looks from the hired photographer. I don't think he liked me very much. Oh well. We stayed out of his way and got some great shots...



On our way out of town Karl and I stopped at the pasty shop to fill up a cooler with frozen u.p. goodness. And I'm now the proud owner of a mug that says, "Got Sisu?" which makes me insanely happy. I think only one person who reads this will know what Sisu means, but I promise to write all about my mug and the meaning behind it tomorrow.

For now I'm off to bed with this guy....

At The Big Kids Table

Karl and I leave tomorrow afternoon to attend our first wedding as guests since we've been married. Isn't that crazy? Four years into our marriage and every wedding we've attended has either involved one of us being in the wedding party, or both of us shooting! This will be the first time that we'll be seated *together* among normal guests. What a concept, right?

I'm hoping our house doesn't float and/or blow away in our absence. We've had some horrible weather lately and I spent much of this afternoon wondering at what point I should take the dog into the basement. Thankfully, Walker will be in the kennel this weekend, so we don't need to worry about him floating or blowing away.

See y'all on Monday!

Fun Summer Wednesday Debut

Can I just say, I love having teacher friends? I mean, it's kind of nice to have my work from home schedule...but sometimes it's kind of lonely. My schedule is jam packed on Saturdays, but nobody seems to be free for lunch or midmorning coffee on a Tuesday.

Barb and I have been scheming about Fun Summer Wednesdays for months. In fact I'm pretty sure there was still snow on the ground when the idea was first discussed. So after many weeks of waiting, and counting down the final days of school, the day finally arrived.

Fun Summer Wednesday (FSW): Week One!

Our very first FSW got off to a later start, as I had some errands to run this morning, and Barb was hoping to sleep in a bit. We met up at my place for lunch (yummy take and bake pizza minus the roma tomatoes that may or may not contain salmonella). After lunch I popped in a Sex and the City dvd and we down to the task at hand: SCRAPPING!

I managed to create two layouts, and a really big mess! Evidence:

Meet my mess, and a corner of one of my layouts

And a look at the other layout I completed, for this week's journaling challenge to journal about summer. So happy I got to play with this month's Studio Calico Kit!

We also had a fun little photography lesson after scrapping to prepare for next week's FSW plans, a photo date around Downtown Appleton! Perhaps we'll pay a visit to my favorite wall!

Yup, definitely love having teacher friends!

Houston, We Have Azaleas!

Alternate title: Perhaps my thumb is not black after all! That poor azalea bush has been on life support since shortly after we planted last spring. When things thawed out this spring I was pretty darn sure the bush was toast.

But last month, it came back to life... sort of. Half the bush sprouted pretty green leaves. The other half, well not so much. So now I had a half dead bush! Better than nothing, but I was sure we wouldn't get any blooms on a half dead bush, right?

Wrong! Last week I spotted buds and this morning, blooms!

A very good way to start the month I think!