Shoot, Edit, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

My life is *s0* exciting these days. As we're nearing the end of the wedding season, the peak of fall colors, and the beginning of the family portrait Christmas Card rush, my life is like something out of Groundhog's Day.

The good news is we only have two more weddings left before we have a couple of months off. The bad news is by the time we're done shooting, we're likely to spend those two months fulfilling orders, designing holiday cards, and creating albums all in time for holiday delivery.

But instead of dwelling on my lack of a life, I thought I'd share what I see every waking moment when I'm not shooting....my current office. In just a few weeks this office will be dismantled and moved downstairs into the "real" office. In other words, my office will no longer double as a guest room! This is the most exciting thing ever in my world right now. We'll be able to organize how we want without having to work around a queen sized bed!

So without further ado...here's a look at our current office setup. Please overlook dust and general disorganization. I've been essentially living out of this room all summer so it's looking a little rough...

Walker has also been living in this room all summer. Here he is enjoying his morning chewie on the bed that will no longer be a part of the new office. It will be replaced with a couch, which I'm sure he will find equally as comfortable. You'll notice the rope toy nearby. When he gets bored he drops that in my lap repeatedly as a signal that we need to take a break.

To your right you'll see the window with blinds drawn. You might think I do that to avoid glare on the monitors. Um....no. I do it so Walker won't bark ALL DAY at the construction crews working on the house next door. The blinds also serve as a barrier when the window is open to keep him from going through the hole in the screen. I wonder who put that hole there?? Additional bonus to the new office: It's downstairs, and the windows are too high for Walker to see or jump out of.


And this is a wide view of my home base. The messy, completely ineficient desk. You can see a messy in box and file tray, binders full of paperwork, label printer, postal scale, and shredder on the left desk. We've also got our foam finger from Nick and Karyn's wedding on display. The big bulletin board has our monthly google calendar. Unfortunately I have not kept on top of keeping those printed and updated. Maybe next year? Oh, and you can also see just a little bit of the portrait my cousin Kristine had printed for me of my aunts and uncle that was taken before my dad was born some 55 years ago. It has to be custom framed because it's an odd size. It will go in the downstairs hallway when everything is painted.


Another view of the desk wall. File cabinet serves as a tv stand for my older than dirt television. No kidding. That thing has been with my family since 1989! It's made every move with me through college, post college, and then married life. Good old magnavox. Sometimes it turns itself off, and sometimes it won't work for days in a row. It's mainly just for background noise anyway. Closet to your left houses all of our gear in a less than organized fashion. New office closet will not have doors and will have built in organization designed to work for us. Frame on the wall is my going away gift from WBAY with pics from my work friends and messages from everyone. Printer below the desk really needs to be dusted.

Here's my within arms reach stuff. To do list for this week, lots crossed off but still lots to do. Also in that notebook is my grocery shopping list, which is why I have a stack of cooking magazines under the notebook. Excedrin for headaches. Chapstick and Vicks Vapor Inhaler left over from last week's illness. My phone on the charger. CDs for burning. Thank you card from my friend Steph. Direct tv remote. Album company deadline post it note to remind me to get on brides about choosing their album images.

Look at my pretty desk top (x2 because my husband is a gadget freak and demanded two monitors). The photo is courtesy of a photographer friend of mine based in North Dakota. I LOVE Aspens and we don't have any around here. You can also see my weekly dose of Starbucks, and the water bottle ready for me when the nonfat no whip Mocha is gone. Tissues on the ready from last week's illness. Mousepad with stupid wireless mouse that hates me and Wacom tablet.

And finally, my zip up fleece waiting for me when I get chilly. For those that don't know, "sisu" is a Finnish word that for lack of a better term translates to something like "cajones" or "gumption" Sisu is my favorite thing I learned in the U.P. I also have a mug that says, "Got sisu?" It reminds me that if I survived 2 years in Houghton, I can handle anything.

So now you know what I see just about every day of the week! Look for pictures of the new office by Thanksgiving!