I was at the Craft Show in Mt. Pleasant for Creekside Grains last weekend. I was talking to a very nice woman, when she stopped talking, stared for a moment, then said, "You are a photographer!"
When I agreed with her, she said, "You photographed my wedding in Jackson, 29 years ago!"
As soon as she told me that I had photographed her wedding, I immediately remembered her. She wore a scoop neck gown, with a beautiful hat! I remembered her church, and what a beautiful bride she was.
The most fun part of this story is that we were in Mt. Pleasant. She had moved from Jackson to Mt. Pleasant a few years ago, so we met in a town that neither of us ever dreamed we would meet in.
I love reunions with a great twist!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Final Moving Day!
If you do not hear from us for a few more days, it is because the phone lines and computers and internet are moving to our new office.
If all goes well, we will be back in action on Friday afternoon. If the normal glitches occur, you will hear from us on Monday.
Back to final packing and moving!
Bye!
If all goes well, we will be back in action on Friday afternoon. If the normal glitches occur, you will hear from us on Monday.
Back to final packing and moving!
Bye!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Almost Moving Day!
If you drove by the studio in the past few days,
you will notice that the Classic Gallery signs are gone.
Next Friday, we will be officially out of this office and into a temporary office.
Lots to do and little time to move it all!
We had wonderful friends who helped move most of the studio furniture
and files and shelves and lots of boxes on Saturday,
but my office is still very full.
I leave town for five days on Friday,
so poor Michael has to clean up after me.
He can do it! I know he can!
On Monday evening, I will be presenting a program in Frankenmuth for the
Mid Michigan Professional Photographers Association.
I look forward to spending time with old friends
and meeting new friends.
If the blog is empty for awhile,
you will notice that the Classic Gallery signs are gone.
Next Friday, we will be officially out of this office and into a temporary office.
Lots to do and little time to move it all!
We had wonderful friends who helped move most of the studio furniture
and files and shelves and lots of boxes on Saturday,
but my office is still very full.
I leave town for five days on Friday,
so poor Michael has to clean up after me.
He can do it! I know he can!
On Monday evening, I will be presenting a program in Frankenmuth for the
Mid Michigan Professional Photographers Association.
I look forward to spending time with old friends
and meeting new friends.
If the blog is empty for awhile,
I will fill it up when I return and unpack!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
I'm Back!
Has it been almost two months since I blogged? Guess why? I will tell you!
Michael is the Executive Director of Miss Heart of Michigan, which is a Miss Michigan, Miss America preliminary competition. I am the President.
Last Saturday, Miss Heart 2010 was crowned at the Leelanau Sands Showroom. Kaley Lynn Schroeder also took home a $10,000 scholarship! Miss America 2008, Kirsten Haglund was the co emcee with our Miss Heart 2009, Katie LaRoche. Kirsten and Katie did a wonderful job entertaining the crowd and helping to make the evening go smoothly.
Kaley is now preparing for Miss Michigan in June.
For the past two months, I have been planning the event, from ticket taking to Lodge room reservations, to script writing, to making sure contestants paperwork was correct, to answering over fifty emails per day, to preparing judges books, to you name it, I did it.
Whew, the pageant is done and we are starting to plan for next year.
We are also preparing for the Lansing Gift show for Creekside Grains, which starts on Sunday. Michael is busy packing mixes and preparing products and I am polishing up the brochures and order forms. We heard that over 600 people attend the show, so we are looking forward to a great weekend!
Have a great weekend! I know we will!
Michael is the Executive Director of Miss Heart of Michigan, which is a Miss Michigan, Miss America preliminary competition. I am the President.
Last Saturday, Miss Heart 2010 was crowned at the Leelanau Sands Showroom. Kaley Lynn Schroeder also took home a $10,000 scholarship! Miss America 2008, Kirsten Haglund was the co emcee with our Miss Heart 2009, Katie LaRoche. Kirsten and Katie did a wonderful job entertaining the crowd and helping to make the evening go smoothly.
Kaley is now preparing for Miss Michigan in June.
For the past two months, I have been planning the event, from ticket taking to Lodge room reservations, to script writing, to making sure contestants paperwork was correct, to answering over fifty emails per day, to preparing judges books, to you name it, I did it.
Whew, the pageant is done and we are starting to plan for next year.
We are also preparing for the Lansing Gift show for Creekside Grains, which starts on Sunday. Michael is busy packing mixes and preparing products and I am polishing up the brochures and order forms. We heard that over 600 people attend the show, so we are looking forward to a great weekend!
Have a great weekend! I know we will!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Christmas Eve Updates
A quote from Pastor Nick...
"How did things go on Christmas Eve?
If you were not able to be with us, I'd encourage you to check out the podcast at www.bponline.org
We had over 2,800 people attend the four services and I am still receiving emails from people who were deeply moved. In fact, I spoke with two Bay Pointe families on Christmas Eve who said it was their one-year anniversary – their first service was Christmas Eve 2008.
My hope is that many who attended will come back and continue a journey that will lead them to the cross of Christ."
I cannot agree more!
"How did things go on Christmas Eve?
If you were not able to be with us, I'd encourage you to check out the podcast at www.bponline.org
We had over 2,800 people attend the four services and I am still receiving emails from people who were deeply moved. In fact, I spoke with two Bay Pointe families on Christmas Eve who said it was their one-year anniversary – their first service was Christmas Eve 2008.
My hope is that many who attended will come back and continue a journey that will lead them to the cross of Christ."
I cannot agree more!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Christmas Eve Services
Just a reminder that you are invited to join us for Christmas Eve services at Bay Pointe Community Church. Services will be at 1:00, 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00 PM. Michael will be baking for the volunteers and we will both greet at all services. Pastor Nick has a special message planned and the music is always wonderful. Come alone, come with family, come with friends, come join us! We look forward to seeing you there.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Life with Deb, Rob and Erin
I met Deb and Rob in 1985, when I photographed their engagement session. Erin was born a few years later. I have been photographing their family almost every year since then.
A few years ago, just after Christmas, Erin was home and Deb and Rob were in Texas. As Erin watched in horror, a fire ball raced through their home. Because it was electrical, the fire department could not extinguish the fire until the main power line was shut off. That time delay kept the fire burning and the home was completely destroyed. If the fire had been a few hours later, Erin would have been sleeping and could not have escaped the explosion. Deb is still so thankful that they came home to a burned out house and not for a funeral.
I was able to replace every portrait that I had taken over all those years, but it was a slow and tedious process. Deb and I met several times to look at the negatives from the burned portraits and make decisions as to which portraits would be replaced as wall portraits and which portraits would become part of a family album. After that, we chose frames for the wall portraits. Since many of the frames were no longer made, we got to choose new frames.
I delivered two portraits soon after the house was completed, to start with the "making the house a home" process. The album came next, so Deb was able to see the family change over the years.
Yesterday was an encouraging day. I met with Deb to hang the final wall portraits and to help with the "stairway wall." Deb and Rob's original stairway wall had twenty years of family portraits and candid events. Deb showed me the photograph of the original burned wall, with white blobs of melted goo that had held precious memories. Deb started from scratch and created new memory photographs, then framed each photograph or group of photographs. She was able to salvage a few charred photographs and made the best of the horrible situation. We took each group and started hanging. It started with a portrait of Rob's parents, then Deb and Rob's wedding portraits, then years of family memories. There is one spot left at the bottom of the stairs for them to create a new photograph during Christmas this year.
I was struck by the few bites of laughter that could come out of the tragedy. Deb showed me a photograph of Rob's sunglasses. They looked like a modern art exhibit. The frames stayed the same and the glasses melted into a colorful blob. Their soap dispenser in the bathroom was a melted blob of goo with melted soap dripping out of the bottom. The funniest image was of the check that they had written to their housekeeper. The check was in perfect condition, surrounded by charred everything!
This replacement order cost over $10,000. If we had replaced every wall portrait and every smaller portrait exactly as the original orders, it would have been $30,000. I left in awe of the rebuilding process and the healing that they have had to endure. I left thanking God for a friendship that I have enjoyed over the years.
Deb says it is "the same, but different." I agree.
A few years ago, just after Christmas, Erin was home and Deb and Rob were in Texas. As Erin watched in horror, a fire ball raced through their home. Because it was electrical, the fire department could not extinguish the fire until the main power line was shut off. That time delay kept the fire burning and the home was completely destroyed. If the fire had been a few hours later, Erin would have been sleeping and could not have escaped the explosion. Deb is still so thankful that they came home to a burned out house and not for a funeral.
I was able to replace every portrait that I had taken over all those years, but it was a slow and tedious process. Deb and I met several times to look at the negatives from the burned portraits and make decisions as to which portraits would be replaced as wall portraits and which portraits would become part of a family album. After that, we chose frames for the wall portraits. Since many of the frames were no longer made, we got to choose new frames.
I delivered two portraits soon after the house was completed, to start with the "making the house a home" process. The album came next, so Deb was able to see the family change over the years.
Yesterday was an encouraging day. I met with Deb to hang the final wall portraits and to help with the "stairway wall." Deb and Rob's original stairway wall had twenty years of family portraits and candid events. Deb showed me the photograph of the original burned wall, with white blobs of melted goo that had held precious memories. Deb started from scratch and created new memory photographs, then framed each photograph or group of photographs. She was able to salvage a few charred photographs and made the best of the horrible situation. We took each group and started hanging. It started with a portrait of Rob's parents, then Deb and Rob's wedding portraits, then years of family memories. There is one spot left at the bottom of the stairs for them to create a new photograph during Christmas this year.
I was struck by the few bites of laughter that could come out of the tragedy. Deb showed me a photograph of Rob's sunglasses. They looked like a modern art exhibit. The frames stayed the same and the glasses melted into a colorful blob. Their soap dispenser in the bathroom was a melted blob of goo with melted soap dripping out of the bottom. The funniest image was of the check that they had written to their housekeeper. The check was in perfect condition, surrounded by charred everything!
This replacement order cost over $10,000. If we had replaced every wall portrait and every smaller portrait exactly as the original orders, it would have been $30,000. I left in awe of the rebuilding process and the healing that they have had to endure. I left thanking God for a friendship that I have enjoyed over the years.
Deb says it is "the same, but different." I agree.
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