Happy Birthday Jesus!

We had a very hap-hazard dinner at Denny's Christmas Eve during which a very cute 3-year-old was overheard from a nearby table saying "Happy Birthday Jesus!" while her mom tried to get her to eat her macaroni and cheese.

Merry Christmas one and all!

Why Stop at Halloween?

Why stop with pumpkins?

I've been eating a lot of oranges lately. Gotta spice them up a little.

Action and Adventure

It's been a lot of fun watching my nephew, Joe, grow as a wrestler. When we walked in and started paying for our tickets to event, the salesman asked us if we had a wrestler. Joe put his hand on my belly and said our wrestler was still in there.











Keep up the good work, kid.

Recognition

I made this picture during the tricycle and scooter races at Rambling River Days, the town festival in Farmington, MN. The photographer from our competitor newspaper was shooting the same event and I remember watching and wondering what he was seeing and thinking of what I wanted to see.

It seemed the glory for these kids was at the finish line, so I put on my long lens and hoped for the best. Lo and behold, I'd read the situation right and the above photo is what emerged. I love the drama and whimsy of the image. It's clearly a simple event — the trike tells us this. Yet the emotion, the attempt to capture it for all time on video and the juxtaposition of the teenager in the left corner, inattentively and talking on her cell phone make this image very real for me.

This year, I took second place in our company-wide editorial contests for Best Feature Photo for this shot. It was nice to be recognized, especially for such a fun shot.

I was also excited to win a few writing awards, including a first place for Best Social Issues story for a piece I wrote about Oral Cancer. It's gratifying to win the award, though I'd already been heavily rewarded through feedback I'd received from people who were helped or enlightened by the article.

In both cases, I felt the award winning work was created because I had the ability to recognize the possibility in situations that evolved on their own. That's the beauty in journalism and photojournalism — using knowledge, skill and intuition, not to create, but to capture what has already been created and represent it in such a way that others are able to access its message.

Sweet New Wheels

note: future baby posts can be found on my new blog, Spellbound Baby.


(I'm 23 weeks, or about five and a half months here)



While I was on vacation in San Diego my family threw me an early baby shower. Among the mound of awesome gifts bestowed upon Spellbound Baby was this stroller, which we came in the mail yesterday and was assembled this evening. We brought the baby over to get acquainted with its ride.

It's amazing how much thought goes into choosing each of these baby things. After what seemed like a complicated series of algorithms, we decided on this one because it offered us a full sized stroller that was light weight.

Plus, it matches the blog =)

Thanks for the stroller Dad and Sally. I'll post more pictures of the baby shower once I get them from my mom.