All things new!

Wow, a year and a half flies by when you get a new job,  move to a new city and have a baby! We welcomed Casey Martin into the world this year in February! He is so amazing and I can't believe he is almost 8 months old already! He is such a good boy and has the best smile!

Running more than blogging...

I ran my first race! It was a 3 mile race call the Yukon Run in White Bear Lake, MN! Or should I say ON White Bear Lake! Yep, actually ran on ice and didn't do too bad a job...32:00 min, tying for 3rd place with my friend Niki in our age category! Now I feel like once I hit the pavement in the spring, it should be no problem! When I first started I did not enjoy running at all but I'm finally getting my breathing more under control so, I'm really starting to enjoy it now! :)

Here is a picture from the finish line:

Also, I have not been blogging much at all and completely missed the ISO Photo Challenge: Vintage, but still wanted to share the photos I recently took of both of my grandparents homes in Eau Claire, WI. Brought back so many incredibly wonderful memories and made me really miss my grandparents, may they rest in peace!

One last thing to share (since I got sucked into the Pinterest world)...I absolutely LOVE this saying:

Source: anthonyburrill.com via Wendy on Pinterest

ISO Challenge: Light

This photo is of the nativity set that my mom gave to me. She and I used to carefully unwrap the figures and place them in the wooden manger each Christmas as I was growing up. I put it out every year as a reminder of what this season is all about; Jesus came to be the Light of the world...

Winning!

Granted, there were only two entries for the ISO Photo Challenge: Nature - but it's an honor to be chosen, none the less!

ISO Challenge: Nature



I believe I shared this photo a while back, but didn't use it for a challenge yet. I love being outside (mostly when it's warm outside, though)! This photo was taken while on a hike in St. Croix Falls, WI a few months ago. It was the perfect day; warm in the sun, cool in the shade and the autumn colors were starting to emerge! My husband and I are making it a tradition to go there each year. It's perfect for a day trip, not being too far from the Twin Cities. We usually follow our hike up by heading to one of the local restaurants to try some new food and a local brew and/or wine!

-----------------------------------

If you want to join in on the photo challenges go to:

http://isophotos.blogspot.com/p/weekly-challenges.html

ISO Challenge: Thankful

Thankful for this time of year...love all the lights and celebrations!

Give-away!

http://isophotos.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-giveaway-iso-in-search-of.html

Hey All: No challenge here...it's a give-away! Go check it out and then join in on the weekly challenges! While you're visiting there, head to the ISO facebook page and give them some love by "liking" their page! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Running toward new goals...

I didn't do so well with my 2011 goals...so now I've decided to beat the New Years resolution deadline for 2012! I've just joined the gym and am starting to train for a 5K. I have a bunch of girlfriends (including my sister) supporting me and it feels really good! I decided that, instead of going home to sit on the couch and watch the Biggest Loser, I am going to the gym to watch it as I speed-walk/slow-jog my 5K tonight!

Another goal of mine is to set a bedtime and stick to it! So far that's going well...the part I need work on is getting up in the morning when my alarm clock goes off the first time. I think I need the coffee pot next to my bed!

My third goal is to start eating healthier. I've always been a bit overwhelmed by this one but I feel that once my body is on track with sleep and more regular exercise that will happen a bit more naturally - or so I hope! Wish me luck! Hope this is of some motivation to those who happen to read this!

Stay tuned for the next ISO Photo Challenge: "Thankful". Coming soon to a blog near you!

ISO Challenge: Love

I feel that so many of my photos have an element of love in them so

I thought it would be tough to choose just one photo to enter into this challenge, but that changed when I heard my pastors sermon on marriage today.

 It made me realize just how truly blessed I am to be married to my husband Chad.

We have had our ups and downs and faced some difficult challenges along the way; we have also had some great times and made some wonderful memories together.

I know that we have learned to love each other more than we could have imagined we would, and I'm so thankful that he loves me the way that he does.

That's why I've chosen this photo to share with you:

Love ♥

ISO Challenge: New

So the challenge this week is "New" so this is a photo of my latest up-do. I am not a professional, but really love doing hair...check out the link to my facebook album below to see my other work!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.524783813314.2038060.144302205&type=1&l=143fdd0f3e

ISO Challege: Dark

Went on a 'spooky hike' today with my family at a tree farm/pumpkin patch

and thought this could qualify as 'dark'...

ISO Challenge: Faceless Self-Portrait

My husband and I spent the day hiking and looking at the beautiful changing leaves along the river in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. The air was crisp and cool in the shade and fragrant and warm in the sunny spots! It was my definition of a perfect fall day! While taking a rest from our hike to enjoy a view of a lake, I decided to try one self-timer shot for the ISO Challenge: Faceless Self-Portrait, and was very happy with the result. Hope you are able to experience the same sense of peacefulness I did....

I'm also including a few of my other favorites from the day!

ISO Challenge: Accidental Letters

We were of course...you guessed it....fishing, when my husband (who knew I was looking for an accidental letter to photograph) tells me, "Hey look, an 'S' in the clouds!". Funny enough, I had already spotted it and gotten the camera out and was ready to take the picture right as he told me!

Here it is, do you see it?

ISO Challenge: Silhouette

This is the church I grew up going to. Even if someone didn't know where it was exactly but they were familiar with the White Bear Lake area, you could usually give them directions to it by saying, "It's the tall pointy church on Highway 61, across from the Dairy Queen.". I met some life long friends and made many

good memories with them there, including -but not limited to- sneaking out of confirmation class to go get cream cheese wontons from Sam at King's City! Sam is still there and remembers me to this day, by first name and I don't have to wait more than about 3 minutes before my wontons are in front of me. So I guess, long story, short; many memories were made at this church or within a short radius of it!

I like Chicken Dinner!

Won another challenge...granted there were only two photos entered! Still fun :)

Guilty Pleasure

I knew this weeks challenge wouldn't be hard, since we are celebrating the Great Minnesota Get Together (the State Fair) and there are plenty of guilty pleasures there! One that we found to be really tasty was this walleye sandwich and an ice cold beer upon arrival! You may wonder why it would be such a guilty pleasure...I felt a little guilty enjoying this for breakfast ;) But hey, it was 5 o'clock somewhere, right?!

Yay!! I won my 2nd challenge! Go check out ISO if you haven't yet!

Working on this weeks challenges over this long holiday weekend.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Labor Day weekend!

Reflection Challenge

I thought I would end up blogging a lot more, but here I am scrambling at the last minute to enter my photo for the "Reflection" challenge...this photo was taken at the Back to the 50's car show at the MN State Fair grounds this past June. We go every year with my Dad and love to spend time with him and look all the old cars!

I hope to take more time soon, to blog about other things!! :)

Water

I'm always snapping pictures when we are out on the lake. This photo was taken on my first trip with my boyfriend (who is now my husband) up to his Grandparents home in Merrifield, MN (near Brainerd). That was my first real day of fishing and I've literally been hooked ever since! It was the perfect day to catch some bass, as you can see in this photo. I thought water falling into water would work for this ISO challenge!

Dream catcher

Dream is the theme for this weeks ISO photo challenge....

I took this photo at the beach the other day and it reminded me of a dream catcher (also has a little flare...I couldn't resist)!