My week

08.08.08

Here are a few shots I grabbed while attending a wedding last week with my sister. I was NOT the photographer...and that was a good thing! It was very dark at the wedding and the reception and pretty much past sunset when they were attempting to shoot outdoor portraits. So...I experimented with my camera to see how I could add light without flash.

Sneaking in a few shots while the photographer did her thing.

Aren't those desserts amazing!

A moment during the toasts.

The bride is a coworker of Cynthia.

The girls I was with..watching the slide show.


By the way did you know it is allergy season! Yep, I can definitely tell.

~Christina...not really a fan of August

Some casual softball

Lovin' the light on this shot

Why I didn't get to bed until One AM

Not allowed on the interstate so conveniently this wreck took place right near an overpass.

Awesome view of the fire trucks from my fantastic town. Yes, that is toilet paper spilling out of the top of the trailer.

Didn't want this hard working fireman to be left out of the pictures.

I was strong and went home. Then the assistant chief called to tell me they were going to lift it with cranes. What's a girl to do?
Traffic on the opposite side. This is a construction zone.

West bound closed for several hours.

Trying to pump the fuel out.

Took forever to finally get the cab up.

Now to work on getting that trailer upright...

Two huge cranes. I can't even imagine what the bill for this will look like!

Hard working tow guys.

And they did it!
I then went home. I was so tired. They were probably out there cleaning up for a long time after. Then Coloma Fire had an accident call. I didn't get up to go investigate.

~needing tips on night photography

Catching up

So...my shooting/blogging everyday stride was seriously interrupted and at this point I don't know if it will recover. I have been trying to figure out my life lately and where God is leading me and well...its a lot to absorb.
When talking to someone (not even sure who) they asked me how my summer had been. I said Fabulous, because it has been. Then I paused and said Fast!, because again, it has been. This summer has been absolutely amazing and I have been extremely blessed. Yes, there have been some hard times. Very hard. But there have also been some wonderful experiences that I wouldn't trade for all those hard times.
I have grown so much. I have learned an unbelievable amount. I have truly and honestly lived life to the fullest. A few years ago I wouldn't have ever predicted this is where I would be and how I would be but I love it!
Talking to some other people I said this has been like a "bucket list" summer or something. Now, I have never actually seen that movie but it just feels like I am crossing things off on an imaginary list of things to do before...?
Well, anyway, you hopefully get the point. This weekend will definitely be another all out type of weekends. Tomorrow I need to go into the paper office, order flowers, do a million other "home" things, go to a funeral visitation, attend a wedding and reception with my sister and hopefully get some sleep. Saturday I have a breakfast meeting with some potential photography clients, "home stuff?", work at the farm, and...? Sunday I "think" we might go away to church again and then mom wants to go to a concert at a church nearby. Did you see any room for my nap in there?
Ok, I am bringing this to a close. Since I find it very

difficult to have a blog post without pictures these are some more that I grabbed on the farm a couple of weeks ago. I need to get them printed. YIKES! I am so behind with post processing. :)

~livin' and lovin' life

It is good to back!

After two whole weeks of seeing this every time I attempted to even look at pictures on my sisters computer it is so wonderful to be back on my laptop posting images to my blog!

This is going to be quite the lengthy post as I attempt to catch up. I shot over 2000 images even though I was handicapped in downloading and ceased shooting everyday. Rest assured that there are plenty more images that I would love to post. We shall see...maybe I will have time the second Monday in the third week of the month...;)...or something like that!

Got to spend several hours, literally, sorting sweet cherries. Taking off the stems, picking out mold, washing them and running them through the pitter. The above picture is during a quick break at the end of a day.

We also met several friends and went blueberry picking. I was kind of bummed because I didn't get to stay long. I still need to go back get a lot more but we made a dent in our goal.

I actually beat the fire fighters to this call. It is a port a john on fire. Maybe I can post a few more pictures of that later.

Just days after my computer decided to take a vacation my phone got run over. Don't ask me how...I really don't know. I was really grateful that I found it, even as crushed as it was, and that I had a protection plan on it.

I was in a hurry so Suzanne and I rushed to the mall to buy a replacement. Unfortunately my contacts were not saved to my SIM card so I am still trying to replace them. (If I had your number maybe you should give it to me again)

Got to go to Shipshewana with a friend who was up here from Texas. This is her little sister.

We also got to attend the first service at Riverview's new building. It was wonderful to be there as we had sold a lot of pizzas and chicken for fund raisers.

Making it even more special was the fact that the Hitch Family/Simple Grace were there doing a program. We enjoy there music a lot.

We got to see many wonderful friends including this sweet family who let me take their picture for our prayer board.

I got an incredibly awesome new camera bag! More on that later as well...including, hopefully a better picture. I really put it to the test this weekend and it passed with flying colors...definitely worth the investment.

My grandma's sister in law died and Mom and Dad took Grandma and Al to the funeral. Dad also requested that Suzanne and I attend so we drove up to Battle Creek as well. This is grandma with her three siblings.

After the funeral Suz and I got to stay with our dear friends for a short time. I went swimming twice...first time I had been completely in the water this year. It brought back lots of memories of mom taking us to the lake and various pools when we were younger.

I covered the Glad-Peach Festival in our town this past weekend. Shooting dozens of pictures, walking all over, bumming rides on golf carts, volunteering at the steak fry, and attending most of the events.

I also got to take a tethered hot air balloon ride. It was a bit of a disappointment but I did it. I think I want to go sometime when it is not tethered. :)

Mom ran in the 5K. Way to go mom!!! She finished 5 out of 10 in her age group.

Mom also dreamt up this darling arrangement for the parade. The puppies (who are getting big) pulled the "buckboard" with Cynthia and a young friend as cowgirls, another young friend was a trapper using Buddy as a "bear", and mom was an Indian with her "wolf".

The fireworks were amazing! The conditions were just right and I am so glad I stayed up to go to them.

Monday we were praising the Lord that my adapter finally arrived and I spent most of last night and all of this morning working to try to wrap up my Glad-peach assignments.

This is such a beautiful sight. I had been able to use a friend's adapter one day last week but I didn't have Internet then and they also live a distance away and I couldn't keep it. The advantage was I could download my pictures to that point and make sure my computer would indeed work when I got the new adapter.
So, how have all of you been?

~Christina