Shan at WPPI!

Here is the blog post from Mpix. This is Day 2 at WPPI (which was Tuesday). The show ended yesterday afternoon and I am happy that my hubby is on a plane on his way home now. (He is the last picture on here.)

I am so proud of him and everything that he was able to accomplish this year at WPPI. And I am excited to see where it takes us in the future!

WPPI 2009: Day Two

We've wrapped up day two at WPPI and are preparing for our final day at the show. Again, we're at booth # 701, so come by and see us! The show is open until 3:00pm today.

We want to thank our presenters for the amazing work they have done for us this week. Our team of Jamie, Carey, Dale and Shannon have been great to work with. Don't miss out on their presentations today!

JAMIE SCHULTZ | WEDNESDAY 11:00AM

DALE BENFIELD | WEDNESDAY 12:00PM

CAREY SCHUMACHER | WEDNESDAY 1:00PM

SHANNON SMITH | WEDNESDAY 2:00PM

Here is a link to the Mpix blog where you can leave a comment for Mpix and Shan.

Great job Honey! Can't wait to have you home!

Shameless Bragging on my Hubby!

This was finally announced on the Mpix blog this afternoon and I couldn't be more proud to proclaim that the hot guy on the right is my husband, Shan!

This is the exact post from the Mpix blog:

WPPI: Mpix Presenters Unveiled!

JAMIE SCHULTZ
"Templates and the Press: Exceeding client's expectations using Mpix Press products!"

Jamie will show how to combine Mpix Press printing with easy-to-use templates. Templates are hot right now, and Jamie is one of the leading template designers on the market. Learn how Jamie uses MpixPRESS to create stunning products that impress her clients.

MONDAY 11:30AM | TUESDAY 11:30AM | WEDNESDAY 11:00AM


CAREY SCHUMACHER
"Mpix book software: A powerful tool for your clients, more free time for you!"

Leverage the power and ease of the Mpix Book Software to increase your income and get more free time for yourself. Learn how digital-savvy clients will buy your images on a CD, and then have the ability to use Mpix's simple drag-and-drop press software to create their own stunning books.

MONDAY 12:30PM | TUESDAY 12:30PM | WEDNESDAY 1:00PM


DALE BENFIELD
"Unique uses of Mpix products: Stand out from your competition!"

Dale is excited to share some non-conventional uses for Mpix products. If you are looking to add some hip, new ideas to your product offering, don't miss this presentation. Dales message ­ learn creative ways to use Mpix products to both differentiate you from the competition and up sell packages to your current clients.

MONDAY 1:30PM | TUESDAY 1:30PM | WEDNESDAY 12:00PM


SHANNON SMITH
"Simplify to Multiply: How to streamline your business for even more growth!"

Shannon will be covering many options available with Mpix to streamline your business. If you are looking to make life a little easier for you and your clients, you won¹t want to miss Shannon's talk. Topics include online ordering with both Zenfolio and Mpix, simplified album options, work flow and utilizing forums for continuous learning.

MONDAY 2:30PM | TUESDAY 2:30PM | WEDNESDAY 2:00PM

We would like anyone planning to attend to do so as our guests, for free. To register online, go to www.wppionline.com and choose to register for the trade show. Enter promo code "MC 26" and select Exhibitor "Mpix".

SHOW HOURS:
MONDAY 10:30am-4:00pm | TUESDAY 10:30am-4:00pm | WEDNESDAY 10:30am-3:00pm





I am so proud of him. One of his goals that he set last year was to speak at WPPI in Las Vegas in 2009 and he is doing it!!!

(For those of you who don't know, WPPI is Wedding and Portrait Photographers International and their HUGE annual convention is in Las Vegas next week. There are over 10,000 photographers who attend this convention and to be asked to present on the tradeshow floor is a VERY big deal!)

A HUGE thank you goes out to Mpix for giving him this opportunity! They are a wonderful company and truly have become a family to us.

You can keep checking the Mpix blog and here on my blog for updates on the convention! If you happen to be going to Vegas, be sure to check him out!!! It is going to be a great presentation!

I love you Honey! Knock 'em dead in Vegas!

I will stop gushing now! LOL

Caught Up!

Do you think that 3 pages of blogging is too much for one day!?!?

At least I am caught up! So if you are reading this, my first post of the day is 3 pages away! I think I ended up with 19 blog posts for today!

So to those of you who have been waiting for me to update.....It's done!

I will try to stay on top of it from now on...but with 2 kiddos to raise and a business to take care of, blogging falls down pretty far on the list! I will try harder though!

Thanks for the reminders to update my blog!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 32 on Friday!

I had a wonderful birthday. On Friday, my Grandma had gotten me a cake, so we had some at midnight when I finished work and went to pick up the boys. My parents had also sent me flowers and I am going to get a deep freezer from them for my birthday! WOOHOO! I also had 41 friends wish me a Happy Birthday on Facebook!

Saturday, Shan and Ian made me yellow cupcakes with no icing (not a big icing fan). Ian also made me a princess hat since I was the Birthday Princess. I got to take a long bath and watch some of my favorite shows on my DVR uninterrupted. Then Shan and the boys took me to dinner with our friends Chris, Deb and their children at Red Robin. We had a very nice dinner and it was a very nice birthday! Shan bought me a beautiful card and a book and Ian made me a card!

Last night, I got to go out to dinner with some of my girlfriends and they surprised me with more birthday gifts. Dana made me yellow cake cookies (Did you know you can make cookies out of cake mix?!? I didn't until last night!), Stacy bought me flowers and Karol baked me heart shaped brownies! We spent 3 hours at dinner just chatting and enjoying a girls night out. They are such good friends and I was so appreciative.

It was a wonderful birthday! I have wonderful friends and family! I love you all!

Pray for Brianna!

I got a call this past week from my NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep) coordinator saying that there was a baby due to be born that has a very serious heart condition. The family had requested a photographer to come out and do a session with their baby to be. This family had lost another daughter last March to Pneumonia at only 2 months old and they didn't have very many pictures of her. They didn't want that to happen with this baby.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) is an organization that Shan and I belong to. We provide photography for families whose babies are very sick or have passed before birth or shortly after birth. It can be very difficult sometimes, but we always know that what we are providing may be all that a family has left of their child, so it is always worth it.

Baby Brianna was born on Wednesday, February 4th and has a very long road ahead of her. I asked the mother for permission to put Baby Brianna's images on my blog so that we could get prayers going up for her. She has many surgeries in her future and a very long road.

She is a beautiful baby and I felt honored to photograph her.



This is a picture of Brianna in her "home." She will probably spend months in the hospital, so this will truly be her home.


So please say a prayer for Brianna. Add her to your prayer list and pray for her everyday. Prayers for her family would also be wonderful!

Frakenbaby Returns! (Graphic Post...Injury involved! Graphic Images too!)

I can't believe it, but my Christian once again had to get stitches this past week.

We were cleaning up the dinner dishes on Tuesday night (a week ago) and Christian climbed up on the kitchen stool next to the counter. In an instant (even though it seemed to happen in slow motion), the stool slipped and Christian fell down between the stool and the cabinet.

On any given day, Christian falls off something about a dozen times. He is ALL boy! But this time, the once in a million happened. His face slid along the knob of the lower cabinet and put just enough tension on his skin to tear it open. Then in a freak of nature...the knob went up in between his skin and muscle on his cheek and he hung on the knob! It was horrifying!

Shan was standing right next to him and I was at the sink, 3 steps away. Shan scooped him up and pulled him up off the knob and immediately laid him on the counter. I knew that we were going to be off to the hospital, so I got Shan a wet towel and then ran upstairs to put on my jeans. (I was in my comfy home clothes.)

Ian got Shan some ice in a baggie and then started to pray that Christian would be okay. He didn't know what else to do.

We grabbed both kids up and we were off to the hospital.

Amazingly, once Shan took the ice off his face, Christian was fine. He didn't cry and if you didn't see the gaping wound in the side of his face, you wouldn't have even known that he was hurt! He is a tough kid.

It took 3 internal stitches and 11 external stitches to close up the wound. The lady that stitched him up would have liked to have done more, but Christian just wasn't having anything to do with getting more!

Here are some pictures before and after the stitches.




He had his stitches taken out yesterday. I really hope that it heals up well. It is partially healed but because it is in an area that moves a lot, it is going to take a bit longer to heal.

So my Frankenbaby is back! Poor little man has had 24 stitches in his 28 months of life!

I guess that the Lord feels that I am strong enough to handle this child! LOL

Bowl-a-thon!

Ian's school, Chapel Hill Christian School, had a fundraiser at the end of January that was a lot of fun for the kids.

Bowl-a-thon!

Ian had a great time and scored a 74! He was so excited to get a ribbon and he even let his little brother help him bowl a frame. (Christian was very upset to be surrounded by so many kids and so many balls and not be able to play, so Ian let him help!)

Great job Ian!

Congratulations Krista and Rob!

Krista and Rob were married on January 17th at Glenmoor Country Club in Canton. They had a beautiful wedding and the dance floor was so full all night, that I couldn't even get on it to get images. I ended up having to do most of the dancing pictures from the fireplace or the edge of the dance floor.

The whole day was beautiful and you could feel the love and fun all around them.




There was an amazing floor to ceiling window in the Women's Locker Room, so we took advantage of it for some beautiful shots of Krista.



I don't think that Krista believed that the guys were going to pick her up. LOL








Now if you look closely at this image, you will see that Rob has his hand behind his back and you can see his best man on the edge of the frame. This was the moment that Bruce handed off the fake cake to Rob.

And this is what happened just moments later! At least he didn't do that with the real cake.

He did get her with a little icing though!





Thanks for having me to your amazing wedding! I had a great time!

Lift with your Legs!!!

Just a PSA to remind everyone that when lifting heavy objects....Lift With Your Legs!

As we were leaving Indiana to come home, I was getting a blanket out of the back of the van for Ian when Shan's camera bag rolled out of the back and onto the ground. The ground was wet and I wasn't thinking clearly.

I bent over and heaved Shan's bag (which weighs around 50-60 lbs) to get it back up into the van and in the process, I injured my back. I didn't lift properly and I was in a lot of pain.

After 2 weeks, x-rays, Vicodin, Norflex and a lot of Advil, I was feeling better. It still twinges sometimes, but it is much better than it was a month ago.

So remember, if you are going to lift something heavy....Lift With Your Legs!

Christmas in Indiana

Our last stop on our Christmas schedule was a few days in Brown County Indiana with Shan's Dad and Step-Mom. We enjoyed a nice visit at the Abe Martin Lodge. They had a great indoor waterpark and the boys loved it.

Congratulations Ashley!

One advantage to going to Kentucky after Christmas was that we got to see my sister in law, Ashley, graduate from Michael's College of Hair Design.

It has been a long road for Ashley. She started school last November, only to find out a few weeks later that she was pregnant with Tyson. She went to school all the way up until she delivered Tyson, took her maternity leave, and then got right back to it.

I am so proud of her for accomplishing this!! And I am very excited to have her as my stylist now! (I just wish I lived closer so that she could do my hair more often!)

Congratulations Ashley!




And a picture of my smiley little nephew Tyson...just for good measure!