This is a Test for Blogger!

I want to see if I can make my pictures bigger

If anyone still reads this.

I am just not clever enough to keep up with two blogs. Sorry. But if you are reading this, I am officially listed with Google Maps. Before I never registered with them because you had to put in an address. Well... I don't have a studio and I think it is best if random people can't figure out where I live. But... the other day I figured out that I can just insert "private address". I am a genius. If you have the time, google fort wayne photographers, click on all listings. I think I am on page 10. Give me some hits. I need to be at least above Celebrity Kids since they have closed.

Exciting Updates!

So, where should I begin:

• the bridal show has deposited my down deposit for a booth- so I am in for 2009


• I recieved my first down deposit for a wedding in 2009


• I bought my new camera (nikon d300) and was able to use it this last weekend (it rocks!)


• I just downloaded some album layouts- which totally rock my world. They automatically size the photos you want to load. I just have to hit play on each template I want to load photos to. Thank you to all the people that make all us feeble-minded photographers work a little less hard by creating these things.

The wedding I shot this past weekend was amazing. I drove down to Bloomington, IN and we had perfect weather on the wedding day. Imagine 45 degrees and sunny in February. The bride and all her family were so nice and really took care of me over the 3 days I was there.

The wedding location was in a campground. There was a renovated farmhouse where the ladies got ready. I would love to have that farmhouse (just not the work to make it that way). The cabins where we stayed were like pleasant apartments- no raccoons hanging from the rafters. The bride and groom were gorgeous. Just an amazing time.

I was originally planning on heading home Saturday evening since it was an early wedding but the wind picked up after dark, so I decided to stay the night. The drive home Sunday was miserable and I am so glad I didn't do it the night before. I was white-knucking it to stay in my lane. The wind was blowing so hard. I stopped for gas and had the breath knocked out of me it was so cold and windy.

I made it home safe and have beautiful photos to show for it. Such a success!

Who's Tired of Cat Photos?

Well... check out this awesome wedding ring. It is an orange saphire. Looooove it! More details to come about this amazing wedding of the owner of the ring.

Long Time, No Blog

I know it has been a while since I have blogged. I took this photo today and just had to share with a few. Lily looks so fierce but she is really just yawning.

In other news, my "do one thing a month to be more green" of January was to turn off my computer every night and set the timer on the television. Since Jason is either away at work at night or rummaging around the house, television drowns out his and the cats' noises. I don't think I am getting any better sleep (some people say you don't sleep as well with the television on) but I am going to be saving on my electric bill.

* an update on the "Swheat Scoop" cat litter. Make sure you clean your cat box often (at least every couple of days). Otherwise, buildup urine forms a gluey bond to the bottom of the box. If you don't scoop often enough, you may be in for quite the upper body workout trying to scape/ pry everything out of the box. It hasn't discouraged me from using the stuff though.

Going Green Hint

As part of my becoming more eco-friendly, I decided I would try to modify something I did every month to become less toxic to the earth. Last month, we switched our cat litter over to a brand called Swheat Scoop. It is biodegradable, chemical free, and doesn't contain clay free (which may be harmful to your cats digestion system. If you are worried about clumping, this does a really good job. It isn't as great as the really strong anti-clumping brands but I think it does a better job deoderizing.

Each year, 2 million tons of cat litter is taken to the landfill. Most cat litters are not biodegradable. So, if you have a cat, at least try it. There really isn't a downside to it. Petco and Pet Supplies Plus carry it in Fort Wayne.

Now I need to find something for this month. Keep you posted.

Don't Judge Me and My 3 Cats ( a short story)

Quote of 2007 by P.J. O'Rourke

"Never wear anything that panics a cat."

Sometimes, when nothing else is more interesting to photograph, the cats become my subject matter. No, I am not some crazy cat lady. I am just photographically bored and need something to photography. It is only accidentally ended up with 3 cats. The fact that I am married helps my "I am not a crazy cat lady" case.

(Warning***** this is a long story. Stop now if you don't care.)

The story behind my collection of cats began when Jason moved in with me, bringing his seemingly innocent cat, Baxter- spawn of satan, with him. After a year, we moved from an apartment to a house. Upon which time my mother calls and says Lily (one of the two kittens I got in high school) was driving her insane. Since Baxter turned out to be devil kitty, fully devoted to Jason, I was wild about having my own cat back. Lily is just a little annoying with her constant need to be rustling things and knocking objects off any ledge.

After settling in our rental home, we realized that we had a surplus of stray cats living on our block, two of which seemed to have our house staked as their "territory". One cat turned out to be Mama cat and the other obviously was Daddy when the kittens were born under our house. 6 kittens were born, all but one found a home and we brought her in and named her Mona.

Over the course of the year, Cadillac (the mama- named from a dream I had about naming her) and Buddy (Daddy cat- named by really not naming him. Had to call him something when trying to pet him) and Mona (adopted daughter) all had their sterilization surgeries and all the appropriate shots. Turned out Cadillac was only 4 months old when she became pregnant- her uteras said so. Then I graduated college and had decided to move back to Fort Wayne.

What was I going to do with these outdoor cat? I would feel to guilty leaving them after being responsible for feeding them for the last year but the indoor kitties (especially Satan kitty) didn't like the outdoor kitties. The solution became my mom. She had a large florida room that could harbor Cadillac and Buddy while they became used to her backyard. Unfortunently, what we thought was a mouth infection in Buddy, was actually feline leukemia and cat AIDS. All his nights of defending his territory had left him with contagious diseases. We had to seperate Cadillac into the house and leave Buddy in the Florida room by himself (which was a shame since he was the most affectionate cat I had ever met). Luckily, the diseases seemed to only attack his gum line and he was otherwise healthy.

Meanwhile, Cadillac was not getting along with my mom's other cat, Fern. Fern is a doormat that says "attack me". There was talk of my mom's boyfriend's daughter looking to adopt a kitten. Well, why pay all that money for a kitten when you can adopt a cat that is less than 2 years old, has all her shots and is spayed. Off Cadillac went. She is a very happy house cat now.

Eventually, Buddy became too sick to eat and we had to put him down. Very sad, even now.

That is how I ended up with a plentiful amount of cats. I am not a crazy cat lady, I do not wander the streets looking for stray cats to feed. I just have a soft heart for animals. I even cry and can't watch animal shows that show animals attacking each other.