Trash the Dress Minnesota

On Wednesday I drove out to Michelle's huge chunk of farm property in Wisconsin to join a few other photographers for a Trash the Dress session.
She's starting a Trash the Dress Minnesota blog, which I am SUPER pumped about.
(I love Michelle's style... she uses different textures and tones, and her photos have this classic romantic feel to them! I can't wait to see what the other photographers got too!)

Laura, our bride model, is now married to Steven-- who was my best friend in like, Kindergarten through 2nd grade. Steven and I were the first to get a timeout in kindergarten... if that tells anything about how silly we were together:) I went to high school with Laura's older sister, Sarah-- who just got married in September, and I shot that gorgeous outdoor wedding!
Laura mentioned my name to Michelle (who shot Laura and Steven's wedding), who invited me to the shoot... it was a blast!

How lucky is Steve??
(I HAD to edit just one of my shots!)



Not only is she beautiful, she's an amazing person... her list of goals in life are incredible (They fill up every column of her facebook profile).


I'll show you more when they're done, but I only had time to edit that one photo, as I have been working on finishing Ryan and Amanda's wedding photos. They'll be next in line for you to see! :)

ppppbbbbt.

I'm pooped.

October is WAY busy!!!!! (whew... all those exclamation points took a ton of energy...)

I've been working at First Day Photo M-F, shooting weddings on Saturdays,
engagement and portrait sessions on Sundays, meeting with brides during the week, taking my poor cat to the vet (had to race him there one day... he was very ill.. I thought he was going to die! Found out he had an infection from a bite!! But he's doing a lot better now). So in between all of that, I'm doing what I can do get some
editing done!

Steph (the other photographer I shoot with-- one of my "besties!" :))
will be starting to work at First Day Photo 2-3 days a week-- which means that I can get more of my own stuff done. I'm lookin forward to it!

I've hardly had a chance to see my husband at all:(
Also, tonight and tomorrow he will be staying over at my
parents' home to take care of their animals-- Dixie(a snorting boxer) and Bowie
(a chubby cat)! They are so spoiled... I love those two!

One of my other besties had a baby !!!!!!
Corrie is my first close friend who is my age to have a baby.
She and her husband Sam had little Annie on October 5th...
It's been SO hard for me not to be able to go down to Red Wing to
see them!! I have to wait till this crazy October dies down.

My car looks like my dorm room would look during finals week--
clothes, papers, food wrappers (i've had to eat on the go A TON
the past 2 weeks)-- and I've had no time to clean it, let alone
any energy to clean it... which is mainly why it's a disaster.
I think it was Corrie who actually told me... junior year of college?...
"It looks like there was an explosion in your room..."
Haha!:)
Can't WAIT to clean it. I despise it right now!

I did a Trash the Dress session today with four other photographers...
We shot for 4 hours. I will really do my best to post a few soon!
I think they turned out AMAZINGLY.

Alright, I gotta hit the hay for another long day tomorrow.
I am thankful that at least I am doing what I love...
otherwise the current situation of 7 days a week would be
pretty difficult... I am very lucky.

A special day:)

This is a long post. It will show you a summary of part of my life, mostly in photos,
and help you understand who I am!

Today is a very special day.
On this day, 24 years ago, I was adopted!

My parents had tried to have kids for 5 years,
and then signed up to be on the adoption waiting list.
They waited for two years.
Then one day, they got a call.
"We have a baby for you!"
While most parents have 9 months, they had three days to get ready for me!

They had a long drive in the snow (!) to come get me.
Here we are when they brought me home! They don't look happy
at ALL do they?? :)



I was 2 months old. I think they took a couple days to name me. After deciding
against "Ruth" because my dad's mom always called the babies of the family "Baby (insert name)," they decided on Ginger. My mom new a Ginger in high school who was a very nice girl, I had the hair to match it, and they liked the name. Sometimes kids would tease me when I was little, but I love my name today because it's unique!

Anyway! It's been a fantastic 24 years with my parents.
What's being adopted like? The same as being born to parents. I've never felt
different. And actually, my aunt and uncle have red hair, so I fit right in:)

My parents have given me more than I could EVER give back to them. I am their only child, and they've loved me with all their hearts. I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

Pretty sure my cheeks haven't slimmed down at all. This picture makes me LOL:


Yup! That's me with a camera below! I think I learned to take pics when I was 3 or 4. My dad had been in the air force, and when he went back to school when he was done with the AF, he had to take an artistic course. He chose photography. Little did he know that camera he gave me would turn out to be the start of something great!


They also:
Gave me lots of kisses and hugs.


Taught me how to iron (I have to say that I took credit for learning how to
iron with a flip flop though...)


Let me play sports and be in activities of all kinds..Here are just a couple of the sports I played! (And they were there at my games, matches, meets and recitals to cheer me on!):


(Wow... Look at that form! So awkward...)

Oh, the costumes...

My mom let me polevault, even though it made her nervous ever time I jumped! haha!

(here is the polevaulting team in Florida! My parents let me go:))



Let me be silly:


Bought me cute clothes:


My mom made me a halloween costume this year... it was exactly what I asked for, haha! She was like, "Ok......." She made it for me with love even though I know she laughed at my design... but didn't let me know it:)


Were always interested in what I wanted to be when I grew up
and encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do. Here's a photo of me in 1st grade.
I wanted to be an artist:)


"Made" me take piano lessons at age 6 or 7... which taught me about music..
Which I used when I started playing the cello... and playing the cello
is how I met my husband back in college:)


Got me braces (and pets:)) (My eyes look funny because I just woke up, FYI!)


Taught me how to travel, and took me to see lots of different states. When I traveled in Europe for a semester in 2003, I had my first digital camera-- which was when I fell in love with digital photography!-- I love travel photos and I can't wait to travel again! I still have those sunglasses somewhere... I should wear them on my next trip:


They let me have friends over-- they taught me about hospitality.
This is from New Year's Eve 2002-- my senior year of high school (Can you find me?). 75 people were in and out of my house that night..( I had a guest book, so I could make sure I thanked everyone for stopping by!). Not everyone is in this photo, even!
And just FYI, none of my get togethers had THIS many people, haha!! We had a great group of good friends back in high school... We were a good group of kids:) And no... this is not the entire senior class.. haha! 680 people would NOT have fit in my house. This was just one of those crazy special nights. My parents were AMAZING for allowing such craziness!


They helped me get through school, K-12. They always encouraged me to keep going. I have ADD, so it made some aspects of school super rough. Without their encouragement, I couldn't have graduated...and with highest honors!


Helped me through university financially and emotionally. Graduation day was the BEST DAY EVER!!


Showed me what a good marriage is, and the type of person I should marry (a wonderful one). They threw a wonderful wedding celebration and now they treat him like a son! So they have two kids now! (My dad likes talking to someone about guy things. A lot.)



And most importantly, they taught me how to love God, and love people.
(It's difficult to find a photo that expresses my faith... Confirmation Day
is just one tiny aspect of it!) My grandparents (both sets not shown here) were amazing examples to me in this HUGE area of my life... and they made my parents who they are today! And I love my parents!



That is not ALL they have taught me or given me... But I could go on and on!
I know that I gave them some trouble at times, but they never stopped loving me.
I am who I am because of them and the wonderful things and experiences in my life.

I have been so blessed....

Doing what she loves...

I'm SUPER excited to have dinner with my friends Melody and Kaleena tomorrow night!

Mel and I have been friends since 4th grade, and it's been hard for me not to be able to see her as much as I used to with being busy and all! We remember things we used to say from when we were in 7th and 8th grade...and those inside jokes STILL make us giggle. I just can't wait to see her! I could say so much more about that lovely gal.

Kallie and I met in high school when we played on the tennis team together for
all 4 years (along with Melody!). She supported me during my roughest times in high school.. I remember going over to her house without calling after I JUST went through a breakup. When she opened the door, she goes, "Ginger! :-D" And then I started crying, and she goes, "Ginger!:(" She brought me inside and gave me chocolate milk and she just let me hang out on her bed.. what a good friend. We also went to a couple Better Than Ezra concerts together. I could go on and on about Kallie too!

We all enjoy sour cream and cheddar chips.

We're goin out to celebrate Kallie's 24th birthday!!

Kallie is the tapper who I photographed in March-- one of the photos
was printed in Metro magazine-- this summer, it was printed
in the Star Tribune (and really largely, too! It was so exciting!).
It was to announce her new show-- she was one of the performers and
she also choregraphed a few dances. Here are a few pics from that show.
(I can even begin to describe how AWESOME it was! Seriously...
She has such a gift!!)


"Tap off" with another truly gifted tapper.. she's performed
with him in other shows she did for Buckets and Tap as well:

Entertained:)


One dance she choreographed (Flow) had suh-WEET music... I went to high school
with the bass player, Chris Bakken, and the guitarist, Nick Jacobson-Larson-- Again-- both gifted people,
doing what they love-- I love that! It's so inspiring!!


The dance was amazing... the movements with the music were perfect.
And I couldn't take my eyes off the stage, and I'm pretty sure I was
smiling the whole time. It was just that cool!!




Kallie!

Just look at them move....
(well, I did the best I could trying to capture the movement so you can
at least get the idea;))


End of the rehearsal...





When I went to the show a few nights later, I was STILL amazed, even
though I had already seen it!
There was a former high school teacher who sat in front of me and
we talked a bit before the show. At intermission, he turned around,
pointed at the photo on the program and he said, "You took this...!
I came because of that photo! It has so much movement in it...it's
so cool!"
The person sitting next to me goes, "You took that?" She said it
had grabbed her attention in the newspaper and she decided to come
see the show...
That was so... wonderful to hear!! I blushed!
Of course, Kallie did a TON of the work to make the photo for the paper--
She and I worked for awhile to get the perfect shot we were looking for.
She jumped and tapped and jumped some more.
Look at this sweet move!:

The day after we shot, she goes, "I am so sore!" haha!
I think the photo is alright, but I am THRILLED that other
people love it!! Kallie just looks so cool! And that's
nothing that I did... she just is!

A List of Loves...

Things I love:

1. Candles... currently burning "Cinnamon Sticks" and "Apple Pomegranate"
2. Autumn... the smell, the cool air, the color of the leaves and the sky, the nostalgia
3. Sweaters
4. a seasonal spice cup of coffee or tea... meaning, something
that contains cinnamon or pumpkin spice
5. Coffee shops, or anywhere with a fireplace
6. Bookstores... the smell and the atmosphere... I want
to read SO many books that I see....those of you who know me
know that I'm not a big reader because it's difficult for me to focus
long enough to finish a book... but I entertain myself by thinking
I might be able to finish a few books in a week sometime in my
life... all while burning candles in the fall and wearing a sweater while
drinking a spiced cup of tea by a fireplace...
7. Driving with my windows open between 8pm and 10pm.
8. Eating in my car outside a fast food restaurant with my windows down
and radio on. I don't eat fast food much, but sometimes a Wendy's Classic
burger with cheese sounds exactly like what I need... so I order it To-Go
and then sit in the parking lot (I don't like the bright florescent lights
of fast food places, and my car has a more comfy chair than those hard plastic
chairs in the restaurant).
9. Evenings of solitude while doing and enjoying all of the above.
10. Sleeping in... I got to do this today.... it has been SO LONG since
I was last able to do this!
11. Walks with Aaron in the fall.
12. Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn's fall catalogs.
I can't afford anything in them, but they get my head spinning
with ideas.
13. Going "home" in the fall... because my mom always
has candles burning, and it reminds me of when I first went to college
and I'd get to come home on fall breaks and have this wonderful
meal and good family conversation.

Kate & Dan!

Kate and Dan both met at Bethel University, where my husband and I met too.
It's a good place to find some good men:)

Their wedding is coming up in a couple weeks! Here are a few of the engagement shots we got:







We saw this graffiti under the bridge and Kate goes, "D for Dan and K for Kate!"
So meant to be...








I'll be gettin a new website soon... I'm currently looking at Bludomain....
Any other recommendations?? I'd appreciate them! Thanks! :)

Also, The Unit is on tonight... dare I say this, but it has become my favorite TV show. I am a hardcore "24" fan, but I think I like The Unit even a little bit better..
(I better go hide before Jack Bauer comes after me!!)