Changes to Smugmug Shopping Cart

Hiya Folks-

In the next week or two Smugmug will be rolling out some changes to the shopping cart feature on my photosite.

It will make the purchasing process much more intuitive, without taking away any of the current features. Here are a few snapshots of the new cart.

Weee Hoooo!!

Andy and I had a great weekend at Mont Du Lac. This was our first time camping pre event. It was soooo relaxing to just hang in the tent on Saturday. Andy helped me with my homework and I worked on his legs abit. Mckinley wasnt sure quite what to do. We spent some time BS with other campers but mainly just snacked and relaxed. If you like Sweet and sour, well I guess its actually Hot and sour the way we make you will love this easy, healthy recipe.

You prepare rice and chicken breasts as you would like, then for the sauce use 3 parts salsa to 1 part Apricot Preserves. We use Hot Pace which gives it a nice kick.

For the ease of camping we brought along Pita Pockets. With a little rice, sauce, and chicken in a pita, we had a high protein, healthy, and tasty snack!!!

While Andy pre-rode, Mckinley and I hiked up and down the hillside to get in our own nice work out. The views of Jay Cooke state Park are marvelous!

Camping turned out to have many benefits. We both slept surprisingly well. Cutting out the drive time the morning of the event made the day much more enjoyable. Taking photos seemed to fly by.

Though I didnt hike the trail as much as usual since I got lost last year and wanted to avoid it happening again, the photos went well.

Oh Yeah- Thank you to the Citizen Rider who stopped and provided me with bug spray. You are a life saver!!! and limb saver@!!!

Andy excelled on the course. Not sure if it was the new Small Block 8's, the good rest the day prior, or the addition of rain and mud to the course. Probably alittle bit of everything but definately worth trying again. Nice Job this weekend Andy!!!

Ms Maddys Quite the Little Ham

Here are some of the Little Hams in my life. Happy Birthday Chaser!

The Photos have been posted Here

Whew

I thought I would come up for air and see how everyone is doing. I hope all the fathers out there had a great day! My Dad was on his way to Italy, I hope you had a nice flight Dad!

So yesterday I walked through the Garage and CD (My Cannondale) was glaring at me. As I walked back into the house I thought to myself, "why would CD be glaring at me, I havent done anything wrong" Then it dawned on me. I haven't gone out with CD in over a month, he must be feeling neglected. I went back out to the garage to try and explain to CD what school and homework was but he didnt care, he just gave me the cold shoulder. Sigh...... To try and get some quality time in with CD I will be bringing the Trainer into our office and rigging up a desk to support my laptop and books, that way CD and I can study and do homework together. We can ride off into essay heaven and hopefully Chequme wont hurt so bad come Sept.

In Family news: My nephew Chase turned 4 last week and there was a fun party for him on Saturday. Plenty of water to go around. There were 2 jumbo water guns, a ton of small water guns, a new pool, and the jaws slip n slide. You can imagine the fun we had! To the fam, I havent made it through the pictures yet, I have quite a bit of homework due today, once I get that done I will post the photos and email them for you.

This weekend was an exciting but exhausting one. I joined Tony Scudiero as his 2nd shooter for my second wedding on Saturday. The wedding was an outdoor wedding and there was a slight fear that it was going to get rained out. In usual weather forecasters know nothing fashion, the day turned out to be quite sunny and muggy.



We got to the Chaska Convention Center around 9:30 am. We hung out with the girls for the prep shots for most of the morning. I ran off to the guys room for a short time to get some shots of them, They were getting quite the kick out of someone taking photos of them getting dressed. After a pre wedding shot of Hot 100 at the grooms insistence I got the heck out of that room and headed back to the ladies in time to get some shots of the bride getting into her dress.



We then met in the lobby for the bride and grooms first meeting and to do get the formals out of the way. In the two weddings I have shot, the formals always seem to be the most stressful part of the day. The wedding party really doesnt want to sit still or its hard to sit still after rushing all morning to get photos. On top of that, there are like 800 different people combinations that need to be met in order to complete the formals process. Luckily Tony is a pro and the formals went off without a hitch!



The ceremony was quick and beautiful, a few more hours of photographing the details and my 2nd shoot was officially over. Tony, Thank you so much for the guidance and opportunity!! I will post some highlighted shots after the Bride and Grooms photos have been delievered.





Got home, charged up all my gear, re packed it up and hit the hay for the Afton Avalanche the following day.



Afton was a scorcher as usual. The rain forecasted, it didnt show. It was a mild 70 outside but the humidity left it feeling much hotter. I think I climbed the manhandler 6 or 7 times with all my gear, I tried to set my self up somewhere where I could easily run between multiple areas. I found some good locals but they were all similar, being rocky descents. Hey, I actually found the downhills at Afton Alps, who knew there were such things! The trail was very greasy with the morning/overnight rains, I got some nice shots, a couple crashes, and a good work out. I almost have all the photos posted so check back soon.

This weekend is looking Hot and muggy in the tradition of the Afton Avalanche. Anything to make it more of a suffer fest. The two forecasts have been HOT, HOT, HOT, or Excessive amounts of rain with lightening, wind, and another possibililty of hail. Its going to be interesting thats for sure. Could the 2nd MNSCS race end up with a mud hole similar to the first???

Hey Paul, since I cannot comment on your site I will use mine - Good Luck at the TEVA Games this weekend! I'll be rooting for you! Looks like your weather will be much better then ours.

It looks like a great event, I may have to put it on the calendar for next year.

MKAY = ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ

I am so tired today. Last night was a rough one. My first day of Writing & Research. I am sure my teacher is brilliant, he has written 5 books and has a ton of experience. But I dont believe his experience is in public speaking. 2 words; Mister Garrison! I kept thinking that all night long, Mono-toned, Mkays for 4 straight hours.

I was alittle worried about my work load after my class last week, but I think it is going to be okay, I am basically squeezing in 32 weeks of work into 8 weeks. Good Bye Social life! Hello Brainiac!

So the Afton Avalanche is this weekend. Its a very tough course, lots of crazy climbing for the bikers and the hikers alike. I think I will be set up on Cliffs Edge for a series of shots, havent decided where for the other classes quite yet. Saturday I will be joining Tony for my 2nd wedding. A full weekend of photos, sounds fun!!