I won!  Thanks for all the votes!  I’m so excited!!!

In other happenings we just got back from a trip to Mall of America.  Evelyn and I went up with my parents and sister for a little bit of shopping.  While there we got to see my cousin Lauren who works at Crave.  This is a great restaurant if you are ever in the Minneapolis area (I think they have two locations).  I had a wonderful crispy flatbread with honey crisp apples, grapes, goat cheese, honey and rosemary.  However, I don’t think we will be welcomed back as we had a million shopping bags taking up the space around our table, Evelyn puked all over me and the floor, and after I put the babe in a highchair to sop up some of the mess I knocked a full glass of ice water all over her, the table, my mom, and the floor.  Evelyn was screaming and soaking, I was practically crying, the woman at the next table was up in a flash with her napkin to help catch the mess as my momma nearly collided with her as she backed up to miss getting a lap full of ice water.  Disaster!  Our server was so nice and helpful but I’m sure she told Lauren never to invite us back.  Sorry, Liz.  I would like to come back sometime when I can enjoy my meal- maybe with just Scott.

We also headed over to Ikea.  Always a good time there.  Now I want to re-do my whole house.  That’s the great thing (and the bad thing) about how they have all those rooms set up- so many ideas start flowing.  We couldn’t quite fit any boxes of furniture parts in the vehicle, with the million shopping bags and such, so I  just got some new curtains.

We got home and Scott and I went on a date Saturday (thanks Grandma & Grandpa Olson).  We had great food at the High Rock Cafe in the Wisconsin Dells then went to see District 9.  A great movie but very brutal and slightly disturbing- but in a way that makes you think about how you treat others who are not like yourself.  A wonderful night out with the husband.  I still want to see Julie & Julia, though.

Hey, if you have a moment, please go over to PropInsanity and vote for my photo (it’s #2)!  It’s a fun website where I’ve gotten some great inspiration and I can win another fringie prop- like the one used here.  Thanks!

I think it’s important to give ideas a name, even before they physically manifest.  That way you can start marketing as soon as you hit the ground.  That’s why I’ve been working on a name for my photography for some time now (I don’t really like the idea of naming a company or business after yourself, even if you are the only employee).  I wanted a name that wouldn’t pigeon-hole me into just shooting children, because I would like to do engagement and senior pics, too. I did like some other names better but what really stuck with me and what I kept saying over and over again in my head was ‘All the While’.  Light and simple, not too serious.

Scott has been very helpful by showing me tricks in photoshop.  I came up with a logo and he helped me make it into a watermark.  I’ve taken all of my old photos off of flickr and am going to start fresh.  A website should be going up soon.  Things are rolling and I finally (after two years) feel like I have the ambition to get my life reorganized.  Everything feels good and glowy again.

Things at the Olson house keep moving along.  It has been boring boring boring with a few fun things sprinkled in.

Last Friday Larissa and her little guy Dane came to get some pictures taken.  Dane isn’t so little anymore!  He weighs as much as Evelyn does at 12 pounds- quite a bit more than the 3 pounds, 13 ounces he was born at four months ago.  He was a trooper for about twenty minutes but I still managed to get some good shots of the cutie (I’ll be sending them your way soon, La).

Then on Tuesday Sarah and her daughter, Olivia, came for a visit.  Olivia is on her way to two and is adorable.  I love this age when they talk and know the words for things but momma still needs to act as an interpreter.  You should hear her say ‘Evelyn’- so stinkin cute.  There will be a new babe in their family soon and I can’t wait to meet him or her!

In other news, the county or village (whoever decided whose job it was) finally paved the 100 feet of road  in front of my house.  This was the only part of the entire road that wasn’t done.  Yes, this has been sitting unfinished since my previous post regarding this matter.  They must have exerted themselves, however, as they gave up on actually connecting my driveway to the road and there is a four feet wide gap between the two that threatens to wash away with each rain.  At the current productive rate it should be finished sometime in November.

Also in the happenings:  Evelyn has started eating solid food!  But I hate pictures of kids with food all over their faces so you won’t see them here.  Sorry.  Just know that it’s messy but she likes it!