Happy Birthday Angie

Today is Angie's birthday. Thursday was Abby's. We've had a fun week of celebrating.

Peace-
Matt

The Harvest

The farmers are starting to clear their fields now. I love this time of year. The warm colors of fall are here and will only get better.

Alex wanted me to take her school photos this year. Here are a couple she chose and a couple she didn't.

Peace-
Matt

100

I'm back from Vegas. I hope I never have to go back. Vegas is the epitome of sin in every form. I kept expecting God to level the town at any second. I made it out alive though, a bit fatter from all the eating & drinking, and poorer thanks to the roulette wheel.

I did see Hoover Dam though, which was amazing.

This is my 100th post to the blog, in just over a year. I'm having fun with it.

Talk to you soon.

Peace-
Matt

Off to the desert

Madeline had her best friend Ariela over the other night. They were both wearing red and both in a cooperative mood, so I seized the opportunity and took a couple photos. They are so cute together. It's fun to watch them crawl around and roar. They're cheetahs you see.

When I had the light set up, I took a confirmation photo of Alex.

I'm off to Las Vegas on Wednesday for a work conference. I'll have lots of free time, so I hope to return with some photos to share. I don't care much for gambling, but I'm looking forward to betting on and watching some football.

Talk to you when I get back.

Peace-
Matt

Confirmation

Angie's parents arrived yesterday afternoon. It's been a while since they've been here. It's nice to have them in our home. They're here for Alex's confirmation, which will happen on Sunday. Alex's sponsor, her Uncle Kevin, will arrive tomorrow sometime. He's bringing Brett, which is sweet. I always enjoy seeing Kevin and Brett. I wish Lisa and J.P. were coming too, but that would be too much for them I'm sure.

The weather is slowing getting cooler, which is great. Supposed to be in the 50's tonight. perfect.

Two of the shots above were taken with an IR (infrared) filter over the lens. The IR filter blocks all visible light (you can't see through it with your eye). The camera can see infrared light, which makes for some funky colored shots. Pretty cool huh.

Have a great weekend-
Matt

Three Day Weekend

Fall is on the way. We've had the air conditioning off and the windows open for the past few days. It's been down in the 50's & 60's at night and up in the 80's during the day. The humidity is down, thank God. The corn is turning brown, the soybeans are turning gold, the garden is about done, the pumpkins are orange. Fall is coming. Sweet.

Gotta love a three day weekend.

Peace-
Matt

Lunar Eclipse

I got up early this morning to watch the moon pass through the earth's shadow. Very awesome to watch. The photos don't even come close.

Peace-
Matt

Happy 5th Madeline

Uninhibited

The excitement of a 4 year old that's only 4 days from her 5th birthday is mind blowingly cute. This is my absolute favorite age of a child. She has no fear of what others might think of her. If she feels like picking her nose, she does. If she feels like singing a silly nonsense song, she does. If she feels like dancing, or running around naked, or crying for no reason, or singing out loud on the toilet, she does. If she has a question, she asks. If she has an itch, she scratches it. Pure & real, like fresh snow. How many of us can say the same thing about ourselves? She bottles nothing inside. How much do we suppress ourselves?

I wish I was more like my 4 year old.

Peace-
Matt

UFO

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Alex started 9th grade, Abby 5th, and Madeline kindergarten. It's weird having them all in school, especially Madeline. School changes them. They grow up. They gain independence a little at a time. They lose innocence a little at a time. I don't want Madeline to grow up. I don't want her to change. She's our baby. I like her how she is.

They all loved their first day and want to go back.

Peace-
Matt

Around the house

Welcome Joseph Paul

Angie and I have a new nephew, Joseph Paul Driscoll. Congratulations to Kevin, Lisa, and Brett! Angie went to Indiana last night to visit them.

School starts Tuesday. Angie's going to have a hell of a time getting the three girls up early, fed, and off to school all before 8am. I guess we should have been easing them into some sort of routine. We haven't, so it will be tough, for Angie.

Have a good weekend.

Matt

Big Brother

My nephew Brett Driscoll is going to become a big brother tomorrow. His mother, my sister in law Lisa, is going to give birth to her second son tomorrow. I'm excited for Kevin, Lisa, and Brett. May God be with them and bless them with a healthy baby.

The Healthy Living class is now over. The last weigh in was Monday. I made it to my goal. I lost 16.5 lbs in 8 weeks. I'm glad it's over now. I hope I will continue to eat right and stay in an exercise routine.

I went to the Fair on Monday evening by myself. I like to go by myself so that I can spend some time looking at all the photos. It was a hot & humid night. I had a porkchop-on-a-stick. It was damn good, even with sweat dripping into my eyes.

Peace-
Matt

10 days

10 days until school starts. Yipee. I'm looking forward to fall, football, sweatshirts, etc. One of the best parts about living in Iowa is the changes in season. I'm ready for the next one.

Peace-
Matt

What do they know?

We went to the Iowa State Fair photo contest award ceremony tonight. I got second place in the "Iowa Architecture" class for my library photo above. I got an honorable mention in the Black & White "Places" class for the grain bin photo above. Not too bad I guess. I was hoping that one of my other entries would have made it in too. I thought it was the best photo I submitted. The judges and I have very different tastes though, so I'm not surprised. I don't have a scan of it, or I'd show it to you. In fact, please don't spend too much time looking at the photos I posted above. These are very poor scans of ass kicking traditional black and white prints. The prints are sweet, the scans suck. If you want to see the prints some time, ask me. I love showing off my prints. There is nothing in the photo world better than a traditional black & white contact print, nothing.

Anyway, I did win $75 for my 2nd place. That will pay for an hour or two at the fair this weekend.

Peace-
Matt

Rain

We woke up to rain this morning. Sure is hard to get out of bed when it's dark and rainy outside. The garden has been droopy the past few days so I'm glad we finally got some.

Fog

This time of year it seems we have lots of foggy mornings. The sun is coming up later each day too, which is timed just right for my drive to work. I love the dramatic light we've been having lately. I just wish I could take a different route each day. It seems I photograph the same stuff over and over.

I've always said that my dream job would be to drive around and look at stuff. Anybody got any leads?

Matt