So we are now officially 5 days passed our baby’s due date. This apparantly a very normal thing for first time mommies and daddies, but Grit and I have been looking around for ways to help the baby along. Grit heard about a restaurant in the states that was famous for their ‘labour-inducing’ Eggplant Parmesan.

We found the recipe. :)

The following video is not in any way related to photography or weddings. But it is directly related to an 11 minutes peek into a day in my life. This is who I am. Not ALL the time, but this is me. The real me. :)

I’ll let you know if this ‘miracle recipe’ works!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Michael

Its my Birthday today!!! (well, for the next 10 minutes anyways!)

The big 3-1! Holy Moly, when did that happen?! ….well, this morning at 12:00am I guess? (After a hard day’s work that was my humble attempt to be funny).

Today went by in an absolute blur, I shot an totally gorgeous wedding and then came home to a plethora (yes I just said plethora) of gifts. Tomorrow the family is having an un-official birthday BBQ and I am making my famous Dr. Pepper Ribs, so before I relax and put up my feet I have to get them ready tonight so they can marinate in all their marinated glory.

Pics will most likely follow, but for now I leave you with one of me as a kid. In fact the shirt I am wearing says “The Kid”.

Yup thats me. To my soon-to-be-born son: Don’t worry. You’ll be cuter than this. :)

P.s. can you believe my sister’s hair?! what kind of animal IS that?!

So I have been running around all day today getting ready for Mexico tomorrow (will be back in the office Wednesday May 19th)… it always seems that no matter how prepared I am for travelling, I always end up feeling rushed! (I was sitting down eating supper tonight, and felt like I was wasting time haha). Yup, I’m odd like that.

Anyhoo, Grit has decided to make a lil’ somethin’ for baby boy, and I can’t wait to see it when it’s done! I pulled out the camera and did the ‘daddy documents everything’ thing, and thought this pic was pretty cool.

I will be checking emails as often as I can while in Puerto Vallarta, so any questions/concerns should be answered within a day.

Cheers,

Michael

Ladies and Gentleman, this is my son. :)

This is going to be one of those ‘wow, this dude loves to type’ posts… my apologies for the ramble I’m about to unleash onto you, dear Interwebs… I felt that a blog post was long over due. Also, for those of you that are looking for a photo or image to go with this post (after all, this is a photographer’s blog), there isn’t one. For that, however, I do not apolgize. From here on in, I will be using the blog as not only a way to show the world my current and most up-to-date work as a photographer, but also as a place where I can jot down random thoughts and insights into who I am as a person. I want everyone that takes the time to come here to my blog, whether they are potential clients, existing clients (aka “friends”), family members, or anything else for that matter to know who the person is on the other side of these ‘zeros & ones’. (binary reference…that’s how I roll). No images of boquets or rings today. Just me. I’m gonna start typing and see what happens…  *cracks knuckles*

Today’s first ramble is on ’Moving’.

We are finally moved in to our new place! It’s so funny how even though it was only a move 4 blocks away AND we had all month to move at our own pace, we discovered this gnarly lil’ fact: A move is a move is a move. It could have been next door and 2 months to move in at our own pace… you still have to:
1) box your things up…wait, first of all FIND boxes…THEN
2) box your things up
3) play the ‘do I really need to take this with me?’ game (which usually ends up renaming itself the ‘I will just put it in storage, only to play this same bloody game again NEXT time’ game!)
4) move all your personal things into multiple friend’s/family’s vehicles (creating a convoy/parade AND a show-and-tell all at the same time!)
5) bang and bruise EVERY piece of flesh and bone you possibly can on the way
6) bring everything inside your new place and unpack only to come to the realization that even though your new place is larger, you don’t seem to have any more space. Why is that by the way? I didn’t go on some shopping spree since we left the old apartment, so why does it seem like we have about 50% more boxes than when we left?! It never fails! sheesh!

So ya, on that note…we’re moved in and slowly (but steadily) mowing through our material things and making this place a home. Which brings me to the next lil’ diddy I wanted to chat about:

The Baby.

This week marks the 20th week (aka halfway point) of Grit’s pregnancy, and tonight is the last night The Baby will be known as ‘The Baby’…for at 1pm tomorrow (today actually, Friday) we will be getting an ultrasound to determine the sex. So in… 12 hours and 57 minutes (ish), ‘The Baby’ becomes “he” or “she”…

O….M….G….

Grit said she is so excited she might not get to sleep tonight, which is ironic because as I lay here in bed, Captain McSnorey-pants is beside me, fast asleep and cruising off to dreamland…leaving me to my thoughts on future daddy-dom.

My WHOLE life I have had a serious case of baby-fever, you honestly have no idea. Now its finally here…(well, July it will be here, but ya…close enough, let’s not get technical). I have so many thoughts going through my head, and every time I think about it, the more real it gets and the more excited and proud I get! Every day my mind fills with a million silly questions like: Right handed or left? Will they like the Stones more or The Beatles more, or neither? Will they be an athlete, an artist…etc? Will they love Disney movies as much as I do? (don’t laugh, it sounds like an easy question considering we’re talking about a child… but you have no idea how much I love Disney movies… its kinda embarassing)…. and I know all of these questions really don’t matter even the tiniest bit (maybe the Beatles/Stones one…but thats it), but they pop in my head every chance they get! Even as I type this, my brain is whispering “What will their favorite color be?”… and even though this constant nattering in my brain is really beginning to get on my nerves?

I wouldn’t change even a nano-second of it for the whole world.

So, boy? Girl? This is really the cheesy-typical answer everyone gives, but to me, I am happy either way. And the best part? I understand what everyone means when they say that now.

Daddydom.

hoo-rah.

17 more days until Grit and I find out if we have a son or a daughter.  Just thought I’d put that out there. *smile*

We also woke up this morning at ‘holy-crap-its-early’ o’clock to join the masses and welcome the Olympic Torch into White Rock. Now, because blog posts are more sparkly with pictures, here is one from this morning that I particularly liked.

Happy New Year Everyone!! I hope this year will bring you everything you desire, but more importantly that YOU bring YOURSELF everything you desire. Everything is achievable, so dream it and it will be so!

This year, instead of creating New Years Resolutions, I have decided that I am going to recap and revisit my List of 101 Things to do in 1001 Days (created Jan 8th 2008). Some of the ‘Things’ that have already been completed have happened with great focus involved, some have come very easily.
(67. blog every day for a month (Completed October 21st, 2008) required MUCH focus at the beginning but was very easy after awhile.)

Some have even been achieved without knowing!
73. play a violin, find out if I am good or not…and either way, play as though I am amazing! (Completed Nov 25/09)
(Niece’s birthday and I picked up her violin and did a lil’ jig)

Some of them are even out of date and kinda odd, even borderline cheesey…
51. watch less news and more cartoons – (ongoing since originally posted! lol)

There are also ones however, that I simply cannot complete due to time restraints, and I am ok with that.
(26. Have New Years with friends/family in the Caribbean (again!)).
I have accepted that the list will not be 100% attainable by its due date, and thats what makes it so fantastic. This means that after October 5th 2010 I can start a new list of “101 Things to do in 1001 Days”. I simply cannot wait!

But for now… to start off 2010 with a BANG, I have one more ‘Thing’ that I am very happy to take off the list I have waited my entire life to feel this.

77. get pregnant – (Not me, Grit lol)

(Completed) :)

Now there is one more reason 2010 will be amazing. We’re gonna have a baby!!!!!!

Much Love to the world – 2010 is waiting for us.

Michael

Hey Everyone! I am beyond excited to announce that today is the first day on my blog for year 2 of Cans for Comments! Created last year by the amazing Chris + Lynn Photographers, Cans for Comments started off as a blogging concept where for every comment left by readers, Chris + Lynn would donate either one can or one other non-perishable food item to their local food bank for Christmas. Within minutes of posting this ‘idea’ on the blog, this amazing event was already spreading to other local photographers…but it didn’t stop there… soon photographers in other cities were doing it, and then other provinces, and then other states…Cans for Comments was International!!! It even started spreading to blogs from other professions, like designers, and radio personalities, it was amazing!

This year, will be even better.

I started my participation last year on December 4th and so to carry tradition, from today (Friday December 4th 2009) until Saturday December 12th 2009, for every comment made on any of my blogposts, I will donate 1 can or other non-perishable food item to The White Rock / South Surrey Food Bank.

Honestly, it doesn’t get any easier than this folks. Give someone the best gift they can have. It doesn’t cost you anything but a second of your time and perhaps a comment or cheesy joke like ‘Q: What are a Wedding photographer’s favorite flowers? A: Posies.’ lol Do whatever! Just comment! Better yet, why not comment and then go drop off another can to your local food bank yourself? Seriously! I gotta tell you that leaving a comment feels pretty good knowing you’ve just fed someone, but dropping off that can yourself I GUARANTEE you that you will feel amazing! Last year’s total number of comments was 50! This year I hope to crack another one out of the park! 60? 70? 80? The sky is the limit, and you can bet your sweet gingerbread latte that I will be bloggin’ some things that will make you want to stay home from work and comment all day!! Well… maybe not THAT good, but seriously, you’ll like what I’ll be posting…I HOPE!

Click here to check last year’s entry on Cans For Comments, and also to see a cute photo of Adobe, the doberman. Why not comment on her Christmas scarf while you’re there?

Here is a list of fantastic people who are a part of Cans For Comments this year. I know there are more that I haven’t listed so please feel free to COMMENT …*wink wink* …if you are one of them, and I will be sure to update the list as soon as I can!

john heil photography
kristel wyman photography
the other angle photography
blue olive photography
tracey l heppner photography
kayci gough photography
white album weddings
sakura photography
david redding photo
pelaez photography
kp photography
erin wallis photography
studio jeanie
chris + lynn

I was playing around with a few more images from our Europe trip today, and came across this little beauty. This image is a composite of 6 images stitched together to create one 180 degree panoramic display.

When I look at this image, I can still hear the chatter of people passing by, smell the cappuccino from a nearby cafe, and feel the sun warming my face.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Last night Grit and I decorated the Christmas tree. I know….its still UBER early… and we were reminded that when I insisted on playing Christmas Music before starting on the tree. If ever there was a proper time for British choir boys to be singing “O Come All Ye Faitful”, November 18th isn’t it….this I promise you.

I thought it would be fun to make a time-lapse ‘production’ of the tree. The best part is, I didn’t realize until I set everything up that I actually need a different remote control in order to DO a time-lapse. Determined, I set the camera on 10second timer and actually ran over to the camera every single time to start each photo!

I’m actually pleased with how it turned out! My video editing skills are getting better (just another thing I enjoy tinkering with in my own time), and I am very pleased with how cheesy the entire thing is. We will have a laugh with this when we’re 85! :)

p.s. and yes I actually drew the mistletoe/holly thing at the end… talented I know. ha!