Smattering, Indeed

I've had a nice weekend, I hope that you (if anyone is, in fact, reading this) did too.

I took Friday off. I had some extra hours from earlier in the week and wanted to use a few vacation hours. A friend had asked me to help her shoot a wedding that afternoon. She was going to shoot the video and I would do the photographs. She said she'd pay me, so I thought that it'd be a great experience and a good way to spend the afternoon.

Friday afternoon served another purpose: I could experience a Mexican wedding. The ceremony was a catholic service, I've been to those before. But, it was in spanish. I do not speak spanish. I don't regret taking french, but spanish would've been more useful than french has been (I have been to France to visit twice. I've interacted with spanish speaking individuals way more often).

My friend Candy briefed me as best she could, and she was able to give me a heads up during the ceremony. Still, it was a different experience and the pacing seemed a bit quicker than some of the weddings that I've otherwise been to.

There are photos that I wish that I could get a second chance at, but overall I think that they turned out well. Candy has all of the files because it was her gig. When I get the disc and am able to pick my favorites, I'll post them at my photo blog

www.sieversmaphotos.blogspot.com I've created a second photo blog www.sieversmaphotos2.blogspot.com That one will have my miscellaneous images and the first will have weddings and portrait type shots.

The bride and groom were gorgeous. Attire at this wedding was different than I'm used to. Everyone dressed fashionably. Their dresses reminded me more of what one might see at prom, or a red carpet event rather than going to a lutheran church type function. :-) It was a lot of fun.

My legs were SUPER tired and I was exhausted on Saturday. I had spent a lot of time squatting on the floor to get some low angle photos and to stay out of the way of the wedding guests. My arms were even tired. I was able to use my friend's Canon 40D. I LOVE it! Pretty intuitive, though I know there are many more things that I could learn to use it better. I am confident that's the camera for me. I just have to figure out what lens to get.

I have a wedding that I'm booked for in August. I haven't learned if that will be a traditional Mexican wedding or not. I took notes after Friday's wedding and I will quiz the bride regarding the upcoming gig.

I'm looking forward to aquiring some new photography gear. I hope that I can land another wedding or two this summer. I have registered Sieversma Photography with the State of South Dakota (I can't imagine that the name is in use already) and will be aquiring a license to collect sales tax. That way I'm legit. I'm just nervous, I don't want to be the photographer that other photographers look at and say, "Just because she's acquired a digital camera, she thinks she can photograph weddings."

I have shot other weddings with film and they turned out okay, I was quite happy with them. But, wedding photography is a huge deal and I don't want to do anyone a diservice either. There are so many amateur photographers listing themselves on Craigslist already and the area is saturated with professional and high end photographers too. I'd love to book on average a wedding a month. Let's face it, with my full time job I'm really not interested in working 6 or so days a week indefinately. And, I'll acknowledge that I have much to learn regarding photography. I guess we'll see where I fall and how things work out.

In the meantime... If you know anyone looking for a photographer, we could maybe work something out. :-)

I planned to bike to Lennox on Saturday to see my grandma and mom. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Too tired. We had a nice visit, went to a couple rummage sales and visited my dad and maternal grandpa's grave.

Today I did get a great ride in. I meant to get going earlier, but hit the road around 8a.m. It took me awhile to get Max to stay on the yard instead of follow me. I headed toward Hwy 19, to Vermillion, north on University, east on 312 to hwy 77 and north to home. It was about 45 miles and the wind was quite brisk when I finished. That's the longest ride I've done this season. I'm only registered for the first day of the TDK. I may not be able to ride fast enough to keep up with you guys for the whole day, but should make it to Yankton in a decent amount of time. If the wind is particularly bad I will quit at my house (maybe 40 miles in) and get a ride to Yankton.

And finally, a tie between photography and biking - if you're still reading.

I've mentioned that I won't be doing the MS150 this year because I have a wedding to shoot that Saturday. I thought about riding on Friday. I like the Sioux Falls to Vermillion route. Today I was thinking that it might be nice to follow bikers along the route and shoot some photographs. I'll have a digital camera in hand. If it's the same route as last year, it'll go right by my house. There are a number of online photo printing services available. I thought that I could pick one and inform the ride organizers of my intent to shoot pictures. I only have dial up at home and it may take some time to upload all of the pics.

Do you think that riders would be interested in purchasing photos of themselves on the ride? The online sites allow you to set a purchase price for a variety of sizes. The site takes a cut of the price for their expense and the client pays for shipping themselves. I need to try a few sites out, but thought it might be a good fundraiser. I thought that I might donate the proceeds to the MS foundation if I did do this project.

It's not certain, of course. Just something I pondered on my ride today.

Tulip Festival 5k

I ran it in 34 minutes even. It wasn't a record for me, I ran the Jingle Bell 5k in like 32 minutes in December. HOWEVER, it was breezy and there were portions of the race that were at an incline (plus against the wind in some cases). Oh well. I ran the whole thing, there were a lot of people running my pace and I was far from being last.

I was 227 out of 284 entrants. I was a ways back in my age group though. That's okay, I'm training to be a contender when I'm in the 56 and over age group. :-) Though there are a lot of ladies in their 50s that can kick my tail up and down the road now. But, that's why I'm training now, so that I can be THAT lady then. ;-)

But, overall, it was a LONG 3.1 miles. Really. It went well, but it wasn't a super easy run. Other people made similar comments, so I felt like I was in good company.

According to the National Weather Service, at 8:15 am in Orange City the wind was NW 12 G 21 and at 8:35 the wind was NW 13 gusting to 17.



Still, it could've been much worse and it was faster than I plod along by myself. :-) Good run.

Also: The Hamersma side of the family has a reunion during the Tulip festival each year. It was nice to see some people that I haven't seen in awhile. My dad's side of the family is pretty small, so most of the people attending are the nieces and nephews of my grandpa. Hubby had never been to the event. He got to compare notes with the retired farmers in my family. We got to play with a new baby and the parade was excellent. Lots of marching bands and the scrubbing of the streets is always an amusing site to watch.

If you've never been - Go next year!!

My goal for the next two months: Be able to run 10k (6.2) and improve my time for 5k. I'm up to four mile runs. I did one two weeks in a row. Slow and steady.

Pannier

I was going to bike to work today. I had a change of heart. I packed my stuff last night, was dressed and pumped up the tires... But, it was 7:30 a.m. Rather than allow myself to be late, which wouldn't have been a huge deal... I bagged it.

I found a bag at a thrift shop in Sioux Falls for a few bucks. I wanted to make a pannier so that I could more easily take with me a change of clothes/stuff to get ready for work. The trunk pack that I usually use just doesn't hold clothes, shoes, hygiene stuff and packed breakfast/lunch.

I put the stuff on my bike, it seemed heavy. No, I didn't have my camera and a week's worth of groceries loaded, though the bags may look huge.



I didn't know how my homemade pannier would work. I knew that I'd make it up the hills (though I was sure I'd be slower). I didn't know if the center of balance would be changed too much. I decided not to make the trial commuter run today.

Oh well. I left the bag packed and am leaving that at work. I think that I'll try again on WEdnesday to bike in. Then maybe I'll bring my clothes home for the switch by bike. I'll give the setup a test run then.

In the mean time, here's a pic of my bike.

Bike Ride

I got in 13 miles last night. I didn't really want to stop there, I thought that I should round up to 16 or so. However, I'd been out for an hour and 22 minutes and was hungry.

Yeah, they were slow miles. Half of them were on gravel. The maintained gravel roads are still wet with loose rock on the sides. I had to get over to let cars go by a couple of times. It was like running in soft sand. I liked it, it was a good workout. The weather was nice and the wind wasn't too much of an issue.

12 miles on the trainer is a mind numbing experience. My bike computer hasn't been functioning on the mountain bike, I think that I need batteries. SO, I didn't really know how long I'd been gone. I set the timer on my watch, but didn't check it. As I was nearing home I thought I'd been keeping a good pace. I looked at my watch, it said 1:14. The time flew. The trainer is an evil. A nescessary evil, but still evil. Even when watching movies.

I'm participating in the Great STrides program with some gals at work. It's sponsored by Sanford Health, Vermillion. For those of you not familiar, it's an incentive program to get out and excercise. You log your miles and your team miles is an average of members. One mile walking or running equals one mile. One mile biking does not equal one, but 1/4 of a mile. I understand that biking is typically a more efficient workout than walking or running. I'm a slow runner. IT takes me 36 minutes to run 3 miles, unless I'm trying to chase someone down in a 5k race. There is no world that I can cover 12 miles on a bike in 36 minutes. I would have to be busting my tail, road or mountain. I don't like the conversion. So, I'm putting in a lot of work for not many countable miles. If it were all about the miles, I guess that I could just walk and run every day.

I'm hoping to be able to bike to work by the end of the month. That will mean a couple of days with 32 miles biked and 8 countable miles.

TDK...

Well, I've been thinking about it for awhile now and I think that I've decided that I won't be doing the TDK this year. AT least not all of it. I'll likely register for the first day. MAYBE the second one too.

I still plan to bike as much as I have time for, but there are other things that I want to work on at home. I want to actually have a garden this year, not just a weed patch. Nick will be farming and the plan is that the garden will be my responsibility this year. That's just a couple projects. And I don't like the panic of whether I've trained hard enough or not. Let's face it, the weather certainly hasn't been cooperative this year. It never is really, but seems less so this season.

Plus, I would really kind of like to have a vacation with the hubby this year. That's the main thing. I went on vacation without him last year and that was weird, not something I want to do every year. We'd like to get some camping in this summer, or time to just hang out and be bums together.

Don't get me wrong, I will miss riding the tour with you guys. There will be more Lanehogs in attendance than last year and friends that I met last year will again be present. Perhaps I'll have to bike to work every day that week to be in solidarity with the crew. :-) Or, I will just make the resolution to at least do the TDK every other year, or so... Though I wouldn't mind trying RAGBRAI someday either.

They're back, again.

Two dogs, a little worse for the wear, came stumbling home yesterday afternoon. Nick drove on the yard and saw doggie tracks down the driveway, but only one set. WE're not sure how that worked. Sneaky dogs. He said that they came up to him pretty timid. They forgot to eat while they were gone again. I know that they're perfectly capable of hunting, they do it all of the time. Ruby's limping a little and is pretty skinny. Even more so than before.

I hope that they've got it out of their system. I will be buying yet another collar for Ruby and stapling them both to the shed in order to keep them home. Seriously, I'm not sure of the solutlion right now. I don't mind that they go off an play in the field, maybe even explore a little. I just hate when they're gone for multiple days. Clearly they know where home is, but a "mom" can't help but worry. I don't want them causing trouble for anyone else.

I know that there are a few options out there, I just don't know which sucks less for everyone. Fencing the whole yard is cost prohibitive. Even if we made a large kennel enough for them to play in, keeping them penned up defeats the whole 'guard dog' principle.

I think that the only answer is to try to get at least MAx super fat and lazy so that he doesn't really feel like running off for that much time. I desperately hope that by fall he'll have grown up a bit and will be less puppy running crazy and more of a 'I want to stay and protect my home' dog. Though maybe it was Ruby wanting to chase birds that was the problem. I don't know.

If you see these dogs,

Please ask them to head back home.


Max is bigger now, so I don't know for sure how far they may have traveled. They may be back in the morning, I don't know. They were last home Wednesday morning of last week. They've been gone for about as long as they were out last fall.

Crazy Photographer Goes Out in Cold in Pajamas (and coat)

I was sitting on my coach drinking coffee when my husband says, "Ooh, pretty!" There was a sundog/rainbow in the sky as the rising sun reflected through ice crystals.



The one that we first saw was in a portion of the sky that's difficult to photograph because there are buildings/utility poles and other objects. Then I look to the south and there's another sundog/rainbow. And the horses are over by our fence.


Rats. I needed to move quick before the rainbow disapeared. :D So, Nick opens my batteries for me while I get my camera out. I put socks on, I was already wearing sweatpants and sweatshirt. I almost ran out after putting shoes on, but grabbed my coat too.



I had 7 shots on the roll already, and finished it outside. Max helped. Nick took pics from the house. I'll post when I have the film developed. I started noticing that my face was getting pretty cold when I finished the last couple of shots.

Last Jersey Design

I'm out of ideas now and have no time to draft it, even if I did have one.

Here's the last one that I created on Sunday.




The side panel, for the sake of the design contest, says we all belong to team estrogen.com Though, in general, I think that it'd be a decent jersey regardless of gender.

I tried to make the back not look like a generic list/stack of words and pictures.

New Jersey Submission

I made last year's margarita ride shirt into a jersey.

Yardwork/Path

It was so nice when I got home at 5. I kinda wanted to go for a run, but decided to putter outside instead. I wanted to take advantage of nice weather and try to prepare a few areas for plants this spring.

Last summer I started weedwhacking and trying to make a trail of sorts to use with an eventual mountain bike. :D My plan is to continue to work on clearing some of the numerous dead trees to make the path wind through the two groves. There are a LOT of down logs and branches. If anyone wants bonfire wood, or just wants to feel like a lumberjack - That's okay, they sleep all night and they work all day... (or is it vice versa) - come on out.



Anyway. I did take my bike on the path that I have thus far. It's about .25 of a mile. That's from our shed, around the barn and the south perimeter before you go along the path. I had to walk the bike a little bit, I have no idea how to cross a log.



I know that a 'flat' trail won't make for a ton of adventure. However, it's more challenging than I thought. Granted, I'm a rookie, but navagating over some dips and bumps and around a tight corner or two, it's a workout. And grass the terrain definately adds some rolling resistance. I like it.



Last fall I planted a couple of bushes. It successfully attracted wildlife. I was thinking birds. But, deer nibbled them down. Do you think that they'll come back?

Someone Else's Interpretation of My idea

So, here's a link to the submission thread for the Team Estrogen Jersey Contest. My submission is on page two.

Someone had critiqued my image and thought that it was too busy and maybe breaking the image up into two ideas, like a throw back for the classic rider on the front and a modern style for today's rider on the back. She thought that might be better than going from black and white to color. That's a fair suggestion. I still liked my idea and for better or worse stuck with it. Though, I didn't have any inspiration to try a different take on the idea. I wanted the images juxtaposed instead of having to be viewed separately.

Now the following image is a submission today. I like her interpretation of it, but at the same time... hmmm... I just don't know. Maybe I'm an overly sensitive artist, but a simple phrase like: "Hey, I liked Hammer's concept and this is my take on it..." would be okay, right? Like I said. Overly sensitive artist type.



On an entirely different note... I have the Margarita Ride 2009 drawn in my head. :D I just need to find some reference material for an animal that I intend to illustrate.

tweaked jersey

except that on the side panel there's supposed to be a bit of sunset there too. oops.

Jersey Submission

This is for a design a jersey contest at Teamestrogen.com

I'm having a bit of trouble posting my entry on the site though.

I was thinking about the bicycle and it's early contribution to women's liberation. I wanted to try to illustrate that idea in a way, and make something that looks a bit like a vintage bicycle poster.

This is what I've been doing instead of cleaning today. And yesterday. I don't have illustrator at home. I drew the image and then cleaned it up and colored it in in Photoshop.

I still need to create the jersey back and sides.

The idea is that the banner would be high enough on the shirt to come across the upper chest. And, I'm hoping that the cyclists are low enough to be mostly across the abdomen.

Feedback is welcome. Even if this doesn't win... it's good to have a project to work on just for fun sometimes.

Yucky sidewalks

I probably couldn't have selected a worse route for running this afternoon. I wanted to run before I left town. I headed west on Dartmouth. In general, sidwalks were clear enough that yaktrax would have more annoying than helpful. Still, where the sidewalk met the street, ice and snow to hurdle. And at some points before the intersection the terrain was slick. If it wasn't icy, then there were pools of water that you needed a boat permit to get across. At these less than ideal spots, I stopped to walk. I didn't want cold, wet feet.

All of the tip-toe-ing definately didn't help my momentum. I couldn't get my stride and when I did run, my legs felt like lead. Stop and go efforts do not work for me.

I walked for 20-30 minutes. I decided to cut the effort short and try to pick up some groceries so that maybe I could get home and ride my bike. I maybe should've run when I got home. Oh well.

Max and I went up and down the driveway for awhile. He got tired and would follow until half way and then stop to make sure that I came back. I only went a couple miles, rode for 20 minutes. No biggie, but it was still kind of nice.

You know you're doing something right...

When you've gotten into a small routine of running or biking and you feel like a caged animals if you don't get out and do SOMETHING!!!

Running didn't happen last weekend. A 10 mile ride on the trainer did, so that helped ease my anxiety.

Yesterday I was chomping at the bit all day to get out and get a run in. I finally did and changed at work. If I would've waited until I got home it would've been dark or I would've been distracted.

I ran 3 miles, just around the perimeter of campus. 1 lap = 1.26 miles. Then I just doubled back down to clark street and back to finish 3 miles. I ran a bit slower than usual. I had to walk on some rough bits of ground near the new student union. They don't have the ground landscaped by the new sidewalk. And I had to slow for a couple of spots of ice.

The wind is never fun, but I like running in town where a person is sheltered a little more than I am out on my driveway. It all builds character though. :D And I felt MUCH better afterward.

2009

I don't really do resolutions. I'm always trying to get more fit, at least maintain weight or drop a couple of pounds. I don't really diet. I like to eat and am glad that I like veggies and healthy stuff... but dang cookies and a variety of other no nos are tasty too.

I'm already doing better with running than I would typically be at this point in the year. I will be able to run at least the 2 mile option of the Frostbite 4. I generally wish to run the 4 mile option, I might get close this year.

I would like to be able to run a 10k before the end of the year. Running has been a difficult thing for me to advance at. I'm hoping to be able to run the Tulip Festival 10k in May. Last year I was registered for the 5k, but had a really really bad cold that kicked my feet out from under me.

And, I plan to keep cycling. I'd like to do some more casual rides with mom and Nick.

I wouldd like to commute more next summer and do a few centuries... plan to do the TDK, MS150 and a few centuries... It all depends on what the good Lord has planned for us. We really would like to start a family, this year so we'll see what happens. It never hurts to have a couple of plans to work toward and it doesn't seem like one can truly 'plan' kids regardless of when you'd 'like' them.

While I don't care for resolutions, I do like the idea of a bucket list.

In order of extremely likely (#1), to someday - I just don't know when (2-4):

1. Ride the entirety of the Mickelson Trail. I would like to do the 3 day organized ride so that we can stop and enjoy the scenery and putter around. The one day big mick would be a bit much, two days would be pretty manageable, but the 3 day organized ride would have a chauffer.

2. W.R.A.T.H

3. A half marathon... I like the idea of doing either the Disney World or Kauai races. Though both are hot and humid. I like the idea of one of the Rock n'Roll races too.

4. The Gut Check or a Marathon version of number 3 I hear that the Twin Cities is actually a really nice race to complete too.

Maybe #4 by the time that I turn 40. I've got 10 years to train.

Suggestions?

So, I get my butt out the door for a run moments ago. I thought that the wind would be out of the South yet. According to weather.com, it should have been. I knew that it would be switching to the North, eventually. It already has.

The wind isn't TOO fierce yet, but there is plenty of moisture in it. I was wearing two pairs of tights. A long sleeve shirt, hooded sweatshirt with hood up over ear warmers. And gloves. My torso was a bit cool, but once I got going I'd be fine.

The problem is that the trip down the driveway was into the wind. My face was really cold, tears went down my cheeks. On the way back wasn't bad.

I stopped at my car to grab my balaclava. I put it on and immediately my glasses fog over. I hate the thing. I ran .10 and said screw it. My glasses would likely freeze over before too long and I would be stuck with a snotty and vapor soaked mask. Yeah pleasant.

So, I'm irritated. I wanted to run. I feel like it was going to be a good run. The weather wasn't such an issue, but it turned out to be.

What is the answer??

A treadmill isn't an option financially or spacially.

Looks like I'll have to ride the trainer. I don't really like that option either. I dislike it quite a bit actually. 30-45 minutes is manageable, but not pleasant.

Holiday Recap

Here are just a few photos from the last couple of weeks.


No peeking Nick!!


My cousin's son enjoys one of his toys.


I made my grandpa a hat for Christmas. I don't know if it quite suited him, but I liked it. I'm wearing a silly hat that I made too.



We celebrated Nick's birthday with his family last night too.



I tried to make cakes that looked like beer cans. A professional pastry chef, I'm not. While they didn't look as polished as I envisioned in my head, they were better than they were looking yesterday morning. The cake was fine, it was the icing that I had trouble with. Yikes.



Our guests had to travel, so they left around 10. Nick and I stayed awake until a little after 11 and fell asleep on the couch, woke up and then went to sleep. Yeah, we're getting old. :D But, I hear that 2009 happened anyway. So we're all good.