I'm very proud to announce that Andrea Norberg Photography will be one of the official sponsors of Family Service Regina's 6th Annual Juke Box Mania!

Along with Cameo/First General Services, Affinity Credit Union, King's Court Music Services and Western Litho Printers, I am glad to be helping out for this great event that promises to be a fun night to raise money for a great cause.

Beginning in 1913 as the Bureau of Public Welfare, it originally assisted families that had been disrupted by World War One. These days, Family Service Regina mandates to help people of all walks of life who find themselves in need of assistance, through Counseling, Family Violence Services, Family Life and Personal Growth Workshops, Young Parent Supports and Employee and Family Assistance Programs.

Looking for a fun way to spend an evening, a night of singing, humming, dancing and a whole lot of music trivia? Come on out!

Friday September 13th, 2013
Turvey Centre - 6 N Armour Road
Doors open at 6:30 - Game starts at 7:30 sharp
Teams of eight - $320.00
To register, give your team a name and call Family Service Regina at 306-757-6675

I wish I could say that I'd received this personally from Arlene. She is one of my favourite dragons, and by virtue of being a woman I think, often, has to be twice as tough as some of the others because at times people still tend to dismiss her opinions.

I have a tendency to regularly battle my inner demons, mostly involving worry about my future - whether or not I'm making it and whether I will have a successful career as a photographer. Still in the development stages of my career, it is very difficult for me to just relax and let the chips fall where they may. What if I'm not that good? What if people stop hiring me? What if they don't like the work that I provide to them cause I made a mistake? What if it's detrimental, in the end, to my career and I have to give up, tail between my legs, and get a "real" job?

Which brings me back to Arlene. Her blog posts on YouInc can be quite helpful to budding entrepreneurs, like myself. This one that I just read, in particular, seems fitting right at the moment, so I thought I would share it, as it probably not only applies to me but to many of the other budding entrepreneurs that I've been meeting in the last year or so. Check it out if you have a minute --> http://youinc.com/profiles/blog/show?id=6559795%3ABlogPost%3A49238

Now... why this picture? Long time fans of my work might know that this is not a new picture. This is from 2009 and I thought it was fitting because it's the family that I just finished visiting. Of everyone, Jaxon has changed the most, but the others are pretty well just the same. While I am still happy with this photograph, capturing the family in their perfect setting at the acreage, I do see things in it that could be improved. Not that I'm saying consider it a failure! I guess, like my business in general, it's good to look back and see how far I've come since 2009, cause that in itself should be chalked up as a win, knowing that like anyone, we're always learning and growing.

One of the things that I always love about going to my Aunt and Uncle's place, is the photo opportunities. Nestled in the foothills, there's always pretty things to capture and share. Especially in the golden hours. Plus, this year, I had my new lens with me to play with.

Central Alberta - Summer Showcase Weekend. Every summer they have Country Drive (check it out if you'd like to hit it up next year, at www.countrydrive.ca) including a festival in Historic Markerville. The website describes it thusly;

    Sunday is our annual Cream Day! This open house event will run from noon to 5pm. Try your hand at making         butter and ice cream. Enjoy local, live entertainment while the kids participate in tons of activities such as the         petting zoo which features local farm animals – always a favourite! The concession will offer homemade pies         and ice cream along with hamburgers and hotdogs. Guided museum tours will be offered at no charge. Lots of     fun for everyone!

It's true. It was a good time. A little hot out, but good fun for the whole family and we saw some pretty cool stuff. Didn't try our hand at making cream, but saw some other neat things...

One thing we saw was the miniature village - as Markerville was in 1907. I thought the church was cute, mostly for the little wedding couple (that kind of looks like they're already fighting, actually!

As soon as I saw this owl, I ran over. I recognized this one (and did not confuse it with a monkey this time) as Otis. Otis is a resident for the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, a place I'd been to in the summer of 2010 where I'd met their resident porcupine, Charlie. Like Charlie, Otis seems to love attention (and allegedly gets his nose in a snit when he and Charlie tour together because he doesn't get as much attention when there's a friendly porcupine in the area!). Weighing in at a mere 2 pounds (due to hollow bones), we were allowed to pat Otis, who had some of the softest feathers I've ever touched. You can see how his mouth is open in this photo, because Owls, it turns out, pant just like dogs. Owls are unable to sweat, so they do like our four-legged friends. Definitely the highlight of the day.

From the Markerville festival, we headed out to White Treasure Farm, a goat farm that produces wool for spinning, which the owner dyes and uses to knit or crochet and sell in bulk for socks.

Here's the description of the farm operation...
    Make White Treasure Farm one of your stops on Country Drive. This is home to one of the finest herds of                 angora goats. See first-hand how the fibre is processed from lock to yarn. Spectators will have an                             opportunity to experiment with colours in the dying process. For your children, Sunny the farm pony is                     available for picture taking. Bring your camera. Hiking socks, saddle blankets, yarn and hides on display                 and for sale.

I will post the pictures from the Danish Canadian Museum tomorrow. But I highly recommend checking it the Country Drive out if you happen to be in Central Alberta next summer. They also have the Fall Showcase, in late September too. Check it out!

I just got home from the vacation. I still have some other pictures that I will share in the next couple of days, but wanted to get a quick entry done before I hit the hay.

This is something I've wanted to experiment with for a little while. With a little tenacity and timing, you can get a water balloon the moment the balloon rips away from it but the shape of the balloon remains... just before it falls apart completely. I might try to do some more experimenting with this at some point when I have an eager assistant like my cousin was this time...

So, because we were unable to see her the other day, my cousin-in-law Jenn came out with Jaxon to see us at the acreage for a visit, and then we all packed into the vehicles and headed to Sylvan Lake where Jenn had a job interview. As she went off, the rest of us meandered around the lake-front area, enjoying ice-cream, chasing (and being chased) by Jaxon, playing with bubbles and just being outside. Sylvan Lake seems to be much like Waskesiu, in that it's very touristy, but with the clouds rolling in most of the time we were there, it was rather quiet that day. No complaints here.

After the fun at the beach, Jenn and Jaxon headed home, and we headed back to the acreage. After supper, Cara and I headed to an empty field to take some pictures of her!

Woooooooooooo!!!

So I love this place. We come out, usually once a year, and we visit with Mom's side of the family (The Alberta chapter anyway). My cousin Trav lent us his little guy Jaxon for the day/night. And we had a blast. Jaxon likes to help, which anyone who's dealt with little ones will tell you is sometimes good and sometimes bad. But it's good that he likes to help.