Renovations

With the arrival of Michah last year, our bedroom situation became a little lopsided and unfair. We could move our daughter into the boys room and give the boys her room but some how that seemed to create more problems. No matter how we looked at it, we have three upstairs bedrooms which were all different sizes. Kind of like the three bears, A big room, a medium sized room and a baby sized room. When the kids get bigger, we foresee problems.

Next, our kitchen cabinets are falling apart. The previous owners must have known they were planning to sell the house so all they did was reface the cabinets to make them look nice. But, the shelves were still falling apart. There are other concerns through out the house which we wanted fixed and some things we just didn't like.

As a result over the last couple of weeks we've been interviewing contractors. It seems that we have finally found one who will undertake the project(s) we want done. Part of what we like about these folks is they have already said there is no reason to build over the garage. We can solve our space problems with what we already have. Already they've saved us nearly $60,000!

We just have some terms in the contract to fix and make sure the statement of work is what we want. Then once we sign the agreement, we hope to be finished with phase 1 in four months.

Refurbished Website

The web site www.mmpix.com, has been refurbished for your future enjoyment. This was kind of like a small home improvement project that just kept growning until the whole house was involved. The web site project started with just a quick change to my sample galleries. Next thing I new, I was completely refurbishing the site.

You'll notice a new an improved look to the site. The pink background has been replace by a black on. New navigation along the top of the web page will assure that every page is just a click or two away from any other page. Information has been more logically organized. There have also been some new pages added to the site. Most specifically, the Ala Carte Menu, the Bio and what people are saying. There is still some more work to do but the site is functional and ready for visitors!

Broken Nails or Poor Dog

Late this morning, I was just settling down at the computer to start the day's work. I heard a dog barking from upstairs. I realized I had left Baloo outside and he wanted to come in. He sure is not the typicall Labrador Retreiver -- he does not like the cold, rain or snow. I knew that if I did not bring him in, he would continue to bark until I did bring him in. I stop organizing myself for the day to come and went to the back door to let Baloo in the house.

When I arrived at the back door, there he was just waiting for me. Suddenly, I noticed the red stains in the fresh white snow. At first I thought Baloo had found an apple from the apple tree. Then I noticed the second stain. I took a closer look at the stains and relized they were blood. Alright, did Baloo catch a small animal? No, it was coming from his front paw. When I inspected it, I discovered he had broken one of his toe nails. So it was off to the vet to have Baloo patched up. Here's our poor pitiful dog with has bandaged paw.

And the winner is....

Today I was at the Complete Wedding Expo at the Schaumburg Hyatt Regency. It was great to talk with all of the newly engaged people who are planning weddings for 2007 and 2008. As always, I hold a drawing for various prizes. The prize for this show is $400 of wedding photos should you decide to book with me. And the winner of today's drawing is Anna Rinaldi who is getting married September 8, 2007 or 9/8/7. Congrats Anna!

It's Coming!!!

Well after three years with the same website and the same old design, I've decided it is time to replace my website. Like any home improvement project, it started small and is growing bigger as the minutes pass.

First, I decided to change my sample galleries. It was exactly like the woman who looks in the mirror at the same hair style she's had for years and suddenly can't stand it. It was the same way with my sample galleries. Suddenly, I just couldn't stand to have those photos representing me any more! So out with the old and in with the new.

Next, I started changing my logo. You'll notice the hat is gone. Too many people thought I did parties or was a magician. I also wanted to make my logo more elegant. A change in font was required. The hat just looked out of place. So it was gone. Finally, I needed to add our newest family addition's birthday and my wife demanded I remove her birthday from the logo. See if I remember her birthday now!

With these two changes, I realized the rest of the website needed to be changed. After spending the day on the site, I've got the basic templates done. Now I need to work on the individual pages. I'll let you know when all of this is done.

Valentine's Day Special

Announcing the Valentine's day special -- Schedule an appointment by Valentine's day and book Magical Moments Photography for your wedding by February 28 to receive the high resolution digitial images from your wedding included in your wedding package at no additional cost. This is a $1000 value!

Quiet Time -- yeah right!?!

January is over. It was supposed to be a quiet month around here but it has been anything but quiet. There is some exciting news. First, I've had some more photos published in two bridal magazines. So if you pick up a copy of the "Wedding Guide Chicago" or in "Brides Chicago" be sure to look for my photos. A few of my past clients are having their fifteen minutes of fame!

Next, I have been working on a deal for something new to use with my material. I can't tell you all about it just yet, but in addition to all of the standard photographer information (ie. sample photos, prices, etc...), it will have part of a book on wedding planning. That's all I know at this point, there will be more to come in the days ahead.

If that was not enough, I'm unveiling a new ad.