The Maria Schmitt (Servold) Wedding

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of shooting photos for Maria Schmitt's wedding in Longmont, Colorado. The wedding was beautiful, the party was a blast and I was lucky enough to bring Erin along with me and spend time with her family.

I talked with Maria this afternoon and she gave me permission to post photos from the wedding on here. Enjoy!

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE....

Slacking on the blogging...

Here's a shot at Austin Peay State University that I took.
If you click the link below, you'll find out why I was there.

But I have good reason!

The past two weeks have been extremely crazy for me at work — which is a good thing. Looking back at the work I've done, it makes me realize how much I love my job. Who wouldn't love being a community watchdog and telling stories to people?

Anyways, on Oct. 12 I left for Clarksville, Tenn. which is the site of the new Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) facility. To make a long story short — HSC is the world leader in producing the main component of solar panels. With green energy taking off, HSC also takes off. Their headquarters are in Saginaw County and they've done some major expansion (we're talking billions of dollars) in Saginaw County.

But a major investment was recently made in Clarksville, thus the reason why a reporter from the Saginaw News and myself teamed up to make the trip down south and see what was really going on in Clarksville. The point of the story showed what Michigan missed out on (potentially thousands of jobs) because of everything Tennessee could offer — including cheaper electricity and cheaper taxes. I also covered the educational side of it which also plays large role.

Instead of me describing the whole story — you can read everything we wrote and blogged about by clicking, HERE.

I wrote another story before I left for Colorado (read below) last week, that exploded on the Internet, getting more than 60,000 clicks online over the weekend. It's about bullying and discriminatory harassment — specifically toward gay and lesbians students. Check it out.

This previous week, Erin and I went back to Colorado for Maria Schmitt's wedding! I was lucky enough to be her photographer and Maria let me take Erin with me so she could go home for fall break. I'm so happy we were able to travel to Erin's home — not only because she was able to spend time with her family, but also because she knows her wedding photography! Many of the really good photos came out so well because Erin thought of the perfect pose. She was the perfect assistant! I need Maria's permission before posting any of those photos, but I'll share them soon!

Video: Pumpkin Carving

Can fall be any better? After a lovely fall color tour on Saturday, Erin and I enjoyed some apple cider and carved pumpkins. Enjoy the video:

Fall colors with Erin

A Long week makes for a great weekend

This picture kind of deals with this past weekend, but more-so with Erin's
post from last week. This is what I made at our date from last week.
Lovely coffee cup, yes?

Erin always tells me, "Work hard, play hard."

That phrase couldn't be more appropriate this past week. Like I'm sure it is everywhere, there is a bout of illness going around the office, which I've fortunately been able to avoid. My coworker and other full time employee wasn't so lucky. After returning from Florida, she came down with strep throat and was out the rest of the week.

That resulted in work overload — which looking back on, was good for me. I was pretty proud of everything I put out last week:

• Bay County Commission candidates discuss Beson's return to District 2 race
• Pinconning school officials looking at at potential of select cut logging on closed Mt. Forest Elementary property
• Bay City Public Schools officials expecting a decline of 400 students from last year
• Video: American Idol's Matt Giraud plays in Bay City coffee shop two weeks before concert
• Bangor Township Schools and Bay County Public School Academy experience student increases, as rest of county's student population drops
• Food assistance in Bay County up 20 percent, Salvation Army gives away 13,500 pounds of food
• Video: Bay City All Saints principal featured on Good Morning America segment about social networking with students
• Controversial comic strip that ran in Delta College student newspaper wins top award
• Video: Matt Giraud on new Idol judges, performing in Bay City and where is career is going
• Bay City Public Schools to offer Great Start Readiness preschool program
• Bay City Commission considers placing ban on feeding birds in city parks

It's probably the largest amount of copy I've written in one week and it feels good!

But enough of the boring stuff — I was quite lucky to enjoy another great weekend with Erin (who ran an amazing race at Notre Dame on Friday) We met for lunch in Ann Arbor, Saturday, for lunch at the Arbor Brewing Company, and had a great fall meal. Apple cider crusted chicken = delicious. I think it's OK to mention that I love fall. It's definitely my favorite season.

I then kidnapped Erin and took her back to Bay City to enjoy a some downtime in my apartment and an adult evening at Old City Hall (the bar across the street from my apartment). We enjoyed some martinis, listened to our waitresses view on local politics and shared MANY laughs.

On Sunday, we enjoyed the Sunday morning political shows with hot coffee before meeting my (very generous) mom in Saginaw at Sam's Club. She sent us on our way with more than enough essentials and non-essentials. I have a great mom who is enjoying her 29th year of marriage to my dad today!

Erin's and my weekend ended with an impromptu trip to Ikea. She's never been there, which could be good or bad, because you have to go into Ikea with a plan. If you don't, it is quite overwhelming. But we decided to go in, just to have Erin experience its massiveness. If you're looking for a fun date idea — Ikea is definitely a great idea. And like any good date, dinner should be included.

So we enjoyed Swedish meatballs from the Ikea cafeteria! Can't go wrong with that. I think our dinner was about 23-cents total. Ikea is very, VERY cheap. I love it.

I left with a plant for my coffee table, two new lamp shades for our lamps in our living room and a laptop tray (which I'm using right now). It serves not only as a great device to hold my laptop on and type, but also for food, phone, papers, etc. It's impossible to leave Ikea empty-handed.

Of course, any good weekend always has to come to an end. It's always a long ride home, whether it's an hour and a half or 20 minutes, but looking back on the past 168 hours, "Work hard, play hard," is a great motto to live by. I cannot wait for this weekend. A fall color tour is in order!

Hanging out with a former American Idol contestant

Here's a photo our photographer Mike Randolph took of
former American Idol contestant and Michigan native
Matt Giraud

This week at work has been crazy. Our other main reporter has been on vacation and now she has strep throat, which has made my workload increase substantially.

But today turned out to be an awesome (and busy) day. I found out yesterday that former American Idol and Michigan-native Matt Giraud was coming to Bay City today to promote his concert in Bay City Oct. 14. I was really hyping the concert up in the office, so my editor thought it would be cool for me to tour Bay City with him and find out, not only what people can expect from his concert next month, but also what he has been up to, his opinions about American Idol and more.

He's a great guy, very down to earth — AND a great piano player and singer. We went to the local coffee shop, which has a baby grand inside, and he played a few songs for us. We captured great video:

Former American Idol contestant Matt Giraud

My full interview with him is coming (most likely tomorrow) and it should be really entertaining. Here is a short post I wrote up to pretty much put the video online. I'll be transcribing the interview tonight.

On a side note — tomorrow's front page features three stories by me — which makes me feel pretty good after a busy, busy day. After a good night' sleep, I'll be ready to do it all over again tomorrow!