Sugar Blues

Posted by Liana at 11:01 AM

"Usually I'm exhausted, run-down, and feel like I've been run over by a semi-truck after traveling back and forth to the west coast and teaching two boot camps back to back. It's NOT like that this time." was my comment as I walked the streets of Portland yesterday afternoon after the conclusion of my 16th Photo Biz Boot Camp taught.

I knew part of it could be that being in the company of these photographer over the past week has kept my spirits up, and my mind sharp. Somehow it was not as exhausting as usual. But I wasn't getting extra sleep, that was for sure!

Then I realized... the SUGAR! Perhaps it has something to do with the Sugar!

Almost two weeks ago I gorged on my leftover Christmas chocolate, while watching the Bachelor online, immersed in my guilty pleasures ...because I knew the next day I'd be throwing out ALL the sugar in my house that I'd be tempted with.

You see, my mom gave me this little dog-eared book from the 70s as I was packing up after Christmas... with a disclaimer I can't remember now... and it wasn't until recently that I picked it up and realized my addiction.

I am an honest-to-goodness Sugar Addict!!! (step 1 haha)





It's been over a week now since I've denounced refined sugar from my diet. I have:

- traveled for over 20 hours this week,
- gotten the SAME amount of sleep as usual (not much!),
- worked crazy hours teaching,
- neglected to exercise at all this week,

and I feel like I have SOOOO much more energy than I usually do!

- I'm not as moody.
- Don't feel that "must take a nap" sensation a few minutes right after I eat.
- I don't feel like I've been "run over by a semi-truck" like I usually do after this kind of trip!

This book is an interesting mix of history, personal experience of the author, cold hard facts, case studies, and even recipes! The history alone is awe-inspiring. When you find out how sugar was introduced into our culture, and kept here... WOW.

I admit, it hasn't been an easy start. I sat in front of a plate of Biscoff cookies and chocolates for the first few days of this experiment and was proud I walked away without partaking in a single sugary delight!

I hear it takes up to a month for the cravings to go away. I was able to cut all coffee, Coke, and other caffeinated beverages out of my diet 9 years ago (yes, the last Coke or Pepsi I had was in 1999!!!)... and still going strong on that. Water is my #1 drink. I have a feeling sugar isn't going to be as easy...

My Hello Kitties

Posted by Liana at 4:28 PM

I'm in Vancouver, WA now teaching a Boot Camp and just about everyone here has mentioned their quirky cats already... and it reminded me of this pics I caught of Charlie and Grace I have not posted yet.

Mikey brought me this girly Hello Kitty balloon one Sunday and the kitties had SUCH a blast batting it around and chewing on the strings.

Charlie's Turn!


Gracie is mad that we put the balloon up... and plotting a way to jump off the bed to grab it!


Okay, enough of my dorkiness posting kitty pics online!

The Forumula for Success

Posted by Liana at 9:57 AM

"Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that's where you will find success."

- Thomas J. Watson

Wedding Countdown

Posted by Liana at 12:29 AM

If you haven't noticed already, I've been a little MIA in 2009. For good reason. You see, it's like I have another FULL TIME job... planning our wedding, preparing for marriage.



I don't think I could count the number of times I was like "okay, time to quit...honey you can plan the rest of our wedding!!" or "let's elope" or simply broken down in a mess from the stress of it all. Not really self-induced stress, more of tradition- and others-silly-expectations induced stress. Haha. Spent a WHOLE WEEK in 2009 already inhaling glue from the invitation-making going on at my house. Ick!

Well, a lot has finally fallen into place...

- Catering company booked, have final "walk through" in just over a week - over the phone!
- Photographer booked
- Videographer booked
- Flights scheduled
- Coordinator scheduled to come out
- SWEET vacation rental booked. It's where Tyra, Simon, and Jennifer Aniston all reside. A 47-second drive from our wedding location. Super excited about that convenience!
- Wedding night suite booked
- Most of our New Zealand / Australia flights and hotels booked
- DRESS ARRIVED this past week. Fits perfect!
- Completed our Buckhead Church 2-to-1 premarital mentoring program
- Lost 6 lbs so far this year - only a few more to make my goal!
- LOTS of "nesting" taking place (to be revealed in a future blog post)
- Flowers discussed
- Linen fabric purchased
- Cake decor in-hand, along with the lovely Vera Wang servers both Mike and I agreed on
- Invitations sent out. Still wondering why no one in NC got theirs yet, including my parents?
- Shower and party dates picked, plans in the mix
- Shoes that I bought months ago match the dress!
- Wedding website updated



A few things I'll be working on these next few weeks:
- Finding the right earrings
- Planning seating charts and logistics as RSVPs come in
- Tracking down the dozens who are sure to fail to RSVP! LOL
- Finalizing menu
- Finish booking honeymoon travel
- Workin' out!!
- Planning the day-of time-line and lists for coordinator
- Continue with Grace Ministries premarital counseling
- Figuring out readings, verses, songs, and other elements of our ceremony
- Hmmm... anything I'm forgetting? I know I am!

Well, have just under 69 days to figure it all out. All of this for a few hours of a very special day! I'm glad we've got the best in the business to document it so we can remember what 9-months of planning and work went towards! LOL.

Union Hotel

Posted by Liana at 12:21 PM

Last night I flew into San Francisco and met up with Laura Meyer who flew in from Chicago for the Photo Biz Boot Camp we're having out here in Cali this week. The drive over to Benicia was not bad and when we arrived at the Union Hotel (there are only two hotels in this town it is so small!) our secret codes were taped to the door with our names on it!

My room is PINK, and Laura got the blue room. Check it out!





Besides the "eu de mothball" scent coming from the closet, this place isn't so bad. It's more like a Bed and Breakfast - we got served a hot breakfast of eggs and toast already this morning!

Hickory, NC

Posted by Liana at 12:05 PM

I'm up here in Hickory, NC this week and we're wrapping up an awesome Photo Biz Boot Camp with some fun pics of each other. A few shots from this morning...

Our hostess, Dana Andreasson, is just a few months away from delivering their first little one... here are the gals shooting belly pics of her, and also a styling shot of Ginger Moseley.


Here's a more formal shot of Sara Szotak - she's a natural.


Of course we had to take a classic belly-shot for Dana!


Thanks gals for an awesome week!!

Better than iPhones

Posted by Liana at 12:38 AM

It started back the first few months we were dating - I'd fly to some remote island without cell coverage - and Mikey and I would communicate via Skype or iChat.

We had forgotten about our old means of communication when I'm out of town working, but he reminded me tonight and it's SOOO much easier than sitting on the phone trying to hear each other through bad connections.

Sometimes I catch him doing Mr.Napkin Head for me or something silly. Haha he just flashed me his bellybutton and I missed getting a pic of it! Darn!

I'm in Hickory, NC this week teaching a Boot Camp so we gave iChat another try.

Well, here are the pics I got this evening:

I'm fresh out of the shower hence the towel on my head


All Smiles (I think he's laughing at the brush stuck in my wet, knotted hair) ha!


All Seriousness


All Spooked


Our Late-night branded wear


Look, a book about Mikey! j/k


Hey... I have flare from the lamp. Niiiiice!


And last, but not least, Mr.NapkinHead!!

"Courage is Fear that has said it's Prayers"

Posted by Liana at 1:20 AM

There's a VERY small white church down the street that always has the most thought-provoking statements on it's bulletin. Of course it's usually late at night or in the midst of crazy traffic that I spot these statements but I always wish that I'd written it down. So now I have: "Courage is Fear that has said it's prayers."

I like that.

Happy Candy and New Years Non-Reflections

Posted by Liana at 10:03 PM

This picture makes me happy!



Old fashioned and foreign candy always puts a smile on my face...not sure why. And this week I'm trying to "give it up" for a while :(

Anyways, my new years goals/reflections I've purposefully put off thinking about until next week. While most photographers have this time of year to kick back and get a little R/R, marketing, catching-up time in... this happens to be one of the busiest times for me!

This month I'll be teaching THREE Boot Camps so I've got lots of travel ahead, and LOTS of planning and working-on-the-business time. Before that comes though, I have to squeeze in all that R/R, marketing, and catching-up time in a tiny, itty-bitty time frame. My mom is in town this week helping with some wedding stuff we're working on too as the countdown is officially under 90 days!

Okay, back to business...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Posted by Liana at 9:33 AM

I've just realized in all the holiday fanfare, I've neglected my blog for the past week or two!! It's been nice taking a little time "off" however we did have a wedding to shoot last weekend and have been busy working on our own wedding stuff as well as some client work so it's been a productive few weeks as well.

We'll be back in the office going strong starting Monday, and will resume "regular" blogging then too.

Until then, Belated Merry Christmas and a HAPPY New Year!