Calling all readers - I need your help

I am getting ready to move into a new office (yay!) in my new job (I forget, did I mention that previously?). I'm going to have wall space to display photos on, and, well... you know me and pictures - I got a lot of them. So I'm asking for help. I'm going with an Alaska theme (I love my state) and each wall will have another sub theme...

I've narrowed down the photos and I'm now polling my friends, family, and readers to choose from those I've chosen to make the final cut. You can like/comment on as many photos as you want.

The first batch of photos is Iditarod/Mushing themed (and I have SOOOOOOO many photos it's crazy!):

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Bear Sighting

A few weekends ago my bestie Kassy and I went on a short road trip to Anchorage. Just an overnighter so I could get my car fixed and she signed us up to help with an Operation Christmas Child information booth at a Christian Women's Conference. It was fun, but it was a quick up and back and I was tired (I dealt with migraines all weekend). On our way home (much later than I'd originally planned but we were at the mercy of the mechanics) we were stopped just outside of Sterling. I originally thought it was due to an accident until we looked to the side of the road and saw a sow brown bear and her two yearling cubs! We spent over a half hour taking pictures and watching idiot drivers/people. This is only the 3rd time I've seen a Brownie in the wild (and so close to the road!) and the very first time I've seen cubs in the wild! So awesome!

Hello from Sunny Nome

We made it yesterday. I am saving the story for a blog post I hope to send over to The Alaska Life. They asked me to be a guest Idita-blogger (because they're awesome!) and so I've decided to have some fun and give it a go with a "what to know before you Nome" theme for the next one I do. Hopefully. If I can stay awake long enough to shoot one out.

But here's a little taste at what I've done so far... more to come eventually. Internet is slow here at the Polaris hotel (which isn't as horrible as we'd heard so yay!)

Anywho, gotta edit some photos, tweet, and write a blog post.

Tustumena 200 photos

There are so many hours in a day, so the editing has been slow going, but here are a few from the Vet Check for the Tustumena 200 on Friday, January 27, 2017. More are coming... hopefully before Iditarod!

Some of Mitch Seavey's dogs waiting to be looked over by the veterinarians. 

More of Mitch Seavey's dogs.

Someone wasn't too keen on a cold stethoscope.

Cim Smyth's team.

Dave Turner's team.

Another dog from Mitch Seavey's team.

Cim Smyth's dog named Spruce.

Favorite Photos from past Tustumena 200 races

I've only gotten to shoot two T200s since 2012, not because I couldn't make it out there - but because weather caused the race to be cancelled the last three years. Not this year, though, the race is on! We're two weeks away from the Start and I am already planning to shoot both photo and video (hoping to do some live broadcast of the start and finish on my periscope account, so look for that). I'm hoping to take a half day off from work to catch the Vet Check on that Friday as well. Yup. 'Tis the season!

But I want to look back on the two races I was able to capture. Looking back was a nice stroll down memory lane (though the 2013 photos were lacking mainly due to my harddrive crashing before I could edit them all! boooo!). Here are some of my favorites:

One of DeeDee Jonrowe's dogs waits to get hooked up at the start of the 2012 race.

One of my favorite photos I've ever taken - Jeff King and his icy mustache before the race even began in 2012.

Cim Smyth coming in to win the 2012 race. He whistles to his dogs when they hit the home stretch
to let them know they're headed home. Told my dad that they pick up the pace when he does that.

Jeff King was fast on Cim's heels in 2012, but couldn't quite pull off the win, he pulled back as he came to us
and asked if Cim was still ahead of him. 

My friend Bob Parsons at the Vet Check in 2013. Big fan of mushers, and dogs. Gonna miss him this year.

The classic dog in a dog box photo.

Can't lie to me and tell me there isn't a special bond between mushers and their dogs.

In 2013 I was Team Seavey's "paid stalker" (thanks Conway for that title). Mitch won the T200 and then the Iditarod that year.

Mitch Seavey coming in to win the 2013 race. It was Superbowl Sunday and I hadn't been paying attention to the race. The T200 was going to be a "training run" for Team Seavey, he wasn't planning on racing to win. Then his team became the power house it was and he thought "what the heck, let's win this thing". I had to rush from my house to the finish line. My team was playing the big game. I was torn, but the Niners were sucking so I went. And I missed the second half of the game. What I do for these mushers and their dogs. Geez.

I just think this is a really good shot of Mitch.

Family picture at the finish of the T200 in 2013, Conway won the 100 and Mitch the 200. All in the family.

2016: A Year In Pictures

2016 has been a rough year on all of us. I am not one of those millenials frozen with fear and sadness over the election (not happy about it, I didn't want either option, but I'm not losing my mind over it). I had a rough personal life this year, Gpa moving in with us and dealing with dementia, the loss of dear friend last January... and oy. Yeah. 2016 wasn't fun.

So I'm looking back at some of the photographic proof that it wasn't "all bad".

Disneyland Photos: Frozen the Musical

I have to admit, I reluctantly went into the Frozen Musical with my parents on our last day at Disney. I was (and still am) upset that Aladdin was closed to move in the new obsession. Yes, Frozen was an AMAZING film, and the songs are not just annoyingly catchy - they're well written and sung. But I have been Frozen-fatigued for over two years now. They are overrunning the parks. Too much of a good thing and all that.

But, I did want to give this show a chance - even if walking into the theater I was wishing we'd get the improv magic of the Genie. I wanted to see the "new technology" in action and so I went in. I was plesantly surprised for the most part. While I still prefer the Aladdin show, the cast of Frozen is equally talented. The technology is impressive (though I disagree that "every seat is a good one" as most of the technology works best when you're sitting in the center),

Below are some of the bajillion photos I took of the show. This is probably the only time I'll watch the show unless the people I'm traveling with want to see it. It's not one that I'd go to multiple showings of in the same visit (like I did with Aladdin multiple times).

Favorite photos from 2015

There were so many beautiful moments this year, it's hard for me to pare it down as much as I have for the photos. I was going to go month by month, but that seems like too much work at this juncture, so it's in no real order, just however blogger decided to download them. There are more under the cut, as always, and if you would like to order a print please contact me via the comments section and I can work with you.

Here's hoping 2016 sees even more beauty!

I am in this photo, but I set it up so it counts. This was taken the last night
Dean and Mary Nichols were here for a revival. I hadn't seen Dean since
2010, and he hadn't preached at First Baptist Kenai since 2006! It
was good having them "home" for a little while. I miss them!
This group is just a small representation of the youth group my dad led
while Dean was our pastor.

As I said in yesterday's post, my dad helped Kassy
coach TBall... as you can see, it wen't well.

Sushi was very happy to wear his 49ers Jersey
and pose with an "official" NFL Network Football.

Sunrise photos on the Kenai River

On my way to work this morning I made a stop (good thing work is now just minutes from home) to take photos of the incredible sunrise we got to witness. I'd type more, but I'm tired and lazy and can't think of something to say... I'll let the photos do the talking (1000 words, ya know?).

As always, there are more under the cut.

Christmas for the Reitter Pugs

Well, I did it again. I dressed up dogs for Christmas. We've found out in the last few months that Sushi LOVES to wear clothes. Like he gets super excited when the clothes come into view and he jumps right into them and shows off to anyone and everyone. It's pretty crazy and hilarious. Stitch, on the other hand, hates the ordeal and generally fights me to put it on (he also does this with his harness, he likes being naked). So for Christmas I decided Stitch would be Santa after I found the most adorable elf costume for Stitch! It was a pain trying to find a Santa outfit that fit Sushi, but I finally found one that was too big but worked.

Enjoy the photos, and I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

As always, there are more under the cut.

Pug photo fun!

Took these photos of the boys a few days ago. Stitch is not a fan of the noises that the camera makes so he spent most of the time barking. Such a booger. We're working through getting him to settle down and not be such a timid little dude around any noise. He's very naughty in other ways - gets into EVERYthing - but noises scare the bejeepers out of him. We're also working on obedience training but this boy is STUBBORN. I was very spoiled having Yuka from such a young age, as stubborn and naughty as she was she was incredibly smart and learned commands quickly. It's a slower process with Stitch. Right now we're working on sit and come. Neither which is working out too well. Even with super yummy treats. Oy.

Anyway, here are Sushi and Stitch from July 3. I'll have to get more pictures soon.

Caribou on the Kenai

I had a busy afternoon yesterday. Went and helped Kassy take down the VBS stuff (which normally we DON'T have to do, that's not in our job description!), then went over to the Animal Shelter for what I thought was just going to be a volunteer interview but I ended up taking photos (yay!). Get home, set up the camera gear to get ready for the Tri-the-Kenai this Sunday and my facebook gets flooded with "There are caribou with big antlers on the Flats right on the road!"

So after going back and forth trying to decide if I was going to make the trek over there (it's a 10 minute drive during the 5 o'clock hour) I headed out and snapped a few beauties before they went into the bushes.

The Kenai lowland herd of Caribou are a protected herd. They cannot be hunted as their numbers are small and a few years ago they were nearly all gone. They are steadily increasing in number, and visit many hot spots in Kenai all year long (they love to hang out at the high school). During Christmas last year they were over by Soldotna Animal Hospital and they made a lot of comments about Santa stopping in and getting his team checked out before the big flight. ;)

It was a beautiful night for photos!

June visitors!

Well, I survived May and I'm starting to recoop from the first week of June (which is also my church's VBS week each year). I am pooped. I have done NOTHING today and other than a tball game tonight I will continue to do nothing until I go back to work on Wednesday! Ha!

But I did want to share photos I took on Friday, we had a mother moose and her new twin babies in our yard when I got home from VBS and I found enough energy to take a couple hundred pictures. Don't worry, I didn't edit or share all of them.

Hopefully I get the inspiration to start blogging again, but until then...

Earth Day Sunset Photos

I went out and chased the sunset - not far, just to my normal spot on the Kenai Beach - last night as it was Earth Day and I haven't gotten to get out and shoot for the longest time. Between weather and just not feeling like it, I've been itching to go in the last week.

So off I went. I would've probably gone somewhere new - but with the new dog we have having had a meltdown when mom and dad went to church I didn't want to leave him alone... and they were later than normal getting home.

The sun is setting around 9:45 at night right now, in just another month it'll be closer to midnight. Then in June it won't really set at all! I love this time of year. Well... I love mid-May through September... right now everything looks dead and grey. April in Alaska is not the most picturesque time to visit. But there are still moments that remind you why Alaska is the closest we will ever come to Heaven this side of eternity (yes, I am biased).

It was a quiet night on the beach, we have about a month left until the beach is littered with thousands of people and fish guts during dip netting. I plan on going out and actually getting photos of the insanity that is dipnet season. I HATE that part of summer. I HATE how our beaches become over run and are not taken care of by those that use her shores to get the fish they supposedly need to live on. Not all dipnetters are bad, but there are enough bad eggs in the bunch that I just wish they'd all go away and leave our small community alone. Anchorage should stay in Anchorage.

So here's to the more peaceful scenes of the beach as the insanity of summer looms ever closer.

Mature bald eagle photos

We've had that Juvenile Bald Eagle visit the bone pile all week. It's been pretty neat to see, though he was getting annoyed with the attention and flying off more and more. Last night we were surprised to find a mature eagle on the bones. Looks like Jr. decided he needed his parental unit to keep us from bugging him.

Joke was on him, though, because we brought out the cameras again to get some captures of the beautiful mature bald eagle. Here are just a few (I may have taken over 100. Yeah, not sorry.) of the photos I took while he ripped into the carrion.