Welcome, friends, to the very first blog offered by me or by Portraits by Michelle.  I guess the closest thing that I have had to a blog in the past is my facebook account.  This is designed to be a little bit different, where you can get to know me, my family, and my personality just a tad better.

Here’s a little bit about me:  I am the forty-five (gasp) year-old mom of a son that is about to become a sophomore in high school and a daughter that will begin her seventh-grade career this fall.  They are extremely involved in both sports and music and are the true joy of our lives.

My husband, Al, and I met our junior year at Luther College in Decorah, IA,  and after a whirlwind romance 🙂 were married in August of 1989, the same year we graduated from college.  This was also 2 weeks before Al began medical school.

We seem to do very few things in our lives without a great deal of stress.  This was one of those times in our lives – Al started medical school & I  started a job teaching music in a elementary school (yes, I have a degree in vocal music education.)  I was in a less than ideal situation, to say the least, and I discovered during this time that teaching music was not my true passion.  During this time in Madison, WI, I took on a few other jobs to help put Al through medical school and food on our table.  I worked for a short time in a music store in the music lessons and sheet music departments.  Eventually, I became a receptionist at the Pella Window Store (“Good Afternoon, Ver Halen, Your Pella Window Store  ” ) and a sales person at Eddie Bauer on nights and weekends.

We moved to Mason City, IA, in 1993 and Al began his residency in family practice.  I became a receptionist at the office of Dr. Patrick Carney, DDS.  As Al was finishing his residency, we found out we were expecting our son.

Then another stressful time in our lives – I found out I had cancer when I was 30 weeks pregnant.  I had a C-section, spleenectomy, liver and lymph node biopsies all at the same time when I was 35 weeks along and then began treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma.  We moved to our current home in Algona, Iowa, Al began his family practice job, and I started to settle into our home with a collicky baby.

Whew!…..

Well, things have settled down a bit since then.  We are still extremely busy and I have still dealt with health issues.  But enough for now.  🙂

Welcome to my little world!  I look forward to sharing more about me and what has become my passion and I feel truly one of my life’s purposes – capturing special memories through photography.