I'm Alive!

Wow, how three months can fly.

In May, I had my bachelorette party...

The following weekend, I PRed the Geist Half Marathon...

In June, Ryan and I got married!

Immediately following the wedding, we took our honeymoon in Mexico...

 We returned from our honeymoon in July, and only a week later, we bought a house...

Two days after that, I told my work that I want to go part-time. I'm going to use the extra time to focus on my growing photography business...

Overall, It's been a whirlwind of a summer to say the least.

Oh... but you want me to talk about triathlons, don't you?! Well, I haven't done any. In fact... I haven't even been training much. I did my first swim last week, and did my first bike ride today. I have my first race, the Chicago Triathlon, at the end of August. Thankfully, I'm doing to sprint, and not the Olympic (which almost killed me last year).

My weight is holding steady for now. I gained (no joke) 8 pounds during our wedding and honeymoon. Ouch! But I lost a few when we returned, and now I'm back on the Weight Watchers wagon... aiming for that elusive 140. I only have 11 pounds to go.

Hopefully I'll be back soon! I'm still reading everyone elses' blogs religiously!

Kelly the Photographer

Totally not related to triathlons, but a) I promised, and b) Adam asked.

My town, if nothing more, does a really great job at catering to its younger, more musical and artistic citizens. They hold free concerts at least twice a week in the summer time, they constantly have beer and wine tastings, traveling art galleries, and the like.

Back in April, they held the second annual Bright Night photography contest. They instructed downtown businesses to keep all their lights on so local photographers could take pictures at night (it is held each year on the night of our minor league baseball team's first home game).

So, even though I had to work until 10pm that night, I grabbed a coat and my camera and headed out. I got a lot of mediocre pictures... but it only takes one good one.

(Click to enlarge)

This photograph won 2nd place in the contest and a hefty $300 prize. You can see the other winners here.

After the check had been cashed and the excitement had worn off, I received a call from a woman who's company wanted to buy the license to the photograph and use it on their website.

Um... yes, please!

So now my photo can also be found here!


It's amazing how 20 seconds of photography and 5 minutes of Photoshop could be worth so much money. I can now consider my expensive triathlon "habit" paid for this year!