-Andy

Dear friends and family,

About two years ago, Andy’s sister Aimee received a life-altering diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Aimee already knew that she got sick every time she ate; what she didn’t know until the diagnosis was that she must take long-term steroid medications and immune-suppressing drugs daily in order to absorb nutrients from food, and that these medications have dangerous side effects and will be extremely expensive. Some patients require surgery when medications no longer control the symptoms or complications such as obstruction or fistulas arise. Currently, there is no cure for this disease.

Two years ago Aimee went to Guatemala to serve in the midst of her own discomfort and was changed by her experiences there. She dealt with the daily regimen of pills, enabling her to digest food and be nourished. Aimee is back in the US now, but she still feels called to minister to others, perhaps in a culture other than the United States. It will be difficult with her medical condition. Any progress toward better treatment or a cure will benefit not only Aimee, but those whom she will touch with her service.

Last fall, Andy and I walked 14 miles here in Wisconsin to raise funds and awareness for CCFA. This coming July, it is our family’s goal to walk a half-marathon (13.1 miles) from Napa to Sonoma, CA. We are trying to raise $16,000 for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America to fund research toward a cure. We can’t do this alone, and we need your help! We would love if you would donate at least 0.2% of our goal ($32 – we would need 5,000 people to donate at this level to reach $16,000). But any contribution is greatly appreciated! (All donations are tax deductible.) Donations can be made through my website: www.andystenz.com/napa2010 or by sending a check made payable to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation to my home address:

    CCFA c/o Jessica Stenz
    1907 Woodburn Rd. A
    Waukesha, WI 53188

Several local businesses have generously donated items which we will raffle off! If you send a donation of $50 or more before May 15th, you could win a gift certificate to Devon Seafood Grill at Bayshore (it’s excellent, if you haven’t been there), hand-crafted jewelry (made by Jessica), and more! Anyone who sends a donation of $32 or more will receive a pair of hand-made earrings.

I am always happy to answer any questions regarding Team Challenge and can be reached best at jstenz7 [at] gmail [dot] com. If you know others affected by these conditions who may want to make a donation or participate in Team Challenge, please feel free to share this message with them.

Thank you for your time and support. I am hoping, through our efforts, we can come closer to a cure for IBD! Because no one should live in embarrassment or without health insurance, due to a disease that is beyond their control.

Sincerely,
Jessica Stenz

A few weeks ago, my dad’s side of the family went out and celebrated what would have been my Grandpa’s birthday. Grandpa and Grandma Stenz loved Vegas and spent a lot of time there, so it was fitting to have a gathering to celebrate there. I decided before we went that there were a few shots I wanted to get. I’m happy to say that I was able to get all of them, and then some. I wanted to go out early one morning (so I headed into the desert at 4am one day), I wanted a nighttime shot of the strip (which allowed for a day shot as I was scoping out locations), and I wanted to get to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam to get some shots.

As a bonus, when we got near Lake Mead, we decided to take a short helicopter ride (Jess, my sisters and I). I’ve been in helicopters before, yet they hadn’t, so it was great chance to get a little taste of it.

All in all, it was a great few days with the family.

I am excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year by announcing the winners of our 2010 free wedding photography giveaway! I just wanted to start by thanking everyone who entered the contest! Jamie (Jamie M Swanson Photography) and I have really enjoyed reading all the stories and were finally able to narrow it down to our winners!

The winners are…. [Drum roll, please!]

…Bethany and Daniel!

Bethany and Daniel met on the other side of the world on a completely different continent. After four years, mostly spent far from each other, they are finally together and are getting married this fall. We are SO excited to photograph your wedding! Congratulations you two – we look forward to capturing your wedding day with beautiful images!

Happy New Year! Let’s start with a bang, eh? To that end, my good photography buddy Jamie (of Jamie M. Swanson Photography) and I are giving away a free day of wedding coverage to one lucky couple this year – just like we did last year! Want to know the details, read all the information below. Here’s to a wonderful 2010 for you and yours!

Why are you doing this?
We love photographing weddings and count it a blessing to participate in so many wedding day celebrations. We want to be able to give back some of that blessing by lending our time and talents to one lucky couple.

What does the couple get?
A full day of wedding coverage from the two of us. We’ll be with you in the morning when you get ready right through to the reception where everyone lets loose. We’ll then edit the photos and get them to you on disk, ready for printing. We’ll also upload the files to an online gallery that you can share with family and friends.

How will this work?
The couple, a family member or their friends submit the couple’s story via email to freewedding@andystenz.com. The stories will be read by us and our spouses. Among the four of us, we will choose a couple and announce the lucky couple on February 14th. If you aren’t the couple, please confirm with them that they don’t already have a photographer before you send in the entry.

Are there any rules?

• The couple must be getting married in 2010. The date must be open on our calendars. If there is a conflict in dates (if we both aren’t available for your wedding), we’ll let you know right away.
• The wedding has to be in Wisconsin within approximately 75 miles of West Bend. Think mainly Madison to Green Bay to Milwaukee. If you’re not sure, submit it anyway, that’s just a rough guideline as we are based out of different cities ourselves.
• We can’t already know you (we don’t want to show favorites). And we can’t have already been in contact with you for a wedding next year.

What do I need to include in my submission?

• The bride and groom’s first and last names and their contact information.
• The couple’s story (how they met, got engaged, and why they should be chosen for free wedding coverage, anything fun you want us to know about them – creativity is encouraged!).
• The wedding date and locations (of the ceremony, reception, etc – whatever may be known).
• A digital picture of the couple. This will be used when we announce the final couple.

Where and when do I send my Submission?
Email entry submissions and any questions you may have to freewedding@andystenz.com. And remember, submissions are due by January 31st, 2010 at midnight CST.

The filming started at about 5:30am and it wasn’t quite warm yet…

The whole morning crew was there: Chris, Diane, Robin and Sam.

The local ABC affiliate was on hand to interview the GMA anchors.

And they brought along Rodney Atkins and his band. The bassist got a kick out of the Racing Sausages which showed up to promote the Brewers.

If you are interested, you can check out http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/YourHouse/ for the video segments from that mornings shows.

Miley is a 1.5 year old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who came to us by the same breeder as our first Cavalier, Oliver, did. Oliver meet with an untimely death a few years back and we miss him so. Kim, the breeder, was gracious enough to set us up to adopt Miley after her owner also met with an untimely death. Perhaps he is looking out for Oliver and we’ll look out after Miley for him!

We are very thankful to Kim and excited to have Miley at home with us. I hope you get the chance to meet her sometime. She’s got a lot of energy but will drop everything for some affection.

Seriously though, I’m just moving rooms but it feels like so much more. I’ve been able to reorganize how things are setup, which should give me more room to work and make me more efficient. It’s warmer upstairs (it’s been a cold winter!) The blue on the walls was my choice when we moved in five years ago. It’s ocean blue! And best yet (and this one is for my wife), if/when I get a bit messy, we can now can just close the door and life will be good again.

Yes, that is our elliptical on the right. Hopefully, I’ll spend some more time working out now as well!

Oh, and this desk is like the old t-shirt with holes in it that you just can’t bear to part with. I’ve had it for something like 8 years. I bought it on clearance and it’s been with through college and now almost six years of marriage. It’s been cut up, patched up, and scratched up. But until it doesn’t hold up, I guess I can’t give up on it.

Thanks for reading!

Check it out out here (edit: the portfolio has now been replaced with separate portfolios in each of the sections above)

Thank you to everyone that’s made this such a great year.

To all my clients, friends and family: thank you for all of your support.

To my friends on flickr: thanks for teaching me so much.

And to my wife: thank you for being so patient and loving with me as I spend long hours working on everything. Thanks for your constant encouragement and your faithful love.

Happy New Year! Be safe tonight as you celebrate.

Some new additions to look for in the next few days: A new portfolio section and some updated blog images.