The Blog of Wen McNally Photography

White knuckles gripped the steering wheel as this wizard makes her way to the crystal covered campus in south Austin. Who would have ever imagined such a site? If only I could make my way there. An hour already spent on the normal 20 min drive to the Texas Hill Country. Not a soul in site as I passed abandoned cars and trucks along the way. Only a few more miles and I will arrive at my destination. One road block after another. This time several crashed vehicles block the way. There is no getting there, not now anyways. But where do I go now? It took me over an hour to get to this point and the conditions are not getting any better. Well, I will try to take the one other way I know to get there. So I back track to get to that point. Up ahead another car slides into the ditch. The next hill that I would have to climb. I could park in this ice crusted grassy spot next to these houses that are sure to have heat and a kind soul if I am stuck for the night. A prayer was lifted at that point as I asked what I should do. Yet another truck in the ditch. That was my answer. Stay here. Not a minute later a good samaritan came from the neighborhood and diligently helped the ditch diggers out. He approached me and asked if I needed help. I explained my story as to where I was supposed to be and my delimma as I was from out of state and too far from my hotel to return there. He offered to take me to his house and keep company with his wife. There was no question that this was what I was to do this day. I gathered my immediate belongings and hopped in the truck with him. Hoping that noone would crash into my rented suv, the least of my worries.  I arrive in what feels like the twilight zone. Funny enough the street name had twilight in it. A warm greeting and hot coffee was offered by Tami, Joe’s gracious wife. We sat and shared life stories through the day. Heart to heart shared from one mom to another. Joe and Tami have four children, we have five. We had everything to talk about. Snow and ice continued to fall. Giggling teeth chattered with pure joy as the children experienced a snowball fight for the first time. I snapped away at their flurry of emotion.  Hours went by as quick as minutes. There was a lull in the system and Joe offered to check out the roads and we could get my truck in a safe spot.  He made the arrangements with a neighbor that would agreed to let me park for the duration of the storm. The roads were a bit softer than they were in the morning and he took me on to the Wizard Academy, the reason I was in Austin to begin with. We said our goodbyes and I was so thankful for his kind heart to take me in for the day. Sometimes you just never know what a day will bring. Click on this link to view the Magical World under ice.

Happy March Fourth! (FORTH!)

This is a fun family holiday that we (the McNally’s) have celebrated for years. The story of how it got started and what we do can all be found in the March 2007 issue of Family Fun Magazine. See the images posted in this blog.

I was asked by the senior photo editor of the Disney owned magazine to take the photo for the publication. I was eager to take on the assignment and excited to have one of my images appear in such a widely published magazine.

The family was paid $100 from the magazine for publishing our story. We have decided to donate the money to who other than the MARCH of Dimes. We thought that it would be appropriate to go along with our marching theme as well as it is such a worthy cause. I had already been to a leadership meeting for the Fredericksburg area March of Dimes as I was planning on putting a team together for Wen McNally Photography.  The family agreed to join me in the walk on April 28, 2007 in Fredericksburg. We will be the Wen McNally Photography / McNally Family / March Forth team ! Wow! Can we fit all of that on our t-shirts?  I think that it will be a great time to be together with the family and out in the community for such a great cause. If you would like to support our team or join us in the march please email me wen@wenmcnally.com for more details.

Here are all of the kids marching on the front porch of Gram and Grampa’s house to appease mom for a picture. Notice all of their t-shirts? That was a neat story in itself. I will have to post another blog with the details but check out the March Fourth Marching Band for some music like you have NEVER heard before!

My son, Bryce won the coveted golden boot today for achieving his goals this year.  We had a great day spending time with family after the marching, voting and goal setting took place. As well as making fun of each other for all of the goals that we set and did not quite reach! It is all taken in fun and we’ll try harder next year.