As we move into 2008, some new issues have arisen, but most of them have already been dealt with, I’m happy to say!

• My wife, “Mrs. ShadowMoon” (who has her own blog), was laid off by her current employer at the beginning of December. Luckily, they intended to keep her employed for about another quarter, and she has already found gainful employment elsewhere! We were worried for a while that we would have to move away from the area, and in fact were looking at options that ranged from Santa Clara, CA all the way across the country to Dahlgren, VA. Obviously, we care quite pleased not to have to move out of town.
• We are, however, moving into town. The amount of property tax and the cost of services out here between Sioux Falls and Harrisburg (especially propane) prevents us from properly setting money aside for our children’s futures and our own eventual retirement. In fact, we made an offer on a house in Sioux Falls on Friday, which was accepted on Saturday, so we are now quickly making some final retouches on our current home so that we can get it sold. We are very excited about the move, and all the more pleased that it’s just in-town and not cross-country. As noted here, however, we’ll very much miss this house and northeastern Lincoln County in general.
• We were finally able to secure a new processing system for digital post-production, and I can get back to multi-tasking shortly after the computer arrives early next week. I’m especially excited about that, because it will allow me to to a bit more testing for Nik Software, which I’ve been having to hold back from due to time constraints lately. As well, thanks to my wife’s new position being a work-from-home job, we will have yet another high-end computer at the Base Camp, which will allow me to train interns and part-time employees, ultimately allowing us to serve more clients. She likes to work off a notebook at the local coffee shops for at least part of the day!
• Back in November, I formally launched Synthaetica Digitography in conjunction with my inclusion on portfolios.com. I have been getting some increased interest in my environmental and nature photography, which is quite nice. Over this year, my personal offerings will be increased on synthaetica.com, and I am to include other local photographers on the site as well.
• Lastly, in reaction to part of the conundrums we experienced this past year, I moved all my domains to a new provider. I was chagrined to move this money out of town, as I deeply believe in even small efforts to aid the local economy. However, the new provider offers far greater services for far less money, and an employee with my previous provider decided to attempt to lie about the status of some very important services instead of simply providing those services. As a result, we terminated the contract and moved. When you see this new blog format replace the current contents of shadowmoon.com, you’ll know that the move is finally complete.

For those of you who have been navigating here as shadowart.com, be advised that when shadowmoon.com is finally moved at the end of January, shadowart.com will be pointed to synthaetica.com. I will wait a month or so to make that change so that you have time to change your bookmarks.

Thank you all for your continued interest and support of ShadowMoon Productions. We are nearly booked full for weddings for next fall. Coupled with soccer season, it looks like the autumn will once again be a fast-paced, fun-filled season! Please be sure to call or use the contact form to ask about our availability for your date!

~Dawnne (Harrisburg, SD)