Week 1- Kenton County Fair

I went to the Kenton County Fair down the street from my house this past weekend as my first photo project.  Nothing groundbreaking I just wanted a reason to get my camera out of its carrying case.  I also have this obsession with all things country.  However this fair was not nearly as country as I expected.  Yes it featured a tractor pull, yes it there was a bluegrass band, people where wearing work boots in 80-90 degree weather, etc.  I think my problem was I was picturing Sweet Home Alabama with the country band playing and people dancing with Christmas lights hung all around, etc.  Then I remembered I'm not in Texas or Alabama.  I'm in Northern Kentucky.  I enjoyed myself, however I'm in need of something just a bit more authentic.  Good news is I got to go to Sharky's for some blueberry ice cream at the end of the night!

FNL

I have a new obsession.  It's not my fault.  I watched it until 3am Saturday and all day Sunday.  I now need to move to Texas and live on a farm with Matt Sarason (and if he's not available I'll settle for Tim Riggins.)  I know I'm late but I absolutely love this show.

Mohegan Island

A lot of times when I can’t tolerate looking at banking/trust information anymore I take my ‘smoke’ break.  You know the smokers of the office get a 20 minute break every hour or so, so I do the same only I’ll research vacations I can’t afford or look at feature presentations at the drive-in for the weekend, etc.  Today I received an e-mail about five All American Islands to visit.  The last one featured was my favorite. It’s in Maine, it’s called Monhegan Island.  I hear wonderful things about Maine, however, the furthest north I’ve ventured is New Jersey.  

Here’s the Inn I found that I think I’d want to rest my head: Island Inn Mohegan

I’d love to spend a long weekend there with my camera, a couple of books, and my laptop.  Wow look at me, I went from a long weekend in Vegas, with my vodka and stilletos to a quiet weekend in Maine.  Such is life…

benign

Those are the best words to hear when you or a loved one has a tumor removed from your body.  My uncle text me today to let me know that my aunt's tumor she had removed from her thyroid was in fact benign.  It's weird.  When someone goes through something like that I assume the best.  I think a lot of people assume the worst.  From the time she found the tumor to the text message I just received I prayed but I didn't worry about it being cancer.  I didn't worry about my mom either.  Not even my dad at first.  However, I can say, an overwhelming wave of relief fell over me when I read that text message.  Because I know what cancer is now, and I know what it does when you least expect it.  I felt that same wave of relief when my mom's radiation was complete. 

This disease has changed my life, without ever having it myself. That's how powerful it is.  I think the word benign is just as powerful.  I love my aunt, after hearing that she's a-okay, when she may not have been, I love her that much more.  I can't wait until she's all healed up from her surgery so that we can celebrate life some more.  A 'benign' party is already in the works...

Miche

I was waiting at the bus stop yesterday after work and a woman standing next to me had a Miche bag.  I've never heard of them before but it was hard not to notice.  She had the one on the top right.  Here's a bigger picture

With all of the people that I've known to battle cancer, some who lost some who won, I'd really like to carry one.  Here's a little bit more about them:

"When you first see them, you will notice the designs for the various Hope Shells focus on actual quotes collected from many individuals who have been through the fight against cancer. When you purchase one, you will see a tag attached to your Hope Shell containing a picture and personalized quote by very special person who has fought and won their own personal battle against this disease. 

Project Hope is now in its second year, and Miche is committed to continuing donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every Hope Shell to cancer research facilities all across the country. The Miche Bag team is 100% committed to Project Hope. We invite you to join us in sharing the inspiring message Hope has to offer as we strive to give back and make a difference in the fight against cancer!"

Click here to purchase one

Go Nola 2011

Any interest in seeing what goes on in New Orleans during Crossroads' mission trip?  Check out this link for pictures...

Go New Orleans 2011

Trouble the Water

I know I said a few days ago that I would need distractions from New Orleans in the next couple of weeks.  Last night I watched a documentary on Katrina, yeah, not such a great distraction, but an amazing documentary none the less.

As much as I miss it there.  As much as Brian Girton's pictures of creole food at Jacques-Imo's makes my heart ache.  As much as seeing pictures of work sites, po boys at Mother's, Pastor Luter and FABC, makes me feel a little bit empty...  I'm happy to be reminded that I had the chance.  That I was there, that I made new friends, I made a woman smile who hadn't had the capability in years.  I danced to those brass bands, I wiped away tears, I saw a city who had so much hope after such tragedy.  Who hadn't given up, when their government had, 5 years later.  I'm reminded of the positivity that resonated everywhere I went.  This city was beaten down to an extent that you didn't even see in a documentary as raw as Trouble the Water, I wish I could make you feel the life they ignited in me.  I think that's what I miss, how alive, how happy, how positive, how amazing these people I came to help, ended up making me feel.  

However instead of making it drag me down, I'm going to remember that feeling I had in New Orleans and I'm going to remember what I told myself when I left there last year.  I will carry it on in my day to day.  I'm sad because I can't take a trip to Nola, they were sad because they lost everything they knew.  I will find peace in the fact that we still are making trips down south to love on people that need it the most.  I'll be sure to make the trip next year, to be a part of something way bigger than me...

.painted on the side of a home in the lower 9th.

Week 1 Photo Project

will be shot at....

 Here's the line up of events:

5:30 PM . Family Barnyard Fun Night

7 PM. . . . Children’s Pedal Tractor Pull – (Reg 6:45 PM)

7:30 PM. . Open Contest Horse Show (Reg. 7 PM.)

7:30 PM. . Truck and Tractor Pull

1) PRO FARM TRACTORS

2) HOT STREET DIESEL TRUCKS

3) OUTLAW DIESEL TRUCK

4) HOT FARM TRACTOR

5) STOCK II 4×4 TRUCK

8:30 PM… EARL’S GONE WILD—Blue Grass
(In Beauty Pageant Pavilion)

I'm excited!

My Sister's Keeper

I finished reading My Sister's Keeper last night by Jodi Picoult.  Aside from the fact that the book, in the end, was far more depressing than I thought possible, there was a line at the end that hit home.  It reads:

"You want your child to have more than you ever did.  You want to build a fire underneath her and watch her soar.  It's bigger than words."

I think I should be soaring by now, but everyone has a different pace.  I am working on this more than I could tell anyone.  I don't know if it's more for me now and personal satisfaction or if it's for the one person that has been trying to light that fire all along, my mom.

Feeling a little like this lately...

Hoping the rain passes over soon...

New Projects

I've always loved photography, which isn't new to anyone.   However, I don't do it enough.  I also only took a few classes in college to learn about it.  None of which were on a digital camera.  I know how amazing photos can be if you know what you're doing.  I believe I have an eye for it, but I know there is a TON of things to be learned about it.  I've thought about going back to school for it.  The thought of another 30k in student loans is less than appealing right now.  So I've decided that one big thing I'm missing is practice.  Each week I'm photographing something different.  It could be as simple as something in my home or a day trip to Rabbit Hash.  I also am going to do a self portrait once a week for a year to see the change time and circumstance bring.   I have several photography books that I saved from classes I took 10 years ago.  Those will be read from start to finish.  This post also serves as a word of warning to those I see and hang out with the most.  My camera and I might get on your nerves for the next 365 days.  Fair warning.

 First things first, I need a new flash...

New Orleans

The first group of folks have made it safely to New Orleans.  Facebook is torturous right now.  I am really wishing I was leaving on Saturday.  I'm more than bummed about it.  I love that place.  Love the people.  Love the feeling it brings to help such positive amazing people.  I can't say I'm not happy for the people that worked their butts off to raise the money to be able to go.  I'm just going to need a way to keep my head up for the next couple of weeks.  Distractions welcomed :)

 

Swimmers

Every month my closest friends and I have a ladies night.  Yesterday we started out during the day and spent the day at the pool with the kiddies.  I had a ball.  I was the world's most enthusiastic swimmer at the age of 8.  I don't know if that was the exact age but somewhere around there I had my very own set of gills.  It was fun to be at the pool with kids again.  

Baby Feet

I had a dream last night about baby feet.  It was really weird.  Wonder who has a set of baby feet growing in their belly and without knowing it yet.  I know it's not a possibility for me and last time I had a similar dream it was my cousin.  hmmm....

Pink Cowgirl Boots

no funnel cakes?

I've decided to combine my photography blog with this one.  There are way too many to keep up with and no need to have separate ones.  Tonight I went to the St. Thomas festival in Fort Thomas with the fam.  My uncle Greg was playing base guitar as part of the entertainment for the evening.  I decided that I need to take my camera with me more places because I get no practice behind it.


We drove past my grandma and grandpa's house on the way to the festival.  Okay so it's not a house anymore and neither of them are with us anymore.  The house burned down years after my grandmother passed away and my grandfather had moved out.  So now it's grass and I'd be lying if I said it weren't depressing to look at.  I also lied when I said it's grass, it's a garden and trees for the two houses that used to be it's neighbor.  My warmest memories were in that home.  Sucks that it's not there anymore.


Anyway so the festival.  I immediately see my aunt Judy.  She is my dad's mom's step-sister's daughter, yeah I know, figure that one out.  Either way I've been planning a family reunion with my dad's family and hers'.  She works for the church.  She's great.    


I really like family events like this because it reminds me of the good old days.  My grandmother was my favorite, she worked as a lunch lady at St. Thomas.  My cousin Beth and I heard a rumor that her picture was hanging in the lunch room so we had to go check it out.  This is what we found...

I remember going to the cafeteria with her sometimes, I felt pretty special that I got to go to a different school and hang out behind the concession line.  It was fun to see her picture hanging there so many years after she'd left.  


A fun night was had by all, just a couple more pics from the night...

Gypsies

I want to learn more about them.  I have this idea of what they're like and from my idea, I might want to be one or maybe I already am one.  I could be totally wrong though.  I'm going to start researching them, then I'll get back to you with my decision.

Bucket List -- Part Uno

So I searched for my bucket list last night to no avail.  So I'm going to need to create a new one.  The first things that pops in my head when I think of my lifetime bucket list is something pretty simple, I think.  It's sailing.  I have no idea why but I've always really wanted to go sailing.

 Okay maybe that boat is over doing it.  I'd settle for something like this or maybe even smaller. 

I just think it would be great to be in the open sea with nothing but the sun and wind on my back, well, a bathing suit too.  I already have boat shoes so I'm pretty much all set.  If you know anybody who knows anybody with a sail boat let me know.  I need to cross this one off my list!

The second one that jumps on and off of my bucket list is skydiving.  Okay I know it's crazy.  I've always been the one to say "I'm not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane."  But I have more than a few friends now who have done it and they all loved it (obviously none of their parachutes malfunctioned.)  So now it's kind of like sticking my tongue on the positive and negative terminals of a 9 volt battery when I was little.  I know it's gonna feel really weird and it gives me the heebie jeebies but I want to try it just to see what it feels like.  Just to see.  I'm currently negotiating with myself to officially put it on there.

doesn't it look kind of amazing??

Bucket List

I know I created a bucket list at the beginning of the year. I think it was more of a 2011 bucket list than a lifetime bucket list. I'd like to create both again. I'll have to find both of those tonight. Post them. Cross some things off.

Brene Brown

I have a new professor/author/nationally renowned speaker on my radar. Crossroads used a clip of one of her seminars to talk about courage and imperfection. She seems to speak about things I might be interested in. Her book The Gifts of Imperfection is now on my amazon wish list; I can't wait to read it.

This is her website: http://www.brenebrown.com/

We'll see

Friends with Benefits

Last night I went to see a pre-screening of the movie Friends with Benefits. I know I know romantic comedies are all the same, and you're right they are. Somehow I always end up getting sucked in, sometimes ending up disappointed and sometimes pleasantly surprised (call me a hopeless romantic, I won't deny it.) This time I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked this movie. It was a lot funnier than I thought it would be. More silly funny than anything. I'd wait until it comes out on DVD though, only because I only usually see highly anticipated movies or action movies in the theater.

Funny how women watch these movies and daydream about it happening to them. I can't say I'm not one of them from time to time. I think we lose sight of the little things though if we believe one day someone is going to set up a flash dance to earn our love. Whatever. Don't act like I spoiled the end, you know in the first 12 minutes of the movie how it's going to end. Real life doesn't happen exactly like the movies, but it could be something like them if you let it...

teacup update

I did a little research and found that tea cup pigs don't stay cute and cuddly.

They turn into these hairy beasts:

Soooo it's a no for a new pet idea.

sad story...

Late last week I was at my mom’s house working on a DVD of a recent vacation. My sister and I were laughing and acting ridiculous as usual; excited to go through our Mexican vacation pictures. My mom walked in the room and told us that our brother’s long time friend and best man in his wedding had committed suicide. I was shocked to say the least. I had met him several times. My brother would have house parties that he attended, always seemed like a really nice guy. I didn’t know anything about him however.

My first reaction to suicide is ‘what a selfish asshole.’ I’ve always thought that things can NOT be that bad that you take your own life and leave those who love you wondering what they did wrong. Could they have stopped you? Were they not enough? Why wouldn’t you just sell all your possessions and move to a beach of the coast of Mexico or Belize. Anything has to be better than death. I felt horrible for my brother but felt angry with his friend.

Friday after work I decided to pick up a bottle of my brother’s favorite whiskey and drop it off to him. My dad used to call whiskey his ‘medicine’ and I think my brother has followed in his footsteps on that one. Anyway my brother started to talk about his friend. About his background, upbringing, and how he’d been in the last 15 years they were friends.

He grew up in New York as an only child in a home without his father. His mother was never home; too busy with work. He had several failed relationships in his adult life because he absolutely didn’t want children. He had extreme highs where he was an amazing person to be around, but when he got depressed he was really depressed, he kind of went in his own little bubble and sulked. I understood this personality because I too have a friend with the same types of traits.

Over the long weekend I thought about it more and more. What would I do if I didn’t have my brother, sister, my mom, my step-dad, my step-mom, my father growing up, my cousins who are like my sisters, aunts and uncles that love me like their own. Where would I be? Who would I be? When life got tough and I didn’t have all of them as my backbone what would I do? I’m not in anyway condoning what my brother’s friend did. However, I can no longer judge it. Anyone I know and love is welcome in my family and my family of friends. I’ve always said the more the merrier. But when it’s not actually yours I get it. However there is a point when you should open your heart to people who are willing to love you to life. Life can get better, if you let it.