9 Months

I have learned to not like the 28th day of the month. I don't mean to do this conscientiously, but it is a new trait that I have acquired. It is as if I have an internal clock in my body that says 'Today is the 28th, be ready for some tears.'

9 months ago, I (and my family) was told heart wrenching news. I can tell you the details as if I had just lived it yesterday. It is a moment in time where I can say, 'that is when my life changed.' I will never be the same person I was before the news. I have been forever changed.

9 months ago today I was told my daddy has cancer. This 9 month journey has been a roller coaster of tears, laughter, hope, and miracles. Thankfully we have the hope of having many more years with him, and I cherish every moment I have with him.

                      

Friday Five

1.  Finished my part of a project that is due on Monday.  Unfortunately it is not completely finished because I have to meet at school tomorrow to put everyone's slides together and make it creative.

2.  Contemplating studying for my test Wednesday.  Yes, I probably should start the studying, I just can't seem to actually do it.

3.  I have to say I'm really proud of my last portrait for my 52 week project.  But I have to share this as well....

...my 'tripod'.  The funny this is, I really do have a real tripod, but this one is so much easier to set up and put together.
*To all the photo gals out there, it really does pay off to have too many shoes.  The boxes are great for tripod making!

4.  There is really bad tv on today.

5.  Maybe I'll go take some photos on the snow we just got yesterday.  And I thought spring was on its way...what was I thinking?

Have a fantastic friday!

8/52

7/52

Week 7 of 52.  We have finally seen signs of spring!  YAY!  On Thursday the high temperature was 71 degrees and it felt wonderful.  Because of the warmth, the snow melted and the plants started to bloom.  Here is a little bit of the weather transition we are in...

 

Love Week 4: My Family

"I believe in family, because without them it's hard to remember who I am." 

 ~ My Sister's Keeper by: Jodi Picoult

2009 at Dad's graduation from nursing school

I love my small, beautiful, faithful, strong family.

Love Week 3: I love Miss Abby and Friday Five

I love this big ball of fur named Abby.  It is amazing how much pets can enhance a person's life.  Abby was born on July 6, 2001.  We got her when she was 7 weeks old out in some po-dunk town in West Virginia.  I remember walking to the house and hearing dogs barking.  Turns out the dogs were Abby's mom, dad, aunt, and grandparents!  It was so cool getting to meet her 'birth family'.  When we got inside the house, the owner brought out all the puppies.  The first one she brought out was a buff colored pup (Abby) and she gave that puppy to me.  Dad got to hold a black one, mom held another buff colored one, and the owner had a white/buff one.  Our first dog was buff colored and we were wanting another dog similar to our old one so we had narrowed it down to the dog I was holding and the one mom was holding.  We let them run around the house and play.  The one I had been holding followed her sister around the entire time.  She was the follower, she was calm and she was a sweetheart.  Her face was a little scrunchy, her nose was speckled, and she had huge feet.  She stole our hearts.

On the long drive home she wouldn't lay in her basket.  She cried and cried and only stopped when I held her.  (Not my mom, dad was driving.)  Over the years, Abby has created different bonds with each person in our family.  Dad is not lovey dovey with her, but she knows deep down he does love her and will give her all the rub downs she wants.  Abby knows mom is the mom.  Mom will feed her when she is begging for food (which is all the time!), mom is the caretaker of the family and she is the caretaker of Abby.  Abby and I have a special bond.  It's not one I can really describe, but feel.  I guess it could be considered as a bond that sisters share.

These are the things I love about her:
-When she gets really excited, her stumpy tail will go around in circles.
-When she was a few months old, she stole one of my stuffed animals for herself.  I finally gave in and let her have it.  It is now her baby.
-At night she curls up in my lap and sleeps.
-I love it when she follows me around when I am getting ready in the morning.
-At the most random times, she will howl for no apparent reason.  It makes me laugh every.single.time.
-She is full of love.
-She is very much human.
-She allows me to take as many photos of her.  She even poses!
-Her reaction the the words 'car ride' is hilarious!  She goes crazy and absolutely loves them.
-She knows when something isn't right or normal.  For example, if someone is sick she will curl up with them and just be there for them.

____________________________________________________________

Friday Five:
1.  Study, Study, Study.  I have a test each week until spring break :( At least my teachers are allowing a one page information sheet!
2.  Watching A River Runs Through  It with dad again.  It is his favorite movie.
3.  I absolutely love the weather outside.  Yesterday it was 71 degrees!  Today it is a little bit chillier, but still nice.  Especially compared to our negative temperatures we were having earlier in the month.
4.  I really need to stop going to bed after 1AM....
5.  Did I mention study?!?

Love Week 2: I love my hobby

I love everything about photography.  I love the idea of capturing a moment in time and never allowing yourself to forget it.  I love the idea that you can share a special moment in your life with other people you care about.  For me, photography is the perfect way to express how I'm feeling at a particular time.  It has become a mood booster when I'm upset or sad.  It has become a mood enhancer when I am feeling gitty or happy.  Photography has become a love.  I am grateful that I picked up a camera one day when I was 12 and fell in love with this hobby.  And I love the fact that I share this hobby with my dad.

Photo taken by mom.  2007.  Mesa Verde, Colorado

Love Week 1: Happy Heart Day To You

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm going to dedicate this week to all things I love.  I found this quote today and thought it summed up what today means.  We get caught up on gifts and being with 'that one', and various materialistic things that we forget to just love someone for what he or she is.

12of12 February 2011

I started this project last month and had so much fun with it!  Here is the one for February:

01.   Abby getting ready to take a morning nap.

02.   February 2011

03.   Self portrait

04.   I am the “Diamond Girl”.  I sold the most retail in my Silpada team for the month of Decmeber.

05.   More pictures at Krug Park.  I was showcasing my hat I got for Christmas.

06.   ‘Good Morning!’

07.   Abby loves her ice cubes!

08.   My new camera strap.

09.   Banana Nut muffins.

10.   Goose spreading its wings at Krug Park.

11.   The snow is  s l o w l y  melting.

12.   I got my first valentine card this year from my friend Mallory!

Enjoy!

6/52

Friday Five

1. I had a great Silpada party this week! Also, I'm excited for the new supplement coming out in a week! Can't wait to see the new pieces!

2. Still waiting for my new camera strap to come in. I'm really hoping it will come in by tomorrow. I really want to put it in my 12of12 for February. And speaking of 12of12... I am so happy tomorrow is the 12th. I've been waiting to do February 12of12 since I did Januarys.

3. Got a spur of the moment babysitting job. Money, money, money!

4. Did some cleaning today. I really need to clean my room, I just don't spend much time in there so I often forget.

5. Currently watching a movie with mom and Abby. Charging my camera battery. Can't wait for tomorrow! I know I already said that :)

Happy Friday!

Randomness

I finally uploaded some photos from my camera to my computer so I apologize for all the random ramblings...

In case you didn't believe me when I said we got a lot of snow...we did!  This was in the Target parking lot during one of the first snowfalls we got...and I thought this was supposed to be a light winter?!

I've been taking a ton of photos of these tulips I bought last week.  I thought it would be fun to document how they change each day.  I only missed one day.  Luckily they hadn't really changed the from the day before.  More on that later....

The night before my birthday, my family and I went to Macaroni Grill.  We go there every year for my birthday since it's my favorite restaurant.  As we were paying for our food and getting ready to leave, mom had said, "Happy Birthday!" Our waitress overheard and she turned around and asked who's birthday it was.  I told her it was mine and she said, "wait a minute!"  A few seconds later she returned with this piece of cake.  She said they were out of chocolate so she got lemon.  How did she know that would have been my second choice anyway?!  For anyone wondering, this cake was phenomenal!  SO much better than the chocolate (and I like chocolate!), I would recommend it to anyone who likes lemon even just a little bit.

Can you tell we LOVED it?!  YUMMY!

Family photo at my 22nd birthday!

This was on my real birthday, on the 4th.  When I was little my dad used to get these ice cream clowns every year for my birthday.  (They had to be the green kind a.k.a. mint chocolate chip.)  Somewhere over the years the tradition got lost, but this year it made a comeback.  I know it may seem kind of funny or childish, especially for turning 22 years old, but it brought back such good memories of my childhood.  A time when things were much different than they are now (and I don't mean that because of the many years that have passed).  I am so glad I associate these ice cream clowns with my dad.  It is something I know I will never, ever forget and I hope we continue to tradition again!

The cake mom made and decorated for me the day after my birthday.  Enjoy!

How Many Numbers Do You Know?!

While trying to guess a security code on dad's old breifcase..
We were guessing for a while and weren't getting close.
Me: How many numbers are in the code? Four?
Dad: 3
Mom: 4! (she was guessing too.)
Me: Dad just said 3!
Dad: (Laughing)

A little later...we still weren't getting close even after dad told us the first number.
Me: Is it a number we know?
Dad: What number do you not know?! (More laughing.)

Good point.

In my defense, it was 1am when we were having this discussion and I meant if it was a number that is significant to our lives. In the end I ended up guessing the number!

Transition: 22

Today is my 22nd birthday.  In honor of my birthday, I'm going to take you down memory lane with a picture of me from each year.  It's funny because I live my life day to day, I have birthdays and I don't necessarily feel different or think I look much older.  But in truth, I am constantly changing.  Without really knowing it, I transitioned from a baby, to a little girl, to a young adult, to a woman.

Today is also Friday, so I feel inclined to do my Friday five post. Here we go...
1. IT IS MY BIRTHDAY! WOO-HOO!
2. I am having a hard time waiting on the arrival of my new camera strap.
3. I don't know why Abby has a new need to lay on my lap while I sit in the recliner in dad's room. She is making me hot!
4. I have enjoyed photography since I was in middle school and dad let me use our old A-1 Canon 35mm film camera, however, I have recently fallen even more in love with photography and I love that fact!
5. I got to eat 3 of my all time favorite foods. Left over Macaroni Grill from last night's celebration, potato casserole, and mint chocolate chip ice cream. YUM!!

New Look...Again

Yes, I changed my blog look again.  It's funny because I don't change my physical appearance very often, but this is the third look for my blog since January.  However, I think this one is going to last.  Hope you like it as much as I do!  And as the new blog title: Just Breathe, I felt it was fitting.  It is a phrase that has run though my mind a lot in the last year.  There are many things you can't change in life, but taking a deep breath can be so cleansing.

5/52 Week

February 1

I was really excited about today's self portrait.  Tulips are my favorite flower and I knew this composition would be really fun.  It's flirty and I like it!

In other news, I have my first follower!  YAY!  I told my friend about my blog and the photo projects I've started and she just started her own blog so she can post her projects as well.  I'm really excited about this and hope we can keep in touch a little better :)