Thursday, December 23, 2010

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!!"

This week I have really been feeling the Christmas spirit. I only worked Monday and Tuesday, and don't officially go back until January 3rd. (although I might go in a day next week because I fear I will get bored) Yesterday I FINALLY finished our Christmas shopping, and have been wrapping presents, cleaning, cooking, and loving every minute of it!! Today Jameson is also off work, and we are super stoked about having a 'quiet' day together...although I'm sure we will spend most of it wrapping presents, doing laundry, cleaning the house, and other preparatory things to ready ourselves for being out of town. We have a very busy Christmas ahead of us, one filled with lots of driving and party hopping, so we plan to enjoy every minute of our day today; a day of peace and alone time before all the family festivities. We are however, quite looking forward to being with our families over the next few days...it should be a great Christmas!!! :)

As promised, I wanted to share a few of the pictures from the ''learning experience'' roll of film that I took a few weeks ago. I plan to practice my photography skills over the Christmas break. Although after looking at these pictures, you'll realize I probably shouldn't call them 'skills'.
To start, are pictures from Hatcher's first birthday party. Hatcher is the son of one of my best and oldest friends Stephanie and her husband Andy. It was such a fun night; the Fuquas are wonderful hosts and Jameson and I thoroughly enjoyed spending the evening with their family and our close friends. Too bad the pictures don't reflect that. 

Hatcher's Birthday Cake....half of it
Meda and the birthday boy...can you tell she has baby fever??

Stephanie's gorgeous table arrangement...a little dark!


Next are pictures from Laurel's Christmas party! Laurel can throw one mean party, we all had a grand time!! Our group of friends isn't able to get together very often, and thus I took numerous pictures that night, probably to the point of being annoying...sorry friends. So I was totally heartbroken when the didn't turn out!!


Laurel and Brooke cracking up....sadly you can only see Brooke.

Beautiful Meda....a little over exposed :(
Good friends in a good hug!! Too bad it's a little over exposed too!!

The following picture of mine and Jameson's Christmas tree turned out OK, but not great, and it looks like it's a photo from the late seventies. Weird!!

Hopefully I'll have better luck with my next roll; maybe I can figure this camera out well enough to help me capture all our upcoming Christmas fun! I'm not holding my breath though...

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Congrats!!

This post is a little belated, but CONGRATULATIONS to my brother-in-law Robert who graduated from Austin Peay University on Friday! He graduated cum laude with a major in English and minor in education. So awesome!!
Robert's feat is especially awesome considering all he and my sister Laura have been juggling while both finishing their education. Laura started nursing school in 2006, Sadie was born in 2007, Robert started taking classes in 2007 while still working full-time, Laura graduated in 2008 and began working full-time allowing Robert to increase his case load, then Robert graduated Friday! YAY!!
I can't imagine having a newborn turned toddler while being in school...I had enough issues getting myself up and ready everyday, not to mention being responsible for a miniature human.
SO major Kudos to Robert and the Reid family!!     Love you guys!!



Thursday, December 16, 2010

My hobby

I have always enjoyed taking pictures; I love being able to capture's life's moments in a way that preserves the memory forever. Have you ever looked at an old photograph and found yourself immediately transported back to that moment in time? Being able to recall specific emotions related to the photo? Remembering little details that would've otherwise been forgotten? For me, that is the essence of photography, and the reason I am so drawn to it. I often view daily mundane events through the eyes of a camera; how can I capture this memory in a way that portrays its emotion and guts? How can I make a split second slice of life tell a full story? This may seem cheesy, but it's how my brain works.
My mother is the reason for my interest in photography; she too loves to take pictures and thus I had a camera in my face for most of my childhood. At times I thought it was annoying...always having to wait for Mom to get her camera before I could blow out my birthday candles, or suffering through countless Christmas morning shots...when it was really too early for that much smiling. But I now I get it...and I'm proud to say that I will probably be just like her...if not a little worse.
All the cameras I've had up to this point have been digital point and shoot cameras; perfect compact size made for easy transport, with quick, thoughtless mechanisms. Literally point at your subject and snap the picture, easy as pie. These cameras were great for my college lifestyle, I could throw it in my purse and take a hundred pictures or more without a thought. But I always knew my goal was to someday master a REAL camera. And that day has finally arrived!!
In the late seventies my Mother got a Canon AE-1 camera; state of the art for its time. She used it till the early 2000s or so, when she switched to the easier and more efficient digital model. My siblings and I loved this old camera, and all expressed to my Mother our desires to own it (at different times). My sweet Mom, who does not have the best memory, apparently told each of us that we could have it....not remembering that she had already promised it to the other sibling. She is hilarious. So a few months back she put all three names in a hat to decide who would get the camera, and sadly (for me) my sister's name was drawn. I was heartbroken!!!!
But my dear, sweet, wonderful, beautiful, and giving sister (did I use enough positive adjectives there??), decided to let me use it for a while. Little did she know, she pretty much made my year, no joke. Well besides the whole getting married thing...that was pretty cool too.
Canon AE-1 similar to my Mom's

I have been beside myself with excitement! My underutilized love for photography finally has an avenue for growth. I'm trying to immerse myself with information about this art; I want to learn how to turn the images I see in my head into tangible photographs. How to manipulate the numerous mechanisms of this complicated camera to capture memories. May sound reallly boring to some, but to me it's intriguing, challenging, and super, duper exciting!!
I have already finished two rolls of film...and sadly both turned out to be learning lessons of what NOT to do. I had plans to share some pictures with this post, but I was a little long-winded (as you can tell...I didn't mean for this post to be so long), and now it's 11pm....which is way past my bedtime. Check back this weekend, as I'll share my initial successes, well mainly failures, of this journey.

And lastly....... SUPER thanks to my sister for sharing the camera and allowing me to fulfill this goal. You are the best. Love, love, love you!

Guilty Pleasure

Oh how I've missed blogging!! Jameson and I have had a very busy week or so, and I haven't found a spare second to indulge myself in this new little hobby that I love.
Well actually last night I had a lot of seconds...Jameson got called into work, which means I had the house to myself; a perfect time for blogging. But I instead did the dishes (a not fun alternative to blogging) and watched the Sing-Off. Has anybody else been watching this show?? I LOVE it!!
I was glued to the TV for two hours, the volume turned up to 46 (sometimes 50, especially during the Fleetwood Mac song), singing and dancing to every song. I mean I was rocking out; snapping my fingers, clapping, laughing (Ben Folds is hilarious!), dancing around in my seat, trying my best to hit the harmonies, and pretending I could hit the low notes. It was a blast, to say the least.

When Jameson got home he asked....."How was your show?"
"It was enjoyable" was my only response. I didn't divulge to him how I shamelessly made myself a part of the show and turned our living room into a stage. I didn't tell him that I used the remote as a microphone and cried at the end of the show.
That might have been too much for him, considering he unexpectedly had to spend his evening at work.

Maybe he'll get called in again Monday night so I can enjoy the finale in peace and quiet...

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Fullfilling a childhood dream

Today the agency I work for is participating in a community outreach event called Project Homeless Connect. Some of my co-workers and I have volunteered to work this event, and I'm suuuper excited! My shift starts at noon and I'm counting down the hours. I'm not a huge fan of the time I spend everyday commuting to and from work, but events like this make it all worth it.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the homeless population, as I'm sure a lot of people do. My family and I lived in northern Virginia for some of my elementary years, and school field trips almost always involved seeing the sites in Washington D.C. (Looking back, I wish I had realized how lucky I was to live so close to such a historic city). I have memories of sitting on the school bus as we drove around the city, looking out the window, and noticing the large amounts of people that made the streets their home. Even though I was young, and probably not fully aware of what emotions I was experiencing, I can honestly remember being heartbroken for these people, and even crying. My little imagination, and boy did I have an exaggerated imagination, thought up this elaborate plan to provide aid to the homeless. My strategy was to have my Mom make hundreds of raccoon blankets and attach plastic tarps to one side, allowing it to provide warmth and shelter from the rain and snow. What is a raccoon blanket you ask?? It was a quilt my Mom made for me before I was born, and brought me home from the hospital wrapped in its warmth. When older, I coined it 'my raccoon blanket', due to it having little baby raccoons on it along with other forest creatures, but for some reason I fixated on the raccoon. I loved this blanket, (still do, it's on my bed as we speak) and wanted so badly to be able to share its warmth and comfort with others.

Sadly, my plan never came to fruition, but I know my 6 year old self would be happy to know that I'm helping the homeless today. I may not be able to give them each a raccoon blanket, but maybe a smile will suffice.

Friday, December 3, 2010

This weekend my lovely sister Laura, and one of my best friends Laurel, will be participating in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. I'm so proud of these ladies I can barely stand it. This will not be the first half marathon for Laurel (she's really into this kind of thing), but it will be Laura's first venture. They have both been training hard, and I'm sure they will each perform beautifully. Well...actually I bet they won't feel so beautiful after running 13 miles, or at least I wouldn't.
Running is not my cup of tea. I'm not sure if the italics I used to emphasize "not" truly portray the way I feel about this activity. It makes my hips ache, knees hurt, ankles feel wobbly, chest feel tight and nose burn . Not to mention I can't breathe. In high school we were required to run a mile, four laps around the field, before each soccer practice. Fellow teammates would file in at varying times, each starting their mile at their own convenience. My friend Kitzie and I would maybe run a half  mile, some days just one lap, then sneakily join the other girls that were finished, faining exhaustion as though we too had completed our mile. How pathetic.....and genius at the same time. Kit- my memory could be failing me, if you weren't my accomplice to this laziness, then I apologize.
My disdain for the sport of running spawns my deep appreciation for what these girls are doing tomorrow! What drive, ambition, mental and physical stamina they have! I'm uber impressed and very proud of you both!!

Laura Beth and Laurel Beth- knock'em dead tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Sunshine

Oh how blessed to feel the warmth of the sun again today.
I usually don't experience a change in affect when there is a change in the weather, but the last few cloudy, rainy days have been tough to handle.
My co-worker Katie returned to work today after an number of days off, and I told her she must have brought the sunshine back into my life. She was amused by this...and probably slightly creeped out.
I will never again allow her to take a day off work, even though I'm not her boss, I will find a way to keep her here. Muuuuuhahaha. Sorry Katie.


Hope everyone is enjoying the sun today!!