City Girl, Country Girl

I have been blessed with two beautiful, sweet, loving and very unique nieces. One loves all things "girly" (jewelry, all things purple and pink, glitter, flowers, ect) and the other loves all things, well, "country" (horses, cowboys/rednecks, jacked up trucks, getting dirty, etc). They always know how to make me laugh. They remind me to be silly and let my troubles roll off my back. They remind me that it wasn't THAT long ago that I was their age; boy-crazy and ready to conquer the world. It's amazing, watching them grow and mature with each passing year. I am proud to be their Aunt, friend and #1 fan.

My girly girl, Devin, turned 17 in February. While visiting her in her big city surroundings recently, I had the privilege of seeing her all "dolled-up" for a dance. She was proud to show off her beautiful orange dress and sparkly necklace. Of course I grabbed my camera and captured a few photos.






After spending time watching Miss D twirling in her dress, I was inspired to come home and capture my "redneck" girl, Cheyanne, in her country surroundings. Cheyanne, who is 16, would rather show off her favorite pair of jeans, cowboy boots, plaid button-down shirt and straw hat.





To all you Aunts reading this, go hug your nieces/nephews today or give them a phone call and remind them of how much you love them, especially if they are teenagers. These girls are reminding me just how hard the teen years are.

A Little Bit of This...and That.

It's been a while since I have posted. Between working full time, taking three online classes, working a part time job, doing photography and maintaining my household, blogging has fallen through the cracks. I don't have a lot to share tonight but I wanted to update with a few random pictures taken over the past couple of weeks. Here ya go...


My "baby" turned 1 at the end of February. I can't believe how quickly the year has flown by. She's such a big girl now - weighing in at almost 80 pounds! She loves playing in water so much that for her birthday we bought her a "kiddie pool" to play in.
















In honor of Springs arrival, my preschoolers and I learned all about rainbows. Each week I try to incorporate a cooking project that introduces new and healthy foods. I was inspired by all the beautiful colors of the fruit in my grocery stores produce section that I decided "Fruit Rainbows" would be a fun activity. The children enjoyed using plastic butter knives to slice their fruit and create their very own rainbows. The highlight of the activity: watching their faces as they tasted fruits like Papaya, Mango, Lemon, and Star fruit.





Photographs, just like paintings, speak to their viewers. I know the circumstances behind his photograph, the true story. You, my viewers, do not. Tell me, and speak honestly, what does this photograph say to you?




Our heating/AC unit died two weeks ago. We have had crazy weather lately, jumping from mid 80's to below freezing. One night my house is too hot, the next night we all freeze. The part has arrived (and it was NOT cheap), the repairman has not. This is what happens when you agree to hire a friend who is a professional but does jobs on the side for less than the company he works for charges. We wanted to save money but I didn't realize it would be at the expense of my SANITY. This photo sums up how I feel about the whole situation. (Okay, I have to admit that I do feel guilty and like a bad person for feeling aggravated about this. I should be thankful that I have a roof over my head and a safe place to sleep. I AM thankful and I do know that I am blessed in this life but if I can't whine in this blog then what's the point in having it? It's supposed to be about my thoughts and feelings right? The good, the bad and the ugly.)







This is my "brother", Sam-bo. He is my Dad's dog. I am forever in debt to this guy - he has been able to provide friendship, support, and love to my father better than any one else during the grieving process after loosing my mother, two of his brothers and one of his best friends all within a period of 5 months. This all took place almost 2 years ago but in many ways the pain is still as sharp as it would be if it had just happened yesterday. "Bo-Bo", as I loving call him, is one of my heroes. I captured these photos one afternoon while Dad was out on a fishing trip. (He is a hobbyist Bass fisherman - and a pretty darn good one too!) I plan to have them printed and framed as a surprise for daddy. I know he will love them. :)

Yet Another Video for My Educational Technologies Class

So, as most of you know, I am a bit of an over achiever. On top of working full time at a preschool, part time at a group home, and starting my own photography business,I am taking 3 college courses this semester. One of those courses is "Educational Technologies". I must admit that this class sounded a lot more fun than it is turning out to be. Unfortunately, it's geared toward the population that has very little or no digital technologies experience. The assignments, thus far, have not challenged me very much but I have been enjoying them none-the-less. Here is a little video I needed to create for class. Seeing as it's St. Patrick's Day - I went with a "Leprechaun" theme.

*All students involved are displayed with parental permission.

Under Construction

Due to several issues with my template, my blog is all "outta whack". I promise to have these issues cleared up within a couple of days. Until them, just ignore the chaos and keep on reading. :)

Ten on Ten: Photo Project

I am a fan of blogs. There are several I follow on a daily and weekly basis. One of my absolute favorites is Ashley Ann Photography: Under The Sycamore. I check it on a daily basis and have gained inspiration, knowledge and personal strength from her posts. This week she posted about a fellow bloggers photo project titled "Ten on Ten". (A Bit Of Sunshine) I was intrigued by the challenge and decided that this was something I couldn't pass up. The idea is that on the tenth of each month you take one photo every hour for ten hours. So here is my first "Ten on Ten" post. Enjoy - and feel free to comment. I love hearing from my friends and readers.

My Big Sis is 40!

I know she doesn't look it, but I promise you she really is 40. (I have no idea how she manages to look younger with each passing year. I guess she just lucked out in the gene pool.) In honor of her big day, she threw a slumber party that was better than any you have ever been to. We had tons of food, great cocktails, a Wii dance-off, Playstation 2 Karaoke, board games and lots and lots of silliness. The house was filled with girlish giggling and fits of laughter. A great time was had by all and it was an honor to be a part of her special day. I love you sis!

Here are a few pictures of our fun-filled evening...


Remember that post about our trip to Gatlinburg, TN and the Moonshine distillery we visited? Well, we put that Moonshine to good use.












The birthday girl singing along to some random 80's song.









"Girls just want to have fu-un!"








On a whole other topic: I stopped by my Mother and Grandmother's graves before heading to Charlotte for my sister's big day. I wanted to check on the state of their floral arrangments. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this little beauty. Thanks Mom and Nanny, I hear you loud and clear. (And to think that this was on February 25th!)

Yet Another Post for Educational Technologies Class

Hi friends! It's 7:20am on Friday March 4th and I had to do yet another post for my educational technologies class. Please don't feel like any of you have to watch this video - it's nothing interesting (unless you think seeing me fresh faced, wet hair, with a stuffy nose and rough voice is interesting...but trust me, it's not).

Here you go Mr. Hipps.

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