March 31, 2011

as if our minds aren't full enough already......

what's worse
going through life trying to find your passion
but
never finding it
or
knowing what you want
but
no matter how hard you try
never being able to accomplish it
*

March 30, 2011

so i've been told....

i'm not sure if i've lived a life prior to the one i'm living now
and
i'm not sure i will live a life after this one is over
but
i've been told
i have and that i will
all i know for sure
is that i wear my heart
openly
and
on my sleeve
~
honestly
there are days
that if i'm not careful
things and people
literally fall right into it
even though it feels so full already
and
i wonder if maybe they just didn't see it

so
after meeting this calf yesterday
i wondered if maybe
in a previous life
she wore her heart on her sleeve
too
and
decided this time
it was more prudent to wear it front and center
so you'd have to get past her
deep as the ocean eyes
and
not a chance in hell of a life preserver
before just falling in
~
after all
a heart can only take so much
*
can you even imagine the fields of cows surrounding me here in wisconsin.
can you even imagine my excitement when the only field i stopped at on my drive yesterday had a calf with a heart on her forehead. can you.
serendipity i tell you. sweet serendipity.

March 29, 2011

own it and then dance all over it....

Don't worry about your originality. You couldn’t get rid of it even if you wanted to. It will stick with you and show up for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can do.
-Robert Henri

March 28, 2011

she jumped right into my heart....


the basement was somewhat dark
and
she really just wanted to cheer her brother on during a mad game of ping pong
but
with the sunlight pouring in through the window next to the table
i asked her if i could please take her photo
and
because she's so sweet and loves her crazy aunt beth
she let me

the first photo i think is my favorite
but
this one pulled at my heart strings

once again
just like the cafe photos i posted a few days ago
these were all shot with my camera being set to monochrome
and
if you haven't guessed it by now
i'm pretty much falling head over heals in love with that option

this is the newest addition to my sister's family
and
she is beyond precious
and
if you've ever wondered when your shooting time is up
well
a face like this
is usually a pretty good sign
*

March 27, 2011

my view from the back....

on the way home from the cottage, he wanted to stop at culvers for lunch. we were so happy to have him with us, that we would have stopped pretty much anywhere for him.
~
he thought his double bacon cheeseburger deluxe was a thing of beauty
*

March 26, 2011

happy happy....

the sun is shining
pandora is playing
and
i'm no longer on yesterday's ledge
thanks to all of you
::
is anyone else completely addicted and in love with pandora
{edited for jill's comment below.....i mean the radio station}
or
is it just me
*
happy saturday

March 25, 2011

on the balance beam of life...

i don't think it's the wrong side of the bed. maybe more like the right side of funk.
lucky for me. my funks only last a few hours.
thank god for zinc lozenges. they cure everything in my book.
~
i thought by now based on last year's photos i'd be dancing in the streets. but no.
instead i'm inside cursing the cold and the fact that spring isn't strong enough to show up.
oh it kind of made a shy appearance a week or so ago. but it caved. and left.
what a chicken.
~
i woke up with my neck all twisty. i think that's what happens
when you mix stress with anger bits
and
then rim the top of the glass with silence instead of sugar.
at least i didn't wash it down with a temper tantrum chaser.
sometimes i do know when to stop.
~
i don't have any new photos to share which is making this camera addicted girl a bit edgy.
tell me i'm not alone when it comes to this.
tell me if you lived close you'd come over and talk me off the ledge.
~
i watched american idol last night. was it just me or did anyone else think
casey might vomit right there on stage.
i want to cut his hair and shave his beard off
with the ability to put it all back on if i like it better the old way.
~
i guess my whining worked. the sun just came out and poked me in the eye.
but
if he plays the "come and find me i'm behind a cloud now" game with me.
i'm gonna break his legs. and yes he does have legs.
haven't you seen that commercial
for the jimmy dean sausage biscuits where the whole solar system gets off balance
when they don't eat breakfast.
*
happy weekend
*
the photo is leftover from florida vacation
it makes me happy

March 24, 2011

it's just a truck...

but
the colors in it really made me smile
~
i wish i had more for all of you today
but
after all the comments yesterday
i have visions of
"duct taped so they don't fall into my armpits"
naked boobies
floating around in my head
~
thank you
all of you
for "confessing" yesterday
~
i love your honesty
and
it was so much fun to read your thoughts
*

March 23, 2011

i was topless on a beach once....

two little words
that can mean everything
~
i've noticed that on photo shoots with girls entering their senior year of high school
when they ask me what to do with their hands or their legs
i always say
"what feels comfortable?"
"just be yourself"
~
"be yourself"
reminds all of us
that we are who we are
and
that it's a waste of time trying to be anything other than that
~
being yourself
is something
nobody can take away
i've never had long hair
but
in the past few weeks
my hair has actually been long enough to pull back into a ponytail
~
now granted it's a ponytail that a real pony would be embarrassed to have
~a mutant ponytail of sorts~
but
a ponytail none the less

i have a dear sweet friend who is a spiritual counselor.
the very first day we met, she told me i had fairy wings. now granted, some people might have run away from a woman like that and never looked back, but i took that as a huge compliment. i've never asked her what having fairy wings actually means, but i believe it's something good. the other day i had my hair in a ponytail when i went to pick her up for lunch and she said with my hair like that, my fairy wings were even brighter than usual. when we sat down to eat, at a round table surrounded by windows, she said "i swear your fairy wings are just larger than life today and if i opened up this window next to me you'd fly away."
i also took that as a compliment
and
smiled

i was topless once
on a topless beach in aruba
~
now granted
i took my top off in an area where nobody else could see me
and
had my hubby take a few photos in case i ever had to prove what i had done
but
i was topless
~
i found this photo today
and
kind of guiltily fell in love with it
~
and
now i have to confess something
~
i want a photo of me
just like this one
~
i don't care what pier or dock i'm on
or
what state or country i'm in
~
all i know
is that i want a photo of me
just like this one
and
to be honest
it wouldn't get tucked away with the aruba photos
nope
a photo like this
i'd be really proud of
and
it would be framed with love
{if i could rip it out of my hubby's hands}
~
now
how about a confession
~
would you have your photo taken like this
or
am i the kind of woman you want to run away from now
thinking "sheesh, she's a crazy one for even asking me that question"

March 22, 2011

oh, they make me laugh...

they have eyes of milk chocolate
~
mine are hazel
they all have dark brown hair
~if you minus the grey that my hubby has~
~
mine is dirty blonde
they all wear contacts or glasses
~
i don't
i'm the shortest
and
we're all right handed
~
my daughter has my feet
but
got her intelligence from her dad
~
my son has his father's feet
but
got his inability to focus from me
and
{although he caught me and the video didn't end up being nearly long enough}
is all from me and not even a smidgen from his father
~
thankfully
my daughter got my dancing genes
too
~
she just won't let me get her on video
{she's too smart to end up on youtube}
*

March 21, 2011

at a neighborhood cafe...

i'm not sure when my fascination with strangers started
but
it's grown immensely over the past few years
and
i thank my camera for that
::
i talk to strangers often. just ask my hubby.
if he turns his head for a moment while we're out
let's say standing in line to buy movie tickets
it's pretty much a guarantee that i have already started a conversation with the people
behind us
by the time he turns to look at me again
saturday we took our daughter out for lunch
{cute isn't she}
to a cafe she hadn't been to and i couldn't help but snap a few photos
~
it's that warm kind of place
where i just have to believe that everyone who eats there
has a fascinating story behind them



these three girls were sweet
and
at one point the blonde in the window seat was laying on her back
soaking up the sun
because
it's that kind of a cafe
~
i asked if i could take their photo for the cafe series i was shooting
and
they said of course
{for those of you who lovingly leave your comments for me saying you could never take the stranger photos i take or even approach a stranger. all you have to do is ask}
when we were leaving
the street scene above
~even if my loved ones hadn't been in it~
jumped out me like something from a movie
~
it was a great saturday
and
there's even more photos to come
from later in the day
*
for fun and some unexplained reason, i shot all my photos on saturday in black and white. on my camera there are options for color and one of them is monochrome and to say i fell in love with this option is an understatement. the photos to me almost look like they are from a film camera and to not have to edit them is like a dream come true.

March 20, 2011

goodnight moon.....

i photographed a large part of my day
yesterday
just in black and white
~
kind of like a documentary
that included a teenage son
who wasn't always amused that the camera was in his face
~
i'll share more of my "monochrome" day later this week
::
they said the moon last night
was the closet it's been to us in many years
~
funny
it looked exactly the same to me
~
after the instructions in my photography class
went right over my head
~
my timing for the evening was a bit off
since we were out having a wonderful dinner
so
i didn't shoot this photo until about 9:30
~
i think it's pretty amazing
*
did you see the moon the last night
did you shoot it
too


March 18, 2011

walk with me ?

wednesday
was warm
so i grabbed my sweet friend diana
and
took her to the zoo
most of the animals were still inside
but
the flamingos entertained us
then i took her to one of my favorite new places to walk
most of the trails
were still snow covered
and
our feet got wet and muddy
but
at this time of year
mud doesn't bother me
~much~
the birds
filled the trees with song
and
didn't seem to mind at all that we stopped to listen

the brilliantly green watercress
danced on the riverbeds
for us
while the snow in the background reminded us
that technically
spring doesn't begin until sunday

shhhh
don't tell mother nature she gave us a gift by letting spring visit early
~she might take it back~
*
happy weekend


March 17, 2011

landing on my heart....

my friend adam
{who i met while working together with madison's help-portrait group}
just got back from ethiopia
and
when i saw his photos on facebook
i was mesmerized by many of them

i asked him if i could share them with you
and
he said
of course i could
then
since i didn't completely understand the reason for the trip
i asked
"so tell me why you and chrissy were there"
{while hoping i didn't sound too much like an idiot}
~
below is a bit of his story
and
if you have time
please look at the rest of his photos
~
you wont' be disappointed
Adam Jeske and his wife, Chrissy, traveled to Ethiopia with Wycliffe, an organization dedicated to providing Bible translation and literacy to people in every language. They visited several Wycliffe projects in Basketo, Kibre Mengist, Bahir Dar, and Addis Ababa, writing and photographing to tell the stories of what God is doing in and through people in the area. Adam and Chrissy saw great diversity in the Ethiopians they met, linguistically, culturally, economically, and also in geographically in the land itself. You can read more athttp://www.intothemud.com/ and the related Facebook page, and see more images being posted athttp://www.facebook.com/AdamJeskePhotography.