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

*

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.

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

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

*

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

*

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

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

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

*

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

over here

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"

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

this talent

{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}

*

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.

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

~

i googled how to shoot the moon

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

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

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.