this is what I've been working on...

have any of you heard about

help-portrait

~~

it's in almost every community worldwide

and

it's happening saturday

december 12th

~~

our group here in madison started out with 2 interested people

and

a few ideas

~~

we now have 5 photographers

and

~I'm ecstatic and scared and nervous to be one of them~

a studio

agencies that are sending families to us

lots of equipment

and

many volunteers

but

most of all

we have some really big hearts

giving their time and attention

to complete strangers

this holiday season

in order to make their lives just a little bit brighter

and

their smiles just a little bit bigger

*

it's not too late to check out the help-portrait program

in your community

~~

there can never be too many people opening their hearts

for such an amazing program

~~

below is the first video I ever saw in regards to this movement

and

boy

did it ever move me

~~

I hope you have the time to watch it

and

maybe even the video above

highlighted in the december 12th date

*

why I love art...

the sights

the ideas

the smells

the thoughts

the hands

the creativity

the vision

{and yes misty he was using magazine pages to lift his paint}

the artist

two posts in one day...now I really am crazy...

a dried up paper lantern

~

who knew the beauty could be there

long after the color that made her blush

faded away

~~

who knew that an early december walk

before the snow arrived last night

would provide me with such a gift

~~

I guess I knew all along

~~

maybe

because I'm always looking

~~

it's amazing to me

what a camera in your hands

can do to your heart

*

here's a few more I just had to share...

seriously

doesn't it look like he wants to charge me

and

then use that petrified piece of tree limb

he scratches himself on

and

club me to death

or

at least poke out an eye or two

?

am I a little crazy

thinking I can actually get past these bulls

someday

in order to get inside

what's left of this amazing stone house

yes

~

maybe a lot crazy

*

it started out as a simple lonely leaf...

and

who knows

maybe now

it will be responsible

for a line of greeting cards

or

post cards

or

framed

and

hung on my wall

or

maybe your wall

all I know for sure

is that these are so much fun to make

*

NOTES

~~

did you know about the "gift of jewels" that se'lah is hosting

~

an entire week of give-aways

well

today she is showing what I am giving away to a lucky winner

so hustle your little booty over there and leave a comment if you want to win

a piece of my art

~~

and

of course while you're there

check out the other artists and their gifts

~~

remember mark

well he has another blog that needed a little tender loving care

so I made him a man banner for it

and

now it's ready for visitors

so

whenever you get a chance

stop over and give him some more loving

*

me...trespassing~him...bullheaded

my love for old and abandoned

grows daily

and

this past weekend filled me up again

~~

while out shooting this weekend

avoiding areas where dots of orange were also shooting

~darn hunters~

we came across this

~~

stone walls

~that once made a home~

still standing

still beautiful

still determined to survive

even though

the love and the laughter are gone

it now stands tall at the end of a working farm

~~

and

what appeared to be a house

was also next to it

~

abandoned

~we think~

we were going to knock on the front door and ask if we could take photos

but

we couldn't figure out what boarded up area could possibly be an entrance

to the dilapidated house

~even though the mailbox in front looked brand new~

~~

so we took our chances

me with my zoom lens

and

my hubby behind the wheel of our get-away car

just in case

~~

the only one bothered by our presence

was

the bull above

who refused to move

and

who forced me to play a game of

"who's going to blink first"

~~

he won

~~

and

yes

I'll be going back

once I talk to some of the homeowners down the road

to learn a bit more about

the love that once lived here

*

wouldn't senior and family photos be fabulous here

?

the reason why...

do you ever wonder about the names of the blogs you read

?

well today is the day

that many of us will be answering that question for you

~~

when I first started this blog

~more doors~

represented all the moves that I had made

and

all the homes I had lived in

over the past 25 years

~~

it represented my past

and

lit a path for my future

and

it still does both of those things

perfectly

~~

but

then one day

I came across the quote

~be yourself...everyone else is taken~

and

I was like a teenager falling in love all over again

~~

I guess it was due to the fact that for years I had been trying to figure out who I was

based on what others thought of me

while

secretly wishing that I was more like anyone else besides myself

and

the fact

that I had dressed or acted like girls or women I knew

in hopes of winning the approval of others

and

liking myself better

~~

so as a reminder to myself

and

hopefully to many of you

~be yourself~

seemed to be the perfect way for me to start each and everyday

~~

and

it is

~~

especially on those days when you wake up questioning

who it is that's actually looking back at you in the mirror

while you wipe the sleep out of your eyes

again

and

you're still not convinced

that she's the person you want to spend the rest of the day with

~~

just remember she is

and

she's perfect just the way she is

*

many of you asked about seeing the new blog banner

that I would be making for vicky

well

here it is

*