I love photography!

If you know me, you know I love photography and being a photographer! One day, when I grow up, I want to do it for a living :) Well, right now I'm really fired up because, this year, I get to attend my first ever Photoshop World conference.

This conference is 3 days of workshops, networking, learning and, let's get real, hanging out in Vegas! I've been trying to get to this thing for 3 years now, and this year I get to be there, learning from and meeting people I've admired for a long time.

I know I'll get back home with a brain full of knowledge I'll have to work through, but I'm willing to have a headache from all the knowledge.

My photography skills are good, my editing skills are good, but after this conference those skills will be so much more enhanced. And, I'll also be learning some new graphic design skills that will be used in my day job.

This training is going to be awesome and so much fun. I'm ready to jump on a plane today!

These dreams...

Why do we dream? And even knowing why we dream, I still have to wonder why we dream what we do? 

As long as I can remember, I've dreamed very vivid dreams. Some good, some not, but always vivid and usually very memorable. Usually, my dreams are also varied with more good or strange than bad, but lately I've been dreaming, what I'd consider, bad dreams.

The last few weeks, the dreams have been about my children and harm befalling them. Why am I dreaming this way? I love my boys with all my heart and these dreams have me waking up crying, sweating, and with a rapid heartbeat. What the heck is up with that?

Because none of my dreams have ever come true, I am not one of those who believes that dreams are a portent of the future. I do, however, wonder if dreams are a way for your brain to work through everything you're thinking and feeling.

I've been thinking about my boys a lot, and like most mothers, I worry about them. They are both out of the house now, and kind of on their own. I want them to be successful and independent, but there's always going to be that part of me that worries and I think, perhaps, my dreams are mirroring my worry (albeit in rather odd ways).

I guess the only way to dream happier things about my children is to have faith that I've done the best I can to raise them to be the men I've always hoped they'd be. I hope they know how much they mean to me and that I want them to be happy and successful, even if I don't say it every minute of every day.

Hug your kids, tell them you love them, raise them with good morals and manners, and then when the time is right, let them go to spread their wings! And, remember to value every moment and be in that moment because, before you know it, they will be grown and things will be different. Just remember that they still love you! (that last bit is as much for me as for you!)

Zumba: Love it or hate it?

Let me just put this out there right away. I HATE EXERCISE! Whew, okay, now that it's off my chest, let's talk about Zumba.

My workplace has an employee wellness committee and one of the offerings is a twice weekly Zumba class. At first, I wasn't interested AT ALL. Like I said, I hate exercises. But, as time went on, and my waistline continued to grow, the dreaded exercise became something I had to do.

It's been several months now, and if I'm totally honest, the Zumba thing has grown on me. In fact, it's grown on me so much that when I hear a song that we use in class, I can envision the routine in my head. If I'm not careful, I will do the moves, even if I'm in public. Yes, I've gotten a few looks.

In addition, I can't help myself, but when I hear other songs I listen for the beat and try to figure out if I could do our Zumba moves to those songs. And, you know what, you totally can! Even country music, which I love, has the right beats to do some of the Zumba moves.

So, next time you see someone just break out in dance - first, it might be me, and second, maybe they are subconsciously exercising. Just keep walking and wish them well :)

Patriotic to a fault

Never let be said of me that I'm not patriotic. In fact, I may be patriotic to a fault.

I come from a long line of military Veterans, and I've always said that I bleed red, white and blue and every day that feeling gets stronger. I still cry every time I hear the national anthem, I was thanking Veterans for their service before it was the "thing" to do, and although I'm a photographer, you'll not find me taking photos during the National Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance.

Why do I tell you this? Well, when I say I'm patriotic to a fault, I mean I can get really irritated when I feel that someone is disrespecting our nation and our flag.

For instance, we have A LOT of American flags around here, and while I love to se Old Glory waving, I get so upset when she's ragged and flying. I just think that, if a business or homeowner wants to fly her, they should have enough pride to retire their flag when it gets torn and/or faded.

It also bugs me to see photographers using the flag as "prop". Don't get me wrong, if it's a little flag on a stick, I have no problem with that at all. It's when the flag is wrapped around someone like a blanket, or touching the ground, or (and this one REALLY pisses me off) tied around a child's neck like a cape and then "flying" behind the running child. To me, that's REALLY disrespectful.

That flag symbolizes, for me, a pride I can't always put into words, but I know when I see it that I'm home and that, no matter what I may feel at certain moments, I live in the greatest country I know!

Hump Daaay!

It's not very often that I admit to liking commercials. I grew up in the military and, as most anyone can tell you, commercials on the Armed Forces Network (AFN) were, well let's just say they were memorable but it's not necessarily a good thing :)

Then there are commercials you remember because you really like them. For me, it's a recent GEICO commercial. I generally hate the phrase "Hump Day", but thanks to GEICO it has certainly grown on me. If you've not seen this commercial, you're (in my opinion) missing out on a chance to smile! Take a look: GEICO "Happier than a camel on hump day"

There have been other commercials in my life that have stuck with me. Those that made me cry, like the Budweiser 9/11 tribute, or heck, any Budweiser commerical with the Clydesdales can make me stop what I'm doing and watch a commercial. There are those that make me laugh or smile like any of the Old Spice Guy commercials, but this one in particular Your man could smell like me, or anything with little kids, but this Darth Vader Volkswagen one is pretty cute. Then, we could really go old school with the Budweiser "Whass Up?" commercials.

Basically, commercials are part of life, and if the marketing/advertising people get it right, we'll be talking about some commercials for the rest of our lives! So, Guess what day it is. Guess what day it is! It's Hump Daaaaay!

How is it possible to feel this way?

There are people everywhere, co-workers, family, friends... so how is it possible to feel isolated and lonely?

Perhaps it's not about the number of people one has around them, but the quality of those relationships. Maybe there isn't anyone like me, anywhere, and maybe that's not a bad thing sometimes, but sometimes people just need to know they matter.

Don't take people for granted. If they are important to you, make the effort to let them know that because, one day, they might not be in your life at all. If that's ok with you, you are probably in a good place. If it's not, reach out before those you are ignoring simply stop caring about you. 

Embrace each moment

I spent this past weekend with a friend I hadn't seen in a LONG time. Saturday morning, we were supposed to get up early and photograph the sunrise, over the beach, in St. Augustine.

I LOVE photographing sunrises (well, to be honest, I love to photograph almost anything!) and I had every intention of getting up early and getting the perfect shot, but that darn alarm let me turn it off and it didn't kick me out of bed! So I overslept and missed a BEAUTIFUL sunrise.

When we did finally get going, I said "well, there will be another sunrise tomorrow" and my friend said something like "hopefully" and I thought nothing of it at the time.

Then I remembered that Kidd Kraddick, a much loved radio DJ and philanthropist had died the day before, very unexpectedly and at a very young age and I thought, what if I'm not promised another sunrise tomorrow?

No one is guaranteed a future, we are only guaranteed a present. We need to embrace each and every moment we're given and live for the moment! Tell your loved ones how much you love them, let people know how you feel and leave nothing unsaid!

Friendship and Diversity

I'm a military brat, and damn proud of it. Growing up, in that way of life, is something I will never regret and something I never take for granted. I've been places others will never get the chance to go and done things others will never get the chance to do.

I also learned to make friends quickly, but at the same time, you subconsciously hold those people at a distance without even thinking of it. I mean, why put yourself in a position to have your heart broken every three years (or more) when it's time for someone to move? Well, as I've gotten older, and been out of the military lifestyle longer and longer, I hold my friends closer and closer, perhaps because it becomes harder to make them?

I had the opportunity, this week, to attend some training in Florida. I never intended to make friends, that wasn't the purpose of my visit, but perhaps it's second nature to me, and I found it difficult to not bond with some of my classmates.

Here you have 22 women, all thrown together in one class for a week, away from home, and talking about some controversial things. With 22 different opinions, backgrounds, nationalities, histories, etc. it seemed like a recipe for a giant mess. However, over the course of the week, I found myself bonding with some of these remarkable women and making friends. We had a common goal - to understand diversity in the workplace and to work to make our workplaces an enjoyable and fair place for all to come work. Simple? Not quite!

I, like many of my classmates, had some serious frustration this week, with both people and the subject matter. My frustration with certain people came from not understanding where they were coming from, not knowing their history, their abilities, etc. What I found was that, yes we're all different, but we all struggle and, while I didn't plan on making friends or becoming attached to anyone this week, it was hard for me to say goodbye to some of my new friends. I plan to stay connected with some of them, but even if those plans fall apart, those women left footprints on my heart and I will never forget them.

My hope is that they all go forward and enjoy success in their lives and their careers, and that perhaps one day, we'll meet up again, because they were all truly remarkable!