Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Three Sleepers

I called my mom and dad this morning to tell them that yesterday, as I was cutting his hair, Liam all of a sudden asked:

“Mommy, when are we going to Macon?”

"I don’t know, why baby?”

“Because I haven’t seen Bubby and Poppi in a while and I think we need to see them.”

I love this picture of the three of them at a Circuit Assembly. Mom and Dad were exhausted from driving back to Georgia from a funeral in Alabama. They look so sweet together.

Sister

We don’t get to see each other as much anymore, especially considering we used to live together. There are times that I don’t feel very close to her anymore. After a lifetime of seesawing back and forth being friends and enemies, it took forever to strike a balance. We are currently planning a weekend away coming up soon for some much needed alone time.

I recently called her upset at how I still don’t feel comfortable around my friends up here like I feel I should after two years. She comforted me as she knew exactly how I feel just like I knew she would. She’s good like that but she is also very good at “slapping” sense into me and helping me see things from a different perspective. Let’s just say there are times I do NOT call her because I prefer wallowing in my misery for a bit. :)


Monday, May 26, 2008

Just for you Mom

Taking a break from an INCREDIBLY lazy Memorial Day weekend to post some pictures of Liam and his "little sister" just for Mom.
The whole story behind Milo is that Spencer and I have been wanting to get a pet for some time but could not decide what to get because Spencer did NOT want to get a dog. Well after many vetoes on other pets that just weren't practical, we finally decided a dog would be okay if we got the right size (it helped that Mom and Dad were paying the startup vet costs for us as a gift to Liam).

Enter Milo into our lives and pure chaos has ensued. She is the sweetest thing and really very good but I always seem to get dogs at the most inopportune times (like the week before I give birth...SARA) and they ad to the stress. In this case, we got her the day Spencer started his new job. BAD idea. Since we both have to get up early in the morning we take turns getting up with her in the middle of the night. Unfortunately this means that we have been a bit crankier than normal because of it.

The second part of the stress of having a dog is explaining to a 4 year old not to freak out when she jumps on him or nips at him. Constant refrains of "NO BITE!" "She's biting me!" "OW! She bit me!" "OW! She scratched me!" is not fun to deal with. On our end, there is the constant "Liam, that's the way she plays." "Liam, don't pop her unless she hurts you." "Liam if you don't want her to bite you don't put your hand in her face like that." and so forth and so on.

{{SIGH}}

We've only had her two weeks today, it'll get better. . .right?I know you can't tell from the fun he is having right here, but right after this he ran to us crying because a riled up Milo was "attacking" him. Lord forbid she broke some skin.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Quote Day

It is way past time for a new quote from my little book of collected quotes. I apologize for not getting one up last week. It was a week from H-E-DOUBLE hockeysticks. ;)

"Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired" ~ Robert Frost
The Heart of the Gerbera

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Saving the Best for Last

This is an addition to the last post. It is pretty much my favorite shot of our vacation. It just has so much to it. All the movement and energy captured on one frame. I think my favorite part is the fact that he has his tongue out wanting to catch the water as he runs (we won't mention the fact that the water was so chlorinated that you could smell it from far away).
Looking at this picture brings me back to being a kid and enjoying being SO carefree.

Tips for your Vacay Photos

The Shutter Sisters blog has a post requesting different ideas for vacation photos. Having just gotten back from Charleston, I have all kinds of fresh photos to share. After playing with them this evening, I am even more excited to share them with you all.

My first tip would be to definitely look for a different angle. You see something you like, DON'T be afraid to squat, lay on the ground whatever you have to do to get a unique angle that you will look at for years to come and be glad you did. Remember, you are a TOURIST and you are excused for so much more for being so. Also...do you really think you'll see any of these people again? Who cares if they think you are foolish?
These two shots were taken on our first day in Charleston in what is known to locals as Battery Park. We had just finished walking the whole circumference of the park and were laying down on the ground to rest.
Just an ordinary bench, yes, but look how amazing it looks when you get up close and you show the character of the bench that has seen many things and supported many bottoms.I love these columns. The second shot reminds me of a line of pregnant woman comparing their bellies.

*******************************

The first photo of my next tip combines my two tips. Get a different angle AND take pictures of the local "wildlife". People are very interesting. Same principle as above applies here. Don't be worried if people think you look weird. Now I don't recommend being the paparazzi to these people living their lives or enjoying their vacation...but if you see a neat shot...TAKE IT!

I did not originally intend for this shot to be so blown out but I love the way it turned out. Personally. ;)
I always love to imagine the backstory of the people I see. I wonder if this little lady is a local who likes to come down to the park daily to capture life with her pencil. Or maybe she was a tourist like us enjoying the day.

This gentleman was so impeccably dressed that he immediately caught my and Spencer's attention. The photo to the left was taken by Spencer while I took the one on the right not realizing he and I had the same idea.

Our second day in Charleston, we rented bikes so that we could see more of the city at our own pace. At a point that I was dying for some cold refreshment, this dear angel called out her offer of free samples of Italian Ice. Spencer and I shared a large Mango Ice which was as close to eating a real mango you can get without actually consuming one. Brain Freeze ensued.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Gift of Flowers (Part Deux) a.k.a. Yardwork

As mentioned before, my dear mother in law loves to landscape and has been taking time out of her busy schedule to take care of our yard. In return I always make sure to have a good dinner planned. Since we like to grill out so much, my father-in-law bought us this macdaddy propane grill so that we would have more room because I like to grill not only our meats but also our vegetables and our little grill that we inherited from the previous homeowners was a tight fit…although I will miss the charcoal taste.

Liam LOVES to help in the yard but I believe I have inadvertently created a girly boy because he does NOT like to get dirty (that is if he realizes that he is getting dirty).

You see a picture of him getting all the dirt off of his feet in between little yard duties. I am getting so proud of some of the little boy things he is finally picking up, like picking up bugs. Last night he amazed me by catching a grasshopper (pictures of that to come). Catching a grasshopper is pretty difficult, although he has caught flies before on several different occasions.

Spencer and Steve particularly wanted a picture of Spencer helping Liam guide the tiller because Steve has a picture like that with Spencer as a little boy.

GrandNettie working hard to break up that Georgia Clay.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Weekend Goings On

Mosquito and bug repellent my butt. :) I got eaten alive by bugs anyway.

My darling husband taking advantage of the lovely weather to prepare a talk outside. He obviously doesn't have as sweet of blood as I.


We had some friends over and Milo was in raptures because we hadn't been able to pay much attention to her all day since we were cleaning house.

Our sweet and attractive friends who came over to break in our new outdoor goodies.


My little man got lonely with us adults yammering on. He ended up choosing to go inside and watch a movie. :(


Don't worry mom, I'll get some pictures up of Liam and Milo soon. As soon as I got my camera out, he wanted to go inside so I missed out on photo opportunities for the day.

The Gift of Flowers (Part One)

These are the groups of flowers that my mother-in-law got for these awesome flower pots on my front and back porch and some for planting in the flower bed.
The gift of flowers…what better gift is there than that of the beauty of flowers and the hard work of maintaining that beauty that comes with it that is so much more fulfilling than our day to day lives.

We’ve been living in our house for a year and I will tell you know I probably would have gone on living in it for many years to come without ever doing anything with the yard. However, I have a wonderful mother-in-law who has a green thumb and loves to use it. She has taken on my pitiful little yard as her personal project and has already worked wonders with the flower bed behind our house. She and Spencer have such big plans for it…whereas I am going through anxiety attacks hoping that I am watering them enough and keeping them alive.
Who would expect to find the sun in the middle of a flower?

Gerbera Daisies are some of my favorites. They were in the first bouquet of flowers that Spencer got me when we were dating.

I love how this bud looks. It's as if it is made of crumpled silk.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

New Family Members

As I said before, I have so many pictures to share with you from our wonderful weekend in Charleston but as most know, the week after a vacation (even if it is a mini one) is extremely hectic. Our house that was so neat before is looking a bit dissarrayed again. Add to that the fact that we got a puppy Monday night and needless to day I am EXHAUSTED.


Before I can show you any other pictures I must share with you these pictures of Milo (full name: Venus de Milo since she is a girl). We had been playing with the idea of getting a puppy for Liam because he loves dogs so much when Mom told us that she and dad would be willing to pay the start up cost if we got one for him. We originally were looking for a dachshund mix pup but then Sara got a company e-mail/bulletin about two abandoned beagle mix pups. Once I saw this little girl, I was sold.

Just Chillin'

Puppy Love from Mommy
and
Puppy Kisses for Daddy

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Catching Up is Hard to do

Buttercups and Tires coming to my shop soon

Oh I have SO much to update my blog with. Spencer and I had an AMAZING weekend in Charleston, SC and completely fell in love with the city. Then we came back to a storm ravaged "state of emergency" Georgia. Then last night we went down to Macon to look at these abandoned beagle mix puppies and chose one for Liam. She is the cutest thing ever and SO extremely sweet and obedient already. Pictures of her to come soon and MANY more.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Feeling the Love

Today is Love Thursday on Shutter Sisters. I am not feeling as much love as I would like on this Thursday as it is crazy busy in our old office before the BIG move which I will not be here for tomorrow. :P The filing seems to NEVER end.

However I am more than happy to temporarily escape the doldrums enough to contribute what I consider to be one of the most love filled photographs I have. I absolutely love the look and feel of this moment in time that I was able to capture of my beautiful cousin-in-law and her husband as they anticipate their firstborn.


Wednesday, May 7, 2008

i want to be a tree

Ever felt like you have had one of those days when nothing goes right and you don't like your job and are only doing it because you have and you are woken up to the fact that you are letting this interfere with your job performance...where you feel like you are losing your mind and can seem to remember nothing? Well it has been that kind of WEEK for me.

We are moving offices this week. It was originally planned to be done by this past weekend but AT&T didn't get something done and the rest is history. Well I had already asked off for this Friday for Spencer and my anniversary trip to Charleston, SC {YAY}. So I have been tearing my hair out this week trying to get things done in one less day than everyone else. Add on top of this the fact that I made a humongous, collosal mistake that made my boss mad at me for the first time and I just want to curl into a ball and hide for a LONG time until my head is clear.

I am one of those unfortunate people who cannot seem to shake off the disgusting feeling of making a mistake and moving on to do better. Instead I hang on to it and mull over it until it is larger than life. If any of you would like to share with me your tips on moving past dumb mistakes I would be happy to hear them so that tomorrow is a much more productive day than today.

i want to be a tree

growing wild and free

nothing to hinder me

look at me reach high

up to the heavens and sky

nothing to make me cry

Monday, May 5, 2008

Handmade Rainbows Say It All

So I belatedly read of this photo challenge on shutter sisters about spectrums of color. As I was driving back to work from the gym, and for the rest of the day, all I saw was color. I am going to inundate you with the color that I saw all day (and they were all taken with my anniversary gift):

Started with an unexpected array of color in these gorgeous balloons...

or it be the most obvious color spectrum this time of year...
or one that you don't expect as you are driving downtown...

to the overabundance of your child's toys...
or your curtains illuminated by the sun's bright rays...it could be in the form of a favorite scarf...


but best of all in the colors your son creates in his vision of a rainbow.