Scatterbrainitis

Have you ever had one of those days where you just can't your brain in work mode?  I can't seem to focus today.  I didn't sleep very well last night, so that may have something to do with my scatterbrainitis. 

I know its been a while since I posted.  I stay so busy with work and then trying to cram household chores and fun in weekends that go by so fast I hardly remember they existed at all.  I was laid-off from my job for a year and I was re-hired last November.  I enjoy working, but I sometimes miss the days where all I did was read a good novel and do laundry.  Now, I try and do at least a load of laundry each night when I get home from work.  I don't always get a chance to do a load every night, so then I spend all day Sunday washing clothes.  The saying is true ... a woman's work is NEVER done!  

I haven't even had a chance to get outside and get some spring photos.  Yesterday would have been a perfect day for outdoor photos, but instead I spent the day cleaning out my closet, baking bread, and making baked spaghetti with homemade pasta sauce.  Oh yeah...and doing laundry.  Let's not leave that out.  I think it is supposed to storm next weekend.  I hope the weather forecast is wrong.  Tonight we will be having severe thunderstorms in Kentucky.  After work tomorrow I have to go to the grocery store and Wednesday night I have Bible study.  Good grief!  It's no wonder I'm scatterbrained.  I just hope I can find a moment for some photography before all of the spring blooms disappear!

Here are some of previous year's blooms for your viewing pleasure. 

Purple Beauty

Yellow Lilly

   

Friends

I've got a weird situation and I need some input.  Let me begin by saying that I have a disease called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which can cause severe hormone imbalances.  Sometimes these hormone imbalances can make me very emotional, sad, angry, crying for no reason, etc.  Because of this, I can't always tell if my response to a situation is a justified response or an act of hormone treason.  This is where you come in.  I'll explain the situation and perhaps you can help me sort it out. 

I have a best friend, Angie.  We've been friends since we were 12 years old.  We see one another just about every weekend and we attend one another's birthdays, parties, holidays, etc.  Angie is a stay-at-home Mom and I recently started working again after being laid off for a year.  During my lay-off, I reconnected with a friend from high school, Tiffney.  Tiffney is also a stay-at-home Mom.  Last summer I had a party and I re-introduced Angie & Tiffney to one another.  They had met previously when we were teenagers, but had not remained in-touch.  Angie & Tiffney started conversing via Facebook and they've quickly become friends.  I think it's great that they are becoming close.  However, since I now work and have very little free time, I feel left out.  I see them making plans to go shopping or have lunch and I feel like I'm losing my friends.  I realize that I work and I can't always go with them, but it would be nice if they asked me if I could come with them.  Even if they go on a day when I usually work, I could ask for a vacation day and spend some time with my two good friends.  But, as I said, they don't even ask me.  It wouldn't bother me so much, but they post their plans on Facebook for all the world to see and I feel left out.

Today, this situation became even more hurtful for me.  I have another former high school friend, Dana.  Dana and I have spoken a little on Facebook, but due to some past confusion about the nature of our friendship and whether or not I was a good friend to her, we don't talk that often.  Dana's opinion is that I didn't listen to her and help her with her problems when we were teenagers.  I have a different memory of this situation.  I remember that Dana would not open up about her problems.  I tried talking to her about things, but she wouldn't discuss them with me.  I also was unable to attend Dana's wedding because I moved out of town and I could not afford to return for her wedding at the time.  I don't think she's ever forgiven me for not being there.  I apologized profusely for missing her wedding, but it was unavoidable at the time.  To sum it up, Dana and I are cordial, but we don't talk often and we don't spend time with one another.

Dana is a talented baker and she designs birthday cakes.  Angie has had Dana make cakes for her daughters' birthdays.  This past Sunday, Angie's daughter Macie turned 1.  Dana made a cake for the party.  She arrived to setup the cake a few moments before I arrived at the party.  I arrived after she had left and did not get a moment to speak to her.  Apparently, that was plenty of time for her to reconnect as friends with Angie and Tiffney. 

This morning I signed on to Facebook to see if I had gotten any emails and I see that Angie, Tiffney, and Dana are now making plans to go shopping together.  I felt like someone slapped me in the face.  Is it wrong for me to feel so left out?  I'm really confused about this.  I feel so hurt.  I feel like I'm losing my friends.  Am I overreacting?  Any advice would be much appreciated.

I took the photo below at a wedding shoot.  I saw them sitting there chatting away and it reminded me of the many fun, interesting, heartfelt, funny, touching conversations I've had with my friends over the years.

Friends Chatting in the Garden

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave a comment.  I love hearing from my visitors!

MOUNTAIN LAKES & STREAMS

This past summer my husband, Cameron, and I took a drive across country.  We took a very scenic route through the mountains of Colorado.  There was beauty everywhere you looked.  It was breathtaking and at times, terrifying.  In my next post I'll tell you about the most terrifying driving experience I've ever had.  This terrifying even took place on the Red Mountain Pass in Colorado.  Never have I seen such beauty and been so scared simultaneously.  I can feel my heart racing just thinking about it.

The first two photos shown below were taken on the Red Mountain Pass on Highway 550 just south of Ouray, Colorado.  It was late July, but the mountains in this region are so tall that they still had some snow on them.  There were lots of little streams and waterfalls on the mountains.

The third photo shown is of a Lake Reserve in Colorado.  It was a pretty large reserve and there looked to be lots of recreation activities in this area.  We didn't stop to play, but continued on our journey.

The fourth photo shown is a windy little stream that went through pastureland in Colorado. 

The last photo is a small lake in the mountains of Colorado.

Overall it was an amazingly spectacular journey and I hope to someday take the trip again.

Muddy Mountain Stream



Mountain Waterfall

Colorado Water Reserve

Colorado Stream

Colorado Mountain Lake

Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment.  I love to hear from my visitors!

What's Up With Colorado?

When I say "What's Up With Colorado?", I mean it in a totally good way.  This past summer my husband and I took a road trip across the U.S.  We wanted to take the most scenic route we could from Louisville, Kentucky to Tucson, Arizona.  I got out a map of the U.S. and used a highlighter to plan our trip.  I chose State Highways that took us through the Rocky Mountains.  It was one of the most scenic and beautiful drives I've ever been on.  Evergreen forests on top of mountains, grassy hillsides with running streams, cattle and horses grazing in fields, blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds.  You could see God's artistic beauty all around.  My next few posts will highlight the photos I took in Colorado.

 Grassy Plains & Evergreen Peaks

Rolling Fields 

Green Hillside

In my next post I will highlight some of the mountain streams and lakes.  I enjoyed our road trip through Colorado immensely.  If you are looking to see some stunning views, this is the road trip to take. 

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more photos taken in the Colorado Rocky Mountains!

Monday Morning Blahs

Does anyone like Monday mornings, really? I certainly don't. This morning in particular has not been a great start to my week. I woke up with a sinus headache that doesn't seem to want to go away. I won't even go into the details of my sinus woes. I can sum it up by saying that I get a sinus headache at least once a week and I get a sinus infection every time the seasons change. I have boxes of tissues in my living room, my bedroom, my den, on my desk at work, and I keep spare boxes of tissues in my closet. My sinuses are not my friend. I know there are many things to be thankful for in my life, but I'm not feeling very thankful for Monday mornings (or my sinuses). So, maybe I'll just talk about something I can be thankful for.

In July 2010, my husband and I took a road trip across the U.S. We started in Louisville, Kentucky and drove west through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and ended our drive in Tucson, Arizona. We spent 2 and 1/2 days driving to Tucson. We took a different route home and drove from Tucson, Arizona through New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and back to Kentucky. The trip home only took 2 days and I didn't stop to take photos.

I saw some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen on our drive across country. I took over 2000 photos during our drive there and while we were in Tucson. My next several posts will be showcasing some of the photos I took this summer.

These are photos of clouds I took in Kansas. It was late afternoon and we had stopped to get gas and stretch our legs. I was noticing lots of small clusters of clouds and I had to snap a few photos. I used my Nikon Coolpix camera (which I keep in my purse at all times) for these photos. I love taking photographs of clouds and thunderstorms. I love the way the sun's rays poke through the clouds and send beams out all around.

Sun Bursting Through the Clouds

Suns Rays Shining Down

Lonely Thunderstorm

I drove most of the first day. After this pit stop, my husband assumed the driving responsibilities. We ended our first day's journey in a small town along Interstate 70 called Goodland, Kansas. It is about 25 miles from the border of Colorado.

\If you want to see the beauty of the Lord's creation, all you have to do is take a drive across the country. My next post will highlight just a few of the photos I took while driving through the mountains of Colorado. It was a magical experience and I can't wait to share it with all of my followers. There will be multiple posts with photos of the beautiful landscapes of Colorado.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless you all!

Time Flies

I've noticed that I have multiple entries trying to explain my lack of posting within the past year or so. I can sum it up by saying in the last year or so I lost my passion for blogging. Life got in the way and before I knew what was happening, a year had passed. I didn't stop taking photos, but I stopped posting them.

I recently started working again within the last couple of months. I was laid-off for a year. I worked a temporary position for about three weeks and then I was re-hired by my former company. I'm very pleased to be back there as I had worked there for over 6 years when I was laid-off.

Now that I have less time to do things is the time when I feel like I must start blogging again. Go figure. So, I won't promise to blog every day, every week, or even every month. However, I will promise that when I have something interesting to say or an interesting or beautiful photo to post, you might hear from me. I hope you'll hang in there with me. I know how disappointing it can be when you start following someone and they never post anything new. I'll try to keep you entertained, but I make no promises.

I'm preparing to watch the President's State of the Union address, which I'm sure will be interesting. I may have some things I would like to discuss tomorrow after hearing the speech. In the mean time, I'm going to leave you with a couple new photos.

These photos were taken in the fall of 2009. I think fall is so beautiful here in Kentucky. The colors are breathtaking.

Please feel free to leave comments. I'd love to hear from you!

I'm Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive. In November I got laid off from my job. Since then, my life has been pretty uninteresting. Mostly, I just stay home and read, do laundry, and then cook dinner. I haven't found anything worth writing about these days.

It's springtime in Kentucky. The trees are just beginning to bloom and the daffodils are are in full bloom. I'll be out with my best friend, my camera, soon. Once I take some photos worthy of posting, I'll be back with new posts.

Until then, I hope you'll hang in there with me. If I have something interesting to talk about, you'll be the first to know.

If you read my blog, please leave a comment and let me know how you are doing. I'd love to hear from you.

LIFE CAN BE CRAZY SOMETIMES

I'm still around and I'm still checking my blog for comments, but I've had a lot going on this past month and I haven't really had much time to post anything. I'll try and get a new post up sometime this weekend with some new photos. I've got a lot to talk about so I hope you'll stay tuned. It's kind of a public service announcement that you should look out for. I had to learn something the hard way, so I thought I would pass that lesson on to everyone else.

Stay tuned! And thanks for visiting!

Portraits - My First Wedding Shoot

These photos are of the first wedding I ever photographed. The bride is the niece of my husband's co-worker. They were doing the wedding on a budget and needed someone to take photos for them. I offered to do it for free just for the experience (although my husband's co-worker did give me some money anyway). On the day of the wedding, I was sooo nervous. What if the photos didn't turn out? What if the bride didn't like them? I was probably more nervous than the bride and groom!

The day of the wedding, Hurricane Ike came to Kentucky. There were winds of up to 100 mph. The wedding was supposed to take place outdoors, but had to be moved indoors because of the wind. The wedding took place at the Brown-Pusey House in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Later that afternoon, after the winds died down a little, we were able to go outside and get a few photos. The groom was pretty reluctant to get photographed so it was difficult to get him to smile for the photos. Overall, it was a great learning experience.

On a side note, I want to say Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Cameron. Happy Birthday honey!

Sharing Sweet Nothings

The Bride & Groom

Waiting for the Groom

The Wedding Dress

Almost Time

Wedding Day

Portraits

Most of the photos I post on my blog are nature photos. I don't normally post any of the portraits that I've taken (with exception of my niece and nephew). I thought I would change it up a bit. I've recently starting doing some portraits for family and friends. I'm not a professional photographer and I still haven't mastered my photo editing software, but I love to take photographs of people. Despite my inexperience, a few people have allowed me to take photographs for them. My next few blog posts will be some of my favorite portraits.

These photos are of Abigail. Abby is about 12 years old (I think). She is the cousin of my brother-in-law. These photos were taken at Abby's aunt's house in Henderson, Kentucky. The house sits on a large piece of land with a barn-style garage and lots of greenery in the back yard and a little wooden bridge crossing a creek. It was a beautiful place to take photos. Abby is into dance and gymnastics, so I got a few action shots of her doing flips and cartwheels. These photos were taken in April of this year. It was a beautiful day in the upper 60s. I was suffering with a sinus infection that weekend, but I don't let anything stop me from taking photos. (In December, I took some photos for a friend and I was also extremely sick, again with a sinus infection - it happens to me every time the seasons change.)

I will add some more portraits in my next post.

Let me know what you think of these photos. I love to see your comments and of course I'm always open to advice from experienced photographers. And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Defying Gravity

Jump for Joy

Spring Beauties

Abigail

Pretty in Pink

Country Girl