50 mm lens giveaway!

http://www.ohsoposhphotography.com/blog/?p=5558

Passing down the flute

Tomorrow I am donating my first flute to the Norfolk Public Schools Music Dept. I was fortunate enough to get a newer flute in my high school years, so I haven't really used this one in a long time. I had stickers on the case that brought back memories. Stickers of baby Goofy, the Jetsons, and I drew Elmo on it!
I am just excited that some student will get to enjoy the instrument as much as I did! I always enjoyed playing the flute, and played for 9 years! I would love to play again if anyone wants to jam!
On to new adventures first flute...

All smiles

My former student posted this on my facebook page today and it made me smile big! She's in college now, but I always felt like she was a "mini-me".
Being back at school in general just reinforces the feeling I am doing what I am meant to do. I also got my first hug from a student---and it was a boy! A boy that was supposed to have a free block my class, and now doesn't want the free block just to say in there. 3 days in-stoked.

Retired Apron

2007-2011

RIP

Earthquake putting things in perspective

So yesterday's earthquake really made me realize some things. It obviously wasn't anything dangerous, but it got me thinking...

When the earthquake was happening, I was sitting on the couch and was trying to process the whole thing. The cats were on the floor looking at me like "what is going on?!" Pictures shaking, doors rattling, etc. So I was like, "do I need to leave the house!?" So I got up, pretty frantic, heart racing, looking for my crutches. Tried getting my one shoe on, and looked around and was trying to decide what to grab! Keep in mind, I had no one around to verify what was happening, so I was just reacting. I looked at the cats, and sadly thought, "I can't grab them". That really made me upset. On crutches, can't get my baby boys. I accepted that if things got crazy, they would find furniture to hide under and be secure. So I grabbed my wallet and phone and headed outside. (Asking a girl walking down my street if she felt anything, and she looked at me like I was crazy, so I still wasn't sure what happened!)

Things calmed down and I was trying to call Templeton. Calls weren't going through. I never realized how much I wanted/needed to talk to him. I just wanted to hear a comforting voice. I still hadn't known what was going on, fearing that a tree feel on our house again?!?! Tried my parents, no luck. So I went online, and found a friend on instant message, and he told me it was an earthquake. I felt a little better I wasn't crazy, but I still wanted to talk with Templeton. We eventually got a hold of each other, and I think it was comforting for both of us. When he came home from work, I felt so relieved and at peace.

All in all, I just think I learned how much I truly love Templeton. How I don't like to be alone in a crazy situation, and how limiting having an injury is in an emergency. It'll make me think twice for older neighbors or ones with disabilities.

Things keep getting better...

So last night Templeton took me to my MRI, I forgot how crazy they are. If you are claustrophobic, not the Friday night thing to do...Full of angst the whole time, but got passed it. Temp wanted to take me out to dinner afterward, so we went to Sirena's in downtown Norfolk. We ate, and as we were walking down the sidewalk to the car, my crutch went through a hole. There was a manhole cover for water, about 8 inches in diameter. The cover wasn't on right, and my crutch pushed down passed it. This was on my left side, so to catch myself, I stomped down on the ground with my bum foot out of instinct. It hurt so bad =o( Temp had to pull my crutch up while I held myself up with with the wall. I came home in such pain, I called my doctor so upset I JUST got my MRI, now I could have done more damage. The doc said take it easy, I will be seeing him Thursday. Only to go to the hospital if I think it was broken.
This is the 2nd time I have fallen since this injury, I am so ready to get better and be done with this. Be grateful for your 2 working feet, seriously!

New classroom!!

So today I finally spent some time in my classroom and I am really excited. There is SO much storage, it's big, and the courtyard is really nice! My friend Stacey helped me out and we kind of took inventory and took some cheesy stuff down that really had been there for awhile.
Here are some pictures!!

me with my keys at my door

Stacey in the picture! It's a really big room, I have a computer station, light table, tons of storage!

This is the courtyard where I have an entrance from my room and the other teacher has a door as well. This has so much potential with pinhole pictures, cyanotypes, etc! Plus just relaxation!

The darkroom has 6 stations, and kind of a mess! I need to really clean things up!

This is what happens when an art teacher transfers schools...

2 cars full, front to back, and even stuff attached on top of the car! Crazy enough, this is MY stuff--and I didn't have a classroom! In-laws donations, thrift store finds, etc. The teacher taking my position STILL has a closet full of good stuff! I am sure Templeton will be glad when this is all out of the garage! It's kind of an artist's dream in one place, name it, I've got it!!!

My life in a nutshell...

Working on my art

So with the stresses of my last job, I never felt like I had enough energy to work on my own art. Only on vacation. So I made a list of what I wanted to do in the summer. One of my goals was to make an art website. I dabble in multiple forms of art, but photography really is my passion. I remember taking my first artistic photograph in 6th grade, and from then on, religiously taking a camera every where I went. So in the last week, I put together my photo portfolio website. My new teaching position is head of the photo dept of my school. I will be teaching foundations of photography, advanced and AP. I really feel my personal passion for photography has led me to this position. So I am really excited! Another art goal on my list was to screen print more. On my last little road trip, I realized I have an affinity for old trucks, farm equipment, etc. Funny that I grew up in more of a city!! I just love the rugged nature of those vehicles, and sometimes fantasize about having my own old pick-up truck! So my next series, I would like to make some designs reflecting my fascination with the antique vehicles. Coming soon!

"Just rest it"

So I am now 4 weeks into my ankle injury. For those of you that missed what happened, basically I was going down the mountain (Blue Ridge Mtns. in Charlottesville), stepped over a fence quickly, backwards, and snapped my foot back in toward my foot. The injury has progressively gotten more painful. I went to urgent care a week into the injury "looks like a torn tendon, just rest it". The pain got really bad, my friend a doctor said I need to see a specialist. I made an appt with an orthopedic. The night before the appt I was in so much pain, I went to the emergency room. "Looks like torn ligaments and/or tendons, just rest it and see a specialist".
Next day I went to the orthopedic, "yup, just rest it, if it's still not better in 3 weeks, come back cause then something is definitely wrong" Thanks guys! Basically ankle injuries need to heal on their own.
Well then, to make things even more awesome, I was balancing on my good foot, grabbing my crutches on my deck, and the left crutch fell from under me and I slammed, full body down on the floor, crutches beneath me. Fell on the bad ankle and totally killed my hip. The crutch was under me when I fell right on my lower back/side.
So I have been couch/bed hopping for a couple of days now, and seeing no progress with ankle. I feel so helpless. Plus I can't lean on my whole left side.

My feet today, guess which one is injured. Remember "just rest".

I just hit a point where I need to vent, I apologize to anyone that didn't want to read my rant. You just get lonely after awhile. Feel free to come and hang out, I don't get out much!

Printing photos, it's like Christmas!

With digital now, it's hard to actually print pictures, but I try to with every series I take. I just got the prints back from my Portland favorites and I feel like it's Christmas! Mpix is a great company to get prints made, and their cheap and fast. I probably was most impressed that a couple of my prints were taken with the iPhone, and they came out beautifully! Printed at 9x12, would never know the difference! Time to get some frames, and time to enter more shows! Printing your photos is like a different experience, don't limit yourself to computer screens and camera screens!

My cat is a hoarder

So Crawford was hanging out by the mantle of our fireplace, and Temp was curious to why! Templeton put the light down facing the area he was looking, and found at least 10 milk jug rings!!! We knew he was stashing them under the fridge, but often wondered where the rest of them were! We took them out, and gave him one to play with, go figure, he stuffed right back under!

Needless to say, the boys and Temp doing the archaeological dig was pretty funny and cute!

Proud of my husband

So if you don't know already, I am super proud of Templeton. He's so passionate about skateboarding, his dream was to film professional skateboarding and he's done it. Then he wanted to remain in the industry and started a skateboarding blog-MostlySkateboarding and did that, for free, just wanting to write about skateboarding. His blog was discovered, and now he writes professionally for the SkateboardMag. He's been doing this for years now, and what is super cool is that he still updates Mostly Skateboarding daily, the root of a lot of his success.

Today, I was so proud when my friend from NJ, that now lives in CA, posted an article Templeton wrote on the Skateboard Mag onto Facebook. That friend in CA doesn't know I am married to him or anything, it's just someone stoked on his writing.  You can imagine how crazy it was to see someone else post my husband's name!!! I really am proud of my best friend, husband Templeton Elliott.

 PS A little follow-up....

Finished deck

We have proudly finished our deck with a sectional sofa, flowers and a lush vegetable garden! Cold months building the deck was totally worth it!

In 5 years...

In the last 5 years, we've traveled the world. We went to Mexico, Peru, Italy, Spain, Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, And from South Carolina to New Jersey. We bought a condo and a house, but still have the same cars. We've had a tree fall on our house,I earned my Masters, Temp thrived as a professional writer. We became aunt and uncle 3 times over and have made some amazing friends. So much! I can't wait for the next 5 years! Happy Anniversary Templeton!

Our backyard

Temp and I have really invested a lot of time and sweat into our backyard this year. We built the deck in the fall, and now have been really working on some gardening. Here is a little video! I don't think we'll ever feel finished, but we just love being out there every day!

Beautiful sunset, Whitehurst Beach

I have had a lot of tension built up from the past couple of weeks, so Templeton suggested we go to the driving range and hit some balls around. It was fun and really helped! Then we went to my old dorm on the water and watched the sunset. A very nice evening...

 

Camoflouge

Find the missing cat

Strawberry salad...yum

Strawberry salad for BBQ with friends! Includes spinach, strawberries, goat cheese, raisins and candied walnuts!

New plant in the house

Exciting new plant

Crawford helping us with laundry!

Watching the mother bird

Bros watching a mother bird in her nest....right at eye level

Print we bought at the Japanese garden. Artist Kunio Kaneko. Japanese woodblock

Found at cannon beach...about a foot long

At the Oregon Zoo

Laying on the deck with a view of temp and our dogwood

I always feel like, someone is watching meeeee....

Dinner and games on the deck. Temp is happy!

some ping pong with the boys

Picasso milkshakes

milkshakes at village cafe in richmond=happy campers following the Picasso exhibit

enjoying the beautiful day on the deck

We got our Shepard Fairey print!!! YAHOO!

Art Show Finished Pieces

16x24"

11x14"

16x20"

So today I cut all of my mats and put my photos in the frames. There is something so rewarding about seeing your work all framed up and clean! I am dropping off the work on Sunday-now I have to work on titles.