Category Archives: Personal Blog
Project 52 | Week 32 | Street
Cancer is a journey, but you walk the road alone. There are many places to stop along the way and get nourishment – you just have to be willing to take it. ~Emily Hollenberg
This past week has been a challenging one for my family. My father had surgery a week ago to have his right lung removed because of lung cancer. We traveled to Gainesville to visit him this week in the hospital. From Sunday to Wednesday, the boys and I hung out with him and my mom at the hospital. One of my little ones was very intent on being with my dad every minute he could. In this particular image, he’s pushing a chair down the hallway behind my dad in case he needs to sit and rest a bit on one of his first walks around the halls of the hospital. It’s such a sweet image to me. He was determined to be the one to push the chair for his Papa.
It’s not easy to see your parent hurting, helpless. It’s even more heart wrenching to see your child want to be there for your parent. Without question, seeing him push this chair is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.
So, while this may not directly relate to our word for the week, this hallway was our street for a few days, and this image marks the beginning of my Dad’s journey to recovery.
Now please head over to see the wonderful Holly Bullock and here interpretation of this week’s theme HERE. Join us next week for “Lights at Night.”
Project 52 | Week 31 | Joy (Tampa Area Photographer)
Welcome to week 31 of Project 52–Joy!!
I have felt lately that while I love taking photos, I haven’t necessarily wanted to carry my camera with me everywhere for a couple of reasons. First, I feel like many times I focus on taking pictures instead of enjoying the moment with my kids. Second, I’m a bit overwhelmed by the volume of photos I have on my external hard drive, and yet, I haven’t done much with them. When the boys start school, I want to use some of my “free” time to organize, cull, print, share the images trapped in the little black box on my desk. Third, I sometimes feel myself comparing my work with other people’s work and not feeling up to par or on the same level.
So for this week’s theme, which is JOY, I am sharing images taken with my iPhone. I have a waterproof case for it and decided to put it to the test. This little guy is beyond excited that we now have a pool and that he can swim in it every single day. He’s pretty much a fish and has practiced holding his breath in the bathtub since he was at least two. We’ve been watching the Olympics all week, and he seems to think he’s now an Olympic swimmer, thus the swim cap. While he practiced his swim moves, I held my phone under water and hoped for the best. We had so much fun playing and laughing at the pictures we wound up with.
While the “quality” of the photos isn’t the greatest, the “quality” of the time was. It’s that divide between the two that I’m struggling with right now. But for now, for today, I will take joy in being able to share this moment with my little man. I can’t decide what I love the most: his gap teeth, the swim goggles, the swim cap, or the sheer joy on his face.
Please head over to the talented Melinda Meredith Photography HERE to see here take on joy. Join us next week for “street.”
Project 52 | Week 30 | Adventure (Tampa Area Photographer)
With two five year old boys in the house, every day is an adventure! On this particular day, I heard them playing in their play room and snuck in to see what they were doing. An all out Star Wars Imaginext battle was under way. I don’t particularly care for the Legos (small pieces and all), but they love them and can spend hours setting up battles with them. I love that they have finally reached a point where they can play together unattended for the most part. I don’t have to be with them 24/7 to supervise. However, I do know that a quiet house is not a good thing because it generally means they are up to something! But today, the quiet happened because they were engrossed in play.
When I look at these next two pictures, I am so happy that these two love one another so much. They genuinely enjoy playing together and being together. Yet, I am excited for the next adventure awaiting them: kindergarten. While they have been together every single day of their lives, come kindergarten they will be in separate classrooms. It will be the first time they have been apart. It will be time for each of them to have the chance to be his own person and learn his own strengths and weaknesses. I’m excited to see how they will grow and change over the course of this next year.
Now head over the the talented Melinda Meredith Photography and check out here work HERE. Please be sure to stop back next week as we take a look at “joy”!
Project 52 | Week 29 | Reflections (Tampa Area Photographer)
After almost two months on the road traveling and moving from Massachusetts to Tampa, I’m finally able to rejoin the group! I’ve hated not being able to participate, but being on the road, staying in other people’s homes, living out of a suitcase–well, these all made blogging a bit of a challenge. And while I took tons of photos on our journey, I’ve decided for today to focus on some shots of the boys playing at a park in our new neighborhood.
While my pictures may not be a literal representation of “reflections,” they do reflect the versatility that our children have. You see, they are military brats just like their mom and dad. They have now lived in four states in their five years of life. They have moved three times in the past three and a half years. They have learned the heartache of leaving friends and places they love. They have traveled. They have seen places that most kids their age don’t even know exist. They are outgoing, engaging, curious, aware of the world, observant, moody, active, self-assured, hesitant, and so much more.
As a military brat myself, I know first hand the range of emotions they have experienced as little ones moving. As a mom, I wish I could take the negative feelings associated with moving away for them. But, I also know that at this point, the moving is their “normal.” They have learned how to adjust, make new friends, settle in to a new bedroom, find the familiar in a different place, make connections between where they are and where they were.
For this resilience, I am thankful. And for these marvelous, messy, loud, boys, I am beyond grateful and truly blessed.
Now head over to the wonderful Melinda Meredith by clicking HERE and see her take on this week’s theme. Join us next week as we take on adventure.
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Project 52 | Week 18 | Favorite Song (New York State of Mind)
Welcome to week 18 of Project 52! This week we are tackling “favorite song.” I’ll admit, I cheated a bit on this one. New York State of Mind isn’t my favorite song necessarily, but I do love anything classic Billy Joel. And, we did just take a whirlwind trip to New York City. For that reason, I chose to highlight some of my favorites from the trip! In our quick two days down and back, we went to the Museum of Natural History, visited with Squad 18, traveled to the top of the Rock, and explored Times Square. While there were a million other things we could have seen, our time was limited, so we tried to make the best of the quick turn around. We were even lucky enough to catch the Space Shuttle flying in to the city while we were driving in. It was an amazing, unexpected treat!
My favorite part, by far, was venturing to Time’s Square after the boys went to bed. My husband tracked me with my iPhone just to make sure I was safe. I had so much fun walking down 34th Ave. and taking in all the sights and sounds. Simply put, Time’s Square at night is stunning. There is just so much life and activity. I can totally understand what the allure to New York City is. When I got back to the room I laughed when my husband informed me that I had gone two blocks further than I was supposed to and that at one point it looked like I was on top of a building! So much for good GPS reception in the city!
Now head on over and check out the wonderful Melinda Meredith and her take on this week’s theme HERE. Joins us next week when we look at “power.”
