Katie - 5.23

A sentence I have never uttered before - my sister is such a pleasure. :-) She can be for sure. In any case, she will always let me photograph her, no matter what. I enjoy that, because I am still learning techniques and still training my eye. She's a great sport. Any pretty cute. I'm looking forward to photographing her and her boyfriend.

Anyways, I was playing around with her during the BBQ we had at my apartment. I shot a few.










These are some that I staged, obviously didn't shoot. Thanks mom!

Memorial Day 2009

So one of that greatest things about today, besides the time and half pay and holiday pay (yep, I get both!) was the Healing Field across from the Avenue. There was this field that has been blocked off since Friday, and there were hundreds of flags posted into ground. This evening, there was a gathering of people and I'm sure there was some significant events going on, but this afternoon on my lunch break I went over and there were hardly any people there. I went over with my trusty camera to capture some of the remembrance and patriotism. It was amazing. I took a few seconds to pay my respects. Aren't we blessed? We are still a free country, and we are still protected by our own family and friends. That's pretty awesome if you think about it. Someones brother, husband, wife, daughter, son, cousin has given everything for you and me. They have given their life.

Thistle

I love photographing elements of the corn field behind my apartment. In the past, I had a field day snapping shots of this dead sunflower... anyways, there is a short story behind today's post. I like thistles. They are a rough and ragged weed. They are covered in spines. But I love the blossoms! A few years ago, Scott and I were at the Nashville Zoo, and there was a single thistle blossom on the fence of the elephant exhibit. I was taking pictures of it, and when I snapped one, a butterfly had just landed on it and I caught it! It's one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken! So, a few days ago when I was leaving work, I spotted a thistle in the field next to Romano's. It reminded me about that day at the zoo, and seriously, if I had had my camera in the car, I may have pulled into a parking lot and snapped a few.

Today, as I was rounding the corner to my door, I looked up into the corn field, and I saw... thistles!!! I couldn't wait to come in and grab the camera. Here are some highlights.

Backtrack - 4.25.09

I spent a great day back in April with some great people that Scott and I are blessed to have in our lives. Another reason why they are great is because they tolerated my hand attachment for awhile :-) It was a great night. Good food, good wine, good friends, good music, good times.

JP, April 25

JP, Alli, me, Scott - April 25th

Bromance :-) Just kidding guys!

Putting all your eggs in only one other person's basket.

So, Scott and I were talking recently about our relationships with people. We are finding ourselves in very interesting positions. Is it possible to grow up, putting all your eggs in someone else's basket, and not even realizing it until you have only one or two eggs left? How do you know if it was worth giving all your eggs away to that person? And, how do you bounce back from this?

Now, I am not trying to sound like a 9 year old, I have no friends, what do I do. Because that isn't the case. But I'm just pondering... one of life's burning questions... Should you invest yourself into a few meaningful relationships, or invest yourself into lots of relationships that aren't as deep, and that you perhaps do not develop everyday, just every month or every few months?

And when do you move on? Friendships are like partnerships. You feel like you have given this person everything you had to give, so it can be devastating to let go, or lighten your load.

I will say that I have learned (the hard way) that time and distance can test friendships, and you really see how far your investment goes/went. I met lots of great people in Clarksville, people I will never forget, but when I moved 75 miles away, I never heard from some of those people ever again. People that at one time, I thought I would be friends with for years. Now we see each other's status changes on Facebook and say hello at the occasional wedding. You are greats friends when you live in the same city, but when there's an hour and half drive in between you, it places tension. On the opposite side of this, I have recently reconnected with a friend from high school and we talk about 2-3 times a month. And about the important stuff, too. It's great to have her back, even if it's just to chat a few times a month.

Scott says that "time is the the true test of friendship", and I am seeing his point. But I think it can also fool you. I thought I would be friends with "A, B, C" for years and years, we were just that close. I didn't even invite them to my wedding, but I did invite my friend from high school. Poeple change over time, I think that the true test of "time" is adapting to it.

I say all this to bring up my most recent new friend experience. I have been thinking about this person a lot. We have all the challenges. She lives a good distance away. I met her through one of Scott's best friends, JP (who is a great friend to me as well). She is amazing! We have SO much in common, and our personalities really balance so far. The first time I met her, I was hosting her and JP for dinner. She was very kind and funny. We spent the good part of a day together, and we jumped in to some getting to know each other stuff pretty quickly. I think that she and I have the potential to be pretty close. But I'm hesitant to say so because of the distance and time that seperate us. It's hard when you have miles, school, work schedules and life in the way. I mean if you throw eggs across miles, will the other person catch them, or will the break? I haven't known her that long, but I miss her like I miss someone I have known forever. Friends are out there, you just have to give them some eggs and see if they give any to you. But what do you do when you don't have many left?

Flowers for no reason.

I came home Saturday to find that my husband had bought me flowers :-) They are gorgeous yellow roses, and he picked them because they were our wedding flower - how thoughtful! Everytime we both look at them, we are reminded of that day. I got me a good one ladies, it's okay to be jealous!

I love you Hubs.