FOTP: Kindness

This will be a fairly short blog post, and there will be no pictures, as I am writing this on my lunch break at work!

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you might have read that today is quite a bittersweet day for me...tonight is the Jasmine Star photography business seminar that I have been SO excited about since I bought my ticket...I've been "meeting" other attendees through our group Facebook page, and can't wait to soak up all the photographical wisdom, experience, insight and love tonight!

However....

Yesterday I had to take She-Ra back to Dr. Wang at the Nashville Vet Specialists.  The infection in her front paw took over with a vengeance this weekend - by Sunday, her front leg was twice as large as the other, and quite warm. Monday morning I woke up, and found she had licked a hole in the leg.  You read that right.  Obviously, I was pretty upset.  She-Ra and I loaded up in the truck.  When I went to get the update from Dr. Wang after work, it was determined that She-Ra would stay over night and Dermatology would perform a biopsy (biopsies?) today with She-Ra under anesthesia.  They let me take her out for a walk and sit with her for a little, and then they took her back. 

Torture.

They will perform the biopsy after 3 today, which means that as I am supposed to be getting crazy excited about meeting a photographic rock star, I will also be wondering how in the world my girl is.  And I will be waiting and watching my phone for the call that will let me know she woke up from anesthesia, and just how bad (or not bad?!) the infection is.

FOTP??

I am choosing to focus on the KINDNESS that the employees at NVS have shown She-Ra.  When I dropped her off in the morning, the vet tech who has been with her from the start (Meredith) was there to greet us.  She-Ra perked up, and loved all over her.  Meredith, in kind, was loving all over She-Ra.  I love Meredith.  Dr. Wang always sits on the floor when she is talking with us, and again, She-Ra LOVES her.  And yes, I love Dr. Wang too.  Becca took her back last night, and said repeatedly how great a dog She-Ra is, and how beautiful she is.  (I just met Becca, but now I love her, because She-Ra IS great and beautiful!)  They let me know that I am free to call in the middle of the night to check on her if need be (or just because!), as they are staffed 24/7.  In this very scary time, I am comforted that She-Ra is comfortable with those caring for her, and so very grateful for them!

As my friend Kimberlee posted the other day - "every single person you see is struggling with something and to them it is just as hard as what you are going through" (Nicholas Sparks, Dear John).  I hope that you can find and focus on some positive aspect - however tiny - of whatever it is you are going through.

Crazy Dreams....

I really do have crazy dreams.  Boyfriend makes fun of them all the time, and I have no rebuttal, because I certainly have no idea where they come from!  In this case, however, I'm talking about a song.  I have recently started watching my DVRd episodes of Smash.  I'm undecided if I love it or not at this point, but on one episode, Megan Hilty's character sings "Crazy Dreams"...here are the lyrics:

Hello you long shots

You dark horse runners

Hairbrush singers, dashboard drummers

Hello you wild magnolias

Just waiting to bloom

There's a little bit of all that inside of me and you

Thank God even crazy dreams come true

I stood at the bottom of some walls I thought I couldn't climb

I felt like Cinderella at the ball just running out of time

So I know how it feels to be afraid

Think that it's all gonna slip away

Hold on, hold on

Here's to you free souls, you firefly chasers

Tree climbers, porch swingers, air guitar players

Here's to you fearless dancers, shaking walls in your bedrooms

There's a lot of wonder left inside of me and you

Thank God even crazy dreams come true

Never let a bad day be enough

To go and talk you in to giving up

Sometimes everybody feels like you

Oh, feels like you, just like you

Thank God even crazy dreams come true

Thank God even crazy dreams come true

Well, I couldn't help but feel that song speak to me.  Now I love music.  LOVE it.  It's playing in the background 99% of my day (either really playing, or playing in my mind!).  But there are a few songs that have absolutely smacked me in the face with their words and have either motivated me, or validated me, or just said exactly what I wanted to say.  Crazy Dreams has now been added to that list.  

Previous list-makers:  

~ 2003: Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts (I was in a funk upon arriving at my first Army unit, and this song was my get-over-yourself-and-move-on song)

~ 2005: Great Light of the World by Bebo Norman (my entire Baghdad deployment: "Oh great Light of the World, fill up my soul...")

~ 2006: Evanescence's Fallen album.  I was in a partially dark place after Baghdad, and so many of her songs were too.  But they are also beautiful, and the disc was on repeat for a few weeks (plus, who doesn't love that part at the end of My Immortal when her soft voice leads to her band rocking out?!).

~ 2008: I Was Here by Lady Antebellum (one of the songs for the 2008 Olympics).  I can't play this loud enough.  I would provide all the lyrics, because I love them so much, but that's not what this blog post is about.  (Just the chorus, because now I have it on repeat as I'm typing:  "I wanna do somethin' that matters, say somethin' different, somethin' that sets the whole world on its ear.  I wanna do somethin' better with the time I've been given.  And I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life, and leave nothin' less, than somethin' that says, 'I was here'...and I know that I, I will do more than just pass through this life...")

Back to Crazy Dreams...well, I have this crazy dream of making photography a full-time gig.  Sometimes I feel like there are SO MANY of us out there with our digital cameras snapping away trying to take it to the next level, what makes me think I'm any different?  I'm moving slowly, but that's how I like it.  Ok, sometimes I wish things would move faster, but I like taking my time learning some of this new stuff.  So.  Much.  New.  Stuff.  Sometimes I wonder why I bother learning all this new stuff,  when I was perfectly happy with my pictures before!  Hmmm...perfectly happy?  Weeelllll......   Then why did I beg Boyfriend for PSE10 for Christmas when PSE7 was working just fine?  Why did I save for my new 50mm lens?  Why did I leap at the chance to nab Lightroom 3 on sale the other day?  Why am I absolutely chomping at the bit and counting down the hours until Jasmine Star's photog seminar in Nashville  (79 and 1/2 hrs at the time of this writing!)?  And why am I obsessively pouring over photog blogs for tips, support and inspiration?!  Well apparently I want this crazy dream.  WANT.  DESIRE.  LONG FOR.  I know it may take awhile.  I know I still have oh so very much to learn.  I know it won't happen tomorrow, or even next year.  But it will happen.  Day by day, lesson by lesson, and picture by picture.  And PS, I am TOTALLY also a hairbrush singer :).

Hello you long shots, You dark horse runners...Hairbrush singers, dashboard drummers...Hello you wild magnolias, Just waiting to bloom....

New Feature: FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE (FOTP)

As many of you know by now, my girl She-Ra {Princess of Power!} has developed an immune deficiency disorder.  While it is mostly under control thanks to medication, we discovered a new infection a few nights ago in one of her front paws.  Ordinarily, this would not be a big deal - and it still may not be - but for the moment we have to investigate if this is a sign of a bigger problem.  I called and left a message with a tech at the Nashville Vet Specialists, asking for our Dr. Wang to call me at work to let me know if I needed to bring She-Ra in.  NVS had taken in some of the dogs rescued in Operation Sweethearts, so I didn't want to pester the vet unnecessarily.  At the end of my work day, I still had not heard anything, so I called back.  Turns out that Dr. Wang had indeed called. Now I RARELY leave my desk.  Apparently she literally called in the two minutes I was not at my desk to answer my phone, so a co-worker answered.  And said that there was no one in the office by that name.  Dr. Wang had asked for me using my boyfriend's last name.  Boyfriend and I have been together for 6 years, so when they call me Mrs. S at the vet, I don't think twice.  It happens all the time.  It never crossed my mind that calling me by his last name would make me miss a message.  It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't be at my desk to answer the phone!  So at that point, it was too late to drive all the way back home (1 hour) to pick She-Ra up, and then to drive her back in to see Dr. Wang (another hour).  Dr. Wang suggested I try to get She-Ra to my local vet.  Which closes at 5PM.  It was 3:45, I had an hour drive to the house, and then I had to get to the local vet.  Sheesh.  My extremely understanding boss let me bolt, and I hit the highway.  And hit traffic.  And got stuck behind a semi.  And I tried not to cry.

Are you wondering about my "focus on the positive" yet??

It was when I got stuck behind the semi that I tried to force myself to calm down and take a deep breath.  I do honestly believe that all things happen for a reason, so I repeated that outloud a few times, and then turned on the radio.  I switched it to WAY FM, a contemporary Christian radio station.  The band Red greated me with their song "Not Alone."  And at that point I smiled.  It's a song that has - no joke - been on each time I've had to drive She-Ra to/from the vet.  And here it was again.  A few minutes later the local vet called to let me know that they had a sister clinic that was open until 7PM, and that our local DVM happened to be there that night.  I'm not making this stuff up, folks. 

So there's my FOTP point for this entry: I am not alone.  You are not alone. 

For some people, this is a cop-out that Christians use when people are going through a rough time..."God is with you" sometimes just doesn't mean anything to a person in the midst of hurt.  I can only say that yesterday, it brought me back to a place where I was ok.  Where I was reminded that I am not, in fact, alone.  I have friends and family who have been supporting us along the way (a friend kept my other two dogs while I took She-Ra to the vet, so they didn't have to spend 18 hours alone), and I have a God who notices me sitting in traffic stressing about a dog....

....my beautiful dog, if I do say so myself :)

"I am with you.  I will carry you through it all...I won't leave you, I will catch you.  When you feel like letting go, you are not, you're not alone..."

~ God, via Red

Cutest. Baby. Ever.

So baby Farryn was one of my first shoots of a non-family member.  She may possibly remain my favorite (non-family member) of all time.  She doesn't stop smiling.  She is BEAUTIFUL.  She is so loving, and she has some super cool parents who stay cool when I freak out about her moving close to the edge of the bed (how do parents DO IT?!).  Farryn's mom wanted some pictures to share with family who live on the other side of the country, as F is getting ready to turn 1, and she wanted some in a gorgeous vintage outfit sent by F's aunt.  As it was 23 degrees outside, we opted for some indoor shots.  As you'll notice, we couldn't help but get ALL the family members involved ;).

Quality mother/daughter time

Happy Girl!

 Showing those teeth!  I was trying to catch those ALL morning!

Isn't this dress gorgeous?!  Sent by her loving aunt!

Quite possibly my new favorite picture...I mean really...you can't fake that kind of enthusiasm!

This is where I started to freak out...slow down!!  There's a cliff at the end!!  (Mom and Dad just laughed at me, and as it turns out, Farryn did NOT take a dive) 

I am in love with the following pictures of Farryn with Delilah - one of the family's dogs (I couldn't quite catch the other until the end, in the family shot).  Soooo sweet!

Oh this gorgeous baby...

 

Let my dog out!

(Although there are a few pictures with Delilah out of reach, Farryn and Delilah actually spend a great deal of quality time together...I love dogs and their babies!)

And finally, one big family shot:

 Can you believe it?!  All looking in the same direction?!  This is such a great family, and I can't wait to take more of their pictures!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Several weeks ago I was able to finish up some pictures I had taken of my friends T&D.  I figure today is an appropriate day to finally post the rest of their pictures, as they are happy in love, and happily awaiting the arrival of their first baby (a boy!).  I'll start off with a "before and after"....before they found out they were pregnant (they just wanted some pictures of their new pup!), and now while pregnant (look how big the puppy is!) - I knew I wanted to photograph a series like this as soon as I found out she was expecting!  Our next session will hopefully have some baby feet added!

Here are a few others of the family...

Isn't she just gorgeous??


As for my Valentine's Day, I came home to a super fun surprise from two of my neighbors (both neighbors were kind enough to think of me today - I have apparently failed at being a good neighbor!!): two cards pups (I think you know by now how much we love ours!), some chocolate and some homemade doggie treats!

I'm so lucky!!  

Project 52 Week 6 ~ Linear

I'm going to join the ranks of the bloggers who say they're way behind.  Because I am.  Another weekend gone, with not enough time to write all I want to write, or show the pictures I'd like to show.  Really, I'm not sure if I'd be writing at all, if it weren't for the Project 52.  There's such an amazing community of photographers (not pro to pro) participating, and I don't want to miss a thing!  This week's themes were Linear and Topsy Turvey (chaos)...I thought chaos would be a piece of cake, since I feel like everything about me is in chaos right now!!  


(A beautiful chaos, but chaos nonetheless)


As it turns out, I just didn't have (find?) the time to capture my chaos, but I did take a picture of my amaryllis...remember the plant I was trying not to kill?  Well I haven't!!  I will not see a bloom this season, but I have leaves.  Bright, beautiful, tall and alive leaves.  I'm pretty excited :)

I will be making a concerted effort this week to share some more pictures that I have taken recently...yes, some more of the dogs, but some more baby bump pictures, and some of the most precious almost-one-year-old little girl!  Also, I've entered into the world of shooting RAW.  Not a big deal for the experienced, but a big deal for me!  Shooting in RAW allows the camera to capture ALL of the light data, and therefore allows for greater manipulation in processing/editing.  Add this to my first complete shoot in manual mode, and I'm feeling pretty good.  Well, I'm feeling pretty terrified, and overwhelmed, but excited and motivated...I need more time!  

Project 52 and Some Great News...

This week's theme included putting ourselves (the photographer) in the picture - too often we hide behind our cameras!  I had been trying to think of how I'd like to pull that off, when I snapped this picture:

My oldest dog (4 years old, a female named She-Ra {Princess of Power}) has recently been diagnosed with a frightening condition called Evans Syndrome - the short explanation is that her immune system attacks its own red blood cells and platelets.  After two blood transfusions and a ton of ongoing medication, we received word yesterday that her red blood cell level had returned to normal (slightly better than!)!!  This was the picture I sent to my boyfriend to let him know the good news :).


So although this picture didn't really test my photographic skills, and "editing" was merely the push of the "Earlybird" filter in my Instagram app, it is a picture that holds a whole heck of a lot of happiness for me...