The best thing about my business is meeting all kinds of people. I have met and befriended people I never would have if it weren't for my camera.

There are so many personalities and everyone wants a different style of photos...casual, fun, posed, natural, traditional...one thing I totally enjoy is the challenge of capturing the exact picture each person is looking for. I try and capture the personality of each person, whether they are a child or adult. It's fun. Once I start looking through the eyepiece, I see things that I wouldn't see normally. And I snap away, capturing pictures that truly represent each person. People ask me how do I do that and actually, it is what my business is all about. People having fun. Once they're relaxed, I can get any photo I want from them. I don't know what I would do without my camera.

Last week we decided to "upgrade" our tv. Five years ago we bought a 48" big screen but only a few months later, the flat ones came out. Darn technology, just can't keep up. We had this big box that took up a lot of room. But we used it and enjoyed it for 5 years. But lately we had been itching for the new flat tv's that took up less space and had a better picture. So I thought I would try and sell the old one on a whim last week, not really expecting to sell it right away. I put it in the local paper and kind of forgot about it. A few people called, one couple came to look at it. Then this young college guy came over, bought it on the spot, hauled the thing up the stairs and away it went. Enter the new flat screen. The color is amazing, the screen size is a little smaller, 42", but it's just so compact. We're a little slow on the technology thing, but this one stays, no matter what new and improved TV comes out next.

We did it! My son and I took the Bowhunters Safety Education Class yesterday and we passed the test! Yes, I said test. Something I haven't done in 15 years so I was nervous. The class was ALL DAY...7 a.m.-5 p.m. I listened intently, taking notes in every chapter. (I wish I would have been so diligent like that when I was in college!) Anyhoo, it was so cool to be taking it with my boy. We had a good time. It was a long day, but we had a lunch break and met up with the rest of the family for food. That was a nice break. We were sweating bullets when they handed out the test...turned out to be much easier than anticipated. Must have been all those scratch notes I was taking. (Again, wish I would have been more like that in college, but mug nights were much more important then...hehe!) So after 10 hours of learning all about bowhunting, we passed, got the cards and now we are able to apply for game tags. My hubby was pretty excited about it. He loves teaching us, coaching us. We celebrated by relaxing over a bonfire and made plans for future trips. I have to tell you, I am pretty excited to go deer hunting. My son is not quite strong enough yet but he will be by next year. I really think the best part about this is that it's growing in to a family sport for us. We'll be able to experience the wilderness as a family and have so much fun doing it. And that's what's most important.

I hate conflict. I will do anything to avoid it. I just like everyone to be happy and get along. Sometimes I find myself agreeing to something, or not saying anything at all, even though inside I disagree. I'm just not good at dealing with conflict. But something has come up today with my husband that I feel pretty strongly about. He doesn't know anything about it yet. I'm debating whether to even bring it up at all or if I should just let it go. If I do decide to bring it up, I know it can't be right when he comes home from work, from experience, that is just not a good time. It's on my mind hard right now, talk about it, possibly bringing up a conflict or avoid the conflict altogether and not say anything. I prefer the latter but then I risk feeling resentment towards him and towards myself. That's not good either. To be honest, I struggle with maintaining that balance between knowing when to speak up and when not to. It all comes down to just wanting to make everyone happy. If only I had a little more confidence. So, I said a little prayer, asking for the right thing to do, the right words to say.

Help me to deal with conflict!

We were on a Tiger Woods high and hit the golf course yesterday. My son loves the game and lessons are really helping him. I, on the other hand, could use some of those lessons. Only 3 balls lost in the water and some pretty good shots were hit. Tiger would be impressed.

Pictures tell a thousand words...and more.

Vacation 2008 was, to say the least, awesome. And I fell in love...

...with the mountains. And the cabin life. I loved waking up every morning to deer in the backyard, the view of the majestic mountains and billions of trees, the crisp air at 6300 feet, the silence, sitting on the deck and watching the sky for endless miles, feeling so close to God, telling the kids how all these awesome mountains, valleys and streams were not man-made but created by God, being able to tell they understood that, feeling like we were tucked away in our own little corner of the world, the fireplace burning every night, a tv with only 3 channels and no one caring. Ahhhhh. It was refreshing and the memories taken from that vacation are priceless. We have decided that someday...someday...we want a cabin of our own. Someday.

We packed in a lot of stuff in a week...Mount Rushmore, Reptile Gardens (twice), Bear Country, 4 soccer games (2 goals scored), Spearfish Canyon, Custer State Park, Keystone, hiking up the mountain in our backyard and seeing what was over the ridge, 1 half marathon, and lots of quality family time hanging out at the cabin.

The race was a great experience. I loved the whole atmosphere. It was an early morning for us, 6:30 am drop off at the busses but no one complained. I rode up to the start line with a gal from Harrisburg and we instantly hit it off. That's what I love about these things...thousands of people and there's always someone new to meet. It was a beautiful morning but coooolllllddddd. The first 5 miles were awesome, although my toes were still numb from waiting for the race to begin! Then I kind of hit that "wall" and thought on no, the altitude is going to bother me. I just kept going through mile 6 and I felt great again. I saw the mile 11 sign coming up and I thought, wow that was quick! But my balloon quickly deflated when a race worker came running up with a mile 10 marker to replace it. No way, it was only mile 10. But I kept going, soaking in the beautiful surroundings. The last few miles were long, I was getting anxious for the finish line because I didn't know where I was going to end, who would be there, how many people would be there watching, etc. As I got closer, I checked my watch. I really wanted to come in at 2 hours but I knew it would be tough with the terrain, altitude and not really getting in a good run in 3 days before. The finish line was so exciting....hundreds of people clapping, cheering and there was my family, standing there, cheering with the rest of the crowd. I ran faster and finished in 1:55:54.

I then celebrated with an icy Coke and a couple of beers. :)

So now we're back in the real world, hubby is back to work, kids are back to summer acitivites and still relishing in the memories of the mountains. I seriously could live in the mountains and be very content with it. I just hope soon I'll be content again with living in the plains and the wind. Sigh. It was a great trip and we'll go back again sometime for another round.

The bags are packed (almost), the truck is full, the dog is on his way to the kennel, the dvd player is ready to rock, the kids are hyped up, the cabin is waiting for us.

Please pray for our safe trip, lots of sunshine, no mountain lions, my son's soccer team (go YK Sidekicks!) and for my legs to carry me across the finish line in somewhat good form. I hope I'm ready. I'll be thinking of you guys and I'll catch up with you when we get back next week with plenty of photos!

WE'RE OFF!

Hope you're not tired of yet another baby picture...

We're leaving on Wednesday for you trip to the hills and I feel like I have so many things to do. I can't wait to leave but getting ready for a vacation is really a lot of work. Not only do I have to pack for a week but I have picture orders I need to get out before then and a whole list of "little" projects that need tending to around the house. I also need to fit those extra runs as race day countdown is on. Ugh. So I suppose you are wondering why I am finding the time to blog with all these things needing to be done. I am wondering too. But then again, there's always time to blog and it's much more fun. And it's a reason to procrastinate.

The guilt has set in. I must get to my list. Pray my list gets lots of checkmarks today. And pray I keep my sanity at the same time!

My husband and I celebrated 14 years wedded bliss last week. So it's been mostly bliss, haha! Anyhoo, here was my gift...yep, you guessed it. A bow. I'm not aiming at a deer by the way, just a target at the archery range. After being with my hunting-man for all these years (18 total) I have learned a bit about the great sport of hunting. If I start learning now, maybe in a few years I'll hike along on the trips to find that elusive critter we have hanging all over our walls. With the awesome weather this weekend, it was great to not only spend time with the love of my life, but to do something we enjoy together. Yes, I actually liked shooting and didn't do too bad considering it was my first time. Watch out deer...this hunting duo will be ready to rock in a short time and we'll both be loving it and each other.

By the way, there was a romantic gift of perfume too. So i'll smell good while I'm hunting!