how to turn 28

Sunday was my 28th birthday and it was fabulous! We rented a house right on the beach in Nags Head, NC; about an hour and a half drive from our house. I had just received this pretty striped beach umbrella as a gift from a best friend and I was able to use it every day.

There was saltwater taffy.

There was plenty of time spent on the beach with great friends, and the weather was perfect for it. 80 degrees and sunshine, and the water was still warm enough for some play.

There was mini golf; I am always the color red in any game that I play. I looked strange, practically laying on my stomach, taking a picture of my golf ball. I pretended that it was all part of my game.

This was the beach in front of our house and the pier was directly behind me when I took this picture.

Our house had a huge deck on the second level which was perfect for late nights spent under the stars, talking with my friends and enjoying the sound of the waves. We stayed here Friday-Monday, and we ended up with ten people in the house! It was a perfect case of the more the merrier.

This man was the guard/shopkeeper at the entrance to the pier; a friendly, extremely talkative local.

We also got the long version (at least I hope it was the long version!) of P.C.'s story from another talkative local, and it was sweet to hear him tell the story while petting Pier Cat on the head. Some guests ended up having to leave him behind a few years ago, and now he hangs around waiting for the beach-bound folks and pier fishers to feed him and pet him. The pier owners even had him fixed and take care of his vet visits. He reminded me of the Avalanche porch kitties.

It was a wonderful, fabulous and exciting way to turn 28. I think it is going to be a great year!

please sign on the dotted... shadow stripe?

My mom always has the the coolest stuff. During my visit she showed me these great boxes of really old writing paper. Don't ask me how old 'really old' is because I don't know, but they are old.

These made me want to pen a note or two right away and send them off via Pony Express or carrier pigeon.

My best new habit is having my little camera with me at all times so that I can bring everything home with me and still have room for it all because it is all there on the memory card. Well, not true; my iPhoto has almost completely filled the computer. I don't have a problem getting rid of most material things but when it comes to digital files, WHOA. Don't even think about it. How do I decide which pictures to keep and which to discard? So I keep almost every single one of them. Oh, and my camera hasn't let me down yet; I love the dimension that I was able to get in the type.

I remember hearing something about how for every one picture that appears in National Geographic the photographer took at least one hundred others. And although I have no desire to appear in National Geographic I do trend in that direction in amounts of photos. But that is for me to worry about; you get to sit back and see my every 'one-in-one-hundred' shots.

waffles with St. Peter

So, what else have I been up to you ask? I made a quick trip up to heaven, rested on a cloud, and watched a beautiful sunrise with St. Peter. We sat by the pearly gates and ate some delicious Belgian waffles with plenty of homemade whipped cream and fresh berries.

Okay, that didn't really happen. However, I did get a chance to go and visit my family in Wisconsin last month. We had hoped that it would be a meet-up of the five of us for the first time in years, all under the same roof where us siblings grew up together. Life makes different plans from time to time, so it ended up being mostly my mom and me during the days and my brother and dad in the evenings when they came home from work. Sofie left for India with her boyfriend (she's been posting bits and pieces of her visit here) before I made it back, but at least she is on an adventure!

I left Norfolk in the early morning, and couldn't resist capturing the sunrise and the land and water below.

I saw the shipyards where I love the colors of the cargo containers when we drive by. They are probably bringing junk from China and wherever to fill the shelves at Costco and Target, or carting away our recyclables to countries where it is cheaper to buy our trash than to purchase their own raw materials. And then they ship it back to us full of consumer goods, and so it goes, all in the pretty colored containers.

I showed these photos to Craig when I got home because I thought he would appreciate them, being a map nerd by profession, and he spotted where he works in Hampton.

I have yet to cross the St. James River bridge, but it doesn't look very impressive anyway; I think it is only 5 or 8 miles long. Only. Sheesh.

And I'm pretty sure that this was Lake Michigan on the way home; it was so blue and beautiful in the sunlight. I'm glad that the clouds were scarce so that I could see.

I think I have some more material from that trip to share, plus the rest of my life's goings ons. Which I am humbled and thrilled that people are interested in looking at and reading about, by the way.

an almost month-in-review: part 1

It has been brought to my attention that it is quickly approaching a full month since my last post, so I think it is time for me to play a little catch up.

It is all finally starting to sink in now. I really have a new life here; this move as well as some resolved personal issues have changed so much about who I am. It is all around fabulous, wonderful, surprising, and a little bit exhausting.

I love a fresh start, a clean slate, a new place. I love it so much that I forget the emotional toll that it can take, especially since I felt that I had weathered the worst of the storm in the highly stressful months deciding to leave Tucson. Deciding whether or not to sell our house, realizing how many wonderful, important people in our lives that we would be leaving behind, and being unsure if we were making the right decision. (It is a little silly, but when I say "emotional toll" I can't help but think that it is just a life size version of a tollbooth; pay your dues with "change" and your gate will open to the road (of life!) ahead.)

Needless to say, this is a year in my life that I will not soon forget. Remember when I turned 27 and it smacked me in the face? Well, my 28th birthday is fast approaching and I am ready to take it on.

So, what have I been up to? More like what haven't I been up to! One thing (besides spending as much time at the beach as possible) is practicing photographing people. It isn't a strength of mine, and I hope to get better at it. This is Julian, the son of my wonderful neighbors and beach pals. He makes a pretty adorable and easy model to work with; it is just all about capturing the perfect moments that you almost didn't know were there in the first place. I love the surprise of watching a moment happening, deciding when to push the button to capture the moment, and the instant gratification when I can see a really great image on my camera screen. I'm finding that although some of it is pure luck it is also about observing movements, moods, and trying to predict what the next movements might lead to. This is so different from styling a setup and having unlimited chances to capture the right image.

What else have I been doing? Stay tuned!

multi-purpose

I picked up a big stack of these little flower pots at Ikea a few years ago because I liked how the colors looked together, and because they were only $1 each. They don't have a hole in the bottom, and I don't have a great track record with plants, but I've found plenty of other uses for them over time.

I use them as a corral for my marker collection,

I stash my (minimal) daily makeup in one for easy access on a shelf in the bathroom,

and I'm even having a bit of luck with my hot pink geranium. Because there is no hole for water drainage, and because I'm really lazy and hate touching dirt, I just put a few pebbles in the bottom and popped it right in, still in the ugly brown store container. It has been flourishing in my living room window!

And lastly, one of my favorite tricks that I've mentioned before; anything can be a bookend. So, I just make a stack of whichever ones I'm not using at the moment, and there you have it!

I've really been a bad blogger for the past two weeks, but I'm finding summer to be so enjoyable that I can hardly stand it! I'm still taking pictures, but getting out and about and spending time at the beach has become my #1 priority these days. Really, can you blame me? I saw dolphins for the first time while at the beach a few days ago. This may be ho-hum for some people, but it is pretty much magic for me to see. I'm constantly amazed by this beautiful place, and I have no idea why I didn't move here sooner.

I'm off to finish putting together my new desk that I ordered from Target online (free shipping!), and start pushing things around in the bedroom. I'm almost certainly going to injure myself, but my friend Melissa and I have always been the type to start moving things NOW when the mood strikes. I'm creating a lovely home for a fancy new addition to our lives. No, not a baby! A new desktop Mac! I'm thrilled to pieces, and will probably add years to my life by untangling myself from my usual pretzel position on the sofa, lap on fire from the MacBook's heat, and major pain in my neck, shoulders, fingers, and eyes. I love this MacBook, she's been oh so good to me, but a proper seat and a large screen will change my life.