The Perfect Day.

What a great day!  I photographed an 80 year old lady.  Her son wanted a portrait of her in their long time home, by the window in an old fashion chair.  I couldn’t help day dreaming when my son might do the same.  Seeing her smile into the camera brought forth emotions and warm fuzzy feelings; I envisioned her as a loving mom, going through all the motions we've all done raising children. The cycle of life.

Post “hypnotic-photo-shoot” came successful errand running to the bank, Home Depot, Costco, gas station...then to SWIM!  I know my lap times & hit the 5:00 open session.  As the sun set around me, I finished my 2 mile workout. 

Last stop on the way home was the grocery store.  I was hungry & my lane-sharing-swimmer had just informed me that sugar and salt were indeed good for joints.  That being true (until I researched it more) I opened a bag of Buffalo Blue chips & feasted on some salty goodness of Kettle Chips.  Then hitting the produce isle, I munched on some fresh blueberries and finally a beautiful cupcake from the Bakery!  I had my appetizers and dessert, so protein and salad would balance out my evening meal when I got home.  I love grazing through the grocery store.  I consider it my duty to amuse the checkout employees and baggers, who laugh at the 3 things I’ve opened and consumed.  Hey, laugh at me or with me, just laugh.

Working, swimming, feeling strong, enjoying great salty and sweet, editing photos, writing, ahhhh, the perfect day.

Lost Sweet Tooth

As family & friends anxiously watched me compete on Wipeout, my son had his own mission.  He wiggled & wiggled a tooth on & off for an hour as he sat viewing his mom on T.V.  Upon the finale, cheers erupted, my daughter was crying & hugging me tightly chanting "I can't believe you won!"

5,6,7 minutes passed & I couldn't even find my son Nate.  Then magically he appeared, grinning as he bounded down the stairs holding his fist out towards me he exclaimed "I lost my 7th tooth!  I got some floss that Zoe used to make your zip-line on the Wipeout Cake & I made a lasso & I just pulled it out!!!" 

He enjoyed licking blue frosting around the smooth toothless space as he savored his successful night.

Wipeout Cake!

For my T.V. debut on Wipeout, my daughter made an obstacle course “cake!”  The Shape Shifter was a modified iced oatmeal cookie & dental floss for the zip line. pop ‘em donut holes were carefully aligned as the Big Red Balls.  Red Kix cereal balls stuck on to a frosted graham cracker for the Sucker Punch Wall.   I love my biggest fan!!!

I can finally say “I won!”  Deciding to keep it a secret from everyone I know (my kids, brother, boyfriend, friends & parents) made it easy to remember!  Man was it hard to creatively not tell the truth, but scarily enough, like anything else I’m channeled into, it got easier with time!  After a few “I did well,” and the inevitable “well, did you win?” question, I began to avoid the yes or no answer:  “It was a great competition, you’ll have to watch it to find out.”

Sweet lifetime friends & family came over to scream at the t.v. with me.  I love this show.  I loved the crew.  While the super duper thick mud was being perfectly prepared, other contestants were so fun to hang out with.  I wish I could do it again & again!  Watching it at home, hearing comments from the two Johns for the first time was hilarious!

I am so thankful for my amazingly thoughtful friends.  I received candy earrings, boxes of odd candy, cupcakes, bags of great bin candy, signs & cards for support.  Thanks for giving me so much sugar!  I am overflowing!   What a Fan-Sugar-tastic experience!

S'more Please!

Nothing better than gathering around a campfire with some s'more sticks! Besides the sweet company of family & friends, my favorite part is that it's perfectly acceptable to repeatedly attempt to roast & consume many, many marshmallows. The great thing about being in the dark & everyone having their own goal, is that... no one knows I've eaten 12 marshmallows!

 

Fear Not...Anything!

Last week I was asked to photograph (my primary career) a skate competition (held today).  I had lots of excuses why I didn't have time this weekend, but in the end, I love sports & being outside, so I decided to do it.

And once again, A GOOD CHOICE!  It was a blast, the people were awesome, friendly, happy, competitive, & there was good music & food.

But the main thing that made it above my expectation was seeing a friend who exclaimed how her daughter had been experimenting with baking a lot this summer & trying sweet recipes with healthier ingredients.  WHICH IS SO ME!

She got me excited again to finish writing this book I'm nearly done with.  After editing it 4 times, I started to think that it wasn't so special, that all this information is already out there & that I shouldn't publish it.  So after this blog, I'm going to challenge my fear of publishing a book & hopefully you'll see it offered on Amazon Kindle or iTunes in a few weeks.

Rich & Blue & Chocolaty

I'm currently writing a book "How to Have a Healthy Sweet Tooth," & this seems like a perfect example.  Today's creation was due to my chocolate bar melting yesterday & me putting it in the fridge.  Then I bought blueberries at the store, separately.  When seeing them side by side my heart pitter pattered... mmm...quick & rich & chocolaty.  Rich in antioxidents that is!  My perfect bowl of 1/2 of Trader Joe's Swiss 72% dark chocolate bar broken in pieces & fresh blueberries, sent me skipping to the office to write this blog.  It's a good thing I ate up the blueberries because I'd want more of this "lunch bowl!"

Techo Beats

I love techno music.  A stable, monotonous, continuous beat, escalating to a higher level of interest, peaking with great intensity & passion, then coming back down to a more mainstream, acceptable pace.   I seem to be going along in my day to day activities, when the feeling of passion inevitably arises for something - could be a new trick on the trampoline, a new idea to pursue or a new recipe & I run with it...feeling intensely excited & bopping around with great vigor.  After fulfilling my interests & experiencing the rush of breathtaking feelings, I settle back to a normal pace. 

Techno music induces skipping & hopping, leaping & bounding during my run....and making other people smile when they pass me feels good too!