little red door

This is my family's house in Atlanta (I'm quite fond of the red door!). My step-mom wanted me to take photos of the larger rooms inside, and a shot of the front of the house. This was my favorite, and she ended up using it.

nothing like free shades

Why, yes, I am making a stupid face on purpose! How'd you know?

decatur arts festival

This weekend is the Decatur Arts Festival; the family headed down to the square to wander around today. There were several really interesting photographers' booths, and I wish I had money to spend on decorating, because I would have snatched up a fair few of their photos. There were amazing paintings there, too, as well as sculptures, mixed media pieces, handcrafted clothing and accessories, and jewelry. Throughout the day there was a variety of live music, and plenty of food vendors. We stopped in The Square Pub for lunch and to watch the UEFA Champions League final match on TV (Barcelona won!). That ice cold glass of tea really hit the spot.

the second oldest

We had a lot of family come into town for my sister's graduation. Ryan, my younger brother, goes to Illinois State University, where he has just finished his first year towards getting his PhD, and also teaches a freshman English class. He's the overachiever, obviously. Notorious for hating his photo taken, I was encouraged by the parents to snap away and get as many candid shots of him as possible. It was fun, especially when he pulls silly faces like this; he was just finishing breakfast!

graduation day

Today is the day my sister, Christina, graduates from high school! It's hard to believe she's 18 already, because that makes me 28, and I certainly don't feel that old yet. I'm super proud of her, though: in the fall she's going to start at a two year school to get all her basics out of the way, then head to a local university to study early childhood education. Congratulations, Chris!!

the cowardly lion

This is Ed, my dad's coon hound/lab mix. He's a big dog, but is such a scared-y cat! He runs from any camera pointed at him, even if it's a cell phone (especially in the dark - he doesn't like the light for some reason). I finally managed a pretty good shot of him hiding around the corner; he was distracted by the other people in the room.

light painting

This is my attempt at a long exposure shot, using a flashlight. My camera is a simple point and shoot, and it doesn't really have a manual setting, so I had to fiddle with the various settings it allows. I set it to take a night shot, setting the f-stop at around 200, and proceeded to experiment with one point of light in a darkened room. First I tried setting the camera on a still surface and moving the flashlight quickly in front of the lens, but the aperture wouldn't stay open long enough to catch anything. Then I had my sister hold the light steady while I moved the camera in a circle. The result isn't what I was going for, but I think it was an interesting experiment. Perhaps next time I'll try it with my manually set 35mm.

sitting in the yard

My sister is graduating high school in a couple of days, so we have more family in the house than usual. I needed a bit of a breather, so I grabbed a book (and my camera, of course) and sat outside for awhile

Being the forgetful person I am, I managed to miss taking a photo yesterday. I'm a bit annoyed at myself for missing a day within the first month!

a day at the pitch

This weekend is my youngest brother's last soccer tournament with his team. I've never seen him play on this team, but they didn't play very well together today; though Nick has improved significantly in the couple of years since I last saw him play. I don't think I am very good at taking photos of people, especially when movement is involved, but this second shot didn't come out too poorly (it was the best of several!). I just have to practice more.

from the ground up

My family's house has no carpet anywhere, it's mostly old, beat up, wooden floors. I've always liked wood floors, though I think I would prefer some small rugs here and there to add some color.

graffiti tunnel

There is a walkway tunnel that goes under some train tracks across from Agnes Scott, and according to my sister, the graffiti on the walls tends to change. These are only a couple of the many interesting designs along the pathway.

a walk around the neighborhood

At the moment, I'm living in a part of Atlanta, Georgia called Decatur. I really like this area, as I am able to walk just about everywhere with ease. A few streets away from my family's house is Agnes Scott University, an all female university with a gorgeous campus. My sister took me walking around Decatur and we walked through part of the grounds on our way to the square. I snapped quite a few photos, but only a few came out to my liking; these are my two favorites (and yes, I am loving this 'miniature' setting on my camera).

the great outdoors

Living with my immediate family again means also living with the two family dogs: Ed and Capri. I missed having these rambunctious two around; having just my grandparents' cat, Chloe, was very quiet. I spent some time outside with them in the backyard today. There's this very large old tree near the door (I'm standing on the rock ledge around it to take this photo), and if I'd had a tree like it when I was a kid, I would have thought it was the perfect climbing tree. It did make for a fun photo-taking spot. I used the 'toy camera' option on my camera to get the miniature effect on the patio furniture. I was just playing around with that particular feature, but I like how this shot turned out.

temporary home

This is my temporary room: a corner of the dining room, with no door and nowhere to put any clothes (except the two little drawers of my night table, and the plastic storage bins I brought it all in). But it's only for the next month and a half, hopefully less than that, as the plan is to find an apartment for myself, and my younger sister (who is about to graduate high school), as soon as possible. My dad, step-mom, and youngest brother (age 13), are moving at the end of June to Cuenca, Ecuador. My dad is retired military, and he tends to get these crazy ideas, so at first us older kids (my brother, Ryan, and I) were skeptical about the whole thing. But apparently, in Cuenca, they can live comfortably on just Dad's retirement. It's a new experience for them, and the rest of us kids (including my middle brother, Frank, who is in the Navy), get to visit for Christmas. I'm pretty excited for that, though I have to worry about getting a new passport - my first one is long since expired (I got it when I was 8 years old!). Any excuse to travel somewhere I haven't been yet!

on the road





 Two days of driving across 4 states, one hotel stay in Gulfport, Mississippi, and getting a little lost once I got off the highway in Atlanta, and I made it in one piece! Only one casualty in the moving truck: my $18 plastic floor lamp. Oh well, I want to redecorate anyway. Glad to be back in the land of huge, green trees. And the weather is actually quite cool at the moment, if only it would stay like this all year round.

the last of the packing

 

   Got the last of the packing done yesterday. Good thing I had most of my things still in boxes, that made it much easier. Today I rented the moving truck and got everything packed up and ready to go for the morning. One last look at my now empty room before bed - have to wake up at 5 AM to get an early start on all that driving.

goodbye little car

My Geo Tracker is officially a girl's first car! Allison is an 18-year-old I worked with for a short time, and now my old car is her new car. She was very excited to get it, calling to ask her mom (from school, mind you; she's a senior) if she could put the top down to pick her up later. I had it for 10 long years, and was never it's biggest fan, but it took me through quite a bit of traveling, and it's weird to see it go. I'm glad that little car is going to be put to good use; hopefully it gives her a few good years.

I'm starting to feel anxious about this move. I made the trip fine three years ago, but back then I was driving my own car, with a GPS, and everything I owned fit inside of it. This time I have to rent a moving truck - I've never driven a large truck before - with just Google maps to lead the way, and I'm also worried about the weather. There're still storms brewing and major flooding throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, both of which I have to drive through (not to mention tornado-stricken Alabama). I've been reassured that a major interstate highway like I-10 would be fine, and I stay on that road just about the entire way to Atlanta. But it's still nervous-making.

so much to do

I'm nearly finished packing! I miraculously managed to downsize my wardrobe considerably and ended up donating two large plastic lawn bags to Goodwill today. That makes 4 bags of clothes in a month! I can't believe I had so many clothes; I still have quite a lot. I have to clean out my large suitcase tomorrow and hope the rest of my clothes fit in it - I already have two plastic storage bins stuffed full.

I am such a procrastinator; a normal person would have had all this little packing done with way before a couple of days prior to leaving! Shame on me. Get with it, girl!

taking a break

I'm moving this week from Texas to Georgia, driving a moving truck on my own the whole way. I did this before, coming to Texas from Georgia, three years ago, but I had considerably less stuff than I do now, and it all fit in my car the first time. Well, I'm selling my car before I go (I won't be needing it), and I have more than a few boxes packed, as well as furniture, not to mention clothes. I went through my clothes again tonight, really thinking about whether I wear something often. Managed to gather together a huge trash bag full (which I have to separate into two, as it's too heavy) of clothes I can donate. Add that to the two smaller bags I donated a couple weeks ago, and I can't believe I had so much! Working in a clothing store will do that to you, I guess.

happy mom's day!



 I took my mom to Panera for lunch for mother's day, followed by a bit of shopping at Anthropologie. She had never been there before, (it's my favorite store) and I knew she'd like it. Wish I could decorate my own place with so many things from there! I bought my mom a neat little butter dish, since she's been looking for one, and she really loved it. It was a pretty good day, despite the ridiculous Texas heat, and we had fun being silly.

mmm pie

Instead of having to wait an hour for a table at a restaurant on Mother's Day, my mom, grandma and grandpa, and I decided Saturday would be a better idea. We went to Marie Calendar's, mostly for the pie; the food was pretty good, but the service was terrible. I had a really yummy lemon cream cheese pie, since I had been craving lemony goodness all week, but boy did I eat too much!

a room with a view

I'm moving in five days, so this backyard is one I probably won't see again. My grandparents are selling the house, so they can move closer to the little grandkids in Colorado, soon, and I most likely won't make it back for a visit before then. There's a nice old oak tree off to the right, with a bird feeder that my grandma keeps full of seed; to the left is where they used to have an above-ground pool when I was younger and would visit every summer. Zoom out and you would see the covered porch with a few chairs - a good place to sit and read a book while the cat roams around her yard, arguing with the squirrels and stalking birds. There's a lot of memories here; I'll miss this place.

testing out the new camera


I am so happy I finally bought a new digital camera! It's been a year and a half since my 6 year old Sanyo broke. I did no in-depth research (other than what I already know), I went in looking to spend no more than $100. I got lucky: Target was having a limited-time sale price on a few cameras, and after going between a couple Sony's and a Canon, I decided on the Canon (and not just because of the brand!) It's a Canon PowerShot A2200; 14.1 MP, which is nearly twice that of my old camera (8 MP). Just a little point-n-shoot, but it will last awhile (no more dropping cameras!). Eventually I will be able to afford a digital Canon Rebel (to match my 35mm), but I need to hone my photography skills a lot more before that will happen. I'm excited to start a new project now that I have a good camera!

& now for something completely different

I totally forgot I had this blog! I initially started it just to follow a handful of (amazing) blogs, but I think it's time to really get my hands dirty with this.

I'm in the process of moving from Texas to Georgia (again), and hope to make a more interesting journey out of it this time. I'm driving the entire trip, on my own, with a new digital camera and my trusty 35mm Canon Rebel at my side. The plan is to start a new 365 project, as my last attempt did not make it.

Here's to creativity and not getting lost along the way.