looking back, thinking ahead...


i have started a book called life makeovers....

it has been on my bookshelf for the past 4 or 5 years.
but i picked it up the other day
and thought that this
might be the time to do it...to follow the prompts,
to see where they take me...

one of the first exercises is to
think over the past year...
and list your accomplishments
and acheivements...the second part of that
is to share it with someone...
so...
i am sharing it
with you...

{and i am hoping that this book will
help me fine tune my mondo-beyondo-grande
list...which is still coming...it's just formulating
right now...}

in the past year, what have i achieved or accomplished?
~parenting a 9 year old and a 13 year old
~succeeded at another year of marriage...
~dealt with 13 having her first boyfriend without hysterics
~bathroom reno
~left one job to start another
~challenged my driving skills by driving 45 min back and forth
to work in WINTER by myself!!
~had my first ever 1 person gallery show
~had my photos shown in a collection in a gallery
~photographed my first weddings and family shoots
~created my own website including a domain name
~purchased my own computer and hooked it up
all by myself!!
~survived a blown tire while driving with no panic
~sold a painting on Etsy
~created an Etsy shop
~had two articles written about me in local papers
~got recognized at McDonalds and asked for autograph :O)
~was asked to go to dominican to shoot a wedding
~signed up for a creative writing workshop
~got a freelance job photographing festivals
~started experimenting with slow cooker
~was asked to collaborate with a blogger i adore on a
photo idea
~wrote a number of test for new job and passed them
~have made time for reading again and am on 17th book
~started doing yoga again
~taught myself how to use lightroom

it was interesting to do this...to put it in print...
this is what i have done...this is how far i have come...
this is in one year...wow.
and to help me decide where i want to go...

the second part to this is to list 3 ways
i have grown over the year...
and i would have to say
creatively...
confidence in myself/belief in my abilities
comfort in letting more people see the real me...
{heh. funny tho...it's the me you guys have seen
all along...}

nobody puts baby in the corner....

i fell in love with johnny castle.

i wanted to be baby.

i still shiver when they try to do the dance scene
and she laughs everytime he trails his hand
down her side
but then finally gets it right.

that was the one movie that would end
and i would immediately rewind my borrowed
VHS bootleg copy and
watch it
from the beginning
again.

my girl, 14, is also broken up about it...
but she loved him as darry...
which i did also
as there could have been no one more perfect
to play that part
but it was johnny castle for me...all. the. way.

{and just for the record...my favorite in the outsiders?
dally....oh...sweet bad dally...}

sigh.
so sad.
i haven't felt this way about a celebrity passing
since mr hooper and mr dress up....
:O(

friday i'm in love...


with life...
with love...
with yoga...
with routine...
with fall...
with capturing weddings...
with planning props...
with the overwhelming support on
my facebook fan page (arlene giddings photography
if you want to check it out...)
with hope...
with planning ahead...
with lists...
with daring...
with warm chocolate cookies straight out of the oven...

what are you loving right now...
this second...

39...

today i turned 39.

this is my last year in the 30's.

i spent the day ::
~getting the kids ready to go back to school

~finding a squirrel at the top of the basement steps,
staring at me...as i quickly slammed the door....

~having lunch with one best friend before going to
a wake for the step father of another best friend

~coming home to find out the squirrel had gotten
into the house and was in the living room, attached
to the blinds, terrified...waited outside for my
husband to come home, catch it under a blanket
and set it loose in the backyard {hoping it does
not find it's way back in}

~chinese food for supper with husband and kids
listening to an avid breakdown of their first day back...

~back to wake this evening with husband,
who couldn't go this afternoon...

the other thing i also worked on today
was a new mondo-beyondo-GRANDE version
list...i have done one before but i feel that
since this is my last year in my 30's ....
it warrants a list of it's own...
a big list...an inspiring list...
a list of epic proportions...
but due to the strangeness of my day,
it won't be posted until later.

i have high hopes for 39.
cross your fingers for me...
:O)
{oh. and some of my list involves some of you.}
{just so you know...a heads up...heh}

friday i'm in love...


it has been a long time since i have done
a friday i'm in love....

with:

:: wedding photography...i love the intensity,
the emotion, the possibility, being part of such
a special day...

:: the first season of the office...i rented it
the other night and loved it...so funny.

:: strawberries with milk and sugar

:: new stamps and a new area to create...
sunny and all mine...

:: the promise of fall...crunchy leaves, apple
picking, riot of color...