Memorial Day

"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be." -- John Wayne

It has been a family tradition for the past 3 years that we visit a local cemetery on Memorial Day to honor those who have served and are serving in the military. This cemetery puts up about 300 flags, each with the name of a veteran who has died. We feel it's important for the kids to learn about the sacrifices made for our freedom. I'm a real sucker for anything patriotic so I'll share just a few of my favorites (out of the 100+ taken).










I waited around for these guys to show up on their Harley Davidson bikes, they are Vietnam Veterans and bear their souls on their leather jackets. I can't repeat some of the patches that I saw, but one of them included Jane Fonda.... you can imagine the rest.

Ladies Man

It was 'kids night' at Studio 30 last Friday and I was inspired by vintage images of children that I used to look at when I was little. I'd walk by the greeting card section at the store and see an image of a boy kissing a girl, both wearing oversize clothing and hats.

My birthday boy

Jared had his 9th birthday yesterday and it's hard to believe he's so big. Time flies! It's amazing that he is alive, he is my miracle baby. I nearly had him when I was just 27 weeks pregnant and then again at 34 weeks - that time I was hospitalized for 4 days. He was just too excited to make his appearance, I guess. I knew he would have a zest for life even before he was born.

9 Thinks I love about Jared....

His energy
His curiosity
His humor
His imagination
His sympathetic heart
His creativity
His hugs and kisses
His smile when he's slightly embarrassed
His eyes

E! Investigates Bullying

Two nights ago, my mom and I were on the E! channel telling our story about my brother Jared who was bullied and eventually committed suicide. If you missed it, then you can see a 6 minute preview here. It's regularity 40 minutes long so I'm looking for the full version online. Eventually Hulu will have it, but it will take some time.

I thought the show was great, they did a fabulous job with the editing. I'm glad the editors were so kind to pick the best parts of my interview so you'd all think I was intelligent :) Finally, the subject of bullying is getting he attention it deserves and I am sure this will save lives. After I saw the show, I called the producer (also my interviewer) to let him know that I appreciated him and his staff. I was thinking of compiling other notes to email to the staff of E! so if you were touched by the show, then leave a comment and I will pass it to him.

I've decided to make my blog private for now, just until the weirdness dies down. I've had a lot of Facebook friend requests lately and most are normal people just letting me know that they appreciated the show. I did have one guy who crossed the line. He sent 15 messages and eventually a text message to my cell phone (I'm not too hard to find as I have a little photography business on the side with a website and number listed). I sent him a message letting him know I was not comfortable with a friendship, then blocked him last night. Hopefully he will move on, I would hate to involve the police. I guess this is one of the downsides to being on TV. I'm just a random citizen so I don't get it, personally. It does make me feel some sympathy for real celebrities, I could not handle that kind of attention/invasion of privacy on a daily basis. Being Mrs. Nobody, I am sure this too will pass. *fingers crossed* It doesn't help that Larry is in Idaho so my protector is gone until late tonight. I've been a bit jumpy, making sure the doors/windows are all locked at night and leaving a couple of lights on inside as well as outside.

Forks and the WA Peninsula

Larry and I drove up to the peninsula for spring break and spent a week in Forks. Yes, it's the home of Twilight and no, I'm not a crazy fan :) The trip started with an idea to go to Forks and take pictures of the area so that I can sell prints at the next movie release party. The proceeds would benefit the Edith Bishel Center for the Blind. After some more thought, we decided to do it over spring break and make it a little vacation for just Larry and I.

As we entered Forks, we noticed a line of cars which were full of Twilight fans and waiting to get their picture in front of it. We just drove by, surely there would be other opportunities and there was.....


We visited the Chamber of Commerce to pick up some brochures and maps for hiking trails. We LOVE hiking, especially if we'll end up somewhere gorgeous (not hard to find in that area). While there, we noticed the same Chevy model mentioned in the books so I snuck around the fans to get my shot of the truck. This small town has a lot of visitors. The Chamber of Commerce had 400 people in one day and they considered that a slow day.



We were lucky to have some one on one time with the lady at the office so that we could get some pointers on some really great trails. She also told us the story of Forks and how it was a nice little logging town. However, an environmentalist found that the Spotted Owl lived in certain areas around Forks so all logging came to a halt. The town was crippled by it and was soon referred to as a "dying town." Then Stephanie Meyer wrote Twilight and everything changed. The mayor took advantage of the opportunity and soon it became a nice little tourist attraction, it has been great for their economy. The town of Forks has literally come back from the dead.

This is a shot of a typical day in Forks..... wet and rainy.


The owner of the hotel that we stayed at gave us a little tip on an old logging road that lead to many waterfalls. It was a narrow road, so narrow that oncoming traffic would be nearly impossible to pass unless either vehicle went off the road. For one, it would mean going off a cliff :) My favorite waterfall was this one...



One the way out, there were breathtaking views of the trees and mountains with obvious signs that it rains a lot there. In fact, they have more rainfall than any other place in the United States (according to the Chamber of Commerce).



We visited LaPush and the beaches. We really enjoyed 2nd and 3rd beach. We hiked in and were completely alone with the whole beach to ourselves, it was romantic. Here are some shots of the different beaches in the area. We noticed that there was a lot of beached logs, we picked up a few small pieces to bring back with us.

















While hiking through the woods, we often got sprinkled on by the wet trees. On one gorgeous morning, the mist was in the air and it caught the rays of sunlight just right.



We found many many deer in the woods as we hiked. They weren't really afraid of people, but they wouldn't let us get too close either. Lucky for me, I borrowed a really great zoom lens from my friend and got this headshot.




On a day when it was expected to be pouring rain along with gusts of wind, we decided to head for Seattle. We drove north to Mt. Vernon where the Tulip Festival happens around this time every year. It was just beautiful! Fields and fields of blooming tulips, so many colors and I especially loved the dark clouds. We couldn't believe our luck with the weather this week. When I really wanted to do something or hike somewhere, the rain seemed to hold off until we get into the car to leave... then it started to pour. Larry noticed too and commented on how lucky we were.

The last 2 weeks.....

Larry and I took off for the Washington peninsula for spring break, the boys got to stay with their grandparents and get spoiled. We stayed in Forks, a rainy little town and it happens to be the setting of the Twilight books. I am one of the volunteer photographers for a local organization which benefits the blind and offered to sell prints for their benefit. Twilight fans might really enjoy some of the photos I took. This town is also near the La Push beaches that we planned to hike to. We did the math and figured that we hiked almost 10 miles in one week which doesn't seem like hard until I mention the steep uphill/downhill climbs involved. I am still going through the 1000+ photos that I took so I won't post any until I get my favorites processed.

We came back a few hours early and surprised the boys, they were excited to get home and decorate Easter eggs. Larry is starting to use the little point-and-shoot camera I got him for Christmas and he snapped these.







Larry grew out some facial hair during the week we were traveling, but he had to shave it all off before going to work on Monday. Hair and food products don't mix too well.



Today was "crazy hair day" at school today and the boys wanted faux-hawks so I did the styling this morning. It's amazing how they can go from zero to punk in 60 seconds, their personalities literally changed with their new do.

Studio 30

Every Friday night, Studio 30 hosts a play date where a bunch of photographers get together and let their cameras play. Sweet huh? Last Friday, we had some models and an old motorcycle. Add a fan, some awesome lighting equipment and a DJ.... well you get the picture. It's just pure awesomeness.

If you watch this video, you'll see what happens when the models all go home and we have to resort to shooting one another. Kevin did the video and this really awesome 360 view of what it looked like earlier when we were shooting, you'll have to click here to see the panorama.



Some of my spoils from the evening......

February 1, 1924 - March 5, 2010

Sometime before the holidays, my grandfather went into a nursing home because he had brain atrophy. After spending a few months there and suffering minor strokes, he died. He was a farmer and welder by trade who lived in Ashton, Idaho for most for his life. He was also a WWII veteran who served in the US Navy and was in Samar during the Christmas Mutany of 1945 (an interesting story we all grew up hearing about). As a young child, I was scared of him because he was a very gruff person and he looked scary to me. However, I eventually figured out that his bark was worse than his bite and I learned to see the humor in his words. One of my favorite things about him to photograph were his hands. They tell such a story to me. In fact, a poem was read at his funeral called "These Hands" by Eddie Noack which seems to fit one of the last photos of his hands that I took (and I've taken a few over the years).



Originally, I wasn't planning to go to the funeral, but I woke up Sunday morning feeling that I needed to go. I'm glad I did, I knew I would never regret going. My grandma is one of my favorite people in the whole world and spending time with her is a real treat. I've never met a sweeter person in my life.



The Honor Guard was there to pay their respects to a veteran, they did such a good job of honoring my grandpa. I was touched by their serious dedication and attention to details.









The morning after the funeral, I went snowmobiling with my dad. The snow was a couple of feet deep and really crisp so the conditions were perfect. My mom snapped a couple of pictures on my way out. I had a huge puffy snowsuit on and my camera bag on my back. At one point, we were going more than 70 mph so the wind really bit my face, but the photos I got of the old cabins were totally worth it. My dad enjoyed going over a couple of bumps which made me fly up out of my seat on one occasion.... it's a good thing I was holding on.








My dad showed me this piece of farm equipment which was used on their farm years ago, it has retired here in this spot for many years.


Some of these others were taken while I was driving around the countryside. There are so many beautiful things to see in Ashton, it's where I would like to retire to someday.