Oh friends! As I begin to type this my mind is in a million different places…and since I can’t seem to decide where to start, I guess I’ll let my fingers do the talking and I’ll just follow along!
It is no secret that I LOVE photography. LOVE it. The challenges, the triumphs, but most importantly the moments. The little moments forever frozen in time, forever etched on my heart and stored in my mind. I can pick any random album saved on our computer and 99% of the time I can remember the day those images were taken like it was yesterday. That is what I love. No, not all of my pictures are fabulous works of art (I only share the good ones!!), but you see, they are memories. Sweet, cherished, forever mine…memories.
As I sift through images, some more recent than others, I am reminded once again of what is truly important in life. It isn’t having a fancy house or name brand clothing. It is so, so much more basic than that…it is simply living in and loving every moment we are given. And I am so blessed to have captured many of these moments forever…
The fleeting expressions frozen in a photo taking us back to a day and time when life was simple. The ornery smirk reminding us of an innocence that passes all too quickly. The grubby bare feet splashing carelessly in puddles. The crocodile tears streaming down the face of a heartbroken toddler. The sheer amazement that THE Polar Express is coming to pick us up and take us all the way to the North Pole. These are the moments that define us…these are the moments that define who I am and how far I have come. These are the moments that bring tears to my face.
So, I got a little deep on ya, hunh?! I wasn’t really meaning to go that direction, but I also happen to love to write so that side of me slips out from time to time!! Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is that as I have spent the last couple of weeks focusing pretty much on Etsy creations in my free time, I have missed taking pictures…really missed it. I think that in and of itself says something. And although I love to create and be inspired with crafty fun, I also love to create and inspire others with my pictures. Those once in a lifetime images of my children that bring tears to my eyes because they are so real…that is a gift I would love to give others. The priceless gift of a child captured in his element.
So, as I continue forth with my Etsy shop, I am going to relax (something I do NOT do well!) and have FUN with it! That was the whole reason I started it in the first place…but I have to be honest that lately I have been a little stressed out by the whole idea. And it is simply not worth losing sleep over and be stressed out by. I am going to create what I can and when I can, but I think an equally imporant use of that free time is to immerse myself in everything I possibly can to learn as much as I can and pursue my love of photography on a different level…on a more professional level. No…I am not opening up a studio next month or anything like that (I don’t think the whole studio thing is really me anyway, I prefer the more laid back approach!), but I am going to see where this passion takes me. So wish me luck!!
WHEW!! So, on a much lighter note, I have lots more to share!!
Sweet Michelle tagged me as one of her favorite blogs to read! How fun is that?!! Wanna know a little secret – I love her blog too! She is such a creative soul and a sweet girl!! Too bad she lives in Tennessee!!
As a recipient of the this fun little award I am supposed to now choose SEVEN blogs and share the love!! And while I definitely check more than seven blogs a day, I am a lurker on most of them and would probably scare the people silly if I tagged them!! So, instead, I am sending you to Michelle’s Etsy shop and telling you have a little look-see at her creativity!! Maybe you’ll find something you just can’t live without!! (I am personally LOVING this little owl card…but it sold already!!)
Okay…so Monday we had one heck of a dust storm in these parts! I was upstairs and noticed that it was getting really dark really fast so I started checking out the windows. I looked out our bedroom window and could tell that we were about to get nailed by a dust storm!! So I did what any picture taking crazy girl does, I grabbed my camera and ran out on the patio!!
(I will warn you that these are all straight out of the camera except the one of Gentry standing up…I am not much into landscape or “pests” photography {read on} and can’t bring myself to spend time editing them!!)
Here is that shot…(See that little hint of bright blue peeping through?!)
Although it looks dark and ominous like a regular storm could, there is just something about a cloud full of dirt and dust that is a little different than your regular old storm cloud. Anyway, just minutes (literally) after I came in the palm trees were swaying in the wind and pool toys were floating on the water! Glad I got my beloved camera out of harms way!! (Don’t worry…the kids were safe. Each one was standing on a chair, drink in hand, watching out my bedroom window!! I am telling ya…our world is pretty boring!!) So, these next shots are from out of my bedroom window and taken through the glass.
See all of that dirt and dust?!! YUCK!! And although it isn’t always flying through the air like that, it is always in the air nonetheless. The lack of rain here and the sandy soil are perfect conditions for dust everywhere!!
We got a whopping .09 of rain out of this…nine HUNDREDTHS is all!
And as you can see, there is still construction going on back there!! Two houses are done and they are working on three or four more just to the left of where the picture ends. Won’t be long until they are building right behind us!!
I took this one while Huntler was at school yesterday. Gentry and I ran errands and when we got home I was taking some trash to the curb and she started dancing around in the puddle we got with our little smidge of rain!! Isn’t she just a cutie pie?!!
Now…here is reason #147 why I do NOT like living in the desert.
See that??? It may look like just a little hole to you…but a rodent lives in there. YUCK! We were just outside on Sunday and that hole most definitely was NOT there, so the little critter has been really busy!! And it gets better…I was back on the porch today and the hole is even bigger than it was when I snapped this yesterday…so he has been grubbing away. And yes…I said on my front porch. This hole is like four steps away from our door. I have this huge fear that I am going to open the door and the little varmint is going to get scared and run in.
We don’t even know what these things are…little ground squirrel – chipmunk – prairie dog – sun worshipping things is all we know!! We had one take up residency in roughly the same place right after we moved in, but once we had our landscaping done, he was gone.
And I just remembered that we have a picture of one of these things from just a couple of days after we got here. Yes…on our grill. Lovely. Ugh…I get squeamish just thinking about them!! I DESPISE rodents. I don’t love snakes by any stretch of the imagination, but I am not nearly as grossed out by them as I am by these things! I think I am definitely more scared of snakes though!!
So that is reason #147 why I don’t like living out here. Here is reason #148.
A bat. A dead bat 10 steps from the hole with the critter. Yeah…BOTH discovered within 2 minutes of each other yesterday. Not a good day, my friends, NOT a good day!! We knew we had bats “around” last summer but haven’t seen a single one all year. I was getting a little suspicious though because there is this little pile of “stuff” which I presume to be bat droppings on the driveway directly underneath this awning where an entire family could easily roost. Nice. I am now pretty darn sure that those are bat droppings and this little fella wasn’t strong enough to weather the storm we had the other day. Either that or he just flew into the side of the house! Either way, it is a tiny but disgusting nevertheless.
After “happening” upon both of these finds yesterday morning I came in and woke Chris up! (He was sleeping because he worked the entire night before.) He wasn’t nearly as alarmed by any of this as I was!!
And like mother, like daughter. It might be repulsive but we are going to make ourselves look at it anyway!! She even showed Daddy and Huntler where he was!! That’s my girl!!
And while on the subject of all things disgusting.
Reason #149
Huge, crunchy, FLYING, beetles. I think these are called Palo Verde Borer Beetles. We saw TONS of these things last summer (they come out in July), but I have only seen one this summer so far and he was dead!! Chris has seen more, but he is outside more than I am, so that makes sense!!
And I saved the best for last.
Reason #150
The Desert Hairy Scorpion. We caught this last summer. I remember that day VIVIDLY. Chris had just left for work and the kids and I were at the kitchen table eating waffles. He hadn’t been gone 30 seconds and was back home. “You HAVE to see this. Get your shoes.” So, as horrible as I looked in my PJ’s and crazy bed head (and as ridiculous as a family of four looks walking around staring at the ground at 7:30 in the morning!!!), we trekked across the street to the neighbors house where this scorpion was crawling through the rocks. Chris had seen it crossing the street and came back to get the camera and then had the insane idea to capture it!
We saw one more like this in our front yard last year…just a couple of weeks after we caught this one. Chris ran over it with the mower and he was mowing in flip flops. Scary. And then we (well, Chris) found a dead one in the back yard. Oh…and then there is the tiny dead one I found in the kitchen. Thank goodness it was dead because supposedly the smaller ones have a worse sting. It was right after we moved in. I remember that I was crawling around on the kitchen tile sweeping up all the crumbs because my new friend Mistie and her family were coming over for dinner. I was sad, homesick and then absolutely appalled to find this scorpion IN OUR HOUSE! I remember turning off the sweeper and saying to Chris…”Man, that is one mean looking bug.” We didn’t know for sure if it was dead so we scooped it onto a paper plate and examined it. Please tell me we aren’t the only ones who do strange things like this?!!! Anyway, it was obvious then it was a scorpion…but it was MUCH MUCH smaller and more translucent. I cried. I had to go to the store and I remember blaring “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” by Carrie Underwoo
d on the radio and crying.
d on the radio and crying.
So…on the scorpion front. We haven’t seen a single one all summer! We have the exterminators come every other month but they have told us repeatedly that unless our neighbors have regular pest control come that it doesn’t do much good. And the fact that we live 150 feet from a canal and total desert doesn’t help either! Just gotta watch out for sure!!
Rattlesnakes are the other biggie…we saw a baby one last fall but that is it so far. But where there are babies, there are mamas!
And HOLY COW this has turned into the longest post ever!! You may not hear from me tomorrow since I posted three weeks worth of material in this one entry!!
Have a great Wednesday!!
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by Bethany
Hi B,
Love the picture of Genty, she looks so grown up and soooooooo onery!! She changes so fast! If it makes you feel any better, a nurse at the hospital was over to our office yesterday and she was limping ….. she had sat on a scorpion and gotten bit 3 times by it! I know they are not as poisonous here, but they do exist in Kansas, as well as bats and rattlesnakes – don’t think we have those huge beetles though! America’s got Talent is starting – talk to you soon! Love you ALL! Mom and Dad
I’ll take rodents, beetles if I have too, and I actually like bats (they eat bad bugs) but am fearful of scorpions! We have the little bark scorpions…they are really bad!
I found out on Monday; after taking Jillian to her 6 month check up and receiving a packet of paperwork about safety; that there are over 30 species of scorpions here!!! Our first year in this house we had 13 INSIDE! And found 2 itty bitty ones that had been dropped off mommy scorpions back! She carries them around! I’m getting twitchy just writing this!
Okay enough of that…..love the cute picture of Gentry
OMG girl! You have me ROLLING!! I shouldn’t be laughing at your misery, but you really DO have a way with words! Each creepy, crawly image made my jaw drop lower and lower! That beetle was freakin’ HUGE! And a bat? I don’t even know what to think about that! Makes me feel very silly for thinking garden spiders and my occasional roly poly invasions are the world coming to an end.
Oh, and I thought OUR dust was bad! Sheesh! That’s a lot of dirt you’ve got flying around down there! I think I’m beginning to understand the full picture now, of why are you are so homesick!
As for the deep part of the post…you described exactly the reasons why I do what I do. I love photography, but I’m terrible with words. I would love to write something like that to put on the “about me” portion of my portfolio site, but it would never sound that eloquent.
Alrighty, I’m off to bed. That was the perfect end to my day. Thanks for that laughs! I’ll be thinking of you the next time I find a minuscule creature in my home and think twice about freaking out over it!
Hey Bethany,
Wow, what a long write up! I loved it though. It’s so interesting to see all those creatures, we don’t have them in MD, well maybe a few bats, but you don’t normally find them laying around. lol As for the scorpion… I would have done the same thing! And at the same time would have been freaking out!Too cool!
Anyway just wanted to let you know, I love your blog and I’ve added you as a favorite read on my blog. Hope you don’t mind! I look forward to your next writing. Gentry is such a cutie!
Megan
I could barely look at the pictures of all those creatures, so I don’t know how you actually took the pictures. Ugh!!! Brandy
Yikes, those are some scary little critters lol!! Your daughter is beautiful though, and you seem to be maintaining high spirits! That’s the important thing.
By the way, I saw a pic of one of your bows on Denise’s blog and she directed me here. I’d love to see more, as I have a nine month old daughter (after having two sons first). My daughter, as you might imagine, is always dressed to the nines lol! I’d love the opportunity to find some cute bows like the ones you make for her.
OoooohHhhhh MG….NO thank you rodents and beetles and scorpions!! BLECH!!! How on earth……?? Oh, I really feel for ya now, girl! YIKES!!!
Okay, so I was not terribly grossed out by the rodent or the bat…normal Kansas stuff, right? But all I could say when I saw that nasty HUGE beetle and creepy scorpion was HOLY S*%T! Excuse the language but that’s just nasty! You poor dear! I’ll take the brown recluses and annoying Kansas vermin any day! Good luck dear!
Love ya! Jennifer
OH WOW…those bugs are icky!!! hehehe
You are too funny! I kind of like rodents…bugs not so much. I suppose you would laugh a little about the teeny tiny baby bat we found in front of our office building. It was still alive, but obviously almost dead, so we called the zoo to come and rescue him. Not sure what happened to it, but we are hoping they euthanized it
My guess is they probably threw it in the trash 
!!!!!