I posted yesterday with intentions of not coming back for awhile, but today was monumental.

Well, not really.

But post-worthy.

So, the morning started out like any other... with me being slightly klutzy and tripping or knocking into something and saying, "Ouch." This is nothing out of the ordinary.

Then afternoon rolls around and Kristi and I are loading up her car for a photo session. I was carrying a chair out the back door. It was a relatively big, awkward chair, so I was maneuvering it so that it would fit through the opening. As I did so, the screen door started to shut behind me and my foot came up to keep moving forward. The corner of the door caught my ankle, and instant pain shot through my foot.

No big deal, though. Ouch, but I kept moving. It was one of those injuries that hurt but I didn't really check it out until I was done putting the chair in the car because I just wanted to finish the task at hand.

However, when I looked down, the entire back of my foot was covered in blood. Upon closer inspection, a big chunk of my skin had come off and so I immediately went inside to find a band-aid and Neosporin. First, though, I dabbed at my ankle to clean up the mess. By the time I got into the bathroom and looked down, my foot had continued to bleed and I saw I had tracked it all over the kitchen floor, rug, and bathroom floor. What a mess!

I finished up w/this wound and ran off to the photo session. So much for shoes with straps for the next month. Good thing it's flip flop season.

Then tonight, Kristi was editing some images and I scooted my chair over to her computer to look at something. As I did so, the most painful sensation shot through the bottom of my OTHER foot. I looked down to confirm that indeed, a push pin had been injected into the bottom of my heel. Ouch!

Blood immediately gushed forth.

Seriously.

Up to the medicine cabinet again, this time in search for a smaller band-aid.

Now that I have injuries on both of my feet, maybe tomorrow I can work on my arms. My goal is to stay injury-free for the rest of tonight. I might have to start living inside of a plastic bubble.

Love you all!

T

I was recently in the car with an individual who will go unnamed and she told me:

"Taryn, don't take this the wrong way, but, lately you have not posted anything on your blog that has made me laugh.

I need you to make me laugh again."

Lucky for me, my self-worth isn't placed in how hilarious I am on my blog. Unfortunately for my unnamed friend, I'm fresh out of ideas.

So I have a feeling that tonight's post will be a few bricks short of something hysterical, but it's OK.

Take heart. At least I'm posting anything at all.

Life has been crazy. Really busy!

If we could get in a time machine and travel back to 6 months ago at this time, we could see me sitting in the dark, cold "purple room" of our basement, dressed in comfy warm clothes, sipping coffee, and deciding whether to turn the space heater off or not.

We fast forward to today and I am sitting in a bigger, more spacious office (however in the same basement) in air conditioning, very sun burnt, crazy busy, and one day past shooting the 6th of 15 weddings this year.

Who would have thought?

Business has grown and has been blessed, and we have the Lord to thank for that!

Anyway, my point is this: I was bored 6 months ago. And now I can't seem to sit still for one day.

But I still like to drink coffee, so that hasn't changed.

OK, enough on how "busy" life is... in other news:

I'm posting an early Top Ten, because chances are I won't be back on Tuesday. So we're early this week, but better early than not at all.

Today's Top Ten will focus on the top ten things that I would love to do if I had 3 hours of interrupted "time" in the morning. I am NOT a morning person, that is for sure. So if I had some sort of "prep" time to my day, just a 3-hour window in which I could just pause all other outside life and carry out these activities, this is what they would be. Vote for anything that you already do every morning:

1. Morning Walk or Bike Ride.
This would include music from an ipod.
It's so much more inspiring and motivating to exercise when you have tunes in your ear.
Plus the fresh air and sunshine help to "wake you up."

2. Breakfast.
I LOVE breakfast.
And not just ANY breakfast, but a good one.
Like French Toast, or
Eggs and bacon, or
A Giant Cinnamon Roll, or
Waffles & Bananas, or
something like that.

3. Coffee.
A big mug of chocolate mocha coffee.

4. Word Jumble.
This is my FAVORITE puzzle in the newspaper.
Some prefer the Sudokus.
Some like the Crossword.
I like the one at the bottom of the page, the one where you unscramble several words in order to form a list of more letters that you have to unscramble into a phrase that is the answer to some sort of play-on words comic.

5. Read.
The newspaper.
A chapter in my current book.
The devotions from my Bible.

6. Learn.
I love howstuffworks.com.
I would love to devote a few minutes everyday to learning about a new topic.
I think it's good for the brain!

7. Clean.
Tidy up the place.

8. Photograph.
Something new every day.

9. Write.
In my journal, or
A card to a friend, or
Anything.
It's good for the mind!

10. Pray.
It's the best way to start your day.

Love you all!

T

5 things about today.

1. it was one of the hottest, most humid days of the year. and i was privileged to spend 2-3 hours out in it. and these hours were not spent a) swimming, b) lying directly underneath a sprinkler, or c) immersed in cold ice water, which, as far as i am concerned, were the only 3 sane ways to spend today if outdoors. no, my 2-3 hours were spent "working" (i.e. taking pictures for 2 different photo sessions), which is enough to heat a person in cold conditions. so. a large portion of my day was spent sweating.

2. but let's not blame the entire sweat session on just being outdoors. no, time spent in my car was also such. why? because my air conditioning is out. that's right. it's out in my car. on the hottest, most humid day of the year. so the 60 miles i drove today in my car were also spent in extreme heat. so then, to relieve this problem, i simply just rolled down my windows so more of this hot, humid air could "cool" me off while driving. worked like a charm... (not).

3. it is almost 11pm and i should be in bed, because i will be waking up at 5:15 am tomorrow morning. but i can't, because...

4. well, i drank 2 really sweet ice coffee drinks today. yes, 2. oops. but... i was by panera. and then i was really close to a starbucks. and, well... it was a hot day. and it tasted good.

ok, so i didn't really need to drink 2.

but they tasted good.

5. i had a great day-- i really truly did! and i topped it off with a wonderful bible study with some very special girls.

and my new best friend got me to bible study tonight.

her name is jennifer.

she belongs to a company called verizon wireless and for $10/month, i get to use her navigation services to direct me anywhere!

she automatically knows where i am at all times, she can direct me to any italian food restaurant, coffee shop, or mall according to my gps location by car or foot, and she provides me with prompts, maps, and directions all at my very finger tips!

what more could i ask for.

tonight on the way home, i actually for a minute fooled myself into thinking i could get home by myself. no problem. no need for jennifer.

after about 5 miles of driving, i saw a sign that didn't seem quite right...

so i consulted with jennifer...

and she told me to take my first legal u-turn.

i had travalled 5 miles in the wrong direction.

for $120 year, i may just be at the right place...

and as far as "at the right time," goes, i'll have to wait until verizon wireless comes out with a new "on-time" system for those of us who are chronically late.

---

love you all!

t

Today was one of those days...

first day back from vacation.
The first day back from vacation is never a happy feeling, but come to think of it, today wasn't half bad considering. I always picture those days as awful, early morning, slow-moving, yawn-invoking times, but today was endurable. Maybe it had something to do with all of the coffee and caffeine I had today.

running late.
All day. And for those of you who know me well, this isn't really a rare, one-day problem. It's basically the theme of my life. I'm surprised I wasn't late for my birth. It's really a chronic problem that I wish some sort of oral medication could resolve, but there's nothing to be done except turn back the clocks in my house to 20 minutes earlier some day when I'm not home. I'm kidding. But really, it all started this morning when on my slow-moving-still-feel-like-I'm-on-vacation body got out of bed. Actually, I gave myself plenty of time, but the problem is that I wasn't as quick as I usually am. Therefore, breakfast forfeited, and the apple-cinnamon oatmeal I fixed for myself was wolfed down in literally 3 large gulps. I grabbed my thermos of coffee and was out the door. I was scheduled for on-the-job training today until 11:30, and since I was driving and mastering the course of mail run, I lost all track of time. I didn't get done until 11:45 which left me with 10-15 minutes to come up with an idea for lunch before I had to be out to TR for my class that started at noon. I'm not one of these people who gives up a meal no matter what the circumstances, so I sped over to the Kmart plaza in search for food. Chinese? Takes too long. KFC? Ugh, totally not my favorite but I headed in that direction until I spotted the solution: Blimpie! I pulled into the parking lot and sighed when I saw a guy who slid into step just a few feet ahead. Bummer. I was a little bugged he got in ahead of me until he opened the door for me, and his gentleman-like character lifted my spirits. However, the sandwich artists at Blimpie today didn't get the memo that I was in a hurry, so they were moving at some sort of turtle pace. You know when you're in a hurry and the world seems to shift into slow motion? That's how I felt. I grabbed my food and hit the road, SO thankful that the construction work going on at Veterans Road (all for the sake of being able to reach Walmart at all angles of Morton) was somehow stopped at the moment and no guy in a bright orange vest was holding up a SLOW or better yet, STOP sign at me. So I made it through class and rushed home to my list of 5 phone calls that I needed to make. My friend and business partner showed up so I talked to her for a few minutes, then made the calls and shot out a few e-mails, only to find I was 10 minutes late to the Survivor Dinner I was suppossed to be at to take pictures. Fortunately, I didn't miss much, and I was able to capture some nice moments at the dinner.

cops, cops, everywhere.
Even in my reading material. I'm reading this book right now about this negotiator, and basically it's about two cops. Then today, I saw police men everywhere. And it's not that I'm thinking more about them becuase of this book, because at one point I was being followed by a police car without realizing it and then suddenly when I saw him I was very nervous that I had been speeding. He continued to follow me for awhile and then thankfully went straight when I turned. I think it's so funny that when police cars are around, everyone drives like 5-10 UNDER the speed limit. I saw several other law enforcement vehicles lurking around town tonight...hmmm...

fresh air.
I needed it badly so tonight after the dinner I hopped on my bike and started the trek toward Nautilus. The air was heavy and humid and the sky was cloudy, but somehow just pedaling on the road with the wind to my face and music in my ears set the world straight and relaxed me. Often, the art of being active is what winds me down the most. It's quite the backwards concept but it's really the truth. Heather had texted shortly within that time so I committed to ging on a walk with her when she got off work at 10pm. Another much needed session! Walking and talking has always come easily to our friendship...

i wish i was invisible.
I noticed this thought for the millionth time tonight as I was walking around at the Survivor Dinner snapping pictures. My task was to obtain pictures of people at the dinner, obviously candid ones. I love taking candid pictures all except for one problem: the people themselves are often an obstacle. Candid cannot be truly candid unless someone knows you're not there. Unfortunately I only had the 50mm lens tonight which has no zoom. YOU are the zoom. A large part of the successful photos captured with this lens are taken at a good 3-4 feet from the person, which means I can't hide in a corner and get a good picture. I have to be willing to get up close and personal. Easier said than done. I've shot enough wedding receptions to interpret the strange looks and brief stares of those mingling that are wondering, "Why is that girl with the camera taking my picture?" Of course I comfort myself with the fact that most people assume I'm a professional photographer and serve a purpose for walking around with 2 cameras strapped to myself while nudging my lens into their space, which is the truth, but sometimes I forget people might know that when I get the apprehensive stares. Then every once in awhile you get the people who immediately react and look away, cover their face, or make a face and look at you like you're holding a shot gun instead of a camera. I guess both do shoot. We do have a lens that allows you to stand a comfortable distance away and zoom in on people from quite a ways back and still get a beautiful picture, which is essential at some events. However this lens was not on me tonight. So I decided tonight that the only real solution to my problem is to become invisible. If I could walk around and get the pictures I really wanted of people being natural, unhibitied, and surrounded in laughter, it would be a beautiful thing. And on some level I eventually get there when the evening has warmed up and people forget I'm swarming around them like a bee by a honeycomb. But until then, and even then, there's still that small, inhibited behavior that resides in anyone that knows a camera is present. I know it because I've been there. And since I'm not at liberty to sit everyone I photograph down and give a speech on "forgetting I'm in the room all night," this is the situation I deal with at most events that I shoot. So obvoiusly I have found ways to overcome (i.e. buy a lens that allows you to zoom in from very far distances). And really, it's not always as hard as I'm making it sound. I just wanted to paint the picture as to how glorious it would actually be to be an invisible photographer.

That's really what I want to be when I grow up.

But I guess if it doesn't work out, a photographer will do.

inbox.
Kristi introduced me to the concept of organizing all of my emails into folders and only having what the e-mail in my inbox as my "to-do" e-mails, and then file them away as I get them done. It's an ingenious idea... when I'm actually around to keep up on it. And most of the time I am, but as mentioned before I was on a family vacation in WI Dells this weekend (good times! I'll post pictures soon), plus my life has been seriously crazy trying to keep up with 3 jobs that have all suddeny increased in busy-ness, so currently I have 42 e-mails to deal with. That's before 18 more come in tomorrow, 1/3 of which I'll immediately delete (I don't need to know about Old Navy's sale or Barnes & Nobles' latest book of the week), 1/3 of which will remain in my "to-do" inbox, and 1/3 of which I'll quickly reply to and file away if requiring immediate attention. Anyway, I heard on the radio this morning that in a work day, you should only plan on checking your e-mail once and it should NOT be first thing in the morning. Evidently that's one of your most productive, creative times, so you should start with brain-heavy work. However, e-mails should be checked once a day and stay "caught up" on so as not to pile up, perhaps around 11 am. I heard this on 106.9, my favorite morning radio talk show.

love you all!
t

Today was the first day in a long while that I was able to enjoy a full day uninterrupted in Morton church. With all of the wedding photography that Imagine Artists has been shooting, my weekends lately have been filled with pictures. It's a wonderful thing... but, I will say, staying in one place all day today was quite a treat. I sat up front this morning, enjoyed a great lunch, grabbed my little nephew and carted him around for awhile (and he fell asleep on my shoulder... oh, my favorite), talked to some friends, and had a great relaxing afternoon.

After church I biked over to Nautilus with my parents, the place where we work out. A lot of people around here work out at Gold's Gym. At first, I wanted to follow the crowd as the "body attack" classes and little community of people and treadmills looked attractive, but now I'm glad I stayed put at our original choice of exercise. I often get one-on-one training at Nautilus including an extra "push" when I need it as well as a correction of form to make sure I'm getting the most benefit. Also, it is my understanding that weight training is the most effective form of exercise to burn fat and stay healthy. I get my cardiovascular exercise in by going on 6-8 miles walks with my friend and by biking to Nautilus on the days I work out, so I feel like it's beneficial all across the board!

When we had successfully returned from our exercising with only a few drops of rain catching us, we decided to bathe our 2 cats. They despise this activity. I'm not sure why cats are so terrified of water but our cats definitely are. I even googled this phenomenon afterward and couldn't find any real good reason why this occurs, but nonetheless, we got the cats nice and clean and brushed.

We then journeyed to Chili's to meet Tate & Melissa and kids for dinner. After that, I hooked up with a couple of my friends. I ended up at Barnes & Noble with Holly by the end of the evening. We got our Starbucks fix and roamed the store finding magazines and books of interest. Among my selections included several books on digital photography and applications, a book on cats, and a book on personality types. I ended up purchasing a book on nonverbal communication (via body language) written by an ex-FBI agent, as this fascinates me, as well as a giant book of Word Jumbles. Those are my ultimate favorite. I look for them every morning in the paper and see how fast I can figure them out. Most prefer the Soduko or crossword puzzles, but I LOVE unscrambling the words and puzzle. Sometimes, if I can't figure out a word, I think about it all day long (in between other activities) until I do.

I also made another goal while in Barnes & Noble tonight. I'd like to make an Andy Warhol Art collection. I really love his quotes and B&N sells his art-quotes in squares, now framed, there. I almost bought another tonight to add to my 1 (I know, my collection is HUGE so far!) but I decided I have plenty of time to accumulate and I left it on the shelf. I would someday like to have 5-8 hanging in a row by my desk when IA has a bigger office.

Well, that was my day. Thought I would share. Sounds kind of diary-ish, but, oh well. I'm going to try to head to bed, I have a big week ahead!

Also, I had an idea for Top Ten this week so if I'm not running around like crazy by then I might post. It's not out-of-this-world spectacular or anything but it's post material, so maybe check back Tuesday.

Love you all!

T

I fear that I have been going through a bout of writer's block.

Every time I come to the posting board, I freeze. Usually, all that I really have to do is pull up the white screen and start typing, and some sort of post formulates.

Lately, it hasn't come. For the first time in a long time, I cannot put 2 sentences together in a meaningful way to save my life. I don't like it.

So I decided to dedicate this post to imagery to get the focus off of my writing (or lack thereof).

Before I show the gallery, though, a preface:I am not saying this to be repetitive or just because I feel obligated to say it "as a photographer," but I really do mean it... in the past few years, I have come to better experience my life through photos. Allow me to explain... whatever I'm up to, whether it's an outing with my girl friends, a family cookout in the backyard to celebrate birthdays, or a random night on the town, I feel like my best "story" of it is through images. Not only do I see the night more artistically, but snapping photos creates a visual record. Post-production allows me to add additional creative flair and social networks and technology such as Facebook and Blogger gives me the opportunity to share it with others.

Following will be a conglomeration of my March-April-May "Favorites" from my "life" image gallery. I'll let you pick up to 3 favorites since there are so many choices this time. It was hard to narrow down so I just decided to put up anything that I loved.


Vote for your 3 favorite titled images! Love you all!

T