Tis the Season

I wish I could accurately describe the excitement that I feel when I see a neon sign posted to a telephone pole or staked on the street corner; the ones that display proud dark arrows and guide you directly to hidden treasure. Yes ladies and gentlemen, yard sale season is here again. I saw the first sign last weekend and was reassured that spring had indeed come. Yesterday our good friend Beth accompanied Ben and I on a day's outing to Wilmington for some fishing and yummy grilled food with his parents. Just a mile from his house we happened upon a gigantic yard full of things for sale. The hunt is what I love. And then the bartering - which is left to my Aunt Carol when I'm with her because no one is better than she at bringing down the price. [aside: I've been under her tutelage since 1993 and still have much to learn from her]. Amidst the old Christmas decorations and used VHS I stumbled upon a beautiful Kodak Duaflex ii.

Five dollars later I was it's proud owner. Just ordered some film for it and plan on trying it out this weekend for some engagement portraits!

While it's totally acceptable and enjoyable to sale without a plan or purpose, I am on the lookout for a few items this summer:

I would love to find a tiny little blackboard to hang in the kitchen for list keeping and such.

Also, I've been craving a good cup of tea - but more so craving a good little piece of pretty china. Nothing fancy, just delicate and unique.

The guests at our wedding reception enjoyed homemade soups on fine china that we borrowed (that's right, she let us borrow 150+ fine china plates), from one of Dayton's premier shoppes The Gathering Basket and the sweet owner, Angie, gave me the beautiful plate at my setting. So I have one fabulous china plate and will be on the lookout for at least three more. Would actually prefer that they don't match.

I would LOVE to hear about your yard sale finds this summer!

Dear Neglected Blog

I realize that as of late I have been neglectful towards this, my first and dear blog. My apologies. Spring has [somewhat] sprung here in good ol' Columbus. We had some fabulous spring weather this past week only to be left speechless on the sidewalk yesterday in 45 degree weather... I packed away my winter clothes one sunny day about a month ago with the logic that if they were unaccessible, I wouldn't need them any longer. Circumstance has undermined such logic. Nonetheless, I can say without at doubt that I've never been so grateful and so ready for the sights and smells and sounds of spring. It's good to see green again.

Ben and I have been just as busy as the coming spring time -- He's well into the last quarter of his first year of grad school. Just as his schedule begins to wind down mine will pick up. I've got seven weddings booked this summer from Michigan to Ohio to Tennessee to Alabama and will be second-shooting for a local company. I couldn't be more excited about the upcoming wedding season! Just did some engagement shots for a couple getting married in Columbus in June

But let me back-track a bit to catch you up on things since our snow man. My sweet friends Rose and Claire came up for a quick visit in the middle of February. We'd been planning to start a shared blog which would serve as a means to stay in touch and stay creative. You can visit the blog here and read all about the 100 new things we each want to do over a set period of time -- It's been a blast and began with a fabulous photo shoot during their February visit. [I realize this may seem like the new baby in a momma's life and therefore the reason why I've neglected this first, older blog. But nay. I promise we've just been super busy]. Here's a taste of the fun we had that day

www.redbrownblonde.blogspot.com

A week later I escaped snowy Ohio for a week's time and enjoyed a surplus of sunshine in St. John with my mom, sister, aunt and grandma as we stayed with our generous hosts Mama and Papa Glass. It was so great to be away with everyone for even a short time. I've been listening to Kenny Chesney nonstop since my return.

The weekend I returned from paradise, I took part in a photography exhibit in our church. Myself and two other photographers showed work that portrayed patience. For two months leading up to the show I experimented (and failed several times) with an old polaroid sharp shooter. It was a great experience and definitely stretched my skill level - This is one of the polaroids displayed. Our friends Jake and Nichole now have an adorable little boy named Atlee.

Last November Ben was accepted to 32 Poems, a journal out of Texas Tech. They only publish 64 poems a year- sweet right?! The week we received the publication two more of his poems were accepted to Tar River Poetry out of North Carolina. He's such a little writer!

Somewhere along the lines our car got broken into and the stereo was taken - that was a bummer. Then someone helped themselves to a grand out of our banking account... All is working out though- just a few little bumps along the way.

We spent Easter with Ben's family in Wilmington. It was good to be together again. Easter is one of those holidays that seems to be even more fun when there are little ones - and there are four! We decorated cupcakes, had an egg hunt, played some corn hole and shot bee-bee guns.

I recently finished a non-fiction book called The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan who gives a very vulnerable, honest and somewhat witty account of her struggle with breast cancer and her father's simultaneous fight with bladder cancer. Would recommend it to anyone, but especially if you or your loved one has experienced this emotional rollar coaster. I'm also reading Eat Pray Love -- it's interesting and I plan on finishing it (hoping to see the movie this summer, too), but will admit that at times I find it a bit slow. My sister-in-law was proudly toting around Dolly Parton's autobiography which admittedly sounds fascinating - maybe that's next on the reading list...?

Got this great cookbook yesterday at a library sale for one dollar! It's an alphabetical all-you-need-to-know about cooking and I've already learned a lot. "Clever Cook's Kitchen Handbook:" Love it.

Hopefully it won't be this long before we meet again little blog.

One Must Have a Mind of Winter

The most disappointing thing about big girl world, to date, is that there are no snow days. It's particularly disappointing now that I live in a state that actually accumulates a significant amount of white powder. It started snowing sometime in the middle of the night, and hasn't stopped. Almost 16 hours of flakes that have no intention of ceasing until tomorrow night. Fortunately, these flakes are prime snow man flakes. After work, I made my way to various stores looking for gloves. I admit that I'm a bit late in the season, but I was shocked to be informed by multiple places that they were out of gloves. They offered me bathing suits instead. I then picked an exhausted husband up from school; he and his bike and his headache were waiting for me outside when I pulled up. I let him rest and gave him some Midol, putting on my best "pretty please" face. We bundled up and went out back to find inches of snowy potential.

Our first attempt was far too small, so we tried again. We had a great time - it was my first snow man! He's a bit lopsided, and his poor eyes kept falling off.

We didn't officially name him, but I think "Bruce" suits him.

Ben read "The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens, to christen our creation. The whole event was just fantastic.

One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and the boughs

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time

To behold the junipers shagged with ice,

The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of January sun; and not to think

Of any misery in the sound of the wind,

In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land

Full of the same wind

That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,

And, nothing himself, beholds

Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens