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Capturing those special moments…

Last weekend we celebrated my daughter’s Sweet 16. This is a moment she has been looking forward to since we started planning her older sister’s Sweet 16 over five years ago. She has talked about it and talked about it for years.

We spent plenty of time planning the event, right down to what food, what it will look like, when her brothers will dance with her, when her sisters will dance with her, what the rest of the familia will be doing….it’s all been in the planning stages for what seems forever.

So it was only natural that I wanted to capture every moment. Even more so, since I love capturing those special moments with my camera. Actually, I love capturing any moment on my camera. 🙂 And the older my teens get, the more I don’t want to miss out on anything. I realize even more today, that there is only so much time left with them. Having four adult children already, there is so much that I miss. And that’s ok, they are adults and have to be about adulting. But, the only way I get to share in those moments is when they share with me what they have been doing, whether it be a conversation, a photo, or both!

Luckily, my son’s girlfriend shares a love for photographing with me. So when we celebrated family style, she was all about capturing those precious moments for me. And between the two of us, we captured a lot of memories.

But there was a precise moment, when we were all dancing together and having fun, and I thought to myself, “I need to stop and go get my camera.”

And then, it hit me. Sometimes we need to take a step back and just enjoy the moment that we are in. We just can’t capture everything on camera. And that is ok. What’s more important is for us to just relax, be in the moment, have fun, smile, and make a memory.

Capturing a moment on camera is something to be treasured.

Making a memory is something never will never be offered again.

And so, I put down my camera, and I danced. And I laughed. And I captured the moment in my heart.

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Not quite the adventure we had in mind…

Today was a pretty productive day. My youngest daughter and I worked out, then we grabbed the Drama Queen and went grocery shopping, went home and made a great breakfast and watched, “Mama Mia!”  We followed it off by cooking dinner together and then took the DQ to babysit.

And so since we were down to just the Princess and myself, we decided to head out to Red Rock in search of a little adventure! There really wasn’t too much…we did a little hiking and some photographing…you all know how much I love the sun!

With the day coming to a close, we headed out…only just as we exited, the car started sounding really funny….like scraping metal.  At first, I thought perhaps I had somehow caught something…but I pulled over…and nothing. I could tell it was bad and coming from the front, so finally managed to get enough service to call my oldest son to come to my rescue. He brought up fond memories of him getting stuck in the middle of nowhere and needing to be rescued and how I was just like him….ha ha

We managed to get it close enough to town to call for a tow and three hours later, I finally made it home to my comfortable bed, courtesy of my son the chauffeur!

Now I’m stuck at home for the holiday weekend, which probably isn’t such a bad thing after all…

Taking the Time to Notice…

Growing up, my family spent almost every weekend camping…and playing softball. Having lived in the city for the past 27 years, it’s hard for others to imagine me as anything other than a city girl. Until I start to share my stories, and then they laugh. You see, yes, I am a country girl at heart. If I could have it any way, I’d be in an A-frame cabin in the woods spending my days wandering around with my camera taking pictures and ending the evenings with a fire while listening to the crickets and watching for shooting stars. And somehow, there’d  be lightning bugs as well.

I’ll admit, I don’t know how I’d survive anymore without the ability to run to the store at a moment’s notice, but I’m sure I’d save on my grocery bill!

Two things stand out to me from my childhood.

One is my mom and the horseback rides we would take. We would spend the entire day, sun-up to sun-down, riding. We got to where we could spot a deer, rabbit, snake, lizard, skunk, bird….we could spot them anywhere. We knew how to listen and to watch.

The other is my dad. He loved to take pictures. He was always showing slide shows of the photos he took. I have enjoyed spending time with him sharing photos as I grew older. One of my favorite photos is this one, where he and B-boo are sharing photos on one of our camping trips.

Cayton Campground

My dad taught me how to notice the little things as well. We’d go on walks and he would take time to point stuff out. A flower here, a butterfly or bee, the way the water ran over a certain rock in a river, or the shape that some sticks in the woods made. And if we were too noisy, he’d “shoosh” us so we wouldn’t scare off any animals and miss seeing them. And he would spend time with me talking about the photos we took.

Now I enjoy taking photos as I take walks with my kids. My youngest son loves to be my assistant. He helps change lenses and points out things I need to take a photo of. I mean, how many photos of bunnies can one possibly take, right? But, he’s starting to notice the surroundings now when we walk. Once home, I love to put them up on the computer and go over them with the kids as we critique them together.

Too often, we become so busy with life. Especially living in the city. We work hard all week, and spend our time relaxing in front of the television or playing video games. And there is nothing wrong with any of it. But I think in doing this, we often forget to notice what is around us. We forget to notice the little things. My advice? Take time to notice what is around you. And if you have a camera, try and capture it as you go along.

Here’s some fun from my weekend.

Sunrise after the Rain…

I am an early riser. I love waking up and watching the sunrise while drinking my cup of coffee. I love to listen to the birds chirping early in the morning (and in the evening). I love the smell of fresh rain. I love my trees in my backyard…especially the fruit trees. And I love to capture them.