Food Poisoning: Not for the light of heart

It was 7:00 AM.  Why was I awake?  I looked around the guest bedroom at my brother's house for some sort of explanation.  I love sleep, I don't usually wake up on my own unless there is a reason.  But everything appeared as normal as can be.  I started to roll over and go back to sleep when it came again, a pain in my gut so violent it could have been a contraction.  I instantly went into the fetal position and tried not to cry out.  Eventually I eased out of bed and went downstairs to where my brother Warnie was reading, he looked up quizzically as I entered.

"I think I might be sick," I whined.

"Oh no.  Well let's get you something easy on your stomach to eat.  Maybe eating a little something will help," he said.

He is such a good brother.  After bringing me a plain bagel, peppermint tea and some pepto he sat and ate with me while we watched some Daily Show.   The stomach cramps finally started to ease and we started talking again.  Today was the day I was suppose to be leaving to head back to Knoxville.

"Thanks for the food, I really do feel better," I said smiling.  Food always makes me feel better.

"No problem, I'm glad you're feeling better."

I smiled and walked towards the kitchen to put my plate up.  Suddenly, I put my plate down and dashed to the hall bathroom.  I puked my guts out.

When I came back Warnie looked concerned, "I thought you said you felt better!"

"I did feel better!" I said, equally frustrated.

A look of horror crossed his face, and I could see something dawning there that he was not excited about.  "Maybe your pregnant..." he said.

"I'm not pregnant." I said, matter-o-factly.  There was no way.

"We could get you a pregnancy test if you wanted..." You could tell he was saying this to ease my mind, he didn't really want to.  No big brother wants to get their little sister a pregnancy test, no matter how old they are, or if they're married.  Really I think it's probably still pretty weird for older brothers when their little sisters get pregnant period.  But he loves me, so he was willing to do that for me.

"That's ok, seriously, I think I'm just sick."

As the morning progressed, there was lots more puking.  I couldn't keep water down.  I got a fever.  I got a splitting headache.  And all hopes of moving, eating, or working subsided.  I gave in to my caretakers and just laid on the couch and watched "The Blind Side," which I loved.  I have an incredible soft spot for feel good football movies, they make me cry.

Between listening to wonderful quotes from Sandra Bullock's character like, "If you so much as set foot downtown, you will be sorry. I'm in a prayer group with the D.A., I'm a member of the NRA and I'm always packing," and racing to the bathroom to pray to the porcelain gods, I decided it was undeniable.  I had food poisoning.

If I have ever known you and known you had food poisoning, and took it lightly...I am sorry.  Next time, I will come hold your hand and hold your hair.  It's that bad.  Luckily mine only lasted for 24 hours.  Once I had purged my system I was a lot better.  Wednesday night my 102 fever finally broke and the next morning I braved the 8 hour drive home.  Luckily, I split it up over 2 days and stopped at my parents house half way there, still exhausted and weak.

I'm just now getting back to normal.  The thought of some foods still make me queasy, and I'm still tired.   But that is why, dear readers, I did not post all last week.  I hope you'll forgive me, but I had the plague.

Independence Day

I spent a great 4th of July weekend with my family first at our cabin and then enjoying some in town festivities.  I ran into some friends as well and just thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It's always hard going home because there are so many people to see!  Sadly I was absent Speed Racer, but he was busy with his own tale (more on that later).  I am however, still out and about on my travels so this is going to be another quick post.  But here are a few pictures of the 4th festivities to give you an idea of all the fun we had.

4th of July Remembered

That's right folks, the 4th of July is here, and even though it came faster than anticipated we can still get in the spirit of the day.  I'm sure many of you have fantastic plans for the 4th: swimming, grilling, parades, and maybe even some fireworks.  Here are some pictures from a 4th of July celebration I took a few years ago, to help get you in the celebrating mood!

Have a fun and safe weekend everybody!

Rural Retreat

Ever since I was little I've felt comforted in rural areas.  My family use to go on a retreat every summer at Oak Hill Academy, and they had a beautiful barn on campus.  I would get up early in the mornings and go watch them feed the cattle, help brush the horses, hang out in the barn, and do a little horseback riding.  I absolutely loved it.  When I moved in high school, I moved to a more rural area and would always find my escape in nature.  So when Speed Racer told me we were moving to Knoxville, I was a little hesitant.  I had seen downtown Knoxville once in high school and swore I would never live here.  Careful what you say, right?  But when Speed Racer took me to see the house, I was immediately at peace.  Where we live in Knoxville, is surrounded by rural farms, holding out against the sprawl of the city.  There's even a cattle farm just down the street.  Early in the morning on the weekends, Speed Racer and I will climb on our bikes and head into the heart of this rural area, and it's especially beautiful in the morning light.  So today, I thought I would go out and try to capture a little of that.

Friday Escape

Today I'm going back to the land that I love.   The land where I fell in love with Speed Racer, and where magical things can happen.  To dramatic of a start?  It's true though, that's how I feel about this place.  Speed Racer and I are going back for a fun filled weekend of canoeing, hiking, camping, girl talk (for me), meeting up with old friends, and celebrating my Father's Birthday and Father's Day!  It's going to be a packed weekend, but much needed.  We're literally about to get on the road, so have a fabulous weekend fair readers, and get out and enjoy the sun.

Cades Cove

If you live near Knoxville, you know about Cades Cove.  It's part of the National Park and is a fantastic place to get away, read a book, ride a bike, enjoy nature, and maybe...just maybe takes some fantastic pictures.  I love Cades Cove.  Speed Racer's Uncle (also a photographer who puts me to shame) took me up there a couple Friday's ago for some fun shooting.  I'm sure you will see many more pictures taken there, but here are just a few of my favorites.

PW Journey

Although this journey was recorded on my friend Renee’s Blog already, I thought I would finally add my version of the journey to the web.  Many of you know from my "Meatloaf Mania" post that I admire, revere, and embarrassingly enough want to be best friends with The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  However, I was contently keeping my hero worship locked in a tiny little box that no one knew about, until Renee called me up proposing a trip to see Ree at her book signing in D.C.  I had recently quit my corporate job and decided it was a perfect opportunity to enjoy my freedom and take some pictures along the way. My part of the journey started with a short day trip to our families cabin, with my parents.  My Grandfather built this cabin over several summers with the help of his three daughters.  Ever since it has been a retreat and place of solace for my family.

Sweet Lucy is a mountain woman, she loves being outdoors.  She looks positively beautiful in her element, I love this picture of her.

One of these pictures is in “Some Characters to know...” but my mother wasn't too happy about the picture I chose :ahem:, so the above photos are part of the series, which I think is very cute since it tells the story a little bit better.

The next morning after going to the cabin, I picked up Renee bright and early and we started out on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was pretty early, we don’t do gorgeous early, but we were up and going and that was the important part.

She’s sassy, that’s why we get along oh-so-well.

Renee use to be a dancer, and from time to time she still does stances with her feet...she just didn't know I was paying attention.  I think it's beautiful.

Hello, Vacation.

There was lots of this.  Luckily Renee didn't get annoyed with me pulling off about every 5 seconds.

Did I mention that we were on top of the world?  I may have forgotten, but yes...there was nothing but us and sky.

I love this picture.  There's something about the emptiness in it that I just love.  To me it's something that's just about to start, somethings changing, and it's just you and whatever you're about to jump into.

I took about a million photos of this tree.  It was just magical.

After an 8 hour journey (Google said it would only take 5 but they weren’t counting all the stops for glorious pictures.  They really need a photo option when you do directions…or at least a scenic option) we arrived at Border’s in D.C.  We were hot, we were smelly, we were not pretty.  So faster than you could say superman, we used Chipotle’s bathroom (thank you Chipotle) and came out looking more beautiful than ever.  However, we did make two rookie mistakes.  Number one being that although we got there 2 hours prior to the reading, we were way back in line….waaaay back.  Number two mistake was that since we were in the back of the line, we panicked and didn’t eat anything.  BIG MISTAKE, my friend.

But luckily we didn't have to wait too long before she came up and gave us a little intro.  Everyone was so excited, and I have to hand it to all the pregnant ladies in the crowd.  They were champs, they didn't even break a sweat standing in line, unlike me who was whining and being a big baby.

After a couple hours in line, we finally made it to our destination.

She was super nice, and I’m sure already tired by the time we made it to her, but you couldn’t tell.  Both Renee and I had a little shyness going on, and tried to be sociable, even though we were about to faint from hunger and it suddenly came off as creepy that I had driven all the way from TN to see this woman.  And to be honest, that was not the best part of the trip for me.  The best part was the girl talk with Renee, companionship, being out in the wilds of VA, and just having time to take some photographs without any kind of pressure.  It was a much needed trip and a great start to my life as a photographer.