Hello, Illinois

The morning after I made it to Jack’s house, I awoke to the smell of bacon.  I love bacon.  I’m a meat kinda girl, and bacon is possibly one of my favorites…my brother knows this, so he spoiled me with bacon the entire trip.  First thing we did each day was take Oscar for a walk.

Oscar loves his walks, and it was a great time for us to catch up and talk…we do a lot of talking in my family so we need amble time to do so.  It also gave us a chance to see a little of Historic Urbana.

After a quick lunch with Scientist Lady on Friday, we set out to see the campus at University of Illinois.  The campus was really beautiful, although deserted with school being out.

Next we hit the art museum which is connected to the University Art building.  I’m ashamed.  I have to say that going in I was expecting a kind of small museum, that probably didn’t have a lot of cool exhibits.  But what I found was this:

A Rembrandt!  Not only a Rembrandt but they had Louis Bourgeois, Andy Warhol, Winslow Homer, and many more fabulous artists.  I was tickled pink, like a kid in a candy store.

When I took a quick trip to the ladies room in the Art building, I found a treasure trove of wise sayings, here's just one example, there will be more in the photo gallery:

Wise…so very wise…

After a hard day in the museum we came back the house and crashed for a bit.  As a matter of fact, we did this just about every day.  I don’t know why we were so tuckered out, but it was great to just relax and be.  Oscar agrees…

So after some fun and fondue, we decided to show the Parentals how to play Wii.

They did great!  And they beat the pants off of me in Frisbee golf!

Saturday we hit the local Farmer’s Market, to pick up a few things dinner.  After that we took a quick stop for some cool drinks, then that afternoon we went and saw Robin Hood.

On Sunday we started the day off with brunch at a local restaurant called Radio Maria.  They had fantastic Spanish cuisine, and I had Migas….delicious delicious Migas.  It was basically eggs with potato and zucchini, with a side of salsa and sour cream, all to be wrapped in corn tortillas.  Of course, it was so excellent, that I forgot to take pictures of it…oops!

After a good brunch to start out the day, we headed out into the prairie.  On the outskirts of Urbana there is this excellent Prairie Sculpture Park.  It’s a great place to play, fly a kite, and enjoy the sculpture and wide open spaces.  Which is what we did.  And this was without a doubt my favorite place to take pictures.

It was a great trip and I was sad to leave.  I had never experienced such wide open spaces and that big sky.  It was different, but I like my mountains too.  Thanks Illinois, it was fun...I'll miss you.

How Did I get Here? Part I

In our "How Did I get Here?" series, I'm going to share with you how I realized that I wanted to become a photographer, and the steps along the way.  It's going to be good, it's going to be bad, and some of it may be ugly, so please be kind.  It's all about a learning process, right?  Right.  Don't worry though, we'll still have daily posts that are not based in the zany world that is my memory, ah memories. So how did I get here?  And where is here, in the middle of  a field in front of a waterfall?  That huge waterfall is Victoria Falls, on the Zimbabwe side, and I got there because I had a dream that I was sitting in that exact same spot...and that spot isn't in post cards.  That dream was so real that I knew I had to go to Zimbabwe, I didn't know why, I didn't know how, but I knew I was going to need some help.  So I coerced, bribed, prodded and sweetly asked these four amazing people:

And I couldn't have done it without them.  We got funding from the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, and were set to go.  While there we spent a lot of time talking to school groups about self image, peer pressure, and other things that all teenagers, all over the world need to talk about; but mostly we listened.

We were in Zimbabwe for little over a month.  Unfortunately, our trip was cut short due to the Zimbabwean Government beginning a project that, literally translated, is called "Project  Clean Out Filth."  The filth were our friends, the lower class of Zimbabwe.   What I've been able to find from reports shows that  200,000 people were relocated or without shelter in the city we were in.  700,000 were affected throughout the country, and still are 5 years later.  We were surrounded by thousands of homeless, starving people.

Even though their country was falling apart, we found so much hope in each person we met.  We had fantastic guides that kept us safe and up beat, not to mention the people and kids we met on every street corner.  But unfortunately, like in most crisis, everything became hard to obtain.  We stood in line, like everyone else, for milk, bread, sugar, food, and most importantly gas.  A couple times we, or someone in the group had to wait over night in a line to get gas:

The gas shortage kept getting worse, not to mention the political climate,  and our sponsors soon worried about being able to get us out of the country.  So we left early, and came back to the U.S.

So what does any of this have to do with Photography you might ask?  It was in Zimbabwe that I realized I had to be a photographer.  It wasn't that I should be, or that I took great pictures ( I had a tiny point and shoot), but the absolute need to capture these hopeful people in a world that was being destroyed around them, was overwhelming.  When I got back to the U.S. I was amazed that no one knew what was happening in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is undoubtedly a part of me.  What I learned there, and who I learned from changed me irreversibly.  From Marie, I learned to be quiet and observe the simple things in life, from Clara I learned how to relax and experience the joy around me, from Peter I learned how to not care what people think and to stick with things, even when they are hard, and from Matt I learned how to face my fears and do what is right.  But it was from the Zimbabwean people that I learned to find hope in all circumstances.So after the summer was over I started back at college with a new determination: to become a photographer.  The details were still fuzzy, but I knew that I had to make it happen.  I knew that I wanted to capture what happens to people whether it is injustice, sadness, loss, love, happiness, or hope.

There are still times, at night when I fall asleep and feel the heat of the African sun on my face, and the smell of hot earth that smells like a home I've forgotten.  I dream that I am sitting at Victoria Falls, with the thunder of the rapids and the mist rolling over me.  Sometimes it makes me smile, as I wrap my arms around my knees in the tall grass, and sometimes it makes me cry.

Up and Away

As I woke up this morning and stumbled to my computer, grumbling something about coffee and the lack there of, my darling (also work at home) husband, Speed Racer was already at his lappy surfing the net.  After I finally settled for some tea instead (there's just something about starting the day off with a hot drink, what can I say?) I sat down determined to do some work.  As I sifted through the mass of emails in my inbox, my little gchat box popped up with a happy message from Speed Racer and the following link to LiveJournal.com, and as I looked, the following embarrassing phrase came out of my mouth, "OH MY GOD HOW CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!"  (Please do click on the cute link to see the post, you won't be sorry).

Wildflowers Photography shot an engagement session with a couple named, Lynette and James based on the movie "UP."  And as the post states, most of us who have seen that movie cry every time, I know I do.  The movie especially reminds me of my Grandfather, Chief Bald Eagle, who has been striving to live without my Grandmother, Pretty Brown Eyes,  for several years now.  Chief Bald Eagle was and is a huge hiker, the man still walks three miles a day and is 85 years old.  He and Pretty Brown Eyes used to drive all over the U.S. including several trips to Canada and Alaska.  He always tells the story of how when they got married, he looked into those deep brown eyes and swore that he would carry her to the ends of the earth.  When they drove to the article circle, Pretty Browns Eyes swore that she had made it there.  Their love and devotion is inspiring, and I think that's what "UP" shows all of us, that you can find adventure in the small, "boring", little things that you enjoy most about your partner.

As I write this I realize that it has officially been 11 months and 4 days since I married Speed Racer and each day has been better than the last.  Sure, we have grand adventures planned as well, dreams that we carry in our coat pockets to keep us warm when everything else gets cold and hard.  But it's the little adventures, the "boring" moments that I cherish most: the moonlit drives on the back roads of our home, where we were sweethearts; the way our hands still migrate towards each other when we're out, how he sends me links that he knows I will gush over,  the warm silences when we walk together, and the sense that we have known that we were meant for each other since creation.  Belonging, is the best word I can use.

It's this belonging that helps us appreciate the little things, the little things that make our love so strong.  I know it's the little things that has kept Chief Bald Eagle in love with his Pretty Brown Eyes, so many years after she has gone.  I know it's the little things that keep me falling in love with my husband daily.  And I know that it's the little things that will keep Lynette and James together and in love.

Thanks to Wildflowers Photography and Lynette and James for sharing your story and photos with the world.  Thanks, also for letting me gush, for making my day, for making me a tad jealous not only of the photos but that I didn't think to do my engagement pictures in the "UP" theme.  And as for the readers, what are your "UP" stories?  What are your adventures, your "boring" moments that will make our hearts ache?  I want to hear each and every story, so please share.