aww hail naw

it has been the year of ridiculously horrible weather and this past wednesday, i was caught in it. it all started because my mom needed to get some things from target so she asked if i would go with her and come on, i never pass up a trip to target. my dad said be careful, there's a storm coming. but we ignored it and said we'll be fine. after doing our shopping we are approaching the register and i notice everyone around me starts getting phone calls and i start to wonder. then my phone rings with my dad on the other end saying "don't leave, the tornado sirens are going off. keep shopping." then all of the target employees come rushing at us saying everyone has to get to the back of the store. we slowly walk our way back to the storage area where they block us in. i'd say there were about 40 people there employees included. here's a photo before things got interesting.

and then, the hail started. it was deafeningly loud beating against the metal roof over top of us. not being able to see what's going on outside we all sit wondering while i frantically try to pull up the radar on my iphone. and then it gets so loud i start to get a little worried and i look to the door at the end of the hallway and see water start seeping in through the bottom of the doors. and to make matters worse, this is precisely the time the power goes out. everyone started screaming and the target employees starting yelling for everyone to get down. i'm not going to lie guys, it felt like i was in a movie. these things don't happen in real life. for the first time it hit me that i could be in the first tornado sitting in the storage area of a target. the generators kicked back on some power and everyone sat on the stone cold cement floors in silence listening for this pounding to end. after about 15 minutes it finally let up but the target employees said we had to wait 8 more minutes until the tornado warning was over. they finally were going to let us go when they then announced another storm was coming but we could leave if we wanted. about 10 others around us looked at each other and started running for the doors. we got to the front doors and the automatic door had been ripped off it's hinges and there was golf ball size hail covering the ground. i wish i would have taken a picture of that but i we were in get-home-as-fast-as-humanly-possible mode. we then noticed that our car as dents all over the top and sides from the hail and it also manage to shatter the passenger side mirror. i looked at my mom and said "drive."

it looked like a war zone. leaves covered the roads and all of the stop lights were out. when we turn at the stop light in the photo above there was a mini van stuck on top of a large tree that must have fallen right in front of them. many places were flooded and we saw several cars with shattered windshields and busted out windows. it's so crazy to think what mother nature can do! i'm glad we are safe and we made it home before the "next storm" ( that never really came ) came.

the one that started it all...

many people often ask me how i got started in photography and i always laugh and say it was because of my cat, misty. but it truly is this one image that really made me want to be a photographer. i remember taking a class in high school called art photo just for fun. we shot with black and white film and we used darkrooms to develop our own prints and film. we had little assignments like "take a picture of a mailbox, people in work clothes, feet, etc." we were then allowed to use the rest of our frames left on the roll to photograph anything that we thought would make a great picture. it wasn't until i took this photo with my $5 walmart plastic camera of my cat as one of those extras that i was really drawn to photography. i was amazed at how light can really influence an image. some people looked at the photo and thought it was upside down and i loved the fact that i made people think when they looked at it. this photo is a snapshot of time. misty always laid on the couch soaking up the warm sun and sleeping and it made me see that even the most ordinary of situations can make an extraordinary photography. that year i won a photography award for that photo and i started thinking that this could be something i really enjoyed. i then became involved in my high school yearbook as a photographer and continued taking high level photography classes and made the decision to go to college and major in commercial photography. i had my heart set on photography and there was no one stopping me.

it's a very sad day for me today as this sweet little kitty has passed away. i keep thinking of all of the sweet memories i have of her. i remember one time she was making this strange motion on top of our answering machine almost like she was trying to turn it on. she got really excited whenever we would play messages back to hear them. after a while, we realized that she first started doing it when there was a message left by a friend with a dog barking in the back so maybe she was trying to turn it off because she was scared! she stopped doing this after a few years but it still brings a smile to my face :) for some reason, misty always used to chase me up the stairs at our old house. whenever i wore shorts she would bat at my legs and try to bite them causing me to shriek and run as fast as i could as she tormented me. she never actually hurt me but it was always a challenge to go up the stairs. she only did it to me, no one else. i always felt like we had a special bond and no one really understood her. people always said she was fat and mean but to me she was beautiful and sweet. every year at christmas time she tried climbing our fake tree. her and our dog almost knocked the tree over chasing each other around it. misty loved boxes. playing in them, sleeping in them, and making sure to find ones that she didn't really fit in. i got a card one time at the store that said "15 lb cat in a size 5.5 shoe box" and i still have it hanging on my wall. that is the epitome of misty to me. but she seemed quite content and comfortable squeezing her furry self into those boxes. we decided to bury her in our backyard and in her honor we planted a bleeding heart ( a plant that is very special and symbolic to me ). i will never forget her. she has impacted my life so much over the past 13 years and my heart hurts so much to think of her being gone. she will continue to bring me inspiration in my photography and i will always remember her as the one that made me find my passion and the one that started it all...

i don't wash my hair everyday

i am obsessed. i have struggled all of my life feeling like a grease ball if i don't wash my hair everyday but i have found the cure! this stuff is AMAYYYZINGGGG! i have been very hesitant of using a dry shampoo with nothing seeming to work and really soak up the oil on my scalp. but this oscar blandi volumizing dry shampoo does everything it promises. it really dries up the oil and adds that extra volume and leaves you with a lemony fresh scent. i wake up, spray some on my part, around the edge of my hairline and the let it dry. once it's dry you rub it to activate it and voila! you've got a wonderful looking head of hair!

making the days count

my sweet little cat, misty, is sick. she seems so sad in these photos and it makes my heart hurt. they believe she has bone cancer and it it has struck quite suddenly. we are trying to make her as comfortable as possible not knowing what day could be her last. we are faced with the horrible decision of putting her to sleep or letting her go naturally. we have spent lots of time giving her her favorite food, tuna, and petting and holding her for hours.

it's beginning to look a lot like... summer!

the weather has been unseasonably warm the past few days after a few weeks of nonstop rain, but i'm not complaining! i grabbed some of my favorite flowers today, ranunculus. i love their curvy stems and springy colors!

the girl and stieg larsson

i just finished reading the final book in the stieg larsson trilogy, the girl who kicked the hornet's nest. they were all such interesting reads although there were some very uncomfortable parts in all three of the books. the books are the kind that make you want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next! i always think it's a sign of a great book when after you read it, it feels like a little part of your life is through because you get so wrapped up in all of the happenings that you are immersed in the book. definitely recommend them if you're looking for a good mystery!

my goal is to: be a famous model

i have always been a writer in my mind. to this day i still keep a journal to update with my latest ramblings and thoughts on life. it's one of the sweetest and hilarious ways to look back on what was going on in my life and how i felt about it. enter my lisa frank journal from when i was 8 or 9 years old. i just stumbled on this gem for the first time in 10 years and it did nothing but make me laugh hysterically! i thought it would be fun to write my answers now, almost 15 years later. 

um how beautiful is this lisa frank polar bear and penguin cover?!? i remember at this age i HAD TO HAVE lisa frank folders, notebooks, everything because they were sooo cool. i also have always had an admiration for polar bears and their majestic-ness. when we went to the zoo they were always a must see.

                     

in case you can't read my horrendous handwriting, here are the answers ( i also wonder when i decided to cross some out and add to some ) :

favorite color: blue ( i didn't know this was ever a favorite color of mine? i always thought it was either orange or green. i think i actually remember picking this because it was everyone else's favorite color at that time. go me, be a follower. )

favorite food: Bar-B-Q ribs ( wanna know why this is no longer my favorite food? i was eating them one time and a strange smell came when i got to the bone. it make me feel like an animal tearing meat off of a bone. to this day i still struggle with eating any meat on a bone. )

favorite song: i'm gettin nuttin for x-mas ( uhh, maybe because i got this as a christmas present? )

favorite group: cranberries, blinda, spice girls, mia, alea ( the cranberries were my mom's favorite group and they were the first concert i went to. blinda is belinda carlisle and i looooved the song "heaven is a place on earth" (have you seen this music video, what?!) and "circles in the sand". classics! and spice girls, duh! who didn't love the spice girls? and mia=mya mainly because of this song "ghetto superstar". we had a dance to it. embarrassing. and alea=aaliyah which i'm not sure why? )

favorite cartoon: rugrats, doug, hey arnold ( umm, i still love these. oops! )

favorite movie: the hunchback of n.d., titanic ( haha, i couldn't spell notre dame. and i don't remember this movie at all so i'm not sure how it was a favorite but poor new choice, i hate titanic. it's sooo long so why on earth did i like it then when my attention span was even shorter?! )

favorite sport: gymnastiks, soccer, gymnastics ( i love that i corrected myself for improper spelling, haha )

favorite game: puzzules ( i guess when i crossed this out i didn't like games at all because i didn't put anything else. i probably just thought puzzles made me sound boring. )

favorite subject: math, social studies ( and i became a photographer. but i do still love math and solving problems! history has always intrigued me but i'm never good at remembering all the dates and facts. )

favorite pastime: ( first off, why did they ask this kind of question to a young kid? i'm amazed i knew what it meant. ) draw, read, sports

favorite animal: dogs, cats, puppy ( how boring of me. i guess i am biased towards puppies but i don't like when they turn into dogs )

favorite friends: Marget, Haly, Stacy, Whitney, Michelle ( let me reiterate how much i sucked at spelling! (the first two should be margaret and haley) do i keep in contact with any of these girls anymore? sadly, no. one's in chicago doing fashion, one just had a baby girl, one is married. crazy how we grow up so quick. )

my goal is to: be at least famous someday be a famous model (THIS CRACKS ME UP!!! i don't recall ever wanting to be a model. and what's with my obsession with being famous? this is my favorite answer by far and the reason for my post title )

favorite color: green

favorite food: all. can that be an answer? please? okay how about pulled pork, crabcakes, enchiladas, fruit, mmm and so much more.

favorite song: rumor has it - adele

favorite group: sister hazel

favorite cartoon: spongebob ( yes, i still occasionally watch cartoons )

favorite movie: 27 dresses, mean girls, harry potter's

favorite sport: basketball, football, volleyball

favorite game: words with friends ( an iphone app )

favorite subject: photography ( although i'm no longer in school! )

favorite pastime: coloring

favorite animal: elephant, giraffe

favorite friends: erin, sam, zega, colleen

my goal is to: start a family

also, there was an entry in this where it said nothing other than "i'm going out with josh. stacy called me fat today". hahaha, i love it.

happy mother's day!

i have been wanting to make this ruffle cake for months and i finally got a chance to for mother's day! it's such a fun cake to make and it looks so cute!

grandparents say the darndest things: crab claws and cards

my grandparents were over for dinner tonight and brought some crab claws they brought home from florida. they were sooo yummy! it's quite an adventure eating these shell-y chunks and you definitely have to work to be able to eat them! then we played some euchre and am sad to report that the ladies lost. but we all still managed to have a good time laughing. :)

my grandpa's hat says "fungi to be with" haha :)

no zit sherlock : the test

for the past year i have struggled with acne which i have never had a problem with all of my life. just my luck, pimples pop up at 22 when i enter the professional world and all they do are make me feel like a teenager. i have been trying different ways to rid myself of these horrid beasts but nothing seems to work much to my dismay. i have a new product in hand that i'm going to try for the next month and see if it helps after hearing it raved about from a sales lady at sephora and searching on the internet. what's it called? no it's not a joke, it really is called 'no zit sherlock' from bliss. i'm excited to try it out and will fill you in on the results. i took a photo when my face was at it's worst but i'm a littler nervous to share!