Category Archives: Personal

Growing up, the 4th of July was always a sweet time spent with my late grandmother.  Because we lived so far away and were only able to see her once a year, the visit was much awaited for on both ends.  The drive down to the small southern Illinos town was always an adventure and a dreadfully L-O-N-G car ride.   We knew what was awaiting us, so we filled the time with car games, sisterly gossip (and fighting) and listening (laughing) to the crazy hick town stations as we passed through.

Upon our arrival, my grandmother would greet us with warm kisses and long hugs.  Her skin always smelled of Elizabeth Arden “Diamonds” and was so incredibly soft.  In the background,  John Phillips Sousa would be playing on the radio.  After our greeting, no matter if we were hungry or not, sandwiches or sweets were served followed by discussions of how tall we were getting, and stories of when she was growing up.  As the day continued, the aroma of popcorn filled the air as my mom would put it in a paper sack, prep lemonade and gather lawn chairs.  As dusk fell, we would all pile into our green Wind-star to head out to the county fair.   Amongst the crowds we would find my uncle playing his black clarinet in the local band shell with the other members of the band.  Following the vast array of American music (of each song my grandma would either humm or sing to!) and as the mosquitoes came to pray on the audience, one large BOOM came followed by beautiful glittery patches of greens, blues, reds and golds.

As a kid, it was a magical moment of being surrounded by those who loved and cared for me.  As we huddled near each other in our sweats gobbling popcorn and ooohing and aaahing at the flashes of light we not only were celebrating our freedom, we were making memories.

Today I will pack up my family, head out to watch the booms and glitter, cover ears, and pop popcorn with my own family.  We’ll set up the lawn chairs and fight off the misquotes in our sweats, play John Phillips Sousa, remember my grandmother and continue to make memories.

Happy 4th!

Do you really love your job?  Does it excite you?  Make you passionate, inspire you?  Do you hit the alarm clock ready to do what you love?

Know that this is not an everyday occurrence to me, but I am glad I don’t hate my job.  To be perfectly honest, I am not a morning person, but I get to play with kids, interact with couples, be inspired, cry and laugh.  These are all in my job description, and I absolutely love what I do.

Before the eara of my own kids and as I was trying to establish my photo business I taught pre-scool part time.  I was an art major and had very little experience teaching, but I loved kids and  interacting with them.   I was brought into their world for a few hours a day and tried to see through their eyes.  I look back on that time with fond memories of 3, 4 and 5 year olds, because they taught me so many things.  Little did I know the following year I would become a mother and that 8 years down the line I would be photographing and playing with different tots on a weekly basis!

Special thanks to my friend Angie as she grabbed my camera and shot some photos of me playing with her 4 year old, Nora!