Welcome Uli!

Johnny decided that yesterday was the day to bring home a sweet, little, 8 week old black lab. We drove way into nowhere Ohio to pick her out of the litter, which has to be one of the hardest things to do. I wish we could have taken them all! They were too adorable! Uli is a little spunky and a lot sweet, so she fits in quite well. Sam is head of heals for her, while Celia is warming up to the little black fuzz ball. It is so easy to love a puppy!

Just-a-swingin'

Celia has a new swing! Opa fixed the rope for her and guided and oversaw her first moments swinging. She loves it!

King's Island

John Paul's work treated every employee and their families to a day at King's Island! Now, if you know Johnny, then you will know that this is not something that he would ever, ever choose to do. He hates crowds, hot weather, and cartoons, not to mention over priced junk food. So, basically this is like a nightmare for him. However, he put his chin up and dove into the madness with the best of them. It certainly was hot, and it rained, and we lugged around three huge bags of STUFF and a stroller, but Sam and JP are proud to say that they conquered the ultimate: The Son of Beast! As for Celia and me, we conquered the water park!

Celia crawls

I was so afraid that I would miss this glorious moment with all of my traveling this summer. However, about 2 weeks ago Celia tackled her first crawl. As it was, Johnny and I were both able to witness it. Now her little knees are constantly pink from being on the go! Here she is in her new tunic from Aunt Mary! Thanks, M! xxoo

Alexandria, VA

Last week the whole family went to DC. While I was working my butt off (9 am - 8 pm daily, including a 1 hour Metro commute to and fro) in my "video boot camp" class, which was called the Travel Channel Academy, John Paul, Sam, and Celia hung out at the hotel, went to the zoo, the air and space museum, and got stuck on the Metro two days in a row! They were real troopers! Unfortunately, they didn't have the camera with them so there aren't any misery shots from the Metro or any shots of them melting at the zoo, or flying airplanes. After my workshop finished we went to Mary's house in Alexandria, VA. We ate some really great Thai food, window shopped and browsed through the incredible boutiques, and visited some local ghosts.

The family shots were taken on the Potomic River, outside the Torpedo Factory, where Mary works as the Target Gallery Director. During our Ghost Tour of Old Town, Samuel really hit it off with the tour guide, who dressed in period clothing to make the tour authentic.

By the way, the Travel Channel Academy was incredible! I totally recommend it to anyone who is serious about video journalism. It was well worth the intense four days, lack of food, and incredibly long Metro commutes!

Summer Swim

In between all of my necessary "work" travels this summer, we have managed to visit the pool. Here are a few shots from a recent water day.

Lonestar Gal

While I was halfway across the country in the vast state of Texas, I was always behind my camera lens so I walked away with this only picture of me. Believe me, I wish I had drank a little less Mexican Martini's (that happened to be so very delicioso) and snapped a couple shots of my spankin' orange boots. However, as it is, I have plenty of incredible shots of my stay in San Antonio and day trip to Austin, which I will be soon posting to my flickr site. The culture was rich; the food was so tasty; music filled the streets; and the Texas way sank deep into my soul.

I certainly do wish I was there for pure play, but alas I was deligiently working on improving my pod/vodcasting techniques at the NECC (computer technology) conference. The sessions proved to be well worth the trek to the Lonestar State, especially those Mac sessions that had me drooling on the new iMacs. yum. So, needless to say, I'm inspired to produce some new work; keep your eyes and ears posted on my links.

Tag...4 things

Okay, I've apparently been tagged (thanks, Rhonda!), which has never happened before. So here goes:

4 things I was doing 10 years ago...
1) Enjoying the birth of my first child, Samuel.
2) Not enjoying an unhealthy relationship.
3) Trying to finish up college with a newborn.
4) Graduating with my BFA

4 things I was doing 5 years ago...
1) Living in North Carolina
2) Working as the Director of Education and Programming at the Hickory Museum of Art
3) Traveling to Germany
4) Becoming engaged (in Germany) to my SWEETHEART, John Paul

4 things I did yesterday...
1) Ate a Kobe filet mignon with morel mushrooms and drank a really, really tasty and pricey red wine
2) Attended a 6 hour conference on podcasting
3) Wore my brand new ORANGE cowboy boots
4) Got pooped on by a bird

4 shows I like...
I really don't watch tv, but if I had to make up something:
1) Lately I've been getting into Bobby Flay
2) Project Runway
3) Travel Channel shows
4) uh.....

4 of my biggest joys currently...
1) Digital photography techniques
2) Watching Celia learn
3) Friendships with folks of all ages
4) My incredible growing family!

4 things you might not know about me...
1) I hate my hair. I want it long when it's short and short when it's long.
2) I once volunteered (by myself) at the City Mission for Thanksgiving. It was a humbling, unforgetable experience.
3) I love to stare at my family while they sleep, including my husband, however sometimes he snores and ruins the moment!
4) I am learning about pod/vodcasting so that I can help other teachers move into the 21st century with technology integration.

So, there you have it, Rhonda. Love ya.
I don't know who to tag...so if you read this and have a blog, Tag, You're it!