Dig A Little DEEPER

My Life's Desire has never been to be rich and famous..

Well maybe just a little famous ha..

But.. above all the things a girl can have

The only thing that I still want is a STORE of my own.

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I want to have a building full of things that I find, make, build, and create.

I want to do the "digging" for someone else, and fix it up

so fabulous that it's completely irresistible.
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Hence the reason I am constantly on the prowl for "stuff"

that I just can't make it through the day without rescuing.
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Here are a few of my resent rescued treasures..
Though I do not have a store...
I continue to buy things to put in it !!!!
(Brad isn't seeing the logic in that quite like I do)
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While I am on "the DIG" my mind has been blessed (or maybe cursed)
with the gift of being able to picture exactly what something is
Going to LOOK like instead of what it Does Look like.
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As I pass all of these wonderful things
"My Mind" is arranging them, painting them,
sewing them up,and filling
MY STORE
Full of countless treasures.
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So.. while I dream of MY STORE,
and fill up my garage.........
And wait for the exact moment in life when my REAL store appears,
I thought I'd share a few of this weeks fabulous finds.
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Paris Hilton's kind of rich is just not my cup of tea...
Give me a great garage sale, flea market or Goodwill
and this girl feels like a
Million Dollar Gal..
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May we all find the things that fill us with JOY and
do a little more of them each day !

What A WEEK !!!

My step dad found out he failed his stress test,

and 2 days later we were in Abilene in the waiting room

while he underwent a triple bypass.

What an incredible blessing that they found out about it in his stress test.

He had 100% blockage in one artery and 95 in the other.

I told my mom that I'm pretty sure he was a walking TIME BOMB!

Then on Tuesday morning I left to stay with my Dad while he had his surgery.
Florence Nightingale I am not. No one will ever mistake me for a NURSE.

ANYWAY.. before I left I did a Senior Shoot... Here a few of my favorites.

Thank you Marcus for being such a great help searching for great NEW spots.

I now have a couple of new favorite places and can't wait to use them again.

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I may have to call you to get directions !!!


As the Holidays are quickly approaching I am more thankful than ever.
Thankful for 2 "Old Men" turning 65
and the tests
that saved their lives.
Thankful that God packs the gift of nursing in some peeople's suitcase
(since it was definitely not packed in mine) haha
And thankful for customers who show incredible understanding
and patience with my time.

May we all remember to have tests that can save our lives !!

A Bunch of BULL

I was raised on a farm, and grew up around cattle my whole life..

BUT... I can tell you that I never even thought about getting up on any.

Man when you are up close and personal.......

those darn creatures are a WHOLE BUNCH OF BULL..

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Brook's boyfriend, Andrew, rides bulls...

so she, Brady and I went to go see him ride last night.

Thank goodness I was taking pictures

and didn't realize

what was going on around me.
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By the time I figured out that Andrew was going under the bull

my camera quality went all to pieces..

I was shooting and screaming, and taking lots of pictures

of the back of people's heads.
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He rode twice, and that second bull just looked like pure EVIL
before he ever even got on him..
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YES.. that is Andrew under the BULL
being stepped on and cut along his cheek...
by Mr. EVIL and his horrible horns..

All I can say is thank goodness it only lasted a few seconds...
and what ever those rodeo clowns make for a living
is NOT ENOUGH...
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I am glad to say that Andrew is fine..

If that had been me I'd still be laying there in SHOCK..

Large animals are just not meant to step ON TOP of you.

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To say the very least our Friday night was an adventure..
BULL riding is a spectator sport that I am certain takes some getting used to.
It is a sport not at all for the faint of heart, and
one that is 100% meant for those with young bodies !
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May we all have an unexpected night
where we see courage in the eyes of a teenager.

The BROOM

OUR 2009 Football Season has come to an end..

We ended with a HUGE win against the South Hills Scorpions.

It was not a playoff season for the Southwest Raiders however....

OUR team is young, and as it goes in sports....

SOME years are just building years..

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I must say though that our football team was not the biggest loser of the year.

That award went to our Cheerleaders.....

What a miserable time it was to be wearing the RED and BLUE in '09.

I know it may be completely impossible to imagine how cheerleading

could be anything less than a fabulous good time...

AS it is I'm sure for the other 99.9% of the world.

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But those people are not cheering for a sponsor that must

completely HATE her job.

I can not fathom any other reason than that

for someone to TRY so hard to ruin a group of girl's year.

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I've been to literally hundreds of football games...

And I always find myself mesmerized by the sounds of laughter,

band instruments, fan cheers, blowing whistles, drum beats, and crashing helmets.

It's hard not to find yourself clapping for complete strangers

as they rush for the end zone, or hold the other team on 4th down.
To be able to watch children of any age give their best effort in competition

always brings JOY to my heart, and motivates me (even at 42 )

to NEVER stop wanting to do my best.
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That's what makes it even harder for me to understand

how someone who has anything to do with

a Football Friday Night

could be anything less than filled with pride for a group of children

who for ONE night are totally united.
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But if you cheer for Southwest HIGH School then life is quite another story.

This is a place where you get in trouble for being too hyper and spirited.

So... you have to sit out the entire second quarter to calm down

and "think about what you have done".....

Now I know I am seriously over the edge with frustration as to

how a woman like this can be in charge of girls..

But there is no other word I can think of for this besides CRAZY !!!!

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Even Brady who has no clue as to what is going on can't help

but become consumed with the SPIRIT of the night.

All football games carry an atmosphere that is completely like no other.
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There is truly something about the THRILL of VICTORY
that fills your blood with energy.
It invigorates your soul, and sends your spirits soaring.
Watching a good game always leaves me wanting to
go home and be a better person.
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With all that could have been this year
I must say
as we end our season I am nothing less that
grateful that IT'S OVER !!!!
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To the girls of Southwest who learned despite it ALL
TO GRIN and BARE IT...
I am proud of you !!!
AND I'm certain that later in life there will be an amazing lesson in this.
There are always going to be people in our lives with whom we clash,
and those of which our lives would be much more enjoyable without...
however none of us dreamed it would be during High School Cheerleading.
Because these moments are gone forever..
Not a single one of us can get them back.
No amount of "I'm sorrys" can change our year.
Once time is gone.... IT is forever.
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All I have left to say about this angry, rude, spiteful woman is
IF the BROOM fits... RIDE IT !
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May one woman's anger be a life lesson in what
WE DON'T WANT TO BE.

I Missed IT

One of us takes Brady to the park at least twice a week.

Yesterday he and I spent several hours there in the beautiful sunshine.

We packed our snacks, our sweet tea, and headed out.

It's about 1 mile from the house, but he gets in his buggy

and points at every squirrel, cat, flying bird, and barking dog all along the way.

OUR Trip there is half of the adventure..

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I have several cameras, and most ALWAYS have one with me..

BUT yesterday I realized they were all upstairs in the studio.

I'd taken them up to charge the batteries, and upload all the cards..

I almost stopped to go get one, but figured I'd seen that park

at least a hundred times.....

What else was I going to see....

NEVER again will I say that !!

I am so MAD at myself still.

I missed the sweetest "once in a lifetime" moment ever...
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Brady and I had been playing in the rocks for about 30 minutes

when another little fellow just about his size came over to where we were.

Kids seem to have some type of

magical magnetic force

that draws them right to one another...

They played cars, slid and chased squirrels...

Then I noticed another little guy heading our direction..

Immediately they took him in

and the pair became a threesome

without ever a word between them.

Inside I was glowing with JOY,

and of course reached for my camera

only to realize it was at home.

As I was beating myself up inside for missing this moment

I looked back at Brady only to see another member joining their crew.

This time it was a little girl.

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Between all 4 of them

there wasn't an inch difference in their heights.

It was literally the most incredible vision of innocence I had ever seen.

As they all stood together next to the slide

piling up rocks by the handfulls I was filled with AWE.

They'd each stack the rocks up for a while,

then one of them would suddenly wipe them all off.

They giggled together, and start the piling process again..

Never once did they realize that one of them was black,

one Hispanic, one with teenage parents, or one

with parents old enough to be his grandparents.
They were just 4 little hearts

sharing the same moment.

One in which time, judgement, heartache, nor race played any part.

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May we all learn a lesson from children..

And may we have a camera with us to catch it!