Walk-Off Exhilaration

Here's my big boy coming into home. I found myself crying as I snapped these shots. Proud and overwhelming moment, and it was worth every storm I encountered to be there to see it.

Jay Gonzales sent a ball over Prosper’s version of the Green Monster, a 25-foot high wall in left field for a three-run blast to give Argyle the walk-off victory and prolong its season at least one more game with the 12-10 win.

Gonzales said he actually envisioned Friday night hitting a walk-off home run on Saturday off of the Leopards’ intimidating closer. "I swung at a bad pitch [before the home run] and luckily it went foul,” Gonzales said. “I was waiting for that fastball low, and I took it out. It’s my first walk-off ever, and it feels great."

Keeping Up

At times, I feel a bit overwhelmed by our garden this season. With the exception of the Roma tomato plant I bought already as a seedling, the tomato plants tower over any others we've had in years past, and even with the grooming, they clearly need extra support or staking. They all have tomatoes on them, but none are ripened since I got seedlings in a couple weeks later than I wanted. I'm especially excited to see how the Red Zebras (below) turn out tastewise. The fig tree (above) is loaded with figs, which surprises me with the drought we've had in Central Texas this spring. I'm also irked that spider mites attacked our artichoke plant, and now it looks like they've made their way over to our pole beans. Always something new each season, and trying to figure out how to treat and prevent.

After adopting Stella, she ran through our garden in its infancy, so many of our smaller veggies didn't make it (a row of carrots and some lettuce) but we did have several feral tomatoes pop up throughout our garden.


Beets

Lettuce



Some before and after photos, taken  a month apart, in April and then May.

Living Life in Chapters

"Live your life in chapters. You don’t have to do everything you want to do in life during this chapter of child rearing." - Susan Wise Bauer



These were some words of wisdom I read recently, which really hit a chord for me. I sometimes find myself torn between all the many things I want to do in this lifetime. I began my child rearing years so very young, and I remember telling myself, by the time both my boys graduate high school, I'll only be 37 and 38. Then I can travel, go back and get my PhD if I want, possibly live abroad for a year. I'll have so much time!

Fast forward to 2011. On the eve of turning 37, and with Domi graduating in less than 3 weeks, that time is now. Having given birth to my amazing Sophia 5 years ago, I extended my childrearing chapter, and I relish and am grateful for my opportunity of being home with her during these years. I absolutely LOVE being a homemaker, which I never would have guessed I'd be good at. I want to sew, quilt, knit, and learn how to can tomatoes, and I'm even taking on the job of homeschooling with a co-op next year.

Anybody who knows me, knows, I love teaching. Teaching makes me tick. That's what I went to school for. I'll be teaching part-time next year and I love that I don't have to step foot into a public school to do it. I've also discovered photography in recent years, and this is where I feel like I can tap deep into my creative self, and have found myself with a part-time photography business.

I'm still learning so much. It never ends. Whether it's in education, gardening, or photography workflow (do I use spot metering or partial metering for the dance recital I'm shooting in a few hours?)  I sometimes ask myself, do I need to stop one thing, in order to fully focus and master the other? Am I supposed to be master Educator, Homemaker, or Photographer? My friends and husband know me to be a perfectionist, sometimes obsessive to a point, so not being able to fully immerse myself into something I enjoy immensly, can be hard for me. It can feel like a curse sometimes.

I have to remind myself, my most important job right now, is that of Mother, especially since I'm taking on the responsibility of schooling rather than sending her to school during the week.  I can put on hold some of my goals. And it's ok to give myself permission to live my life in chapters. But I'll still be armed with my camera.

Bridal Session

Being a natural light photographer and doing an outdoor bridal shoot with heavy winds, makes for a challenging session, however, Katie was such a trooper, so patient, and looked incredible to boot! This image was one of my favorites. I cannot wait to photograph her wedding next month.

Furry Friends

I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but even after adopting our Stella 2 months ago, I must have still had a longing to rescue another pet. Sophia and I would visit the shelters once or twice a week since adopting Stella, just to look, play with the cats and see the dogs.

Last week, we were driving home after a visit to the Children's Museum and and I took a quick detour to Town Lake Animal Shelter. Little did I expect to find, not only one, but two 4 month old kitties that we made an instant connection with. They were kennel mates, had an obvious bond, and after not being able to decide which one to bring home, it felt right to bring them both home. One is a female Calico, the other, a male Siamese. They had only been at the shelter 5 days and there was no way I was leaving without them, and I was prepared to face the wrath of my husband when I got home. Call me crazy, but the moment I saw them in their cage, I knew they were going to be ours. I could easily feel that because after almost 3 months of visiting shelters, this was only the second time I felt that connection. I didn't even see make it down to see the other cats.

I've been nursing them since they both had developed URI and were recovering from their spay and neuter surgery. After days of sleep and rest in a quiet space, and a round of antibiotics, I'm seeing a frisky and incredibly playful side to them now. It almost feels like having 2 toddlers in the house with all their running back and forth. They chase each other and then finish off with a round of wrestling.

Stella is the most amazing dog. I wasn't certain if she would be cat-aggressive, but my hunch was that she wouldn't be. I was right. Everybody is adjusting nicely. She's gentle with the kitties, and even when they go up to her and hiss if one of her moves startles them, she just takes it. Domi said the Siamese (yes, we still have not decided on names) slapped Stella on the face, and Stella didn't react, nor move. She's learning to walk the other way or simply ignore them, but she REALLY wants to play with them, but we've got to keep her calm with her heartworm treatment. I'm giving Stella lots of positive reinforcement for her behavior.

With this new shift in our household, the only thing I'm still getting used to is the massive amounts of dog hair that has begun to cover our floors the last couple weeks with Stella's shedding. I'm forced to vaccuum every day now, sometimes even twice a day because it drives me batty to look at a fur covered floor. Even once the dog hair is cleaned, I've had to let go of having shiny floors, but it's been easier than I expected it to be. ;)

I'm trying very hard not the earn the title of the 'crazy cat lady' and the woman who is obsessed with her dog, but how can I resist not photographing them? Especially since they don't seem to mind it as much as my children do.







Stella, hanging out watching the kitties lounging on the chair.

Mother

Today marks 5 years of your passing.

I can still feel the warmth of your nurturing hugs
I can still hear your words of endless wisdom
I can still smell your perfume and the lingering nag champa that was often on your clothing
I can still see the look of your ivory soft skin and peaceful face when you departed,
It's forever etched in my memory

Loving you, and honoring you today.
These are all your photos. And they bring me such happiness.

Artichoke

I often envy my father-in-law when he tells me gardening stories about his beautiful artichoke plants that are completely full and producing. Well, now I can say that we can join his club! This is our first year to have success with growing an artichoke plant because it was one of the only plants that survived our harsh winter freeze back in early February. This baby is huge. Mike protected it well, and now, we're reaping beautiful and fresh artichoke. We enjoyed some tonight dipped in marinade sauce with our Easter dinner. Mmmm!

Birth

Birth [burth]

–noun
1. an act or instance of being born: the day of her birth.



Meet Scarlett. This was her birth day. I felt honored to be asked to capture this momentous occasion for her family.  There is nothing more incredible to me than to photograph moments like this.

Printing up Memorabilia

I finally started the process of getting prints made from my mother and father's slides that I recently inherited. This first one in particular spoke to me. I've stared at it over and over and wondered.

Did my mother take this? Or my father?

What was written on that piece of paper? Was it a to do list that my father was working on? A poem my mother was writing? Did birds often come in and perch on the window? Or is that a ceramic bird?

And who was it that enjoyed Taster's Choice coffee?




For a moment, I thought that was an Ergo on my father's arm. What was that?
Could babywearing have been something he did? I can't imagine the Ergo being around in 1974.
Perhaps it's a backpack.


This photo makes my heart swell. My beautiful Mama in the background with her pelirroja hair, and my aunt Marjorie with my cousin Jason.


Me

A Morning with an Herbalist and then a Farmer

This past week, we had two adventurous outings. Earlier in the week, we met with a group for a wild plant walk with the fabulous herbalist, Ginger Webb of Texas Medicinals.  We have some of the most useful herbal remedies right in our own backyard and we saw (and tasted) several of them along our walk down to Bull Creek. I had taken extensive notes on which plants aid in certain ailments in my iPhone to only discover Sophia had erased them when she played with my phone later. *sigh* So, all I have is a photowalk.


Ginger pretends to be like a deer and eat one of their favorite plants, which is only the tip.


Very tasty!

 




A safe alternative if one doesn't have TP in the wildnerness. ;)






Sucking on the ends of these to get the nectar out is a super sweet treat.


Frolicking in the creek



Then we finished off our week with a farm day at Amy Kirk's property in Dripping Springs. Nestled on 4 acres, she's utilized the space well. We searched for eggs, visited with a friendly bull calf, Clovis, and dairy cow, Novella, made an earthworm habitat, ate lunch with other homeschoolers, and watched the beehive get prepared for its colony's arrival next week.