weekend weekend yay for weekends!!!

new glasses for me & my man! 

i am just so excited because he's (kind of) smiling and he never lets me takes pictures of him!!!! the ultimate test for a photographer - not taking photos of the one you love the most. 

anyway, i think i'm going to buy some like preston's in my prescription (which is something near "blind") 'cause i just love 'em!!!  but i love mine too. why am i so excited about glasses? it must mean i'm getting old - "oh goodness gracious, preshton, our shpectacles are here!"

anyway. weekeeeeeeend!!!! yiipppeeeeeeee!!!! 

gonna finish up some photo work tonight. then lunch & banked track derby bout tomorrow with mom! then scout's 2 year birthday party on sunday (2 years!?!?!) Yay for fun plans!

~

also...preston made me suit up in my derby stuff the other day & took some photos. but i'm not gonna post them until i'm absolutely sure i can skate and actually participate in a bout. (i'm just now starting to recover from some major anxiety-fueled type-A freakouts from my first skating practice earlier this week.)

SO - the deal is, this photo will be posted in full clarity once (if) that day arrives. And, this is being shown here ONLY. 

also...is it wrong that i get such a kick out of making our parents squirm!?!  hahaaa! we love it!

(e.g. my mother in law thought my glasses were a joke and then couldn't stop laughing when she saw preston's; my dad called my mom and told her about my new "hair-brained idea" of starting roller derby, right after asking me "are you crazy?"; and the list goes on...)

be afraid.

be VERY afraid.

(because i am! haha!)

i looove my new skates!

on a lighter note...

after work i went to the cross country course and ran 2 miles in my five fingers. AND, i seem to have found my favorite place in stillwater. i've been there a thousand times (literally, i'm sure). 

on the cross country course at the top of the big hill. next to the tree that coached had dubbed the big V (for victory.....whatever.) i stopped there to stretch and turned toward the west around 8:30.

just past sunset. and it was amazing.

the salmon sky, periwinkle clouds. all i could hear were birds and wind in the trees. the setting sun slowly turns all the greens to black. i can see the field, the horizon, the trees around me, the quiet apartments, the sky and nothing else. 

perfection.

i didn't want to leave. i could have curled up in that field to awake at sunrise completely surprised that i hadn't transformed into a flower through the night. (a weed is more realistic.) i'll have to go there more often.

on the down side, more blisters from breaking in the five fingers

saturday afternoon blues

blues on a saturday afternoon? is that possible? apparently.

saturday events are concluded. good times. sun & rain. sold some goodies. packed up, unpacked & home. 

- kerrrplunk -  (goes my heart)

what to do now? preston is working. the sun is still shining. but i'm tired. tired of standing, smiling, talking. Douglas Doubt has come to visit.

our bedroom is filled with evening sun, our smell, soft sheets. and kitty cats. (and you can especially see their fur floating around in the air because of that lovely evening sun)

maybe i'll stay here a while and decide what to do.

heart smile

things that make my heart smile

greens

red bud trees in april

sheep. they're just so cute and puffy! i wanna hug them

dandelions - they make me forget about everything (bad). seriously, i could lie in a field of them forever and forget the world. not sure if that's normal.

hiding behind my camera (camera nose)

birdies

and plenty more....

(to be continued)

random thursday #153

(#153 is also just a random)

~

is it just me and all the years of running, or do everybody's knees hurt all the time? well, ok, not aaaalll the time, but mostly when i'm trying to do something in boot camp or zumba. moving to the left or right, squatting. then there's that sharp pain telling my brain "if you don't stop right this freakin second i'm giving out! i swear it!!!"  or maybe it persists because i ignore the threats...

~

we have air conditioning again for the first time in over a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

excited about that! but our dishwasher still sucks. and everybody freaks out on our balcony where it feels like you could fall through. stupid apartment complex. 1.5 months and we move.

its hard to leave a home. mixed feelings still.but good overall.

~

how many times a week is it OK to have beer & pizza for dinner?! cause i think i'm pushing 3-4 now. i didn't even eat like this in college! forget freshman 15....i got the freshman 8lbs of muscle mass from running. now i have gained the "grownup 15." not sitting well with me. this won't stick.

~ 

still in search of some derby skates in mens size 4.5

basically impossible to find some that small used? probably.

~

gonna inhale the rest of this half-heated pizza and go to orange tree. mmmmm

~

and for those of you that stupor at the idea of us not owning a microwave (haven't for.....2 years?) you should try setting your oven to BROIL!  yep, that setting on the knob all the way past the end of the numbers.....it takes a whole 3 minutes to make my pizza sizzle straight out of the fridge. who needs stupid waves? go flame, baby!!!

drive, determination....and pissing your pants

so i decided a while back that i thought it would be freakin awesome to be a roller derby girl. i mean...skates, fishnets, eye makeup & flying around a track!?! sounds amazing to me! so i went to my very first bout at the drop of a hat on sunday night.

and as is custom with me, i fell in love in about oohhhhhhh.......5 seconds! 

so it started. the drive. the determination.

i'm doing this. i've been telling people i'm gonna do it and i'm not backing down. i want this!

so after burning with a 10yr-old-on-christmas sorta excited all day i emailed the Angels of No Mercy derby team of the Central Oklahoma Roller Derby. i squealed and squalled after the email was sent.

at lunch today i turned on my computer, checked my email and squealed (again) with joy! turns out its the perfect time to join cause they're really needing some new recruits (*clearing throat here* attention all you ladies in the stillwater/guthrie area come out & join!!!!!). a couple of their girls are leaving soon and some skates need to be filled. 

"oh, and btw, practice is tonight! come even if you don't have equipment!" 

so i went (sooo excited i could barely stand still or stop grinning like a cheshire).

i borrowed someone's skates that were a size or two too large, but needed to just try it out. and i sucked wwaaaaaaaaay more than i thought i would. hell, i started to put the freakin wrist guard on my elbow! in my defense i've never worn a protective pad of any sort in my entire life b/c i never did organized sports! i don't even think i've ever worn a bike helmet (much to the dismay of my doctor when i showed up at her clinic with a broken collar bone from bike riding...but that's another story.)

so, what if i suck? what if i can never learn to skate with my knees bent and my torso forward? what if i can never learn to stop? agah!!!!!! 

{minor internal freakout as i'm trying to figure out how to stop and not fall backwards}

chill. i can do this. i ran 10ks on a track, i can learn to balance myself on wheels!

and no, i didn't really piss my pants. only mentally.
 

so, i need to buy some skates asap. and practice.

once i get in some skates that are my size maybe i'll be a teensy bit better. but here goes!

practice again in one week! i'll be there with (hopefully) skates on!

and here are some photos just for your enjoyment (or dread, which ever you think)...

photo walk

i went on a photo walk the other day. 

it was after an hour of boot camp, and hour of zumba, and a bike ride. 

but i just couldn't stay inside yet.

 

the thing about my five fingers is that sometimes my toes pick flowers

hello spring!
good to see you again!

spring cleaning

ahh *sigh* new blog space!
i dearly loved my funky green flowery background that reminded me of my grandmother's old kitchen chairs. it really did make my heart smile...but i needed a cleaner space.  and we all know spring is the perfect time for making that happen!
plus, i was in desperate need for more photo room on my posts. so, hopefully this doesn't look crazy on your monitor. give a shout if it does

=)

caroline & lane sneak peeks!

caroline & lane are the sweetest! any time i made them pause to hug or look each other in the eye he lavished her with compliments. so romantic! and their lovely little one was a delight to capture!

frog

   i biked to the lake today, ran 10 minutes, and biked back home. and all in my new five fingers! i've walked in them a lot the last couple days, did a photo shoot in them (which was amazing!) but today was the first running test!
   other than the break-in blisters (which i had forgotten about since i haven't bought new running footwear in well over a year) it was perfect! i was naturally up on the ball of my feet & toes and they really do feel like running barefoot - minus the stone bruises.
   i can tell my biking is still whittling away at my legs, which i am super excited about. yay! now all i need to do is find a pool and start some triathlon training! (i really wanna do one soon IF i can start swimming)!
   anyway, i am in heaven on my bike. other than swallowing insects around boomer (seriously, i got 3 or 4 tonight! glaaagghhhh) my rides are always perfect. i'm super competitive with myself so i can't just 'ride' my bike. i must conquer it, show it who is master. i must whip my legs into submission, ignore my heart rate and go as fast as i can. i fly through parking lots, cut across fields (its not a road bike, don't worry), ramp off curbs and generally scare pedestrians who don't hear me coming. i love it! i think its because i'm actually fast on a bike!!   =D
   with all this speediness plus two (bike)broken collar bones under my belt (sports bra?!) i should probably consider investing in a good helmet. crazy idea.

i feel like a frog in these, but they are amazing!


in conclusion, if you're in stillwater and see a crazy with frog feet flying down the street on a bike with a crazed look in the eye, its probably me.
don't honk please.

just us

we slept in a couple hours longer than we wanted, but today i don't feel bad about it. wake up to the sunshine & birds, kitty purrs and day planning. we're gonna do a lunch date for preston's birthday today, then walk a new shop in town to check it out and enjoy the air. we'll cook dinner and eat dessert, play spider solitaire while we watch movies and pretend the night won't end. all the while the cats will be yowling, climbing, cuddling us and enjoying the weekend hours when we're all together. 

i love it all. 

just us.

 

happy birthday, baby!

yippeeee!!

    ah lovely friday! i'm now the owner of a pair of five fingers & sseko sandals! yay! aaaand i got preston to buy some sanuks of his own. its a shoe day!  poor guy, though...i made him try on every stinkin style. so after two hours, 20 pairs of shoes tried on, and 3 purchased he was ready for a drink.  =)

    aside from the drink, we're eating home(preston)made onion burgers, i'm making tattoo plans and getting pumped about my photo shoot tomorrow.

(on the tattoo subject, isn't this one aaamazing!!?!?!?!!!) 

   anyway...aside from all this we signed a pre-lease this week and made a deposit on our soon-to-be home. its an apartment, but it has w/d hookups woo-hoooo!!!! i'm ready to do laundry one load at a time!  aaaaand...our deposit was much cheaper than we had anticipated! yay!

   so. shopping tomorrow with ames, photo shoot with a lovely family, sunday with my man for his birthday. loving the moments

when your heart swells

     i remember looking at a poster in the hallway at church when i was a kid. it was a photo of a homeless guy and said something very self-sacrificing and humbling i'm sure, but i don't remember what exactly that was. i just remember the way my heart swelled. tears welled up in my eyes and i wanted to do anything i could to help that guy.
     i realize now, and i really think i knew at the time, that the shot may have been posed. but it was the thought, the reality of the situation. and i felt it so early. this empathy, love, this heart swelling thing (call it what you will) was pretty common for me...when someone was getting picked on at school, when an elderly lady at the grocery dropped her sack, when a disabled adult was shouted at in public by their parent or sibling.
     i've lived my life leaving situations like this with a lump in my throat, watery eyes, a swollen heart. why can't i help them with their shopping and finding their money at the register? i would be patient, i would be kind and understanding. why can't i take care of and show them that they are amazing? because they are amazing, lovely souls!
     i have so many loves and passions, but this has been more internal than any of them. it has been constant for as long as i can remember. its beyond my daily emotions, the flippant states of my heart, or the whims i might feel. it has been unwavering.
today i took a step in this direction.
i'm not sure about the timing or money or anything that will happen, but i can't ignore when my heart swells.

barefoot time!

i did my first barefoot run of the year! hopefully by the time the stickers pop up i can have some five fingers covering my toesies...but for now i'm ecstatic about the new green grass!
the thing about running barefoot is that you don't have that awkward haven't-run-in-a-week hobble to begin with. your body just knows what to do and from the very first step its just....natural!

(imagine that)

i was surprised at my brisk pace and lasted a whole two miles, which was in itself a surprise. i haven't gone more than 1.5 in a while, and the past couple weeks have been really off since getting sick. but it felt amazing squishing through the mud and bouncing forward off my toes. sweet spring!

if you haven't felt the earth with your feet in a while then you should go do it now! no matter your state, it will revive your heart

 

(and sorry for the crappy photos, my phone was all i had)

rebecca's sneak peek

here's a quick peek at the senior shoot i did today of rebecca! we had the perfect weather and kept finding fun backgrounds. rebecca has such a bright & fun style...it was an amazing shoot! one of those that i can't wait to process!  =)

enjoy!

sweet spring

 each spring i am surprised at how blooming little buds capture my soul

i can't keep my hands off my canon when the sun sets on the dainty branches wearing their new silk scarves

hello sunshine

goodbye for now, golden grass

morning perfection

mmmmmmmm, love

i'm enjoying this right now

like i always say...

thursdays are for randomness. 

although its after midnight. but whatever

i took these bedroom shots last week when i was lying in bed sick forever.

like the underwear & socks piled up there? =)